Macdonald was twice married: (1) in 1863 to Sarah Phoebe (d. 1875), daughter of Ely Walker of Stainland, Yorkshire, by whom he had two sons and two daughters; (2) to Erina, daughter of William Archer, prebendary of Limerick. She died in 1893, without issue.
[The Times, 11 Feb. 1908; information from the family.]
MACDONELL, Sir HUGH GUION (1832–1904), soldier and diplomatist, was second son of Hugh MacDonell, who as British consul-general at Algiers rendered important services, and with his second wife, daughter of Admiral Ulrich, the Danish consul-general, went through a period of great personal suffering and danger during Lord Exmouth's mission and the bombardment of the town in 1816. Owing to subsequent protests of the Dey against the elder MacDonell's continuance in the office of consul-general, he was pensioned off, and retired to Florence, where his son, Hugh Guion, was born on 5 March 1832, being one of a family of two sons and six daughters. His elder brother. General Sir Alexander F. MacDonell, died in 1891. His eldest sister, married to the Marquis de la Marismas, was Dame du Palais to the Empress Eugenie and died in 1908.
Hugh was educated for the army at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He joined the rifle brigade in 1849, and served for three years in British Kaffraria. He retired from the army on 11 March 1853, and entered the diplomatic service in the following year, becoming attache at Florence. He was promoted to be paid attache at Constantinople in December 1858, and served there till 1866, when he was transferred to Copenhagen. In 1869 he was appointed secretary of legation at Buenos Ayres, was transferred to Madrid in 1872, and after three years of service there was promoted to be secretary of embassy at Berlin (1875–8) and subsequently at Rome (1878–82). After serving as chargé d'affaires at Munich from 1882 to 1885, he held in succession the appointments of British envoy at Rio (1885-8), at Copenhagen (1888–93), and at Lisbon (1893-1902). The outbreak of war between Great Britain and the two South African republics in October 1899 raised some very difficult and delicate questions between this country and Portugal, whose port at Lourenço Marques was directly connected with the Transvaal by rail and afforded the principal, if not the only, channel for supplies and external communications when access through the British colonies had been closed. MacDonell's management of the discussions which he had to conduct on these subjects was perfectly tactful and conciliatory, and contributed in no small degree to the maintenance of cordial relations.
His services were recognised by the distinction of C.M.G. in 1889; C.B. in 1890; K.C.M.G. in 1892; and G.C.M.G. in 1899. On his retirement in 1902 he was made a privy councillor, and died in London on 25 Jan. 1904. MacDonell married in July 1870, while at Buenos Aires, Anne, daughter of Edward Lumb, of Wallington Lodge, Surrey, by whom he had four sons and one daughter.
[The Times, 26 Jan. 1904; Foreign Office List, 1905, p. 268; The Scourge of Christendom, by Lieut.-col. Playfair, pp. 249-305.]
MACE, JAMES, 'Jem Mace' (1831–1910), pugilist, born on 8 April 1831 at Beeston, near Swaffham, Norfolk, was son of a tenant on the Windham Estates there. Early in life he was associated with a travelling booth, where he played the violin and gave boxing exhibitions. While thus engaged he attracted the notice of Nat Langham, a showman and former boxing champion, the only vanquisher of Tom Sayers [q.v.], who invited Mace to join his show. Mace made great strides in boxing; his first important fight took place on 2 Oct. 1855 at Mildenhall, Suffolk, when he defeated a local boxer named Slack. His fame soon reached London, and on 17 Feb. 1857 he met and easily beat Bill Thorpe at Canvey Island. Mace was thenceforth acknowledged to be one of the best boxers of his generation. With boxing matches Mace long combined the avocations of publican and circus performer. In 1858 he kept the Swan Inn, Swan Lane, Norwich, and in 1861 the 'Old King John,' Holywell Lane, Shoreditch. He toured with Pablo Fanque's circus during 1861, and with Ginnett's circus in 1862. At one time he was proprietor of the Strawberry recreation grounds, Liverpool.
Meanwhile his fame as a boxer grew, and his matches were numerous. He defeated Bob Brettle, a former victor, on the Essex coast, on 19 and 20 Jan. 1860, thus becoming middle-weight champion. Mace's victory on 18 June 1861 over Sam Hurst (a Lancashire giant, 6 ft. 2½ ins. in height and weighing 15 stone) greatly increased his reputation, and he was challenged for the championship by Thomas King [q. v.] for 200l. a side. The meeting took place on 28 Jan. 1862, and after forty-three rounds of very even fighting Mace won by scientific methods: but he was in turn beaten at
