George Macdonald (historian)
George Ranald Macdonald  (4 October 1891 – 13 December 1967) was a New Zealand farmer and historian. He compiled the G R MacDonald Dictionary of Canterbury Biographies, a collection of 12,000 biographies held by the Canterbury Museum. The entire dictionary has been digitised and is available through Canterbury Museum's website. Biography
Macdonald was born in the Christchurch suburb of St Albans in 1891. His parents were Gertrude Gould and Ranald Macintosh Macdonald, and George Gould was his uncle. He attended school at French Farm on Banks Peninsula, and Christ's College in Christchurch. He was then sent to study history at Christ Church College at the University of Oxford in England, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1912, and a Master of Arts in 1919. He was a qualified lawyer but rarely practised in that profession. His education was interrupted by World War I, where he saw active service for the British Army after having been rejected by New Zealand forces due to his poor eyesight. After various assignments, he was with the Royal Tank Corps, was wounded on three occasions, and received the Military Cross in January 1919. His citation reads:

When back in New Zealand, he married Beatrice Mary (Wina) Clifford of Stonyhurst Station at Waipara on 14 February 1922; they were to have four sons. She was the granddaughter of Sir Charles Clifford, 1st Baronet, one of the station's founders. His first farming venture failed. When his father died in 1928, he inherited Lowry Hills near Cheviot. Disillusioned with farming, he sold his farm, bought another, and then retired to Woodend. In his retirement and encouraged by his friend, Roger Duff, Macdonald compiled the G R MacDonald Dictionary of Canterbury Biographies, a collection of 12,000 biographies held by the Canterbury Museum. References

External links 
 George Ranald Macdonald; WWI NZ Military Personnel Record (online)
 G R MacDonald Dictionary of Canterbury Biographies

1891 births
1967 deaths
20th-century New Zealand farmers
20th-century New Zealand historians
Writers from Christchurch
People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
New Zealand recipients of the Military Cross
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
20th-century New Zealand male writers
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Tank Regiment officers