Lawyer.
Born at St. Catharines, Ontario on 1 March 1865, he studied law at the University of Toronto and graduated in 1886. Two years later, he moved to Brandon where he practiced law for decades from an office in the Bank of Hamilton Chambers on Rosser Avenue.
On 4 July 1892, he married Helen Gertrude Hiam (1870-1965) at Brandon and they subsequently had two children: Helen Marjorie Macdonald (1895-1982, wife of Alan Bowring Lawford) and Archibald Robert “Archie” Macdonald (1903-?). The family lived at 304 Eleventh Street (1900-1929).
He died at his Winnipeg home, 6 Winston Apartments, on 12 March 1956 and was buried in the Garry Memorial Park.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Macdonald House (304 Eleventh Street, Brandon)
Marriage registration [Robert Griffin Macdonald, Helen Gertrude Hiam], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth registrations [Helen Marjorie Macdonald, Archibald Robert Macdonald], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
1921 Canada census, Ancestry.
Marriage registration [Helen Marjorie Macdonald, Alan Bowring Lawford], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registration [Robert Griffin Macdonald], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Pioneer lawyer dies at 91 years,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 March 1956, page 6.
Death registration [Helen Marjorie Lawford], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Helen Marjorie Lawford], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 June 1982, page 43.
304 11th Street, Heritage Brandon.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 November 2026
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