MacDONALD, Oscar Douglas
Oscar Douglas MacDonald or McDonald was born at Ipswich on 31 December 1898, second child and eldest son of the five children of George William McDonald (1867-1936), a confectioner, and his wife Alice Maude née Mitchell (1867-28 November 1936), who married at Bromley, Kent in 1897 and moved to Farringdon Villas, Woodbridge Road, Ipswich. In 1911, Oscar was a 12-year-old, living at 191 Woodbridge Road, Ipswich with his parents, 43-year-old George and 42-year-old Alice, with four siblings, Gladys Maude 13, Ida Florence 10, Alan William 9 and Lewis Raymond 6, all born at Ipswich. For many years young Oscar was a representative for Shell and Cory Brothers, petroleum businesses. As Douglas Oscar MacDonald, he married at Woodbridge, Suffolk in 1932, Margaret Nellie Smith (4 January 1904-5 May 2009) and in 1939 a petroleum distribution depot superintendent, living at 105 Colchester Road, Ipswich with his wife Margaret. In 1948 he took up painting in watercolours and was a founder member of Deben Art Club and a member of the Ipswich Art Club 1957-1979 and exhibited watercolours from The Old Forge, Bramford, near Ipswich in 1956 'In the Cotswold', in 1957 'Blakeney', 'Staverton Forest' and 'Dedham Church', in 1958 'The Deben, Woodbridge', 'Farmyard at Ufford' and 'Fairfield Church, Romney Marsh', in 1959 'Near Lavenham' and 'Peasmarsh Church, Sussex' his last exhibits were in 1970 'The Old Tide Mill, Woodbridge' and 'The Stour from Brantham Bull' but in 1974 at the centenary of the Club, his watercolour 'Foxhall Heath' was shown. He also exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and at the Deben Gallery in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Oscar Douglas MacDonald died at The Old Forge, Bramford, Ipswich on 1 July 1971.