Montague Eliot, 8th Earl of St Germans

Montague Charles Eliot, 8th Earl of St Germans, KCVO, OBE ( 13 May 1870 – 19 September 1960), styled The Honourable Montague Eliot from 1923 to 1942, was a British peer and courtier.

Eliot was born in Pimlico, Middlesex to Charles George Cornwallis Eliot (16 October 1839 – 22 May 1901) and his wife Constance Rhiannon Guest (November 1844 – 1916). He was educated at Castleden Hall School, (Farnborough, Hampshire), Charterhouse and Exeter College, Oxford, taking a BA in 1893. By 1895, he was a Barrister-at-law at the Inner Temple.

From 1901–1906, he was appointed a Gentleman Usher to King Edward VII, and from 1908–1910 a Groom-in-Waiting. From 1910–1936, he was a Gentleman Usher to King George V. During the First World War, Montague was a Lieutenant-Commander with the RNVR. He was awarded an OBE in 1919, and became Groom of the Robes from 1920–1936.

In 1923, he was awarded the MVO, and from 1924–1936 he became Extra Groom-in-Waiting to King George V. He was awarded CVO in 1928; KCVO in 1934. In 1936 he became Extra Groom-in-Waiting to King Edward VIII, and, from 1937 to 1952, Extra Groom-in-Waiting to King George VI. From 1952–1960, he was Extra Groom-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II. He had been awarded the cross of Officer of the Order of Leopold (Belgium).

On November 22, 1942, Eliot succeeded his older brother to become the 8th Earl of St Germans.

Family

He married on 22 June 1910 Helen Agnes Post (d. 1 September 1962), daughter of Arthur Post of New York, by his wife Elizabeth Wadsworth, daughter of American General James Wadsworth. They had a daughter and two sons:

• Lady Germaine Elizabeth Olive Eliot (11 April 1911 – 1991)
• Nicholas Richard Michael Eliot, 9th Earl of St Germans (1914–1988)
• Hon. (Montague) Robert Vere Eliot (29 October 1923 – 16 May 1994), contested Mansfield as a Conservative in the 1959 general election.

Eliot died on 19 September 1960 and his titles passed to his elder son, Nicholas Richard Michael Eliot.

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