Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 22.djvu/210

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Gordon
204
Gordon

applied to Anne of Austria, and obtained from her a letter, under the joint sign-manual of herself and the king, praying the Marquis of Huntly, who had assumed the guardianship of Henrietta, with the intention of having her educated in the protestant faith, to permit Blakhal to escort her to France. Blakhal accordingly proceeded to Scotland, and having, after considerable delay, obtained the charge of Henrietta, took ship with her from Aberdeen on 26 July 1643. At Paris Henrietta was presented to the queen by her second cousin, Ludovick, fifth son of Esme, third duke of Lennox (better known as Monsieur d'Aubigny), and was sent to the convent of the Filles de Ste. Marie, Rue St. Antoine, to learn French. After remaining there a year she was placed under the charge of Madame de Brienne, who found it more convenient to send her to the convent of Charonne, where her proud spirit revolted against the rule and ways of the mother superior, and meagre diet of the convent. Blakhal accordingly induced the queen to have her removed to the convent of St. Nicolas de Lorraine, where she remained from 8 Jan. to 10 Aug. 1647, when she was transferred to that of Fervacques in the Faubourg St. Germain. Here she resided till 20 Jan. 1649, when, the Fronde having raised an insurrection in the streets of Paris, she was by the queen's orders brought, not without considerable risk, under the escort of D'Aubigny, to St. Germain-en-Laye. Too proud to enter the service of the Princesse de Condé, which the queen proposed to her, and neglected by Madame de Brienne, she subsisted for some time on the charity of Mesdames de Ferran and de la Flotte. At length, however, she was admitted to the queens household in the capacity of supernumerary maid of honour, and after two years' probation was accepted as maid of honour. In this character she figures in the pages of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who represents her as in 1658 high in the favour of 'Monsieur,' the effeminate Philippe, duc d'Orleons, who devoted a great part of his time and thought to her dress (Mémoires de Mlle, de Montpensier, ed. Petitot, 2nd ser. xlii. 275, 330). She is said to have had liaisons with Clérambault and Bouvron. On the marriage of 'Monsieur' with the Princess Henrietta of England she was appointed lady of the bedchamber to 'Madame,' and after the death of 'Madame' she served Philippe's second wife, Charlotte Elisabeth, daughter of Charles Louis, elector of Bavaria, sometimes called 'la seconde Madame,' in the same capacity. From a letter of Mademoiselle de la Fayette, written in December 1672, it appears that Henrietta was on bad terms with her new mistress. After this date we hear no more of her. She seems to have been generally unpopular, and Blakhal gives her a character for the basest ingratitude.

[Blakhal's Brieffe Narration of the Services done to three Noble Ladies (Spalding Club), p. 101 et seq.; Michel's Ecossais en France, ii. 345 et seq.; Douglas's Peerage of Scotland (1813), i. 651, ii. 100, 222.]

J. M. R.

GORDON, Sir HENRY WILLIAM (1818–1887), commissary-general, born 18 July 1818, was eldest son of Lieutenant-general Henry William Gordon and Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Enderby of Croom's Hill, Blackheath, and brother of Charles George Gordon [q. v.] He was educated at Sandhurst, and entered the army in August 1835, serving in the 59th foot. He was employed on the staff in the East and West Indies and China. In 1847-8 he was an assistant poor-law commissioner in Ireland, and was a relief inspector during the famine. In 1855 he left the army and entered the ordnance department. From March 1855 to July 1856 he was in the Crimea, which was his last service abroad. He obtained the Crimean and Turkish medals, was appointed C.B. (civil) in 1857, and K.C.B. in 1877. In January 1870 he was made controller, and in November 1875 commissary general. He died at Oat Hall, Hayward's Heath, 22 Oct. 1887. Gordon was on very intimate terms with his famous brother, whom he resembled in his simplicity of life and integrity of character. He married, in 1851, Henrietta Rose, widow of Captain Granet, and daughter of Lieutenant-general W. Staveley, C.B. By her he had a numerous family. One of his sons was drowned on board the Captain, 7 Sept. 1870. Gordon is commemorated on the monument which he erected to his brother's memory in St. Paul's Cathedral. He wrote 'Events in the Life of Charles George Gordon' 1886.

[Times, 24 and 25 Oct. 1887; Graphic, 26 Nov. 1887 (with portrait); Illustrated London News, 29 Oct. 1887.]

C. L. K.

GORDON, JAMES (1541–1620), Jesuit, born in Scotland in 1541, was the fifth son of George Gordon, fourth earl of Huntly [q. v.], by Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Robert, lord Keith, and sister of William, fourth earl Marischal. He entered the Society of Jesus at Rome on 20 Sept. 1563, and for many years taught philosophy, theology, sacred scripture, and Hebrew in the colleges of his order at Pont-à-Mousson, Paris, and Bordeaux. In compliance with the pope's desire and at the earnest request of the catholic nobility, Father William Crichton [q. v.] and Gordon were sent to Scotland in 1584, but their vessel was