He was born on 11 July 1832 at Brownhill Farm near Scone, Perthshire, the son of James MacGregor, farmer, and his wife, Margaret MacDougall.

During his ministry of St Cuthberts, he oversaw the total reconstruction of the church from 1888 to 1894, under the design of Edinburgh architect Hippolyte Blanc.

His proposers were Robert Flint, James Sanderson, Peter Guthrie Tait and Alexander Buchan.

[7] He travelled widely, with trips to China, Canada with the Marquis of Lome to inspect the progress of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

John Bowie ARSA painted him as part of a group entitled “The Queen’s Chaplains”.