George Gordons School of Law He first displayed his death wish as he wrote at the time that he had gone "to the Crimea, hoping, without having a hand in it, to be killed". Major-General Charles George Gordon CB (28 January 1833 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British Army officer and administrator. [195], On 4 September 1884, Gordon's fortunes took a turn for the worse when the most able of his subordinates, Mohammed Aly, together with about 1,000 of Gordon's best troops, were killed in an ambush while conducting a raid. [60], Following the death of his father, he undertook extensive social work in Gravesend, feeding homeless boys whom he found begging on the street while also attempting to find them homes and jobs. . Second only to his faith, was the great joy George found in his family. The B.C. [46], In its last years, the Taiping movement had oppressed the Chinese peasantry and as the Taipings retreated in the face of fire from the Hyson, Chinese peasants emerged from their homes to cut down and hack to death the fleeing Taipings. In the article, Stallard pointed to the egalitarianistic attitudes displayed by Gordon towards the Chinese, and argued that if Chinese historians paid closer attention to the activities of Gordon in China, it would improve Anglo-Chinese relations. View Gordon Averyt Murrill's obituary, send flowers and find service dates or sign the guestbook. George was born August 4, 1948 in Chicago, Illinois to George and Sophie Gordon. [187], Gordon energetically organised the defence of Khartoum right from the moment he arrived in Khartoum, using his training as a military engineer to turn the city into a fortress. Those wishing to make a donation in memory of George are asked to consider Compassion Canada. Family and friends are welcome to send flowers or leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. 23/01/2023. Staveley selected Gordon, who had been made a brevet major in December 1862 and the nomination was approved by the British government. If I cannot, I shall retire to the Equator and leave you with the indelible disgrace of abandoning the garrisons". [170], Gladstone felt that this was a deft political move. There was many an early Sunday morning where I would have to phone him at home with some technical issue. [229] On 16 October 1885, the structure was unveiled; it comprises a stone base on which there are four polished red Aberdeen granite columns, about twenty feet high. A group of European financial commissioners led by Evelyn Baring took charge of the Egyptian finances in an attempt to pay off the European banks who had lent so much money to Egypt. Sign the Guest Book. He quickly learned that before he could establish stations to crush the slave trade, he would have to first explore the area to find the best places for building them. Sir Gordon Downey, who has died aged 93, leaves a substantial legacy of parliamentary and government scrutiny. Notably, Strachey emphasises the claims of Charles Chaill-Long that Gordon was an alcoholic, an accusation dismissed by later writers like Alan Moorehead[252] and Charles Chenevix Trench. [62] Together with Mrs. Sarah Mackley, his housekeeper, he adapted two rooms at Fort House to serve as classrooms and basic needs resource rooms for boys living on the streets. Gordon clashed repeatedly with Prince Chun, the leader of the war party in Beijing, who rejected Gordon's advice to seek a compromise solution as Gordon warned that the powerful Russian naval squadron in the Yellow Sea would allow the Russians to land at Tianjin and advance on Beijing. George married Lola Shafer and they divorced. Even more importantly, Gordon had given his word of honour that all of the Taipings who surrendered would be well-treated, and regarded the massacre as a stain on his honour. [192] Nutting wrote that Gordon "could have withdrawn at almost any moment between March and May" if only he had been willing. He was first and foremost a passionate follower of Jesus Christ and lived his life in humble but firm faith, pressing on towards the upward call he felt from a young age. From September 1882 onwards, Egypt was a de facto British protectorate effectively ruled by Baring, through in theory, Egypt remained an Ottoman province with a very wide degree of autonomy until 1914. [120], Gordon returned south and proceeded to Harrar, south of Abyssinia, and, finding the administration in poor standing, dismissed the governor. Thence he returned to Cairo and resigned his Sudan appointment. [257] Nutting noted that Gordon had often recklessly exposed himself to Russian fire while fighting in the Crimea and stated he hoped to die in battle against the Russians before leaving for the Crimea. [93], Typical of the men that Khedive Isma'il Pasha hired was Valentine Baker, a British Army officer dishonorably discharged after being convicted of raping a young woman in England that he had been asked to chaperon. George Gordon of Isabella, Mo died in his wife's arms at his farm August 30 and was buried that same day in the family cemetery on the farm. Suddenly at home on Wednesday 25 January 2017; aged 86 years. George, [8] A man of medium stature, with striking blue eyes, the charismatic Gordon had the ability to inspire men to follow him anywhere. [198], On 24 January, two of the steamers, under Sir Charles Wilson, carrying 20 soldiers of the Sussex Regiment wearing red tunics to clearly identify them as British, were sent on a purely reconnaissance mission to Khartoum, with orders from Wolseley not to attempt to rescue Gordon or bring him ammunition or food. Gordon Hoekstra Apr 15, 2011 1:00 AM. We always teased each other on and off the ice Im really going to miss you George. "[129] Gordon was an ardent Christian cosmologist, who also believed that the Garden of Eden was on the island of Praslin in the Seychelles. I have little doubt of our having pre-existed; and that also in the time of our pre-existence we were actively employed. Funeral: 21 Mar 2023, Dewsbury. They celebrated H.E's [His Excellency] arrival with an indescribable uproar". After he arrived in Britain, Gordon announced to the press that he "did not want to board the tram of the world" and asked to be left alone. George Leslie Gordon July 18, 1939 - March 12, 2022 George Leslie Gordon, 82, of Pynn's Brook, NL, passed away peacefully on March 12, 2022, at the Corner Brook Long-term Care Home. Wade echoed Hart, writing that Gordon had changed since his last time in China, and was now "unbalanced", being utterly convinced that all of his ideas came from God, making him dangerously unreasonable since Gordon now believed that everything he did was the will of God. Dirk attended Lutie and Gainesville schools, St. Pauls of Concordia, Mizzou in Columbia and School of the Ozarks. "[198], Among the papers captured on the Abbas was the cipher key Gordon used to code his messages in and out of Khartoum, which meant he could no longer read the messages he received, leading him to write in his diary: "I think cipher-messages are in some countries, like this, a mistake". Many have seen the attempt to save Emin Pasha, a German doctor-biologist-botanist who had converted from Judaism first to Lutheranism and then (possibly) to Islam, and who had not been particularly famous in Europe until then, as a consolation prize for Gordon. Thomas Reinke, 77, died Feb. 19, 2022. Echovita offers a solidarity program that gives back the funds generated to families. His parents were first cousins, thus making Geoffrey a great-grandson of William IV twice over. [187] The merchant recalled Gordon's response: "He called up the guard and gave the orders to shoot me if I moved" and ordered all of the lamps in the palace to be lit up as brightly as possible. [67], His favourite books were The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis, Christ Mystical by Joseph Hall, and the poem The Dream of Gerontius by John Henry Newman. There is no photo or video of George Gordon Ross.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute. [109], Gordon grew close to the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, an evangelical Christian group based in London dedicated to ending slavery all over the world, and who regularly celebrated Gordon's efforts to end slavery in the Sudan. For some years, the Taipings gradually advanced eastwards, but eventually they came close enough to Shanghai to alarm the European inhabitants. There was a secret "ultra" faction in the War Office led by Wolseley that felt that the Liberal government was too inclined to withdraw from various places all over the globe at the first sign of trouble, and who were determined to sabotage the withdrawal from the Sudan. Gordon assured the people of Khartoum in a speech delivered in his rough-hewn Arabic that the Mahdi was coming with his Army of Islam marching under their black banners, but to have no fear as here he would be stopped. The Reverend Reginald Barnes, who knew him well, describes him as "of the middle height, very strongly built". Telephone: 417-273-4967 [183], Gordon decided to stay and hold Khartoum despite the orders of the Gladstone government to merely report about the best means of supervising the evacuation of the Sudan. At the beginning of 1884, Gordon had no interest in the Sudan and had just been hired to work as an officer with the newly-established Congo Free State. [87], Instead, the Ottoman-Egyptian system had defeated him with almost all of Gordon's reforms having failed owing to the venality of the bureaucracy who shared absolutely none of Gordon's moral outrage at slavery and injustice, and Gordon's dreams of making things better for the ordinary people were dissolved in the face of greed and the self-interest of others. E-mail: GeorgeGordonsSchoolofcommonlaw@usa.net [181], The advance of the rebels against Khartoum was combined with a revolt in the eastern Sudan. [160], The only other place to hold out for a time was a region in the south held by the Governor of Equatoria, Emin Pasha. [28] Gordon returned to Britain in late 1858, and was appointed as an instructor at Chatham. [52], Instead, the Ever Victorious Army was given the task of taking the secondary cities of Yesing, Liyang, and Kitang. [235] Shut for the closing years of World War II, it reopened in 1947 under the same name, but serving as a psychiatric unit operated by the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. [102], Gordon, despite his position as an official in the Ottoman Empire, found the Ottoman-Egyptian system of rule inherently oppressive and cruel, coming into increasing conflict with the very system he was supposed to uphold, later stating about his time in the Sudan, "I taught the natives they had a right to exist". George Gordon Battle Liddy was born in Brooklyn on Nov. 30, 1930, and grew up in Hoboken, N.J. I am nearly dead". Search by name or location to find online obituaries. [193] Gordon wrote in his diary that Mohammed Aly had captured "a lad of 12 or 14 years of age, and the little chap spoke out boldly, and said he believed Mohamed Ahmed was the Mahdi and that we were dogs. Gordon granted Powers privileged access and in return, Powers started to write a series of popular articles for The Times depicting Gordon as the solitary hero taking on a vast horde of fanatical Muslims. Dearly. Deepest condolences for George's loss and my heartfelt sympathy to family and friends at this sad time. [187] Among the dead were Gordon's unofficial spokesman, the passionate wordsmith and Times journalist Frank Powers, Gordon's Chief of Staff, Colonel Stewart, and the French consul in Khartoum, Lon Herbin[fr], all of whom Gordon was sending to Cairo to plead for relief. whatever God wants will be). [222], Egypt had been in the French sphere of influence until 1882 when the British had established control over Egypt. [73] Urban wrote that the best evidence suggests Gordon was a latent homosexual, whose sexual repression led him to funnelling his aggression into a military career with a special energy. We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. 1 Still Hopes Dr, West Columbia, SC 29171. [258], More balanced biographies are Charley Gordon: An Eminent Victorian Reassessed (1978) by Charles Chenevix Trench and Gordon: The Man Behind the Legend (1993) by John Pollock. [35] Gordon was attached to his staff as engineer officer. A second and larger expedition under Prince Hassan was sent the following year and was routed at Gura. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Still Hopes Retirement Community, located at 1 Still Hopes Drive, West Columbia, SC 29169 and First Baptist Church, located at 1306 Hampton Street, Columbia, SC 29201. Matters then remained quiet until March 1877, when Gordon proceeded to Massawa, hoping to make peace with the Abyssinians. [69], King Leopold II then asked Gordon again to take charge of the Congo Free State. [146], In April 1881, Gordon left for Mauritius as Commander, Royal Engineers. George was a wise, strong, hardworking, and unfailingly kind man. In 1904, it was moved to Khartoum, where it stood at the intersection of Gordon Avenue and Victoria Avenue, 200 metres south of the new palace that had been built in 1899. [146], In a memo to London, Gordon warned against over-reliance on the Suez Canal, where the Russians could easily sink one ship to block the entire canal, thus leading Gordon to advise upon improving the Cape route to India with Britain developing a series of bases in Africa and in the Indian Ocean. [206], A particular aspect of Gordon's personality that stood out was his death wish, as everyone who knew him was convinced that he wanted to die. In New York, Paris, and Berlin, pictures of Gordon appeared in shop windows with black lining as all over the West, the fallen general was seen as a Christ-like man who sacrificed himself resisting the advance of Islam. Survived by his daughter, Melanie (Barry) Thompson. George Gordon Obituary We are sad to announce that on May 13, 2020, at the age of 51, George Gordon (Raymore, Saskatchewan) passed away. [59], During a visit to Bulgaria, Gordon and Gessi become involved in an incident when a Bulgarian couple told them that their 17-year-old daughter had been abducted into the harem of an Ottoman pasha, and asked them to free their daughter. [158], The Egyptian forces in the Sudan were insufficient to cope with the rebels, and the northern government was occupied with the suppression of the Urabi Revolt. Those wishing to make a donation in memory of George are asked to consider Compassion Canada. [84] Gordon and Gessi threatened to go to the British and Italian press if she was not released at once, a threat that proved sufficient to win the girl her freedom. (for "Murderer of Gordon"). [142] After meeting with him there, Hart described Gordon as "very eccentric" and "spending hours in prayer", writing that: "As much I like and respect him, I must say he is 'not all there'. Fri,03/03/23-11:56AM, 38 Reads. The dead lie where they fall, and are, in some cases, trodden quite flat by passers by". [94] John Russell, the son of the famous war correspondent William Howard Russell, was another European recruited to serve on Gordon's staff. I'm thinking of the entire family as you're celebrating the life of our beloved George. [159] The Ansar captured a large number of Remington rifles and ammunition cases together with many Krupp artillery guns and their shells. [256], Another attempt to debunk Gordon was Anthony Nutting's Gordon, Martyr & Misfit (1966). [22] As he travelled to Bessarabia, he commented in his letters home about the richness and fertility of the Romanian countryside, which produced delicious fruits and vegetables in great abundance, and the poverty of the Romanian peasants. I shall hold on here as long as I can, and if I can suppress the rebellion, I shall do so. He was a committed and valued friend and colleague for over thirty years at Sterling Marking Products. Love, [102] Faught argued that since no one else who knew Gordon in Equatoria described him in these terms, and given that Gordon's accusation that Chaill-Long was a spy for Aiyub Pasha seems to be justified, that Chaill-Long was engaging in character assassination as an act of revenge. [177], The novelist John Buchan wrote that Gordon was so "unlike other men that he readily acquired a spiritual ascendency over all who knew him well and many who did not", but at the same time, Gordon had a "dualism", in that "the impression of single-heartedness was an illusion, for all his life his soul was the stage of conflict". [154] Gordon's interest was prompted by his religious beliefs, as he had become an evangelical Christian in 1854. He was always professional, approachable, kind, helpful and had an easy smile. (Right beside the Raymond Hospital) Friends can meet the family prior to the service between 10:00 AM and 10:45 AM. [87], The French-educated Isma'il Pasha greatly admired Europe as the model for excellence in everything, being an especially passionate Italophile and Francophile, saying at the beginning of his reign: "My country is no longer in Africa, it is now in Europe". Unexpectedly at home on Wednesday 25th January 2017. [121], In March 1879, Gessi had inflicted a sharp defeat on Zobeir even before Gordon had joined him to pursue their old enemy. OBITUARY George M. Gordon June 19, . Send Flowers: When Is the Ordering Deadline? A visitation will be held on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Northview Funeral Chapel and Cremation Centre, 1490 Highbury Avenue North, London, where Georges Life will be celebrated on Thursday, September 8 at 11:00 a.m. Interment of cremated remains at Pond Mills Cemetery. [248] About the charge that if only Gladstone had listened to Gordon, the disaster would have been avoided, Cromer wrote that in the course of one month, he received five telegrams from Gordon offering his advice, each one of which completely contradicted the previous telegram, leading Cromer to charge that Gordon was too mercurial a figure to hold command. [94], The siege of Khartoum by the Mahdist forces, commanded by the Mahdi himself, started on 18 March 1884. [89] As the attempts of his grandfatherMuhammad Ali the Greatto depose the ruling Ottoman family in favour of his own family had failed due to the opposition of Russia and Britain, the imperialistic Ismai'il had turned his attention southwards and was determined to build an Egyptian empire in Africa, planning on subjugating the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa. Second only to his faith, was the great joy George found in his family. George Harold Folk, 84, of Findlay, passed away peacefully Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, at Mennonite Memorial Home, Bluffton. The American historian John Semple Galbraith described Gordon as suffering from "utter boredom" during his time in Mauritius. [64] Outside of the Fort House were graffito written on the wall by one of the evidently less-educated boys that read: "God Bless the Kernel". William Gordon, minister of Glenlivet, he entered Marischal College, Send Flowers. Whether religion or vanity, or the softening of the brain I don't know, but he seems to be alternatively arrogant and slavish, vain and humble, in his senses and out of them. [241][242], The Church Missionary Society (CMS) work in Sudan was undertaken under the name of the Gordon Memorial Mission. [103] The heat greatly affected Gordon as he wrote to his sister Augusta, "This is a horrid climate, I seldom if ever get a good sleep". In March 1896, a French force under the command of Jean-Baptiste Marchand left Dakar with the intention of marching across the Sahara with the aim of destroying the Mahdiyah state. [116] Faught wrote that Gordon's plans were "farsighted and humane", but Baring had no interest in Gordon's plans to suspend the interest payments. [244], Charlton Heston played Gordon in the 1966 epic film Khartoum, which deals with the siege of Khartoum. George worked as a custodial supervisor in the Lincoln County School system. During his time in Anatolia, Gordon embraced the new technology of the camera to take what the Canadian historian C. Brad Faught called a series of "evocative photographs" of the people and landscape of Armenia. She grew up in Rochester and also resided in Caledonia and for the majority of her life in Wayland. Allah Himself is merciful to you". Gordon was nostalgic for China, and knowing of the Sino-Russian crisis, he saw a chance to do something significant. Home Obituaries Locations Harrisburg, PA Pittsburg, PA . You rest easy my friend. I am the successor of God's Prophet and I have no need of any sultanate of Kordofan or anywhere else! He was warm, steadfast, and peaceable. [38] Li Hongzhang, the governor of the Jiangsu province, requested Staveley to appoint a British officer to command the contingent. It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Gordon Richard George, loving husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather. Gordon agreed with Lord Elgin that after the Chinese authorities had murdered a group of British and French officers travelling under a white flag to parley that a reprisal was in order, but called the burning of the Summer Palace "vandal-like" and informed his sister in a letter that "it made one's heart sore" to burn it. Gordon loved his family, and enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, letting them comb his beautiful white hair and catching them in the "bear trap." We will forever be changed by both your life and your sudden absence in ours. [100], Gordon established a close rapport with the African peoples of Equatoria such as the Nuer and Dinka, who had long suffered from the activity of Arab slave traders, and who naturally supported Gordon's efforts to stamp out the slave trade. He was first and foremost a passionate follower of Jesus Christ and lived his life in humble but firm faith, pressing on towards the upward call he felt from a young age. [95] The younger Russell was described by his own father as an alcoholic and spendthrift who "was beyond help" as it was always the "same story-idleness, self-indulgence, gambling, and constant promises" broken time after time, leading his father to get him a job in the Sudan, where his laziness infuriated Gordon to no end. If there is anything that I admire nearly as much as the superb scholarship of Zeng Guofan, it is the military qualities of this fine officer. [83] Gordon and Gessi demanded that Ahmed Pasha allow them to meet the girl alone, had their request granted after much arm-twisting, and then met the girl, who ultimately revealed she wanted to go home. The Mahdi contemptuously rejected Gordon's offer and sent back a letter demanding Gordon convert to Islam. [192] Gordon's armoured steamers continued to sail in and out of Khartoum with little difficulty for the first six months of the siege, and it was not until September 1884 that the armoured steamers first had trouble reaching the city. [240], Gordon's Tomb (in fact a cenotaph), which was carved by Frederick William Pomeroy, lies in St Paul's Cathedral, London. The relief force, under the command of Gordon's old friend, Field Marshal Sir Garnet Wolseley, was not ready until November 1884. Urban wrote that, "Newspaper readers in Bolton or Beaminister had become enraged by stories about chained black children, cruelly abducted, being sold into slave markets", and Gordon's anti-slavery efforts contributed to his image as a saintly man. When your purchase is complete, a post will be made on the tribute wall of the deceased signifying the planting of a memorial tree. [221] In 1887, the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition under Henry Morton Stanley set out to rescue Dr. Emin Pasha, still holding out in Equatoria against the Ansar. Born in the Manse of Urquhart, Morayshire, on 23rd July, 1801, the son of the late Eev. He was a very kind man and I was sorry to hear of his passing. [94] Because the Egyptian troops at Suakin were repeatedly defeated, a British force was sent to Suakin under General Sir Gerald Graham, which drove the rebels away in several hard-fought actions. Gordon". With Egypt bankrupt, the money to carry out the reforms Gordon wanted was not there. [212], Gordon died on the steps of a stairway in the northwestern corner of the palace, where he and his body servant, Agha Khalil Orphali, had been firing at the enemy. 2023 from 11:00 a.m. until Funeral Service at 1:00 p.m. Interment will follow at St. George Cemetery, 7808 St. George Way off Siegen Lane.