Cosmo Edmund (Duff-Gordon) Duff-Gordon Fifth Baronet of Halkin (1862 - 1931)

Born 22 Jul 1862 in City of London, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Lucy Christiana (Sutherland) Lady Duff-Gordon — married 24 May 1900 in Venice, Italy

Died 20 Apr 1931 at age 68 in South Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Jessica Hatfield [send private message] and Titanic Project WikiTree [send private message]

Cosmo (Duff-Gordon) Duff-Gordon Fifth Baronet of Halkin was a passenger on the RMS Titanic. Join: Titanic Project Discuss: titanic

Biography

Cosmo (Duff-Gordon) Duff-Gordon Fifth Baronet of Halkin is Notable.

Sir Cosmo Edmund Duff-Gordon 5th Baronet was born on the 22nd of July 1862, the son of Cosmo Lewis Duff-Gordon and the former Anna Maria Antrobus.^[1]

Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon was the fifth Baronet 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. His family is known for their fine wines. He is known for his conduct during the sinking of the Titanic. ^[2]

Cosmo married Lucy Christiana Sutherland, then Mrs. James Stewart Wallace, on the 24th of May 1900 in Venice, Italy. She was a divorcee with a sister famous for writing erotica. She was known for her very successful fashion house, "Lucille's". Cosmo was known as a fencer, representing Great Britain at the 1906 Summer Olympics, winning silver in the team épée event. ^[3][4]

Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff-Gordon

Sir Cosmo and his wife were on the maiden voyage of the Titanic in April 1912. Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff-Gordon boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg with ticket 11755. Sir Cosmo occupied cabin A-16 and Lady Duff-Gordon cabin A-20. For some reason the Duff-Gordons signed onto the ship as Mr and Mrs Morgan.^[5]

Cosmo's survival of the sinking of the Titanic is attributed to his boarding a life boat with his wife. Fireman Robert Pusey complained to Duff-Gordon that they had lost all their belongings (their 'kit) 'and that, in all probability, their pay would end when the ship sank, so the wealthy passenger offered all the men five pounds on their return. This was a pledge he would honour on board the Carpathia. Later Sir Cosmo would appear before a packed British Inquiry to defend himself against the accusation that he had bribed the men to secure his escape from the Titanic and that they were thus encouraged not to return to the scene of the sinking to rescue swimmers. They were in a life boat of only 12 people, 7 of whom were crew members, with a capacity of 40.

Cosmo said there were no women and children waiting to board the boat and there was a witness to support this. The accusations of bribery were declared unfounded. The Board of Trade Inquiry into the sinking did mention that had the boat been rowed toward the drowning people instead of away from them, they might have been saved.

Passengers and Crew of Lifeboat No.1

Cosmo Gordon died on the 20th of April 1931 at Kensington, London, of natural causes. He is buried at Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking, Surrey. ^[6][7]

Sources

1. ↑ Burke's Peerage.
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Sir Cosmo-Gordon.
3. ↑ Olympic Sports.
4. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWFL-HHJ : 11 December 2014), Cosmo Edmund Duff Gordon, 07 Jun 1900, Marriage; citing p. 16, Venice, Italy, record group RG33, Public Record Office, London.
5. ↑ Encyclopedia-Titanica.
6. ↑ Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon". Necropolis Notables. The Brookwood Cemetery Society.
7. ↑ General Register Office Online Death Index: Name: GORDON, COSMO DUFF; Age: 68; GRO Reference: 1931 June Quarter, KENSINGTON, Volume 01A Page 113.

See also:

• Titanic Lifeboat No. 1
• Wikidata: Item Q969969, en:Wikipedia
• The Peerage: Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon
• Geni: Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon
• Reynolds, Nigel (May 2, 2007). [1] "Letter clears 'blackguard of the Titanic'". telegraph.co.uk (London: Telegraph Media Group).
• British Wreck Commissioner's Enquiry: Report. "Account of the Saving and Rescue of those who Survived: Conduct of Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon and Mr Ismay".
• Duff family tree, helpfully re-published online (following the disappearance of Sir William Arbuthnot's Kittybrewster genealogy website) by the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) project
• Find A Grave, database and images  : accessed 23 March 2020), memorial page for Sir Cosmo Edmund Duff-Gordon (22 Jul 1862–20 Apr 1931), Find A Grave: Memorial #9093312, citing Brookwood Cemetery, Brookwood, Woking Borough, Surrey, England ; Maintained by Lorraine de Kock (contributor 46625239) .
• Duffs - "Duffs of Crombie and Duff Gordons" in "The Book of the Duffs" by Henrietta and Alexander (Alister) Tayler, printed privately by T & A Constable in Edinburgh 1914, pages 414-425, here 423-425.