Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon

His Grace The Duke of Gordon KG PC
200px The 4th Duke of Gordon
Preceded by	Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon
Succeeded by	George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon
Personal details
Born	(1743-06-18)18 June 1743 Gordon Castle, Fochabers, Kingdom of Great Britain
Died	Berkeley Square, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Nationality	Scottish
Spouse(s)	Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon
Parents	Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon Lady Catherine Gordon
Known for	Nobleman

Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon KT (18 June 1743 – 17 June 1827), styled Marquess of Huntly until 1752, was a Scottish nobleman, described by Kaimes as the "greatest subject in Britain", and was also known as the Cock o' the North, the traditional epithet attached to the chief of the Gordon clan.

Early life

Alexander Gordon was born at Gordon Castle, Fochabers, on 18 June 1743, the eldest son of Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon and his wife, Lady Catherine Gordon, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Aberdeen. He was educated at Eton and also possibly at Harrow. He succeeded as 4th Duke of Gordon in 1752. His younger brother was Lord George Gordon who led the Gordon Riots.

He was elected as a Scottish representative peer in 1767. He was appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1775 and was created a Peer of Great Britain as Baron Gordon of Huntley, of Huntley in the County of Gloucester, and Earl of Norwich, in the County of Norfolk, in 1784. His new titles were not universally popular. He was thought to have taken designations to which he had no right. The Scots Peerage described the Gordon of Huntley peerage as "an absurd specimen of Peerage topography. The village of Huntley, four miles from Newent in Gloucestershire, had apparently no connection with the Gordon family or with the town of Huntly in North Britain." George Edward Cokayne in The Complete Peerage says the following with regard to the Duke's choice of Norwich for his Earldom: "His great-grandmother was the daughter of the 5th Duke of Norfolk and 1st Earl of Norwich, but though that title had become extinct in 1777, the representation thereof did not vest in the issue of that lady."

He was Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland from 1794 to 1806 and from 1807 to 1827. Between 1793 and 1827, he was Chancellor of King's College, Aberdeen. In addition, he was Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire until 1808. He received the Order of the Thistle from King George III on 11 January 1775. The Dictionary of National Biography described him thus: "At the time of his marriage the Duke was reputed one of the handsomest men of his day."

He raised the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot in 1794 for the French Revolutionary Wars. He was responsible for establishing the new village of Fochabers as well as those of Tomintoul and Portgordon in Banffshire. He is also credited as the founder of the Gordon Setter breed of dog, having popularised a 200-year-old breed during the 18th century and then formalised its breed standard in 1820.

He was an enthusiastic supporter and patron of the music of William Marshall (1748–1833), a Scottish fiddler and composer, and famous for his many strathspeys, who acted as steward of the Gordon household.

Marriage and family

File:Jane, Duchess of Gordon04.jpg

Jane, Duchess of Gordon with her son, George Duncan (1770–1836), by George Romney

Gordon married firstly on 23 October 1767, at Ayton, Berwickshire, and again Mr Fordyce's house in Argyll Street, Edinburgh, Jane, the daughter of Sir William Maxwell, 3rd Baronet of Monreith, by his wife, Magdalen, daughter of William Blair, of Blair, Ayrshire. Duchess Jane was born at Hyndford's Close, Edinburgh in 1748. She was described by the diarist Sir Nathaniel Wraxall as a celebrated beauty. From 1787 she was part of the social centre of the Tory party and was described in the Female Jockey Club of 1794 as possessing "an open ruddy countenance, quick in repartée, and no one excelling her in performing the honours of the table, her society is generally courted". It went on to say that

"The Duchess triumphs in a manly mien;

Loud is her accent, and her phrase obscene."

She resided for some years in Edinburgh, but eventually refused to renew her residence at George Square, Edinburgh, because it was "a vile dull place". The poet Erskine wrote the following lines to her:

"That is, quoth he, as if the Sun should say,

A vile dark morning this - I will not rise to-day."

The Duke and Duchess's marriage was tempestuous from the start and neither made any particular effort to be faithful to the other. For some years before her death she was bitterly estranged from the Duke. While the Duchess circulated at the centre of society, the Duke lived in retirement at Gordon Castle. Elizabeth Grant mentions "The great width of the Spey, the bridge at Fochabers, and the peep of the towers of Gordon Castle from amongst the cluster of trees that concealed the rest of the building....the Duke lived very disreputably in this solitude, for he was very little noticed, and, I believe, preferred seclusion."

The Duchess is best remembered for placing the King's shilling between her teeth to help recruitment to the Gordon Highlanders which were founded by her husband. However, she also possessed a capacity for match-making which was unrivalled. Of her five daughters, three were married to Dukes, (Richmond, Manchester and Bedford) and one to a Marquess (Cornwallis).

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A younger Duke of Gordon in 1764, by Pompeo Batoni. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

Her eldest child, Lady Charlotte, married Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond. She was hostess of the Duchess of Richmond's Ball—"the most famous ball in history", and eventually inherited all of the vast estates of the Gordon family. The second daughter, Madelaine, married firstly Sir Robert Sinclair, Bart who died in August 1795 and then married Charles Fysche Palmer, of Luckley Park, Berkshire. The third daughter, Susan (b 2 February 1774) married at Mr Fordyce's house, near Edinburgh, on 7 October 1793, William Montagu, 5th Duke of Manchester. Elizabeth Grant of Rothiemurchas in her Memoirs of a Highland Lady noted in 1812 that "the Duchess [of Manchester] had left home years before with one of her footmen", while Lady Jerningham wrote in September 1813 that "The Duchess of Manchester is finally parted from her husband, her conduct being most notoriously bad". The Duchess of Manchester died at Bedfont Lodge on 26 August 1828. The next daughter, Louisa, married at her father's house in Piccadilly in 1797 Charles Cornwallis, subsequently 2nd Marquess Cornwallis. Allegedly, when the Marquess had "expressed to the Duchess of Gordon some hesitation about marrying her daughter on account of the supposed insanity in the Gordon family, he received from the Duchess the gratifying assurance that there was not a drop of Gordon blood in Louisa." The youngest daughter, Georgiana, was born at Gordon Castle on 18 July 1781. She married at Fife House, in 1803, John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford as his second wife.

The Duchess of Gordon died at Pulteney's Hotel, Piccadilly, Middlesex, on 14 April 1812 and was buried at her beloved Kinrara near Aviemore. Her husband, the 4th Duke, married secondly, at the Kirk of Fochabers, (probably Bellie), in July 1820, Jane [or Jean] Christie, who was a native of Fochabers and was then aged about 40. The Duke had previously had four children by Jane Christie. After their marriage she lived in great style, not at the Castle, but at a town house in Fochabers. She claimed that by residing at the Castle, which the Duke had rebuilt and enlarged considerably, none of his friends would visit him.

One of the Duke's illegitimate sons, Colonel Charles Gordon, was given the property of Glasterim near Port Gordon. Curiously, Colonel Gordon had been a great favourite with the late Duchess. Elizabeth Grant described Colonel Gordon as "much beloved by Lord Huntly, whom he exceedingly resembled, and so might have done better for himself and all belonging to him, had not the Gordon brains been of the lightest with him."

His second duchess died on 17 June 1824. The Duke himself died suddenly at Mount Street, Berkeley Square, on 17 June 1827, and was buried in Elgin Cathedral. He was succeeded by his son George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon.

Legitimate issue

The Duke had a total of seven children by his first wife:

• Lady Charlotte Gordon (Gordon Castle, 20 September 1768 – London, 5 May 1842), married 9 September 1789 at Gordon Castle Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond and had issue
• George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon (Edinburgh, 2 February 1770 – London, 28 May 1836)
• Lady Madelaine Gordon (1772 – 31 May 1847), married firstly 2 April 1789 in London Sir Robert Sinclair, 7th Baronet and had issue; married secondly 25 November 1805 at Kimbolton Castle Charles Fysche Palmer with no issue
• Lady Susan Gordon (Gordon Castle, 2 February 1774 – Bedfont Lodge, 26 August 1828), married 7 October 1793 in Edinburgh William Montagu, 5th Duke of Manchester and had issue
• Lady Louisa Gordon (Gordon Castle, 27 December 1776 – Park Crescent, Middlesex, 5 December 1850), married 17 April 1795 in London Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquess Cornwallis and had issue
• Lady Georgiana Gordon (Gordon Castle, 18 July 1781 – Nice, 24 February 1853), married 23 June 1803 in London John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford and had issue
• Lord Alexander Gordon (1785 – 8 January 1808), served as an officer in the British Army, unmarried

In popular culture

Gordon has twice been depicted incorrectly as fighting at the Battle of Waterloo: in the 1970 film Waterloo, where he was played by Rupert Davies, and the Dad's Army episode A Soldier's Farewell, where he was played by John Laurie.

Ancestry

Family of Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon

16. Lewis Gordon, 3rd Marquess of Huntly               8. George Gordon, 1st Duke of Gordon                       17. Mary Grant               4. Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon                             18. Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk               9. Lady Elizabeth Howard                       19. Lady Anne Somerset               2. Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon                                   20. John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt               10. Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough                       21. Elizabeth Carey               5. Lady Henrietta Mordaunt                             22. Sir Alexander Fraser, 1st Baronet               11. Carey Fraser                       23. Mary Carey               1. Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon                                         24. Sir John Gordon, 1st Baronet               12. George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen                       25. Mary Forbes               6. William Gordon, 2nd Earl of Aberdeen                             26. George Lockhart               13. Anne Lockhart                       27. Anne Lockhart               3. Lady Catherine Gordon                                   28. John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl               14. John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl                       29. Lady Amelia Stanley               7. Lady Susan Murray                             30. William Douglas, 1st Earl of Selkirk               15. Lady Catherine Hamilton                       31. Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Gordon
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• Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon

Political offices
Preceded by The Earl of Marchmont	Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland 1794–1806	Succeeded by The Earl of Lauderdale
Preceded by The Earl of Lauderdale	Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland 1807–1827	Succeeded by The Duke of Argyll
Honorary titles
New office	Lord-Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire 1794–1808	Succeeded by Marquess of Huntly
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Cosmo George Gordon	Duke of Gordon 1752–1827	Succeeded by George Gordon
	Baron Gordon of Huntley (descended by acceleration) 1752–1807
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation	Earl of Norwich 1784–1827	Succeeded by George Gordon
Peerage of England
Preceded by Mary Mordaunt	Baron Mordaunt 1819–1827	Succeeded by George Gordon