Joseph Maria Gordon

Major General Joseph Maria Gordon CB (19 March 1856 – 6 September 1929) was a senior officer in the British Army, later holding the position of Commandant of the South Australian Military Forces and serving in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Gordon subsequently held the position of Chief of the General Staff in the Australian Army before commanding a number of reserve formations during the First World War. Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, he was the son of Carlos Pedro Gordon, of Scottish descent, and Elena Maria Prendergast, of Irish descent. He died in 1929. Early life Gordon was born in Jerez de la Frontera, in southern Spain. At birth, he was named José María Gordon y Prendergast. Following Spanish naming conventions he had two family names, Gordon for his father and Prendergast for his mother. His Spanish-born parents of Scottish and Irish descent were descended from 18th century migrants from Scotland. Spanish was Gordon's mother tongue, but at age seven, in 1867, his family returned to Scotland, when his father had inherited the family estates. Gordon then learnt to speak English, but he retained an accent for many years, if not the rest of his life. He grew up in Britain, where he attended the artillery and engineering military academy at Woolwich, beginning in 1874. At that time, while still a cadet, he met the future King of Spain, Prince Alfonso, who was in exile, attending the military school at Sandhurst. Prince Alfonso was proclaimed King of Spain in December 1874 and received the news while he was dining with Gordon in London. During that time Spain was engaged in a civil war, the Third Carlist War, and Gordon told Prince Alfonso that he had made plans to travel to northern Spain and join his enemy Carlos, Duke of Madrid with the object of gaining military experience. Prince Alfonso told Gordon that he could give him a letter of recommendation so he could join the royalist army, but Gordon declined. Military career After he obtained his commission, Gordon was stationed in Ireland, but in 1879 he resigned in poor health and traveled to New Zealand with the hope of improving his health. In New Zealand he spent time as a drill instructor before moving to Melbourne and working as a journalist. He unsuccessfully tried acting, newspaper publishing, and being a merchant before joining the police force in Adelaide, South Australia in 1881. He subsequently joined the Australian Army as an officer in an artillery regiment.