Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Lachlan Patrick Mackenzie was born at Timaru on 30 June 1897, the second son of Simon Grant and Frances Emily (Fanny, née Cotter) Mackenzie. Simon who was born in 1858 at Contin, Ross-shire, Scotland, came to New Zealand in 1884, and married Frances Emily Cotter who was born at Arrowtown of Irish parents in 1894. Four sons were born, followed by two daughters. Simon Mackenzie worked extensively in South Canterbury, starting as a shepherd at Orari Gorge Station soon after his arrival. He then joined William Grant in sheep farming at Timaru. William Grant was a relative – perhaps a cousin, Simon’s mother being a Grant. After leasing Highfield and property in Pages Road, he bought property at Kingsdown. In October 1902, Lachlan Mackenzie and his older brother Alister were admitted to Kingsdown School, leaving there for private tuition. Possibly all the children were tutored privately. About 1920 Simon Mackenzie bought Raincliff. Selling Raincliff seven and a half years later, he purchased “Otumarama” in Pages Road. He had also had an interest in several stations in the Mackenzie Country and several large stations in Australia.

Lachlan Patrick Mackenzie was a medical student, residing in Wellington, when he enlisted on 3 July 1917 at the Wellington Town Hall. He was already serving with D Battery, Wellington Territorials. Single and Roman Catholic, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr Simon Mackenzie, P.O. Box 9, Timaru. At the medical examination on 26 June 1917 in Wellington, it was noted that he was “smart & steady”. It was 16 April 1918 when Lachlan commenced Active Service. Gunner L. P. Mackenzie embarked with the Field Artillery of the 36th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington per the “Willochra” on 23 April 1918 and disembarking at Suez, Egypt on 31 May 1918. Bombardier Mackenzie embarked at Plymouth, England on 23 June 1919 per the “Giessen” to return to New Zealand, arriving on 27 August. Mr and Mrs Simon Mackenzie, Park Lane, Timaru, went to Christchurch to meet their son. His intended address was C/o S. Mackenzie, P.O. Box 9, Timaru. He was discharged on 24 September 1919 and awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Immediately after his return, Lachlan was with his brother Alister and sister-in-law in Park Lane, Timaru, a sheep farmer. He did not return to his medical studies, instead farming with his brothers. Until the mid- 1920s he was with his parents at Raincliff. From 1928, Lachlan and brothers Alister and Ian (Richard Joseph Ian) were at Clayton Station, near Fairlie. There he was when he enlisted in 1940 for service in World War II. By 1976, Lachlan had retired to Timaru. Lachlan Patrick Mackenzie died at Bidwill Hospital, Timaru on 24 October 1981, aged 84 years. He was buried at Fairlie Cemetery, near his brother and sister-in-law, Alister and Mildred, following a service at St Joseph’s Church, Fairlie. A little plaque added to his grave notes his war service. His father, Simon Grant Mackenzie, died on 11 November 1941 at Christchurch, of Otumarama near Timaru. Frances Emily Mackenzie died on 13 January 1954 at Timaru and was buried there. Her sons, Alister Bain Simon Mackenzie and Lachlan Patrick Mackenzie, both of Clayton Station, Fairlie, sheep farmers, were executors of her Will. Lachlan was also an executor of his brother Alister’s Will executed in 1976 and an advisory trustee of his brother Ian’s Will executed in 1978. When his brother Simon Grant Mackenzie died at Timaru in 1979, it was Lachlan who confirmed his death, as he had done for Ian (Richard Joseph Ian). He was also an executor of the Willi of his sister-in-law Mildred Alice Mackenzie who died in 1978. Lachlan signed his last Will in November 1979, after his three brothers had died. He was very generous in respect of family and institutions, making bequests to his two sisters who survived him and a sister -in-law, to nieces and nephew and to Cotter cousins, to a former employee on Clayton Station; as well as churches, church related and charitable societies, and the South Canterbury Branch of the Returned Services Association. Robert Allan Grant and Andrew Grant, of Timaru, who served with the New Zealand Forces in World War One, were relatives of Lachlan Patrick Mackenzie.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [10 March 2025]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [10 March 2025]; Timaru Herald, 30 August 1919, 14 November 1941 (Papers Past) [10 & 13 March 2025]; Fairlie Cemetery headstone image (Find A Grave) [14 March 2025]; Fairlie Cemetery headstone transcription [14 March 2025]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.