Young Gordon was educated at the parish school of Banff, and subsequently at the University of Aberdeen, where he did not remain long, obtaining a commission in the Royal Marines at the age of fifteen.
He obtained employment at Menorca; but as he was on the point of embarking, 'my good fortune threw in my way an amiable young widow', whom he married in autumn 1801.
[2] In 1823 Gordon wrote a guide for travellers, entitled A Companion to Italy, the success of which led to the appearance of his Personal Memoirs[3] in 1830.
This contained reminiscences of notable persons known to the author, including Lady Hamilton, George Brydges Rodney, Richard Porson, Charles Burney, and James Perry of the Morning Chronicle.
Gordon himself obtained for Burney the copy of Constantine Lascaris's Grammar, the first Greek book printed, which went to the British Museum.