John Keiller MacKay
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant Colonel John Keiller MacKay, PC, OC
DSO
, KStJ, VD, QC
(July 11, 1888 - June 12, 1970), served as the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
from 1957 to 1963.
, the son of John Duncan and Bessie (Murray) MacKay. He was educated at the Pictou Academy
, the Royal Military College
(1909), Saint Francis Xavier University (BA 1912) and Dalhousie University
(LL.B. 1922).
he served in, and later commanded, 6th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
and was mentioned in dispatches
three times and wounded twice. MacKay won the Distinguished Service Order
in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme
and in 1918 was seriously wounded at Arras
. He left the military after the war but was involved in the formation of the Royal Canadian Legion
in 1925 and was its first National Vice-Chairman. He was a freemason and was initiated in 1925 to Ionic Lodge, #25 G.R.C.
He was called
to the Nova Scotia
bar in 1922 and the Ontario
bar in 1923. He was a senior partner of a law firm, "MacKay, Matheson & Martin" in Toronto
and became a specialist in criminal law
. He was appointed a King's Counsel in 1933. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario
in 1935 and to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1950.
LCol The Hon. John Keiller MacKay served as His Honour the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1957 to 1963, and opened the Lieutenant Governor's New Year's Levee to the general public for the first time.
In 1967, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
. He was also a Knight of Grace of the Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem and was responsible for bringing the Military and Hospitaler Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem to Canada.
He died in Toronto in 1970 and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
.
He was married to Katherine 'Kay' Jean MacLeod and had three sons.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, KStJ, VD, QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(July 11, 1888 - June 12, 1970), served as the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...
from 1957 to 1963.
Education
John Keiller MacKay was born in 1888 in the village of Plainfield, Nova Scotia in Pictou County, Nova ScotiaPictou County, Nova Scotia
Pictou County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 46,513 people in 2006, which represents a decline of 6.3 percent from 1991. It is the sixth most populous county in Nova...
, the son of John Duncan and Bessie (Murray) MacKay. He was educated at the Pictou Academy
Pictou Academy
Pictou Academy , founded in 1816 by the late Dr. Thomas McCulloch, is a secondary school in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Prior to the twentieth century, it was a liberal nonsectarian college, a grammar school, an academy and then a secondary school. Pictou Academy's current principal is James Ryan. The...
, the Royal Military College
Royal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
(1909), Saint Francis Xavier University (BA 1912) and Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
(LL.B. 1922).
Career
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he served in, and later commanded, 6th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
and was mentioned in dispatches
Mentioned in Dispatches
A soldier Mentioned in Despatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.In a number of countries, a soldier's name must be mentioned in...
three times and wounded twice. MacKay won the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme
Battle of the Somme (1916)
The Battle of the Somme , also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 14 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of the river of the same name...
and in 1918 was seriously wounded at Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
. He left the military after the war but was involved in the formation of the Royal Canadian Legion
Royal Canadian Legion
The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian ex-service organization founded in 1925, with more than 400,000 members worldwide. Membership includes people who have served as current and former military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and municipal police, direct relatives of...
in 1925 and was its first National Vice-Chairman. He was a freemason and was initiated in 1925 to Ionic Lodge, #25 G.R.C.
He was called
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
to the Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
bar in 1922 and the Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
bar in 1923. He was a senior partner of a law firm, "MacKay, Matheson & Martin" in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and became a specialist in criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
. He was appointed a King's Counsel in 1933. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
The Superior Court of Justice is the superior court of general jurisdiction for the Province of Ontario, Canada. It is the successor to the former Ontario Court of Justice , and was created on April 19, 1999...
in 1935 and to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1950.
LCol The Hon. John Keiller MacKay served as His Honour the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1957 to 1963, and opened the Lieutenant Governor's New Year's Levee to the general public for the first time.
In 1967, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. He was also a Knight of Grace of the Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem and was responsible for bringing the Military and Hospitaler Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem to Canada.
He died in Toronto in 1970 and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a cemetery located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.In the early 19th century, the only authorized cemeteries within the city of Toronto were limited to the members of either the Roman Catholic Church or the Church of England...
.
He was married to Katherine 'Kay' Jean MacLeod and had three sons.
Legacy
- the "Keiller MacKay Park" at North Bay, OntarioNorth Bay, OntarioNorth Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:...
includes 52 homes for senior citizens. - the "Keiller MacKay Room" in the Bloomfield Centre of Saint Francis Xavier University in Nova ScotiaNova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, which opened in 1973 features a life-size portrait of Keiller MacKay in full Highland dress. - Major C. I. N. MacLeod, the St. Francis Xavier university's piper, composed a musical tribute composed for the late Lieutenant Colonel the Honourable John Keiller MacKay.
- The Lieutenant Colonel The Honourable John Keller Memorial Trophy, which is awarded for Canadian Armed Forces - Regular and Reserve Marching Formations, was named in his honour.
Quotes
Hon. Keiller MacKay "Many new things are useful, but the experience of the ages must not be repudiated. Tradition has its failures but is it not so that tradition is the sum of those enduring values, which have been kept alive through all mutations and help to give us continual stability and direction to life?"Books
- 4237 Dr. Adrian Preston & Peter Dennis (Edited) "Swords and Covenants" Rowman And Littlefield, London. Croom Helm. 1976.
- H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "To Serve Canada: A History of the Royal Military College of Canada" 1997 Toronto, University of Toronto PressUniversity of Toronto PressUniversity of Toronto Press is Canada's leading scholarly publisher and one of the largest university presses in North America. Founded in 1901, UTP has published over 6,500 books, with well over 3,500 of these still in print....
, 1969. - H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC - A History of Royal Military College" Second Edition 1982
- H16511 Dr. Richard Preston "R.M.C. and Kingston: The effect of imperial and military influences on a Canadian community" 1968 Kingston, OntarioKingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
. - H1877 R. Guy C. Smith (editor) "As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember". In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876-1918. Volume II: 1919-1984. RMCRoyal Military College of CanadaThe Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
. Kingston, OntarioKingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
. The R.M.C. Club of Canada. 1984