After completing his schooling at
Eton College in 1887, he became a journalist and writer and subsequently a publisher, at one time being the sole proprietor of Williams & Norgate Ltd. In addition to his own books, he contributed to annuals for county cricket clubs and also wrote for the
Encyclopædia Britannica. He was known on cricket grounds all over the country, recognisable by the red carnation that he always wore. His memories of cricket went back as far as 1878, when as a small boy he was taken to the Gentlemen of England v. the
Australians match at
Prince's Cricket Ground. He first went to
Lord's in 1880, when he met
W. G. Grace. Later that season he watched the first
Test match to be played in England, at
The Oval. He attended no fewer than seventy of the annual
Oxford v. Cambridge games. He watched every Test match at Lord's from the first one in 1884 to the one in 1956, shortly before he died. chairman of the Sports Conference in 1919, and held practically every honorary position for
Sussex, being their President in 1948. When young he played for MCC amateur sides, but never played
first-class cricket. However, for his services to Sussex, he was given a county
cap, an old one belonging to
A. E. R. Gilligan. Gordon succeeded to the
Baronetcy when his father died in 1906. ==Family==