George Philip Stewart Macpherson

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

TD (16 October 1903 – 2 March 1981) also known as GPS Macpherson was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who played for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 26 tests between 1922 and 1932.

Early life

Macpherson was born in

Newtonmore Newtonmore ( ) is a village of approximately 1100 inhabitants in Badenoch, within the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. The village is only a few miles from a location that is claimed to be the exact geographical centre ...

Badenoch Badenoch (; ) is a district of the Scottish Highlands centred on the upper reaches of the River Spey, above Strathspey. The name Badenoch means the drowned land, with most of the population living close to the River Spey or its tributaries ...

, one of seven children of Sir Thomas Stewart Macpherson CIE LLD and Helen, the daughter of the Reverend Archibald Borland Cameron. His father's brother was the first Baron Strathcarron and one of his own brothers, Niall, was also raised to the peerage as Baron Drumalbyn. Another brother was Sir Ronald Thomas Stewart Macpherson. He attended

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. From there he attended

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

. At

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, his rugby talents saw him selected for

Oxford University RFC The Oxford University Rugby Football Club (Oxford University RFC or OURFC) is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham. History Men's team ...

International rugby

It was from there he was first selected for Scotland in 1922 when he played in all four of Scotland's Five Nations matches. He next played for Scotland in 1924, and scored his first international try against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

on 2 February that year. He only played one other international that year—a

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between teams of England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy con ...

match against

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

. The following year Macpherson was selected as Scotland's captain. As captain, he took Scotland to their first ever Five Nations Grand Slam—that is, wins over England, Wales,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in one season. The first match of the season was against France at

Inverleith Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity, Edinburgh, Trinity to the north a ...

on 25 January. MacPherson was one of the most influential members of the team that eventually won 25–4. Scotland's next match was against Wales in which Macpherson also played. The match was played away in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

and Scotland eventually won 24–14 after leading 24–5 at one point. Macpherson did not play against Ireland, where Scotland still won 14–8. MacPherson returned for Scotland's last match of the tournament against England. The match was played at

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The stadium is owned by the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) who has its headquarters based at the stadium, and is the national stadium of the Scotla ...

which had just been completed. It was played in front on 70,000 spectators. After trailing England 11–5, Scotland scored a try that involved several players, including Macpherson to reduce the deficit to 11–10. After a

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kick ...

Scotland took a 14–11 lead. They held their lead to win their first ever Grand Slam. Macpherson missed the 1926 Five Nations Championship while studying for a year at Yale in the US, but returned in 1927 and continued to play for Scotland until the conclusion of the 1931/32 season. With Scotland he shared the 1927 Five Nations Championships with Ireland, and won the Championship outright in 1929. The only match he ever played against a touring southern hemisphere team was against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1932.

Retirement

Macpherson became vice president of

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage, it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in comm ...

Kleinwort Benson Kleinwort Benson was a leading investment bank that offered a wide range of financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Two families, the Kleinworts and the Bensons, founded two different merchant banks in ...

between 1961 and 1969. Macpherson received an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

in 1971. In the

1976 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1976 to celebra ...

, Macpherson was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) "for services to Greenwich Hospital."UK list: In 2001, Macpherson was selected in Scotland's all-time greatest XV. He was also selected as Scotland's greatest ever attacking player. The selection was made via a poll conducted by Scottish Rugby Magazine and The Herald. In 2002 he was also inducted into the

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...

References

* Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )
MACPHERSON, George Philip Stewart
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macpherson, George Philip Stewart 1903 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Scottish businesspeople Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Barbarian F.C. players Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Oxford University RFC players People educated at Fettes College Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Highland (council area) Scotland international rugby union players Scottish accountants Scottish rugby union players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees