James Mackay (16 November 1831 – 10 October 1912) was a New Zealand farmer, explorer, public servant, administrator, land purchaser, interpreter, advocate and politician.

At that time Golden Bay was completely isolated from the rest of province, with a population consisting almost entirely of Maori living in several villages along the coast.

[11] The request was granted in 1857 after gold was discovered in the Aorere Valley and a large population of both Maori and Pakeha arrived at the diggings, which centred on the new town of Collingwood.

He did not take up the land himself, however, because when he returned north the gold rush had set in and he was suddenly kept very busy selling his stock and mediating disputes in an unofficial capacity until his role of Assistant Native Secretary was confirmed.

[8][15] While at the Grey River Mackay learnt from local Maori (Poutini Ngai Tahu) that they wanted settlers to come, but first the land needed to be purchased from them.

He forwarded a letter addressed to the Native Secretary Donald McLean voicing their concerns about a previous deal whereby their land had been wrongfully sold to the Government by the Ngati Toa tribe.

His report of the value of the land, and the need to extinguish the Poutini Ngai Tahu title before settlement could begin, brought that and a similar issue at Kaikōura to the attention of McLean.

In the end he leaned on the fact that the Government had already purchased the land from Ngati Toa, and feigned packing up and leaving them with nothing, which compelled them to come back to the table and accept £300 and 5556 acres of reserves.

They joined up with the Nelson surveyor John Rochfort and his chainmen before reaching the Alps, and caught out in snow, spent three weeks making the crossing.

[21] James and Alexander then waited on the West Coast for all the Maori of importance to assemble at Arahura, the centre of their greenstone (pounamu) industry.

While allocating their various reserves, he reluctantly allowed them to keep the landing at the Grey River, even though it was an obvious place for a future town (Greymouth).

After consulting with Governor George Grey, Mackay arrested the emissaries and took them to Auckland to face sedition charges at the Supreme Court.

The men were later found not guilty, but while waiting for the trial, Grey commissioned Mackay to go to the Hauraki District to mediate between local "friendly" Maori and soldiers garrisoned there.

As a result of Mackay's success, Grey appointed him a Civil Commissioner of the Hauraki District, and so he moved permanently to the North Island.

The purpose of the Compensation Court was to investigate claims of Maori who believed their lands had been wrongly confiscated during the Taranaki, Waikato and Tauranga wars.

By the end of 1868 he had extended the Thames Goldfield to the Hikutaia River, but the prize of the Ohinemuri, which was thought to be rich with gold, remained elusive.

He agreed to put aside his private dealings on the condition that he could finish negotiating the sale of kauri timber leases upon the same land which the government wanted to buy.

A man named Timothy Sullivan had been murdered for trespassing on land belonging to the Maori King in April of that year, and there was fear of renewed hostilities.

Mackay took control of the Waikato, both civil and military, until the end of June 1874, and managed to prevent the incident from escalating into another war.

At the same time, George Grey, now a member of parliament for City West in Auckland, began to call Mackay to account for having conducted private business in the Coromandel while being in Government employment.

He justified his land purchasing conduct with a report to Parliament in August, which was very scathing towards Grey, and his name was cleared of illegally issuing Ohinemuri mining rights in October.

[43][44] In April 1879, without official title or position, the Native Minister deputed Mackay to enquire into an escalating situation in Taranaki.

He was forced to resign after declaring bankruptcy in October 1880, very much out of pocket and still awaiting money owed to him for land sales in the north.

During their time apart Mackay was in relationships with at least two other women: Ema Te Aouru, otherwise known as Puahaere; and Margaret Sullivan, who lived with him as his wife in Freeman's Bay, Auckland.