MACKENZIE, THOMAS [SSNE 135]

Surname

MACKENZIE, MAC-KENYEE, MAKENNI, MACKINNE, MACHNIJ, MACKAYE

First name

THOMAS

Title/rank

CAPTAIN

Nationality

SCOT

Region

KINTAIL, WESTER ROSS and PLUSCARDEN, MORAY

Social status

NOBILITY

Text source

Thomas Mackenzie was the son of Kenneth, First Lord Mackenzie of Kintail and Isobell Ogilvie. He was also a half-brother of the Colin 1st Earl of Seaforth and full brother of George, 2nd Earl of Seaforth. He is probably the same Captain Thomas Mackenzie with whom Robert Monro [SSNE 94], later major general, served in France in 1625. Mackenzie subsequently entered Danish-Norwegian service when King Christian IV declared war on the Holy Roman Emperor after the exile of the King and Queen of Bohemia in 1622. Mackenzie was in the Netherlands (about Arnhem/Nijmegen) with Donald Mackay [SSNE 93] in early February 1627. He was wounded at Eckernforde in 1628 and at Stralsund the same year after which he went to England with Mackay, but returned within 5 months. Yet Mackenzie went back to Scotland for he served as a witness to a charter issued by George at Elgin on 25 February 1631. He was granted the lands of Pluscarden by his brother, George, on 7 June 1633. Later, Mackenzie was among the Moray deputation despatched to treat with Montrose in the aftermath of the battle of Inverlochy in February 1645. He died on 27 November 1676.

G. Lind, Danish Data Archive 1573; T. Riis, Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (Odense, 1988), II, p.124; J. Mackay, 'Mackay's Regiment' in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, VIII, 1879, p.187; R. Monro, His Expedition with a worthy Scots Regiment called Mac-Keyes (London, 1637), I, pp.4, 51 and 68; National Archives of Scotland, RS 28/3 fols. 286, 351, 373;  Documents Relating to the Province of Moray, ed. E. D. Dunbar (Edinburgh, 1895), pp. 113-6; R. Gordon, A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland (Edinburgh, 1813), p. 402; J. Mackay, An Old Scots Brigade (Edinburgh, 1885), pp. 48, 56, 64, 75-9, 82, 206, 247.

With thanks to Dr Aonghas Maccoinnich and Dr Thomas Brochard for their contributions to this entry.

Service record

FRANCE,

Arrived 1625-01-01, as CAPTAIN

Departed 1625-12-31, as CAPTAIN

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

DENMARK-NORWAY, MACKAY'S REGIMENT

Arrived 1626-03-15, as CAPTAIN

Departed 1629-06-11, as CAPTAIN

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY