Donald Mackay, 11th Lord Reay

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–British administrator and Liberal politician.

Early life and education Mackay was born Donald Jacob baron Mackay in The Hague, Netherlands, the son of Aeneas Mackay, 10th Lord Reay, a Dutch member of Parliament, and jonkvrouw Maria Catharina Anna Jacoba Fagel, He attended the Gymnasium Haganum and studied law at Leiden University, receiving a doctorate in 1861 with a thesis on the judicial reforms of Herman Willem Daendels as governor-general of the Dutch East Indies.

Shortly after receiving his doctorate, Mackay was stationed as an attaché at the Dutch legation in London. He used his time in London to build relations, and to study the social question as, in addition to colonial policy, labour legislation held his interest. After his return to The Hague, he worked as an assistant clerk at the Department of Colonial Affairs for some years.

Political career in the Netherlands

The Mackay family was one among multiple aristocratic families inspired by the Réveil, and Mackay's father had sided with the confessional anti-revolutionaries in parliament. Despite this background as well as his personal religious conviction, Donald Mackay had come into contact with liberal and progressive ideas in Leiden, and these liberal convictions had been reinforced by his time in London. As a liberal candidate, he contested the 1871 Dutch general election in the constituency of Tiel, which included his ancestral estate at Ophemert. He was re-elected in 1875.

In parliament, Mackay frequently spoke on colonial affairs, education, foreign affairs and judicial matters. In 1885 he was appointed Governor of Bombay, 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.

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 (1893–1921) and University College, London, and the first President of the British Academy from 1902 to 1907. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Roxburghshire from 1892 to 1918 and served as President of the first day of the 1882 Co-operative Congress. 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 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 (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 (1860–1955), and which visit was mainly organised by his translator Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (1865–1921).

Family

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