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](_blank)
/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 Royal Asiatic Society
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...
(1893–1921) and University College, London
University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
, 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 Co-operative Congress
The Co-operative Congress is the national conference of the UK Co-operative Movement. The first of the modern congresses took place in 1869 following a series of meetings called the " Owenite Congress" in the 1830s. Members of Co-operatives UK ...
. 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