In 1875 Gordon entered upon what was probably the most important period of his career, his governorship of Fiji. The islands were ceded to the British Crown in 1874, and Gordon was appointed the first governor. He had always opposed the doctrine that a superior race may rightfully exploit an inferior one, and had maintained the equal claims of all classes to consideration; and in Fiji he was able to put his theories into practice. His views were unpopular with many of the white settlers, who resented the measures taken for the protection of native institutions, and he was attacked with much bitterness in some quarters. He proved, however, a strong governor, and was largely successful in his efforts to maitain native laws and customs and to uphold the authority of the chiefs. His period of governorship in Fiji, which he himself regarded as the most interesting of his colonial experiences, is described in detail in the four volumes entitled Fiji: Records of Private and of Public Life, 1875–1880, printed for private circulation in 1897. From 1877 to 1883 he also held the office of high commissioner and consul-general for the Western Pacific.
Leaving Fiji in 1880 Gordon became governor of New Zealand, and in 1883 was appointed to Ceylon, where he remained as governor until his retirement in 1890. In both countries he showed firmness in difficult circumstances, whether in his dealings with the Colonial Office or with Iocal ministries.
On his retirement Gordon devoted himself to literary and public work of various kinds. He published in 1893 a short life of his father, The Earl of Aberdeen, based on material collected for a fuller biography which was never published, and in 1906 Sidney Herbert, Lord Herbert of Lea: A Memoir. He also spent much time in collecting and editing the mass of state papers and correspondence left behind by Lord Aberdeen. Besides being chairman of the Bank of Mauritius and of the Pacific Phosphate Company and president of the Ceylon Association, he was an active member of various House of Lords’ committees; he was also a member of the House of Laymen for the province of Canterbury, his views being those of a pronounced high churchman.
Gordon was created C.M.G. in 1859, K.C.M.G. in 1871, and G.C.M.G. in 1878. In 1893 he was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Stanmore, of Great Stanmore, Middlesex. He was an honorary D.C.L. of Oxford. He married in 1865
Rachel Emily (died 1889), eldest daughter of Sir John George Shaw-Lefevre [q.v.], by whom he had one son and one daughter. He died in London 30 January 1912, and was buried at Ascot, where he had lived for many years. He was succeeded as second baron by his son, George Arthur Maurice Hamilton-Gordon (born 1871).
Stanmore’s work as a colonial administrator was of permanent value. In his dealings with native races, especially in Fiji, he laid down principles which have had a lasting influence; thus the methods used with such success in New Guinea by Sir William MacGregor [q.v.] were probably suggested in part by MacGregor’s experience under Stanmore in Mauritius and in Fiji. Stanmore was actuated by a high sense of duty and was a man of courage, firmness, and integrity; the friend of Charles Kingsley, Samuel Wilberforce, and Roundell Palmer, first Earl of Selborne, he possessed deeply religious convictions as well as great personal charm.
[The Times, 31 January 1912; Lady Frances Balfour, Life of George, fourth Earl of Aberdeen, 1922; Earl of Selborne, Memorials, 4 vols., 1896–1898; Lord Stanmore’s writings above mentioned.]
GORDON, Sir THOMAS EDWARD (1832–1914), general, was born 12 January 1832, the fourth son of Captain William Gordon, of the 2nd Queen’s regiment, by his wife, Dona Mariana Carlotta Loi Gonçalves de Mello. The descendants of his grandfather, Adam Gordon, included no fewer than thirteen soldiers; and a military education at the Scottish Naval and Military Academy indicated the career intended for him. There was, nevertheless, some financial difficulty in obtaining a commission for him, but eventually the purchase price (£450) was arranged, and Gordon entered the 4th Foot as ensign in 1849. Two years later he saw active service in India in the North-West Frontier campaign against the Mohmands, and, having been promoted lieutenant, he played a conspicuous part during the Indian Mutiny (1857–1859). He commanded the 7th Punjab Infantry in the attack upon and capture of the Oudh forts (14 and 17 July 1858). In 1859 he gained his captaincy, and ten years later was gazetted major. In that year (1869) he was present at the Ambala durbar, and in 1878 he accompanied Sir Thomas Douglas Forsyth [q.v.] as second in command of the mission to the ameer of Kashgar. Gordon has described this mission in his book The
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