John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair

The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
KT GCMG GCVO PC
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
8 February 1886 – 20 July 1886
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by The Earl of Carnarvon
Succeeded by The Marquess of Londonderry
In office
11 December 1905 – 17 February 1915
Monarch Edward VII
George V
Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Preceded by The Earl of Dudley
Succeeded by The Lord Wimborne
7th Governor General of Canada
In office
18 September 1893 – 12 November 1898
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister Canadian:
John Thompson
Mackenzie Bowell
Charles Tupper
Wilfrid Laurier
British:
William Ewart Gladstone
Lord Rosebery
Lord Salisbury
Preceded by The Lord Stanley of Preston
Succeeded by The Earl of Minto
Personal details
Born John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon
(1847-08-03)3 August 1847
Edinburgh, Midlothian,
U.K.
Died 7 March 1934(1934-03-07) (aged 86)
Tarland, Aberdeenshire
United Kingdom
Nationality British
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) Hon. Ishbel Marjoribanks
Children George Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
Marjorie Sinclair, Baroness Pentland
Dudley Gordon, 3rd Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
Lord Archibald Gordon
Parents George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen
Mary Baillie
Alma mater University of St. Andrews University College, Oxford

John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair KT GCMG GCVO PC (3 August 1847 – 7 March 1934), known as The Earl of Aberdeen from 1870 to 1916, was a Scottish politician. Born in Edinburgh, Hamilton-Gordon held office in several countries, serving twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1886; 1905–1915) and serving from 1893 to 1898 as the seventh Governor General of Canada.[1]

Early and personal life

Aberdeen was born in Edinburgh to George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen and his wife, Mary Baillie, daughter of George Baillie and sister to George Baillie-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Haddington. He studied at the University of St Andrews and University College, Oxford. He succeeded as 7th Earl of Aberdeen following the death of his eldest brother, George, 6th Earl of Aberdeen.

Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair

In 1877 he married Ishbel Maria Marjoribanks, daughter to Dudley Marjoribanks, later 1st Baron Tweedmouth, and Isabella Weir-Hogg. It seems that their marriage was a love match as they were long time friends and Ishbel developed a crush on Hamilton-Gordon at just 14. Lady Aberdeen was an LL.D. of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. She served as President of the International Council of Women from 1893–99, and later founded the National Council of Women of Canada and the Victorian Order of Nurses.[2]

They had five children:

Political life

Aberdeen entered the House of Lords following his succession to his brother's earldom. A Liberal, he was present for William Ewart Gladstone's first Midlothian campaign at Lord Rosebery's house in 1879. He became Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire in 1880, served as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1881 to 1885 (he held the position again in 1915), and was briefly appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1886. He became a Privy Counsellor in the same year.[4] In 1884, he hosted a dinner at Haddo House honouring William Ewart Gladstone on his tour of Scotland. The occasion was captured by the painter Alfred Edward Emslie; the painting is now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, given by the Marquess’ daughter, Marjorie Sinclair, Baroness Pentland, in 1953.[5]

He served as Governor General of Canada from 1893 to 1898 during a period of political transition. He travelled extensively throughout the country and is described as having "transformed the role of Governor General from that of the aristocrat representing the King or Queen in Canada to a symbol representing the interests of all citizens".[6] In 1891, he bought the Coldstream Ranch in the northern Okanagan Valley in British Columbia and launched the first commercial orchard operations in that region, which gave birth to an industry and settlement colony as other Britons emigrated to the region because of his prestige and bought into the orcharding lifestyle.[7] The ranch is today part of the municipality of Coldstream, and various placenames in the area commemorate him and his family, such as Aberdeen Lake and Haddo Creek.[8][9]

He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1895.[10]

He was again appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1905, and served until 1915. During his tenure he also served as Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews (1913–1916), was created a Knight Companion of the Order of the Thistle (1906), and was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (1911).[11] Following his retirement, he was created Earl of Haddo, in the County of Aberdeen, and Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, in the County of Aberdeen, in the County of Meath and in the County of Argyll, in January 1916.[12]

Later life

Aberdeen died at the House of Cromar (now Alastrean House) in 1934.
Aberdeen caricatured by Spy for Vanity Fair, 1902

Aberdeen lived the later stages of his life at the House of Cromar in Tarland, Aberdeenshire, which he had built and where he died in 1934. His son, George, succeeded to the marquessate.

The House of Cromar passed to Sir Alexander MacRobert in 1934 and it was renamed Alastrean House by his widow Lady Rachel Workman MacRobert.[13] It was leased to the RAF Benevolent Fund in 1984.[14]

Jokes Cracked by Lord Aberdeen, a collection of John Hamilton-Gordon's dinner party repartee, was first published in 1929. The "bafflingly unfunny" book, long out of print, gained a cult following in more recent times and was reissued in 2013.[15]

The Rocking Chair Ranche

From 1883 until 1896, he was also an owner of and investor in the Rocking Chair Ranche located in Collingsworth County, Texas, together with his father-in-law Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks, 1st Baron Tweedmouth and his brother-in-law Edward Marjoribanks, 2nd Baron Tweedmouth.[16]

Styles and honours

  • The Hon. John Hamilton-Gordon (1847–1870)
  • The Rt Hon. The Earl of Aberdeen (1870–1886)
  • The Rt Hon. The Earl of Aberdeen PC (1886–1893)
  • His Excellency The Rt Hon. The Earl of Aberdeen PC (1893–1895)
  • His Excellency The Rt Hon. The Earl of Aberdeen GCMG PC (1895–1898)
  • The Rt Hon. The Earl of Aberdeen GCMG PC (1898–1906)
  • The Rt Hon. The Earl of Aberdeen KT GCMG PC (1906–1911)
  • The Rt Hon. The Earl of Aberdeen KT GCMG GCVO PC (1911–1916)
  • The Most Hon. The Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair KT GCMG GCVO PC (1916–1934)

Honorific eponyms

Geographic Locations
Buildings

References

  1. ↑ Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 4
  2. ↑ Morgan, Henry James, ed. (1903). Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada. Toronto: Williams Briggs. p. 3.
  3. ↑ "Revelations of Ettie Desborough, an Edwardian A-lister". Mail OnLine. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "No. 25557". The London Gazette. 9 February 1886. p. 613.
  5. ↑ Emslie, Alfred Edward. "Dinner at Haddo House, 1884". National Portrait Gallery, London.
  6. ↑ "Former Governors General". Website of the Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  7. ↑ Living Landscapes (Royal BC Museum) website, Ethnic Agricultural Labour in the Okanagan Valley: 1880s to 1960s, II. The Early British Settlers: 1860s - 1920s , Mario Lanthier & Lloyd L. Wong
  8. ↑ BCGNIS entry "Aberdeen Lake"
  9. ↑ BCGNIS entry "Coldstream (District Municipality"
  10. ↑ "No. 26628". The London Gazette. 25 May 1895. p. 3082.
  11. ↑ "No. 28513". The London Gazette. 14 July 1911. p. 5265.
  12. ↑ "No. 29427". The London Gazette. 4 January 1916. p. 179.
  13. ↑ "Alastrean House and sundial". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Briggs, Caroline (4 September 2003). "RAF veteran care home to close". BBC News Online. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  15. ↑ Bury, Liz (3 October 2013). "Heard the one about the bearded laird?". The Guardian.
  16. ↑ Anderson, H. Allen (June 15, 2010). "Rocking Chair Ranch". Handbook of Texas (online ed.). Texas State Historical Association.
  • Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Aberdeen and Temair, John Campbell Gordon, 1st Marquess of". Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York. p. 1.
  • Barbour, G. F. Barbour; Baird, Matthew Urie; rev. Matthew, H. C. G. "Gordon, John Campbell, first marquess of Aberdeen and Temair (1847–1934)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33464. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Harris, Carolyn (October 4, 2017) [January 14, 2008]. "John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen". The Canadian Encyclopedia (onlne ed.). Historica Canada.
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Kintore		 Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire
1880–1934		 Succeeded by
The 2nd Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
Government offices
Preceded by
The Earl of Carnarvon		 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1886		 Succeeded by
The Marquess of Londonderry
Preceded by
The Lord Stanley of Preston		 Governor General of Canada
1893–1898		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Minto
Preceded by
The Earl of Dudley		 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1905–1915		 Succeeded by
The Lord Wimborne
Academic offices
Preceded by
The Earl of Rosebery		 Rector of the University of St Andrews
1913–1916		 Succeeded by
Sir Douglas Haig
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
1916–1934		 Succeeded by
George Gordon
Preceded by
George Hamilton-Gordon		 Earl of Aberdeen
1870–1934
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