Elected RSA: 7 October 1829
On the Ist of June, Sir John Watson Gordon, R.A.., Knight, Limner to Her Majesty for Scotland, and for the last fifteen years President of the Royal Scottish Academy, died after a short illness, at his residence, Catherine Bank House, Bonnington, near Edinburgh; and, in obedience to a clause in the Charter, provided for such an occurrence, a meeting was held “two days after the announcement of the vacancy, to appoint a general assembly to be convened, at the distance of not more than eight days, to fix a day to elect a successor,” which the Council accordingly ordered to be convened on the 7th instant, the day after that fixed for the funeral of the deceased President.
And in testimony of the deep respect in which Sir John Watson Gordon, as their President, was held by his constituents and in conformity with a unanimous resolution on the occasion of the decease of their last President, Sir William Allan, they resolved to offer the family of the deceased, on the part of the Members collectively, to attend the funeral as the Royal Scottish Academy. This offer was duly communicated to and accepted by the family, and accordingly about thirty of the Members and Professors proceeded to Catherine Bank House, and afterwards accompanied the funeral to the Canongate Church Cemetery.
RSA Obituary transcribed from 1864 RSA Annual Report
