Seaman ALEX MACKAY
Ailig Ruadh
Alastair Dhomhnaill Aonghais
Last address in Lewis: 15 Valtos,
Son of Donald and Annie Mackay, husband to Christina, father of 3 children
Service unit: Royal Naval Reserve, SS Vedamore
Service number: 2335D
Date of birth: 17 November 1867
Date of death: 7 February 1917 at the age of 48
Ship sunk just off southwestern Ireland by U-85 whilst inbound from Baltimore to Liverpool
Local memorial: Uig, Timsgarry
Survivor from sinking of HMS Hermes
Alex was the son of Donald (1830) and Annie (1837), and brother to Alexander Andrew (1877), Catherine Ann (1873), Christina (1862), Dorothy (1865), Isabella Ann (1878), John (1871) and Mary (1880) as well as an unnamed infant who lived but for one hour in 1864. .
Stornoway Gazette, 2 March 1917
March 2, 1917
VALTOS OBITUARY - Deep sorrow was felt by the Valtos inhabitants when the sad news of the death of Mr. Alexander MacKay, 18 Valtos, was received on Friday, the 16th ult. Mr. MacKay was a gunner on board H.M.S. ______ and lost his life when that ship was sunk. He was serving on H.M.S. Hermes when that ship went down early in the war, but he got off safely on that occasion. Mr. MacKay was a man of integrity, to whom the poet's line may well be applied:-
"An honest man's the noblest work of God".He leaves behind a widow and four children, also an aged mother, who lived with him. The deepest sympathy of all who knew him goes out towards his relatives in their great sorrow.
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