Roderick Macdonald, MD, FRCS (1840–1894) was a Scottish doctor and a

Crofters Party The Crofters' Party was the parliamentary arm of the Highland Land League. It managed to elect five MPs in the 1885 general election and a sixth the following year. The Highland Land League had started on the isle of Skye and in 1884 protest ac ...

politician. As a coroner he presided over the inquest of one of the victims in the

Whitechapel murders The Whitechapel murders were committed in or near the largely impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London between 3 April 1888 and 13 February 1891. At various points some or all of these eleven unsolved murders of women have ...

. Macdonald was the son of Angus Macdonald, a house carpenter, of Fairy Bridge,

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

. He was educated at the Free Church Normal School, Glasgow, and at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. Later he was a teacher at the Free Church School, Lonmore. He then studied medicine and was LRCP and LRCS,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1867.Norman Macdonald and Cailean Maclean, ''The Great Book of Skye'', volume 1 (Great Book Publishing, Portree, 2014), at pages 194-196 He was also a member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...

. He practised medicine in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have un ...

, and was divisional surgeon for the police in the

Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, ...

. In 1885 Macdonald was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the l ...

in the crofter's interest. He held the seat until he stood down at the 1892 election. Around 1887, he was elected as coroner for the north-east part of East Middlesex. He presided over the inquest into the death of

Mary Jane Kelly Mary Jane Kelly ( – 9 November 1888), also known as Marie Jeanette Kelly, Fair Emma, Ginger, Dark Mary and Black Mary, is widely believed to have been the final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper, who murdered ...

, one of the victims in the Whitechapel murders, at

Shoreditch Town Hall Shoreditch Town Hall is a municipal building in Shoreditch, London. It is a Grade II listed building. History In the mid-20th century, the vestry board decided to procure a vestry hall for the Parish of St. Leonard's; the site they selected ha ...

on 12 November 1888.Stewart P. Evans and Donald Rumbelow ''Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates'', p. 175 Sutton: Stroud (2006); On 28 January 1890 Macdonald married Frances Emma Maryon Perceval (20 July 1868 – 15 March 1893), a great-granddaughter of

Spencer Perceval Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was a British statesman and barrister who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. Perceval is the only British prime minister t ...

. He lived at 65 West Ferry Road,

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

, and later at 252 Camden Road, Middlesex, where he died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

, aged 54.

References

External links

The Crofter - Issue 3, page 1
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Roderick 1840 births 1894 deaths Deaths from cancer in England 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 People from the Isle of Skye People from Ross and Cromarty Jack the Ripper Alumni of the University of Glasgow Crofters Party MPs