Frederick Gordon

Early life

He was born on 22 July 1835 in Ross-on-Wye, the eldest son of Charles John Gordon, who established himself as a decorator and paperhanger in the City of London. Frederick began by assisting his father, but then trained in the law, and always called himself a solicitor. Gordon turned in his thirties to the promotion of elegant restaurants, hitherto not fully developed in Victorian London. With Horatio Davies, later owner of Pimm's and Lord Mayor of London, he formed Messrs. Gordon and Company. Their first success came with the conversion in 1868 of the fifteenth-century Crosby Hall, on Bishopsgate in the City of London, into a fashionable eating place, with an open layout in the vast Great Hall instead of the traditional boxes. Waitresses were employed, and there were facilities for women visitors. The King's Head in Fenchurch Street followed, also richly decorated. Gordon's wider fame began with his creation in 1874 of the Holborn Restaurant further west. The Holborn was expanded in 1879 and again in 1883–4. Illustrated brochures depicted a series of richly decorated saloons embellished with marble, fresco work and stained glass. A favourite venue for institutional dinners and parties, the Holborn survived until it was bombed in the Second World War.

Frederick Gordon's sister Elizabeth (Lizzie) married his business partner Horatio Davies in 1867, who bought Pimms from its original owner/founder. She died on 14 November 1907.