John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair (3 August 1847 – 7 March 1934), styled Earl of Aberdeen from 1870–1916, was a Scottish peer and colonial administrator. Born in Edinburgh, Aberdeen held office in several countries, serving twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1886; 1905–1915) and serving from 1893 to 1898 as Governor General of Canada.
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Early and personal life
Aberdeen was born in Edinburgh, the third son of George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen, and his wife, Mary Baillie, daughter of George Baillie and sister to the Earl of Haddington.
He studied at the University of St Andrews and University College, Oxford.
As the third son, John was not expected to inherit his father's titles, which his eldest brother, George (1841–1870), inherited upon their father' death in 1864. However, in 1868, his elder brother James Henry (1845–1868) died by suicide, and two years later, George drowned on a voyage to Australia, unmarried and thus without heirs. John succeeded as 7th Earl of Aberdeen, as well as 7th Viscount of Formartine, 4th Viscount Gordon, and 7th Lord Haddo, Methlic, Tarves and Kellie.
Political life
Aberdeen entered the House of Lords following his succession to his brother's titles in January 1870. A Liberal, he was present for William Ewart Gladstone's first Midlothian campaign at Lord Rosebery's house in 1879. He became Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire in 1880, served as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1881 to 1885 (he held the position again in 1915), and was briefly appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1886. He became a Privy Counsellor in the same year.
In 1884, he hosted a dinner at Haddo House honouring Gladstone on his tour of Scotland. The occasion was captured by the painter Alfred Edward Emslie; the painting is now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, having been donated by Aberdeen's daughter Marjorie in 1953.
He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 1st Aberdeenshire Artillery Volunteers on 14 January 1888 and retained the position with its successors, the 1st Highland Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, until after World War I.
In 1889, he was chosen as an alderman of the first Middlesex County Council, his address being given as Dollis Hill House, Kilburn, in that county.
In 1891, he bought the Coldstream Ranch in the northern Okanagan Valley in British Columbia and launched the first commercial orchard operations in that region, which gave birth to an industry and settlement colony as other Britons emigrated to the region because of his prestige and bought into the orcharding lifestyle. The ranch is today part of the municipality of Coldstream, and various placenames in the area commemorate him and his family, such as Aberdeen Lake and Haddo Creek.
He served as Governor General of Canada from 1893 to 1898 during a period of political transition. He travelled extensively throughout the country and is described as having "transformed the role of Governor General from that of the aristocrat representing the King or Queen in Canada to a symbol representing the interests of all citizens".
He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1895.
Marriage and issue
In 1877, Aberdeen married Ishbel Marjoribanks (1857–1939), daughter of Sir Dudley Marjoribanks and Isabella Weir-Hogg. They had been long-time friends and were first introduced by Arthur Balfour six years earlier while riding at Rotten Row.
Lady Aberdeen later served as President of the International Council of Women from 1893 to 1899 and founded the National Council of Women of Canada and the Victorian Order of Nurses.
They had five children:
George Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair (1879–1965), succeeded father
Lady Marjorie Adeline Gordon (1880–1970), married John Sinclair, later 1st Lord Pentland
Lady Dorothea Gordon (March – November 1882), died in infancy
Dudley Gladstone Gordon, 3rd Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair (1883–1972), succeeded brother
The Hon. Archibald "Archie" Ian Gordon (1884–1909), killed in a motor accident; known as the lover of Lady Desborough
Later life
Aberdeen lived the later stages of his life at the House of Cromar in Tarland, Aberdeenshire, which he had built and where he died in 1934. His son, George, succeeded to the marquessate.
The House of Cromar passed to Sir Alexander MacRobert in 1934 and it was renamed Alastrean House by his widow. It was leased to the RAF Benevolent Fund in 1984.
Jokes Cracked by Lord Aberdeen, a memoir collection of John Hamilton-Gordon's dinner party repartee, was first published in 1929. The "bafflingly unfunny" book, long out of print, gained a cult following in more recent times and was reissued in 2013.
The Rocking Chair Ranche
From 1883 until 1896, he was also an owner of and investor in the Rocking Chair Ranche located in Collingsworth County, Texas, together with his father-in-law, Lord Tweedmouth, and his brother-in-law, Edward Marjoribanks.
Namesakes
Geographic Locations
Ontario: Aberdeen Avenue, Toronto
Ontario: Aberdeen Avenue, Hamilton
Ontario: Aberdeen Avenue, Sarnia
Buildings
Ontario: Aberdeen Pavilion, Ottawa