Cosmo Duff Gordon
Encyclopedia
Sir Cosmo Edmund Duff Gordon, 5th Baronet DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 (22 July 1862 - 20 April 1931), the son of the Hon. Cosmo Lewis Duff Gordon and the former Anna Maria Antrobus, was a prominent Scottish landowner and sportsman. He was particularly noted as a fencer, representing Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 at the 1906 Summer Olympics
1906 Summer Olympics
The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games in Athens" by the International Olympic Committee...

, winning silver in the team épée event, and the 1908 Olympics
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

. He was also a self defence enthusiast who trained with champion Swiss wrestler Armand Cherpillod at the Bartitsu
Bartitsu
Bartitsu is an eclectic martial art and self-defence method originally developed in England during the years 1898–1902. In 1901 it was immortalised by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories...

 Club in London's Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

 district. Duff Gordon was the co-founder of the London Fencing League, a member of the Bath Club
Bath Club
The Bath Club was a sports-themed London gentlemen's club in the twentieth century. It was established in 1894 at 34 Dover Street. Its swimming pool was a noted feature, and it is thought that the swimming pool of the fictional Drones Club was based on this. Sir Henry "Chips" Channon was a member....

 and the Royal Automobile Club
Royal Automobile Club
The Royal Automobile Club is a private club and is not to be confused with RAC plc, a motorists' organisation, which it formerly owned.It has two club houses, one in London at 89-91 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, Surrey, next to the City of London Freemen's School...

. He was a sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

 and magistrate in his native Kincardineshire
Kincardineshire
The County of Kincardine, also known as Kincardineshire or The Mearns was a local government county on the coast of northeast Scotland...

, near Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

, where his ancestral country estate Maryculter
Maryculter
Maryculter or Kirkton of Maryculter is a village in the Lower Deeside area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The River Dee separates it from the town of Peterculter, and the B979 road runs through Maryculter. There are two hotels: The Old Mill Inn, a former coaching inn that dates back 200 years, and...

 was located.

Duff Gordon was the fifth baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

 of Halkin, his title stemming from a royal licence conferred on his great uncle in 1813 in recognition of his aid to the Crown during the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

. In 1772 his family had founded the Duff Gordon sherry
Sherry
Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....

 bodega in Spain, which still produces high quality fortified wines.



In 1900, Duff Gordon married the famous London fashion designer "Madame Lucile" (née Lucy Christiana Sutherland, then Mrs. James Stuart Wallace). This was slightly risqué, as Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon was a leading fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, best known as "Lucile", her professional name. The first British designer to achieve international renown, Lucile was a widely-acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion...

 was a divorcee and had a sister, Elinor Glyn
Elinor Glyn
Elinor Glyn , born Elinor Sutherland, was a British novelist and scriptwriter who pioneered mass-market women's erotic fiction. She popularized the concept It...

, noted for writing erotica.

Cosmo Duff Gordon is best known for surviving the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, along with his wife and her secretary, Laura Mabel Francatelli. Rumours that the Duff Gordons bribed
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...

 the crew in their lifeboat not to rescue people in the water threatened their reputations, but the British Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...

's Inquiry into the disaster cleared them of any wrongdoing and a letter written by the secretary further clears their name. However, Duff Gordon was one of many men in First Class who were allowed into lifeboats despite Captain Smith's "Women and children first" rule, while many women and children, mostly from Third Class, never reached the upper deck where the lifeboats were stowed, because it was a First Class deck. It is known that lifeboat 1 of the Titanic was barely filled as many onboard still believed it to be "unsinkable" and that First Officer William McMaster Murdoch was glad to offer Duff Gordon and his wife a place (simply to fill it) after the couple had asked if they could get on.

Gordon died on 20 April 1931 of natural causes. He is buried at Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in western Europe.-History:...

, near Woking, Surrey.

Cosmo Duff Gordon was portrayed by Martin Jarvis in the 1997 film Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...

. The actor's wife, Rosalind Ayres
Rosalind Ayres
Rosalind Ayres is an English actress. Active since 1970, Ayres may be best known by a wide audience for her role was in the 1997 film Titanic, in which she played Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon....

, played Lady Duff Gordon.

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