George John James Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen (28 September 1816 – 22 March 1864), styled Lord Haddo before 1860, was a

British peer The peerages in the United Kingdom are a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various noble ranks, and forming a constituent part of the British honours system. The term '' peerage'' can be used both coll ...

and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician.

Early life

Lord Haddo was born at

Bentley Priory Bentley Priory is an eighteenth to nineteenth century stately home and deer park in Stanmore on the northern edge of the Greater London area in the London Borough of Harrow. It was originally a medieval priory or cell of Augustinian Canons in ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, the eldest son of the 4th Earl of Aberdeen and Harriet Hamilton, Dowager Viscountess Hamilton (née Harriet Douglas), widow of

James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton (7 October 1786 – 27 May 1814) was a British nobleman and politician. Birth and education The eldest son of John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn, James Hamilton was born at Petersham Lodge, Surrey, on 7 Oct ...

and granddaughter of

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, KT, PRS (1702 – 12 October 1768) was a Scottish astronomer and representative peer who was president of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh from its foundation in 1737 until his death. He also became ...

. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

Marriage

On 5 November 1840, he married Mary Baillie (a sister of the future 10th Earl of Haddington) at

Taymouth Castle Taymouth Castle is situated to the north-east of the village of Kenmore, Perth and Kinross, in the Highlands of Scotland, in an estate which encompasses 450 acres. It lies on the south bank of the River Tay, about a mile from Loch Tay, in the h ...

. They had six children: * George Hamilton-Gordon, 6th Earl of Aberdeen (1841–1870); died unmarried. * Mary Hamilton-Gordon (1844–1914); married Walter Hepburne-Scott, 8th Lord Polwarth. * James Henry Hamilton-Gordon (1845–1868); committed suicide, which was passed off as a rifle accident, in his rooms in Cambridge. * John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair (1847–1934) * Harriet Hamilton-Gordon (1849–1942); married William Lindsay. * Katherine Eliza Hamilton-Gordon (1852–1931); married

Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh Alexander Hugh Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh, (13 January 1849 – 6 July 1921) was a Scottish Unionist politician, banker and statesman, who took a leading part in the affairs of the Church of Scotland. He was Secretary for Scotland betwe ...

Career

His uncle, William Gordon, had retired as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area inclu ...

in 1854 and Haddo put himself forward as his successor. However, Haddo had contracted what was probably

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

, and he went to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

to spend a few months in a warm climate. Despite being absent from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and not having

canvassed Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns. Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership driv ...

the constituency, Haddo won the election and returned to take his seat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

, in good health, a year later. He left the Commons after inheriting his father's title in 1860 and made a second trip to Egypt. Aberdeen had previously converted to

Evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

and it was in Egypt that he campaigned for the Coptics to convert to his own faith. Aberdeen later returned to

and died at his home,

Haddo House Haddo House is a Scottish stately home located near Tarves in Aberdeenshire, approximately north of Aberdeen (). It has been owned by the National Trust for Scotland since 1979. The Gordons, who later became the Earls of Aberdeen and Marques ...

, in 1864. He was buried at Methlick and was succeeded by his eldest son, George. His last words were (when asked how he felt) "Perfectly comfortable". Hamilton-Gordon donated a large collection of antiquities that his father had collected to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in 1861.British Museum Collection
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aberdeen, George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of 1816 births 1864 deaths British evangelicals Converts to evangelical Christianity Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People from Hertfordshire (before 1965) Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom 05 02 Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies People educated at Harrow School UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs who inherited peerages