Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon (1862–1931), 5th Baronet of Halkin was born into a prominent Scottish land owning family. But where did the title come from?
Let us go back into history. Dear great-uncle James Duff (b1734) had never married and took on his nephew William Gordon, son of his sister Anne Duff and Alexander Gordon, as a partner and eventual heir. Their firm, the Duff Gordon & Co., founded the sherry bodega in Spain.
In 1790, James Duff was appointed permanent British Consul in Cadiz in Spain. During the Peninsular War he did what he could for the British, and for the Spaniards who had a wretched time under Napoleonic occupation. In 1813 great uncle James Duff was awarded a baronetcy, in recognition of his aid to the Crown during the war, only two years before he died in 1815.
So by the time Cosmo Duff Gordon was born in 1862, the family was very successful. But I set the students the task of finding notable achievements he was personally responsible for.
Firstly in 1900, Duff Gordon married the famous London fashion designer Madame Lucile (née Lucy Sutherland) as I discussed in an earlier post. It was Lucile’s own hard work and talent that eventually made her a star couturier in all the main fashion centres of the world. Nonetheless it did not hurt that Sir Cosmo's backed and funded Lucile Ltd in 1903, to sell her designs. His noble title also helped Lucile gain acceptance at court and win prestigious clientèle among the aristocracy. Not too many husbands would have supported their wives' business; Duff Gordon was totally supportive as Lucile's business expanded, with branches opening in New York City, Paris and Chicago in 1910, 1911 and 1915.
Secondly he was a very impressive sportsman in his own right - a self-defence athlete. His sport, Bartitsu, was a martial art form brought to Europe from Japan by Edward William Barton-Wright (1860-1951). Barton-Wright had spent considerable time in Japan during the 1880s and was keen to teach Britons non-aggressive self defence that did not require guns. So Duff Gordon co-founded the Bartitsu Academy of Arms and Physical Culture, in Shaftesbury Ave London in 1898, using Barton Wright's expertise and Duff Gordon's money.
Duff Gordon’s equally aristocratic colleague, William Grenfell 1st Baron Desborough, was at that time the president of the Bath Club in London. Desborough went on to become associated with Bartitsu, later becoming the president of the Bartitsu Club. But the connection between the two barons continued into another sport.
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Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon (2nd from left) and Lord Desborough, (4th from left),
Let us go back into history. Dear great-uncle James Duff (b1734) had never married and took on his nephew William Gordon, son of his sister Anne Duff and Alexander Gordon, as a partner and eventual heir. Their firm, the Duff Gordon & Co., founded the sherry bodega in Spain.
In 1790, James Duff was appointed permanent British Consul in Cadiz in Spain. During the Peninsular War he did what he could for the British, and for the Spaniards who had a wretched time under Napoleonic occupation. In 1813 great uncle James Duff was awarded a baronetcy, in recognition of his aid to the Crown during the war, only two years before he died in 1815.
So by the time Cosmo Duff Gordon was born in 1862, the family was very successful. But I set the students the task of finding notable achievements he was personally responsible for.
Firstly in 1900, Duff Gordon married the famous London fashion designer Madame Lucile (née Lucy Sutherland) as I discussed in an earlier post. It was Lucile’s own hard work and talent that eventually made her a star couturier in all the main fashion centres of the world. Nonetheless it did not hurt that Sir Cosmo's backed and funded Lucile Ltd in 1903, to sell her designs. His noble title also helped Lucile gain acceptance at court and win prestigious clientèle among the aristocracy. Not too many husbands would have supported their wives' business; Duff Gordon was totally supportive as Lucile's business expanded, with branches opening in New York City, Paris and Chicago in 1910, 1911 and 1915.
Secondly he was a very impressive sportsman in his own right - a self-defence athlete. His sport, Bartitsu, was a martial art form brought to Europe from Japan by Edward William Barton-Wright (1860-1951). Barton-Wright had spent considerable time in Japan during the 1880s and was keen to teach Britons non-aggressive self defence that did not require guns. So Duff Gordon co-founded the Bartitsu Academy of Arms and Physical Culture, in Shaftesbury Ave London in 1898, using Barton Wright's expertise and Duff Gordon's money.
Duff Gordon’s equally aristocratic colleague, William Grenfell 1st Baron Desborough, was at that time the president of the Bath Club in London. Desborough went on to become associated with Bartitsu, later becoming the president of the Bartitsu Club. But the connection between the two barons continued into another sport.
with the English fencing team at Athens, 1906.
Photo credit: Topical Press Agency
Duff Gordon’s real specialty was fencing. Here he successfully represented Great Britain at Athens' 1906 Olympics Games. Along with William Grenfell 1st Baron Desborough and Edgar Seligman, he won a silver medal in the team épée event when he was 44 years old! Duff Gordon soon became the co-founder of the London Fencing League, and both Duff Gordon and Grenfell were members of the organising committee for the 1908 London Olympic Games.
If readers are having trouble locating the Athens Games of 1906, it is because they have since been downgraded by the International Olympic Committee. The 1908 Games are now seen as the start of the Fourth Olympiad, in keeping with the 4-year cycle we are used to. Nonetheless in 1906, the British newspapers were delighted that the fencing team brought great honour to their nation and a moment of enormous pleasure to Duff Gordon.
Thirdly the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 offered Cosmo a final chance for fame. Or infamy. On the night of the sinking, the Duff Gordons approached a senior officer who was supervising the loading of the Emergency Lifeboat 1; they asked if they could get in and received permission to go ahead. A few minutes later Lifeboat 1 was sent off to safety with only the two Duff Gordons, 3 other passengers and 7 crew members. After the Titanic sank, the senior crew member asked those in the lifeboat whether they ought to go back to help the people struggling to stay afloat in the freezing ocean. Lady Duff-Gordon warned they might be swamped by people trying to get on board and refused permission. Clearly they could not have saved all 1200 passengers from the Titanic, but their boat built for 40 people might have saved another 28 human beings.
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The sinking of the RMS Titanic in mid April 1912 resulted in an inquiry by the USA Senate. The senate inquiry began its hearings in New York in late April 1912 and concluded in May 1912. The senators questioned surviving passengers, crew and rescuers, and published their final report to the Senate in late May 1912. Duff Gordon was one of the passengers questioned, but he was not attacked.
If readers are having trouble locating the Athens Games of 1906, it is because they have since been downgraded by the International Olympic Committee. The 1908 Games are now seen as the start of the Fourth Olympiad, in keeping with the 4-year cycle we are used to. Nonetheless in 1906, the British newspapers were delighted that the fencing team brought great honour to their nation and a moment of enormous pleasure to Duff Gordon.
Thirdly the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 offered Cosmo a final chance for fame. Or infamy. On the night of the sinking, the Duff Gordons approached a senior officer who was supervising the loading of the Emergency Lifeboat 1; they asked if they could get in and received permission to go ahead. A few minutes later Lifeboat 1 was sent off to safety with only the two Duff Gordons, 3 other passengers and 7 crew members. After the Titanic sank, the senior crew member asked those in the lifeboat whether they ought to go back to help the people struggling to stay afloat in the freezing ocean. Lady Duff-Gordon warned they might be swamped by people trying to get on board and refused permission. Clearly they could not have saved all 1200 passengers from the Titanic, but their boat built for 40 people might have saved another 28 human beings.
The Duff Gordons’ testimony at the Titanic Inquiry drew intense coverage in the Daily Sketch (21st May, 1912) and other newspapers. The editor on this front page concentrated on Lady Duff Gordon, but it was Cosmo Duff Gordon who was grilled at length by the Inquiry.
Later Duff Gordon had to appear before a packed British Inquiry to defend himself against the accusation that he had bribed the crewmen to secure his escape from the Titanic; that the crew were warmly encouraged not to return to the scene of the Titanic to rescue swimmers. Though he was cleared of all blame by the Board of Trade inquiry in May 1912, Cosmo had been brutally cross-examined and remained tainted by suspicion that he had acted selfishly. He was one of the few male first-class passengers to escape the Titanic disaster alive.
It is interesting that another Olympic star was a 1st class passenger on the Titanic. Dick Williams, a tennis player in the USA team, was travelling with his father Charles Duane Williams. His father perished in the disaster but Dick stayed alive in the ice-laden waters. Happily our Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon died in the warmth of his own London bed decades later (in 1931).
Lady Lucile continued to work as a fashion columnist, and she wrote an aptly named, very successful autobiography called Discretions and Indiscretions in 1932. She died in London four years after her husband in 1935.
Lady Lucile continued to work as a fashion columnist, and she wrote an aptly named, very successful autobiography called Discretions and Indiscretions in 1932. She died in London four years after her husband in 1935.