INTRODUCTION: In 1808 Hugh Gordon bought the estate of Woodhill (previously called Badifurrow) situated on the banks of the River Don near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. He re-named it Manar and work began on building Manar House for his new bride.

ORIGINS: Hugh Gordon was descended from the Gordons of Lesmoir. He had worked for the East India Company and made a considerable amount of money in jewels. He is recorded as having a business in Madras in 1799 and had returned to Scotland in 1803. Woodhall was re-named Manar after the Manar Straits between Ceylon and S.E.India - there were famous pearl fisheries in these straits.

FAMILY LIFE: The year before he bought Manar, he had married Elizabeth Forbes of Echt, and in 1808 their first son was born but died the next year. In 1810 they had a daughter Elizabeth, and in 1811 a daughter Jane. Work was completed on Manar, and in 1812 they had a son James Gordon who was the first baby recorded as being born at Manar. In total, Hugh and Elizabeth Gordon went on to have 5 sons and 5 daughters. In private, their family life sustained various sadnesses : two sons died as infants, a third died in his teens at Elgin Academy, and another son emigrated to Australia. One daughter died at the age of five, and two others died before they were thirty.

PUBLIC LIFE: In public life, Hugh Gordon attended fashionable 'assemblies' in Aberdeen; he became a J.P. and Deputy Lieutenant of the county; and he pursued his claims to the baronetcy of Lesmoir, after the older branch of the family had died out. Leslie Gordon of Perth in Australia (see Gordons Today) is the present day heir to this ancient baronetcy.

DEATH: Hugh Gordon died at Manar on 11th July 1834. He was succeeded by his 21-year-old son James.