Background
He was born in Aberdeenshire. His parents moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, when he was three years old. After working with his father as a shoemaker, he became a Baptist minister, and then made an unsuccessful attempt to establish himself in business as a broker at Sunderland.
Career
Returning to Newcastle he opened a school, which he gave up and worked as a printer and publisher. Mackenzie was mainly instrumental in founding the Mechanics" Institution in Newcastle, where his bust was preserved. He was a liberal in politics, and one of the secretaries of the Northern Political Union.
He died at Newcastle on 21 February 1832.