Gordonstoun School

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Gordonstown, a mansion in Drainie parish, Elginshire, 1¼ mile from the coast, and 5½ miles NNW of Elgin. The estate was purchased in 1636 and following years by the second son of the eleventh Earl of Sutherland, Sir Robert Gordon, vice-chamberlain of Scotland and a lord of the privy council, who, on 26 May 1625, had been created a baronet, this being the premier Scottish baronetcy. His grandson is famous in Morayshire legend as 'Sir Robert the Warlock,' and his grandson, the sixth baronet, dying unmarried in 1795, the title passed to Gordon of Letterfourie, the estate to Alex. Penrose Cumming, Esq. of Altyre, who himself was created a baronet in 1804. His nephew, Roualeyn George (1820-66), is remembered by his Five Years' Adventures in the Far Interior of South Africa; and his great-grandson, Sir William-Gordon Gordon-Cumming, present and fourth Bart. (b. 1848; suc. 1866), holds 36,387 acres in Elginshire and 2112 in Nairnshire, valued at £13,685 and £156 per annum. A building mainly of 1775-76, Gordonstown consists of a large square central block of masonry, with E and W turreted wings, dining and drawing rooms each 60 feet long, a good many fine paintings, etc.-Ord. Sur., sh. 95, 1876.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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