John Hannah Gordon
Encyclopedia
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n judge and politician.
Gordon was born at Kilmacolm
Kilmacolm
Kilmacolm is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley south-east of Greenock and around west of the city of Glasgow...
, Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
, Scotland, the eldest son of the Rev. James Gordon, preacher of the Free Church, and his wife Margaret, née Leonard. The family migrated to South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
in 1859 where Rev. Gordon took charge of the Presbyterian church at Mount Barker
Mount Barker, South Australia
Mount Barker is an expanding city, home to 10 258 residents that is 33 kilometres up the South Eastern Freeway, east of Adelaide, in South Australia. It is the seat of the District Council of Mount Barker, is the largest town in the Adelaide Hills, and is one of the fastest growing areas in the...
, and was afterwards stationed at Gawler
Gawler, South Australia
Gawler is the first country town in the state of South Australia, and is named after the second Governor of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is located north of the centre of the state capital, Adelaide, and is close to the major wine producing district of the Barossa Valley...
. Gordon was educated at Mount Barker under James Clezy, M.A., and at Gawler under the Rev. J. Leonard and W. L. S. Burton. On leaving school he studied theology and classics for two years, and was then for some years in the offices of W. Duffield and Company of Gawler, and Dunn and Company, Port Adelaide. He took up the study of law and was admitted to the South Australian bar in 1876, but practised for 11 years at Strathalbyn
Strathalbyn, South Australia
Strathalbyn is a town in South Australia, in the Alexandrina Council. The town has a population of 3894 people.-History and Culture:The town was founded in 1839. Strathalbyn was once connected by broad gauge horse tram to Goolwa and Victor Harbor from 1869, and the line was extended to Mount Barker...
as a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
.
Gordon did not become a Q.C. until 1900. In 1888 he was elected to the Legislative Council
South Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly...
for the Southern District and held the seat for 15 years. He was minister of education in the Cockburn
John Cockburn (Australian politician)
Sir John Alexander Cockburn, KCMG was Premier of South Australia from 27 June 1889 until 18 August 1890.Cockburn was born in Corsbie, Berwickshire, Scotland in 1850. His father was Thomas Cockburn. He was educated at Highgate School, and King's College London, he obtained the degree of M.D....
ministry from June 1889 to August 1890, and held the same position in the first Holder
Frederick Holder
Sir Frederick William Holder KCMG was the 19th Premier of South Australia and a prominent member of the inaugural Australian Commonwealth Parliament, including the first Speaker of the House of Representatives.-Life:...
ministry from June to October 1892. He became chief secretary in the Kingston
Charles Kingston
Charles Cameron Kingston, Australian politician, was an early liberal Premier of South Australia serving from 1893 to 1899 with the support of Labor led by John McPherson from 1893 and Lee Batchelor from 1897 in the House of Assembly, winning the 1893, 1896, and 1899 state elections against the...
ministry in June 1893 but resigned on 15 February 1896. He was attorney-general in Holder's second ministry from December 1899 to May 1901 and from May 1901 to December 1903 in the Jenkins
John Jenkins (Australian politician)
John Greeley Jenkins was an American-Australian politician and Premier of South Australia.Jenkins was the fourth son of Evan Jenkins and Mary Davis of South Wales, was born in Pennsylvania. He was educated at the Wyoming Seminary, Pa., and after working on his father's farm, became in 1872 a...
ministry. Gordon was then raised to the supreme court bench. A strong federalist
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
he was a representative of South Australia at the 1891 convention, was elected fifth out of 33 candidates in 1897, and sat on the constitutional committee.
In February 1913 Gordon declined an invitation from Billy Hughes
Billy Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
to move to the High Court
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
. Gordon was a lecturer on literary subjects, such as the Elizabethan period, publishing occasional articles in the Adelaide press. He died at Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
of cardiac disease on 23 December 1923. He married in 1876 Ann Rogers who survived him with a daughter. He was knighted in 1908.