Gordon was born on November 17, 1829 in Dumfries, Scotland, where he was educated at the Dumfries Academy. He was the son of William Gordon and Sarah Gordon.
Career
In 1846, Gordon began his career in the office of Reid, Irving and Company in Liverpool. In 1849 he sailed to America to work for the firm Maitland, Phelps & Company in New York City. In 1853, he was admitted into the partnership of the firm and remained there until 1884 before returning to England with the intention of retiring. Once in London, the American banker Junius Spencer Morgan, head of J. S. Morgan & Co. in London, sought out Gordon and requested he join the bank. Gordon agreed and began working there on January 1, 1885. During his fifteen year career with the firm, he worked directly with Walter Hayes Burns, J. Pierpont Morgan, J.P. Morgan Jr., and Walter Spencer Morgan Burns. In 1895, profits were divided such that Pierpont and Burns each took 40% of the profits with Gordon the remaining 20%. He returned for the second time in April 1900, at which time Clinton Edward Dawkins, the former financial member of the Viceroy of India's Council, was admitted to the partnership. Gordon became a member of the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York in 1852, becoming a life member in 1864. He served as manager, second vice-president and as president, three times, from 1864 to 1865, from 1869 to 1798 and, again, from 1873 to 1876. He was also member of the Junior Carlton Club in London, the Century Association in New York, and the Downtown Club, where he served as the first president from 1860 to 1862..
In 1870, he was one of the twenty-eight founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, serving as its treasurer for many years, In 1875, he donated Piero di Cosimo's A Hunting Scene –1500, which is considered "one of the most singular works of the Renaissance," and Cosimo's The Return from the Hunt, –1500. Both paintings were acquired from the estate of Thomas H. Hotchkiss in 1871. In 1886, he donated a marble sculpture of Queen Victoria by Mary Grant. In 1898, he purchased Eastman Johnson's 1881 painting, The Funding Bill directly from the artist, which he also donated to the Museum. The painting featured Robert W. Rutherford, a relative of the painter, and Samuel W. Rowse, an artist, discussing a bill in Congress about the refunding of the national debt. In 1912, he donated Sanford Robinson Gifford's Tivoli and Alexander Helwig Wyant's An Old Clearing to the Museum.
Personal life
On April 19, 1855 Gordon was married to Frances Burton in Staten Island. Frances was a daughter of George Burton and Frances Burton. Together, they were the parents of six children:
Frances Eleanor Gordon.
William Gordon, who met with President and Mrs. Roosevelt at the White House in 1905.
After his retirement from J. S. Morgan & Co., he lived at his country place, Brockham Park in Betchworth, England, which he purchased in 1901 for £24,000. During World War I, the house and grounds were occupied by the British Army. The estate was sold to Graeme Alexander Lockhart Whitelaw in 1918. His wife, Frances, died at Brockham Park on December 19, 1905. Gordon died on May 16, 1918 at Chewton Glen in Christchurch, the residence of his son-in-law. At the time of his death, he was one of only two original founders of the Metropolitan Museum living.
Legacy
In 1866, English painter Seymour Joseph Guy created The Contest for the Bouquet: The Family of Robert Gordon in Their New York Dining-Room which features three of the Gordon children after having finished their breakfast and vying for a "corsage before setting off for school." Besides his family, the painting depicts Gordon's dining room, decorated in the up-to-date Renaissance Revival style, at his home at 7 West 33rd Street. In 1992, the Museum acquired the painting through a gift of William E. Dodge, by exchange, and Lila Acheson Wallace Gift.
