Quote Originally Posted by MacSpadger View Post
Thank you for the information. Another train of thought is that there might have been some predeliction towards the name Gordon because Lord George Gordon, brother of the 4th Duke of Gordon, converted to Judeaism in 1787, taking the name of Yisrael bar Avraham Gordon.

The marriage of Joseph Gordon in 1901 at Kelvin Synagogue certainly shows the name to be in use for quite some time.
I've read a couple of apocryphal accounts regarding His Grace's brother. It is possible he became, at one time, a bit of a cultural hero for Jewish expats from the Russian Empire. I also remember reading that he bopped around Eastern Europe for a bit before his imprisonment and subsequent conversion in Harrogate Prison (if memory serves). He may have had some influence on those families and towns he encountered on his travels.

Sorry, the email from the good Glaswegian Doctor remains elusive. I'm still searching.

Other than the brother, I have not been able to find any other connection between the Gordon Dukedom and the Jewish communities. I wonder if the Duke had anything to do with helping the resettling of Jewish communities during the shufflings and evictings of Jews in Russia during the 1800's and early 1900's. It is my understanding that Glasgow has the largest of the Jewish communities in Scotland.