Charles Gordon, 11th Marquess of Huntly


Charles Gordon, 11th Marquess of Huntly, PC, DL, JP, styled Lord Strathavon until 1853 and Earl of Aboyne between 1853 and 1863, was a Scottish Liberal politician. He served under William Ewart Gladstone as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms between January and June 1881.

Background and education

Huntly was the son of Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly, by his second wife Maria Antoinette, daughter of Reverend Peter William Pegus, and succeeded to the marquessate in 1863 at the age of sixteen. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Political career

In 1870 Huntly was appointed a Lord-in-waiting in the first Liberal administration of William Ewart Gladstone, a post he held until 1873, and served from January to June 1881 as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms in Gladstone's second administration. In 1881 he was sworn of the Privy Council.
Apart from his political career, Lord Huntly was Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen between 1890 and 1896. He also published Auld Acquaintances and Milestones and edited Records of Aboyne.

Family

Lord Huntly married firstly Amy, daughter of Sir William Cunliffe Brooks, 1st Baronet, in 1869. After her death in 1920 he married secondly Charlotte Isabella, daughter of John H. Fallon and widow of James McDonald, in 1922. Both marriages were childless. Huntly died in February 1937, aged 89, and was succeeded in the marquessate by his great-nephew, Douglas Gordon. The Marchioness of Huntly died in May 1939.