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Since 1920 Robert S. McKay,
barrister of Calgary, has been practicing his profession of law and he
has already attracted favorable attention for the talent he has
displayed in the conduct of his cases. He was born in Greenbank,
Ontario, January 4, 1895, the son of William and Mary McKay. His parents
were natives of Scotland, and coming to Canada in 1885, they settled in
Ontario, where the father bought a piece of land that he farmed until
his death in 1898. His wife survived him until 1911. Robert S. McKay
spent his boyhood in Uxbridge, Ontario, near his birthplace, and there
attended the lower public and high schools.
Left with neither father
nor mother at the early age of sixteen, Robert S. McKay was thrown on
his own resources at a time when most boys are concerned only with the
matters of Latin grammar and the athletic field. Setting about to earn a
livelihood and to prepare himself for a future career, he taught school
in Ontario for three months. Then he came west to Burdett, Alberta,
where he taught three more months before coming to Calgary to enter the
Normal School. Graduating from this school in 1913, he continued to
teach for two years. Finally, in 1915, he was able to begin his studies
in the profession he had selected for his life work. Entering the
offices of Clark, Carson, McLeod & Company he read law for a year.
While Mr. McKay had been
fighting his way ahead in the educational and legal circles of western
Canada, events were taking place in Europe that were to extend their
ever-widening influence until they plunged the whole world into war,
changing the lives of men even in faraway Alberta. For nearly two years
the great war had been sapping the strength of the British Empire's
manhood and in the summer of 1916 every man of military age felt that
the time had come to subordinate his individual ambitions to the
empire's greater good. Accordingly, Mr. McKay enlisted in the Canadian
army and went overseas with the Seventy-eighth Field Artillery. In
France he was transferred to the Nineteenth Battery, Canadian Field
Artillery, with which he saw active service on the firing line. While
fixing a gun he was accidentally wounded and so severely that he was in
the hospital for five weeks. Mr. McKay was among the Canadian troops
detained abroad for some time after the cessation of hostilities and did
not arrive in Canada until May 24, 1919, when he was honorably
discharged at Toronto.
Immediately upon his
release from the military service Mr. McKay indulged in the pleasure of
a two months automobile trip to Mexico, enjoying the freedom of a well
earned vacation. When he returned to Calgary he associated himself with
A. M. De Long, a long established barrister of Calgary, under whose
direction he completed his studies in law, and having successfully
written his examination he was called to the bar in October of the year
1920. Ile remained in Mr. De Long's office as a law clerk until the
following spring, when he formed a partnership with him under the name
of De Long & McKay. In September, 1921, Mr. 1)e Long move to Los
Angeles, California, to make his permanent home, so Mr. McKay bought out
his interest in the firm, lie has made such a brilliant record of his
two years career in the legal profession that the general opinion is
that he is destined to become one of the foremost barristers of Alberta.
Mr. McKay was married in
the month of August, 1922, to Miss Maude Varley, daughter of J. E. and
Florence Varley. Mr. McKay gives his political allegiance and services
to the Liberal party. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and
belongs to the Calgary St. Andrew's Golf and Canadian Clubs. In line
with his professional interests he is identified with the Alberta Law
Society and the Calgary Bar Association. |
