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

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Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmond, 1st Earl of Minto (born Edinburgh, Scotland, 23 April 1751 - died Stevenage, England, June 21, 1814) was a Scottish politician and diplomat.

His uncle was John Elliott, Governor of Newfoundland.

About 1763 Gilbert Elliot and his brother Hugh were sent to Paris, where their studies were supervised by the renowned Scottish philosopher David Hume, and where they became intimate with Honoré Mirabeau. Having passed the winters of 1766 and 1767 at the University of Edinburgh, Gilbert entered Christ Church, Oxford, and on quitting the university he was called to the bar. In 1776 he entered parliament as an independent Whig MP for Morpeth. He became very friendly with Edmund Burke, whom he helped in the attack on Warren Hastings and Sir Elijah Impey, and on two occasions was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of Speaker.

In 1794 Elliot was appointed to govern Corsica, and in 1797 he assumed the additional names of Murray-Kynynmond and was created Baron Minto. From 1799 to 1801 he was envoy-extraordinary to Vienna, and having been for a few months president of the board of control he was appointed governor-general of India at the end of 1806. He governed with great success until 1813, during which he expanded the British presence in the area to the Moluccas, Java, and other Dutch possessions in the East Indies during the Napoleonic Wars. He was then created Viscount Melgund and Earl of Minto. He died at Stevenage on 21 June 1814 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. His sister was the wife of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland.

The Earl's second son was Admiral Sir George Elliot (1784-1863), who as a youth was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of the Nile, and who was Secretary to the Admiralty from 1830 to 1834. A nephew of the Earl was Sir Charles Elliot (1801-1875), also an admiral, who took a prominent part in the war with China in 1840. Afterwards he was governor of Bermuda, of Trinidad and of St Helena.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Peter Delme William Byron	Member of Parliament for Morpeth 2-seat constituency (with Peter Delme) 1776–1777	Succeeded by Peter Delme John Egerton
Preceded by Sir Gilbert Elliot	Member of Parliament for Roxburghshire 1777–1784	Succeeded by Sir George Douglas
Preceded by John Vaughan John Delaval	Member of Parliament for Berwick 2-seat constituency (with John Vaughan) 1786–1790	Succeeded by John Vaughan Charles Carpenter
Preceded by Roger Wilbraham James Bland Burges	Member of Parliament for Helston 2-seat constituency (with Stephen Lushington) 1790–1795	Succeeded by Stephen Lushington Charles Abbot
Political offices
Preceded by Sir George Hilario Barlow	Governor-General of India 1807–1813	Succeeded by The Earl of Moira
Preceded by Jan Willem Janssens	Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1811	Succeeded by Stamford Raffles
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by (new creation)	Earl of Minto 1813–1814	Succeeded by Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound

[edit] Reference

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.