John_Gordon,_Viscount_Kenmuir
John Gordon, 1st Viscount of Kenmure
Scottish nobleman
John Gordon, 1st Viscount of Kenmure (1599–1634) was a Scottish nobleman, renowned Presbyterian, and founder of the town of New Galloway.[1]
Sir John Gordon of Lochinvar (as he was known before his ennoblement) was the eldest son of Sir Robert Gordon of Lochinvar (d. November 1628), a Gentleman of the King's Bedchamber, by his wife, Lady Elizabeth Ruthven, daughter of the William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie.[2][3] After completion of his studies he travelled on the continent, and while there he resided in the house of the famous John Welsh, who was then minister at St. Jean d'Angély in France, having been banished from Scotland.[4]
He was one of the first to embark in the scheme for the establishment of colonies in America, and in 1621 obtained a charter of what was called the barony of Galloway in Nova Scotia (now Baleine, Nova Scotia).[5]
On his return home Gordon exerted himself with success in getting Anwoth the parish in which the family residence was situated, disjoined from two other parishes with which it had been united; and through his, Samuel Rutherford was appointed minister of the new charge in 1627, which Kenmure later said was "the most meritorious action of my life".
At some point Gordon was knighted. A strong supporter of the Stuart monarchy, on 8 May 1633, as Sir John Gordon, knight, he was created Viscount of Kenmure and Lord Lochinvar by Charles I by Letters Patent, at his Scottish coronation in Edinburgh. The destination was to heirs male whatsoever bearing the surname and Arms of Gordon.
He attended the parliament held at Edinburgh the following June, but avoided the debate on the King's measures relative to the church, retiring instead to Kenmure Castle. He later regretted that he took no part but expressed his dilemma at not wishing to upset his monarch.
Among other favours conferred upon him by Charles I was the charter, dated 15 January 1629, of a Royal Burgh of New Galloway, a new town which was built within the limits of his estate at Kenmure Castle.[6][7]
Samuel Rutherford attended Kenmure on his deathbed and later wrote a tract entitled The last and heavenly Speeches and glorious Departure of John, Viscount Kenmure, printed in Edinburgh in 1649, by Evan Tyler, His Majesty's Printer. It was reprinted in 1827.
John Gordon married Lady Jane Campbell, sister of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll.[8]
When John Gordon died, Lady Jane remarried, on 21 September 1640, to Sir Harry Montgomerie of Giffen, second son of Alexander Montgomerie, 6th Earl of Eglinton, and they had no children. She lived to February 1675.[8]
- Douglas's Scottish Peerage (Wood), i. 27
- Howie's Scots Worthies
- Memoir by Thomas Murray, prefixed to Rutherford's Last and Heavenly Speeches of John, Viscount Kenmure. Edinburgh, 1827
- Works of Samuel Rutherford[4]
- Citations
- Scots Peerage, Vol. V, p. 115; ed. Sir James Balfour Paul.
- "Lochinvar". Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- Lochinvar. Encouragements, For such as shall have intention to bee Vnder-takers in the new plantation of Cape Briton now New Galloway in America. by mee Lochinvar. Edin. 1625. John Wreittoun. ISBN 9780665936159. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- "New Galloway". Undiscoveredscotland.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- "Kells Parish Church and Graveyard 4". Homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/66717. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/66717. Retrieved 24 February 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Sources
- Anderson, William, The Scottish Nation, Edinburgh, 1867, vol. v, pp. 333–4; vol. vi, p. 599
- Anderson, William (1877). "Gordon, John, first viscount Kenmure". The Scottish nation: or, The surnames, families, literature, honours, and biographical history of the people of Scotland. Vol. 2. A. Fullarton & co. pp. 333-334.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - Henderson, Thomas Finlayson (1890). "Gordon, John (1599?-1634)". In Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney (eds.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 22. London: Smith, Elder & Co. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Howie, John (1870). "John Gordon, Viscount Kenmuir". In Carslaw, W. H. (ed.). The Scots worthies. Edinburgh: Oliphant, Anderson, & Ferrier. pp. 153-170. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Morton, Alexander S. (1914). Galloway and the Covenanters; or, The struggle for religious liberty in the south-west of Scotland. Paisley : A. Gardner. pp. 453-456.
- Murray, Thomas (1832). texts The literary history of Galloway. Edinburgh: Waugh and Innes. pp. 83-85.
- Nicholson, John, ed. (1855). Minute book kept by the war committee of the Covenanters in the stewartry of Kircudbright in the years 1640 and 1641. Kirkcudbright: John Nicholson.
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- The Last and Heavenly Speeches, and Glorious Departure of John Viscount Kenmure (generally attributed to Samuel Rutherford), in its entirety (PDF download)
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Viscount of Kenmure 1633–1634 |
Succeeded by John Gordon |
| Baronetage of Nova Scotia | ||
| Preceded by | Baronet (of Kirkcudbright) 1628–1634 |
Succeeded by John Gordon |