Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin
Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin and 15th Earl of Kincardine, KT, CD, DL, JP (born 17 February 1924), styled Lord Bruce before 1968, is a Scottish peer.[1]
Background and education
Bruce is the eldest son of Edward Bruce, 10th Earl of Elgin and the Honourable Katherine Elizabeth Cochrane, daughter of Thomas Cochrane, 1st Baron Cochrane of Cults. He was educated at Eton and at Balliol College, Oxford. He served in the 3rd (Armoured) Bn Scots Guards[2] as a lieutenant and was wounded in the break out from Normandy in August 1944. Since 1970, he has been Colonel-in-Chief of the 31 Combat Engineer Regiment (The Elgins),[3] and was Hon. Colonel of the 153 (Highland) Transport Regiment from 1976 to 1986.
Career
Elgin has held a number of business appointments, including as President of the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society (1975–1994), and Chairman of the National Savings Committee for Scotland. He was President of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, and the Scottish motor racing team, Ecurie Ecosse.
He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1951, was Deputy Lieutenant of Fife 1955–1987, and Lord Lieutenant 1987–1999. In 1980 he was appointed by HM The Queen as Her Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and reappointed in 1981.[4] In 1982 HM The Queen installed him as a Knight of the Thistle.[5] He was awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration in 1981, and the Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1994. He is a former Captain of the Royal Company of Archers and a former convenor of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.
He was County Cadet Commandant for Fife from 1952 to 1965, Brigade President of the Boys' Brigade from 1966 to 1985, and Grand Master Mason of Scotland from 1961 to 1965.[6]
He is a Freeman of Bridgetown, Regina, Saskatchewan, Port Elgin, Winnipeg, Manitoba, St. Thomas, Ontario, and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Lord Elgin is a former President of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, and is the Life President of the Broomhall Curling Club. He skipped the Scottish curling teams that defeated the Governor General of Canada's teams in a series of matches in Ottawa in 1982.[7]
Lord Elgin is Chief of Clan Bruce, and President of the Bruce Family Organization[8] which is the main association for members of the Bruce family.
Family
In 1959 he married Victoria Mary Usher and they have five children:
- Charles Edward Bruce, Lord Bruce married Amanda Grimes (divorced 1996)[9]
- The Hon. Alexander Bruce
- The Hon. Adam Bruce
- The Lady Georgina Bruce
- The Lady Antonia Bruce.
The Countess is a Patroness of the Royal Caledonian Ball.[10]
The Earl succeeded to the earldoms and other titles on the death of his father in 1968.
Ancestry
Notes
- ↑ Dewar, Peter Beauclerk (2001). Burke's landed gentry of Great Britain: together with members of the titled and non-titled contemporary establishment Edition 19, Burke's Peerage, ISBN 0-9711966-0-5. p. 104
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/21/a4538621.shtml
- ↑ Video on YouTube
- ↑ Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
- ↑ List of Knights and Ladies of the Thistle
- ↑ "Conservatives at the heart of Freemasonry". The Independent.
- ↑ Video on YouTube
- ↑ "www.familyofbruce.org - Family of Bruce International, Inc. - About Us". familyofbruce.org.
- ↑ "Infamous fraudster Lady Bruce vows to return to Scotland". Deadline News.
- ↑ "Patronesses". Royal Caledonian Ball.
- ↑ James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
References
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
- "Who's Who" (2011 edition). A & C Black Publishers Ltd; 163rd Revised edition (6 Dec 2010)
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Elgin
- Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin
| Masonic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Earl of Eglinton |
Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Scotland 1961 – 1965 |
Succeeded by Ronald Orr-Ewing |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Sir John Gilmour, Bt |
Lord Lieutenant of Fife 1987 – 1999 |
Succeeded by Margaret Dean |
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| Preceded by Edward Bruce |
Earl of Elgin Earl of Kincardine 1968 – present |
Incumbent |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Kinnoull |
Gentlemen The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Elgin & Kincardine |
Succeeded by The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Wemyss |
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