Charles Mackay (mayor)

Charles Mackay (29 June 1875 – 3 May 1929) was a New Zealand lawyer, local politician, and Mayor of Wanganui between 1906 and 1920.

Born Charles Ewing Mackay (later known as Charles Evan Mackay) in Nelson in 1875, Mackay achieved a BA and LLB in law. He started a law firm in Wanganui in 1902. Gaining election to the Wanganui Borough Council in November 1905, he successfully contested the mayoralty in 1906.[1] Mackay stood as an independent in the Wanganui electorate in the 1908 election, but was defeated by James Thomas Hogan and George Hutchison in the first ballot.[2]

He was famously blackmailed by writer Walter D'Arcy Cresswell[3] and in 1920, Mackay was convicted of Cresswell's attempted murder.[1] Mackay served time in Mount Eden prison and was released in 1926. Upon his release, he moved to England and from 1928, worked in Berlin as a language teacher and part-time correspondent.[4] In his latter function, he covered communist street riots raging after may day 1929 and was mistakenly shot dead by a policeman.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Broughton, W. S. "Charles Ewing Mackay". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved December 2011.
  2. ↑ Mansfield, F. W. (1909). The General Election, 1908. National Library. p. 11. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Newton, John. "D’Arcy Cresswell, 1896–1960". Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Controversial ex-mayor killed in Berlin riots | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". Nzhistory.net.nz. 2014-08-22. Retrieved 2016-01-07.


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