Historical information

This is an 1886 certificate admitting George Mackay to practise as an attorney, solicitor and proctor in the courts of the colony of Victoria. George Sutherland Mackay (1850-1926) was born in Scotland and educated at the University of Glasgow. He came to Australia in 1884. In 1891 he came to Warrnambool and established a legal practice in Kepler Street. In 1893 he bought the practice of the late James Fletcher and the firm was then known as Fletcher and Mackay. It changed to Mackay and Taylor (later Mackay Taylor) when J.D. Taylor became his partner in the 1920s. In 1999 Tait Solicitors and Mackay Taylor amalgamated to form Tait Taylor and in 2010 the firm’s name became Tait Legal.

Significance

This certificate is of considerable importance as a significant memento of George Mackay, a prominent lawyer in Warrnambool from the 1890s to 1926.

Physical description

This is a paper certificate pasted on board and set into a brown cardboard frame. The certificate has brown or gold handwriting with some calligraphy, three or four stamps (mostly obliterated), a green duty stamp and the remains of a signature. The frame is tattered at the edges and stained at the back.