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William Duff-Gordon

Scottish politician

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ16741818 ↗
Source-derived summary

Sir William Duff-Gordon, 2nd Baronet (8 April 1772 – 8 March 1823), known as William Gordon until 1815, was a Scottish politician.

Biography

Duff-Gordon was the son of the Hon. Alexander Gordon, Lord Rockville, son of William Gordon, 2nd Earl of Aberdeen; his mother was Anne, daughter of William Duff.

He was returned to Parliament as one of two representatives for Worcester in 1807, a seat he held until 1818. In 1815, he succeeded his uncle Sir James Duff, 1st Baronet, as 2nd Baronet of Halkin according to a special remainder, and assumed the same year by Royal licence the additional surname of Duff.

Duff-Gordon married Caroline Cornewall, youngest daughter of Sir George Cornewall, on 5 February 1810. They had two sons and two daughters.

He died in March 1823, aged 50, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Alexander.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “William Duff-Gordon” as scottish politician. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1772, 1823, 1815, 1807—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1772-04-08. The account is most persuasive where William, Duff-Gordon and Scottish can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as scottish politician. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16741818. VIAF identifies the subject as 305235012. The Library of Congress control number is nb2013018226. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1772, 1823, 1815 and 1807.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “William Duff-Gordon”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow William Duff-Gordon primary sources, William Duff-Gordon archive and William research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “William Duff-Gordon”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “William Duff-Gordon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.