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{{Short description|Scottish soldier, diplomat, author and traveller}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix = Sir
|name = Thomas Edward Gordon
|honorific_suffix = [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire|KCIE]], [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath|KCB]], [[Companion of the Order of the Star of India|CSI]]
|image = Gen. Sir Thomas Edward Gordon.jpg
|alt =
|caption = Gen. T. E. Gordon, 1906
|native_name =
|native_name_lang =
|birth_name =
|other_name =
|nickname =
|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1832|01|12}}
|birth_place =
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1914|03|23|1832|01|12}}
|death_place = [[Kensington]], London, England
|placeofburial = [[Brompton Cemetery]], London
|placeofburial_label =
|placeofburial_coordinates = 
|allegiance = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
|branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}
|branch_label = Service
|serviceyears = 1849–1894 (designated "unemployed supernumerary")
|serviceyears_label =
|rank = {{Plainlist|*[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] (honorary rank)
*[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] (highest rank in active duty)}}
|rank_label =
|servicenumber =
|unit =
|commands =
|battles =
|battles_label =
|awards =
|memorials =
|alma_mater = [[Scottish Naval and Military Academy]]
|spouse = {{Plainlist|*{{marriage|Mary Helen Sawers|1862|1879|end=d}}
*{{marriage|Charlotte Davison|1894|1914}}}}
|children = five
|relations = {{Plainlist|*[[John James Hood Gordon]], twin brother
*[[Edward Gordon, Baron Gordon of Drumearn|Edward Strathearn Gordon]], cousin}}
|laterwork = Author of three books
|signature =
|signature_size =
|signature_alt =
|website = 
|module =
}}

'''Sir Thomas Edward Gordon''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCIE|KCB|CSI}} (12 January 1832 – 23 March 1914) was a Scottish soldier, diplomat, and traveller. A [[British Army]] officer, he fought in India, served as a diplomat in [[Tehran]], and travelled across the [[Pamirs]]. He is primarily remembered as an author of several books about India, Persia (modern-day Iran), and Central Asia of the 19th century.<ref name="times">{{cite news |title= Obituary: Death of General Sir T. E. Gordon – Notable Indian Services |work=[[The Times]] |date=24 March 1914 |page= 10}}</ref>

==Early life==

Gordon was born on 12 January 1832 in Aberdeen and was a twin son of Captain William Gordon (1788–1834) of the 2nd Queen's Royal Regiment. His father had served in the [[Peninsular War]] and was married at [[Santarém, Portugal|Santarém]], in 1818, to Marianna Carlotta Loi Gonçalves de Mello, daughter of Luiz Gonçalves de Mello, a Spanish government official in the province of [[Estremadura Province (historical)|Estremadura]].

His father William Gordon was one of the sons of Adam Gordon (1750–1831) of Griamachary in the parish of Kildonan, Dingwall, whose sons and grandsons included thirteen commissioned officers, a [[Surgeon-General (United Kingdom)|Surgeon-General]], Huntly George Gordon; and a Lord Advocate and MP, [[Edward Gordon, Baron Gordon of Drumearn]].<ref name="times"/>

He and his twin brother, Sir [[John James Hood Gordon]], were the youngest children in a family of four sons and a daughter. The twins were educated at the [[Scottish Naval and Military Academy]], Edinburgh. Thomas Edward and John joined the British Army on the same day; both became [[General (United Kingdom)|general]]s and were knighted.<ref name="varied">{{Cite book|last=Gordon|first=Thomas Edward|author-link=Thomas Edward Gordon|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.06994|title=A varied life: a record of military and civil service, of sport and of travels in India, Central Asia and Persia, 1849-1902|date=1906|publisher=John Murray, London}}</ref>{{rp|1–3}}

==Army career==

Alongside his twin brother, Thomas entered the [[British Army]], joining the [[29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot]] on 21 August 1849. He transferred to the [[Presidency armies|Army in India]] and served in the [[Indian Mutiny]] campaign of 1857–1858.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/indianbiographic00raoc|page=[https://archive.org/details/indianbiographic00raoc/page/164 164] |title=Indian Biographical Dictionary |year=1915 |first=C. Hayavadana |last=Rao |location=Madras |publisher=Pillar & Co}}</ref>

In 1873–1874, he participated in the [[Second Yarkand Mission]] led by [[Thomas Douglas Forsyth]]. The main goal of the expedition was to meet [[Yakub Beg]], the ruler of [[Chinese Turkestan]]. Gordon also joined a party that travelled west to the [[Pamirs]] and [[Wakhan]]. Gordon was accompanied on the mission by [[John Biddulph]], [[Ferdinand Stoliczka]], [[Henry Walter Bellew]], [[Henry Trotter (Indian Army officer)|Henry Trotter]], and R. A. Chapman. In 1876 Gordon published his account of the expedition.<ref name=gordon>Thomas Edward Gordon. (1876) ''[https://archive.org/details/roworldanarrati00gordgoog The roof of the world: being a narrative of a journey over the high plateau of Tibet to the Russian frontier and the Oxus sources on Pamir.]'' Edinburgh, Edmonston and Douglas. p. 171.</ref><ref name=trotter>1917. "The Amir Yakoub Khan and Eastern Turkestan in Mid-Nineteenth Century." ''[[Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society]]''. Vol. 4. No. 4. pp. 95-112.</ref>

In 1889 he became Oriental Secretary to the [[Iran – United Kingdom relations|British Legation]] in Tehran and was Military Attaché, 1891–93. During his visits to Persia Gordon decided to publish an account of his journey with the intention of displaying, through his observations and illustrations, evidence of the "progress and improvement" he found. In 1896 his work, ''Persia Revisited'', was published.

On 1 April 1894, he was promoted [[General (United Kingdom)|full general]] and placed on the Unemployed Supernumerary List of the [[Indian Staff Corps]].<ref name="Gazette">{{London Gazette |issue=26519 |pages=3257 |date=5 June 1894}}</ref>

==Personal life==

[[File:Gordon-Chinese-Taifurchis-Kashgar-Army.jpg|thumb|"Chinese ''Taifurchi''s" (gunners) in [[Kashgar]], T.E. Gordon's drawing in ''The Roof of the World'']]

In 1862, Gordon married firstly, Mary Helen Sawers, daughter of Alexander Sibbald Sawers. They had four daughters, Helen Elizabeth (1863–1942), Alexa Anna (9 January 1867 – 18 November 1867), Jeanetta (1876–1963), and Violet Mary (1878–1972), and a son who died in childhood, Thomas William Gordon (1868–1876).<ref name="birth">''India, Select Births and Baptisms, 1786–1947''</ref><ref>''India, Select Deaths and Burials, 1719–1948''</ref><ref name="1901census">''1901 England Census''</ref><ref>''Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Burials, 1813–1988''</ref>

Mary Helen died in 1879 and he married secondly in 1894, Charlotte Davison.<ref name="times"/>

He was also a painter, perhaps the first European to paint the landscapes of certain remote locations of the Pamirs.<ref>[http://www.sphinxfineart.com/Sir-Thomas-Edward-Gordon-Aberdeen-Scotland-1832-1914-Lake-Victoria-Great-Pamir-May-2nd-1874-DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=6&tabindex=5&objectid=143219 Lake Victoria, Great Pamir, 2 May 1874] - one of his paintings</ref>

Gordon died in 1914 at his home in [[Kensington]].<ref name="times"/>

==Bibliography==

* [https://archive.org/details/roworldanarrati00gordgoog ''The roof of the world: being a narrative of a journey over the high plateau of Tibet to the Russian frontier and the Oxus sources on Pamir''] – includes an eyewitness account of [[Yaqub Beg]]'s regime in [[Kashgaria]]
* ''[http://www.fullbooks.com/Persia-Revisited.html Persia Revisited]''
* ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=_CMyAQAAIAAJ A varied life; a record of military and civil service, of sport and of travels in India, Central Asia and Persia, 1849–1902]''

==References==

{{Reflist}}
{{commons category|Thomas Edward Gordon}}

==External links==

* {{Gutenberg author |id=Gordon,+Thomas+Edward,+Sir}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Thomas Edward Gordon |sopt=t}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Thomas Edward}}
[[Category:Scottish diplomats]]
[[Category:29th Regiment of Foot officers]]
[[Category:Explorers of Central Asia]]
[[Category:1832 births]]
[[Category:1914 deaths]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Scottish explorers]]
[[Category:Scottish soldiers]]
[[Category:Scottish travel writers]]
[[Category:Scottish landscape painters]]
[[Category:People from Aberdeen]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish writers]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish painters]]
[[Category:Scottish male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish painters]]
[[Category:Scottish knights]]
[[Category:19th-century British Army personnel]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:Scottish twins]]

Thomas Edward Gordon - Revision history

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.