Researching James Mackay

He moved to South Africa where, while working at a diamond mine, he scored 247 runs at 35.28 for Transvaal in 1906-07 and was only left out of the South African team to tour England in 1907 because it was felt that he had not spent long enough in the country. His eyesight was damaged when a motorbike knocked him down and his brief but dazzling career was cut short.

Mackay moved back to Sydney and tried to regain his place in the New South Wales side but his injury was too debilitating and he was forced to retire. In just 20 first class matches from 1902/03 to 1906/07, he had scored 1556 runs at 50.19 with six hundreds and seven fifties.

He worked on farms in the New England region and died in Walcha.

He was born in Inverness, Scotland and after studies at North East London Polytechnic, he worked in the London Filmmaker's Co/op as cinema programmer. At the end of the 1970s, he compiled a series of film screenings called New British Avant -Garde films, for the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and he also programmed for the FORUM of the Berlin Film Festival.

In 1981, he established a production and distribution company Dark Picture, specializing in new film and video, and thus began his collaboration with Derek Jarman. He produced some of Derek Jarman's most important movies e.g. The Angelic Conversation (1985), The Garden (1990 film) or Blue. He has collaborated also with John Maybury, Hannah Collins, Davide Pepe and Bernard Rudden.

In 2009, James Mackay was a member of a main jury of the Czech queer film festival Mezipatra.

Mackay studied at Victoria University College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1929 and a Bachelor of Science in 1933. During World War II he served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) as an education officer. In October 1940 he was granted an honorary commission with the rank of flight lieutenant in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the RNZAF. In April 1942 he relinquished his honorary commission and was granted a temporary commission with the rank of flying officer, fourth year, acting flight lieutenant, and then flight lieutenant (temporary). In the 1946 New Year Honours Mackay was appointed a Member of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire.

After his playing days, Mackay remained involved in rugby as a coach, selector and administrator. He was coach of the Victoria University first team from 1931, to 1935, the RNZAF team at Wigram from 1938 to 1942 and the Canterbury Agricultural College team from 1947 to 1952. He was an RNZAF selector between 1942 and 1944, a and New Zealand Services selector in 1944, and a New Zealand Universities selector in 1947. He served as president of the Ellesmere sub-union in Canterbury from 1953 to 1954.