[2] Her father, Alexander Murray Donaldson (1834-1883), had emigrated from Scotland to Adelaide, Australia and returned to settle with her mother, Mary Isabella Muir (1840-1926) to live in Norwood, Surrey, England, where Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson was born.

[4] In Croydon she met her life long friend, illustrator Isabel Bonus [5] (whose family wealth also came from ship broking) and they moved to Scotland.

[1] She was said to display sensitivity and artistic composition in her images, and also learned the sciences of chemistry and optics to process her photographs and modify the equipment she used.

[1] In 1925 Donaldson and Bonus built a new house of local materials (blue granite and heather and turf roof)[9] at Sanna Bheag, Ardnamurchan.

[1] One of the NMS images epitomises her style, it is of Lauchlan MacAskill 'with a peat spade, his pet dog and kitten' at Laig Bay, Isle of Eigg.