Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of
Gordon (1743-1827)
Born 18 June 1743 Gordon Castle
Died 17 June 1827 London
Buried Elgin Cathedral
Married (1) 23 October 1767 Ayton co Berwick
Jane Maxwell, daughter of Sir William Maxwell, of Monreith,
3rd Baronet and Magdalene Blair
Born 1748 Edinburgh
Died 14 April 1812 Pulteney's Hotel, Piccadilly
Married (2) July 1820 Kirk of Fochabers
Jane Christie
Born 1770
Died 17 June 1824
Child by (a) Mary Gehr
Until his accession as 4th Duke of Gordon, he was styled Marquess of
Huntly. Educated at Eton from 1758 until 1760, he was a Representative
Peer from 1767 until 1784. From 1793 till 1827 he was Chancellor of King's
College, Aberdeen; Keeper of the Great Seal 1794-1806 and again 1807-1827;
Lord Lieutenant of county Aberdeen 1794-1808. As well as Duke of Gordon,
he became Lord Mordaunt in 1819 on the death of a cousin.
He was the father of sixteen children. Seven of these, born between
1768 and 1785, were by his first wife, Jane Maxwell and five more were
born between 1791 and 1810, by his mistress, Jane Christie, whom he later
married. However, he made no distinction between his children, in accordance
with the Gordon custom, so that their upbringing led to no sense of superiority
or inferiority on the basis of legitimacy. Jane Maxwell also treated the
children equally, but
referred to her son, the Duke's heir, as 'my George', and his elder
half-brother, also George,as 'the Duke's George'. He out-lived his second
wife by three years to die in his 84th year.
Source: Leo van de Pas
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