James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern (born 2 July 1927)[1] is a British lawyer. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Lord Advocate, and Lord Chancellor (1987–1997). He is a former active member of the House of Lords, where he sat as a Conservative. He retired from the House on 22 July 2022.[2]
The Lord Mackay of Clashfern | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2018 | |
| Lord Clerk Register | |
| In office 27 April 2007 – November 2022 | |
| Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Wemyss |
| Succeeded by | Lady Elish Angiolini |
| Shadow Lord Chancellor | |
| In office 2 May 1997 – 11 June 1997 | |
| Leader | John Major |
| Preceded by | The Lord Irvine of Lairg |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Kingsland |
| Lord Chancellor | |
| In office 28 October 1987 – 2 May 1997 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher John Major |
| Preceded by | The Lord Havers |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Irvine of Lairg |
| Lord of Appeal in Ordinary | |
| In office 1 October 1985 – 28 October 1987 | |
| Preceded by | The Lord Fraser of Tullybelton |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle |
| Lord Advocate | |
| In office 5 May 1979 – 16 May 1984 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Ronald King Murray |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Cameron of Lochbroom |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 11 July 1979 – 22 July 2022 Life peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 July 1927 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Hymers (m. 1958) |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh Trinity College, Cambridge |
Early life and education
editMackay was born in Edinburgh on 2 July 1927. He won a scholarship to George Heriot's School,[3] and then studied mathematics and physics at the University of Edinburgh, receiving a joint MA in 1948.[1] He taught mathematics for two years at the University of St Andrews before moving to Trinity College, Cambridge, on a scholarship, from which he obtained a BA in mathematics in 1952.[1] He then returned to Edinburgh University where he studied law, receiving an LLB (with distinction) in 1955.[1]
Career
edit
Mackay was elected to the Faculty of Advocates in 1955. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1965.[1] He was Sheriff Principal for Renfrew and Argyll from 1972 to 1974.[1] In 1973 he became Vice-Dean of the Faculty on Advocates and from 1976 until 1979 served as its Dean, the leader of the Scots bar.[1]
In 1979, Mackay was appointed Lord Advocate, the senior law officer in Scotland, and was created a life peer as Baron Mackay of Clashfern, of Eddrachillis in the District of Sutherland, taking his territorial designation from his father's birthplace, a cottage beside Loch na Claise Fearna.[4] After his retirement, Mackay sat in the House of Lords. He was also Commissary to the University of Cambridge until 2016. He is the editor-in-chief of Halsbury's Laws of England, the major legal work which states the law of England, first published in 1907; the post is usually held by a former Lord Chancellor.[5] He is also a senior fellow of The Trinity Forum, a Christian nonprofit organisation that supports the renewal of society through the development of leaders.
Family and religion
edit
Mackay is the son of railway signalman James Mackay (who came from Claisfearn near Tarbet in Sutherland) and his wife Janet Hymers.[1] Mackay married Elizabeth Gunn Hymers, of Halkirk, in 1958. They have a son, James and two daughters, Elizabeth and Shona.[6] Mackay was raised a member of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland; as an adult he was an elder of the church.[1] The church forbids its members to attend Catholic religious services; nevertheless Mackay attended two Catholic funeral masses for members of the judiciary (for Charles Ritchie Russell in 1986,[4] and again for John Wheatley in 1988).[1] Following the second mass Mackay was called before a church synod where he denied that he had broken the church's prohibition of showing "support for the doctrine of Catholicism", saying "I went there purely with the purpose of paying my respects to my dead colleagues."[7] The church suspended Mackay from the eldership and from membership.[1] The synod met again in Glasgow in 1989 to review the decision; the meeting asked Mackay to undertake not to attend further Catholic services, but he announced "I have no intention of giving any such undertaking as that for which the synod has asked",[8] and later withdrew from the church. The dispute precipitated a schism, leading to the formation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches. Mackay did not join the new communion, but as of 1993[update] worshipped with their Inverness congregation.[4]
As a Presbyterian, Mackay was a firm believer in moderation. At a gathering for the Faculty of Advocates, Mackay had laid on a spread of tea and toast, complete with a tiny pot of honey. One of the lawyers in attendance contemplated the pot and remarked, "I see your Lordship keeps a bee."[9][10] Mackay is also the Honorary President of the Scottish Bible Society.[11] He supported the society's programme to send a Bible to every court in Scotland[11] and wrote in support of "The Bible in Scots Law", a pamphlet it distributed to Scottish lawyers which described the Bible as a "foundational source book for Scotland's legal system".[12] He is a strict sabbatarian, refusing to work or travel on a Sunday, or even to give an interview if there is a chance it could be rebroadcast on the sabbath.[4]
Honours and arms
edit| Styles of The Lord Mackay of Clashfern | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | His Lordship |
| Spoken style | Your Lordship |
| Alternative style | Sir |
Mackay was appointed a Knight of the Thistle by Queen Elizabeth II on 27 November 1997.[13] In 2007 the Queen appointed him to the office of Lord Clerk Register, replacing David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss.[14] He retired from this office in November 2022, and was succeeded by Lady Elish Angiolini.[15] He became a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1984.[16] In 1989, he was elected honorary fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.[17] He received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1990.[18] He was awarded an honorary degree (Doctor of Laws) by the University of Bath in 1994[19] and by Northumbria University in 2017.[20]
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References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson (April 2006). "James Peter Hymers Mackay". The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews.
- ^ "Lord Mackay of Clashfern". UK Parliament. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "James Mackay, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, b. 1927. Judge and Lord Chancellor". National Galleries of Scotland.
- ^ a b c d Cal McCrystal (12 December 1993). "Profile: Never on a Sunday: The Lord Chancellor is a tireless legal reformer, but only six days a week". The Independent.
- ^ "Halsbury's Laws : History". LexisNexis.
- ^ "Lady Mackay flown to hospital after breaking leg hillwalking". 9 June 1998.
- ^ "British Lord Goes to Funerals, Loses Church Post". Associated Press (Los Angeles Times). 6 November 1988. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- ^ "British official quits church over its curbs". Toledo Blade. 28 May 1989. p. 5.
- ^ Jenny McCartney (18 May 2008). "How little Leo Blair was conceived is definitely too much information". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ This jest is also associated with Jimmy Shand http://logicsrock.blogspot.com/2014/09/i-see-you-keep-bee-and-why-yessers.html.
- ^ a b "Bibles for the courts". Scottish Bible Society. July 2010. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010.
- ^ Hector L MacQueen and Scott Wortley (22 August 2010). "The Bible in Scots law". Scots Law News. School of Law, University of Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012.
- ^ "No. 24306". The Edinburgh Gazette. 28 November 1997. p. 3025.
- ^ "Lord Clerk Register appointed". Scottish Executive.
- ^ "New Lord Clerk Register of Scotland". Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. 5 June 2023.
- ^ "Lord James Peter Hymers Mackay of Clashfern KT PC QC FRSE – The Royal Society of Edinburgh". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ "Trinity College, Cambridge – Honorary Fellows". Trinity College, Cambridge. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ^ "Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates". www1.hw.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ^ "Honorary Graduates 1989 to present". bath.ac.uk. University of Bath. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "Former Lord Chancellor honoured by Northumbria University". Mynewsdesk. 13 July 2017.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 3500.
External links
edit- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
- Voting record at PublicWhip.org
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
- Lord Mackay of Clashfern – Jurist, Reformer und Staatsmann Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Merk, "Lord Mackay of Clashfern", Bonner Rechtsjournal, Sonderausgabe 1/2012, S. 28 ff.
- Portraits of James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern at the National Portrait Gallery, London
