GORDON, George 2nd of Gight ¹

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George married Elizabeth GORDON, daughter of Robert GORDON of Fetterletter and Unknown.¹ (Elizabeth GORDON was born about 1500 and died 10 June 1587? (see marriage notes) ¹.)

  Marriage Notes:

PARENTAGE OF ELIZABETH GORDON

Aberdeen Epitaphs points to one ancestral connection of Elizabeth Gordon:

"Sir George Gordon, the second laird .... married Elizabeth Gordon, daughter of Robert Gordon of Fetterletter, who was the son of James Gordon, first of Haddo."

whereas in the Birth Brieves section of Miscellany of the Spalding Club, referring to Captain George Garden, dated 1639, we read:

"Elspet Gordon, daughter to George Gordon of Gicht, wes mother to the said Alexr Gairdyn, quhais mother was Elizabeth Gordon, daughter to the laird of Lesmoir..."

Which is correct?

In Lesmoir, Captain Wimberley says, referring to James Gordon, 1st of Lesmoir: "The first laird of Lesmoir got as his earliest possession, Fotherletter in Strathaven..."

and later quotes:

"1521, September 23. - He is described as 'of Fotherletter,' when he and his spouse, Margaret Stewart, got a charter of the western halves of Meikle Culquholdstone. On the same day they acquired, and got a charter of the eastern halves and the hill thereof. This property was acquired from Robert Burnett of Balmaid and John, his son {Records of Aboyne, pp. 50-53). These charters were confirmed by the Earl of Huntly at Aberdeen, October 31, 1521."

In total, Wimberley mentions eight sons and five daughters of James Gordon, 1st of Lesmoir, from both of his marriages. There is one daughter named Elizabeth mentioned, but not in connection with the Garden family:

"Elizabeth married Knowis (or Knollys) of Ashintully, probably the place of that name between Altries and Durris. The 1600 Gordon MS. calls him 'merchant in Aberdeen, a man of good heritage'. There was an Alexander Knowis. a burgess of Edinburgh, who figured as a surety for Elizabeth's nephew, George Gordon II. of Crichie in October 26, 1562 (Privy Council Register)."

One could suggest a possible second marriage, but that turns out not to be necessary, since we read in The Balbithan MS:

"His (William Gordon 1st of Gight) eldest son Sr George Gordon of Sheeves and 2d. Laird of Gight married a daughter of Robert Gordon of Fetterletter, who was brother to the Laird of Haddo. The said Sir George Gordon built the House of Gight and dyed without issue."

This parentage is linked in Bulloch's "Additions and Corrections" to The Balbithan MS, and in his own outline of the Gordons of Gight:

"Page (189). The second Laird's wife. The Balbithan MS. statement that the second laird of Gight married a daughter of Robert Gordon of Fetterletter seems corroborated by a letter in the Morton Charter Chest, for a copy of which I am indebted (since writing about my inability to get it on page 211) to Mr. Murray Rose. The letter is written 'to my werray guid my Lord Erll Mortoune' by 'Dame Elizabeth Gordoun Lade of Gycht,' who dates from Fetterletter, Oct. 21, 1597." (He then quotes the letter in question.)

Bulloch follows this up by reiterating the information and extending it in his own essay on Gight, later in volume 1:

"The second laird married Elizabeth Gordon, daughter of Robert Gordon of Fetterletter, son of James Gordon, I. of Haddo. Cullen in his diary (Spalding Club Misc., ii., 58) records that Elspet Gordon, Lady Schives,'depairtit at Aberdeen' on June 10, 1587. The Balbithan MS. (p. 54) says that the second laird had no issue, but the 1564 extract from Pitcairn already quoted seems to show that he had a son."

The date of Elizabeth's death, as noted in this last extract quoted from Cullen's diary, must be questioned if the date of the letter from Elizabeth herself to "Lord Erll Morton" above is corrrect. ^{1 2 3 4 5}