Charles Ernest Randolph Mackesy

Born 9 Jan 1861 - Died 20 Nov 1925

Service number: WWI 13/610 AWMM
Also known as: —
Armed force / branch: Army AWMM
Last rank: Inter War Colonel/Military AWMM Auckland Mounted Rifles AWMM
War: World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Charles Ernest Randolph Mackesy — Portrait from Powles, C.G. (1922) p.28 - No known copyright restrictions No Known Copyright Restrictions

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Biographical information

Mackesy was the son of Captain Ernest Randolph Mackesy, formerly of the 97th Regiment of Foot, and his wife, Fanny Johnston Bell. His father moved to New Zealand after retiring from the army and died in Auckland in 1860.

Mackesy was educated in France, Switzerland, and Germany with the help of family members and was fluent in German.

Charles moved to the USA, where he married Jessie Adam in Kansas on 30 November 1880. They had three sons, Charles, Henry and William, all of whom served with the New Zealand forces during World War 1. Charles was killed at Gallipoli.

Mackesy arrived in New Zealand to rescue his father's lands near Whangarei from being forfeited in the 1890s.

He served as a Volunteer with the Marsden Mounted Rifles and then the 11th (North) Auckland Mounted Rifles, which became known anecdotally as "Nearly All Mackesy's Relations" after his three sons joined in 1914.

He enlisted with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force as a Lt Col and Commanding Officer (CO) of Auckland Mounted Rifles.

His regiment landed on Gallipoli in May 1915. At 54, he was noted as being the oldest soldier there.

"He was soon sent back to Egypt to take charge of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade base, allegedly because he had on the same day both countermanded an order to cease firing and successfully opposed instructions to mount a suicidal attack. He was renowned for being outspoken and 'very quick at retort', attributes which probably contributed to his failure to become commander of the mounted brigade in 1917. His propensity for lecturing his men on the course of the war in the light of his interpretation of biblical prophecy may also have counted against him." (DNZB)

Appointed Commanding Officer (CO) of Training Regiment, Palestine, 1917 as a temporary Colonel.

He returned to New Zealand late in 1917 for leave and then returned to Egypt on 2 August 1917, where he took charge of the NZ training units and depots.

He served briefly as Military Governor of Es-Salt-Amman District, Jordan, in 1918, staying on to oversee the transfer of power to the Arabs before returning to New Zealand.

His wife Jessie died in 1920, and Mackesy remarried, to Miriam Lilla Davies (27 years his junior), on 3 January 1925 in Auckland.

Served as CO of North Auckland Mounted Rifles during the 1920s.

SuppNom: Ex Main Body.

Next of Kin: Mrs M. L. Mackesy, PArk Ave., Auckland (Roll of Honour, Auckland Province 1914-1918 (Volume 2)) AWMM

About death

Death: 20 Nov 1925 AWMM
Age 64 AWMM
Date of death: —
Age at death: —
Place of death: —
Cause of death: Died of Disease AWMM
Death notes: —
Cemetery: —
Cemetery name: Maunu Cemetery, Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand
Public - Sandra - Researcher - 31 May 2018 - Whangarei District Council Cemetery Records
Grave reference: —
Obituary: A SOLDIER'S END
DEATH OF COLONEL MACKESY.
SENSATIONALLY SUDDEN.

Quite a gloom was cast over Whangarei today when the news spread that Colonel Charles Ernest Randolph Mackesy, C.M.G.,, C.B.E., D.S.0., one of the most distinguished officers who served in the N.Z.E.F. in the Great War, had died suddenly at 11.30 a.m. at his home, "The Hill," between Whangarei and Onerahi. Deceased, who was 64 years of age, was born in Dublin in 1861, and was a son of the late Captain E. R. Mackesy, of the 97th Regiment. He was educated in France, Switzerland and Germany, and was an accomplished linquist in several languages. In his younger days he was a good athlete and took many prizes in various sports. After his marriage to a daughter of the late Thomas Adam, of Kilmarnock, deceased went to fhe United States where he spent several years. He came to Whangarei in 1891 as the outcome of a notification from the New Zealand Government that the grant of land which he made his home, and which had been alloted to his father for services in the Maori war, would be forfeited if he did not occupy it. Deceased took up the land and during the intervening years he developed it into a first-class farm and orchard property. His wife and three sons, one of whom, Lieutenant H. E. Mackesy, was killed at Gallipoli, followed him from America shortly after he settled in Whangarei. His first wife predeceased him five years ago, and he subsequently married again, his widow and two sons, Messrs. C. R. E. Mackesy and W. B. Mackesy surviving him. Col. Mackesy had been a volunteer and territorial officer in North Auckland for twenty years and when the war broke out he immediately offered his services and left in the Main Body in charge of the Auckland Mounted Rifles. For five years and a half he served the colours, and returned soldiers will recollect many incidents which made him a popular officer during the hard times on the Peninsula. After the evacuation Col. Mackesy became Commandant of Zeitoun Camp, an
Public - Sandra - Researcher - 31 May 2018 - Paperspast online (NORTHERN ADVOCATE, 20 NOVEMBER 1925)
Memorial name: —
Memorial reference: —

Sources

External links: Powles, C.G. (1922). The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine. Auckland, N.Z.: Whitcombe and Tombs. Digitised copy on NZETC site.
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Sina.html
Sources Used
Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R10927499
Further Reference
Green, David. 'Mackesy, Charles Ernest Randolph 1861 - 1925'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 7 July 2005
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3m19/mackesy-charles-ernest-randolph
Further Reference
Wikidata Entity
http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5077419
Further Reference
References: New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
Vol1: 460
New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1918). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume III. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
71: 4
Haigh, J., Polaschek, A. (Eds.). (1993). New Zealand and the Distinguished Service Order. Christchurch, N.Z.: Authors.
McDonald, W. (2001). Honours and awards to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War, 1914-1918. Napier, N.Z.: Helen McDonald.
Major Thomas A. Blake photograph album. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tamaki Paenga Hira (PH-2014-69-1).
Beattie, P.J. & Pomeroy, M. (2013-2020). Onward : portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (vols 1-5). Auckland, New Zealand: Fair Dinkum Publications
Vol. 2: Includes portrait
Roll of Honour, Auckland Province (digital copy), 1914 - 1919. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2016-2.
McDonald, W. (2013). Honours and Awards to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War, 1914-1918. (3rd ed.). Hamilton, N.Z.: Richard Stowers.
Waite, F. (1919). The New Zealanders at Gallipoli. Auckland, N.Z.: Printed and published under Authority of the New Zealand Government by Whitcombe & Tombs.
Nicol, C.G. (1921). The story of two campaigns: Official war history of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment 1914-1919. Auckland, N.Z.: Wilson & Horton.

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Charles Ernest Randolph Mackesy