The son of Colonel Sir Alexander Penrose Cumming-Gordon of Altyre, first baronet (d. 1806); he was MP for Elgin (1831).

REFERENCES TO Sir William Gordon-Cumming of Altyre, second baronet:

Sydney Smith to the Hon. Caroline Lawley-Thompson, 11 December 1822 in A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith. By his Daughter, Lady Holland. With a Selection from his Letters, edited by Mrs. Austin 2 vols (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855)