William C. “Bill Cole” MacDonald

Island story

William Creighton “Bill Cole” MacDonald was part of a Pictou Island family whose story connects military service, lighthouse keeping and later Island community life. He married Willena “Lena Bill” MacCallum, daughter of Hugh “Little Hughie” MacCallum and Flora MacCallum. The 1931 census places William and Willena in Flora’s household with their children Cameron, Janet and Lorraine. PIHS lighthouse research identifies William as keeper of the East Lighthouse in 1927–1928, and church remembrance also associates him with First World War service in the Canadian Railway Force. The family later became closely tied to the Island’s church and lighthouse memory. William and Willena are commemorated together in the Church Cemetery at C-006. Their marriage registration records a wedding at First Church manse in Pictou on 27 July 1922. William Creighton McDonald, twenty-six, was an Island-born and resident fisherman, with father Hector McDonald and mother Janet McCallum. Willena Belle McCallum, nineteen, was an Island-born and resident housekeeper, with father Hugh McCallum and mother Flora McSwain. The marriage supplies these parental names directly; it does not itself establish exact birth dates or additional military service.