NZ Lieutenants to Cabarfeidh |
Jock Ross Mackenzie, b.1926 d.2004, first Lieutenant to Cabarfeidh 2000-2004.
Jock was born in Dannevirke and grew up on Olrig Station in the Kereru district of Hawke’s Bay. A descendant of grandparents who emigrated from Ullapool, Scotland.
He attended Silverstream College and then joined the RNZAF at seventeen becoming a pilot. He was on final leave when the War ended. The air-force no longer required all the pilots,so he was placed on reserve, where he stayed until 1967.
Time on Ngamatea Station,followed. Then he took on the manager’s position at Waiouru Station prior to becoming one of the pioneer Aerial Topdressing pilots in the Bay. Jock was forced to retire from flying commercially owing to a loss of hearing and he and his wife Sonia purchased a farm at Marton.
Here he became very involved with the Rangatikei Hunt Club and was ‘whip’ for Bessie Fullerton Smith. After six years the warmth of the Bay called and the family returned to a farm purchased in the Dartmoor Valley, west of Taradale. Forty years spent there included the building of a herd of Scottish Highland Cattle which were Jock’s pride and joy.
In 1995 Jock and Sonia founded the Clan Mackenzie/Mckenzie Society of New Zealand under the auspices of the Cabarfeidh (Chief). They attended the Worldwide Gathering at Strathpeffer in 2000. Jock passed away on the 17th March 2004, leaving his wife Sonia, five children and sixteen grandchildren.
Sonia (Hansen) Mackenzie, b.1935, second Lieutenant to Cabarfeidh 2004-2009
Sonia was born in Pahiatua and moved to Hawke’s Bay on her marriage to Jock.
Raised on a farm at Makuri, Northern Wairarapa. She attended St.Matthews Collegiate School for Girls in Masterton, later returning as a staff member.
Though mostly of Danish descent her grandmother’s family link into the Mackenzie’s in the 1400’s. An interest in genealogy and the research into her husband’s family was followed by a study of the Clan history. Contact with Margaret Mackenzie of Dulnain Bridge in Scotland for some years led to a meeting with the Chief at the castle in 1994. At this time Sonia and Jock were asked to form the Clan Mackenzie/Mckenzie Society of New Zealand as Joint Commissioners. This happened with a meeting in Palmerston North in May 1995, Jock and Sonia as Joint Commissioners of the new society.
Sonia became Lieutenant to Cabarfeidh in 2004 after the death of her husband and remained so till 2009. During this time the Chief visited New Zealand. Sonia suggested that the office of Lieutenant be fixed at a five year term, the Chief agreed. This stands today.
Sonia travelled to Scotland for the World wide Gathering in 2000, 2005 and 2015.
Now living in Taradale she is the Clan Patron. Much of her time is spent with her five children, sixteen grandchildren and six great great grandchildren.
Donald Mckenzie, Fortrose, Southland, b.1940 -d.2016, third Lieutenant to Cabarfeidh 2009-2014
Donald is a descendant of one of the earliest settlers in Southland, his great grandparents came from Ullapool.
He attended Waitaki Boys High School. Donald farmed the same piece of land that was originally purchased by the family at Fortrose.
He took a great interest in his forbears and was part of the local Mackenzie group prior to joining the present Society in 1997. Donald became a Committee Member 1998, South Island Joint Commissioner with his wife Ann 2004-2008. Then Senior Commissioner 2008-2009. The chief was here to make the change over from Sonia to Donald as Lieutenant to Cabarfeidh in 2009. He passed this office on in 2014.
Donald and Ann travelled to the Worldwide Gathering in Scotland in 2000 and also in 2010. Don never complained of his illness through the last years. He was unable to attend the last two Gatherings in New Zealand and died in May 2016.
He is survived by his wife Ann, three sons and seven grandchildren.
Ian MacKenzie, b. 1944, fifth Lieutenant to Cabarfeidh 2019-2024
Donald Ian MacKenzie was born in Dingwall, Scotland in 1944, making him the first Scottish born Lieutenant to Cabarfeidh for Clan MacKenzie Society NZ.
Ian’s GGG Grandparents were John MacKenzie and Janet Stewart, and their son John and his wife Ann Mackay his GG Grandparents, from Lochbroom and Fodderty.
Ian was raised on The Black Isle where his parents, Donald Urquhart MacKenzie and Catherine Stewart Grigor, farmed at Resolis, and later at Newmilns. He attended Newhall Primary School and then Dingwall Academy.
In 1964 Ian emigrated to New Zealand, after tossing a coin to decide between Canada and New Zealand. Upon arrival he worked for a year on Wairere near Masterton, the farm of John Daniell, the well known Romney breeder. The following year he spent on the Southland farm of Roland Potter. It was when working here that Ian met his wife Linda.
After 2 years sheep farming, Ian had a change of direction, and has spent the next 53 years involved in various roles in the Road Transport Industry. In 2018 he was awarded a certificate for ‘Fifty Years Outstanding Contribution to the Road Transport Industry’.
Ian and Linda became involved with Clan Mackenzie New Zealand when they attended the Ashburton Gathering back in 2003. They have been Area Reps for Otago since then. Ian later became a committee member, and from 2014 until 2019 was in the role of Senior Commissioner.
In 2005 and 2015 Ian and Linda attended the International Clan Gatherings in Strathpeffer, and plan to attend again in 2020.
It was at the 2005 Gathering that Ian became interested in the DNA project, and has had much success in using it as an extra tool in his genealogy research. Results from his DNA show that he is possibly linked back to the MacKenzies of Scatwell.
Linda and Ian have a family of four sons and one daughter, and thirteen grandchildren.