This Winnipeg-based company was founded in 1930 by brothers James Daniel “Jim” MacDonald and Duncan Robert Grant MacDonald, who had moved here from Nova Scotia in 1904. They were later joined by their younger brother John Edwin MacDonald. In 1914, the three brothers incorporated a sheet metal business called the MacDonald Brothers Sheet Metal and Roofing Company with a plant located at 49-53 Aikins Street.
In 1930, they started a companion firm known as the MacDonald Brothers Aircraft Company to manufacture aircraft parts at a plant on Robinson Street in Winnipeg, later relocated to the Stevenson Airport. During the Second World War, it became a major manufacturer with nearly 5,000 employees, building wings and assembling the Avro Anson trainer-bomber aircraft.
The company was sold in July 1954 to become a subsidiary of the UK-based Bristol Aeroplane Company, later renamed as Bristol Aerospace. The company is now a subsidiary of Magellan Aerospace Limited.
Period
President
1930-1949
Duncan Robert Grant MacDonald (1887-1949)
1949-?
John Edwin MacDonald (1894-1969)
?-1954
?
1954-?
R. J. Reynolds
?-1967
?
1967-1981
Walter Murray Auld (1916-2015)
Period
Vice-President
?-?
James Daniel “Jim” MacDonald (1883-1972)
1955-?
W. S. Haggett
Period
General Manager
1930-1942
Duncan Robert Grant MacDonald (1887-1949)
c1949
George H. Bragg (1887-1965)
1954-?
W. S. Haggett
?-?
Walter Murray Auld (1916-2015)
Period
Assistant General Manager
1954-?
Walter Murray Auld (1916-2015)
Period
Secretary
?-1954
P. V. E. Jones
1954-?
R. G. Small
Period
Comptroller / Treasurer
1954-?
W. Dunbar
“Plant manager denies rumor,” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 February 1941, page 5.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
“Edwin MacDonald,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 September 1949, page 21.
“Aircraft firm sale considered,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 June 1954, page 3.
“Winnipeg aircraft firm sold,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 July 1954, page 1.
“MacDonald Bros. announces slate of new officials,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 September 1954, page 34.
“Bristol appointment,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 June 1955, page 27.
Obituary [George H. Bragg], Winnipeg Tribune, 6 November 1965, page 33.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 14 June 2024
