Alexander Macdonell | |
|---|---|
 The Most Reverend Alexander MacDonell, 1823-24, by Martin Archer Shee | |
| Born | 17 July 1762 Glen Urquhart |
| Died | 14 January 1840 (aged 77) |
| Nationality | Scottish |
Bishop Alexander Macdonell (17 July 1762 in Glen Urquhart, Inchlaggan, Scotland – 14 January 1840) was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Kingston, Upper Canada.
Alexander Macdonell was born 17 July 1762 at his father's house in Glen Urquhart. His early education was at Bourblach, Loch Morar. He attended the Scots Colleges at Paris and Valladolid. He was ordained a priest on 16 February 1787 at Valladolid. Returning to his native land he exercised the ministry for five years in the Braes of Lochaber.[1]
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Main article: Highland Fencible Corps § Glengarry Fencibles (1794) |
In 1792 his people were evicted from their homes during the Highland Clearances. Many attempted to emigrate to America but wound up shipwrecked and destitute near Glasgow. Despite the fact that, being a Catholic priest he was an outlaw, Macdonell involved himself in their affairs and persuaded Glasgow business men to employ them while he acted as the Highlanders priest and interpreter (for they were Catholics in a predominantly Protestant town and spoke Gaelic not Scottish English).[2]
Within two years after the Highlanders' arrival in Glasgow, the Revolution on the Continent ruined the export trade of Glasgow and deprived them of their livelihood. The only avenue open to the unemployed was service in the militia, but even this was closed to the Glengarrymen, who, being Catholics, could not take the required oath for enlistment. Father Macdonnell then drafted a proposal that the Highlanders be commissioned as a Catholic regiment in service to the government. Clan chieftain Alexander Ranaldson Macdonell and John Fletcher of Dunans went to London and presented the documents to King George III, along with letters of commendation from the Glasgow merchants. Letters of service were accordingly issued in August, 1794. Though contrary to the then existing law, Father Alexander Macdonell was gazetted as chaplain to the regiment,[3] thus becoming the first Catholic chaplain in the British Army since the Reformation.[1]
In June, 1795, the regiment was deployed to Guernsey, where it remained until the summer of 1798, when it was moved to Ireland.
When the regiment was disbanded, Rev. Macdonell appealed to the government to grant its members a tract of land in Canada, and, in 1804, 160,000 acres (650 km²) were provided in what is now Glengarry County, Ontario, Canada.[4]
In 1812, he raised another regiment, the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles, which came to the defence of Upper Canada in the War of 1812.[4] Three years later, he began his service as the first Roman Catholic Bishop at St Raphael's Church in the Highlands of Ontario. This parish established the foothold of Catholicism in the region.[5]
In 1819 he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Upper Canada, which in 1826 was erected into a bishopric. In 1826, he was appointed to the legislative council.[6] He founded churches and schools and organised the settlement. In 1839 he established Regiopolis College, which offered academic and theological training to Roman Catholic youth. The original building has been part of the Hotel Dieu Hospital (Kingston, Ontario) on Sydenham Street, Kingston, Ontario since 1892.[7]
Bishop Macdonell died from pneumonia in Dumfries, Scotland on 14 January 1840, aged 77.
The town of Alexandria in North Glengarry, Ontario is named after him.[9]
In Guelph, Ontario, Canada, a Catholic secondary school was renamed to Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School in 1962 and Macdonell Street at the foot of Church of Our Lady Immaculate is named in his honour.
Macdonell Street in Kingston, Ontario is named after him.
When MacDonell resided in Toronto after returning from Europe he resided in a house on the south-east corner of Nelson (today's Jarvis) and Duchess (today's Richmond) Streets.[10] The house, built in 1832, still stands, although it has been remade into a restaurant. It is a designated heritage building.[11]
