Sir William Gordon-Cumming, 4th Baronet
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Alexander Gordon Gordon-Cumming, 4th Baronet, was a Scottish landowner, soldier, socialite and a notorious womaniser. He was the central figure in the royal baccarat scandal of 1891. After inheriting a baronetcy he joined the British Army and saw service in South Africa, Egypt and the Sudan; he served with distinction and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Something of an adventurer, he also spent time hunting in the US and India.
Gordon-Cumming in 1891
Gordon-Cumming as depicted by Carlo Pellegrini in Vanity Fair, 1880
Image: Sir William Gordon Cumming in the dock
Image: The future Edward VII in the witness box
The Royal baccarat scandal, also known as the Tranby Croft affair, was a British gambling scandal of the late 19th century involving the Prince of Wales—the future King Edward VII. The scandal started during a house party in September 1890, when Sir William Gordon-Cumming, a lieutenant colonel in the Scots Guards, was accused of cheating at baccarat.
Sir William Gordon-Cumming in the witness box, in the presence of Edward, Prince of Wales and others
Gordon-Cumming as depicted by "Ape" in Vanity Fair, 1880
Tranby Croft, Yorkshire
Edward Lycett Green in 1891