Francis Gordon

1. John and his brother Francis were the reputed sons of John Gordon, 5th Bart. of Earlston. According to their father's will (proved 1845), "... I being at present under an arrangement for the sale of my coffee plantation on Golden River in the parish of St Thomas-in-the-Vale in the island of Jamaica to Francis Gordan and John Gordon my reputed natural sons and having given liberal allowance to them for payment by instalments without interest within fourteen years, I consider them thereby and with their own industry sufficiently provided."

2. Francis and John Gordon were awarded compensation for 100 enslaved people on Golden River. A counterclaim by Sir John Gordon as mortgage for £4700 was withdrawn in 1836.

3. Francis Gordon, "mesteee free", born 11/03/1807 and baptised at Earlston 09/07/1809.

1. SC16/41/13, Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court wills.

2. John Malcolm Bulloch, The making of the West Indies. The Gordons as colonists (1915) p. 25.

3. Familysearch.org, unindexed Jamaican parish registers, St James, Baptisms, marriages, burials 1770-1809, Vol. 1 p. 168.

We are grateful to Greg Gordon for his assistance with compiling this entry.