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Paul McPherson was born in a croft situated in the township of Scalan on the 4th March 1756. At the age of thirteen, he travelled to the Scots College in Rome to continue his studies; Owing to a crippling bout of fever he was sent to Valladolid in Spain He was ordained Sub-Deacon in Spain in 1778. On Easter Monday 1779 he was ordained priest by the Bishop of Segovia.

1793 saw him nominated by the bishops as agent of the Scottish mission to Rome and in August he left Scotland to take up his duties. In 1801 a Papal Decree recognised the right of the British colleges to appoint national superiors although they were banned from the administration of temporal affairs. Paul McPherson became the first rector of the college from the ranks of the Scottish secular clergy. Abbé Paul McPherson wished to return to Glenlivet but it wasn’t until 1827 after his replacement, Mr Angus Macdonald the new Rector, arrived that he was able to leave. In 1834 Abbé Paul McPherson returned to Rome at the age of 78 years and in poor health. The Scots College needed him; the rector Angus Macdonald died suddenly; the college was closed and the students transferred to the College of Propaganda. This old man, with the spirit of a young one, shouldered the responsibility of reopening the college, and did so in a year. He carried the weight of the administration until Dr. Grant relieved him in 1841. Although very frail he maintained a keen interest in his students until in his 92nd year on November 24th 1846 he quietly slipped away. He was buried in the Church of St. Andrews of the Scots.