He was born in Aberdeenshire; his parents moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, when he was three years old.
After working with his father as a shoemaker, he became a Baptist minister, and then made an unsuccessful attempt to establish himself in business as a broker at Sunderland.
Returning to Newcastle he opened a school, which he gave up and worked as a printer and publisher.
[1] Mackenzie was mainly instrumental in founding the Mechanics' Institution in Newcastle, where his bust was preserved.
[1] His works include :- These above two works contain quoted passages in Geordie dialect, or older style English.