| Administrative History | Alexander Gordon, fourth Duke of Gordon, was born in June 1743 and inherited the dukedom on the death of his father in 1752. An easy-going man, he cared mainly for field sports and rural pursuits and he had Gordon Castle rebuilt. The size of his estate and the number of people dependent on it for their livelihood meant he was a significant figure in public life. In 1784 he was created Earl of Norwich and Lord Gordon of Huntly, Gloucestershire. He was made Knight of the Thistle, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, and Lord-lieutenant of Aberdeenshire. He raised two fencible infantry regiments, both raised and disbanded in the 1790s, and also aided his son in raising the regiment later known as the Gordon Highlanders, with recruitment to which his first wife (Jane Maxwell) is supposed to have assisted. He was married twice, the second time to his long-term mistress, Mrs Jane Christie, and fathered a large number of children. Gordon died on 17 June 1827. |