William Roy Sanderson (23 September 1907 – 19 June 2008) was a Scottish minister who served as

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1967. In 1961 he had organised the first meeting between a moderator and the pope. He was chaplain in ordinary to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in Scotland.

Life

He was born on 23 September 1907 at Talbot House, 216 Ferry Road in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, the son of Arthur Sanderson (killed in Gallipoli in 1915) and grandson of William Sanderson, a prominent local whisky distiller and founder of William Sanderson & Co., creators of

VAT 69 Vat 69 is a blended Scotch whisky created by William Sanderson & Son Limited of South Queensferry, Scotland, now part of Diageo. History William Sanderson was born in Leith, Scotland January 27, 1839. He started an apprenticeship with wine ...

whisky. Although initially known as William, he was known in adult life as Roy Sanderson. He was educated at Cargilfield Preparatory School, then

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

and

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

. He studied modern classics at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, graduating in 1929, and then returned to Edinburgh to study divinity at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. In 1933 he was ordained as assistant at

St Giles Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended ...

in Edinburgh. In 1935 he was given his first church: St Andrews Church in

Lochgelly Lochgelly ( ; gd, Loch Gheallaidh, IPA: �ɫ̪ɔxˈʝaɫ̪ai is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is located between Loch Ore, Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath by the village of ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

. In 1939 he was translated to the Barony, Glasgow, as colleague and successor to Very Revd Dr John White. The church was in age of creation second in Glasgow to

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbishop ...

. In 1940 he served as a chaplain with the Church of Scotland Huts and Canteens in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and was evacuated from St Malo. He served as an air raid warden in Kelvinside during the

Clydebank Blitz The Clydebank Blitz were a pair of air raids conducted by the ''Luftwaffe'' on the shipbuilding and munition-making town of Clydebank in Scotland. The bombings took place in March 1941. The air raids were part of a bombing program known today as ...

. The

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate (DD) in 1959. In 1963, after 24 years in Glasgow, he moved to serve the combined parishes of

Whittingehame Whittingehame is a parish with a small village in East Lothian, Scotland, about halfway between Haddington and Dunbar, and near East Linton. The area is on the slopes of the Lammermuir Hills. Whittingehame Tower dates from the 15th century an ...

and

Stenton Stenton ( sco, Staneton) is a parish and village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is bounded on the north by parts of the parishes of Prestonkirk and Dunbar, on the east by Spott and on the west by Whittingehame. The name is said to be of Saxon ...

, in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

. From 1960 to 1965 he was convenor of the church panel on doctrine and served as convenor of the general administration committee of the General Assembly from 1965 to 1970, technically pausing these duties for his period as Moderator 1967/8. He was influential in the ordination of female ministers and helped

Mary Levison Mary Irene Levison (8 January 1923 – 12 September 2011) was the first person to petition the Church of Scotland for the ordination of women to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in 1963. This was achieved five years later and Levison became a m ...

achieve her position as the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

's first female minister. From 1961 to 1971 he advised both

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

and

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

on religious affairs. He was a Governor of

1967 to 1977. He conducted the marriage of Leo Blair to his first wife Hazel, the parents of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

. He retired to

North Berwick North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on th ...

and died in

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...

on 19 June 2008, aged 100. The Barony Church was deconsecrated and as the Barony Hall now forms part of the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

Family

In 1941 he married Muriel Easton in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. They had two daughters and three sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, William Roy 1907 births 2008 deaths People from Leith People educated at Cargilfield School People educated at Edinburgh Academy People educated at Fettes College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Scottish centenarians Men centenarians 20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland