Sir James Willoughby Gordon

1772 - 1851


Biography

Son and heir of Captain Francis Grant-Gordon (q.v.). Career soldier, left £120,000. MP for Launceston 1829-1831. He has an entry in the ODNB which is completely silent on the origins in slavery of the fortune of his great-uncle 'James Gordon of Moor Place, Hertfordshire' or of the property in people transmitted to him under his great-uncle's will.

  1. In 1805, James Willoughby Gordon initiated a suit to induce Alexander, Duke of Gordon, to assign to him the estate [and enslaved people] on Antigua of which the Duke of Gordon had become trustee as heir-at-law of Lord Adam Gordon, one of the original trustees of the entail by James Gordon of Moor Place under which Francis Grant-Gordon was tenant-for-life and James Willoughby Gordon was remainder man. The suit was successful and the estate was conveyed to James Willoughby Gordon and his wife 02/07/1806.

Sources

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/gordon-sir-james-1772-1851; H. M. Chichester, ‘Gordon, Sir James Willoughby, first baronet (1772–1851)’, rev. Roger T. Stearn, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2014 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11058, accessed 8 March 2017]

  1. Vere Langford Oliver, History of Antigua Vol. II p. 26.

Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Isabella Julia Lavinia Bennet
Children
Julia; Henry Percy
Occupation
Soldier
Rubinstein
1851/21
Oxford DNB Entry

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
1806 [EA] - → Owner

The estate was conveyed to James Willoughby Gordon by an indenture of 02/07/1806 from the trustee of the estate. James Willoughby Gordon had been the tenant-in-tail or remainder man under the will of his great-uncle James Gordon of Moor Place.


Legacies Summary

Cultural (1)

Paintings
'View from the terrace of a villa at Niton, Isle of Wight, from sketches by a Lady' by J.M. W. Turner, now in the Boston Museum of Fine Art. 'This charming summer scene is based on watercolor... 
notes →
...

Political (1)

MP
 
election →
Launceston Cornwall
1829 - 1831

Relationships (1)

Son → Father