John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland

Who was John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland?

John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland PC was a Scottish nobleman and army officer.

He was the only son of George Gordon, the 15th earl of Sutherland, and his wife, Jean.

Upon his father's death in 1703 he succeeded as earl of Sutherland. He supported the revolution of 1688 and was a commissioner for the union of England and Scotland. He was a Scottish representative peer in four parliaments, president of the Board of Trade and manufactures, and lord-lieutenant of the eight northern counties of Scotland. In 1703 he was appointed a privy councillor by Queen Anne.

He aided in putting down the Jacobite Rising of 1715. When the rebellion had been quashed, Gordon was invested by George I with the Order of the Thistle and was granted an annual pension of £1200 in recognition of his services. In 1719 his men took part in the Battle of Glen Shiel, which brought to an end the first Jacobite rising.

He resumed the name of Sutherland, instead of Gordon. In 1719 by decree of Lyon Court, he was thereafter recognised Chief of the Clan Sutherland.