PERSONAL AND FAMILY ITEMS

SILVER-PLATED (HAILEYBURY) CHALLENGE CUPS AWARDED TO WILLIAM HYDE EAGLESON GORDON

The Haileybury College challenge cups bear the initials of W.H.E. Gordon. The cups are both dated with the dates 1911. Both are presented as 2^nd price for the Half-Mile and Mile running competition. They are silver-plated, made by Mappin & Webbs and stamped with a serial number underneath. The oval one (right) measures 15 cm in height, and its cup is 5,5 cm wide. The more round one (left) measures 13 cm in size, and its cup has a diameter of 6,5 cm. This one also has a wider base with a more raised decorated border, while the other one has a decoration in the middle of the stem.

PAINTING OF ARCHIBALD DICK (MAJOR GORDON'S MATERNAL GRANDFATHER ON HIS MOTHER'S SIDE)

BY EMMANUEL HENRY HORWITZ (1886 - 1935)

ARCHIBALD DICK was Major Gordon's maternal grandfather who owned the Windsor Castle Estate in Jamaica. The Windsor Castle was a famous and notorious estate outside Kingstone during the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. Many members of the Dick family oversaw the plantations in which slaves worked.

During the abolition of the slave trade, the Dick family became ruined, and many of Archibald's children died within one week of yellow fever. The remaining Dick family returned to Edinburgh, where Archibald died as a poor man.

On his world tour in 1887, Major Gordon visited the island of Jamaica and found the remains of the Windsor Castle estate with the help of a freed slave who had worked for his grandfather more than 50 years prior.

PAINTING OF KING ALBERT I OF BELGIUM BY A. LANGFIER 1918

Oil painting from King Albert I of Belgian in the style of Richard N. Speaight by the known British artist A. Langfier. Richard N. Speaight was a British artist born in London and commissioned to make a portrait of King Albert I of Belgium in 1917. The painting was later used for some Belgian stamp series. The painting in the Kings Messenger Collection was executed by A. Langfier, a London artist who inspired the commission on the painting of Speaight, as he states in the left under corner 'Cliché Speaight'. Whether Major Gordon commissioned the painting himself is unknown. The fact that it was found in his archive makes it a great asset in the Kings Messenger Collection.

The painting is signed and dated 1918. On the back of the painting, a label with the following is printed: The Langfier productiens - 34 36 Oxford St. London WI.

The painting measures: 19 cm x 30,5 cm

COLORED DRAWING OF HOME HILL (BRIDGE OF ALLAN)

Homehill was built by Major Gordon's father Dr. W.E. Gordon in Bridge of Allan. The mention had a long driveway and was situated on a small hill. After the death of Major Gordon's father Major Gordon's mother left it in the care of a relative who made the drawing.

In his later years, Major Gordon photographed the home in the 1930s and mentioned that it was renamed to Ben Royal.

In this house, the family received Lord and Lady Abercromby as well as Dr Simpson.

MAJOR GORDON'S BIBLE "New Testament"

MAJOR GORDON'S COOK BOOK
(Recipes from him, his wife and other family members)

The cookbook was donated by the Gordon family at the end of 2019, as an appreciation of the work done by the society. Although we were aware of its existence, we never looked at it, until we opened the envelope when it arrived. Once we started to explore the book, we encountered many different handwriting and dates. We find some handwritten pages of a Sunday School from 1890 and 1891 which are attributed to Maude (Major Gordon's wife).

On 7th February 1890, a biblical verse of H. Luke VIII was written in the cookbook in pencil. A second one (Joshua III) was written on 26th of March 1891 with an Inkpen and bares the town name, Darlington. In the census of 1891, we found Lizzie Maude Smith registered as a visitor of Charles Herbert Backhouse, who was the headmaster of Stanhope Road 113 in Darlington. We can honestly say this verse was certainly written by Maude. The last writing of the Sunday School stopped in March 1891, the same year Maude engaged herself with her beloved husband. We know that the writings are not from their children as they weren't born yet. The 'Cookbook' contains mostly handwritten recipes and cut-out articles. Some are written by the owners and at least one was written by "Hellie Gordon", Major Gordon's youngest sister.

18TH CENTURY PAPERS TO THE DICK AND MCKENZIE FAMILY
(Major Gordon's family on his mothers side)