Sir William Mackenzie
(1806-1868)
4 July 1862

Volume 8, page 175, sitting number 10,319.

Born on 20 May 1806, William Mackenzie was the son of Sir George Steuart Mackenzie of Coul, 7th Baronet. On the death of his older brother in 1856 he became Sir William Mackenzie of Coul, 9th Baronet of Coul.

On completing his education at the University of Edinburgh, he entered the Maritime Service of the Honourable East India Company, serving first in Bombay and then subsequently in China. He resided for some time in New South Wales.

He succeeded to his baronetcy on 3 January 1856. On 16 August 1858 in Dublin he married Agnes Smyth, second daughter of Ross Thompson Smyth of Ardmore in County Londonderry.

Sir William Mackenzie died without issue at Coul House in Contin, about 20 miles NW of Inverness, on 21 December 1868. He was 62 years old.

‘The death of Sir Williaim Mackenzie, Bart., which occurred a few days ago at Coul House, his seat in Ross-shire, is announced. Sir William was the second son of Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, FRS, vice-president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and was born at Coul House on the 20th of May, 1806. The hon. baronet had been a deputy-lieutenant of Ross-shire since 1857. […] The late Sir William is succeeded by his brother, Robert Ramsay Mackenzie, born 21st of July, 1811, and married in 1846 to Louisa Alexandrina, daughter of Mr Richard Jones, of Sydney, New South Wales’ (Morning Post, 31 December 1868).

According to his obituary in the Edinburgh Evening Courant (24 December 1868): ‘In early life he devoted himself to the seafaring profession, made several long voyages to China and Japan, and was thoroughly proficient in the navigation of the India seas. Indeed, as distinguished was he for the speed as well as the safety of his voyages, that he was eagerly sought after by the leading East India and China houses in London. It is worthy of note that he was among the first of that once celebrated school of sailors to whom the invention of steam-vessels came as a startling and most dangerous innovation – to get rid of his prejudices, and to assist bravely, although cautiously, in the extension of steam navigation. Sir William was a kind and generous landlord, and was much respected by his neighbours and above all, by his tenantry.’