
Lord George Gordon (26 December 1751 – 1 November 1793) was the Whig MP for Ludgershall from 1774 to 1780. As leader of the "Protestant Association", he instigated the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in London in 1780.
Biography[]
George Gordon was born in London, England in 1751, the son of Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon and the brother of Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon. He was commissioned an ensign in the 89th (Highland) Regiment of Foot at the age of eight before joining the Royal Navy in 1763 at the age of 12. He became popular among ordinary seamen for seeking to improve the living conditions of sailors, but he was unpopular with the Admiralty, forcing him to resign in 1777. Gordon concurrently served in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1780, and he became known for his criticism of both the liberal and conservative camps in Parliament and for his support for American independence. Gordon organized the Protestant Association in 1779 to secure the repeal of the Papists Act 1778, and, based at the Boot pub in Bloomsbury, he instigated the "Gordon Riots" of 1780 after Parliament rejected his petition to repeal the law. Charged with high treason, he was acquitted, but his political career was over. His popularity was further sabotaged when he converted to Orthodox Judaism in Birmingham; he would be imprisoned at Newgate for defaming Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and he was supplied with kosher meat and wine in prison. He died during a typhoid fever outbreak in Newgate in 1793.