William MacDonald was born in 1732, the eldest son of James Macdonald of Ranathan, Perthshire. He was apprenticed to Robert Grant and was admitted as a Writer to the Signet in 1762. He set up in business in or around 1760 in Edinburgh. He married Cecilia, daughter of David Kinloch of Kilry, Angus in 1772. He died in 1814