William Gordon (19 December 1683 – 13 July 1720), known by the
courtesy title
A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title).
In some context ...
of
Lord Strathnaver from 4 March 1703, was a Scottish politician who sat briefly in the
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...
in 1708 until he was declared ineligible, being the eldest son of a Scottish peer. In 1719, the family name was changed to Sutherland, when his father was recognised as the Chief of
Clan Sutherland
Clan Sutherland also known as House of Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan whose traditional territory is the shire of Sutherland in the far north of Scotland. The chief of the clan was also the powerful Earl of Sutherland; however, in the ear ...
.
Early life
Lord Strathnaver was the eldest son of
John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland
John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland (1661–1733) was a Scottish nobleman and army officer.
He was the only son of George Gordon, 15th Earl of Sutherland (1633–1703), and his wife, Jean Wemmyss. and his first wife Helen Cochrane, daughter of William Cochrane, Lord Cochrane. He joined the army in 1702 and was a Colonel of Foot. By this time the effects of his heavy drinking were apparent. He married, with 60,000 merks, under a contract dated 9 October 1705, Katharine Morison, daughter of
William Morison MP. His father then gave him responsibility for the Sutherland estate and thereby, the family’s electoral interest.
[
]
Parliamentary career
Strathnaver was returned in a contest at the 1708 British general election
The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland.
The election saw the Whigs gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November the Whi ...
as the first Member of Parliament for Tain Burghs
Tain Burghs was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832, sometimes known as Northern Burghs. It was represented by one Member of P ...
.Act of Union 1707
The Acts of Union refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the international Treaty of Union agree ...
, the eldest sons of peers were ineligible to be elected to the Parliament of Scotland
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. No such restriction existed for the Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...
. The question arose whether the eldest sons of Scottish peers could be elected to the Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a ...
, after the Union.
After the House called in counsel, the election petitions and representations in writing were read out and the lawyers put forward arguments for their clients. After counsel had withdrawn, a question was formulated and put to a vote. The proposition the House voted on was "that the eldest sons of the Peers of Scotland were capable by the Laws of Scotland at the time of the Union, to elect or be elected as Commissioners
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a Wiktionary: commission, commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissi ...
for the Shire
Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...
or Boroughs ic, see Burghs">Burgh.html" ;"title="ic, see Burgh">ic, see Burghsto the Parliament of Scotland; and therefore by the Treaty of Union, 1707">Treaty of Union
The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new political state of Great Britain. The treaty, effective since 1707, brought the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Ki ...
are capable to elect, or be elected to represent any Shire or Borough [sic] in Scotland, to sit in the House of Commons of Great Britain".
On 3 December 1708, the House of Commons decided the issue, as at that time the House judged the eligibility of its members itself rather than leaving the issue to be decided by a Judge, and rejected the motion. Lord Strathnaver was declared ineligible to be elected an MP for Tain Burghs and vacated the seat.
In October 1708 Strathnaver went with his regiment to Flanders. As the oldest colonel then in service, he sought promotion from the Duke of Marlborough and his father also interceded on his behalf. However nothing transpired and in June 1710 he sold his command in a fit of pique. He remained an active supporter of the Whigs and assisted the return of Whig candidates in 1710 and 1713. He was appointed admiral depute and bailie depute for the regality of Sutherland by 1711 and became Chamberlain of Ross in 1715. He took command of a regiment of Sutherland clansmen to resist the
.
's report on the Highlands in 1724, estimated the number of men to bear arms by "Lord Sutherland and Strathnaver" to be 1000.
For his efforts, his father obtained for Strathnaver a pension of £500 a year, but it was not approved until 1717, when he received a grant of £1,250 from royal bounty to make up the arrears. Strathnaver became sheriff of Inverness in 1718. In 1719 he became active again in organizing resistance to a threatened Jacobite invasion.