The British statesman George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (1784-1860), was noted for his work in the area of foreign affairs. He was prime minister of Great Britain at the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853.

George Hamilton Gordon was born on Jan. 28, 1784, in Edinburg, Scotland. His father died when George was 7 and his mother when he was 11; he was brought up by his guardians, William Pitt and Henry Dundas (Lord Melville). George was educated at Harrow and St. John's College, Cambridge. On the death of his grandfather in 1801, he became the 4th Earl of Aberdeen.

Travels on the Continent during 1802-1804, especially in Greece, quickened Aberdeen's interest in classical studies and archeology. In 1805 he married Lady Catherine Elizabeth Hamilton. She died in 1812, and in 1815 he married her sister-in-law, Harriet, the widow of Lord Hamilton.

Aberdeen's diplomatic career began in the Napoleonic era. He was sent by...