George Hamilton-Gordon (1854-1906)

He was a grandson of the 4th Earl of Aberdeen who at the time he was born was the British Prime Minister. He was also a first cousin of the 7th Earl of Aberdeen, Governor-General of Canada. He was educated at Eton College after which he trained as an architect between 1874 to 1878 under Alfred Waterhouse who was then working on perhaps his most famous design: the Natural History Museum in London. He remained as Waterhouse's assistant until 1882 when he went into partnership with (later Sir) Andrew Thomas Taylor. Taylor established their firm in Montreal the following year with the support of his well-connected uncle (Sir George Drummond) while Gordon remained in charge of their London office until they dissolved the partnership in 1888. In 1886, he was admitted as a Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (R.I.B.A.). In 1904, after the conclusion of the Boer War, he was appointed Director of Public Works at the Orange River Colony in South Africa. He died unmarried of dysentery at Bloemfontein in the same year that he was admitted a Fellow of R.I.B.A.