The 1832 opening of the Gotha Canal, Sweden, on which Alexander Mackenzie worked,.
Alexander Mackenzie, Born 1787
CANAL CONSTRUCTOR AND HOTELIER
In a piece of genealogical detective work, Gwyneth Wilkie tracks down Alexander Mackenzie, known as ‘Old Mac’. He was a good friend but not, as some had suggested, the father of her great great great great uncle William Mackenzie, who was a great railway contractor. It emerges that Alexander Mackenzie had two careers, as a builder of canals, and as a hotelier in Liverpool. In the former capacity he worked on the Swedish Gotha Canal, which was opened in 1832. In the latter capacity he was much involved in the civic life of Liverpool. His establishment, the Caledonian Hotel, hosted many formal dinners, including those for the Scotia Society which brough together Scottish people living in Liverpool. Other events hosted by the Caledonia Hotel included creditors’ meetings and society Annual General Meetings. Alexander Mackenzie died in 1851.
Source: Contributed by the author, Gwyneth Wilkie. Originally published in February 2021 in the magazine of the Society of Genealogists, and archived with their kind permission.