A pioneering artist, teacher, missionary and writer whose life took her from Victorian Wakefield to colonial Hong Kong is finally being recognised more than 75 years after her death. In September, Gertrude McPherson, née Briggs, will become the latest woman honoured with a blue plaque in Wakefield, celebrating a life that defied many of the expectations placed on women of her generation.
A promising start
Gertrude Briggs was born in Wakefield in 1882, the ninth of ten children of John Shaw Briggs, a worsted manufacturer and merchant, and Emily Midwood of Hollingworth, a Sunday school teacher at the Independent Chapel. She came of age during a period of profound social change, when increasing numbers of women were pursuing education, professional careers and public service. Like her cousins, Gertrude forged an independent path, combining artistic talent with teaching, missionary work and later writing.
Living at 5 St John’s Square, she attended Wakefield Girls’ High School, under the formidable headmistress Gertrude McCroben, who recognised her promise. Writing a reference in 1904, McCroben described her former pupil as:
“Well read and interested in many things outside the range of her own special work (which was) drawing and literature.”
Surrounded by influential women including Florence and Gwendoline Beaumont and Millicent Fawcett, Edith Mackie and Lady Catherine Milnes Gaskell, Gertrude developed an ambition to build a life beyond the expectations traditionally placed upon women.
An artist with ambition
Gertrude studied at Wakefield Technical and Art School, where she quickly distinguished herself. In 1900 she gained a second-class award for painting from still life and a first-class award for freehand drawing. The following year she achieved first class in perspective and second class in geometrical drawing and light and shade work.
Her success earned her a Free Studentship from Wakefield Girls’ High School, enabling her to study at Liverpool University School of Art. After becoming a member of the Royal Drawing Society, she gained her teaching certificate in art.
Spreading her wings
In 1904 she accepted a post as drawing mistress at Langton House, Bury St Edmunds. Although she remained there for only one year, her headmistress was full of praise for her:
“I cannot speak too highly of her powers and her influence. Her high culture naturally tells in every subject she teaches.”
That same summer, she volunteered with the Children’s Special Service Mission in Whitby, helping to organise activities on the beach for children and their families.
Family upheaval
The death of her father in December 1904 proved a turning point. By February 1905 she had offered herself for overseas missionary service with the London Missionary Society. In support of her application, her aunt Mary Briggs wrote that she was “so very glad” one of her nieces had volunteered for foreign missions and believed that Gertrude had “the making of a strong character”.
Whether driven primarily by faith, adventure or the opportunity for independence, Gertrude’s decision changed the course of her life. By September 1905, she was training in Edinburgh with the United Free Church’s foreign mission programme.
Hong Kong, family and creativity
In 1907 Gertrude was appointed to Hong Kong, where she continued teaching art alongside her missionary work. There she met John Livingston McPherson, General Secretary of the YMCA, whom she married in 1911. Their first-born son, Angus, died in infancy, but the couple soon welcomed three daughters: Elizabeth (1914–2011), Katherine (1915–2002) and Marjorie (1918–2007).
The family initially lived at The Peak, enjoying the privileges of colonial society. Concerned about their daughters’ education and safety, they later moved to Cheung Chau, where the girls attended a European-only school. Like many expatriate families, they employed amahs, giving Gertrude time to return to painting and teaching. The children became fluent Cantonese speakers, earning the nickname “the Chinese girls” during furlough visits to Canada.
Gertrude also designed an extension to their bungalow on Cheung Chau, demonstrating another creative talent at a time when very few women were recognised for architectural work.
Art through adversity
The family travelled regularly between Hong Kong, Canada and Britain. Political instability in southern China during the mid-1920s led Gertrude and the children to remain in England while John returned to Hong Kong.
She dedicated herself to painting, exhibiting at London’s Chester Gallery in 1926, where critics praised her pen-and-wash drawings for showing “real imagination”.
A stroke in 1928 temporarily interrupted her work, but art became part of her recovery. By 1930 she was exhibiting again, with critics singling out works including The Edge, Dawn in the Forest and In Suburbs for their imaginative compositions and clever satire.
Writer and social commentator
In 1933 Gertrude published her novel Grey Cottage in the United States (appearing in Britain under the title A Few Things are Needful). The story follows an artist, Michael Donnelly, whose search for beauty and meaning reflects many of Gertrude’s own experiences. Beneath its artistic themes lies a thoughtful commentary on colonial society and the tensions between idealism and reality.
Creative life in England
By 1939, Gertrude and John were living in Tunbridge Wells, next door to the artist Harold Hope Read, an unconventional figure whose work is now regarded as a precursor to that of Edward Ardizzone.
John had helped establish Hong Kong’s Playing Fields Committee in 1929, and Gertrude had played an important part in its development. Their contribution was recognised when the McPherson Stadium, named in John’s honour, was opened in 1952. This indoor stadium continues to serve young people in Hong Kong today.
Gertrude died unexpectedly in Tunbridge Wells in 1948, aged 65.
In September 2026 she will become the 32nd Dream Time Creative Forgotten Woman of Wakefield to receive a blue plaque, alongside her cousin Barbara. The plaque will be sited at the Briggs family home on South Parade, Wakefield, recognising a woman whose life combined artistic achievement, education, missionary service and a quiet determination to shape her own future.
This biography is based on research by Sarah Cobham, Helga Fox and Lorraine Simpson, with thanks to Gordon Briggs for access to family archives.
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