James McDonald was an Australian politician.

Born in Wallan, Victoria

Wallan, Victoria

Wallan or Wallan Wallan is a town in Victoria, from Melbourne on the Northern Highway in Australia.The town sits at the southern end of the large and diverse Shire of Mitchell which extends from the northern fringes of Melbourne into the farming country of north-central Victoria and the lower...

, to storekeeper John Roderick McDonald and Marion Frances Menere, he grew up in Wallan and farmed in the Kyneton

Kyneton, Victoria

Kyneton is a town on the Calder Highway in the Macedon Ranges of Victoria, Australia. The Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east. The town was named after the English village of Kineton, Warwickshire. The town has three main streets: Mollison Street, Piper Street and High Street...

-Woodend

Woodend, Victoria

Woodend is a small town in Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Macedon Ranges Local government area. It is bypassed to the east and north by the Calder Freeway and is located about halfway between Melbourne and Bendigo...

 area from 1910. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 he served for two years with the Australian Imperial Force

Australian Imperial Force

The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...

, during which time he was seriously wounded; after his return he became president of the Woodend Returned and Services League

Returned and Services League of Australia

The Returned and Services League of Australia is a support organisation for men and women who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force ....

. In August 1923 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

 in a by-election for the seat of Daylesford

Electoral district of Daylesford

The Electoral district of Daylesford was an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.-Members for Daylesford:-See also:*Parliaments of the Australian states and territories*List of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly...

, representing the Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, but in September he was defeated in a recount. At the 1924 state election he won the seat again, but it was abolished in 1927 and McDonald tried but failed to win Mildura

Electoral district of Mildura

Mildura is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It is a 27,162 km² rural electorate in the far-north-west of the state, encompassing the regional towns of Hopetoun, Mildura, Ouyen, Red Cliffs and Robinvale...

. From 1929 he lived in Adelaide, where he died after a long period of poor health in 1938.