Lords Reay (1628)
1st Lord Reay, Donald Mackay, b.1591, a.1628, d.1649
The Mackays were an ancient Highland family based in the lands of
Strathnaver in Sutherland. Donald Mackay was the son of Huistean Du (Hugh)
Mackay of Farr, Tongue and Strathnaver (b.c.1562, d.1614) and his second wife
Jane Gordon (b.1574), daughter of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland. He was created 1st Baronet
Mackay of Far in 1627 and raised to the peerage the following year. He served
under King Christian IV of Denmark in 1627 and under King Gustavus Adolphus of
Sweden from 1629 to 1630. In 1631, while helping to raise troops for fighting
in Sweden he and was briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London on the grounds
of helping to support James Hamilton, 3rd Marquess of Hamilton, in
that man’s claims to be King of Scotland. During the Civil Wars he brought in
money and arms from Denmark to support Charles I and led the defence of
Newcastle in 1644 before being arrested and held in Edinburgh Castle. He
finally left Scotland for Denmark in 1648.
2nd Lord Reay, John Mackay, b.c.1612, a.1649, d.1681
Son of the 1st Lord and Barbara Mackenzie, daughter of
Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kintail (for whom see the
earls of Seaforth). He was a Royalist like his
father and was active in the north of Scotland. He joined Middleton during the
Glencairn Uprising and continued fighting long after the failure of that
enterprise.
3rd Lord Reay, George Mackay, b.1678, a.1681, d.1748
Grandson of the 2nd Lord and Barbara Mackay (a distant
cousin), and son of Donald Mackay, Master of Reay (b.c.1658, d.1680) and Ann
Munro, daughter of General Sir George Munro of Newmore and Culrain. He was made
a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1698. He led his clan in support of the
Government in 1715 and 1745.
4th Lord Reay, Donald Mackay, b.?, a.1748, d.1761
Son of the 3rd Lord and Margaret Mackay, daughter of
Lieutenant-General Hugh Mackay of Scourie.
5th Lord Reay, George Mackay, b.c.1735, a.1761, d.1768
Son of the 4th Lord and Marion Dalrymple (b.?, d.1740),
daughter of Sir Robert Dalrymple of Castleton.
6th Lord Reay, Hugh Mackay, b.?, a.1768, d.1797
Younger brother of the 5th Lord. He died unmarried.
7th Lord Reay, Eric Mackay, b.1773, a.1797, d.1847
Cousin of the 5th and 6th Lords, being the son of
the 4th Lord’s younger brother George Mackay (b.?, d.1782) and Anne
Sutherland (b.1750, d.1833), sister of James Sutherland, 4th Lord Duffus. He raised the Reay Regiment of Fencibles in 1795
and was Honorary Colonel of the Sutherland Volunteers. He was a Representative
Peer from 1806 to 1807 and from 1835 to 1847. In 1829 he sold the entire Reay
estate to the Duke of Sutherland in order to fund his lifestyle.
8th Lord Reay, Alexander Mackay, b.1775, a.1847, d.1863
Younger brother of the 7th Lord. He served in the Gordon
Highlanders and then the Sutherland Highlanders and fought in South Africa. He
reached the rank of Major before retiring in 1817.
9th Lord Reay, Eric Mackay, b.1813, a.1863, d.1875
Son of the 8th Lord and Marion Ross (nee Gall) (b.?, d.1865).
When he died the title devolved to a distant relative.
10th Lord Reay, Aeneas Mackay, b.1806, a.1875, d.1876
The 2nd Lord’s younger brother, Brigadier-General Aeneas
Mackay (b.?, d.1697), married Margaret von Puckler (b.c.1671, d.c.1761),
daughter of Dutch Army Officer. Their son Colonel Donald Mackay (b.?, d.1745)
married the Baroness Arnolda Margaret van den Steen. Their son Colonel Aeneas
Mackay married Baroness Ursulina Philippina van Haeften. Their son Barthold
Johan Christian Mackay (b.1773, d.1854) was a Dutch Citizen and was created
Baron Mackay of Ophemert and Zennewijnen in the Peerage of the Netherlands in
1822. He married Baroness Anna Magdalena Frederica Henriette van Renesse, and
their son succeeded as 10th Lord Reay. He was also a Dutch Citizen
and served in the Dutch Parliament.
11th Lord Reay, Donald James Mackay, b.1839, a.1876, d.1921
Son of the 10th Lord and Baroness Maria Catherine Anna Jacoba
Fagel (b.?, d.1886). He was a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the King of the
Netherlands and was a member of the Dutch Chamber of Representatives until
1877, when he became a naturalised British Citizen by Act of Parliament and was
invested as a Privy Counsellor. He was created 1st Baron Reay of
Durness, Sutherland in 1881. He was Governor of Bombay from 1885 to 1890 and
Under-Secretary of State for India from 1894 to 1895. He was invested as a
Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1887 and of the
Most Exalted Order of the Star of India in 1890 and was the 1st
President of the British Academy from 1901 to 1907. He was invested as a Knight
of the Thistle in 1911 and was also Lord-Lieutenant of Roxburghshire from 1892
to 1918. When he died, the UK Barony became extinct.
12th Lord Reay, Eric Mackay, b.1870, a.1921, d.1921
Cousin of the 11th Lord, being the grandson of the 10th
Lord’s younger brother Baron Johan Francois Hendrik Jakob Ernestus Mackay
(b.1807, d.1846) and Baroness Margaretha Clara Frances van Lynden (b.?, d.1869)
and son of Aeneas Mackay (b.1838, d.1909), who was created Baron Mackay in 1858
and was Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1888 to 1891, and Baroness
Elizabeth Wilhelmina van Lynden (b.?, d.1907).
13th Lord Reay, Aeneas Alexander Mackay, b.1905, a.1921, d.1963
Son of the 12th Lord and Baroness Maria Johanna Bertha Christina
van Dedem (b.?, d.1932). He was naturalised as a British Citizen in 1938 and
was a Representative Peer from 1955 to 1959.
14th Lord Reay, Hugh William Mackay, b.1937, a.1963
Son of the 13th Lord and Charlotte Mary Younger (b.?, d.2000).
Educated at Eton and Christ Church College Oxford, he was a Member of the European
Parliament from 1973 to the first elections for these posts in 1979 and was a
Conservative whip in the House of Lords from 1989 to 1991, when he joined the Government
and served in the Department of Trade & Industry. In 1999 he lost his right
to an automatic seat in the House of Lords but was subsequently elected as one
of the 92 hereditary peers allowed by the 1999 House of Lords Act. He is also
14th Baronet Mackay of Far, 5th Baron Mackay of Ophemert
and Chief of Clan Mackay.
The courtesy title for the heir is Master of Reay.
(Last updated: 03/08/2010)