GORDON, John, Major

  General Notes:

"907- John. 1778, Jul. 10, Qr. Mr., 48th Ft. (W.O. Notifications, P.R.O.); Oct. 9, the Duke of Gordon wrote to Cox and Mair, 'Mr. Gordon, the Surgeon, has been with me, and as it is not certain whether he can hold the Surgeoncy (N. Fencibles) or not, being as I am informed appointed Quarter Master to the 48th, I beg you will not take out the commission till you hear from me'; Dec. 1, Dr. J. Gordon had written from London to the Duke :'It was believed we should be immediately ordered for the West Indies, but the unexpected revolution that happened in that quarter of the globe, by the taking of Dominique, in which were three Companies of our regiment, and the uncertain situation the remaining part may be in [came]'; he asks Major Finlason, N. Fencibles, to send him 'an order to receive payment of the regimental Agent here for what money may be owing me'; Dec. 27, the Duke wrote to Cox and Mair, 'It is my desire that George French, mate, be appointed Surgeon, vice John Gordon, who has resigned' (Gordon Castle Papers).

1783-4, exchanged to h.p., 11th Ft. (L.G.), but appears as Qr. Mr., 48th, until 1786 (A.L). 1792, May 21, J.P., Banffsh. 1793, enlisted fourteen men for N. Fencibles; Mar. 1, or Jun. 22, Ens. and Lt. (W.O. Notifications, P.R.O.; L.G.). 1794, Jun. 7 or 27, Capt. Lt.; Nov. 12 or 1795, Jan. 17, Capt.; Sep. 12 or 29, Capt., 7th W.I. Reg. 1796, Nov. 30, or Dec. 6, 8th W.I. Reg. 1798, Aug. 15 or 18, Maj. 1801, comd. reg. in lieu of Lt. Col. Wilson at home on s.c. 1802, Apr. 9, reg., stationed at Prince Rupert's, Dominica, mutinied that night (Hugh Gordon's Sketches and Recollections of the West Indies, pp. 105-16), killing a few of the offs., Gordon with two others escaping; 'the regiment had latterly received no pay, and although the Major commanding and Paymaster had made repeated applications to Governor Johnstone, they had been made in vain, two companies not having received their pay since Oct. 24, and two from Nov. 24, 1801 '.

After the mutiny Gordon and Johnstone indulged in a series of mutual recriminations, Gordon came home, arriving in London 1803, Feb. Johnstone was recalled, preferred charges against Gordon. 1804, Jan. 30 Feb. 14, tried by Court Martial at Chelsea Hospital; found generally not guilty, but placed on h.p. (Trial of Major John Gordon, printed for E. Lloyd, London, 1804; 8vo., pp. 298; A.L., 1779-1819; Bulloch's Gordons and Smiths, pp.32-44-)

Son of John, IV. in Minmore; m. 1807, Nov. 29, Magdalene Cumming, Kirkmichael, and had John William, b. and bap. 1805, in London, Eliza Hellen, b. and bap. 1807, Jun. in London and George Henry, 578- Gordon d. 1819, Apr. 3, at Aberdeen, bur. Apr. 9 in Inveravon Churchyard, Banffsh. His widow (lived in Tomintoul until 1823, then in Aberdeen) received pension of £70 from Apr. 4, under warrant dated Nov. 13, the three children placed on Compass. List at £12 each on recommendation of his brother Lewis and the Duke of Gordon (W.O. Certificates, Wid. Compass, and Bounty Warrants, Abstract of Applns., Compass. List, P.R.O.). Brother of Henry, 618, Lewis,
1093, and William, 1407."

from Gordons Under Arms ¹

John married Magdalene CUMMING on 29 November 1807.¹ (Magdalene CUMMING was born about 1780.)

  Marriage Notes:

"After his retirement (John) Gordon farmed Drumin, in Inveravon, just at the point where the Avon and Livet join, and near the ruins of the old castle of Drumin, the seat of the Barons of Strathaven (Stewart's ' Lectures from the Mountains ' 1860 : 1st series p. 101). On July 1799 he was admitted a member of the Highland Society, of which his brother Lewis was secretary.

He married on November 29, 1807, Magdaline Cuming, Kirkmichael. This marriage is the subject of a big dossier at the Public Record Office in London for it was never registered, and when Mrs Gordon, ' in indigent circumstances,' came to apply to the War Office for a pension she had to put herself to a great deal of trouble to bring witnesses before the Commissary at Aberdeen (July 8, 1819) to show that she and her husband were habit and repute man and wife while residing in Upperkirkgate, Broadford, and Frederick Street, Aberdeen, while the Rev. William Grant, the parish minister of her native Kirkmichael, forwarded this very interesting note : -

These certify that the late Major Gordon, of the 8th West India Regiment, and also his relict, Mrs Gordon, now residing at Tomintoul in this parish, were of the Roman Catholic persuasion ; and it has not been customary here for some time past when both parties are of that persuasion, for them to be married by a clergyman of the Established Church, and consequently the regis tration of their marriages has been almost wholly neglected. Given at the Manse of Kirkmichael, the 18th day of August 1819.

This letter satisfied the authorities, for the widow of Gordon who lived in Holburn Street, Aberdeen, in April 1819, was granted a pension of £70 from April 4, under a warrant dated November 13, 1819. He had three children, who were all placed on the Compassionate List on the recommendation of his brother Lewis, and the Duke of Gordon at £12 a year each, May 26, 1820."

from The Gordons and Smiths at Minmore ²