Donald James Mackay, 1st Baron Reay, 11th Lord Reay, (22 December 1839 – 1 August 1921), in the Netherlands known as Donald Jacob, Baron Mackay, Lord of Ophemert and Zennewijnen, was a Dutch-born British administrator and Liberal politician.

Background

Mackay was born ''Donald Jacob baron Mackay'' in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

,Birth certificate, The Hague Municipal Archive
/ref> the son of Aeneas Mackay, 10th Lord Reay, a Dutch member of Parliament, and jonkvrouw Maria Catharina Anna Jacoba Fagel, daughter of mr. Jacob baron Fagel and jkvr. Maria Boreel, relative of the Boreel baronets.''Nederland's Adelsboek'' 88 (1999), p. 28.

Political career

Lord Reay succeeded his father in 1876 and was naturalised as a

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

in 1877. He was created Baron Reay, of Durness in the County of Sutherland, in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, in 1881. In 1885 he was appointed

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

, a post he held until 1890. He was appointed a Knight Grand Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire in 1887 and a Knight Grand Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India in 1890. After his return to Britain he served as Under-Secretary of State for India between 1894 and 1895 in

Lord Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of h ...

Liberal administration. He was also a British delegate at the Second Peace Conference which led to the signing of the Hague Convention 1907. Other British delegates included

Ernest Satow Sir Ernest Mason Satow (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British diplomat, scholar and Japanologist. He is better known in Japan, where he was known as , than in Britain or the other countries in which he served as a diplomat. He was ...

and Eyre Crowe. Perhaps his most memorable contribution to politics was during the crisis over the

People's Budget The 1909/1910 People's Budget was a proposal of the Liberal government that introduced unprecedented taxes on the lands and incomes of Britain's wealthy to fund new social welfare programmes, such as non-contributary old age pensions under Ol ...

of 1909–10, where the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, violating a convention going back more than 200 years, rejected the Budget. Reay strongly opposed this act, and gave the memorable warning: "Oligarchies are seldom destroyed and more frequently commit suicide".

Other public appointments

Apart from his political and administrative career Lord Reay was Rector of St Andrews University from 1884 to 1886, Chairman of the London School Board (1897–1904), President of the

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(1893–1921) and

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, and the first President of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

from 1902 to 1907. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Roxburghshire from 1892 to 1918 and served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the first day of the 1882

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. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1906 and made a Knight of the Thistle in 1911. He received an honorary doctorate ( LL.D) from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

during their 450th jubilee celebrations in June 1901. He remained in contact with the Dutch community and attended the reception and spoke with the famous Dutch writer

Louis Couperus Louis Marie-Anne Couperus (10 June 1863 – 16 July 1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet. His oeuvre contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological fiction, psychological and historical fiction, historical novels, novellas, short ...

(1863–1923) on the occasion of his visit to London in June 1921, being invited by the Dutch ambassador in London,

René de Marees van Swinderen Jhr. Reneke (René) de Marees van Swinderen (6 October 1860, in Groningen – 17 January 1955, in London) was a Dutch diplomat and politician. He married Elizabeth Lindsay Glover 21 December 1904 in Washington, D.C. Career *From September 9, ...

(1860–1955), and which visit was mainly organised by his translator

Alexander Teixeira de Mattos Alexander Louis Teixeira de Mattos (9 April 1865 – 5 December 1921), known as Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, was a Dutch-English journalist, literary critic and publisher, who gained his greatest fame as a translator. Early life The Teixei ...

(1865–1921).Ronald Breugelmans, ''Louis Couperus. Lion of the season''. Raamsdonk, De Roofpers, 1982

Family

Lord Reay married Fanny Georgiana Jane, daughter of Richard Hasler, of Aldingbourne,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, in 1877. They had no children. He died in August 1921, aged 81. On his death the barony of 1881 became extinct while he was succeeded in the Scottish title by his cousin Eric baron Mackay (1870–1921) who was succeeded only three months later by his son Sir Aeneas Alexander baron Mackay (1905–1963), 13th Lord Reay, member of the House of Lords (1955–1959).

References

External links

Photograph of Lord Reay at the National Portrait Gallery
* Papers of Lord Reay from his time as Governor of Bombay umbaiare held at https://www.soas.ac.uk/library/archives/collections/a-z/r/. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reay, Donald Mackay, 11th Lord 1839 births 1921 deaths Academics of University College London Mackay, Donald

Donald Donald is a Scottish masculine given name. It is derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinter ...

Mackay, Donald Dutch people of Scottish descent Governors of Bombay Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Knights of the Thistle Lord-lieutenants of Roxburghshire Members of the London School Board Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Delegates to the Hague Peace Conferences Presidents of Co-operative Congress Presidents of the British Academy Rectors of the University of St Andrews Administrators in British India Presidents of the Royal Asiatic Society Members of the Bombay Legislative Council Fellows of the British Academy Scottish justices of the peace 11 Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria Deputy lieutenants Scottish clan chiefs