John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland

John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland KT PC (1661–1733) was a Scottish nobleman and army officer.

The Earl of Sutherland
Predecessor	George Gordon, 15th Earl of Sutherland
Successor	William Sutherland
Other names	John Sutherland
Born	1661
Died	27 June 1733 Chelsea
Wars and battles	Jacobite rebellion 1715
Spouse(s)	Helen Cochrane Katherine Tollemache Frances Hodgson
Parents	George Gordon and Jean

He was the only son of George Gordon, 15th Earl of Sutherland (1633–1703), and his wife, Jean Wemmyss.[1]

Upon his father's death in 1703 he succeeded as earl of Sutherland. He supported the revolution of 1688 and was a commissioner for the union of England and Scotland. He was a Scottish representative peer in four parliaments, president of the Board of Trade and manufactures, and lord-lieutenant of the eight northern counties of Scotland.[2] In 1703 he was appointed a privy councillor by Queen Anne.[1]

He aided in putting down the Jacobite Rising of 1715.[2] When the rebellion had been quashed, Gordon was invested by George I with the Order of the Thistle and was granted an annual pension of £1200 in recognition of his services. In 1719 he led his Regiment in the Battle of Glen Shiel, which brought to an end the third Jacobite rising.[1]

He resumed the name of Sutherland, instead of Gordon. In 1719 by decree of Lyon Court, he was thereafter recognised Chief of the Clan Sutherland.

Family

He married three times, first to Helen, daughter of Lord Dundonald; secondly to Katherine Tollemache, daughter of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet; and thirdly to Frances Hodgson. He had two children with Helen:

• William Gordon, Lord Strathnaver (19 December 1683 – 13 July 1720) who married Catherine Morrison
• Jean Gordon (c. 1692, Scotland – 11 February 1747, Virginia)[3]), who married James Lauderdale, the son of John Maitland, 5th Earl of Lauderdale.

Persuasive claims have been put forth in the Allan P. Gray account, that the "Honbl. Capt." referenced in the Dugald Gilchrist Papers is Lt. Col. James Sutherland of Uppat, of the 38th Foot, and Superintendent of the estate of the Countess of Sutherland at Dunrobin, making James Sutherland an illegitimate son to Gordon (mother unknown). [4] Illegitimate children are fairly common and though unproven this would account for the mysterious and suspicious familiarity between James Sutherland and the acquisition of the Uppat estate, the military appointments, and the closeness to the Gordon family at large.

References

2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sutherland, Earls and Dukes of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 168–169.
3. "John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland". The Peerage. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
4. "sutherland". www.kittybrewster.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.

External links

• "Gordon, John (1660?-1733)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by George Gordon	Earl of Sutherland 1703–1733	Succeeded by William Sutherland