MacBeth was born in Toronto, the son of John Charles McKay MacBeth and Virginia Maria Palmer. MacBeth served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II from 1943 to 1945 on the corvette 'Orangeville' and attained the rank of Petty Officer. After the war he studied as a lawyer and graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1948. He worked with his father. Their law firm became MacBeth and MacBeth. Later he practiced with a friend from kindergarten Douglas Swinarton Johnson as the law firm MacBeth and Johnson. His other lifelong friend, Andrew Leroy or uncle Wump, was also from kindergarten. He and his wife Ruth raised three children, John, Wendy and Nancy. He enjoyed clothes, cheap cigars and making fires. For years he and Ruth made their own Christmas cards, some needed a box for mailing. Fascinated as a boy by 'Mutiny on the Bounty', late in life he saw Pitcairn Island. Every day he read from the Bible. The kilt of his ancestors who came to the Red River settlement in 1812 was worn for Christmas family gatherings. Community involvement ranged from the Kiwanis club of the Kingsway, to Masons lodge 655, to president of the Ontario Cancer Society.
Politics
He was the last reeve of Etobicoke from 1963 to 1966 and was also chairman of the Etobicoke board of education. He had served on the Etobicoke Hydro commission as well. In the 1971 provincial election he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of York West. He defeated Liberal candidate Dave Rattray by 14,180 votes. He was re-elected in 1975 in the riding of Humber defeating Liberal candidate Alex Marchetti. He was re-elected in 1977. MacBeth was appointed to cabinet On June 1, 1974 as Minister of Labour to replace Fern Guindon who was seeking Federal office. In October 1975 he was promoted to Provincial Secretary for Justice and Solicitor General. In 1977, he briefly held the position of Minister of Correctional Services after Arthur Meen retired from office. MacBeth said that one of his best accomplishments was passing a Sunday closing law in Ontario. He said, "I still get letters from people who are thankful that they do not have to work on those days." The legislation proved to be unwieldy and was eventually repealed in 1992. He retired from politics in 1981.
