John Gordon of Findlater

John Gordon of Findlater (died 1562) was a Scottish landowner involved in a feud with James Ogilvie of Cardell. He was executed in Aberdeen on 3 November 1562.

John Gordon was a son of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly and Elizabeth Keith.

Alexander Ogilvie of Findlater Castle married Elizabeth Gordon, and in 1545 disinherited his son James Ogilvie in 1545 in favour of John Gordon, a relative of his second wife. ^{[1] [2]} On 28 September 1545, John Gordon obtained a royal charter permitting him to use the name and arms of Ogilvie, and confirming him as heir of Alexander Ogilvie and Elizabeth Gordon. ^[3]

He was knighted as John Gordon or Ogilvie of Deskford at the marriage of the queen's brother James Stewart, who was at that time Earl of Mar, and Annas Keith. ^[4]

John Gordon married Lady Findlater to secure his property (the Privy Council called her "his pretended spouse"), ^[5] and then, according to the English diplomat Thomas Randolph, locked her in a "close room". ^[6]

The disinherited James Ogilvie was a courtier serving Mary, Queen of Scots as a Master of Household. In June 1562, John Gordon fought with him and Lord Ogilvie in Edinburgh. ^[7] Gordon was held a prisoner, but escaped. Mary went on progress to the north of Scotland, and there was armed conflict with the Earl of Huntly and the Gordon family. ^[8]

John Gordon's men defeated a detachment of the royal guard led by Captain Stewart near Findlater in October 1562 and took their weapons. ^{[9] [10] [11]} While Mary was at Aberdeen, the Earl of Huntly sent a messenger to offer the keys of Auchindoun and Findlater, but this gesture was rejected. ^[12]

John Gordon was captured at the battle of Corrichie and executed at Aberdeen on 3 November. John Lesley wrote that Mary shed tears at the news of the death of the Earl of Huntly, and her grief was increased at the execution of John Gordon. ^[13]

Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun wrote that Mary pleaded with the Earl of Moray that he should be saved. He had been a favourite, even rumoured as a possible husband for Queen Mary. He described John Gordon as "a manly youth, extremely handsome, and just in the opening bloom of life". ^[14] According to the Historie of the Reigne of Marie Queen of Scots, John Gordon's mother, Elizabeth Keith, Countess of Huntly, "a wittie woman", had tried to bring up the subject of this royal marriage with Queen Mary at Aberdeen, before the battle of Corrichie. ^[15] The poet Pierre de Bocosel de Chastelard mentioned Mary's affection for John Gordon. ^[16]

References

1. Anne L. Forbes, Trials and triumphs: the Gordons of Huntly in sixteenth-century Scotland (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2012), pp. 12–15: I. D. Grant, "Not Improven", Miscellany of the Stair Society, 1 (Edinburgh, 1971), p. 97.
2. Scots Peerage, 4 (Edinburgh: David Douglas), p. 21.
3. Register of the Great Seal, 3, pp. 741–742 no. 3157.
4. Anne L. Forbes, Trials and triumphs: the Gordons of Huntly in sixteenth-century Scotland (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2012), p. 18.
5. John Hill Burton, Register of the Privy Council, 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), p. 219.
6. Records of Aboyne (Aberdeen: New Spalding Club, 1894), pp. 460–461: Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 655–656 no. 1141.
7. Anne L. Forbes, Trials and triumphs: the Gordons of Huntly in sixteenth-century Scotland (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2012), p. 19: David Laing, Works of John Knox, 2 (Edinburgh: James Thin, 1895), pp. 345–347.
8. Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland: Mary Stuart, 3 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1861), pp. 308–327.
9. William Forbes-Leith, Narratives of Scottish Catholics under Mary Stuart and James VI (London: Baker, 1889), p. 86.
10. History of the Kirk of Scotland by David Calderwood, 2, p. 197: Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 660 no. 1147.
11. Anne L. Forbes, Trials and triumphs: the Gordons of Huntly in sixteenth-century Scotland (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2012), p. 28.
12. Jennifer Morag Henderson, Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots (Whittles, 2025), p. 42.
13. William Forbes-Leith, Narratives of Scottish Catholics under Mary Stuart and James VI (Edinburgh: Paterson, 1885), p. 90.
14. David Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots (London, 1897), p. 308: Robert Gordon, Genealogical History of the Earls of Sutherland (Edinburgh, 1813), pp. 140–141.
15. Historical memoirs of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 1836), p. 64.
16. Retha M. Warnicke, Mary Queen of Scots (Routledge, 2006), p. 82.