captured the city of Alexandria, and brought down twenty-one of the enemy's ships, with their cargoes on board. The loss sustained in this expedition was but small, but the labour was excessive, and it is recorded that during the twenty-three days the hammocks were down for only two nights (James, vi. 181; Roosevelt, Naval War of 1812, p. 318). In the unsuccessful expedition against New Orleans Gordon had a full share, after which he returned to England. On 2 Jan. 1815 he had been nominated a K.C.B.; in November he was appointed to the command of the Madagascar, and in the next year to the Meander, in which, on 19 Dec. 1816, he narrowly escaped being wrecked on a shoal off Orfordness, over which the ship was forced in a gale of wind. For many hours she was in the greatest danger, and her ultimate safety was attributed mainly to Gordon's coolness, energy, and skill. He was immediately afterwards appointed to his old ship, the Active, and commanded her for the next two years on the North American and Mediterranean stations. In 1828 he was appointed superintendent of Plymouth Hospital, and in 1832 superintendent of Chatham dockyard, where he continued till his promotion to flag-rank on 10 Jan. 1837. In July 1840 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Greenwich Hospital, and on 28 Oct. 1853 succeeded Sir Charles Adam as governor. He held the office for the remainder of his life, attained the rank of vice-admiral on 8 Jan. 1848, of admiral on 21 Jan. 1854, was nominated a G.C.B. on 5 July 1855, was promoted to be admiral of the fleet on 30 Jan. 1868, and died on 8 Jan. 1869. He married in August 1812 the youngest daughter of Mr. John Ward of Marlborough, and by her, besides seven daughters, had one son, James Alexander Gordon, who died in command of the Wolf sloop, in January 1847.
[O'Byrne's Nav. Biog. Dict.; Marshall's Roy. Nav. Biog. iv. (vol. ii. pt. ii.) 937; James's Nav. Hist. (edit. 1860); Times, 11 Jan. 1869; Navy Lists.]
GORDON, JAMES ALEXANDER (1793–1872), physician, was born in 1793 in Middlesex, and graduated M.D. at Edinburgh in 1814. After studying on the continent, whence he returned to London in 1818, he established in 1819 the 'Quarterly Journal of Foreign Medicine and Surgery,' in concert with Dr. Mackenzie of Glasgow, and wrote extensively for it. He also wrote a series of articles on German medical literature in the 'Medical Repository.' He was admitted licentiate of the College of Physicians in 1821, became fellow in 1836, and was censor in 1838. He was elected assistant-physician to the London Hospital in 1827, and physician in 1828, resigning in 1844. He died at Dorking on 18 April 1872.
[Munk's Coll. of Phys. iii. 232.]
GORDON, JAMES BENTLEY (1750–1819), historian, was son of the Rev. James Gordon of Neeve Hall, Londonderry, by his wife, a daughter of Thomas Neeve [q. v.], the nephew of Richard Bentley [q. v.], the famous scholar. Gordon entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1769, and graduated B.A. 1773. On leaving college he took holy orders, and in 1776 became tutor to the sons of Lord Courtown. In 1779 he undertook the management of a boarding-school at Marlfield in Wexford, but was not very successful, owing probably to lack of worldly prudence. In 1796 he was presented to the living of Cannaway in Cork, and in 1799 to that of Killegney in Wexford, both of which he retained till his death on 10 April 1819. He married in 1779 a daughter of Richard Bookey of Wicklow, by whom he had several children; his eldest son, James George, entered the army, and was killed at Fort Sandusky in Canada, 25 Aug. 1813 (Gent. Mag. 1814, i. 65); another son, Richard Bentley, was prebendary of Ferns and Leighlin from 1819 to 1823 (Cotton, Fasti Eccl. Hib. ii. 365); a daughter was married to his biographer, Thomas Jones.
Gordon was a zealous student of history and geography. He wrote:
- 'Terraquea, or a New System of Geography and Modern History,' London, 1790-3, 2 vols., and Dublin, 1794-8, 4 vols. This work was then interrupted by the preparation of
- 'A History of the Rebellion in Ireland in 1798,' Dublin, 1801, 'a party work abounding in misrepresentations' (Lowndes, p. 914); 2nd edition, with additions, London, 1803.
- 'A History of Ireland,' Dublin, 1805; 2nd edition, London, 1806; translated into French, 1808.
- 'A History of the British Islands from the earliest Accounts to the Present Time,' Dublin, 1815. Gordon also left copious manuscripts, chiefly in continuation of his 'Terraquea,' of which a portion was printed in 1820 as
- 'An Historical and Geographical Memoir of the North American Continent. With a Summary Account of Gordon's Life, Writings, and Opinions,' by T. Jones. Another work left in manuscript was
- 'An Historical Memoir of the Church of Ireland;' of this a summary is given in Jones's 'Account,' &c.
[Memoir by T. Jones, as above; Taylor's Hist. of the Univ. of Dublin, p. 451; Todd's Dublin Graduates; Lowndes's Bibl. Man. p. 914; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
