David William Gordon

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = David William Gordon

| honorific-suffix =

| image = David William Gordon.jpg

| imagesize =

| constituency_MP = Vancouver

| parliament = Canadian

| predecessor = Arthur Bunster

| successor = Andrew Haslam

| term_start = 1882

| term_end = 1893

| office2 = Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Nanaimo

| predecessor2 =

| successor2 =

| term_start2 = 1877

| term_end2 = 1878

| birth_date = {{birth date|1832|02|27}}

| birth_place = Camden Township, Upper Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|1893|02|19|1832|02|27}}

| death_place = Nanaimo, British Columbia

| nationality =

| spouse =

| party = Liberal-Conservative

| relations =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater =

| occupation =

| profession =

| religion =

}}

David William Gordon (February 27, 1832 – February 19, 1893) was a Canadian politician from British Columbia.{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=7797|nolist=yes}}

Gordon was born in Camden Township, Upper Canada, the son of Michael Gordon. He went to California in 1856 and then moved to the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1858, where he established himself as a professional architect and builder in Nanaimo.{{cite book |title=The Canadian Directory of Parliament 1867-1967 |last=Johnson |first=J.K. |year=1968 |publisher=Public Archives of Canada}} Gordon was a prominent citizen and one of the wealthiest men in the city.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} He ran as an unaffiliated candidate in the 1875 provincial election, losing a close race to John Bryden, an "opposition" candidate. Gordon was later successful in an 1877 by-election called because of Bryden’s resignation. He served as "government" member, supporting Premier George Anthony Walkem. He was unable to retain the seat in the following general election.

Gordon ran as a Liberal-Conservative candidate in the federal election just two months following his provincial defeat in 1878. He was unable to unseat incumbent Liberal Arthur Bunster in the Vancouver (Island) district. Gordon was not deterred and later defeated Bunster by a wide margin in the following election, in 1882. He was re-elected over a Conservative opponent 1887 and acclaimed in 1891. Gordon died in office in 1893.

Gordon was married twice: to Emma Elizabeth Robb in 1864 and to Statira Catherine Shepard in 1886.