Background
She was born at Lynedoch Place, Glasgow in 1920 to Andrew MacPherson (1888 - 1946), a company secretary and Jean (née Craig) (1886–1929).
She was born at Lynedoch Place, Glasgow in 1920 to Andrew MacPherson (1888 - 1946), a company secretary and Jean (née Craig) (1886–1929).
She is the younger sister of Andrew MacPherson a flying officer for the Royal Air Force who was awarded the first Distinguished Flying Cross of the Second World War in 1939. She also had elder sisters Agnes Jean and Margaret. She studied medicine at Glasgow University during the Second World War and eventually served for and became captain of the Royal Army Medical Corps.
They eventually moved to Aberdeen where Alastair became Regius Professor of materia medica in 1958.