James Mackay (1927 – 2026)

Their Story

James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, was a British lawyer who served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Lord Advocate, and Lord Chancellor from 1987 to 1997, and was an active member of the House of Lords as a Conservative until retiring in 2022. Born in Edinburgh on 2 July 1927, he won a scholarship to George Heriot's School and studied mathematics and physics at the University of Edinburgh, receiving a joint MA in 1948. After teaching mathematics at the University of St Andrews and taking a postgraduate scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, he returned to Edinburgh to study law and was admitted to the Scottish bar in 1955. As Lord Chancellor under Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1987 to 1997, he served one of the longest tenures in modern times, introducing the no-win, no-fee regime for civil claims and legislating to give solicitors rights of audience in higher courts and allow judges to speak to the media without the Lord Chancellor's permission. He was editor-in-chief of Halsbury's Laws of England, the major legal work which states the law of England, first published in 1907. Mackay married Elizabeth Gunn Hymers in 1958; they had a son, James, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Shona. He was Honorary President of the Scottish Bible Society until his death and supported the society's programme to send a Bible to every court in Scotland. Mackay died on 7 July 2026, at the age of 99.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mackay%2C_Baron_Mackay_of_Clashfern