John Gordon of Wincombe Park

???? - 14th Jan 1834

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

Owner of Glasgow estate in St James. Built Wincombe House in Wiltshire at some point before 1824 on land he had bought in 1808. Married Maria nee Brassey. 'John Gordon junior' in the Accounts Produce for Glasgow was described as of Bristol in 1796-1798, and as of Donhead Hall [with variants such as Down Head, Donehead and Domhead] between 1803 and 1808. Donhead Hall at Donhead St Mary is adjacent to Wincombe House, and it is thus plausible that John Gordon junior was the same man as the builder of Wincombe House. If so, then he was partner with William Gordon of Auchendolly (q.v.) as a Bristol West India merchant until 1791, and was presumably denominated as junior to distinguish him from William's brother John Gordon of Bristol (1758-1839, q.v.).

  1. Indenture between John Gordon, of Wincombe House, Wiltshire; Maria Oliver, of Weymouth, Dorset (a widow); Richard and Geo. Brassey (Maria's brother(s)); Wm. Gordon, of Paris; and Geo. Gordon, of Tockington in the county of Gloucestershire, as trustees of a marriage settlement, dated 02/04/1825, whereby Maria Oliver brings £31,700 consols, £12,000 reduced annuities (transferred to trustees) and £10,000 from the sale of Haddons or Weeks plantation in Antigua (sold in 1807 to Langford Lovell Hodge, since deceased, with trustees), and £10,866 (being 2/3rds of the money from the sale of Diamond estate in Grenada, sold in the lifetime of Richard Oliver to Wm. Stuart, of Inverugie in Scotland) and whereas she was also entitled to a capital leasehold messuage in Weymouth it was agreed that the £10,866 and the mansion house became the absolute property of John Gordon, the trustees of first 3 chunks to pay her £500 pa clear and rest to John Gordon (in consideration of John Gordon's settlement to be made of Wincombe House and farms) for his life and at his death for her absolutely.

  2. John Gordon died 14/01/1834, and left the Glasgow plantation - including the compensation to be paid for the enslaved people on the estate - and Wincombe after his death in trust for his nephew Charles Gordon. The will of John Gordon of [Wincombe in the parish of Donhead St Mary Wilts but now residing at] Clifton was proved 15/02/1834.

  3. Son of William Gordon of Kilnotrie, Galloway. "These Gordons has migrated to Bristol and become connected with the West Indies, and John had an estate in Jamaica." First wife was Sybella Partridge. Remarried 07/04/1825 to Maria Brassey, widow of Richard Oliver (1762-1821) of Antigua.


Sources

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol13/pp138-155 [accessed 04/10/2015]; London Gazette 13311 24/05/1791 p. 306.

  1. Vere Langford Oliver, Caribbeana being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography, and antiquities of the British West Indies (6 vols., London, Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1910-1919) Vol. 6 p. 145.

  2. PROB 11/1827/358.

  3. Notes and Queries (1933) CLXIV (feb25): 135-a-135. doi: 10.1093/nq/CLXIV.feb25.135-a.


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
[1] Sybella Partridge [2] Maria Brassey

Associated Claims (1)

£3,181 1s 1d
Deceased claimant successful (Owner-in-fee)

Associated Estates (3)

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
1796 [EA] - 14/01/1834 [ED] → Owner

The early owners of the Glasgow estate have only been tentatively identified. 'John Gordon of Bristol' was shown in 1786. LBS has tentatively concluded that the owner from 1796 was John Gordon of Wincombe Park rather than the John Gordon of Bristol in the LBS database. Neither could have been the same man as the John Gordon who was co-owner of Glasgow in 1771 [when LBS' John Gordon of Bristol was aged 13 and John Gordon of Wincombe Park was probably unborn].

1790 [EA] - 1792 [LA] → Joint owner

This is a tentative association only. The John Gordon shown variously as of Bristol, of Great Britain and 'senior' who was given as owner 1797-1820 was probably John Gordon of Bristol (q.v.).

1793 [EA] - 1796 [LA] → Owner

This is a tentative association only. The John Gordon shown variously as of Bristol, of Great Britain and 'senior' who was given as owner 1797-1820 was probably John Gordon of Bristol (q.v.).


Legacies Summary

Physical (1)

Country house
Wincombe House, Donhead St Mary, Wilts. [Built] 
description →
Grade II listed country house, built in the 1820s for John...

Relationships (3)

Business partners
Notes →
John Gordon of Wincombe Park has been inferred to be the John Gordon junior or the younger who was a partner with William Gordon until 1791. The men were likely kin but how related is not yet known....
Brothers
Second Husband → Wife

Addresses (2)

Bristol, Gloucestershire, South-west England, England
Wincombe Park, Shaftesbury, Wiltshire, Wessex, England