Sir Alexander Cornewall Duff-Gordon, 3rd Baronet (3 February 1811 – 27 October 1872) was a British civil servant and Baronet of Halkin. He was the husband of

Lucie, Lady Duff-Gordon Lucie, Lady Duff-Gordon ( Austin; 24 June 1821 – 14 July 1869) was an English author and translator who wrote as Lucie Gordon. She is best known for her ''Letters from Egypt, 1863–1865'' (1865) and ''Last Letters from Egypt'' (1875), most ...

, a translator and writer best known for her correspondence on

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Early life

Duff-Gordon was born 3 February 1811 the eldest son of Sir William Duff-Gordon, a younger son of the House of Aberdeen and his mother, Caroline, who was a daughter of Sir

George Cornewall Sir George Cornewall, 2nd Baronet (8 November 1748 – 26 August 1819) of Moccas Court, Herefordshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. Origins Born George Amyand, he was the eldest son and heir o ...

. He succeeded to his father's title on 8 March 1823.

Marriage

At a society ball at Lansdowne House, the London home of the Marquess of Lansdowne in 1838 he meet Lucie Austin who was ten years his junior. Lucie was the daughter of literary translator Sarah Austin and legal philosopher

John Austin John Austin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John P. Austin (1906–1997), American set decorator * Johnny Austin (1910–1983), American musician * John Austin (author) (fl. 1940s), British novelist Military * John Austin (soldier) (180 ...

. The couple married despite the initial objections of his mother over Lucie's lack of a dowry) on 16 May 1840 in Kensington Old Church. Following their marriage, the couple resided at 8 Queen Square, Westminster, a house with a statue of Queen Anne at one end, since renumbered as 15

Queen Anne's Gate Queen Anne’s Gate is a street in Westminster, London. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, known for their Queen Anne architecture. Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner described the Gate’s early 18th century houses as “the best of thei ...

. Here a remarkable circle of friends and acquaintances frequently met: Lord Lansdowne, Lord Monteagle, Caroline Norton,

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and th ...

Elliot Warburton Bartholomew Eliot George Warburton (1810–1852), usually known as Eliot Warburton, was an Irish traveller and novelist, born near Tullamore, Ireland. Biography His father was Major George Warburton, Inspector General of the Royal Irish Cons ...

Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language a ...

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, Alexander Kinglake, and Henry Taylor were habitués. Every foreigner of talent and renown looked upon the house as a centre of interest. On one occasion

Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...

was among the visitors. Following the birth of their son, Maurice, in 1849, Lady Duff-Gordon began to succumb to tuberculosis and by the winter of 1861 she had become so ill that her doctors advised her to travel to a warmer, drier climate. After trying Ventnor for two winters, left her husband and children behind in England and went on a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope in 1860. Upon her return to England she was persuaded to go to Eaux Bonnes in the autumn of 1862, which reportedly did harm her health. Lady Duff-Gordon then decided to visit the newly fashionable Egypt, leaving her husband and children behind in England. She reached Alexandria in October 1862 and, except for two short visits to England in 1863 and 1865, she remained there for the sake of her health and separated from her husband until her death in 1869.

Career

Duff-Gordon was for many years a clerk in the Treasury, and acted as private secretary to at least one Chancellor of the Exchequer. He became a senior clerk in the Treasury in 1854, and a Commissioner of Inland Revenue in 1856; he was also Assistant Gentleman Usher of the Privy Chamber to Her Majesty.

Death

He died 27 October 1872, his will was probated 6 November, and was valued at less than £15,000. Sir Alexander's gravestone is in the churchyard of St Dunstan's Church, Cheam, Surrey. It records "his beloved wife Lucie, only daughter of John and Sarah Austin, who died and was buried in Egypt." There is also an inscription regarding Sir Alexander and Lucie's youngest child, Urania, who was born in November 1858(?) and died 22 September 1877. The inscription is in some places very difficult to read.

Personal life

He and his wife had four children. Their daughter Janet Ann Ross was born in 1842 and died in 1927. Their second child was born in 1849 but died after only a few months of life. Their third child and only son Maurice (1849–1896) became Sir Maurice Duff-Gordon, and succeeded to his father's title becoming the 4th

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

. Their fourth child Urania was born in 1858 and died on 22 September 1877. Sir Maurice's daughter Caroline "Lina" (1874–1964) became an author and foreign correspondent for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

''; she was the mother of author Gordon Waterfield and grandmother of the historian Sir

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works on the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War. Early life Born in Kensington, Beevor was educated at tw ...

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duff Gordon, Alexander Cornewall 1811 births 1872 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom