Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly


Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly, styled Lord Strathavon from 1794 to 1836 and Earl of Aboyne from 1836 to 1853, was a Scottish peer and first a Tory and then a Whig politician.

Early and political life

Huntly was born at Orton Longueville in 1792, the eldest son of the 5th Earl of Aboyne and his wife, Catherine. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge, and entered Parliament in 1818 as a Tory MP for East Grinstead before being elected as a Whig MP for Huntingdonshire in 1830. From 1826 to 1830, he was a Lord of the Bedchamber and then a Lord-in-waiting from 1840 to 1841, his last office being that of Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire from 1861 until his death.

Family

Huntley married Lady Elizabeth Conyngham, the eldest daughter of the 1st Marquess Conyngham, in March 1826; the couple had no children, and Elizabeth died in 1839. At age 52, Huntley married Maria Antoinetta Pegus, a half-sister of George Frederick Albemarle Bertie, 10th Earl of Lindsey, in April 1844. With Maria he had 14 children, the last born five months after his death:
Huntley played first-class cricket for Hampshire, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and the Marylebone Cricket Club between 1819 and 1843. He also appeared in first-class matches for W Ward's XI, both the Players and the Gentlemen, a Married XI, Lord Strathavon's XI and the Gentlemen of Kent. In 33 first-class matches he scored a total of 193 runs, with a highest score of 19 against Oxford University, at a batting average of 4.02 runs per innings, only reaching double-figures on four occasions in 61 innings.
Huntley played for both the Players and the Gentlemen in the annual matches between the two sides, uniquely becoming the only member of the aristocracy to appear for the Players when he did so in 1819. This appears to have been due to him having placed a bet on the Players. He played for the Gentlemen in the fixture in 1827.
He was a member of MCC for around 50 years and its President in 1821–22. His brother, Francis Gordon, also played some first-class cricket, including for MCC, and appeared alongside Huntley for the Gentlemen in 1827. The brother's father had been an early member of MCC.

Later life

Huntley inherited his father's titles in 1853 and on his own death ten years later, they passed to his eldest son, Charles. He died at Orton Longueville in 1863 aged 71.