Alexander Gordon, 1818 - 1895
Alexander Gordon was a wealthy industrialist who made his fortune in the brewing trade in Deeside, Scotland and retired with his family to a mansion house called “Southwood” in Scabharbour Lane, Hildenborough.
Born in 1818, he was one of eight children born to a farming family living in Littlemill, near Ballater, Aberdeenshire. Alexander started working in the brewing trade and was so good at it that by the tender age of 18 he was given charge of his own brewery. After a couple of years in charge, in 1838 Alexander moved to London and worked for Truman Hanbury Buxton & Co. In 1839, he turned to the engineering trade, working for the Deptford Iron Works and Tindall’s Millwall Wharf. In 1852, he built his own brewery – Gordon’s Brewery in Caledonian Road, followed in 1876 by a second branch in Peckham. These became very successful and Alexander became a very wealthy man.
Alexander and his wife Elizabeth, who he had married in 1844, moved to the Southwood mansion in Hildenborough but he had never forgotten his Scottish roots. He started to use his considerable wealth to commission the construction of buildings for the benefit of the people of Ballater. The Albert Hall in Ballater was built in 1874 followed by the Victoria Hall and the Gordon Institute in 1895, but probably his most famous legacies were two footbridges spanning the River Dee, the Polhollick and the Cambus O’May. The story goes he was with two young friends who had just got married at Glenmuick. They went to the Polhollick ferry to cross the river but it was a wild day and the river was in spate. Part way across, the young couple fell into the torrent and were swept away and drowned. Alexander vowed that if he ever had sufficient funds he would replace the ferry with a bridge. That dream finally came true in 1892, when Gordon commissioned the engineering firm James Abernethy & Co of Aberdeen to build the Polhollick Bridge, a lovely latticed iron girder suspension bridge. It still stands today.
Born in 1818, he was one of eight children born to a farming family living in Littlemill, near Ballater, Aberdeenshire. Alexander started working in the brewing trade and was so good at it that by the tender age of 18 he was given charge of his own brewery. After a couple of years in charge, in 1838 Alexander moved to London and worked for Truman Hanbury Buxton & Co. In 1839, he turned to the engineering trade, working for the Deptford Iron Works and Tindall’s Millwall Wharf. In 1852, he built his own brewery – Gordon’s Brewery in Caledonian Road, followed in 1876 by a second branch in Peckham. These became very successful and Alexander became a very wealthy man.
Alexander and his wife Elizabeth, who he had married in 1844, moved to the Southwood mansion in Hildenborough but he had never forgotten his Scottish roots. He started to use his considerable wealth to commission the construction of buildings for the benefit of the people of Ballater. The Albert Hall in Ballater was built in 1874 followed by the Victoria Hall and the Gordon Institute in 1895, but probably his most famous legacies were two footbridges spanning the River Dee, the Polhollick and the Cambus O’May. The story goes he was with two young friends who had just got married at Glenmuick. They went to the Polhollick ferry to cross the river but it was a wild day and the river was in spate. Part way across, the young couple fell into the torrent and were swept away and drowned. Alexander vowed that if he ever had sufficient funds he would replace the ferry with a bridge. That dream finally came true in 1892, when Gordon commissioned the engineering firm James Abernethy & Co of Aberdeen to build the Polhollick Bridge, a lovely latticed iron girder suspension bridge. It still stands today.
Further details can be seen here…. canmore.org.uk/site/32466/polhollick-suspension-bridge
It was damaged by Storm Frank in 2015 but has since been completely restored.
Alexander died in 1895 but he did bequeath the money for a second bridge to be built further down the river. This one, the Cambus O’May Bridge, built in 1905, again by Abernethy, is a beautiful piece of design and engineering and became an icon of the Deeside scenery and has been the subject of many scenic postcards over the years. It too, still stands today.
Further details can be seen here….canmore.org.uk/site/33994/cambus-o-may-suspension-bridge
Sadly, it too was hit by Storm Frank and was severely damaged. At the time of writing, it is still awaiting repair.
The Gordons’ mansion, Southwood, sadly fell into disrepair and was demolished in the 1950s.