George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen

George John James Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen (28 September 1816 – 22 March 1864), styled Lord Haddo before 1860, was a British peer and Liberal Party politician.

The Right Honourable The Earl of Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen
Member of Parliament for Aberdeenshire
In office 1854–1860
Preceded by	William Gordon
Succeeded by	William Leslie
Personal details
Born	George John James Hamilton-Gordon 28 September 1816 Bentley Priory, Hertfordshire, England
Died	22 March 1864(1864-03-22) (aged 47) Haddo House, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Resting place	Methlick, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Political party	Liberal Party
Spouse	Mary Baillie
Children	George Hamilton-Gordon, 6th Earl of Aberdeen James Hamilton-Gordon John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair Mary Hepburne-Scott, Lady Polwarth Harriet Lindsay Katherine Bruce, Lady Balfour of Burleigh
Parent(s)	George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen Harriet Hamilton, Dowager Viscountess Hamilton
Alma mater	Harrow School Trinity College, Cambridge

Early life

Lord Haddo was born at Bentley Priory in Hertfordshire, the eldest son of the 4th Earl of Aberdeen and Harriet Hamilton, Dowager Viscountess Hamilton (née Harriet Douglas), widow of James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton and granddaughter of James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton. He was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge.^[1]

Career

His uncle, William Gordon, had retired as Member of Parliament for Aberdeenshire in 1854 and Haddo put himself forward as his successor. However, Haddo had contracted what was probably tuberculosis, and he went to Egypt to spend a few months in a warm climate. Despite being absent from Scotland and not having canvassed the constituency, Haddo won the election and returned to take his seat in the House of Commons, in good health, a year later. He left the Commons after inheriting his father's title in 1860 and made a second trip to Egypt. Aberdeen had previously converted to Evangelicalism and it was in Egypt that he campaigned for the Coptics to convert to his own faith.

For part of his time in Egypt, he distributed Bibles with the American missionary Gulian Lansing, who later wrote a memoir about their journey.^[2]

Aberdeen later returned to Scotland and died at his home, Haddo House, in 1864. He was buried at Methlick and was succeeded by his eldest son, George. His last words were (when asked how he felt) "Perfectly comfortable". Hamilton-Gordon donated a large collection of antiquities that his father had collected to the British Museum in 1861.^[3]

Marriage

Lord Haddo married at Taymouth Castle on 5 November 1840 Mary Baillie (a sister of the future 10th Earl of Haddington). They had six children:

• George Hamilton-Gordon, 6th Earl of Aberdeen (1841–1870); died unmarried.
• Lady Mary Hamilton-Gordon (1844–1914); married Walter Hepburne-Scott, 8th Lord Polwarth.
• Hon. James Henry Hamilton-Gordon (1845–1868); committed suicide, which was passed off as a rifle accident, in his rooms in Cambridge.^[4]
• John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair (1847–1934)
• Lady Harriet Hamilton-Gordon (1849–1942); married William Lindsay.
• Lady Katherine Eliza Hamilton-Gordon (1852–1931); married Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh.

The Dowager Countess of Aberdeen survived her husband by 36 years, and died aged 85 at Kennet, the residence of her son-in-law Lord Balfour, on 3 April 1900.^[5]