K.N. MacKenzie
| Kenneth N. MacKenzie | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
26 November 1897 Oban, Scotland |
| Died | 29 September 1951 (aged 53) |
| Known for | Role during exploration of Antarctica |
| Awards | Polar Medal |
Kenneth Norman MacKenzie (26 November 1897 – 29 September 1951), written as Kenneth N. MacKenzie, was an officer in the merchant fleet known for his role in the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition, for which he was awarded a Polar Medal.
MacKenzie was born in Oban, Argyllshire on the west coast of Scotland in 1897. His father, Duncan, worked in the town's legal administration. Kenneth was the third of four sons – eldest was William (born 1893) who emigrated to be with his mother's family in New Zealand. He was killed at the age of 22 in 1915 whilst fighting with the ANZACS at Gallipoli. Second was Hamish (born 1895) who emigrated to Canada. He served the Canadian Bank of Commerce and was the bank's Chief Inspector at the Toronto head office until he died of a heart attack in 1949, aged 54. Kenneth was third and Douglas (born 1903); the youngest; was fourth. Douglas spent almost his entire career with the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company and spent his last eight years out of Southampton as Master of the express mail liner Arundel Castle – a famous ship built with four funnels. He died of a heart attack in 1969.
MacKenzie's parents divorced in 1904 when his mother, Catherine MacKenzie, took her four sons to her father's home in Baugh on the Inner Hebrides island of Tiree. Her father, Duncan MacFarlane, served as the minister in the Baugh Church. Duncan was one of a family of four brothers, all of whom became parish ministers in Scotland (in Tiree, Elgin, Greenock and then in Glenorchy and Tobermory) and all of whom were born on Tiree. Their schooling in Tiree was considered unsatisfactory, being only a small island, so the four MacKenzie sons were sent to stay for their school days with their maternal uncle, Dugald MacFarlane, parish minister for 51 years of St Columba's Church in Kingussie, in Inverness-shire in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. From 1938 to 1939 Dugald was the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The Kingussie Public School would seem to have served the boys well and Kenneth MacKenzie learnt to play the bag pipes. In his subsequent life, he was often in demand to write and to give lectures on his experiences.
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