James Mackay (Australian politician)
Encyclopedia
Major-General James Alexander Kenneth Mackay CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, VD (5 June 1859 – 16 November 1935) was an Australian politician.

Born at Wallendenbeen Station near Cootamundra
Cootamundra, New South Wales
Cootamundra is a town and Local Government Area in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. At the 2006 census, Cootamundra had a population of 5,566. It is located on the Olympic Highway at the point where it crosses the Muttama Creek, between Junee and...

 to pastoralist Alexander Mackay and Annie Mackenzie, he attended Camden College
Camden College
Camden College is a fictional liberal arts college, which appears in the works of Bret Easton Ellis, Jill Eisenstadt, and Jonathan Lethem. Whereas Ellis' Camden College is located in New Hampshire, Lethem's Camden is in Vermont, and is notable for being the most expensive college in America...

 and Sydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, selective, day school for boys, located in Darlinghurst, Edgecliff and St Ives, all suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

 before farming at his father's property. In 1885 he joined the military volunteers and raised the West Camden Light Horse; he was a commissioned as a captain
Captain (OF-2)
The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...

 in 1886. He published three books of poetry and two novels from 1887 to 1908, using the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 Kenneth Mackay; in 1896 he published a play, To the West, a collaboration with Alfred Dampier
Alfred Dampier
Alfred Dampier was an English-born actor-managerand playwright, active in Australia. Dampier was born in Horsham, Sussex, England, the son of John Dampier, builder, and his wife Mary, née Daly.. Dampier had a stage career in Manchester before moving to Melbourne, Australia in 1873. Dampier soon...

. In 1897 he raised the first Australian Volunteer Light Horse Regiment, and he was elevated lieutenant-colonel in 1898. In 1895 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 as the member for Boorowa
Electoral district of Boorowa
Boorowa was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian State of New South Wales from 1880 to 1904, including the town of Boorowa. Its name was spelt "Booroowa" from 1899 to 1901.-Members for Boorowa:...

, serving until 1899, when he was appointed to the Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

, where he would remain until 1934. Mackay served as Vice-President of the Executive Council from 1899 to 1900 and from 1903 to 1904. From 1900 to 1901 he served in the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....

 commanding the 6th Imperial Bushmen's contingent of New South Wales, during which time he was mentioned in despatches. Promoted colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 and then brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....

 in 1912, in that year he was also appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath and awarded the Volunteer Officers' Decoration. In 1920 he was promoted brigadier-general and later retired as a major-general; he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on his retirement. Mackay died at Cootamundra in 1935.
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