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The Earl of Minto | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byJames Atkinson | |
| Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William | |
| In office 31 July 1807 – 4 October 1813 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Sir George Barlow (Acting Governor-General) |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Moira |
| President of the Board of Control | |
| In office 1806–1806 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Viscount Castlereagh |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Grenville |
| Viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom | |
| In office 1794–1796 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office disestablished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gilbert Elliot (1751-04-23)23 April 1751 |
| Died | 21 June 1814(1814-06-21) (aged 63) Stevenage, Hertfordshire |
| Resting place | Westminster Abbey |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse | |
| Children | |
| Parents |
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| Alma mater | |
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto,PC, FRSE (/kɪˈnɪnmənd/;[1] 23 April 1751 – 21 June 1814), known asSir Gilbert Elliott, 4th Baronet until 1797, andthe Lord Minto from 1797 to 1813, was a British diplomat and politician who sat in theHouse of Commons between 1776 and 1795. He wasviceroy of the short-livedAnglo-Corsican Kingdom from 1794 to 1796 and went on to becomeGovernor-General of India between July 1807 and 1813.
Minto was born inEdinburgh, the eldest son ofSir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Baronet, and Agnes, daughter ofHugh Dalrymple-Murray-Kynynmound.[2] He was the nephew ofJohn Elliott,Governor of Newfoundland,Andrew Elliot the 41stColonial Governor of New York, and ofJean Elliot the poet.
Hugh Elliot was his younger brother andSir Charles Elliot his nephew. About 1763 Elliot and his brother Hugh were sent to Paris, where their studies were supervised by the Scottish philosopherDavid Hume, and where they became intimate withHonoré Mirabeau. Having passed the winters of 1766 and 1767 at theUniversity of Edinburgh, Minto enteredChrist Church, Oxford, and on quitting the university he wascalled to the bar .[3][2]
In 1776 Minto entered Parliament as an independentWhig MP forMorpeth. He became very friendly withEdmund Burke, whom he helped in the attack onWarren Hastings andSir Elijah Impey, and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the office ofSpeaker,[3] in the elections ofJanuary 1789 andJune 1789.
In 1793 he was appointed Civil Commissioner forDunkirk which was then underSiege of Dunkirk (1793) byCoalition forces. However, the siege proved unsuccessful and the appointment perforce remained only on paper. Later he was given a similar appointment forToulon, which proved similarly abortive.[4]
He was sworn of thePrivy Council in 1794 and in 1796 he was appointed asviceroy of the short-livedAnglo-Corsican Kingdom.[5] In 1797 he assumed the additional names of Murray and Kynynmound and was createdBaron Minto, of Minto in the County of Roxburgh. From 1799 to 1801 he wasEnvoy-Extraordinary to Austria, and having been for a few monthsPresident of the Board of Control he was appointedGovernor-General of India at the end of 1806,[3] with his term starting on 31 July 1807. The district ofMinto in New South Wales, Australia, (now a suburb of Sydney) was named after him in 1809. In 1810 he successfully requested the release of the British navigator,Matthew Flinders, from his six-year imprisonment onIsle of France (Mauritius). He governed until 1813, during which he expanded the British presence in the area to theMoluccas,Java, and other Dutch possessions in the East Indies during theNapoleonic Wars. He was then createdViscount Melgund, of Melgund in the County of Forfar, andEarl of Minto, of Minto in the County of Roxburgh.
Minto married Anna Maria Amyand (26 March 1752 – 8 March 1829),[6] daughter ofSir George Amyand, 1st Baronet andsister-in-law of Lord Malmesbury, in 1777. She was known as Lady Elliot,[2][6] her formal title being Countess of Minto.[7] The shipLady Elliot, built inBengal, India, in 1815, inspired its captain to name an island off theQueensland coastLady Elliot Island. The ship was probably later wrecked onLady Elliot Reef.[8]
Their children were:[9]
Lord Minto died atStevenage, Hertfordshire, on 21 June 1814, aged 63, and was buried inWestminster Abbey, along with his brother Hugh. The inscription reads:[10]
Gilbert Elliot, Earl of Minto eldest son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, Baronet. Born April 23, 1751, Viceroy of Corsica 1794, Envoy Extraordinary to Vienna 1779, President of the Board of Control 1806, Governor General of India 1806-13, created Baron Minto of Minto and Viscount Melgund and Earl of Minto. Died June 21, 1814.
He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son,Gilbert.[10]
It is not known when the only recorded pastel by Lady Elliot was made...
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Minto, Earls of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 563–564.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMorpeth 1776–1777 With:Peter Delme | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forRoxburghshire 1777–1784 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBerwick 1786–1790 With:John Vaughan | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHelston 1790–1795 With:Stephen Lushington | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | British Minister to Austria 1799–1801 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| New office | Viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom 1793–1796 | British withdrawal |
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Control 1806 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Sir George Barlow (acting) | Governor-General of India 1807–1813 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Earl of Minto 1813–1814 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Baron Minto 1797–1814 | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of Nova Scotia | ||
| Preceded by | Baronet (of Minto) 1777–1814 | Succeeded by |
