Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto

Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto, PC, FRSE (23 April 1751 – 21 June 1814), known as Sir Gilbert Elliott between 1777 and 1797 and as The Lord Minto from 1797, was a Scottish diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1776 and 1795. He was viceroy of the short-lived Anglo-Corsican Kingdom from 1793 to 1796 and went on to become Governor-General of India between 1807 and 1813.

The Right Honourable The Earl of Minto PC FRSE
by James Atkinson
Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William
In office 31 July 1807 – 4 October 1813
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	Sir George Barlow (Acting Governor-General)
Succeeded by	The Earl of Moira
President of the Board of Control
In office 1806–1806
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	Viscount Castlereagh
Succeeded by	Thomas Grenville
Viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom
In office 1793–1796
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	New Office
Succeeded by	British Withdrawal
Personal details
Born	Gilbert Elliot (1751-04-23)23 April 1751 Edinburgh
Died	21 June 1814(1814-06-21) (aged 63) Stevenage, Hertfordshire
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Anna Maria Amyand ( m. 1777⁠–⁠invalid year)
Children	Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 2nd Earl of Minto George Elliot John Edmund Elliot
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh Christ Church, Oxford

Background and education

Minto was born in Edinburgh, the eldest son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Baronet, and Agnes, daughter of Hugh Dalrymple-Murray-Kynynmound.[1] He was the nephew of John Elliott, Governor of Newfoundland, Andrew Elliot the 41st Colonial Governor of New York, and of Jean Elliot 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, and where they became intimate with Honoré Mirabeau. Having passed the winters of 1766 and 1767 at the University of Edinburgh, Minto entered Christ Church, Oxford, and on quitting the university he was called to the Bar.[2][1]

Career

In 1776 Minto entered Parliament as an independent Whig MP for Morpeth. He became very friendly with Edmund Burke, whom he helped in the attack on Warren Hastings and Sir Elijah Impey, and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the office of Speaker,[2] 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, which proved similarly abortive [3].

He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1793 and in 1794 he was appointed as viceroy of the short-lived Anglo-Corsican Kingdom. In 1797 he assumed the additional names of Murray-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 Governor-General of India at the end of 1806.[2] The district of Minto 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). He governed until 1813, during which he expanded the British presence in the area to the Moluccas, Java, 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

Lord Minto died at Stevenage, Hertfordshire, on 21 June 1814, aged 63, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.[4] He had married Anna Maria Amyand, daughter of Sir George Amyand, 1st Baronet, in 1777.[1] He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Gilbert. Lady Minto died in March 1829.

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 was a politician.
• Catherine Sarah (circa 1798-25 June 1862), who married John Boileau, 1st Baronet. Had issue.

References

1. Thorne, R.G., "Elliot Murray Kynynmound, Sir Gilbert, 4th Bt. (1751-1814), of Minto, Roxburgh.", The History of Parliament
2. Chisholm 1911, p. 563.
3. Mount, Ferdinand (2015). The Tears of the Rajas: Mutiny, Money and Marriage in India 1805-1905. Simon & Schuster. p. 108.
4. "Gilbert and Hugh Elliot". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 15 July 2014.

Further reading

• Das, Amita; Das, Aditya. Defending British India against Napoleon: The Foreign Policy of Governor-General Lord Minto, 1807-13 ( Rochester: Boydell Press, 2016) ISBN 978-1-78327-129-0. online review
• Harrington, Jack (2010), Sir John Malcolm and the Creation of British India, Chs. 1–3, New York: Palgrave Macmillan., ISBN 978-0-230-10885-1

Attribution:

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Minto, Earls of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 563–564.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Minto

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Peter Delmé Hon. William Byron	Member of Parliament for Morpeth 1776–1777 With: Peter Delme	Succeeded by Peter Delmé John Egerton
Preceded by Sir Gilbert Elliot	Member of Parliament for Roxburghshire 1777–1784	Succeeded by Sir George Douglas
Preceded by John Vaughan John Delaval	Member of Parliament for Berwick 1786–1790 With: John Vaughan	Succeeded by John Vaughan Charles Carpenter
Preceded by Roger Wilbraham James Bland Burges	Member of Parliament for Helston 1790–1795 With: Stephen Lushington	Succeeded by Stephen Lushington Charles Abbot
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sir Morton Eden	British Minister to Austria 1799–1801	Succeeded by Arthur Paget
Government offices
New office	Viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom 1793–1796	British withdrawal
Preceded by Viscount Castlereagh	President of the Board of Control 1806	Succeeded by Thomas Grenville
Preceded by Sir George Barlow (acting)	Governor-General of India 1807–1813	Succeeded by The Earl of Moira
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Minto 1797–1813	Succeeded by Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound
New creation	Viscount Melgund 1813–1814	Succeeded by Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound
New creation	Earl of Minto 1813–1814	Succeeded by Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound
Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Preceded by Gilbert Elliot	Baronet (of Minto) 1777–1814	Succeeded by Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound