Thomas Gordon

Background

Gordon is believed to have been the son of Doctor Thomas Gordon and Jean Hay of Aberdeen, but his origins are uncertain. His date of birth may have been 1658, and he is believed to have owned property in Aberdeen of which town he was made an honorary burgess on 30 June 1736.

The official announcement was recorded as follows:

"Considering that the most illustrious gentleman, Thomas Gordon, Knight, Admiral in the Fleet of the Most Serene Empress of Russia, is a man of noble birth in this our kingdom of Scotland, being honourably descended from the ancient race of Gordons whose present chief is the most powerful Duke of Gordon; that he was from his early years a most worthy citizen of this city of Aberdeen; that this same brave man, when in the British navy, strenuously defended the commerce and ships of this city from pirates and enemies of every kind; and that he, being an account of his great valour deservedly promoted to the highest honours by the Empress of Russia, still befriends this city; we, in token of our gratitude and esteem, do approve and confirm the aforesaid most illustrious gentleman, Thomas Gordon, as a burgess of this burgh, with all the rights and privileges of a guild brother. Given under the private seal of this our city and signed in our name and by our appointment by Walter Cochran."

Early career

He was captain of the merchant ship Margaret of Aberdeen in 1693 when he obtained an essential Mediterranean pass of safe conduct to go abroad to the Barbary States of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. The account books of the Shipmaster's Society of Aberdeen show him operating from that port between 1688 and 1693 during which time he voyaged to Shetland, Sweden, Norway, and Holland.

Scots Royal Navy

On 17 July 1703 Gordon received a regular commission as captain of the Royal Mary a vessel of the Royal Scots Navy. Royal Mary was being rigged out at Leith in order to protect the east coast of Scotland against privateers or warships of the enemy. In May the following year, the Royal Mary captured a French privateer, the "Fox" of Dunkirk, and took her to Leith where her crew were incarcerated in the tolbooths of Leith and the Canongate. The prisoners were given an allowance for their sustenance.

In August 1704 he captured a privateer ship named Marmedon of Dunkirk and also brought her into Leith where the crew were similarly treated as those of the previous French ship. Later in the year he captured two or three privateers and was considered to have ended that problem for the time being.

On 28 January 1705 Gordon captured a Dutch ship Catherine. This arrest caused great consternation in Holland and an appeal was written to Queen Anne pointing out that the owners of the vessel were blameless since they had passports to land their cargo of wine from the Canaries in Rotterdam. Trade with Spain and the Canaries was allowed by agreement between the two countries. The case went on for years but the vessel was sold at Leith in two weeks. Apparently she also had an illegal French passport and the ship's cook took revenge on the captain, who had had him beaten the previous day, by revealing this to Gordon. He also captured a small four-gun privateer, St. Esprit, from Ostend. After obtaining permission from the Admiralty to purchase the vessel he renamed her Little Gordon and sent her trading.

On 12 March 1705 Lieutenant George Ramsey with two sergeants, three corporals, and thirty-three soldiers were on board the Royal Mary for some two months whilst she cruised off the Scottish east coast. On 6 June the cruise was extended for another two months in the company of her sister ship Royal William. A record of the soldier's purpose on board is not known but possibly they were to be landed at places where Jacobites were at work. Due to the execution for piracy of Captain Thomas Green of the East India Company vessel Worcester and two of his officers at Leith in 1707, relationships were poor between the Scottish and English governments. Scotland's attempt to found a colony at Darien had failed, and when the expedition returned one of them, the Speedy Return, was found to be missing. Captain Green was accused by a Scottish mob of killing the crew and sinking the ship. He and his men were tried by the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland, found guilty, and executed on Leith Sands, despite a complete lack of valid evidence against them.

Union with England

Negotiations between Scotland and England for a union were going on at this time. Commodore Gordon intimated to the French that he would soon be obliged to quit the service since, when it came to Union, he could not see himself taking the oath of abjuration to repudiate the late King James Stewart as the legitimate claimant to the throne. If the King of France required his services, he would come to France along with his thirty two-gun frigate.

In 1706 Commodore Gordon complained that, whilst entering the port of Tynemouth Haven, after having received some damage to a mast in a gale, Captain Jones of the Royal Navy vessel Dunwich had fired a shot at him. After sending his lieutenant to the Dunwich to enquire why the shot had been fired, he learned that Scottish warships were forbidden from flying a broad pendant whilst in English waters. Gordon pointed out that English and Dutch vessels often flew a broad pendant in Scottish waters. Jones also complained when Gordon fired a morning and evening gun. Gordon and Jones wrote to their Lord High Admirals for instructions on the matter but the Act of Union, which required both vessels to fly the Union Jack, automatically rectified it.

When the Scottish navy merged with the Royal Navy there was some dispute over the seniority of the Scottish captains. It was finally agreed that their time would count from when they received their commissions as captains from Queen Anne. This meant that four years at sea did not count and the dispute continued for some time. The Scottish vessels were renamed Edinburgh and Glasgow since the English navy already had vessels named Royal William and Royal Mary. Ships under these names still operate in the Royal Navy today. A third Royal Scots Navy ship retained her name of Dumbarton Castle. Their absorption into the Royal Navy was unpopular with many Scottish sailors. One hundred of Gordon's men mutinied at Leith having got it into their heads that they would be sent to the West Indies or elsewhere outside of home waters. They were used to serving in Scottish and continental waters and just did not relish service abroad.

On 3 February 1708 Captain Gordon was posted to the Leopard (50 guns) and distinguished himself off Montrose when he was involved in a running fight between British ships under Admiral Sir George Byng and French ships under Admiral Forbin. Captain Gordon when off the Firth of Forth captured the French man of war 'Salisbury' that was the sole trophy of the fight. The rest of the French ships were scattered and did not arrive in Dunkirk until three weeks afterwards. Admiral Byng had been promoted to Admiral of the Blue and had been in control of the North Sea fleet to oppose any French ship that attempted to land the 'Pretender' at Burntisland and, it was believed, five thousand French troops. Admiral Byng had his critics and the question was raised that had Byng done all he could and for a while the threat of an enquiry was held over him. Fortunately the discontent subsided and Byng was given the freedom of the City of Edinburgh, and Parliament passed a vote of thanks to Prince George for his promptness. Unbeknown to the British, jealousy and disputes between the French officers had frittered away much valuable time. On the eve of his voyage, the royal guest became ill due to measles, contracted from his sister, so the attempt at landing him had been cancelled before they sailed. They no doubt still planned to land the troops.

Later career - Russian Navy

Upon leaving the Royal Navy, new opportunities opened up to Gordon and he went first to France to visit Queen Mary. There he met Captain Ogilvie and told him that indeed he was "the famous Captain Gordon". He had crossed the English Channel to Calais with Elizabeth Ogilvie (Ogilvie's cousin, or possibly wife) who was employed as a messenger between the Jacobites in England and France. She was known as the "Courier of Jupiter" and wrote from Calais the following letter to Ogilvie:

"I have a countryman of ours with me, who was pinned on me by our friends in London. I was ordered to put him into your hands, and I long for an opportunity to get him off my own. I don’t know if he was designed for my guide, but I find myself under a necessity of being his, for to take him out of his wooden world, he knows no more about travelling than a child of six. He is in a prodigious hurry to be at Dunkirk before Saturday. I wish to God he maybe soon wanted. He is in such haste that I was forced to go halves with him in hiring a packet boat at the rate of £5 on purpose to be almost “drounded,” or what was very near as extravagant a reason, to humour my fellow traveller, for we came over in so prodigious a storm that nothing but our light heads could have kept us from the bottom."

He joined the Russian Navy of Peter the Great on 1 June 1717 and remained a Russian officer until his death on 18 March 1741. Gordon, who was now considered as a refugee, was engaged by the Tsar in Holland along with Captain Saunders, who is described as an Englishman, Captain Hay and Captain-Lieutenants Urquhart and Serocoled; along with two land officers, all British. After Gordon arrived in Russia, the Jacobites saw an opportunity to interest the Tsar in their affairs. There were a number of letters sent to the Tsar for just this purpose: nine from Prince James (1721–30), two from the Earl of Mar (1716–1717), five from Captain Hay, and others.

Promotion was soon to come since there were old Russian Admirals retiring. There were also newly built ships to be manned. On New Year's Day Prince Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov was promoted Rear Admiral of the White, Captain-Commodore Sievers made Rear Admiral of the Blue and Captain-Commodore Gordon Rear-Admiral of the Red. The Russian Fleet was divided into three sections after the system used by the British and the Dutch.

Family

The family name of the Admiral's wife is disputed with one source calling her a daughter of Sir Thomas Elphinstone of Calderwood whilst another names her as the daughter of Sir James Elphinstone of Logie, Aberdeenshire; however, in 1710 his wife was definitely Margaret Ross, widow of Mr. William Monypenny of the Pitmilly family. Margaret is believed to be the daughter of George Ross, 11th Lord Ross. She died before 1721–2 and was buried near the grave of the Tsar's sister.

Gordon had a son, previously mentioned as being with him on the Moor, and another may have been Thomas Gordon, merchant, who died at Saint Petersburg in 1806. There were three daughters, Anna, Mary and Jean; the former married Sir Henry Stirling of Ardoch. In 1726, Mary was married to William Elmsal also at St. Petersburg. Jean married John Young, whose daughter Ann Young married Lt. Thomas MacKenzie in 1738, two years after the latter joined the Russian Navy in 1736. They had a son born 1740 also named Thomas Mackenzie who rose to the rank of rear admiral in the Russian Navy and was the founder of the city of Sevastopol in 1783. On 9 July 1771 young Thomas MacKenzie was awarded the Knight of the Order of St. George IV Class for successfully navigating one of only two fire ships which contributed to the destruction of the Turkish Fleet during the Russo-Turkish war at the Battle of Chesma in July 1770.