Voting Station

Cosmo Duff-Gordon

Please vote to return to collections.

Socialite

The Resume

    (July 22, 1862-April 20, 1931)
    Born in London, United Kingdom
    Scottish landowner and sportsman
    5th Baronet Duff-Gordon
    Married designer Lucy Duff-Gordon (1900)
    Survived the sinking of the Titanic

Why he might be annoying:

    Because Lucy was a divorcee, he refused to marry her until after his mother died.
    Lucy later described him as ‘most extraordinarily dull to be with.’
    He liked to have guests at his estate don fencing masks and then shoot at them with wax bullets.
    He was accused of bribing the crewmen of his lifeboat to not go back and try and pick up additional Titanic survivors.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He lost an eye in a shooting accident.
    He served on the organizing committee for the 1908 Summer Olympics.
    He admitted to giving £5 to each member of the lifeboat crew, but said it was to compensate them for their possessions that were lost when the Titanic sank.
    An official inquiry board declared the charges against him ‘unfounded.’
    He suggested that British tabloids spread the bribery story about him for revenge after he and Lucy refused to talk to the press about the disaster.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying