Murdoch Mackay (1884-1963)

Physician, MLA (1927-1932).

Born in Boulardarie, Nova Scotia on 30 April 1884, son of John Mackay and Anna MacAulay, he worked there as a teacherbefore moving to Manitoba and graduating from Manitoba Medical School in 1916. On 14 February 1917, he married teacher Ruby Gowland (daughter of James Gowland, of Yorkton, Saskatchewan), two months beforeheading overseas as a medical officer for the Canadian Medical Army Corps. MacKay served in England and France and experienced the lossof many young lives. He mailed a postcard showing fresh graves to his newbride, as a way of describing the desperate situation overseas. “He was particularly sensitive to those who had experiencedwar,” says Curtis. “The trauma. What it could do to a family.”

Upon his return, the couple settled in the promising newtown of Transcona, where they raised four daughters, all graduates of Transcona’sCentral School and the University of Manitoba. He immersed himself in his burgeoning medical practice andwas available for house calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in Transconaand beyond, into the countryside. Curtis would often go along with her father on house calls.As the car bounced along a bumpy country road, for her amusement, he wouldpretend he was driving a team of wild horses. While he was inside with hispatient, “it was my job to turn the car around without killing any chickens,”she said.

It is quickly apparent that the public MacKay and privateMacKay were as different as they were similar. We often hear of Murdoch MacKay,the respected physician, statesman, leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party andmember of the Manitoba legislature. In public, he was always very courtly, says Curtis. AVictorian gentleman. “Among family though, he was comical. It was fun to be nearhim.”

The Mackay home and garden, no date.
Source: Transcona Historical Museum

“He could wrap himself up like a pretzel and walk around ontwo hands with his head between his ankles,” she says, with a laugh. He got agreat response to this at one of his daughter’s wedding showers. As well, he might tell her he needed to get blood flowing tothe brain and would stand on his head, letting his feet crawl up the wall,pretending to read a book upside down. If his daughters were ever havingtrouble with homework, he’d suggest they might want to try this. During dinner, he would recite poetry he’d memorized as achild, with age-appropriate mannerisms. He could also quote Bible verses at thedrop of a hat. The reasons for this particular talent are revealed by Curtis.As a child, MacKay’s mother had him memorize the Bible whenever he misbehaved. “He must have been very naughty,” says Curtis. “He couldpractically recite it from the Old Testament through to the New Testament.”

He was very proud of his Scottish Presbyterian heritage, butat the same time very interested in and respectful of other cultures andreligions, intent on instilling that same curiosity and reverence in hisdaughters. Curtis speaks of her father with great affection, but she’scareful to provide an honest, balanced viewpoint, something her father thoughtwas only fair. “He often reminded me that he was a mere human, with humanfoibles,” she says. “He once said he was ‘a big frog in a small pond. No roomfor arrogance or pride, please.’” Still, she says fondly, “it was a privilege to be hisdaughter.”

He is commemorated by Murdoch Mackay Collegiate in Winnipeg.

Sources:

The Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1929.

River East Transcona School Division newsletter,The Torch, Spring 2005, submitted by Cheryl Moore (cmoore2@retsd.mb.ca).

Profile revised: 15 June 2008

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