George Mackie, Baron Mackie of Benshie

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Mackie of Benshie
CBE DSO DFC
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
15 May 1974 – 17 February 2015
Life Peerage
Member of Parliament for Caithness and Sutherland
In office
16 October 1964 – 10 March 1966
Preceded bySir David Robertson
Succeeded byBob Maclennan
Personal details
Born
George Yull Mackie

(1919-07-10)10 July 1919
Tarves, Scotland
Died19 February 2015(2015-02-19) (aged 95)
Dundee, Scotland
Cause of deathStroke
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal (until 1988)
Liberal Democrats (1988–2015)
Spouses
Lindsay Sharp
​
​
(m. 1944; died 1985)​
Jacqueline Lane
​
(m. 1988)​
ChildrenLindsay
Jeannie
Diana
Parent(s)Maitland Mackie (father)
Mary Yull (mother)
OccupationFarmer
RAF navigator
Businessman
Military career
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Air Force (RAF)
Years of service1939–1945
RankSquadron Leader
Unit
Commands heldOfficers’ Squadron
Battles/warsWorld War II
Awards

George Yull Mackie, Baron Mackie of Benshie OBE DSO DFC (10 July 1919 – 17 February 2015)[1] was a British Liberal and Liberal Democrat politician.

Early life[edit]

Mackie was born in Tarves, Aberdeenshire, the son of Dr Maitland Mackie, OBE, and his wife Mary (née Yull). He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and Aberdeen University.[2] His older brothers were Sir Maitland Mackie and John Mackie, Baron John-Mackie, a future Labour MP.

In 1940 Mackie was commissioned in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He served with RAF Bomber Command and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order[3] and Distinguished Flying Cross.[4] After the Second World War, he took over a farm at Benshie, Angus, and subsequently set up a cattle ranch at Braeroy, Inverness-shire, near Spean Bridge.[5]

Political career[edit]

Having first contested South Angus as a Liberal in 1959, he was elected Member of Parliament for Caithness and Sutherland in 1964. In the Commons he served as a Liberal party whip. He lost his seat in 1966, when he was defeated by the Labour candidate Robert Maclennan, who was to become a party colleague of Mackie in the late 1980s after he joined the Liberal Democrats via the SDP. Mackie contested Caithness and Sutherland again in 1970, but lost by a wider margin.

Having been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1971,[6] he was given a life peerage, as Baron Mackie of Benshie, of Kirriemuir in the County of Angus on 10 May 1974.[7] In the House of Lords, he served as Agriculture and Scottish Affairs spokesman for the Liberals and their successor parties between 1975 and 2000. Having been chair of the Scottish Liberal Party from 1965 to 1970, he was its president between 1983 and 1988. In 1980, he was elected to serve a three-year term as Rector of the University of Dundee.[2]

Death and legacy[edit]

Until his death, Mackie was the oldest living person to have served as a Liberal Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom.[5] His death was announced on 17 February 2015. He was 95 years old.[5][8]

Mackie's papers are held by Archive Services at the University of Dundee.[9]

Personal life[edit]

Mackie married firstly, in 1944, Lindsay, daughter of lawyer Alexander Sharp, of Aberdeen. They had three daughters, the eldest of whom, Lindsay, married the journalist Alan Rusbridger.[10][11] Mackie married secondly, in 1988, Jacqueline, daughter of Colonel Marcel Rauch, of the French Air Force.[12]

Sources[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Scottish Liberal Lord Mackie of Benshie dies at 95". Liberal Democrat Voice.
  2. ^ a b "Mackie of Benshie". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 2023 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ "No. 36374". The London Gazette. 8 February 1944. p. 737.
  4. ^ "No. 36745". The London Gazette. 13 October 1944. p. 4692.
  5. ^ a b c Notice of death of Lord Mackie of Benshie, heraldscotland.com; accessed 17 February 2015.
  6. ^ "No. 45262". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1971. p. 8.
  7. ^ "No. 46289". The London Gazette. 14 May 1974. p. 5851.
  8. ^ Lord Mackie of Benshie obituary, guardian.com; accessed 18 February 2015
  9. ^ "MS 404 George Mackie, Lord Mackie of Benshie". Archive Services Online Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  10. ^ Aitken, Ian (17 February 2015). "Lord Mackie of Benshie obituary". The Guardian.
  11. ^ "Lord Mackie of Benshie".
  12. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 2507

External links[edit]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Caithness and Sutherland
1964–1966 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Scottish Liberal Party
1965–1970 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Scottish Liberal Party
1983–1988 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Rector of the University of Dundee
1980–1983 		Succeeded by
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