John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland

John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland KT PC (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.^[1]

Upon his father's death in 1703 he succeeded as earl of Sutherland. He supported the revolution of 1688 and was a commissioner for the union of England and Scotland. He was a Scottish representative peer in four parliaments, president of the Board of Trade and manufactures, and lord-lieutenant of the eight northern counties of Scotland.^[2] In 1703 he was appointed a privy councillor by Queen Anne.^[1]

He aided in putting down the Jacobite Rising of 1715. When the rebellion had been quashed, Gordon was invested by George I with the Order of the Thistle and was granted an annual pension of £1200 in recognition of his services. In 1719 he led his Regiment in the Battle of Glen Shiel, which brought to an end the first Jacobite rising.^[1]

He resumed the name of Sutherland, instead of Gordon. In 1719 by decree of Lyon Court, he was thereafter recognised Chief of the Clan Sutherland.

Family

He married three times, first to Helen, daughter of Lord Cochrane; secondly to Katherine Tollemache, daughter of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet; and thirdly to Frances Hodgson. He had two children with Helen:

• William Gordon, Lord Strathnaver (19 December 1683 – 13 July 1720) who married Catherine Morrison,
• Jean Gordon (abt 1692 Scotland - 11 February 1747 Virginia.^[3]), who married James Lauderdale, the son of John Maitland, 5th Earl of Lauderdale.

References

External links

•  "Gordon, John (1660?-1733)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.