| Administrative History | John Campbell Gordon was born in 1847 and succeeded in 1872 to the title of 7th Earl of Aberdeen. A liberal, he held several high government postings including Governor General of Canada (1893-1898), and was created Earl of Haddo and Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair in 1916. He married Ishbel Maria Marjoribanks, daughter of the 1st Baron Tweedmouth in 1877, and (in what was a very happy marriage) shared her great interest in social welfare. Together they undertook many improvements on their estate in Aberdeenshire for the benefit of their farmers and labourers. He died in 1934.
Ishbel Maria Gordon, marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, was born in London on 14 March 1857. She received a liberal education and developed a strong sense of social responsibility which she maintained throughout her life. She became a devoted and committed Liberal, and was particularly interested in issues affecting women. For a short period in 1893 she was appointed president of the Women's Liberal Federation. In the same year she was elected President of the International Council of Women, a post she held until 1899 (and again from 1904-1920 and 1922-1936). Under her guidance, the council aimed to improve the social and economic position of women and to promote peace, and it developed into an important and influential body. During Lord Aberdeen's second lord lieutenancy in Ireland from 1906 to 1915 she was very active in public health and housing, setting up the Women's National Health Association in 1907. With her husband she developed the Haddo House Association, which later became the Onward and Upward Association, a scheme designed to promote the welfare of those working on their estates. Their joint autobiography, 'We Twa' (1925), described a very happy marriage and Lady Aberdeen also took a great interest in the upbringing of her five children. She received the honorary degree of LLD from the University of Aberdeen and in 1928 was awarded the freedom of the city of Edinburgh. She died at Aberdeen on 18 April 1939.
_______
The International Council of Women (ICW) was founded in 1888 in Washington and is still active today although the Scottish branch closed in the 1990's. The papers of this organisation are held by the City of Edinburgh Council Archive. The International Council is an umbrella organisation of various National Councils and Ishbel Gordon served as the first President of the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) from 1893-1899. The NCWC was founded on 27 October 1893 at a public meeting in Toronto, chaired by Lady Aberdeen, and attended by 1500 women. The ICW is not to be confused with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) [initially called the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace (ICWPP)], which was formed in 1919 and grew out of the International Congress of Women held at the Hague in 1915. |
| Description | Seven autograph letters written by John Campbell Gordon, 7th Earl of Aberdeen and 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, and his wife and son, regarding various engagements, including: a letter from Gordon to Herbert Laurence apologising for not attending a meeting, 1878; letter from Gordon to Dr. Murray inviting him to tea, 1879; letter from Gordon to Captain Page declining invitation to shoot, 1885; card from Ishbel Maria Gordon to Miss Leigh arranging meeting, [1905]; letter from Ishbel Maria Gordon to the editor of the Sunday Strand complimenting him on an article, 1906; envelope addressed from Ishbel Maria Gordon to A. B. Cooper, 1908; letter from George Gordon (Lord Haddo), the eldest son of John Campbell Gordon, 1912. |
| Copyright | Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation. Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the University Archivist and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material. |