MACKAY, John
| Service Number: | 409 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen |
| Born: | Scotland, United Kingdom, 1877 |
| Home Town: | Veresdale, Logan, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Cooroy, Queensland, Australia, 22 August 1953, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Cooroy Cemetery, Queensland, Australia Plot: Presbyterian, Row F, #10 |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 409 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Apr 1901: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 409, 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 506 notes 6th QIB embarked at Pinkenba 4 Apr 1901 aboard Victoria arriving Cape Town 2 May 1901. | |
| 23 Jun 1902: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 409, 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 508 notes 6th QIB embarked at Durban 17 May 1902 aboard Devon returning to Australia arriving Brisbane 17 Jun 1902, disbanded 23 Jun 1902. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
His surname has been recorded variously as Mackay and McKay on different documents relating to his South African (Boer) war service.
When he enlisted in 1901 in the 6th QIB he was recorded as John Mackay when his details were published with the rank and file in The Queenslander, 13 Apr 1901, which noted his N.O.K. as his father Roderick Mackay, Veresdale, Upper Logan. This matches with his entry on the original nominal roll for the 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen Contingent held by National Archives.
However, in the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 6th QIB, Bk 2 p. 186, he is recorded as John McKay. The Boer War Service Paybook also notes following discharge he was granted a pass to travel to Beaudesert and that his service medal was forwarded to Veresdale, Beaudesert.It is also noted that in the list of main body of returning soldiers of the 6th QIB aboard SS Devon published in The Queenslander, 21 Jun 1902, p. 1390, his name was altered to Private J. McKay.
John McKay was born in 1877 in Scotland, a son to Roderick McKay and Catherine McKay (nee Sutherland). It is unclear when his father emigrated bringing his family to Australia, but he was living at Veresdale by 1900. Veresdale, though part of the Logan local authority, is located closer to Beaudesert. When his father passed in 1927 at Cooroy an obituary was published in The Nambour Chronicle which noted he had relocated to Cooroy around 1907.
John McKay married Lavinia Maud Crozier on 9 Aug 1905 at Brisbane, and they also resided at Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast and had 10 children. His wife Lavinia was born at Lismore, NSW, in 1886. Her father, James, relocated his family to Queensland settling at Beaudesert in 1891, the closest major town to Veresdale.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 517; National Archives Australia- B 5172 Nominal Roll of 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen Contingent Queensland Defence Force for service in South Africa, p. 6; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 6th QIB, Bk 2 p. 186).