James Hay
From Sawiki
Hay grew up in the Govan district of Glasgow. Curt and direct, he could appear distinctly unsentimental. Albert Orsborn, General of the Army between 1946 and 1954, attended the British training college when Hay was its Principal. He recalled how Hay responded to a request that the trainees sing the then popular religious song, "Tell Mother I'll be there In answer to her prayer". "Sing something more practical!" Hay cried to a congregation of five hundred young cadets. "The Lord of Heaven has something better to do than go round the golden city telling various mothers that their respective sons will shortly arrive." It is hard to see James Hay stifling a sob as the angels hovered over the sleeping baby in Joe Perry’s Limelight tear jerker, Jane Conquest.
From the time Hay entered officer training in 1882 at the age of 17, he was on a fast track to the upper levels of the Army. Within two years he was a Major and in 1894, at the age of 29, became Chief Secretary for Great Britain. An internal Army publication was straightforward about his progress.
"He has relied on himself to get on in the War. His advances have not been accidental...He is not a man of that temperament who attracts a helper to his side. He makes one feel that...he will lead without assistance and will lead with firmness, ability and success...He likes responsibility. He thrives on it...Colonel Hay is a calculator. He reckons things up. The arithmetician in Colonel Hay...stands for caution, prudence, and the attainment of accuracy".
It is possible that Hay's approach was appreciated by the bureaucratic Bramwell Booth, the Salvation Army’s Chief of Staff. However, relations between Hay and Bramwell were cool, although they worked closely together for a period. While revering William and Catherine Booth, Hay appears to have felt a form of sibling rivalry with Bramwell and the rest of the Booth family. This included Herbert Booth, who preceded him by 13 years as the Army’s leader in Australia.
Hay’s appointment to Australia could be described as an accident. When Thomas McKie was transferred from Australia in 1909, it was announced that his replacement would be Commissioner David Rees. However Rees’ wife was told by doctors that if the trip to Australia did not kill her, the Australian climate certainly would. Rees' appointment was cancelled and Hay, then Training Principal in London, was appointed Australian Commander.
On taking up his post, Hay almost immediately moved against the Limelight Department, believing the film business displayed a moral laxity that was having a negative effect on Salvation Army screenings. The Department's final feature, The Scottish Covenanters , was never shown in Australia. Years later, Hay conceded there had been a substantial financial cost to the closing down the Limelight Department, with many centres taking several years to recover from the loss of income.
In 1929, concerns about Bramwell Booth’s Generalship of the Army reached a peak, particularly over his right to nominate a successor to take over as General on his death. A High Council of Army leaders was called to decide whether to remove Bramwell from office and James Hay was elected its President. The Council eventually voted to remove Bramwell from the office of General and as Head of the Salvation Army, but he refused to go quietly and appealed to the High Court of England. Eventually, another vote of the Council confirmed the earlier decision and Bramwell was forced into retirement. He died a few months later.
James Hay did not become General Of The Salvation Army. He was forced into retirement by Herbert Booth’s sister Evangeline. Hay retired to the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell and in 1957 died peacefully at the age of 92.
