Downfall: New book details life of Whanganui mayor Charles Mackay who was 'expunged' from history

Charles Mackay (middle row, centre) as commodore for the Wanganui Sailing Club. Photo / Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena

A new book is set to shed some light on a 1920s Whanganui scandal.

Author Paul Diamond began his research for Downfall - The Destruction of Charles Mackay in 2004 and the book will be released this month.

It tells the story of the former Whanganui mayor who was arrested in May 1920 for shooting his blackmailer, the poet D'Arcy Cresswell.

Mackay was eventually convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 15 years of hard labour.

After serving six years across five different prisons in the North Island, he was released on the condition he left the country, which he did in 1926, heading to London and then Berlin. He never saw his wife and children again.

Mackay was shot and killed by a police officer during May Day riots in the German capital in 1929.

It was revealed during his Whanganui trial that Mackay was homosexual.

That led to a "deliberate expunging" of him from Whanganui's history for at least the next half a century, despite the fact he served ably as mayor on and off for 12 years, Diamond said.

His portrait was removed from the council office and his name was sanded off the foundation stone of the Sarjeant Gallery.

Mackay St in Whanganui East became Jellicoe St, the name it still goes by today.

Diamond said homosexuality was explained at the time of Mackay's trial as a nervous disorder.

"His lawyer in the case actually tried to say 'look, he's had a relapse and this made him go temporarily insane and shoot this other man'.

"The big lesson for me in writing this is it's hard to imagine pre-homosexual law reform when all sex between males was illegal."

There had been a lot more sympathy towards Mackay's plight in recent times, Diamond said.

"He was victimised and blackmailed because of his sexuality, and you also have the irony of the guy blackmailing him also being gay.

"One thing we don't know, and maybe will never know, is if it was a conspiracy or a cock-up.

"How did Cresswell know Mackay was gay, given that probably only his doctor and specialist would have known about his previous treatment?"

Paul Diamond began the project in 2004. Photo / Markus Stein

A statement from Mackay's doctor, Maurice Earle, was presented in his trial.

"This is to certify that some six years ago Charles Evan Mackay of Wanganui, solicitor, consulted me with reference to Homosexual Monomania. I suggested treatment and I believe that he acted on my advice."

Diamond said initially he was just looking for information on Mackay, but understanding his wife and children was also a part of understanding him.

The mayor was married to Isobel Mackay, nee Duncan, with whom he had daughters Josephine, Elizabeth and Sheila.

Their son Duncan died at the age of 2.

Isobel had "a lot of local mana" and was from a founding European settler family, Diamond said.

She began divorce proceedings while her husband was on remand and it was made final in February 1921.

She and her daughters then went by her maiden name.

Isobel Duncan continued to live in Whanganui until her death in 1946.

After being released from prison, Mackay, with the help of three of his siblings, moved to London and began working at an advertising business.

"He was in London for 18 months and for 12 of those Cresswell was there as well, Diamond said.

"I can't help but wonder if they actually met. They were living very near to each other, both in the West End part of London."

Then it was on to Berlin in 1928, where Mackay continued writing news stories for papers in Australia and New Zealand and taught English at a branch of the English Institute.

Diamond is still finding articles Mackay wrote for those newspapers.

"One, from 'A New Zealander in Berlin', was about the Rheinlander's ball which had thousands of people there.

"Mackay said he didn't dress up and just wore a greenstone tiki that he had been given from people in Whanganui before he left.

"He wrote that the tiki was the sensation of the evening and the Germans were fascinated by it. Then at one in the morning, he ran into his landlady dressed as a jockey."

Downfall - The Destruction of Charles Mackay is released on November 10. Photo / Supplied

Diamond said Mackay's death was a huge tragedy, but it would have been amazing to be in Berlin at that time.

"Obviously the gay scene there got completely wiped out and driven underground by the Nazis.

"I guess another thing about this is not being complacent, because things can change very fast. Look at what's happening with abortion rights in America.

"It's a cautionary tale really, and that's why I think it's important for these sorts of histories to be talked about and known."

Diamond said a few people had tried to write books on Mackay in the past but didn't finish them.

"Some of them actually died first, which did worry me a bit. Maybe it would kill me.

"It's about something that couldn't be talked about so you're looking for these little references or just the great big silences."

As for a second edition, Diamond said he wasn't sure if it would be him writing it.

"It's also very filmic, and every time I tell a filmmaker about this their eyes light up.

"A lot of those locations in Whanganui are still there and some are still there in Berlin too."

Downfall - The Destruction of Charles Mackay is released on November 10.

Paul Diamond will be in Whanganui to conduct walking tours on November 18 and 20 and will give a public talk at the Davis Lecture Theatre on November 19.