Charles McKay is a name shared by several notable individuals, the most prominent of whom are the American naturalist and explorer Charles Leslie McKay (1855–1883) and the Scottish poet and journalist Charles Mackay (1814–1889), though the latter's surname is spelled with a "q" (Mackay).
Charles Leslie McKay (1855–1883) — American Naturalist and Explorer
Charles Leslie McKay was an American naturalist and explorer born on April 21, 1855, in Appleton, Wisconsin. He studied under David Starr Jordan at the Appleton Collegiate Institute, Butler University, and Indiana University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. He also attended Cornell University from 1875 to 1876 before transferring.
In 1881, McKay joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Spencer Fullerton Baird of the Smithsonian Institution, who selected scientifically trained Signal Officers for remote stations, sent McKay to Nushagak, Alaska, on the north side of Bristol Bay. There, McKay collected numerous plant and animal specimens, as well as ethnographic artifacts, for the Smithsonian. Among his discoveries was a new species of bird, later named McKay's Bunting (Plectrophenax hyperboreus) in his honor.
In April 1883, McKay disappeared while on a collecting trip in a kayak. His body was never recovered. He was 27 years old.
Charles Mackay (1814–1889) — Scottish Poet, Journalist, and Author
Note: This individual's surname is spelled "Mackay" (with a 'q'), not "McKay."
Charles Mackay (27 March 1814 – 24 December 1889) was a Scottish poet, journalist, author, anthologist, novelist, and songwriter. He is best remembered for his book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841), an early study of crowd psychology. He also wrote popular songs such as "Cheer, Boys, Cheer" and poems including "You Have No Enemies, You Say?" He worked as a journalist for The Morning Chronicle and later became editor of The Illustrated London News.
Other Individuals Named Charles McKay
- Charles McKay (1828–1918) — A Scottish-Canadian pioneer who settled on San Juan Island, Washington. Born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, he moved to the San Juan Islands in the mid-19th century and became a well-known early resident.
- Charles Donald McKay — A survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking in 1912. He was a passenger traveling in first class and survived the disaster.
- Charles McKay, MD, FACMT — A contemporary American physician and associate clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, specializing in medical toxicology.
- Charles McKay — A Scottish musician who founded the vocal trio "The New Faces" in Glasgow in 1961, which regularly appeared on British television in the 1960s and 1970s.
