The mysterious Charles Mackay
Author to hold public talk promoting book on the ‘Whanganui Affair’
Amayor shooting someone is sensational, but there is more to the story of the notorious 1920 incident than a newspaper headline, says Paul Diamond, curator, Māori at the Alexander Turnbull Library.
Diamond is the author of a new book about Mackay called Downfall: The Destruction of Charles Mackay, published by Massey University Press this week.
Diamond (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa and Ngā Puhi) is a writer, journalist, historian and broadcaster and Downfall is the culmination of nearly two decades of research in New Zealand and overseas into the Mackay affair and its impact on Whanganui.
On Saturday, November 19 at 11am at the Davis Lecture Theatre, Diamond will bring to life the protagonists of the story and reveal some of what he has discovered.
Mackay was energetic, charismatic and forward-looking. Among many other Whanganui projects, Mackay was instrumental in establishing the Sarjeant Gallery built with money bequeathed by Henry Sarjeant in 1912 for a “fine art gallery”.
The blackmail of mayor Mackay by D’Arcy Cresswell and the subsequent shooting of Cresswell by Mackay has gone down in the annals of Whanganui’s history, and continues to fascinate.
As a result of the shooting on Ridgway St, Mackay was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour in Mount Eden Prison. He was released early in 1926 on condition that he leave New Zealand, and he relocated to
England where he reinvented himself as an advertising man and journalist.
Then, while working as a correspondent for the British papers in Berlin in 1929, he was mistakenly shot dead by a policeman during a communist street riot.
One hundred and two years on from the “Whanganui Affair”, Downfall tells the story of an investigation that required Diamond to learn German. Supported by two GoetheInstitut scholarships and Creative New Zealand’s Berlin Writer’s Residency, Diamond visited Berlin seven times, and Whanganui many times, where he says he has experienced exceptional support for his work from individuals and organisations.
“There are a lot of unknowns about what led to the blackmail and the shooting in the first place and how the blackmailer found out Mackay was homosexual. There was a cousin who introduced the two, however, who it exactly was has never been proven,” Diamond said.
Without wishing to cast aspersions, he wonders whether Mackay’s political rival, Thomas Boswall Williams, who followed Mackay as mayor twice - after Mackay “retired” in 1913-15 and in 1920 after the shooting - was involved in his downfall.
“I’m curious whether any stories have been passed down about the rivalry between the two men. Williams chaired the campaigns of several men who tried to unseat Mackay, and was critical of Mackay for enlisting but not serving in the Great War. That was in 1919, a few months before the shooting. The war was still alive in people’s minds and Mackay fought back, saying he didn’t have to give reasons and that he couldn’t find anyone to cover for his business as a lawyer.”
Diamond first discovered Mackay’s story in a book by Peter Wells and Rex Pilgrim. Then he and fellow producer Prue Langbein collaborated on research for a radio show.
They found a wealth of information in the archives in Wellington, including Mackay’s prison files containing 13 censored letters written to his sister and other friends and family members. The radio programme was never finished, but Diamond says the research has allowed Mackay’s personality to come through in Downfall.
“You can really hear his voice - the letters are so intimate and personal - writing to his sister, and she would write to people on his behalf, she was his link to the outside world. A lot of his siblings stood by him and supported him. They were amazing.”
● Two walking tours have sold out. But tickets are still available for the public talk by Paul Diamond about Mackay and the “Whanganui scandal”. The talk is hosted by the Sarjeant Gallery at the Davis Lecture Theatre on Saturday, November 19 from 11am to 12pm. Tickets are $10 for Friends and Stars, and otherwise $12. They are available at Sarjeant on the Quay, online and by phoning 06 349 0506.