Tracking down the history of the surname 'Bruce-Gordon'

[bomo]

Hi All,
My name is Stuart and I live in Australia.

My reason for investigating this website was to try and trace the origins of my last name 'Bruce-Gordon'. There doesn't seem to be too many of us around.

Unfortunately, i do not have much information to go on, other than the fact that my father Keith emigrated to Australia from England (Guildford)in around February 1966 with his parents Iain and his wife and 5 brothers and sisters.

We know my grandfather (who is a 'Bruce-Gordon') was born in the Scottish town of Banff in July 1925 and we were looking for any information regarding our family history and when the 2 names were originally connected.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Stuart

[wullie m]

I've heard of folk called Bruce Gardyne, Tory MP if I remember right. There's nothing in Debrett. Your Gordon family probably ended in a female who married a Bruce, but wanted to keep the family name alive, as in Douglas Hamilton & Gordon Duff. The double barrel might not be that old. A lot of old families hit the buffers in the Great War. Try Scotlands People. Scottish toffs are not very keen on the hyphen Stuart! wullie.

[Lachlan09]

As I understand it (but various cases may have been different), hyphenated names of the 19th and 20th Century in Scotland (especially the Highlands) tended to be used when an old Highland family of landed-gentry married into a well-off or influential English or Scottish family. In respect for their improved position, they added the spouse's family name to their own Highland family name in hyphenated form.

[wullie m]

Lachie, can you give an example? forget hyphens, Cunninghame Graham the famous socialist MP and founder of the Nationalist Party was apoplectic if his name appeared in the paper with a hyphen, an English affectation. His name derives from two earldoms, there was nobody more blue blooded than Cunninghame Graham, more blue blooded than the King even, but that's another story. He himself was triple barrelled, the family took the name Bontine, an old uncle, last of the line of that old Dumbartonshire family, leaving the lot to one of his CG nephews on condition they took the name. So Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham he became, but Don Roberto to his friends.
I'm talking real toffs here not counter-jumpers (still with us) trying to boost their social status and ape their betters.
You can call yourself anything you like, some of my Maws rellies apparently called themself Ross MacKenzie when they rose in the world,, a load of old bollox from folk off a croft. wullie.

[Lachlan09]

I'll have to torture my grey cell and do some research to provide examples !

But, as an example, the Bowes-Lyon family comes to mind. The Lyons were the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne but in 1767 married into the English Bowes family of coal-magnates and parliamentarians. The bride’s family insisted the groom changed his name to Bowes. Later generations amended it to Lyon-Bowes, then Bowes-Lyon.

[wullie m]

Lachie, you have picked a fairly unique example, the Bowes from Geordieland, were fabulously wealthy and barking mad, the heiress, married twice, (who had been kept under lock & key, chastity belt? don't ask) was only permitted to marry the son of the Earl of Strathmore, if the name was double barreled. this required an act of parliament. wullie.

[Lachlan09]

Then there's the Peter-Sandy dynasty

Also the Strangely-Browns

But there were the Campbell-Bannermans and the Carter-Campbells and the Campbell-Browns.

Weren't there also Bannatyne-Allisons ?

And WW1 generals:-

Stewart-Murray ?

Baillie-Hamilton ?

Hamilton-Gordon ?

Forbes-Robertson ?

Hore-Ruthven ?

Montagu-Stuart-Wortley ? (that's a brammer !) and his uncle Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-MacKenzie

All dead-posh !