Reference: Adrian Sandes - Chapter 1 Annex A, Part 3, Page 4-01

Robert Fitzmaurice Gordon (0303) was born in Corfu on 7 April 1843, and from his third name was probably a godson of the Lt Col (later Maj Gen) Gordon RA who lived next door to his parents in Corfu. He was educated at Queen’s College, Cork, and Queen’s University, Dublin, where he took a degree in chemistry, but had to start earning a living before he could qualify as a doctor as he had intended. In 1863 he sailed for New Zealand in the sailing ship Gertrude. Nearly all the passengers were ‘Forty-Acre Settlers’, to whom land was granted by the government to encourage immigration.
On arrival in Auckland, Robert set up in business as a chemist, but when the Thames gold rush started he moved down the coast to Grahamtown. In the early days of the Waikato conflict between the British and Maoris in 1863-64, he served as a colour-sergeant in the 3rd Waikato Regiment. On 28 May 1867 he married Catherine Bond, daughter of Richard Peed of Kinsale, Co. Cork, by whom he had five children, shown among your New Zealand kin at Annexure G. In 1876 he moved to Hamilton where he practised as a chemist and dentist for many years, and served on the borough council. He was a staunch Anglican and member of church choirs. He retired during the first world war to live in Auckland, where he died on 2 November 1937, aged 95.