MACKAY, JAMES R. (1861-1930)

MACKAY, JAMES R., Presbyterian minister, Tabusintac and Burnt Church, 1901-12; b. Stromness, Orkney, Scotland, 24 Jan 1861; m. c1898, Annie Geddes, of Nethy Bridge, Scotland; d. Rousay, Orkney, c1930.

When he was a young man James R. MacKay was a lay preacher, and a teacher in Tulloch School at Nethy Bridge, Scotland. He later took an MA at Edinburgh. He also studied divinity there but finished his preparation for the ministry at Knox College in Toronto. Ordained in 1894, he had pastorates at Richmond Bay and Souris, P.E.I., before being called to Tabusintac and Burnt Church in the fall of 1901.

MacKay had an onerous travel schedule at Tabusintac, preaching there each Sunday, at Burnt Church every second Sunday, and sometimes in a small church at Tracadie. He grew used to making the rounds, however, and stayed for nearly eleven years. He was described as a man of principle and sound judgment who won the admiration of all who knew him, and whose pastorate was one of "unbroken success and prosperity." So much so that it was announced in 1910 that his congregations had become financially independent and would no longer be seeking external support.

McKay, who characterized his Miramichi years as "the happiest and brightest period of his life," left in August 1912 for Middleville, Ont. In 1914, he came back to New Brunswick as minister at Harcourt. He spent two years there and another two years at Tide Head, N.B. He then returned to Scotland and was minister of the United Free Church in Cromdale, Morayshire, from 1921 to 1925. Following the death of his wife, Annie Geddes, he moved back to the Orkney Islands, the place of his birth, and he died there, at age sixty-nine.