The forebear of a north-east soldier who died in the Battle of Waterloo has unveiled a lasting tribute in an Aberdeenshire country park to mark the conflict’s bicentennial.
Alexander George Gordon, 7th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, revealed the two interpretative panels in the grounds of Haddo House near Ellon on Saturday – 200 years to the day his great, great, great, great-uncle Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Alexander Gordon, was killed on the Belgian battlefield.
The panels have been produced by the Haddo Country Park Regeneration Project partners to explain the background and history of the recently restored Waterloo Monument.
Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon was the Duke of Wellington’s youngest aide-de-camp and held in great favour by him, being attended by the duke’s personal physician after sustaining a mortal wound to the leg in the battle that killed more than 60,000 people.
The restoration of the monument included the cleaning of the obelisk, renewal of jointing and creation of a footpath to make it more accessible.
The project has been supported by a grant of £1.1million from the Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People programme, with further funding from Leader, Historic Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council, the National Trust for Scotland and Haddo Estate.
Lord Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Council co-leader Richard Thomson gave speeches to mark the unveiling.
Mr Thomson said: “The interpretation panels are designed to inform this generation of these heroic events and give them some idea of the importance of them to the history of the modern countries of Europe.”