Significant contributions
| Years | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1844 | 3/21 | Mackay was born in Embro, Zorra Township, Oxford County, Ontario, Canada. |
| 1850 | - | Entered Woodstock Elementary School. |
| 1855 | - | Graduated from Woodstock Elementary School and entered Toronto Normal School. |
| 1858 | Graduated from Toronto Normal School. | |
| 1859 | - | A faculty member at Maplewood Elementary School and Maitland Elementary School |
| 1866 | September | Entered the University of Toronto's Knox Theological Seminary. |
| 1867 | September | Transferred to Princeton Theological Seminary in the United States for further study. |
| 1870 | 4/26 | After graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary, he left the US at night to Canada |
| 1870 | August | He was appointed pastor of New Market Church in Toronto and also served as a missionary at Mount Albert Church. |
| 1870 | 9/19 | He applied to the Canadian General Association for Foreign Missionary Service and volunteered to be an overseas missionary teacher. |
| 1870 | November | Entered the Faculty of Theology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and studied theology again. |
| 1871 | 4/14 | Received a letter from the Overseas Missionary Association stating that it had granted its application and decided to submit it to the Presbyterian Church of Canada. |
| 1871 | mid-June | The Presbyterian Association of Canada, which met in Quebec, decided to allow Mackay to volunteer as an external propaganda teacher and designated China as its service region. |
| 1871 | 9/19 | The Church of Toronto was entrusted with the appointment of making Mackay as a priest. |
| 1871 | 10/19 | Mackay took a train from Woodstock to China to preach after bid farewell with his family. |
| 1871 | 10/27 | Arrived in San Francisco. |
| 1871 | 11/1 | Aboard the USS America from San Francisco to China. |
| 1871 | 12/5 | Arrived in Hong Kong via Yokohama, Japan, and inspected Guangdong, Shantou, and Xiamen. |
| 1871 | 12/30 | Arrived in Taiwan and landed at Takao (present-day Kaohsiung). |
| 1872 | 1/1 | Departing from Takao, he traveled to Ligang Township (present-day Ligang, Pingtung) to meet Rev. Hug (Rev. Hugh Ritchie, 1840~1879), who was a guest of Rev. Hugh for 2 months. |
| 1872 | 3/7 | Rev. Hugh, along with Mackay, took the ship Hailong to Northern Taiwan. |
| 1872 | 3/9 | Mackay and his number of three landed at Hobe (present-day New Taipei Tamsui) at 3 p.m. |
| 1872 | 3/11 | Mackay, Rev. Hugh, Dr. Matthew(Mathew,1844~1921) walked South to visit Taichung Taichi, the northernmost evangelistic station in the Southern diocese. (Divided into Northern and Southern dioceses of Taiwan with Dajia River as the boundary) |
| 1872 | 4/6 | After a month of travel to visit northern Taiwan, he returned to Hobe. |
| 1872 | 4/10 | The first church in Northern Taiwan, Tamsui Church, was opened. |
| 1872 | 6/1 | Started treatment at his apartment. |
| 1873 | 2/9 | The Northern Church performed the first baptism at Tamsui Church, where five people were baptized: Yan Qing Hua (1852~1909), Wu Kuan Yu (1843~1920), Wang Chang Shui, Lin Xian (also known as Lin Huicheng, 1847~1896) and Lin Cup. |
| 1873 | 3/2 | Wugu District Church completed (the first chapel in Northern Taiwan, Tamsui was a rented house). |
| 1873 | 10/20 | Visit Yilan plain for the first time. |
| 1877 | 9/2 | For the first time, the Northern Church set up by elders, totaling 3 members: Chen Cannon (Wugu District), Chen Tian (Packan), and Chen Yuan (Dalongdong). |
| 1878 | 5/27 | Married to the woman Tiu Chhang-mi (1860~1925) who live in Wugu District. |
| 1880 | 1/1 | Mackay returned to Canada to report for his duty with his wife and daughter. |
| 1880 | 6/24 | Return to Canada. |
| 1880 | 9/4 | Bella Catherine Mackay (1880-1970) was born in Canada. |
| 1880 | 11/30 | Mackay returned to Taiwan via the United States to Tamsui. |
| 1882 | 1/22 | The only son, Rev. George William Mackay (1882–1963) was born in Tamsui. |
| 1882 | 9/14 | Oxford Acadamy(Theological Seminary) opened with a total of 18 students. |
| 1883 | 3/3 | Girls' School opened. |
| 1883 | 10/1 | The French fleet appeared in the port of Tamsui. |
| 1883 | 10/20 | The French warship blockaded the coastal ports and Mackay was trapped in Hong Kong, the church was violently persecuted, seven of church was destroyed, and dozens of believers were martyred. |
| 1884 | 4/15 | The French fleet lifted the blockade of Taiwan's ports. |
| 1884 | 5/17 | Yan Qing Hua and Chen Rong Hui (1851~1898) were appointed as pastors and 4 elders were appointed at the same time. |
| 1884 | 5/29 | He entered the French occupation area to inspect the church, and on the way he met Liu Ming Chuan (1836~1896). |
| 1885 | 9/28 | Liu Ming Chuan paid 10,000 taels of Mexican silver (Spain silver) to compensate for the loss of the Northern church (demolished by the mob). |
| 1886 | 3/9 | The 14th anniversary of the establishment of the church was held in Tamsui and was attended by 1273 devotees. |
| 1890 | - | Mackay took a small boat from the Yilan side to the Penglai (present-day Hualien) plain and preached at the Kaliawan Society in Penglai for 1 week. |
| 1891 | 7/3 | Mackay's book, the Chinese and Western Romanized Dictionary of Formosan Vernacular, was printed at the The American Presbyterian Mission Pres in Shanghai. |
| 1892 | 10/22 | Canadian Mother Consort Rev. William Gauld (1861-1923) and Margaret Mellis Gauld (1866-1960) came to Taiwan to assist Mackay. |
| 1893 | 9/18 | Mackay led his family and disciple KE WEI SI (also known as KE JIU, 1867~1945) to board the ship "Queen of India" and returned to China twice to report to the Mother Church of Canada. |
| 1894 | 6/13 | Elected President of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. |
| 1895 | November | From Far Formosa was written by Pastor J.A. MacDonald completed the publication and published the following year in London, Edinburgh, New York, Chicago, Toronto, and other places. |
| 1895 | End of November | Mackay's family and disciple KE WEI SI returned to Taiwan. |
| 1895 | 11/23 | Visit to the governor of Taiwan, Maresuke Nogi (1849-1912). |
| 1895 | 12/7 | Maresuke Nogi visited Mackay in Tamsui. |
| 1896 | 6/22 | Mackay and Ryosuke Kawai (1867~1933) met the governor of Taiwan, Kodama Gentaro (1852~1906). |
| 1899 | 3/9 | Mackay's eldest daughter married Chen Qing Yi (1887~1942), the second daughter married to KE WEI SI, and the two sisters married on the same day, and William Wu was witness marriage. In the late autumn, William Wu returned to China for the first time. |
| 1900 | May | Mackay made one last tour of the churches in the Yilan plain, and soon after returning to Tamsui, his voice was all hoarse due to throat cancer. |
| 1900 | November | Mackay went to Hong Kong for treatment for three months. |
| 1901 | 6/2 | After a long illness, he died at 4 p.m. at Tamsui residence at the age of fifty-eight. |
| 1901 | 6/4 | Buried in the Tamsui Mackay cemetery, the disciples commemorate a special tombstone. |
Table Source：Presbyterian Church in Tamsui