george gordon obituary george gordon obituary

George Gordon Obituary In all the cities of Egypt, it will be felt that what the Mahdi has done, they may do; and, as he has driven out the intruder, they may do the same. Dr. Gordon. [114] Gordon was well-known for being utterly obstinate, joking that: "The Gordons and the camels are of the same race. Order by 3:00PMThe day before, SAT & SUN [65], Octavia Freese published a book in 1894 about his charity work and Christian beliefs. "[1] Besieged by the Mahdi's forces, Gordon organised a citywide defence that lasted for almost a year and gained him the admiration of the British public, but not of the government, which had wished him not to become entrenched there. [107] Gordon wrote in a letter to his sister about the Africans living a "life of fear and misery", but in spite of the "utter misery" of Equatoria that, "I like this work". During his "career break" in the Holy Land, the very religious Gordon sought to explore his faith and biblical sites. C. G. Gordon", but the messenger (who knew very little English) had memorised another, darker message from Gordon, namely: "We want you to come quickly". [87], Gordon had come into conflict with the Egyptian governor of Khartoum and Sudan over his efforts to ban slavery. Always trusting Rick and Karen Stainthorpe. He is survived by : his wife Mary Ruff Ross; his sons, Dr. Greg Ross (Patty) of Florida and David Ross (Changsook) of South Korea; his step-children, Dr. John Beasley (Ann) of Columbia and Joye Beasley Harpe (Stan) of Columbia; and his sister-in-law Sally Wiseman (Jim) of Columbia. In 1902, it was placed at the junction of St Martin's Lane and Charing Cross Road in London. Gordon then took his force through the country, seizing towns until, with the aid of Imperial troops, capturing the city of Suzhou in November. [179], Gordon made all of his personal dispatches to London public (there was no Official Secrets Act at the time) in attempts to win public opinion over to his policy, writing on one dispatch: "Not secret as far as I am concerned". GEORGE FOLK OBITUARY. She grew up in Rochester and also resided in Caledonia and for the majority of her life in Wayland. George was a wise, strong, hardworking, and unfailingly kind man. However, in 1953 the statue, minus a large slice of its pedestal, was reinstalled on the Victoria Embankment, in front of the newly-built Ministry of Defence main buildings. [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. He claimed that his army service and frequent travels to dangerous places made it impossible for him to marry. To follow George's story, enter your email. Only when public pressure to act had become irresistible did the government, with reluctance, send a relief force. He was 96. Obituary: Sir Eric Gairy | The Independent | The Independent [195], It took considerable time to hire the voyageurs in Canada and bring them to Egypt, which delayed the expedition. "[187], At another point, a death-obsessed Gordon wrote in his diary: "Better a bullet to the brain than to flicker out unheeded". [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. Funeral: 21 Mar 2023, Dewsbury. In 1869, Isma'il spent 2 million Egyptian pounds (the equivalent to $300 million U.S. dollars in today's money) just on the party to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal, in what was described as the party of the century. George Gordon Battle Liddy was born in Brooklyn on Nov. 30, 1930, and grew up in Hoboken, N.J. Share Your Memories and Sympathies and Join the Bereaved! He was present during the capture of Peking and at the destruction of the Summer Palace. View obituary. [174] Shortly afterwards, Gordon wrote what Urban called a "bizarre" letter to the Mahdi telling him to accept the authority of the Khedive of Egypt and offered him the chance to work as one of Gordon's provincial governors. The bashi-bazouks were extremely susceptible to corruption and were notorious for their brutality, especially to non-Muslims. Of Marton formerly of Auckland. I am the successor of God's Prophet and I have no need of any sultanate of Kordofan or anywhere else! I had the privilege of working with George for many years at both the Ridout Street & Hyde Park Sterling locations. These aims eluded him.[93][114]. [201] However, Faught wrote that there was a fundamental difference between Gordon and the Mahdi in that Gordon never tried to convert the Muslims of the Sudan to Christianity whereas the Mahdi was an "Islamic extremist" who believed he would establish a worldwide caliphate, looking forward to the day when he would "see the world bow before him". [14] Before 1870, there was no universal school system in Britain, and the Ragged Schools were a network of privately-funded schools that gave a free education to children whose parents were too poor to afford the school fees. An expedition was sent up the White Nile, under Sir Samuel Baker, which reached Khartoum in February 1870 and Gondokoro in June 1871. [168] Gordon and Wolseley were good friends (Wolseley being one of the people Gordon prayed for every night), and after a meeting with Wolseley at the War Office to discuss the crisis in the Sudan, Gordon left convinced that he had to go to the Sudan to "carry out the work of God". [171] Gordon made a short trip to Brussels to tell King Leopold that he would not be going to the Congo after all, news that enraged the King. [160] While staying with his sister in Southampton, Gordon received an unexpected visitor, namely William Thomas Stead, the editor of The Pall Mall Gazette, to whom Gordon reluctantly agreed to give an interview. Always joyful On 2 September 1877, Gordon clad in the full gold-braided ceremonial blue uniform of the Governor-General of the Sudan and wearing the tarboush (the type of fez reserved for a pasha), accompanied by an interpreter and a few bashi-bazouks, rode unannounced into the enemy camp to discuss the situation. [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. [51], On 1 January 1864, Gordon was informed that a messenger from the Tongzhi Emperor was coming to see him and that he should put on his finest uniform. Other lives: Art lover who helped create a radio station, bank, orchestra and arboretum in his passion for making positive social change [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. [114] The reforms that Gordon wanted would have changed the basic nature of Ottoman-Egyptian rule, by replacing a system based on exploitation of the people by the state with one where the state would work for the betterment of the people. [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. The repression of Gordon's sexual instincts helped to release a flood of celibate energy which drove him into weird beliefs, eccentric activities, and a sometimes misplaced confidence in his own judgement. This is the figure which, since April 1959, stands at the Gordon's School in Woking. I am grieved, with hope, by the sudden passing of George. Praying for you Nancy and family. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. [187] In one of the last letters Gordon had smuggled out, he wrote: "I expect Her Majesty's Government are in a precious rage with me for holding out, and so forcing their hands". "[26], Afterwards, Gordon was sent to delineate the frontier between Ottoman Armenia and Russian Armenia, the highlight of which was tobogganing down Mount Ararat. In a world moving inexorably towards conformity, it would be well to remember Gordon of Khartoum. The wound was only slight and Gordon was soon back in action, fighting his last battle at Chang-chou in May 1864. [40] In a 2008 article, Stallard argued that Chinese historiography has largely neglected Gordon, which Stallard felt was undeserved. [24] Gordon did not speak Romanian, but his fluency in French allowed him to socialise with the Francophile Romanian elite, who were all fluent in French. Condolences to George's family. [155] He accepted and returned to London to make preparations, but soon after his arrival, the British requested that he proceed immediately to the Sudan, where the situation had deteriorated badly after his departure another revolt had arisen, led by the self-proclaimed Mahdi, Mohammed Ahmed. Gordon wrote in his diary: "The HOUR GLASS BROKEN" and predicted that the war would soon be won. [108] Gordon often personally intercepted slave convoys to arrest the slavers and break the chains of the slaves, but he found that the corrupt Egyptian bureaucrats usually sold the freed Africans back into slavery, and the expense of caring for thousands of freed slaves who were a long away from home burdensome. He was predeceased by : his parents, Charles Ross and Sara Tabener Ross; his siblings, William Ross, Charles Ross and Betsy Ross Meyer; and his siblings-in-law, Delleney Ruff and Melinda Ruff. [213], A merchant, Bordeini Bey, glimpsed Gordon standing on the palace steps in a white uniform looking into the darkness. [47], The Ever Victorious Army was entirely a mercenary force whose only loyalty was to money and whose men were interested in fighting only in order to gain the chance to plunder. I know how much he meant to you and us here at Sterling. 05/01/2023. [191] Khartoum was surrounded by the Ansar in March 1884, but was not cut off from the outside world for a considerable time afterward. [199] The American historian Cynthia Behrman wrote that the articles all commented upon "Gordon's religious faith, his skill with native peoples, his fearlessness in the face of danger (a recurrent motif is Gordon's habit of leading his troops into battle armed with no more than a rattan cane), his honor, his resourcefulness, his graciousness to subordinates, his impatience with cant and hypocrisy, his hatred of glory and honors, his dislike of lionization and social rewards, and on and on. [16] He was put to work in the Siege of Sevastopol and took part in the assault of the Redan from 18 June to 8 September. He received no reply as the king had gone southwards to fight with the Shoa. [47] Gordon was thus powerless when the Imperial forces executed all of the Taiping POWs, an act that enraged him. Share. Dearly. [65], Faught maintained that Gordon was a heterosexual whose Christian beliefs led him to maintain his virginity right up to his death, because he believed that sexual intercourse was incompatible with his faith. [63] Gordon's closest friends were a couple, Frederick and Octavia Freese, whose son Edward, became Gordon's surrogate son. [182], The ferocity of the Haddendowa attacks astonished the British, and Graham argued that he needed more troops if he were to advance deeper into the Sudan while one newspaper correspondent reported that the average British soldiers did not understand why they were in the Sudan fighting "such brave fellows" for "the sake of the wretched Egyptians". Donald Don Gordon Bowen 2023, avis dcs, necrologie, obituary A second and larger expedition under Prince Hassan was sent the following year and was routed at Gura. Send Flowers. Gordon is survived by his three children Scott, Dana and Whitney, His sister Dee and three step sons Bob, Kirk and Jeff, and "eight of the best grandkids . George Gordon - Wynyard, Saskatchewan , Conley Funeral Home - Memories wall BROUGHT TO YOU BY Conley Funeral Home George Melvin Gordon Wynyard, Saskatchewan November 9, 1968 - May 13, 2020 Share Obituary: Tribute Wall Obituary & Events Share a memory Send Flowers Share a memory of George Melvin Gordon. [89], At the beginning of his reign in 1863, Egypt's debt had been 3 million Egyptian pounds. in memory of Gordon Richard George, please visit our floral store. A serious revolt then broke out in the Sudan, led by a Muslim religious leader and self-proclaimed Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad. Death Notices - Ross-shire Journal Deepest condolences for George's loss and my heartfelt sympathy to family and friends at this sad time. May peace be with the entire Gordon Family during this sorrowful time. [43] Gordon disembarked the 4th Regiment with orders to take Quinsan while he sailed up and down the main canal in the Hyson, using the 32-pounder gun to blast apart the Taiping positions on the canal. Gordon's charitable work for the boys of Gravesend led to assertions later in the 20th century that he was a homosexual. Messages run for up to one year and you [165], Stead's interview caused a media sensation and led to a popular clamour for Gordon to be sent to the Sudan. The "Ever-Victorious Army" resumed its high tempo advance, leading to the Battle of Changzhou, and culminating in the capture of Changzhou Fu, the principal military base of the Taipings in the region. [156], The year 1881 was the Islamic year 1298, and to mark the coming of the new century, Ahmed announced that he was the Mahdi, and proclaimed a jihad against the Egyptian state. Our deepest sympathies go out to cousin Nancy, and her family. Burial will follow in the Evergreen Lawn Cemetery at George, IA. George was predeceased by his father, and is survived by his mother. In his biography of Gordon, Anthony Nutting wrote that Gordon was obsessed with "the ever-present, constantly repeated desire for martyrdom and for that glorious immortality in union with God and away from the wretchedness of life on this earth". Let them take an idea into their heads and nothing will take it out. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. December 10, 1933 - If your email does not go through check the spelling for the double "ss". 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.He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in the British Army.However, he made his military reputation in China, where he was placed in command of the "Ever Victorious Army", a force of Chinese . He entered the service of the Khedive of Egypt in 1873 (with British government approval) and later became the Governor-General of the Sudan, where he did much to suppress revolts and the local slave trade. Doreen Sargeant. Staveley selected Gordon, who had been made a brevet major in December 1862 and the nomination was approved by the British government. 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. I know George will be missed by and a great loss to the Sterling family. George G. Gordon, 80, of Indianapolis, passed away December 18, 2022. [12] Even an observer as sympathetic as Winston Churchill wrote about Gordon: "Mercury uncontrolled by the force of gravity was not on several occasions more unstable than Charles Gordon. [92] Urban wrote that most of the Westerners in Egyptian pay were "misfits" who took up Egyptian service because they were unable to get ahead in their own nations. In a House of Commons speech on 5 May 1948, then opposition leader Winston Churchill spoke out in favour of the statue's return to its original location: "Is the right honorable Gentleman [the Minister of Works] aware that General Gordon was not only a military commander, who gave his life for his country, but, in addition, was considered very widely throughout this country as a model of a Christian hero, and that very many cherished ideals are associated with his name?