Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto, (; 23 April 175121 June 1814), known as Sir Gilbert Elliott, 4th Baronet until 1797, and The Lord Minto from 1797 to 1814, was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

between 1776 and 1795. He was

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

of the short-lived

Anglo-Corsican Kingdom The Anglo-Corsican Kingdom (Italian: ''Regno Anglo-Corso''; Corsican: ''Riame anglo-corsu'', ''Riamu anglu-corsu''), also known as the Kingdom of Corsica (Italian: ''Regno di Corsica''; Corsican: ''Regnu di Corsica''), was a client state of th ...

from 1793 to 1796 and went on to become

Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

between July 1807 and 1813.

Background and education

Minto was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, the eldest son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Baronet, and Agnes, daughter of

Hugh Dalrymple-Murray-Kynynmound Hugh Dalrymple-Murray-Kynnynmond ( Hugh Dalrymple) (1695 – 23 December 1741), was a Scottish landowner, lawyer and journalist. Early life He was a younger son of Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet and Janet ( Rochead) Murray Dalrymple. At the time ...

.Thorne, R.G., "Elliot Murray Kynynmound, Sir Gilbert, 4th Bt. (1751-1814), of Minto, Roxburgh.", The History of Parliament
/ref> He was the nephew of John Elliott,

Governor of Newfoundland The lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador () is the viceregal representative in Newfoundland and Labrador of the , who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as ...

, Andrew Elliot the 41st

Colonial Governor of New York The territory which would later become the state of New York was settled by European colonists as part of the New Netherland colony (parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware) under the command of the Dutch West India ...

, and of

Jean Elliot Jean Elliot (April 1727 – 29 March 1805), also known as Jane Elliot, was a Scottish poet. She wrote one of the most famous versions of '' The Flowers of the Forest'', a song lamenting the Scottish army's defeat in the Battle of Flodden. ...

the poet. Hugh Elliot was his younger brother and Sir Charles Elliot his nephew. About 1763 Elliot and his brother Hugh were sent to Paris, where their studies were supervised by the Scottish philosopher

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment phil ...

, and where they became intimate with

Honoré Mirabeau Honoré is a name of French origin and may refer to several people or places: Given name Sovereigns of Monaco Lords of Monaco * Honoré I of Monaco Princes of Monaco * Honoré II of Monaco * Honoré III of Monaco * Honoré IV of Monaco * Honor� ...

. Having passed the winters of 1766 and 1767 at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, Minto entered Christ Church, Oxford, and on quitting the university he was called to the Bar.

Career

In 1776 Minto entered Parliament as an independent Whig MP for

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

. He became very friendly with

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...

, whom he helped in the attack on

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-General ...

and

Sir Elijah Impey Sir Elijah Impey (13 June 17321 October 1809) was a British judge, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, Chief Justice of the Sadr Diwani Adalat and MP for New Romney. Life He was born the younge ...

, and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the office of

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

, in the elections of January 1789 and June 1789. In 1793 he was appointed Civil Commissioner for Dunkirk which was then under Siege of Dunkirk (1793) by Coalition forces. However, the siege proved unsuccessful and the appointment perforce remained only on paper. Later he was given a similar appointment for

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, which proved similarly abortive. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1793 and in 1794 he was appointed as

of the short-lived

. In 1797 he assumed the additional names of Murray and Kynynmound and was created Baron Minto, of Minto in the County of Roxburgh. From 1799 to 1801 he was Envoy-Extraordinary to Austria, and having been for a few months President of the Board of Control he was appointed

at the end of 1806, with his term starting on 31 July 1807. The district of

Minto Minto may refer to: Places Antarctica *Mount Minto (Antarctica) Australia *Minto, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Minto railway station * Minto County, Western Australia * Parish of Minto, New South Wales Canada * Minto City, British C ...

in New South Wales, Australia, (now a suburb of Sydney) was named after him in 1809. In 1810 he successfully requested the release of the British navigator, Matthew Flinders, from his six-year imprisonment on

Isle of France (Mauritius) Isle de France () was the name of the Indian Ocean island which is known as Mauritius and its dependent territories between 1715 and 1810, when the area was under the French East India Company and a part of the French colonial empire. Under ...

. He governed until 1813, during which he expanded the British presence in the area to the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

, and other Dutch possessions in the East Indies during the Napoleonic Wars. He was then created Viscount Melgund, of Melgund in the County of Forfar, and Earl of Minto, of Minto in the County of Roxburgh.

Family

Minto married Anna Maria Amyand (26 March 1752 – 8 March 1829), daughter of

Sir George Amyand, 1st Baronet Sir George Amyand, 1st Baronet (26 September 1720 – 16 August 1766) was a British Whig politician, physician and merchant. Origins He was the second son of Claudius Amyand, Surgeon-in-Ordinary to King George II, by his wife Mary Rabache, a ...

and sister of Lord Malmesbury, in 1777. She was known as Lady Elliot, her formal title being Countess of Minto. The ship '' Lady Elliot'', built in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, India, in 1815, inspired its captain to name an island off the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

coast

Lady Elliot Island Lady Elliot Island is the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The island lies north-east of Bundaberg and covers an area of approximately . It is part of the Capricorn and Bunker Group of islands and is owned by the C ...

. The ship was probably later wrecked on Lady Elliot Reef. Their children were: *Anna Maria (d. 18 Oct. 1855) married Lt.-Gen. Sir Rufane Shawe Donkin. No issue. *Harry Mary Frances (d. July 1825). Died young. * Gilbert, 2nd Earl Minto *Admiral the Hon. Sir George Elliot *Hon. John Elliot (b. 1788, d. 1862) was a politician. *Catherine Sarah (circa 1798-25 June 1862), who married John Boileau, 1st Baronet. Had issue. Lord Minto died at Stevenage, Hertfordshire, on 21 June 1814, aged 63, and was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

, along with his brother Hugh. The inscription reads: He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son,

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minto, Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl Of 1751 births 1814 deaths Politicians from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Peers of Great Britain created by George III Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Governors-General of India Elliot, Gilbert Elliot, Gilbert Elliot, Gilbert Elliot, Gilbert Elliot, Gilbert Elliot, Gilbert British rule in Indonesia Fellows of the Royal Society Burials at Westminster Abbey 19th-century Dutch East Indies people Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Holy Roman Emperor Presidents of the Board of Control

Background and education

Career

Family

References

Further reading

External links