Constituency : Perthshire 1880-85; West Perthshire 1885-1900 ( from 1886 Liberal Unionist )
Donald recaptured Perthshire for the Liberals.
Donald was one of ten children. He was educated at Belfast Academy and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He started work in a shipping office at Greenock. In 1844 he switched to Cunard and rose to become cargo manager there. In 1849 he was sent to Europe to establish branch houses after the abolition of the navigation laws. By 1862 he wanted his own business and set up the Castle firm sailing between Liverpool and Calcutta using ships owned by his friends. The company prospered through a sailing service to Cape Town. The South African leader John Molteno insisted they share a mail contract with the rival Union line which kept both companies on their toes until they eventually merged in 1900. In 1875 Donald was invited to chair a committee of shipowners and influenced the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876. Also that year he was sent to South Africa by Lord Carnarvon to broker a deal on the Kimberley diamond fields.
Donald was a Presbyterian. He was knighted in 1881.
In 1886 Donald became a Liberal Unionist although his friendship with Gladstone endured and the Liberal leader was often his guest on summer cruises. He enjoyed hunting stags.
Donald's ships played a vital part in the Boer War.
Donald bought large estates and was a beneficient landlord. His final years were given over to philanthropy with huge donations to University College Hospital, Edinburgh University and Belfast Royal Academy.
He died in 1909 aged 83.
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