Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto

Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto

Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto (born April 23, 1751 in Edinburgh , † June 21, 1814 in Stevenage ) was a British politician and diplomat .

Life

Elliot was the eldest son of the poet and member of parliament Sir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Baronet († 1777), whose title he inherited after his death. Around 1763 he and his brother were sent to Paris for training purposes . Her studies there were overseen by the Scottish philosopher David Hume . You had close contact with Mirabeau there . After initially studying at the University of Edinburgh , Elliot moved to Christ Church College in Oxford . After completing his education, Elliot became a lawyer.

However, he was elected as an independent Whig for the constituency of Morpeth in the House of Commons as early as 1774 . From 1777 he represented Roxburghshire , from 1786 to 1790 Berwick and finally until 1795 Helston. He allied there with Edmund Burke and in 1793 became a member of the Privy Council .

In 1777 he married Anna Maria Amyand, daughter of Sir George Amyand, 1st Baronet, with whom he had six children.

In 1794 he was sent to Corsica to rule this island, which was occupied by the British. In June of that year, Elliot was named Viceroy of the island . But he had to leave it again at the end of 1796 after a French army landed.

He then went to Naples as envoy and was promoted to peer baron Minto in October 1797 . During this time he also took the additional surname "Murray-Kynynmound". From 1799 until the end of the Pitt government in 1801 he was first ambassador to Vienna and in 1806 was appointed Governor General of British India . In agreement with the Portuguese government he occupied Goa , then Trankebar and the other Danish possessions in India, conquered the French islands of Bourbon (Réunion) and Île de France (Mauritius) in 1809 , took the Dutch possessions of Amboina , Celebes and Ceylon in 1810 , and in 1811 Java and in 1812 the Dutch colonies on Sumatra and Borneo .

His poor health forced him to return to the United Kingdom in 1813, where he was elevated to Earl of Minto due to his successes and died on June 21, 1814. His son Gilbert , who inherited the title after his death, was also a politician.

Since 1803 he was a member ( Fellow ) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

Web links

• Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto on thepeerage.com , accessed August 19, 2015.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed December 29, 2019 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Earl of Minto 1813-1814	Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound