He was part of the Whanganui District Council in 1905 and got voted in as Mayor in 1906-1913 & 1915-1920. He had his chambers on Ridgeway Street, across the road from the Whanganui Police Station.

Everyone in Whanganui loved Mayor Mackay and he was an amazing Mayor. But one group of people hated Mayor Mackay and desperately wanted him gone.

Mayor Mackay helped establish Whanganui’s first museum- now known as the Musicians Club, first art gallery, the water system, Whanganui Royal Opera House, and Durie Hill Tower. Now his names have disappeared from outside of these amazing buildings.

Unfortunately Mayor Mackay had a secret and if anyone found out this secret he would lose his job and be imprisoned. His secret was that he was gay. Back then it was illegal. A group of people including Mr Creswell found out what Mayor Mackay’s secret was. They formed a plan to threaten Mayor Mackay to end his job as Mayor.

One night at the bar Mayor Mackay started to talk to a man called Mr Creswell. Mayor Mackay trusted the man and thought he might show him the new museum he had helped to build. The Mayor had a key to the museum so in the moonlight they broke in and had a look around. After that, Mayor Mackay thought Creswell was quite nice so he took the man and showed the office to him.

At the office the plan to get rid of Mayor Mackay was put into action. Mr Creswell threatened to reveal the Mayor's secret to the whole of Whanganui if Mayor Mackay didn’t step down from his job. The Mayor panicked and frantically pulled a gun from his desk drawer that was loaded with six bullets.

Not thinking what he was doing the Mayor shot Creswell in the chest. Creswell collapsed to the ground. Mayor Mackay suddenly realised what he had done and wondered what he could do with the dead body in his office. He was oblivious to the fact that he had shot Mr Creswell in the lung, not the heart. Mr Creswell was not dead, only unconscious. Mayor Mackay knew what he could do. He placed the gun in Creswells hand and planned to tell the police that he was showing Creswell the gun and he accidentally shot himself.

Quickly Mayor Mackay ran down the stairs to the police station. Before he could get over the road Mr Creswell woke up and finding the gun in his hand he started yelling and screaming that he was being murdered. Mr Creswell threw a chair out the window and shot the remaining five bullets madly around the room. The police heard this and ran up the stairs, found out what happened, and arrested Mayor Mackay.

Charles Mackay was sentenced seven years in prison for attempted murder. When he got out of prison he was sent out of New Zealand. Charles Mackay was forgotten in Whanganui, all his belongings burned and names taken of all the beautiful structures he helped to build. In Berlin, Germany Charles Mackay was living a happy life as a reporter. He wrote his story and sent it anonymously to the New Zealand newspapers to make sure everyone knew what had really happened on that horrible night. Shortly after that Charles Mackay was killed accidentally by the police in a Nazi protest in Berlin, 1929.

Casey Sharratt - Room 10