Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Sir George Augustus Elliot (25 September 1813 – 13 December 1901) was a British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

and politician.

Naval career

He was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, the son of Admiral Sir George Elliot. He entered the navy in November 1827, and was made lieutenant on 12 November 1834. Until 1837 he served aboard HMS ''Astraea'' along with Lord Edward Russell, also later to become a Member of Parliament. On 15 January 1838 he was made captain of the brig ''Columbine'' at the Cape and South Africa stations, under the direct command of his father, capturing six slavers in the two years he served in this position. In February 1840 he went to China with his father, and on 3 June was given command of HMS ''Volage'' after the death of its previous captain, returning to England in 1841 with his invalided father on board as a passenger. From 1843 to 1846 Elliot commanded the frigate HMS ''Eurydice'', designed by his father, on the North American station, and in December 1849 he was appointed to the frigate HMS ''Phaeton''. She was removed from active duty in 1853, and in January 1854 Elliot commissioned HMS ''James Watt'', one of the first screw battleships, which he commanded in the Baltic campaigns of 1854 and 1855, despite the poor performance of the ship, and the dissatisfaction of Vice-Admiral Charles Napier. On 24 February 1858 Elliot became rear-admiral, and was then captain of the fleet to Sir Charles Fremantle, commanding the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...

. Between 1859 and 1860 he was a member of the

Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom The Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom was a committee formed in 1859 to enquire into the ability of the United Kingdom to defend itself against an attempted invasion by a foreign power, and to advise the British Government on ...

and signed a report which concluded that the

would be unable to defend the British Isles in the event of an invasion. In 1861 he was considered for the post of controller of the navy, which was given to

Robert Spencer Robinson Admiral Sir Robert Spencer Robinson, (6 January 1809 – 27 July 1889) was a British naval officer, who served as two five-year terms as Controller of the Navy from February 1861 to February 1871, and was therefore responsible for the procureme ...

. Between 1863 and 1865 he was superintendent of

HMNB Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...

. On 12 September 1865 he became vice-admiral, and then was repeatedly on royal commissions on naval issues. In a dissenting report appended to the 1871 committee on designs, Elliot and Alfred Ryder, who believed that the ram was the primary weapon of naval combat, pressed for increased freeboard, the retention of sailing rig, and the concentration of armour. The direct result of this report was the construction of the battleship HMS ''Temeraire''. In 1870 Elliot reached the rank of admiral, and in 1874 he was elected

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP for Chatham; but he resigned his seat in 1875, on being appointed

Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Thomas Williams (Royal Navy officer), Si ...

. On 2 June 1877 he was nominated a KCB, and the following year, on 26 September, he was placed on the retired list. He continued to occupy himself with the study of naval questions after retirement, and published in 1885 ''A Treatise on Future Naval Battles and how to Fight them''. He was an active member of the

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi) is a defence and security think tank with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1831 by the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley ...

He died in London on 13 December 1901, after a brief illness.

Family

On 1 August 1842 he married Hersey Susan Sidney Wauchope, daughter of Colonel Wauchope, with whom he had several children. Their daughter Elizabeth Georgina Frances Elliot married George Carnegie, 9th Earl of Northesk, while another daughter, Nina Helen, married Sir Thomas Butler.

Cricket

Elliot is recorded as having played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, established in 1820, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. The club was recognised as holding first-class cricket, first-class status until 2020. The university played ...

in two

first-class matches First class (or 1st class, Firstclass) generally implies a high level of service, importance or quality. Specific uses of the term include: Books and comics * ''First Class'', a comic strip in ''The Dandy'' (1983-1998) * ''X-Men: First Class' ...

in 1831. However, at that time he was already in the Navy, and ''

Alumni Cantabrigienses ''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900'' is a biographical register of former members of the University of Cambridge whic ...

'' has no record of his having attended the University.

References

*P. H. Colomb, ''Memoirs of Admiral the Right Honble. Sir Astley Cooper Key'' (1898) *A. J. Marder, ''The anatomy of British sea power'', American edn (1940) *A. D. Lambert, ''The Crimean War: British grand strategy, 1853–56'' (1990)

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, George Augustus 1813 births 1901 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English cricketers English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 19th-century British sportsmen Cambridge University cricketers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy admirals UK MPs 1874–1880 Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War

Naval career

Family

Cricket

See also

References

External links