William MacPherson (priest)

William Stuart MacPherson (30 September 1901 – 7 July 1978) was an eminent Anglican priest in the second half of the 20th century.

He was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, the fourth of five sons of Henry MacPherson, an electrical engineer, and Lilly Hallewell MacPherson. He also had a younger sister, Eileen.[1][2] His brother Alfred Sinclair MacPherson married writer Margaret Kendall while his brother Henry Douglas MacPherson was killed in the First World War. He was educated at Sedbergh and Pembroke College, Cambridge.[3] Ordained in 1932 he began his career with a curacy at Richmond, Yorkshire[4] after which he was a Minor Canon at Ripon Cathedral. When World War II came he was a chaplain in the RNVR. Later he was Rector then Archdeacon of Richmond. In 1954, he was appointed Dean of Lichfield,[5] a post he held for 15 years.[6]

He died in Honiton, Devon, aged 76.[7]

References

  1. ^ 1901 England Census
  2. ^ West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1910
  3. ^ Who was Who 1897–1990 London, A & C Black, 1991 ISBN 0-7136-3457-X
  4. ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory 1975-76 London: Oxford University Press, 1976 ISBN 0-19-200008-X
  5. ^ National Church Institutions Database of Manuscripts and Archives
  6. ^ "Church News Dean of Lichfield To Retire". The Times Monday, 17 February 1969; p. 10; Issue 57487; col A
  7. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007
Church of England titles
Preceded by Dean of Lichfield
1954–1969
Succeeded by