Roman Catholic Cardinal. A native of Leith, northern Edinburgh, Gordon Joseph Gray received his education at Holy Cross Academy, Edinburgh, and Saint Joseph's Junior College Seminary in Mark Cross, East Sussex, successively entering Saint John's Seminary in Wonersh, Southwark, England in 1929. Ordained priest in June 1935 in Edinburgh, he rendered pastoral ministry in the latter archdiocese up to 1947, when he was named rector Saint Mary's College in Blairs, Aberdeen. Appointed metropolitan archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh in 1951, he received his episcopal consecration on September 21 that year. Pope Paul VI created him cardinal priest with the title of Santa Chiara a Vigna Clara in the consistory of April 28, 1969, becoming thus the first cardinal resident in Scotland since the assassination of Cardinal David Beaton in 1546. President of the Episcopal Conference of Scotland, in 1977 he became the first cardinal to address the Church of Scotland's General Assembly. Retiring from office in 1985, Cardinal Gray was a simple man, especially fond of gardening whose steady leadership made him a much beloved ordinary. He died at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh of heart ailment and was laid to rest in Edinburgh's metropolitan cathedral.
Roman Catholic Cardinal. A native of Leith, northern Edinburgh, Gordon Joseph Gray received his education at Holy Cross Academy, Edinburgh, and Saint Joseph's Junior College Seminary in Mark Cross, East Sussex, successively entering Saint John's Seminary in Wonersh, Southwark, England in 1929. Ordained priest in June 1935 in Edinburgh, he rendered pastoral ministry in the latter archdiocese up to 1947, when he was named rector Saint Mary's College in Blairs, Aberdeen. Appointed metropolitan archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh in 1951, he received his episcopal consecration on September 21 that year. Pope Paul VI created him cardinal priest with the title of Santa Chiara a Vigna Clara in the consistory of April 28, 1969, becoming thus the first cardinal resident in Scotland since the assassination of Cardinal David Beaton in 1546. President of the Episcopal Conference of Scotland, in 1977 he became the first cardinal to address the Church of Scotland's General Assembly. Retiring from office in 1985, Cardinal Gray was a simple man, especially fond of gardening whose steady leadership made him a much beloved ordinary. He died at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh of heart ailment and was laid to rest in Edinburgh's metropolitan cathedral.
Bio by: Eman Bonnici
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See more Gray memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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