Joseph Macky (1855 – 1915), 60, was a British subject from Devonport, New Zealand (a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand) traveling second cabin aboard Lusitania with his wife, Mary. Both Joseph and Mary were lost in the Lusitania sinking. Mary is reported to have given up her seat in a lifeboat to a younger woman and went down with the ship with her husband.
Joseph Macky was the descendant of Thomas Macky (died 1896 in Devonport), who set up a trust for the Unitarian church there. He was also of the same family of Dr. Dill Macky, who was known in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and had passed before the Lusitania sinking. Joseph was born in 1855 and educated on the North Shore of Auckland. He founded the firm Macky, Logan, Steen and Company (later Macky, Logan, Caldwell, Limited) and married Mary Birrell of Victoria, Australia.
Macky became Mayor of Devonport in 1896 and retired near the end of his fourth term in 1900. Macky also held a seat on the Auckland Harbour Board as the Devonport Borough representative. Macky was also known as a prominent Auckland yachtsman.
Joseph and Mary last visited Australia in 1914. Mary wrote to a friend in Sydney just before sailing from Auckland, saying that she and Joseph were going to England, via New York, with their son Jack, who wished to enlist with an English regiment. Their son is not listed on the passenger manifest.
Joseph Macky and his wife Mary were lost in the Lusitania sinking on 7 May 1915. According to the Ashburton Guardian of 24 August 1915, Page 3, Joseph and Mary Macky are said to have met their ends with calm heroism. When a seat in a lifeboat was offered to Mary, she declined and insisted that a younger woman passenger take it. Mary was quoted as saying, “I am getting old and would rather stay with my husband. You are younger and have life before you.” Joseph and Mary were last seen standing on deck together, calmly awaiting the end. The younger woman who took the seat in the lifeboat later advertised in the papers to obtain the address of Joseph and Mary’s son Jack Macky to tell him the story of his parents’ death.
According to the 11 May 1915 Otago Daily Times, the Mackys were traveling with a S. Hanna, the son of Auckland solicitor (lawyer) Andrew Hanna, was also on board Lusitania and survived. No such name appears on the Lusitania passenger list. Neither Joseph nor Mary’s bodies were either recovered or identified. A bronze plaque to Joseph and Mary Macky is on one wall of the Auckland Unitarian church, and a manse was given to the church in their memory.
See also
Elbert and Alice Hubbard, who also refused to be parted as the Lusitania went down.
Winifred Neatby, who was persuaded by an older woman to save herself.
Links of interest
References:
Archer, John. “The Ballad of James Cook, by Willow Macky, 1960.” New Zealand Folk Song. Web. Accessed 16 May 2013. <http://folksong.org.nz/captain_cook/>.
“Libraries.” Auckland Council. Web. Accessed 16 May 2013. <http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=SEE_ALSO&QF0=Descriptors&QI0==%22Macky,+Joseph+Cochrane,+1855-1914%22&XC=/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll&BU=&TN=LocHAM&SN=AUTO11433&SE=1659&RN=1&MR=0&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=1&XP=&RF=Displayweb&EF=&DF=&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=2&ID=&MF=WPEngMsg.ini&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=9707&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&SS=0&BG=&FG=&QS=&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1>.
“Lusitania Story: How an Auckland Couple Died.” Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8225, 24 August 1915, Page 3. PapersPast. Web. Accessed 16 May 2013. <http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=AG19150824.2.8&e=——-10–1—-0WILLIAM+EDWARD+KNOWLES–>.
“Lusitania Torpedoed.” Bay Of Plenty Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 6379, 8 May 1915, Page 5. PapersPast. Web. Accessed 16 May 2013. <http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=BOPT19150508.2.13>.
“The Lusitania.” Otago Daily Times. Putanga 16381. 12 Haratua 1915, page 5. PapersPast. Web. Accessed 16 May 2013. <http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=ODT19150512.2.37&l=mi&e=——-10-ODT-1—-0bodley–>.
“Lusitania Passengers.” The Sydney Morning Herald. Wednesday, 12 May 1915, page 11. Trove. Web. Accessed 23 May 2013. <http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/15592255>.
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