† R. GORDON MACPHERSON, SHA – Heraldic and Bookplate Artist
Gordon was born in New Westminster, BC, but spent most of his life in Ontario, where his father, a Presbyterian minister, moved when he was four. He was educated in Toronto,
Gordon was first attracted to heraldry at the age of nineteen by seeing a coat of arms in a biography of Lord Kitchener. In 1946, he was introduced to the famous Canadian heraldist, Scott Carter, whose work he admired enormously. His study of Carter’s work began with making frequent visits to the Great Hall of Hart House — where Scott Carter’s paintings of the arms of Allied universities were displayed — and making countless sketches of his magnificent lions. He often visited Mr. Carter and has said that his subsequent heraldic style was influenced by the latter’s work.
Gordon first started painting coats of arms and making heraldic bookplates in that same year — initially for friends and purely as a hobby — so that his work as an heraldic artist now spans some sixty-two years. He subsequently became a “spare-time professional” during his respected career in the securities business, from which he retired in 1987 as Vice-President and manager of the Hamilton branch of Dominion Securities. During this time Gordon not only painted but designed coats of arms, creating personal, corporate and ecclesiastical arms subsequently granted by the Lord Lyon, the College of Arms and the Chief Herald of Ireland.
He was awarded membership in the Order of Canada. Among other things, he served as Art Editor of The Gonfanon and Heraldry in Canada for the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada.
Since its creation in 1988, Gordon painted Letters Patent for the Canadian Heraldic Authority, including its first two grants — to Quebec City and to the Rt. Hon. Jeanne Sauvé, Governor General. For his work for the Authority, he was honoured by his appointment by the Governor General as Niagara Herald Extraordinary. He also continued his private work, designing and creating some 231 armorial bookplates for private individuals as well as public institutions in Canada, the UK, Europe, and the USA.
Not surprisingly, Gordon Macpherson accumulated a number of honours during his distinguished career, in addition to that of Herald Extraordinary. These include:
- Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), 1957.
- Elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (FSAScot), 1957.
- Elected a Fellow of the Heraldry Society of Canada (FHSC), 1975 (now FRHSC).
- Appointed the Society’s Dean of Fellows, 1999.
- Admitted to the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, 1974. Current grade: Knight of Justice.
- Genealogist of the Venerable Order’s Priory of Canada, 1993-2003.
- Elected a craft member of the Society of Heraldic Arts, (UK), 1999.
- Gordon was also, from 1992-95, the International Chairman of the world-wide Clan Macpherson Association and, as a permanent honorary vice-president, remains active in the Association. He and Nancy were recently hosts to Sir William Macpherson of Cluny, the clan Chief, prior to the Canadian Macpherson Clan Gathering in Collingwood, Ontario.
Gordon’s heraldic work is displayed in numerous institutions and churches, including St. John’s House in Ottawa (40 shields) and, most notably, the Clan Macpherson House and Museum in Newtonmore, Scotland (65 shields, including the Clan Association arms themselves, which he designed and painted for a grant by the Lord Lyon).