A wreath was laid in remembrance of General Gordon yesterday, in commemoration of his help for the poor, sick and needy.

The Mayor of Gravesham, Cllr John Caller, remembered Gravesend's friend and benefactor, General Charles George Gordon, by laying a wreath at his statue at Gravesend Promenade.

General Gordon was born in 1833 in Woolwich, and as a young boy spent some of his holidays with relatives in Northfleet.

After becoming a cadet in the army at Woolwich in 1848, it was some 17 years later, at the age of 32, that Gordon came to Gravesend on September 1, 1865, the youngest Colonel ever.

Gordon spent a great deal of time working with the poor and needy, setting up schools at Fort House and East Terrace as well as teaching at St Andrew's mission on the waterfront.

He was a regular visitor to the local workhouse where he would supply the poor with food, tea and tobacco. He also visited the sick and lonely in the local infirmary.

After his death on January 26, 1885 at Khartoum, it came to light that Gordon had never forgotten the poor and needy he had met during his stay in Gravesend.

Payments and pensions were still being sent to local families in and around Gravesend. His family, too, maintained their support for the town.

Known as "Gordon of Gravesend", the General was a great Christian benefactor as well as a great administrator and soldier.

A memorial service attended by numerous dignitaries is usually held every year, but Cllr Caller laid the wreath with his wife alone due to the pandemic.

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