George Gordon, 9th Marquess of Huntly

George Gordon, 9th Marquess of Huntly, (28 June 1761 – 17 June 1853), styled Lord Strathavon until 1795 and Earl of Aboyne from 1795 to 1836, was a Scottish peer and soldier.

Early life George was the son of Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne, and Lady Margaret Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway. He was educated at Eton. His only surviving sister, Lady Margaret Gordon, married William Beckford. After his mother's death in August 1762, his father remarried to Lady Mary Douglas (a daughter of James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton). From this marriage, he had a younger half-brother, Lord Douglas Gordon (who married Louisa Leslie).

His paternal grandparents were John Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aboyne (eldest son of Charles Gordon, 2nd Earl of Aboyne and, his cousin, Lady Elizabeth Lyon, second daughter of Patrick Lyon, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne) and the former Grace Lockhart (a daughter of George Lockhart of Carnwath). Through the male line, his great-great-grandfather, Charles Gordon, 1st Earl of Aboyne was the fourth son of George Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Huntly. His mother was the third daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway and, his second wife, Lady Catherine Cochrane (the third and youngest daughter of John Cochrane, 4th Earl of Dundonald). Among his mother's siblings were John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway (who married Lady Charlotte Mary Greville, and Anne Dashwood); Hon. George Stewart (a Lieutenant who died at Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War); Hon. Keith Stewart of Glasserton (who married Georgina Isabella d'Aguilar); Lady Catherine Stewart (wife of James Murray of Broughton); Lady Susanna Stewart (the wife of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford); Lady Harriet Stewart (the wife of Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton); and Lady Charlotte Stewart (the wife of John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore).

Career Gordon was enlisted as ensign in the 1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots) in 1777. He was commissioned as a Captain the same year. In 1789, he was promoted Lieutenant Colonel.

Upon the death of his father in 1794, he succeeded to the title of Earl of Aboyne in the Peerage of Scotland. He was a Scottish representative peer between 1807 and 1819. On 11 August 1815, he was created Baron Meldrum, of Morven in the County of Aberdeen in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. After the death of his distant cousin, the 5th Duke of Gordon in 1836, he claimed the title of Marquess of Huntly (also in the Peerage of Scotland), which was acknowledged in 1838 (but not the Earldom of Enzie or the Lordship of Gordon of Badenoch). Huntly was also Colonel of the Aberdeen Mititia and served as aide-de-camp to King William IV from 1830 to 1837 and to Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1853.

Cricket Huntly played in three important matches between 1787 and 1792 whilst he was styled Lord Strathavon. He was a member of the White Conduit Club and an early member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and played for Surrey.

Personal life

On 4 April 1791, he married Catherine Cope (d. 16 November 1832), second daughter and co-heiress of Sir Charles Cope, 2nd Baronet of Bruern and the former Catherine Bishopp (a daughter of Sir Cecil Bishopp, 6th Baronet). After her father's death, her mother remarried to Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool. Together, they had nine children: