John Gordon of Aikenhead

???? - 1828

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

Partner in Stirling, Gordon (q.v) of Glasgow, leaving £118,543 at death. Although John Gordon of Aikenhead died in 1828, he is very probably the same man as the John Gordon whose name was included with other partners in Stirling Gordon in compensation claims in Jamaica arising from mortgages entered into by the partnership while he was alive. [If he is not, then the John Gordon of the compensation records appears likely to be John Gordon the son of John Gordon of Aikenhead and Janet Hamilton].

  1. Built Aikenhead House on the pre-existing Aikenhead estate in Cathcart, Lanarkshire, 1806 (with wings added 1823) from designs by David Hamilton. Stephanie Barczewksi shows his total spending on the house in purchase and rebuilding as £63,000 up to 1819.

  2. Anthony Cooke shows his estate as including £16,628 in Thistle bank stock; £68,725 in James Finlay and Co.; £10,352 due from Stirling Gordon; and £11,223 from other Glasgow merchants (James Fyffe; Mungo and Alex Campbell).


Sources

W.D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical directory of British wealth-holders Vol. 1 1809-1839 (20090 pp. 308-309, reference 1829/35.

  1. J.Guthrie Smith and J. Oswald Mitchell, Old country houses of the old Glasgow gentry (1878) I Aikenhead, http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/smihou/smihou001.htm [accessed 09/01/2015].

  2. Anthony Cooke, 'An elite revisited: Glasgow West India merchants, 1783-1877', Journal of Scottish Historical Studies 32.2 2012 pp. 127-165 at p.160, Will SC 36/51/7/901 11/08/1829, Inventory SC 36/48/21/618, same date; Stephanie Barczewski, Country Houses and the British Empire, 1700-1930 p. 27.


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
(1) Anne Alston (2) Janet Hamilton
Children
With (1) Isabella Craigie Alston; with (2) Catherine; John
Wealth at death
£118,543
Occupation
West India merchant and plantation owner
Rubinstein
1829/35

Associated Claims (2)

£2,870 0s 5d
Beneficiary deceased (Mortgagee)
John Gordon appears with his former partners in a group of claimants as mortgagees, but the award was made in the names of the continuing partners only. He was dead by the time of compensation.
£2,790 6s 3d
Beneficiary deceased (Mortgagee)

Associated Estates (1)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1834 [EA] - → Mortgage Holder

Legacies Summary

Commercial (2)

Partner
Stirling, Gordon & Co.
West India merchant  
 
Partner
James Finlay & Company
General overseas merchant  
 
notes →
At his death in 1828, John Gordon had a stake valued at £68,725 in James Finlay and...

Physical (1)

Country house
Aikenhead House [Built] 
description →
Country House near Cathcart, built to designs of David Hamilton c....
notes →
Built 1806, wings added...

Relationships (2)

Business partners
Father-in-law → Son-in-law