Donald was born at Ballydown in Islandmagee, County Antrim on 12 May 1876 and was the son of shoemaker Edward Donald and Mary Aiken.[4] He left Islandmagee and became a shipwright in Belfast, employed by ship builders Messrs Workman & Clark.[citation needed] Donald became involved in trade unionism and was district secretary of the shipwrights union for several years until he was promoted to chief assistant foreman in 1912, at which point he retired from trade union activities.[citation needed]
Political career
Politically, Donald was a Unionist and was opposed to Home Rule. As part of the Ulster Covenant campaign against Home Rule the Northern Whig for Saturday, 25 April 1914 carried an "Appeal to British Trade Unionists to help resist Home Rule" signed by, amongst others, "Thompson Donald, Trade Union Congress delegate 1909 and 1911 – Shipwrights and Ship Constructors Society".[5] Further appeals to trade unionists were issued in subsequent editions of the paper.[6][7] He played a leading role in the formation of the Trades Union Watch Committee, which became the Unionist Watch Committee and then finally in July 1918 was renamed as the Ulster Unionist Labour Association (UULA).[8] Donald was appointed an Honorary Secretary of this new group, which was organised by Edward Carson.[9]
Westminster election of 1918
A month after World War I ended, trade union candidates stood in three Belfast constituencies under the UULA banner during the Westminster election in December 1918. Donald was successful in his bid for Belfast Victoria, as he was remembered as one of the organisers of the 1914 meeting against Home Rule, was a member of the Orange Order and was a Mason.[citation needed] The Northern Whig reported that he "was in favour of prohibition" and called for "better school" and housing for labourers. He was supported by Edward Carson.[10][11][12] Donald won the seat with 9.309 to the Labour candidate's 3.469. The other UULA candidates, William Whitla and John Carson, also won their seats.[13] Donald, Whitla and Carson, all backbenchers, were unable to live in London on their annual salaries of £400 and were financially assisted by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).[14]
The four Unionist candidates who stood for seats in Belfast East on the new 52-person Parliament of Northern Ireland were elected, with Donald coming third. In total, all 40 Unionist candidates were returned and the remaining 12 seats went to either Nationalist or Sinn Féin candidates, who refused to take their seats.[citation needed] In March 1922,[17] concerns were raised about boundaries between the two territories and whether Westminster would give parts of Tyrone, Fermanagh and Londonderry to the Provisional Government in Dublin. Donald and Devlin were told by the Speaker that they were out of line and it was ultimately decided that boundary lines would be decided by the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Parliamentary records show that Donald was involved in many other debates on this topic in the convening months.[citation needed]
In a debate on 26 June 1922[18] on the second reading of a Bill to abolish proportional representation (PR) as a voting system in future Northern Ireland elections, Donald said he disliked it because it was cumbersome, but allowed that it provided minority representation, which he felt was necessary.[citation needed] Donald stood in the Westminster elections again in 1922 but lost; he was also unsuccessful during the Parliament of Northern Ireland election in 1925.[19] This marked the end of his political career.
Later years
Shortly after 1925 Thompson Donald became caretaker of the Petty Sessions courts in Town Hall Street off Victoria Street in Belfast. He subsequently lived in London for some years. He returned to Belfast where he died of natural causes in 1957. His obituary was published in the Belfast Telegraph.[20]
^Ordnance Survey "Memoirs of Ireland: Parishes of County Antrim III 1833, 1835, 1839–40" Larne and Islandmagee, pages 14 – 105. The Institute of Irish Studies QUB 1991. ISBN0 85389 389 6.
