(1 Nov. 1833-29 May 1905), clergyman, first bishop of Alexandria. (Bishop Macdonell; name often found with title of His Lordship, as used for bishops in his time) Born on Lot 15 in the 1st Concession of Lochiel Township, GC. Parents: James McDonell, a farmer but the brother of well-known lumbermen (see later this biography), and his wife Christina Macdonald.

     Alexander Macdonell taught school as a young man, then attended the College of Bytown and Regiopolis College, Kingston. He was ordained to the priesthood, Dec. 1862. After serving as curate at Gananoque, he was parish priest at St. Alexander’s, Lochiel, from 1863 to 1879, then was a priest at St. Finnan’s, Alexandria, from 1879. He took charge of building the splendid new church for the parish, the present St. Finnan’s Cathedral, in the 1880s. He was made, in 1886, vicar general for the diocese of Kingston, the diocese to which his parish belonged. In 1890, the diocese of Alexandria was created, and he was named its first bishop. He was consecrated as bishop on 28 Oct. 1890. It was observed at the time that he was the first Scot elevated to the episcopacy in Ontario since the death of the great Bishop Macdonell in 1840. As bishop, he oversaw completion of work on the new St. Margaret’s Convent in Alexandria. The tenders for building the Bishop’s Palace were let in 1899, and the palace was occupied in 1901. This fine building, no longer diocesan property, is today used as retirement apartments. An affable, kindly, humble, dignified man, he was admired by Protestants as well as by Roman Catholics. The life in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography complains, however, that he showed insufficient firmness in dealing with some of his priests, and repeats the accusation that he was unsympathetic to French language services.

     He died at the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Montreal. The burial was in St. Finnan’s cemetery, Alexandria. He spoke English, Gaelic and French. Two other well-remembered Rev. Alexander Macdonells in Glengarry history were pioneer priests at St. Raphael’s and have lives in the present dictionary, one of them being the first bishop of Upper Canada. Also, one of the predecessors as parish priest both at St. Alexander’s and at St. Finnan’s, of the first bishop of Alexandria, was another Fr Alexander Macdonell, who died 4 April 1853, in his late 30s.

     The bishop of Alexandria was the nephew of Alexander Macdonell (1795-1875) the lumberman whose five brothers were associated with him in Ottawa Valley lumbering.

Life by Mark McGowan, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, XIII, 626-628 * GN supplement 1903 [ 4, 21] * Macdonald, St. Finnan’s (with portrait) * Sinnsearachd 51, 67-71: includes valuable eyewitness recollections, probably by Mgr Ewen J. Macdonald * Glengarry News 2 June 1905: commemorative supplement on his death * Cochrane, IV, 91 (with portrait) * Morgan (1898) 685 * A Standard Dictionary of Canadian Biography (ed. Roberts & Tunnell; 1934-1938), I, 313-314 * MDict * his genealogy: Fraser Obits. 259-262 * Lochinvar to Skye 123 (sister Mrs Kennedy, of McCrimmon, Ont.) * Fr Alexander Macdonell (d. 1853): plaque to his memory, St. Finnan’s Cathedral; standard histories of his parishes * report on consecration of bishop, CF 31 Oct. 1890 * bishop moves into Palace, Cornwall Standard 10 May 1901 * ladies of St. Finnan’s present bishop with valuable silver dinner service (with Macdonell crest), Gaelic address, GN 31 May 1901 * leaves to visit Rome and Holy Land, Vankleek Hill Review 2 & 30 Aug. 1895