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John Gordon - 10th Viscount Kenmore

Biography


Birth: 1750
Death: 1840

Son of John Gordon, 8th Viscount (by courtesey) Kenmure, and Frances Mackenzie. Sometime captain in the 17th Regiment of foot and member of parliament for the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright (1784-1786). The family had lost it's peerage as a consequence of it's part in the Jacobite rebellion in 1716 - John Gordon's brother, father and uncle having thus been Viscounts only by courtesey. Gordon managed to get parliament to restore the title to the family, and thus became the actual 7th Viscount, although styled the 10th Viscount by courtesey.1 He died without issue at an advanced age, and was succeeded by his nephew Adam Gordon (1792-?), son of his brother Adam Gordon, and Harriet Davies.2

Also known as

  • 10th Viscount Kenmure

Life with James Boswell

James Boswell met John Gordon at Kenmure House during his stay there from September 16 - 18, 1762.

Notes

Note 1: The actual year of the restoration is not entirely clear. According to Pottle in Boswell's Journal of my Jaunt, it happened in 1824. According to Electric Scots it happened as early as 1788 (Link), and according to the Scottish Nation Biographical Dictionary it happened even earlier, on June 17, 1784. The Scottish Nation Biographical Dictionary is available at www.Ancestry.co.uk - sign up now for a free trial

Note 2: According to O'Byrne, William R. (1849) A Naval Biographical Dictionary: Comprising the Life and Services of Every Living Officer in Her Majesty's Navy, from the Rank of Admiral of the Fleet to that of Lieutenant, Inclusive. London: John Murray.


Mentioned in

John Gordon is mentioned in:

  • Journal of my Jaunt, Harvest 1762

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Did you know?

On his Grand Tour of Europe in 1764-1765, Boswell visited and befriended the famous philosophers Jean-Jacques Rosseau and François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire), and back in Edinburgh he was a personal friend of David Hume.

(C) Thomas Frandzen 2004-2010