Emilia Maryanne Dick was born on at Jamaica.

She married George Freer Sr, with who she received George Freer Jr., became a widow and returned to Scotland from the West Indies. 

On 12 July 1865, Emily married William Eagleson Gordon, MD, and the couple received five children. They resided at Bridge of Allan. After her husband's sudden death in 1873, she took her youngest children while George Freer Jr. remained in a boarding school for one year in Switzerland. In 1890 the family returned, and Emily resided in Edinburgh. Here she was mainly involved in raising her grandchildren and a huge philanthrope in the community.

Emily died on 14 February 1917 in her home in Edinburgh and was buried next to her husband at Logie Cemetery, Stirlingshire, Scotland.