The somewhat awkward reference to his being "of Clan Cluny" is nevertheless an indication of his sentiments concerning his ancestry and clan affiliation.

      John McPherson's sudden death left his wife and daughter in dire straits. The Queen had been gracious in making an allowance of £70 per annum to his wife, but this was insufficient to support both mother and daughter. Apparently he had supported his widowed mother, Mary Robertson, with a regular allowance throughout his working life, and up to her death in 1880. He had also placed his older son John in a profession that was expensive for one of his means, on the assumption that young John would be able to support his mother and sister if the occasion arose. This no longer held, as that son had died in 1893, aged about forty-eight. Alexander, the younger son, was married with a young family and a precarious mode of employment; he was the Scots-born architect listed in the 1881 Census as boarding at 32 Iron Gate, Derby, aged thirty-two; by the time of his father's death he had married Mary Snow from Tiverton, Devon, and was living in Nottingham with two sons, John and Duncan. Elizabeth, the daughter, asked for a position in the Queen's service in order to remain with their mother. It was her intention to sell the furniture and vacate "Lyndhurst". In the event, Elizabeth, John's widow, already in a frail condition, died on the 5th March 1897, just thirteen months after her husband, as indicated on their gravestone: