MacPherson, Fra’ John Alexander

Arms: Arms: Or on a base barry wavy Azure and Argent a lymphad sail furled oars in action Sable flagged Gules between in dexter chief a dexter hand couped holding a dagger in pale and in sinister chief a cross crosslet fitchée Gules on a chief Azure a demi sun rayonée issuant Or all within a bordure Argent charged with three Tudor roses proper and three books expanded Gules alternating.

SOURCE/NOTES & CREDITS: The blazon on Fra’ J. A. MacPherson’s arms is found in “An Ordinary of Arms, Volume III, 1971-2017” by Dr. Bruce Durie on page 16, left column, 2nd down, his Ordinary number being 0223. His Lyon Register number is also shown here: 60/033. He also shows up in the index on page 416, number nine up from the bottom. The information indicates he petitioned for arms from Canada which were matriculated under a warrant by then Lord Lyon Sir James Monteith Grant, KCVO on 9 Oct 1976. Lyon Court provided me with an illustration of his achievement for background from his Letters Patent for which we thank Liam Devlin, Rothesay Herald. Biographical information came and was adapted from the SMCOSG (Madrid) Website, the Sov., Mil. Order of Malta, Canadian Assn. Newsletter of Dec 2017 and from our friend Robert LaRocca for which we thank him.

Fra’ John Alexander MacPherson, PhD. was born Windsor, Ontario, Canada on 1 June 1931 but with deep ancestral roots in Nova Scotia, he started his career there at Xavier College in Sydney, NS then enjoyed a long association with St. Francis Xavier University. In addition to his church and academic work he got involved with chivalric orders. He became in time a Bailiff Grand Cross of Justice and President of the North American Assn. ( which then included the US, Canadian and Cuban Members) of the Sacred and Military Order of Constantinian St. George (SMOCSG) (Madrid). Fra’ MacPherson also joined the Order of Malta in 1973 became a knight of Justice in 1993 and in June 2004 he became a Bailiff Grand Cross of Justice. From 1994 to 2009 He was a member of the Sovereign Council of the Order of Malta. He also served as President of the Canadian Association of the Order for a period. During this period he, in turn served as a mentor to Fra’ John Timothy Dunlap, the current Prince and 81st Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

Fra’ John Alexander MacPherson died in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 19 Sep 2017, the Feast of San Gennaro at age 86. R.I.P.

Fra’ MacPherson’s arms are an interpretation by John Hamilton Gaylor.

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