Our Family
 Genealogy Pages

Sir George GORDON, Of Huntly

Sir George GORDON, Of Huntly[1]

Male 1430 - 1502  (72 years)

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name George GORDON  [2
    Prefix Sir 
    Suffix Of Huntly 
    Born 1 Jan 1430  Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Gender Male 
    Clan   [3
    Clan Gordon & Seton 
    FamilySearch ID LZL3-SJF 
    Office 1449  [3
    Privy Counsellor 
    TitleOfNobility 1455  [3
    Knighthood 
    Occupation Between 1498 and 1501  [3
    High Chancellor of Scotland 
    Find a Grave 30 Jan 1502  Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    _UID 11BC8420478F4C0ABFC26F1B9555B263A738 
    Died 30 Jan 1502  Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Buried 1503  chancel of the abbey church of, Cambuskenneth, Stirlingshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Person ID I1321  Carney Wehofer Feb 2024 Genealogy
    Last Modified 12 Nov 2023 

    Father Sir Alexander SETON, 1st Earl of Huntly, Lord of Gordon and Badenoch,   b. Jan 1410, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 15 Jul 1470, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 60 years) 
    Mother Elizabeth CRICHTON,   b. 1410, Crichton, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 Jun 1479, Strathbogie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 69 years) 
    Family ID F536728932  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Lady Annabella Beaufort STEWART, Princess of Scotland,   b. 1432, Holyrood, Midlothian, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 27 Jun 1509, Roxburgh Castle, Roxburgh, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 77 years) 
    Married Bef 10 Mar 1460  Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Children 
     1. Elizabeth GORDON,   d. Yes, date unknown
     2. Margaret GORDON,   b. Abt 1448, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Anna GORDON,   b. 18 Apr 1455, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 15 Sep 1492, Hertfordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 37 years)
     4. Sir Admiral James GORDON,   b. Aft 1456, Lesmoir, Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Jun 1558, Lesmoir, Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 101 years)
     5. Sir Alexander GORDON, 3rd Earl of Huntly,   b. 1460, Huntley Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 21 Jan 1523, Perth, Perthshire, , Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 63 years)
     6. Lady Elizabeth GORDON,   b. 1462, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 22 Apr 1525, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 63 years)
     7. Sir William GORDON, of Schivas and 1st of Gight,   b. 1466, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 Sep 1513, Battle of Flodden Field, Branxton, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 47 years)
    Last Modified 12 Nov 2023 
    Family ID F714  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Sir George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntley, Lord of Gordon & Badenoch, Justiciary North of the Forth, Lt. North of the Esk, Lord High Chancellor was born circa 1441. A contract for the marriage of Sir George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntley, Lord of Gordon & Badenoch, Justiciary North of the Forth, Lt. North of the Esk, Lord High Chancellor and Elizabeth Dunbar was signed on 20 May 1455; No issue. Sir George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntley, Lord of Gordon & Badenoch, Justiciary North of the Forth, Lt. North of the Esk, Lord High Chancellor and Elizabeth Dunbar were divorced before March 1460; On grounds they were related in the 3rd & 4th degrees of consanguinity.

      **Sir George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntley, Lord of Gordon & Badenoch, Justiciary North of the Forth, Lt. North of the Esk, Lord High Chancellor married Annabella Stewart, daughter of James I Stewart, King of Scotland and Joan Beaufort, before 10 March 1460; They had 1 daughter (Isabel, wife of William Hay, 3rd Earl of Erroll). Sir George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntley, Lord of Gordon & Badenoch, Justiciary North of the Forth, Lt. North of the Esk, Lord High Chancellor and Annabella Stewart were divorced before 12 May 1466; Final decree pronounced in 1471. Divorced on grounds that she was related to his former wife, Elizabeth Dunbar, in the 3rd and 4th degrees of consanguinity.

      Sir George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntley, Lord of Gordon & Badenoch, Justiciary North of the Forth, Lt. North of the Esk, Lord High Chancellor married Elizabeth Hay, daughter of Sir William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll, 2nd Lord Hay, Constable of Scotland and Beatrix Douglas, after 12 May 1466; They had 4 sons (Alexander, 3rd Earl of Huntly; Adam, Earl of Sutherland; William, 1st Laird of Gight; & James) & 6 daughters (Janet, wife of Alexander Lindsay, Master of Crawford; Elizabeth, wife of William Keith, 3rd Earl Marischal; Margaret, wife of Patrick Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell; Katherine; Eleanor, wife of William Sinclair, & of David Hepburn; & Agnes, wife of Sir Gilbert Hay).
      He also had an illegitimate son (Alexander) and an illegitimate daughter (Janet, wife of James Ogilvy of Findlater).

      Sir George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntley, Lord of Gordon & Badenoch, Justiciary North of the Forth, Lt. North of the Esk, Lord High Chancellor and Elizabeth Hay obtained a marriage license on 25 June 1466; Date of Dispensation, they being related in the 3rd & 3rd degree of affinity.

      Sir George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntley, Lord of Gordon & Badenoch, Justiciary North of the Forth, Lt. North of the Esk, Lord High Chancellor died on 8 June 1501 at Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland; Buried at Cambuskenneth, Stirlingshire.


      The Gordons of Sutherland and Gordons of Huntly ancestry of Lady Mary Heron (nee McGeoch)

      NOTE: The Life Sketch Info. above reflects the research of B. Phillips, Dr. Margaret Heron Selkirk, Dr. Liam Selkirk, et al, for their book : "The Heron & Bromfield Intrigue - Vols. 1, 2, & 3, from years of research on the ancestry of the "Jamaican Herons and their connection to Ford Castle, Chipchase Castle, Etal Castle (Northumberland),Heron House (Essex), Shacklewell Hall (Kent), Rycote (Oxfordshire), Cressy Hall, Surfleet Estate (Lincolnshire) Kirroughtree Estate. Bargaly Estate, Palnur Estate (Dumfries & Galloway), Heron House (Ayrshire); Wigton, Shooter's Hill, Williamsfield Great House (Jamaica) among many others over England, Scotland and Jamaical and the connections to the Huntingdon/Bruce/Stewart/Gordon/Drummond families and the Ruthven/Wemyss* families.

      All we ask is if you use our research material, please acknowledge the source



      In addition other sources:
      1 - In 1488 James III's eldest son was proclaimed James IV by a group of nobles consisting of the Humes and Hepburns in the south and the earls of Angus and Argyll in the north. The earls of Huntly, Crawford, Errol, and Buchan in the north with their respective clans remained loyal and the two sides clashed at the battle of Sauchieburn near Bannockburn.

      2 - GEORGE, second Earl of Huntly, was appointed, with the Earl of Crawford, joint justiciary of the country beyond the Forth. He was a member of the Privy Council of James IlI. Though he was an accomplice of Bell-the-Cat and the other disaffected barons in the murder of the royal favourites at Lauder, in the final struggle between them and James, Huntly supported the cause of that unfortunate sovereign, and, along with the Earl of Athole, commanded the vanguard of the royal army in the battle of Sauchieburn, where the King lost his life. James IV., however, seems to have entertained no hostile feelings towards the Earl, for in 1491 he nominated him his lieutenant in the northern parts of Scotland beyond the North Esk river; and, in 1498, he appointed Huntly High Chancellor of Scotland. He resigned this office in 1502, and died soon after. The Earl was twice married. His first wife, Annabella, daughter of James I., bore to him six daughters and five sons. His eldest son became third Earl. His second son, Adam, married Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland, and became Earl of Sutherland in her right. William, third son, was the ancestor of the Gordons of Gight, from whom Lord Byron was descended. James Gordon of Letterfourie, the fourth, was admiral of the fleet in 1513. Lady Catherine, the eldest daughter of Lord Huntly, who was regarded as the most beautiful and accomplished woman in Scotland, was given in marriage by the King to Perkin Warbeck, whose claims to the English throne he warmly supported. She accompanied that adventurer to England; after his execution King Henry granted her a pension, and assigned her a post of honour at the English Court, where she was known by the name of the White Rose of Scotland. Lady Catherine afterwards married Sir Matthew Cradock, an ancestor of the Pembroke family. The Earl had no issue by his second wife, a daughter of the first Earl of Errol.
      [http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/families/gordons.htm]

      3 - Although it does appear that there were no children by his first marriage, there is some uncertainty on which of his other wives mothered which of his children. Some sources report that Annabella was mother of only one daughter, the absence of any male issue probably being part of the reason why George divorced her. Claims that Annabella did in fact produce more children may have been made by later Gordons because of the greater social prestige that might have arisen through claiming close descent from the Royal family. We follow what is shown under Burkes Peerage 1934 (Huntly).

      4 - George, second earl of Huntly, married Lady Jean[?] Stewart, the daughter of King James I, son of Queen Annabella Drummond.
      ("Genealogical memoir of the most noble and ancient house of Drummond" by David Malcolm 1808) [1, 4]

  • Sources 
    1. [SAuth] Jim Carney, compiled by James H Carney [(E-ADDRESS), & MAILING ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Buderim, Queensland 4556 AUSTRALIA.

    2. [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for Elizabeth Gordon, person ID L2WP-X94. (Reliability: 3).

    3. [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for George Gordon, person ID LZL3-SJF. (Reliability: 3).