Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Sir Alexander Robert Gisborne Gordon GBE DSO PC (NI) (28 July 1882 – 23 April 1967) was a Unionist Member and Senator in the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Family background

Sir Alexander was born in County Down on 28 July 1882, the son of Ada Austen Eyre and Alexander Hamilton Miller Haven Gordon, DL of Florida Manor,

Killinchy Killinchy () is a townland and small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is two miles inland from the western shores of Strangford Lough in the Borough of Ards and North Down. It is situated in the townland of the same name, the civil p ...

and Delamont,

Killyleagh Killyleagh (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road between Belfast and Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,483 people in the 2001 Census. It is b ...

. Florida Manor, a late 17th-century estate, described by Sir

Charles Brett Sir Charles Edward Bainbridge Brett, Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, KBE, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, CBE (30 October 1928 - 19 December 2005), was a Northern Irish people, Nor ...

as a "rather mysterious house", came to the Gordons by the marriage, in 1755, of Robert Gordon to Alice Arbuckle, heiress to the Crawfords of

Crawfordsburn Crawfordsburn () is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. The village, which is now effectively a commuter suburb, lies between Holywood and Bangor to the north of the A2 road, about 4 km west of Bangor town centre. Bounded to ...

. The Gordons were hitherto wine and spirit merchants but the progeny of this marriage, David, established Gordon and Company bankers, later to become Belfast Banking Company. David Gordon went on to marry a cousin of his mother's – Mary Crawford, of Crawfordsburn – in 1789. Florida Manor was sold in 1910. Sir Alexander inherited Delamont from his father. During his residence there his main legacy to the house was to demolish the redundant servants' wing.

Career

Sir Alexander was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

. He was seriously wounded whilst serving with the Royal Irish Regiment during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but continued as a soldier until 1942. From 1929 to 1949, he was the Unionist member for East Down at Stormont. During this period he served as government Chief Whip. He was also Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

from 1937. On 13 June 1940, however, he resigned this position as a result of, as he put it, the Northern Irish government being "quite unfitted to sustain the people in the ordeal he_Belfast_Blitz.html"_;"title="Belfast_Blitz.html"_;"title="he_Belfast_Blitz">he_Belfast_Blitz">Belfast_Blitz.html"_;"title="he_Belfast_Blitz">he_Belfast_Blitzwe_have_to_face."__In_1950,_Sir_Alexander_entered_the_upper_House_as_a_Senator,_from_1951–1961_he_was_Leader_of_the_Senate_of_Northern_Ireland.html" ;"title="Belfast_Blitz">he_

he_Belfast_Blitz">Belfast_Blitz.html"_;"title="he_Belfast_Blitz">he_Belfast_Blitzwe_have_to_face."__In_1950,_Sir_Alexander_entered_the_upper_House_as_a_Senator,_from_1951–1961_he_was_Leader_of_the_Senate_of_Northern_Ireland">Leader_of_the_Senate_and_from_1961–1964_he_was_Speaker_of_the_Senate_of_Northern_Ireland.html" "title="Belfast_Blitz.html" ;"title="Belfast_Blitz.html" ;"title="he Belfast Blitz">he Belfast Blitz">Belfast_Blitz.html" ;"title="he Belfast Blitz">he Belfast Blitzwe have to face." In 1950, Sir Alexander entered the upper House as a Senator, from 1951–1961 he was Leader of the Senate of Northern Ireland">Leader of the Senate and from 1961–1964 he was Speaker of the Senate of Northern Ireland">Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of that house. He resigned this seat in 1964. He was invested as a Knight Grand Cross, the most senior grade in the Order of the British Empire, ranking below a baronet in the order of precedence.

Legacy

Gordon and his wife had no children. On his death, in 1967, the estate of Delamont was held on trust by Gordon's great-nephew Archibald Arundel Pugh (changed to Gordon-Pugh by deed poll in 1968). He sold the estate in 1985 to Belfast Education and Library Board. Archibald Gordon-Pugh died in 1995; his son, Archie Gordon-Pugh, died at

Saintfield Saintfield () is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about halfway between Belfast and Downpatrick on the A7 road. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census, made up mostly of commuters working in both south ...

in December 2010.

References