George Ferguson

George Ferguson (April 1788 – 15 March 1867) was a Scottish officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and rose to the rank of admiral. He was also a Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1832 to 1837. He was the fifth laird of Pitfour in Aberdeenshire from 1821 until his death in 1867. Family Ferguson was the illegitimate son of George Ferguson (1748–1820) the fourth Laird of Pitfour, a large estate in the Buchan area of north east Scotland. His father was usually referred to as "the Governor" and Ferguson inherited the sizeable estate, money and also property in Trinidad and Tobago. As he shared the same name as his father, to help differentiate the two, he is generally known as the "Sailor" or the "Admiral", an acknowledgement of his naval career. Ferguson was the fifth laird of Pitfour and held the title from 1821 until 1867. He enjoyed a lavish lifestyle and squandered much of his inheritance gambling. In 1812 he married the heiress Elizabeth Holcombe and received an annuity from her wealthy father, John Woodhouse of Aramstone in Hereford. She died a few weeks after giving birth to their only child, a daughter, in early 1814. His second marriage was on 7 April 1825. This was to Elizabeth Jane Rowley, the eldest daughter of Clotworthy Rowley, 1st Baron Langford and a niece of the Duke of Wellington. The couple had five children: four daughters – Frances Harriet, Georgina Harriet, Elizabeth Ann and Emily Ann – and a son, George Arthur.