Robert Mackay (February 24, 1840 – December 25, 1916) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businessman and statesman.

Life and career

Mackay was born in

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. An 1855 emigrant to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada from his birthplace in Caithness, Mackay got his start working at the Henry Morgan & Company department store. He then went to work for Mackay Brothers wholesalers, owned by his uncles. Highly successful in business, he became a close business associate of powerful Montreal entrepreneurs:

Rodolphe Forget Colonel Sir Joseph David Rodolphe Forget (December 10, 1861 – February 19, 1919) was a Canadian business investor, stockbroker, and politician. He held national directorships and had major investments in energy companies, as well as industr ...

, stockbroker; Herbert S. Holt, President of the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...

; and

Vincent Meredith Sir Henry Vincent Meredith, 1st Baronet (February 28, 1850 – February 24, 1929), was a Canadian banker and philanthropist. He was president of the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. He was gover ...

, President of the

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...

. Robert Mackay was president of Herald Publishing Company, vice-president of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada, and sat on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

Royal Trust Company Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000 ...

, Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company, Dominion Textile Company, Limited, and others. A member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

, he twice ran unsuccessfully for the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

as the

candidate for the St. Antoine, Quebec riding in the

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

and

1900 Canadian federal election The 1900 Canadian federal election was held on November 7, 1900 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 9th Parliament of Canada. As a result of the election, the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, was re-elec ...

s. In 1901, he was appointed by Prime Minister Laurier to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

where he served until his death on

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in 1916.

Robert Mackay is interred with his wife Jane in the

Mount Royal Cemetery Opened in 1852, Mount Royal Cemetery is a terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Temple Emanu-El Cemetery, a Reform Judaism burial ground, is within the Mount Royal grounds. Th ...

in Montreal. His daughter, Cairine Mackay Wilson, became the first woman appointed to the Canadian Senate. His home in Montreal's

Golden Square Mile / ''Mille carré doré'' , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, Neighbourhood , image_skyline = Ravenscrag.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = ''Rave ...

was demolished in 1930. His brother

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

served in Quebec's Legislative Council.

References

* Stewart, Wallace. ''The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian biography''. (3rd Edition) (1926 – Macmillan Co. of Canada Ltd.) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Robert 1840 births 1916 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian senators from Quebec Candidates in the 1896 Canadian federal election Candidates in the 1900 Canadian federal election Liberal Party of Canada senators People from Caithness Politicians from Montreal Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec Immigrants to the Province of Canada Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery