Sir Henry Percy Gordon, 2nd Baronet, FRS (21 October 1806 – 29 July 1876) was a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and artist.

Life

He was the only son of

Sir James Willoughby Gordon, 1st Baronet General Sir James Willoughby Gordon, 1st Baronet (21 October 1772 – 4 January 1851) was a general officer in the British Army. He notably served as most long-standing Quartermaster-General to the Forces, holding the position for some 40 years. ...

and his wife Isabella Julia Levina Bennet, daughter of Richard Henry Alexander Bennet. Gordon entered

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

in 1823 and was senior wrangler in 1827, placed ahead of Thomas Turner (1804–1883), Anthony Cleasby, Augustus De Morgan and William Hopkins. He was made 2nd

Smith's prizeman The Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1769. Following the reorganization in 1998, they are now awarded under the n ...

, behind Turner, also becoming a Fellow of his college that year. He received an M.A. in 1830. He was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1828 and

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1831. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1830. He was a

Justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and deputy lieutenant for the Isle of Wight. In 1851, Gordon succeeded to his father's title. He became also 13th laird of Knockespock. The lairdship was under an entail, and he inherited it on the 1854 death of

James Adam Gordon James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

. Gordon died suddenly, at Blackhall, Kincardineshire, in 1876. At his death, the baronetcy of Gordon of Northcourt became extinct.

Family

In 1839 Gordon married Lady Mary Agnes Blanche Ashburnham, daughter of George Ashburnham, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham and Charlotte Ashburnham. They had a daughter, Mary Charlotte Julia Gordon (died 1926): she married General

Robert William Disney Leith The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

(1819–1892). She was a writer and translator, publishing as

Mrs. Disney Leith Mary Charlotte Julia Gordon became Mary Charlotte Julia Leith (1840–1926), she was best known as Mrs Disney Leith who was a British novelist and traveller. She was a childhood friend of Swinburne and after her husband died she visited Iceland num ...

. Gordon was an engraver. He produced joint work with his sister,

Julia Emily Gordon Julia Emily Gordon (1810 – 8 February 1896) was a British painter and engraver. Life She was the daughter of Willoughby Gordon and his wife Isabella Julia Lavina Bennet; her father sketched and her mother worked in watercolour and other media ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Henry Percy 1806 births 1876 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Senior Wranglers