Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury (later styled

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

) and 2nd Earl of Elgin, PC, FRS (ca. March 1626 – 20 October 1685), was a Scottish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1660 to 1663, when he inherited his father's title as

Earl of Elgin Earl of Elgin ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 Ju ...

Life

Robert Bruce was the son of Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin by his first wife, Anne Chichester. His portrait, as "Lord Kinloss" at the age of 9 was painted by Cornelius Johnson. He went on a Grand Tour in Europe in the years 1642 to 1646. Coats of Arms of the Earl of Elgin

During his father's lifetime, Lord Bruce, as he was styled, was Member of Parliament for

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

in the Convention Parliament in 1660 and the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

in 1661, until he succeeded to his father's titles, becoming the 2nd Earl of Elgin in 1663.History of Parliament Online - Robert, Lord Bruce
/ref> The following year, he was created Earl of Ailesbury on 18 March 1664, as well as Viscount Bruce of Ampthill and Baron Bruce of Skelton, for his services in procuring the

English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

. He was

Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire. Since 1711, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Bedfordshire. * William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton 1549–1551 *Oliver St John, 1st Baron ...

from 1660 with the Earl of Cleveland, and solely, from 1667 to his death. In October 1678, Lord Ailesbury was invested as a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

(PC) and a

Gentleman of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the Royal Household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Households of the United Kingdo ...

. He was

Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representative in the counties of the United Kingdom. Lord Lieutenants are supported by an appointe ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

from 1681 to his death. In 1685, he was invested as a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

on 30 July 1685. Robert Bruce died in 1685, aged 58, at Houghton House, just north of Ampthill, Bedfordshire, and was buried on 26 October of that year, at

Maulden Maulden is a village and civil parish located in the county of Bedfordshire. The village is located 1.5 miles east of Ampthill and about south of Bedford. It has about 1,250 homes and 3130 residents. Maulden is referred to in the Domesday Bo ...

. His widow, the Dowager Countess of Ailesbury, built Ampthill House nearby in 1686, originally as a

dower house A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish estate (house), estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house fr ...

. By this time, the Bruce family had extensive estates, among them were: Whorlton Castle, West Tanfield, Manfield, and Clerkenwell Priory.

Marriage and progeny

Robert Bruce married Lady Diana Grey, daughter of

Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford ( 1599 – 21 August 1673), known as the Lord Grey of Groby from 1614 to 1628, was an English nobleman and military leader. He was the eldest son of Sir John Grey and Elizabeth Nevill. His mother was probabl ...

and Lady Anne Cecil, on 16 February 1645. They had seventeen children, nine of whom seem to have survived to adulthood: *Hon. Edward Bruce (b. 1644/5, d. 1662) *

Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

(b. 1656, d. 16 December 1741) *Hon. Henry Bruce (b. 1656?, d. young) *Lady Diana Bruce (d. 15 July 1672), married firstly, Sir Seymour Shirley, 5th Baronet, on 29 January 1666; married secondly, on 10 November 1671, John Manners, Lord Roos, who became

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...

after her death. *Lady Mary Bruce (b. 31 December 1657, bur. 15 May 1711), married Sir William Walter, 2nd Baronet. *Lady Christiana (or Christian) Bruce (b.1658), married firstly, on 4 June 1677 at

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825. Histor ...

, John Rolle (d.1689), eldest son and heir apparent of Sir John Rolle of

Stevenstone Stevenstone is a former Manorialism, manor within the parish of St Giles in the Wood, near Great Torrington, North Devon. It was the chief seat of the Rolle family, one of the most influential and wealthy of Devon families, from c. 1524 un ...

, Devon (d.1706), with whom she had two sons, Robert Rolle (-18 November 1710) and John Rolle (1679–1730); married secondly, Sir Richard Gayer (or Geyer/Gere) of

Stoke Poges Stoke Poges () is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred north-north-east of Slough, its post town, and is southeast of Farnham Common. In 2021, it had a population of 5,067. Geography Hamlets withi ...

, Buckinghamshire. *Lady Anne Bruce (1st Anne, b. , d. before 1717), married Sir William Rich, 2nd Baronet in 1672. *Hon. Robert Bruce (1st Robert?, d. 1652) *Hon. Charles Bruce (d. 1661) *Hon. Bernard (or Barnard) Bruce (b. 1666, d. 1669) *Lady Arabella Bruce (d. young) *Lady Anne Charlotte Bruce (2nd Anne, d. 13 March 1713), married Sir Nicholas Bagenal of

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

, a grandson of Henry Bagenal.Stirnet: Bagnall01 (Sir Nicholas Bagnall/Bagenall of Newry)
/ref> *Lady Henrietta Bruce, married Thomas Ogle. *Hon. Robert Bruce (2nd Robert?, d. 1728) *Hon. James Bruce (d. 1738) *Lady Christian Bruce (2nd Christian?, d. young). *Lady Elizabeth Bruce (d. young).

Notes

References

External links

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ailesbury 1626 births 1685 deaths 2

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

Fellows of the Royal Society Lord-lieutenants of Bedfordshire Lord-lieutenants of Cambridgeshire Lord-lieutenants of Huntingdonshire Members of the Privy Council of England English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679