William Elliot of Wells

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Elliot of Wells (1696-1764) was an army officer, courtier, and member of Parliament during the reign of George II. The son of William Elliot of Wells, he was christened January 17, 1696 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster. He entered the army in 1723 as a cavalry officer in the regiment of Charles Churchill, rising to became lieutenant-colonel of the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards in 1741. He fought at both Dettigen and Fontenoy, but resigned his commission in 1746. His sister's son, George Augustus Eliott (later Lord Heathfield, defender of Gibraltar), was one of his subordinate officers in the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards.

In 1743, he was made one of the equerries to George II, and served until the king’s death in 1760.

In 1741, he was elected as a Whig MP for Calne, Wiltshire, which seat he held until 1754.

Having inherited in 1728 his father's estate of Wells, in Roxburghshire, in 1737 he married Lady Frances Nassau d’Auverquerque, daughter of the Earl of Grantham, at St Benet Paul's Wharf, London. They had no surviving children.

He died in 1764, and was buried in St James's Church, Piccadilly, Westminster. Lady Frances Elliot died in 1772, and was also buried there.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by William Duckett Walter Hungerford	Member of Parliament for Calne with Walter Hungerford 1741-1747 with William Northey 1747-1754 1741–1754	Succeeded by ?  ?

[edit] References

• Romney Sedgwick, ed., The History of Parliament: The Commons 1715-1754 (London, 1971).