Kenneth Augustus Muir Mackenzie, 1st Baron Muir Mackenzie, (29 June 1845 – 22 May 1930) was a British barrister, civil servant, and politician.

Background and education

Muir Mackenzie was a younger son of Sir John Muir Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet, and Sophia Matilda, daughter of James Raymond Johnstone, of Alva,

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the ...

. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1873 he was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn.

Career

Muir Mackenzie was

Clerk of the Crown in Chancery A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service c ...

from 1885 to 1915 and served as Permanent Secretary to the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

from 1890 to 1915. He was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1887 and a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

of Lincoln's Inn in 1891. He was made a CB in 1893, a KCB in 1898 and a GCB in 1911 and in 1915 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Muir Mackenzie, of Delvine in the County of Perth. In February 1924 Muir Mackenzie, then aged 78, was appointed a Lord-in-waiting (government whip in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

) by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, head of the first ever Labour government, and was sworn of the Privy Council the same year. He held this position until the government fell in November 1924 and again from 1929 to 1930. At the time of his death he was the oldest government minister of the twentieth century.

Family

Lord Muir-Mackenzie married Amelia, daughter of William Graham, MP, in 1874. They had one son and three daughters, one of them the violinist Dorothea Muir Mackenzie (1881-1971), universally known as "Dolly", who studied with

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysa� ...

and who in 1907 married the pianist

Mark Hambourg Mark Hambourg (russian: Марк Михайлович Гамбург, 1 June 1879 – 26 August 1960) was a Russian British concert pianist. Life Mark Hambourg was the eldest son of the pianist Michael Hambourg (1855–1916), a pupil o ...

. His wife died in 1900 and his only son William in 1901, aged 25 and unmarried. Muir-Mackenzie died at his home in Cumberland Terrace,

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

, London, in May 1930, aged 84, and was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

. As he had no surviving male issue the barony became extinct on his death. He is buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muir Mackenzie, Kenneth 1845 births 1930 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Permanent Secretaries to the Lord Chancellor's Office Younger sons of baronets Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Scotland men's representative footballers (1870–1872) People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Wanderers F.C. players Scottish cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Old Carthusians F.C. players Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers Men's association football players not categorized by position English men's footballers Barons created by George V Place of birth missing

Background and education

Career

Family

See also

References