[130] Gordon believed that God's throne from which He governed the universe rested upon the earth, which was further surrounded by the firmament. View Gordon Averyt Murrill's obituary, send flowers and find service dates or sign the guestbook. know George was a good and faithful servant of the Lord , and our parting will only be for a little while. [58], The traders of Shanghai offered Gordon huge sums of money to thank him for his work commanding the Ever Victorious Army. George Gordon GORDON, George - 1919-2007, peacefully at the Apotex Jewish Home for the Aged on Monday, May 7th. He was always professional, approachable, kind, helpful and had an easy smile. OBITUARY George M. Gordon June 19, . [178], Gordon commenced the task of sending the women, the children, the sick, and the wounded to Egypt. You will never hear from me again. [27] Gordon continued surveying, marking off the boundary into Asia Minor. The Foreign Secretary, Lord Grenville, wondered if they had just committed a "gigantic folly". Before I heard of our defeat I heard of this, and I thought, 'THAT will not pass unavenged'. George Gordon 1925 - 2021 BORN 1925 DIED 2021 ABOUT Cornell University FUNERAL HOME Metcalf & Jonkhoff Funeral Service 4291 Cascade Road SE Grand Rapids, MI GEORGE GORDON OBITUARY George H.. Login or Sign-up to show all important data, death records and obituaries absolutely for free! He was warm, steadfast, and peaceable. [195], On 4 September 1884, Gordon's fortunes took a turn for the worse when the most able of his subordinates, Mohammed Aly, together with about 1,000 of Gordon's best troops, were killed in an ambush while conducting a raid. G. Gordon Liddy, undercover operative convicted in Watergate scandal George M. Gordon Obituary. [192], Gordon had a low opinion of his enemy, writing that the Ansar besieging him were "some 500 determined men and some 2,000 rag-tag Arabs". [184] The Cabinet itself was divided and confused about just what to do about the Sudan crisis, leading to a highly dysfunctional style of decision-making. George Gordon Battle Liddy was born in Brooklyn on Nov. 30, 1930, and grew up in Hoboken, N.J. [256] Like Strachey, Beatty found Gordon a ridiculous figure, but unlike Strachey, who had nothing but contempt for Gordon, Beatty's approach was a compassionate one, arguing that Gordon's many acts of charity and self-sacrifice were attempts to love others since he was unable to love himself. Gordon wrote in his diary: "The HOUR GLASS BROKEN" and predicted that the war would soon be won. [251] By contrast, Gordon is one of the four subjects discussed critically in Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey, one of the first texts about Gordon that portrays some of his characteristics which Strachey regards as weaknesses. George Thomas GORDON. [84] Gordon and Gessi threatened to go to the British and Italian press if she was not released at once, a threat that proved sufficient to win the girl her freedom. Sincere sympathy Edna & Tom in the loss of your beloved son-in-law. [69] Gordon did not enjoy his celebrity status, and though extremely charismatic, he only kept a limited circle of friends and found dealing with strangers difficult. . George married Lola Shafer and they divorced. Gordon's willingness to renounce his British citizenship in order to fight with China in the event of war did much to raise his prestige in China. My Prayers are with all your family especially Nancy and children and Grandchildren. [95], The Egyptian authorities had been extending their control southwards since the 1820s. Write your message of sympathy today. Gordon was born in Woolwich, Kent, a son of Major General Henry William Gordon (17861865) and Elizabeth (Enderby) Gordon (17921873). [12], Gordon was apparently killed at the Governor-General's palace about an hour before dawn. With Egypt under British rule, the British also inherited the problems of Egypt's colony, the Sudan, which the Egyptians were losing control of to the Mahdi. [28] Gordon returned to Britain in late 1858, and was appointed as an instructor at Chatham. [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. Following the destruction of Hicks's army, the Liberal Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone, decided that the Sudan was not worth the trouble it would take to keep, and that the region should be abandoned to the Mahdi. [78] Faught argued that no-one at the time suspected Gordon of having sexual relations with the legions of teenage boys living with him at the Fort House. [224] This symbolic decapitation echoed General Gordon's death at the hands of the Mahdist forces in 1885. [209], The Ansar began their final attack by storming the city via the gap in the defence caused by the low Nile and after an hour's fighting, the starving defenders had abandoned the fight and the city was theirs. [194], It was not until August 1884 that the government decided to take steps to relieve Gordon, with the British relief force, called the Nile Expedition, or, more popularly, the Khartoum Relief Expedition or Gordon Relief Expedition (a title that Gordon strongly deprecated). [54][55] Only forty men were allowed to wear the Yellow Jacket, which was the Emperor's ceremonial bodyguard, and it was thus a signal honour for Gordon to be allowed to wear it. Matters then remained quiet until March 1877, when Gordon proceeded to Massawa, hoping to make peace with the Abyssinians. [258], More balanced biographies are Charley Gordon: An Eminent Victorian Reassessed (1978) by Charles Chenevix Trench and Gordon: The Man Behind the Legend (1993) by John Pollock. The Europeans whom the Egyptians had hired to work as civil servants in the Sudan were no better and proved to be just as corrupt as the Egyptians. Obituary for Gordon Richard George | Christensen Salmon Generations [60] When the Duke of Cambridge, the Army's commander, visited one of the forts under construction and praised Gordon for his work, he received the reply: "I had nothing to do with it, sir; it was built regardless of my opinion, and, in fact, I entirely disapprove of its arrangement and position". [102] Chaill-Long in return painted a very unflattering picture of Gordon in his 1884 book The Three Prophets, whom he portrayed as a bully, a raging alcoholic, an incompetent leader, and a rank coward. [128] The eccentric Gordon was very religious, but he departed from Christian orthodoxy on a number of points. [143] Although the Qing court rejected Gordon's advice to seek a compromise with Russia in the summer of 1880, Gordon's assessment of China's military backwardness and his stark warnings that the Russians would win if a war did break out played an important role in ultimately strengthening the peace party at the court and preventing war. 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. Death Notices - Ross-shire Journal . [43], Gordon then reorganised his force and advanced against Kunshan, which was captured at considerable loss. He. [210], The British press criticised the relief force for arriving two days late, but the main relief force was nowhere near Khartoum by then and only the reconnaissance party under Sir Charles Wilson on two gunboats had attempted to reach Khartoum, though it was later argued that the Mahdi's forces had good intelligence, and if the camel corps had advanced earlier, the final attack on Khartoum would also have come earlier. Loved husband of Betty for 66 years. [87] In the Ottoman Empire, power was exercised via a system of institutionalised corruption where officials looted their provinces via heavy taxes and by demanding kickbacks known as baksheesh; some of the money went to Constantinople with the rest being pocketed by the officials. [241][242], The Church Missionary Society (CMS) work in Sudan was undertaken under the name of the Gordon Memorial Mission. [122] On 15 July 1879, Gessi finally captured Zobeir together with 250 of his men. Send Flowers: When Is the Ordering Deadline? George was a wise, strong, hardworking, and unfailingly kind man. [51] The Emperor was much offended when he received Gordon's message at the Forbidden City, and Gordon's military career in China was effectively over for a time. [93], Reflecting these realities, Gordon had to undertake much of the administrative work himself, travelling ceaselessly and constantly all over the Sudan via camel in attempts to make the bureaucracy actually obey his orders, something that occurred when he was present, but stopped as soon as he left. I fear that there will be treachery in the garrison, and all will be over by Christmas. [3] He was educated at Fullands School in Taunton, Taunton School, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. If I cannot, I shall retire to the Equator and leave you with the indelible disgrace of abandoning the garrisons". [225][226] Lord Kitchener kept the Mahd's skull and it was rumoured that he intended to use it as a drinking cup or ink well. He was the widower of Kay Stull Gordon whom he married May 28, 1977, and preceded him in death on November 23, 2017. [136], An exchange of telegrams ensued between the War Office in London and Gordon in Bombay about just what exactly he was planning on doing in China, and when Gordon replied that he would find out when he got there, Gordon was ordered to stay. Cremation has taken place. GVSU community mourns death of George Gordon, philanthropist of [31] When Gordon arrived at Hong Kong, he was disappointed to learn he was "just too late for the fighting". 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. Always trusting Proceeding him in death was his legal partner and beloved step-son Dirk DeJong and the family's special friend U.S Representive Helen Chenowith. In December 1883, the British government ordered Egypt to abandon the Sudan, but that was difficult to carry out, as it involved the withdrawal of thousands of Egyptian soldiers, civilian employees, and their families.[161]. [104] Gordon chose not to meet Muteesa himself, instead sending his chief medical officer, a German convert to Islam, Dr. Emin Pasha, to negotiate a treaty wherein in exchange for allowing the Egyptians to leave the Buganda, the independence of the kingdom was recognised. George was a 1957 graduate of Findlay High School. He has written a 526-page flora of County Durham, plus a handbook on wild roses - a. [90] During the American Civil War, when the Union blockade had cut off the American South from the world economy, the price of Egyptian cotton, known as "white gold" had skyrocketed as British textile mills turned to Egypt as an alternative source of cotton, causing an economic blossoming of Egypt that ended abruptly in 1865. During his "career break" in the Holy Land, the very religious Gordon sought to explore his faith and biblical sites. George Harold Folk, 84, of Findlay, passed away peacefully Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, at Mennonite Memorial Home, Bluffton. It was thus their rivalry with the French, not a desire to "avenge Gordon", that led the British government to annex the Mahdiyah state in 1898. [229] On 16 October 1885, the structure was unveiled; it comprises a stone base on which there are four polished red Aberdeen granite columns, about twenty feet high. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers all the time. [220] As late as 1901, on the anniversary of Gordon's death, The Times wrote in a leader (editorial) that Gordon was "that solitary figure holding aloft the flag of England in the face of the dark hordes of Islam". The prince keeps a great state and I was introduced to him with much ceremony. [157] In 1882, nationalist rage in Egypt against Baring's economic policies led to the revolt by Colonel Urabi Pasha, which was put down by Anglo-Egyptian troops. Goodbye, C. G. [102], Gordon had succeeded in establishing a line of way stations from the Sobat confluence on the White Nile to the frontier of Uganda, where he proposed to open a route from Mombasa. He was first and foremost a passionate follower of Jesus Christ and lived his life in humble but firm faith, pressing on towards the upward call he felt from a young age. [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. Always happy The site lies north of the traditional site at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and is now known as "The Garden Tomb", or sometimes as "Gordon's Calvary". Very sorry for your family loss. Obituary. Leopold tried very hard to convince Gordon to enter his service, not least because Gordon was known to be modest in his salary demands, unlike Leopold's current agent in the Congo, Henry Morton Stanley, who received a monthly salary of 300,000 Belgian francs. Wade echoed Hart, writing that Gordon had changed since his last time in China, and was now "unbalanced", being utterly convinced that all of his ideas came from God, making him dangerously unreasonable since Gordon now believed that everything he did was the will of God. [254] Even more devastatingly, Strachey depicted Gordon as a monumental hypocrite, noting the contrast between Gordon's lofty Christian ideas of love, compassion, charity, grace, and hope vs. a career full of hate, war, carnage, death, and destruction. Such a kind and calm person. He was a treasured and beloved uncle to many, and his favourite place was anywhere his family was, with a cup of good black coffee in his hand. George was a wise, strong, hardworking, and unfailingly kind man. A cornor [i.e., corner] in palace hall. [51], A furious Gordon wrote that executing POWs was "stupid", writing, "if faith had been kept, there would have been no more fighting as every town would have given in". Gordon despite or rather, because of his war hero status disliked publicity and tried to avoid the press when he was in Britain. When oil mixes with water, we will mix together". Obituary | George G. Gordon of Indianapolis, Indiana | Matthews Mortuary My condolences to all of George's family, and may they be comforted that George is in heaven with Jesus, looking after us all. [141] After speaking so bluntly, Gordon was ordered out of the court in Beijing, but was allowed to stay at Tianjin. Due to seasonal conditions, the tree planting takes place during the spring and summer. [180] Gordon urged that the road from Suakin to Berber be opened, but his request was refused by the government in London, and in April Graham and his forces were withdrawn and Gordon and the Sudan were abandoned. Dirk, a tall thin kindly gentleman was a Hebrew and followed the laws of both old and new testaments, observing Passover, the feast of Tabernacles and annual Holy Days on the family farm with other Hebrews. [208] On the evening of 24 January 1885, the Mahdi met with his generals, whose leading spokesman was his uncle Muhammad Abd al-Karim, who told him that, with the Nile low and Wolseley close, it was time to either storm Khartoum or retreat. [18] Despite the best efforts of the Allies, the French failed to take the Malakhov fortress while the British failed to take the Redan fortress on 18 June. [48] After Gordon had surrounded Burgevine's force outside of Suzhou, the latter had abandoned his own men and attempted to rejoin the Imperial side, leading Gordon to arrest him and send him to the American consul in Shanghai together with a letter asking that Burgevine be expelled from China. Rick and Karen Stainthorpe. We lived in the magic of his mystery-enchanted". [72] Gordon's parents expected him to marry and were disappointed about his lifelong bachelorhood. [65], Octavia Freese published a book in 1894 about his charity work and Christian beliefs. [199] Gordon's death caused a huge wave of national grief all over Britain with 13 March 1885, being set aside as a day of mourning for the "fallen hero of Khartoum". [79] The frequent references in Gordon's letters about his need to resist "temptation" and "subdue the flesh", Faught argued, related to women rather than men who were "tempting" him. OBITUARY George M. Gordon June 19, 1947 - September 11, 2022 - September 11, 2022 Burial was on the family farm, Isabella, under Wilkinson Knob, which was his wish. [43] Gordon always preferred to outflank the Taiping lines rather than to take them on frontally, an approach that caused much tension with his counterparts in the Chinese Imperial Army who did not share Gordon's horror at the huge numbers of casualties caused by frontal assaults. [15] He was sent to the Russian Empire, arriving at Balaklava in January 1855. [51], Gordon believed this approach was militarily counterproductive, as it encouraged the Taipings to fight to the death, which Gordon felt to be very unwise as the Taiping leader Hong Xiuquan, had become murderously paranoid, conducting bloody purges of his followers. [32], After stopping in Shanghai, Gordon visited the Chinese countryside and was appalled at the atrocities committed by the Taipings against the local peasants, writing to his family he would love to smash this "cruel" army with its "desolating presence" that killed without mercy. After he arrived in Britain, Gordon announced to the press that he "did not want to board the tram of the world" and asked to be left alone. The Egyptian Prime Minister opened negotiations for Gordon to serve under the Ottoman Khedive, Isma'il Pasha, who was popularly called "Isma'il the Magnificent" on the account of his lavish spending. [104], Besides acting as an administrator and explorer, Gordon had to act as a diplomat, dealing carefully with Muteesa I, the Kabaka (king) of the Buganda, who ruled most of what is today southern Uganda, a man who did not welcome the Egyptian expansion into the Great Lakes region. Karen and I were shocked and saddened to hear of Georges passing. Gordon grew up in Climax, Sask., and worked in the Grain industry all his life, which he loved. Colonel Valentine Baker led an Egyptian force out of Suakin and was badly defeated by 1,000 Haddendowa warriors who declared their loyalty to the Mahdi under Osman Digna at Al-Teb with 2,225 Egyptian soldiers and 96 officers killed. He was an amazing man and co-worker and I'm praying for all to have comfort during this difficult time. With heavy hearts, we announce the death of George Gordon Ross (Columbia, South Carolina), born in Berkeley, California, who passed away on February 2, 2023 at the age of 89. [43] Under fire from the Taiping forces, Gordon's men chopped up the wooden stakes the Taipings had placed in the canal, thereby allowing Gordon to outflank the main Taiping defence line and to enter the main canal connecting Quinsan to Suzhou. View Tribute Book. [254] Strachey ended his essay on Gordon on a cynical note: "At any rate, it all ended very happilyin a glorious slaughter of twenty-thousand Arabs, a vast addition to the British Empire and a step in the Peerage for Sir Evelyn Baring". Search by Name. Add a photo or a video There is no photo or video of George Gordon. A serious revolt then broke out in the Sudan, led by a Muslim religious leader and self-proclaimed Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad. Love, During the Crimean war, Gordon picked up an addiction to Turkish cigarettes which was to last for his rest of his life, and many commented that smoking was Gordon's most conspicuous vice as he always seemed to have a cigarette at his lips. American historian James Perry wrote: "But instead of following instructions, he stayed put, longing for martyrdom. 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 was a treasured and beloved uncle to many, and his favourite place was anywhere his family was, with a cup of good black coffee in his hand. file size: 2 MB. [257] On the basis of such statements and actions, Nutting argued that Gordon's suicidal courage of going into battle armed only with his rattan cane, which so impressed the Victorian public, reflected darker desires. He was born in Fortuna, CA 75 years ago to Winton and Evelyn Chase Gordon. [87], Instead, the Ottoman-Egyptian system had defeated him with almost all of Gordon's reforms having failed owing to the venality of the bureaucracy who shared absolutely none of Gordon's moral outrage at slavery and injustice, and Gordon's dreams of making things better for the ordinary people were dissolved in the face of greed and the self-interest of others. 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. [223] The body of the Mahdi was disinterred and beheaded. George GORDON Obituary (2016) - Glen Innes, Auckland - The New Zealand Second only to his faith, was the great joy George found in his family. George was a wise, strong, hardworking, and unfailingly kind man. I am the successor of God's Prophet and I have no need of any sultanate of Kordofan or anywhere else! In 1982 disgusted with "Big Brother" encroaching on his business, he educated himself and others on law and courtroom procedure, and established a law school in Boise, Barristers Inn, which name was changed to George Gordon's School of Common Law when he moved to Isabella, Mo in 1984 following his patriarchal marriage to Jacqueline. Wolseley had earlier served in Canada where he had commanded the Red River expedition of 1870, during which time he gained considerable respect for the skills of French-Canadian voyageurs, and now insisted he could not travel up the Nile without the voyageurs to assist his men as river pilots and boatmen. His parents were first cousins, thus making Geoffrey a great-grandson of William IV twice over. He loved family gatherings, playing games and eating home-cooked meals, and he was never too full to enjoy a bowl of ice cream, his favourite treat. [12], To block the French, a British force under Herbert Kitchener was sent to conquer the Mahdiyah state and defeated the Ansar at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898. [194] Though the telegraph lines to Cairo were cut, Gordon used the remaining telegraph lines to build his own telegraph network within Khartoum linking the men holding the walls of Khartoum to the Governor-General's palace, thus keeping him well-informed of what was happening. [51] Following a dispute with Li over the execution of rebel leaders, Gordon withdrew his force from Suzhou and remained inactive at Kunshan until February 1864. [123] As Zobeir had broken his oath to the khedive by rebelling, Gordon had given Gessi orders to execute Zobeir, and so later that day Gessi had Zobeir and his men publicly beheaded as an example of what happened to those who broke their oaths. [11], As an officer, Gordon showed strong charisma and leadership, but his superiors distrusted him on account of his tendency to disobey orders if he felt them to be wrong or unjust. [140], Gordon further advised the Qing court that it was unwise for the Manchu elite to live apart from and treat the Han Chinese majority as something less than human, warning that this not only weakened China in the present, but would cause a revolution in the future. Northview Funeral Chapel takes safety seriously. [96] The peoples of Equatoria had traditionally worshipped spirits present in nature, but were steadily being converted to Christianity by missionaries from Europe and the United States, which further encouraged Gordon in his efforts as governor of Equatoria, who notwithstanding his position working for the Egyptian government, saw himself as doing God's work in Equatoria. Just for the love of it | The Independent | The Independent Nutting made the controversial claim that the basis of Gordon's death wish was that he was gay, noting that Gordon never married, is not known to have had a relationship with any women, and often wished that he had been born a eunuch, which strongly suggested that Gordon wished to have no sexual desires at all. So, therefore, I believe in our active employment in a future life, and I like the thought. Gordon granted Powers privileged access and in return, Powers started to write a series of popular articles for The Times depicting Gordon as the solitary hero taking on a vast horde of fanatical Muslims. [187], By the end of 1884, both the garrison and the population of Khartoum were starving to death; there were no horses, donkeys, cats, or dogs left in Khartoum as the people had eaten all of them.