John Elphinstone, 13th Lord Elphinstone, 1st Baron Elphinstone, (23 June 1807 – 19 July 1860) was a Scottish soldier, politician and colonial administrator. He was twice elected to the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

as a Scottish Representative peer, serving once from 14 January 1833 to 29 December 1834 and then again from 8 September 1847 to 23 April 1859. His political career also included the governorships of Madras and of

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

Life

The only son of

John Elphinstone, 12th Lord Elphinstone John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

in the peerage of Scotland, he was born on 23 June 1807. He succeeded his father as Lord Elphinstone in May 1813, and entered the army in 1826 as a cornet in the Royal Horse Guards. He was promoted lieutenant in 1828, and captain in 1832, and was a lord in waiting to

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

from 1835 to 1837. The king made him a

Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...

in 1836, in which year he was sworn of the privy council. In 1837, he left the Guards on being appointed governor of Madras by

Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...

; it was said at the time that his appointment was made in order to dissipate a rumour that the young

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

had fallen in love with him.See: Perry, Roland, ''The Queen, Her Lover and the Most Notorious Spy in History: The Intriguing True Story of Queen Victoria's Secret'', Allen & Unwin, (Crows Nest), 2014. He was governor of Madras from 1837 to 1842; he built a house at Káiti, in the

Nilgiri Hills The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

. On resigning his governorship in 1842 he travelled for some years, and explored Kashmir. He returned to England in 1845, and in 1847 was appointed by

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and a ...

to be a lord in waiting to the queen, an office which he held until 1852, and again under

Lord Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in ...

's administration from January to October 1853, when he was appointed governor of Bombay. During this governorship the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

broke out. Elphinstone checked the rising at a few places in his presidency, and put down the insurrection of the Rajah of

Sholapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a branch lin ...

. He discovered a conspiracy in Bombay itself, and he seized the ringleaders. and prevented the conspiracy from coming to anything. He sent many of his troops elsewhere. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1858, and on 21 May 1859, on his return to England, he was created a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Elphinstone of Elphinstone, Stirlingshire. He died unmarried in King Street, St. James's, London, on 19 July 1860, when his peerage of the United Kingdom became extinct.

Life

References

Further reading