Godfrey Macdonald, 3rd Baron Macdonald of Sleat

Early life

Godfrey was born on 14 October 1775 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the second of seven sons and three daughters born to the former Elizabeth Diana Bosville (1748–1789) and Sir Alexander Macdonald, 9th Baronet (c. 1745–1795). In 1776, the year following his birth, his father was created Baron Macdonald in the Peerage of Ireland. His elder brother, Alexander, was MP for Saltash who held his seat in the House of Commons after succeeding to the barony in 1795 as it was an Irish peerage which did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords.

His father, a younger son of Lady Margaret Montgomerie (a daughter of the 9th Earl of Eglinton) and Sir Alexander Macdonald, 7th Baronet, had succeeded to the baronetcy in 1766 following the death of his elder brother, Sir James Macdonald, 8th Baronet. His mother was the eldest daughter of Godfrey Bosville IV of Gunthwaite and of Thorpe Hall, Rudston, both in Yorkshire.

He was educated at Harrow School, Harrow on the Hill, London, England. He matriculated Oriel College, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, on 17 December 1792.