Alastair Gordon, 6th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair

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The Most Honourable

The Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
Coronet of a British Marquess.svg
Arms of the Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
Born
Alastair Ninian John Gordon

20 July 1920
Died19 August 2002(2002-08-19) (aged 82)
Alma materHarrow School
Gray's School of Art
Camberwell School of Art
OccupationBotanical artist, art critic
Spouse(s)Anne Barry
ChildrenLady Emma Foale
Alexander Gordon, 7th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
Lady Sophia Gordon
Parent(s)Dudley Gordon, 3rd Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
Cécile Drummond
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1939–1946
RankCaptain
UnitScots Guards
Battles/warsSecond World War
  • North Africa Campaign
  • Italian Campaign
  • North West Europe Campaign

Alastair Ninian John Gordon, 6th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair (20 July 1920[1] – 19 August 2002) was a British botanical artist and art critic who succeeded to a peerage later in life.

Early life and World War II[]

Gordon was the youngest of five children and the fourth son of Lord Dudley Gordon. He was raised in Kent and attended Harrow before entering Gray's School of Art. Commissioned into the Scots Guards in 1939, he served in the Middle East and North Africa before being invalided to Syria after an Irish Guardsman accidentally shot him in the shoulder. Returning to active service, he fought in Italy and North-West Europe before being demobilized as a staff captain in 1946. After leaving the services, he and fellow veteran and nobleman Earl Haig enrolled at the Camberwell School of Art.

Career as artist[]

It was at Camberwell that Gordon began to specialize in botanical paintings. Several exhibitions of his art would be held in London, New York, Chicago, and Sydney. Gordon was also a member of the International Association of Art Critics and the modern art correspondent for Connoisseur magazine in the 1960s. It was at this time (1965) that his father inherited the Marquessate and Alastair became Lord Alastair Gordon.

Gordon settled at Ashampstead, Berkshire, far from his ancestral home at Haddo, allowing him to enjoy the company of artistic, rather than country, society. Aside from his art, he also enjoyed a longtime role as an amateur singer in the Bach Choir.

Later life[]

Inheriting the marquessate after the death of his brother in 1984, he sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords. He attended the Lords only sparingly to speak on topics of interest to him. In his last year of life, he frequently wrote letters and columns on art criticism and other subjects for newspapers. However, he was best known for magazine and other pieces describing his experiences in the brothels of Knightsbridge and Beirut, an activity regarded by his wife with "tolerant amusement."[2]

Personal life[]

In 1950, Aberdeen married the ceramic sculptor , daughter of Black Watch Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Barry, MC, of Great Witchingham, Norfolk, sometime Deputy Military Secretary of the Eastern Army of India, and Lady Margaret, daughter of Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 6th Earl of Radnor.[3]

They had two daughters and a son:

References[]

  1. ^ "Aberdeen and Temair, Alastair Ninian John Gordon;". Who's Who 1998: an Annual Biographical Dictionary. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1998. p. 3. ISBN 0312175914.
  2. ^ "Obituary of the 6th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 September 2002. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
  3. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 279
  4. ^ "Mr A. Foale and Miss S. Clark - Engagements Announcements - Telegraph Announcements".
  5. ^ "| Emma Foale".

External links[]

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
1984–2002 		Succeeded by
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