MacPherson is an area in the eastern part of Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, lying within the Geylang Planning Area

Geylang

Geylang is a neighbourhood in the city-state of Singapore east of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district. It is located to the east of the Singapore River, an area that locals have associated, from the days of Sir Stamford Raffles, as a Malay kampong opposite facing two islands...

, between Aljunied

Aljunied

Aljunied is a sub-urban area located in the eastern part of the city-state of Singapore. Named after Aljunied Road, it was formally agricultural land which has since been heavily urbanised and presently comprises a variety of landuses...

 and Paya Lebar

Paya Lebar

Paya Lebar is an area in the north-eastern part of Singapore. It is served by Paya Lebar Station, on the East West Line of Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system. It is an urban planning area. The Singapore Post Centre is located there too....

. It consists of a small public housing

Public housing

Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...

 estate at Circuit Road and an industrial

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

 area. The area is served by the Circle MRT Line

Circle MRT Line

The Circle Line is Singapore's fourth Mass Rapid Transit line, operated by SMRT Corporation. This underground line is currently long with 28 stations and is fully automatically operated...

 and Downtown Line at MacPherson MRT Station

MacPherson MRT Station

MacPherson MRT Station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit station on the Circle Line and the future Downtown MRT Line, expected to be opened by 2018, in Singapore. It is located along Paya Lebar Road, near the Geylang Neighbourhood Police Centre. There are 3 exit and entry points to this station...

.

Etymology

Formerly called Jalan Klapa, MacPherson Road was named after Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 Ronald MacPherson (1817-1869).

MacPherson served in the China War

First Opium War

The First Anglo-Chinese War , known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice...

 of 1841 and was appointed Staff Officer to the Artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 in the Straits

Straits Settlements

The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...

 in 1843. He succeeded Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 H. Man as Executive Engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 and Superintendent of Convicts and Resident Councillor, Malacca

Malacca

Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...

 in 1855 and 1857 respectively. He had been active in forming a local volunteer corps

Corps

A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...

 at the outbreak of the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

 and was appointed First Captain Commandment of the Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps formed in 1854. When the first Municipal Act came into operation in 1856, he became an ex officio member of the Commission, becoming President on three later occasions. He was appointed the first Colonial Secretary when the Straits Settlements

Straits Settlements

The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...

 became a Crown Colony

Crown colony

A Crown colony, also known in the 17th century as royal colony, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire....

 in 1867.

MacPherson designed the current St Andrew's Cathedral along the lines of Netley Abbey

Netley Abbey

Netley Abbey is a ruined late medieval monastery in the village of Netley near Southampton in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1239 as a house for Roman Catholic monks of the austere Cistercian order. Despite being a royal abbey, Netley was never rich, produced no influential scholars...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and built it in six years using India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n convict labour. Completed in 1862, the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 is considered one of the finest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 in the east. On the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 grounds, the architect is commemorated in a memorial

Memorial

A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....

 called the MacPherson Memorial Monument. He was buried in the old Bukit Timah

Bukit Timah

Bukit Timah is an area in Singapore and a hill in that area. Bukit Timah is located near the centre of the Singapore main island. The hill stands at an altitude of 163.63 metres and is the highest point in the city-state of Singapore...

 Road Christian Cemetery, which has since been landscape

Landscape architecture

Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...

d and made into a park

Park

A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...

.

The name Macpherson

Macpherson

MacPherson or Macpherson can refer to:*Clan Macpherson, a Scottish clan*MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co.*MacPherson strut, a car suspension system*MacPherson, Singapore*Macpherson Stadium -In sports:...

 -- or MacPherson or McPherson

McPherson

- In sports :* Adrian McPherson, American NFL football player* Archie McPherson , Scottish footballer of the 1930s* Dallas McPherson, American MLB baseball player* Dave McPherson , Scottish retired football player, player agent...

, according to different spellings -- comes from the Gaelic Mac a' phearsain and means 'Son of the parson'.