INTRODUCTION: Henry Gordon of Manar succeeded to the Estate in 1874. Prior to this he had joined the Gordon Highlanders as Ensign in 1867 (see picture above) but resigned his commission four years later. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Aberdeenshire in 1876 at the age of 28. He had everything to look forward to.

FIRST MARRIAGE: In the year that his father died, he married Ellen Hall, daughter of Sir Charles Hall. The next year, a daughter was born : Elizabeth Cruger Gordon (1875-1950). This line of the family has since died out.

SECOND MARRIAGE: By his second wife, Ellen Coates, Henry Gordon had three children, of whom the only surviving descendants are the family of his eldest son Henry Robert Gordon, OBE (1892-1967). By 1901, much of the family's fortunes had been lost, along with some of its standing and reputation. There is an interesting brochure of that year, advertising Manar for sale along with 2400 acres. In the event it was not sold, though it was later let to two unmarried ladies by the name Deguid. In the sale documents, the burial ground and 14 acres at Polnair were reserved in perpetuity for Henry Gordon's descendants. This ground, along with the rights to the Baronetcy of Lesmoir, are all that have been passed down to his modern-day descendants (see Gordons Today).

FINAL YEARS: Henry Gordon spent his final years in London. Although he died in 1928, the estate was not actually sold until after the Second World War, when it was bought by the Duke of Sutherland (who maintained a courteous relationship with the family on their visits to the family burial ground). But the estate had been in the hands of trustees for many years. In the 1990's Manar was sold to Peter and Vera Cordiner who are its present occupants.