GORDON, George 'of Nethermuir' ¹

   Another name for George was GORDON, Georg.²

  General Notes:

"GORDON
GEORG
JOHN GORDON/BETTIE GORDON FR40 (FR40)
M
13/07/1690
225/ 10 80
New Deer"

from Births and Baptisms




"George Gordon remains a mystery. He was the son of Patrick (NOTE: from the context this is clearly an oversight error; he was the son of John) Gordon of Nethermuir, and figures in the Poll Book of 1696. According- to the 'London Magazine,' he must have been born in 1688 (Note: he was born in 1690). His father in his will, July 2, 1724, refers to the 'absence and misfortune of my son George Gordon.'

What that 'misfortune' was is a mystery. His 'absence' was in London. It will be noted that he was passed over in his father's will, any legacies going to the heirs of his body. He does not figure in the Services of Heirs, and does not seem to have really held the estate of Nethermuir at all. Paterson ('History of Ayr,' i., 220) says he died without succession about 1731. As a matter of fact he died on February 15, 1768. We are indebted for the information to the 'London Magazine' (vol. 37, p. 118), in the following terms:

'George Gordon of the Middle Temple, late of Nethermuir in North Britain, Esq. [died Feb. 15, 1768], aged near eighty; a gentleman of primitive [sic] honour and integrity, great erudition, remarkable for his profound knowledge of the laws and constitution of this kingdom, and not less so for his amiable and beneficent behaviour in private life. His writings in the cause of liberty have enlightened and improved thousands, though the name of this benefactor to the public as an author was known only to his particular friends.'

The death was announced in the 'Gazetteer' of Feb. 17, 1768 'On Monday, George Gordon, Esq. of the Middle Temple,' and in the 'Gentleman's Magazine' (vol. .38, p. 04) 'George Gordon, Esq., of the Middle Temple.'

Turning to Somerset House in search of information, we get his will which he made without witnesses on February 12, 1768, three days before his death. Nothing is said about Nethermuir in it: he is described as ''George Gordon, Esq., of the Middle Temple.' It is a very brief document, in which he says -

'As I have been for many years chiefly supported by the proprietors of the 'London Magazine,' who have always shown to me not only justice but often such generosity,'

he left them the proceeds of his writings, and nominated as his executor Richard Baldwin, bookseller, Paternoster Row, the publisher of the magazine. On February 17, two days after his death, Edward Kimber, in the parish of St Bride's, - apparently the poor literary hack (1719-1769), who was the son of Isaac Kimber (1692-1755) and Samuel Selfe proved that the handwriting of the will was that of Gordon, and on February 19 the will was proved, minus details, by Baldwin.

Gordon was not a barrister - the books of the Middle Temple do not contain his name: nor was he buried in the Temple Church.........

Let us try and reconstruct his story. It is clear from his father's will that he had left Nethermuir before 1724. He may have been one of the two George Gordons who were at King's College in 1701 and 1704, or one of the four who were at Marischal College in 1701, 1709(2), and 1711. The Rev. William Adams, minister of New Deer, tells me he has been unable to find any reference to Gordon in the records of the church. One wonders whether the following was his 'misfortune' :

'Mr [John] Webster complained to the Presbytery of Old Deer at Crimond, Sept. 5, 1710, that George Gordon in his parish [New Deer] came to the church in tyme of service on a week day and used some unbecoming and scandalous carriage, especially in words in the hearing of both the minister and the people.'

'Att Aberdeen, Oct. 5, 1710, it was reported that George Gordon refused to submit to the Presbytery sentence.' Gordon was then living at Tarves. Gordon was called to the Scots Bar in 1713, being described (by Mylne) as 'yr. of Neathermuir.' He appears in his father's will in 1724. His career between that date and 1768 remains a mystery.

He did not succeed to the estate, and would seem to have become a literary hack in London, 'chiefly supported by the 'London Magazine,' and living as the subtenant of some barrister in the Middle Temple, just as men do at the present day.

His contributions to the 'London Magazine,' appearing as it did in the days of anonymity, are not recognisable.
What, then, were 'his writings in the cause of liberty' which 'enlightened and improved thousands, though the name of this benefactor to the public as an author was known only to his particular friends' ?

Turning to the British Museum Catalogue, we find several writers named George Gordon writing about the time he was alive, one of them doing so anonymously. In one of the anonymous books, 'The History of our National Debts and Taxes,' 1751 some one has written in a contemporary hand on the title page the words 'By George Gordon,' author of 'The Annals of Europe.' This is probably our George, though the book was not issued by the publisher of his beloved 'London Magazine.'

'The Annals of Europe' is a very interesting compilation which was the ancestor of 'The Annual Register,' and of a host of modern annuals like 'Whitaker's Almanack' and 'Hazell's Annual.' It was first issued in 1740 with the following title: 'The Annals of Europe for the year 1730: being a methodical and full account of all the remarkable occurrences which happened within that year, either at home or abroad: with copies or extracts of the most important Treaties and other public papers, and an abstract of the most remarkable pamphlets published within that period. To be continued and from thenceforth published annually as soon as possible after the expiration of the preceding year.' London: printed for George Hawkins at Milton's Head, between the two Temple Gates, Fleet Street........

This series was followed by a more original work entitled: 'The History of our National Debts and Taxes. From the year MDCLXXXVIII to the present year MDCCLI.' London, I751 printed for Mr Cooper at the Globe, in Paternoster Row...A second edition of the book appeared, with an index, in 1753...."

from The Gordons of Nethermuir ^{1 2}