Patrick Donald MacDonald

• Nicknamed "Paddy."
• Rose from Assistant Secretary in 1941 to Colonial Secretary--a very prestigious and important position.
  • The Colonial Secretary was virtually a dictator. The Governor was a ceremonial figure and might set policy, but the Colonial Secretary was the CEO. He had three telephones on his desk, gave orders, and approved spending. He was "pretty damn good." (( RG)
• Employed by WPHC from ~1941 to 1978.
• Took the bones from the office to Hoodless at FSM in summer of 1941.
• Colonial Secretary and in charge of boxing things up in 1978. Acting Archivist from the time that Burne retired (or quit) in 1976 until at least April 6, 1978.
• Both files and office equipment were sent to London. Lists of files were drawn up and typed. They were then packed in small archive boxes--no more than 5 files to a box. The small boxes were then stacked in a wooden packing crate. They fit perfectly, with no need of any kind of straw or other packing material.
• Tofiga remembers Paddy as "fair, firm and meticulous."
• Ron Gatty: "The Governor was a ceremonial figure and might set policy, but the Colonial Secretary was the CEO. He had three telephones on his desk, gave orders, and approved spending. Paddy was pretty damn good."
• Daughter: Veronica ("Ronnie"). May have married someone named something like Gardner. She worked for BOAC and got reduced fare flights for her father. ( RG)
• May have had a part-interest in the Grand Pacific Hotel. Ron Gatty saw him there in a humble role--acting, perhaps, as the desk clerk.
• Died in the late 1990s?
• Almost certainly knew everything there was to know about the bones found on Nikumaroro.