Military Wiki
The Right Honourable
The Lord Mackay of Clashfern
KT PC FRSE
Official portrait of Lord Mackay of Clashfern crop 2
Official portrait, 2018
Lord Clerk Register

In office
27 April 2007 – November 2022
Monarch Elizabeth II
Charles III
Preceded by The Earl of Wemyss
Succeeded by 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(1927-07-02) (age 97)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Hymers (m. 1958)
Alma mater University of Edinburgh
Trinity College, Cambridge

James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, KT PC FRSE (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]

Early life and education[]

Mackay 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[]

James Mackay

Mackay giving a public lecture at LSE in 1989

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] Since 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 that supports the renewal of society through the development of leaders.

Family and religion[]

National Law School of India University, Bangalore, India - 20130524-04

A tree planted in the grounds of the National Law School of India University in Bangalore by Lord Mackay of Clashfern.

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 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] Mackay is also the Honorary President of the Scottish Bible Society.[10] He supported the society's programme to send a Bible to every court in Scotland[10] 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".[11] 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[]

Styles of
The Lord Mackay of Clashfern
Clan member crest badge - Clan Mackay
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.[12] In 2007 the Queen appointed Lord Mackay to the office of Lord Clerk Register, replacing David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss.[13] He retired from this office in November 2022, and was succeeded by Lady Elish Angiolini.[14] Mackay became a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1984.[15] In 1989, Mackay was elected Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.[16] Mackay also received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1990.[17] He was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) by the University of Bath in 1994[18] and by Northumbria University in 2017.[19]

Coat of arms of J
Coronet of a British Baron
Mackay of Clashfern Escutcheon
Crest
A Dexter Arm couped at the Elbow proper the hand grasping a Pair of Balances Or
Escutcheon
Azure on a Chevron Argent between two Bears' Heads couped Argent muzzled Gules in chief and a Fleece Argent in base a Roebuck's Head erased between two Hands grasping Daggers the points turned towards the buck's head all proper
Supporters
Dexter: a Male Figure attired in the Robes of the Lord High Chancellor; Sinister: a Male Figure attired in the Robes of one of Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the Law in Scotland proper
Motto
Manu Justi (With the hand of a just man)[20]

References[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 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. http://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Mackay.html. 
  2. "Lord Mackay of Clashfern". https://members.parliament.uk/member/1883/career. Retrieved 22 July 2022. 
  3. "James Mackay, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, b. 1927. Judge and Lord Chancellor". National Galleries of Scotland. http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/P/6062/artistName/Tom%20Phillips/recordId/52541. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Cal McCrystal (12 December 1993). "Profile: Never on a Sunday: The Lord Chancellor is a tireless legal reformer, but only six days a week". https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/profile-never-on-a-sunday-the-lord-chancellor-is-a-tireless-legal-reformer-but-only-six-days-a-week-writes-cal-mccrystal-1466948.html. 
  5. "Halsbury's Laws : History". LexisNexis. http://lexisnexis.co.uk/HalsburysLaw/halsburys_laws_about.html. 
  6. "Lady Mackay flown to hospital after breaking leg hillwalking". https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12262029.lady-mackay-flown-to-hospital-after-breaking-leg-hillwalking/. 
  7. "British Lord Goes to Funerals, Loses Church Post". 6 November 1988. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-11-06/news/mn-406_1_lord-chancellor. 
  8. "British official quits church over its curbs". 28 May 1989. p. 5. 
  9. Jenny McCartney (2008-05-18). "How little Leo Blair was conceived is definitely too much information". https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/jennymccartney/3558477/How-little-Leo-Blair-was-conceived-is-definitely-too-much-information.html. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Bibles for the courts". Scottish Bible Society. July 2010. http://www.scottishbiblesociety.org/events/Bibles%20for%20the%20courts/?t=events_top_story. 
  11. Hector L MacQueen and Scott Wortley (22 August 2010). "The Bible in Scots law". Scots Law News. School of Law, University of Edinburgh. http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/sln/blogentry.aspx?blogentryref=8351. 
  12. "No. 24306". 28 November 1997. p. 3025. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/24306/page/3025 
  13. "Lord Clerk Register appointed". Scottish Executive. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/04/27102051. 
  14. "New Lord Clerk Register of Scotland". Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. 5 June 2023. https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/about-the-scottish-court-service/scs-news/2023/06/05/new-lord-clerk-register-of-scotland. 
  15. "Lord James Peter Hymers Mackay of Clashfern KT PC QC FRSE - The Royal Society of Edinburgh" (in en-GB). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/james-mackay-of-clashfern/. 
  16. "Trinity College, Cambridge – Honorary Fellows". Trinity College, Cambridge. http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=204. 
  17. "Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates". http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates.htm. 
  18. "Honorary Graduates 1989 to present". bath.ac.uk. University of Bath. http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/hongrads/. 
  19. "Former Lord Chancellor honoured by Northumbria University". https://newsroom.northumbria.ac.uk/pressreleases/former-lord-chancellor-honoured-by-northumbria-university-2066847. 
  20. Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 3500. 

External links[]

Legal offices
Preceded by
Ronald Murray
Lord Advocate
1979–1984
Succeeded by
The Lord Cameron of Lochbroom
Political offices
Preceded by
The Lord Havers
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
1987–1997
Succeeded by
The Lord Irvine of Lairg
Preceded by
The Lord Irvine of Lairg
Shadow Lord Chancellor
1997
Succeeded by
The Lord Kingsland
Preceded by
The Earl of Wemyss
Lord Clerk Register
2007–2022
Succeeded by
Elish Angiolini
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Lord Tanlaw
Gentlemen
Baron Mackay of Clashfern
Followed by
The Lord Cameron of Lochbroom
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