Vice-Admiral William Gordon (18 December 1784 – 3 February 1858) was a Scottish naval commander and

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

politician.

Naval career

Gordon was the second son of

George Gordon, Lord Haddo George Gordon, Lord Haddo (28 January 1764 – 2 October 1791) was a Scottish Freemason and the eldest son of George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen. Cites: On 18 June 1782, Haddo married Charlotte Baird (d. 8 October 1795) a sister of Sir David ...

, son of

George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen (19 June 1722 – 13 August 1801), styled Lord Haddo until 1745, was a Scottish peer. He sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative Peer from 1747 to 1761, and from 1774 to 1790. He was against Willi ...

.The Peerage.com
/ref> His mother was Charlotte, daughter of William Baird, while Prime Minister George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, and Sir Robert Gordon were his brothers. He joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

in 1797 and went on to be

Fourth Naval Lord The Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Supplies originally known as the Fourth Naval Lord was formerly one of the Naval Lords and members of the Board of Admiralty which controlled the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom the post is currently known ...

from 1841 to 1846 and

Commander-in-Chief, The Nore The Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Nore Station or Nore Command. The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the T ...

from 1854 to 1857. He was elected at a by-election in September 1820 as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Aberdeenshire, and held the seat until August 1854, when he

resigned Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

by taking the

Chiltern Hundreds The Chiltern Hundreds is an ancient administrative area in Buckinghamshire, England, composed of three " hundreds" and lying partially within the Chiltern Hills. "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to one of the legal fictions used to effect ...

. Gordon died in February 1858 and Cape Gordon on

Vega Island Vega Island is a small island to the northwest of James Ross Island, on the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from James Ross Island by Herbert Sound. The island was named by Otto Nordenskjold, leader of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition (190 ...

in the Antarctic is now called after him.Australian Antarctic Data Centre
/ref>

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, William 1784 births 1858 deaths Lords of the Admiralty Royal Navy vice admirals Tory MPs (pre-1834) Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 Younger sons of barons