Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 17.djvu/258

  part in the battle of Copenhagen. In April 1802 he was promoted to be commander, and in May 1803 went out to the Mediterranean as a volunteer with Nelson in the Victory. On 10 July Nelson appointed him to the Termagant sloop, and on 1 Aug. posted him to the Maidstone frigate, though owing to some irregularity the commission was not confirmed till 2 Jan. 1804 (Nelson Despatches, v. 150, 184). He was shortly afterwards attached to the squadron off Cadiz, under Sir Richard Strachan, at which time Nelson, in writing to Lord Minto, said: 'I assure you, on my word of honour, that George Elliot is at this moment one of the very best officers in our service, and his ship is in high order' (ib. v. 365). During the war Elliot continued actively employed on the home station, in the Mediterranean and the East Indies; at the reduction of Java in August 1811, and in the suppression of the Borneo pirates in June 1813. From 1827 to 1830 he commanded the Victory guardship at Portsmouth, and in September 1830 was nominated a C.B., and on 10 Jan. 1837 was advanced to flag rank. He was secretary of the admiralty from December 1834 to April 1835, and one of the lords commissioners from that time till, in September 1837, he was appointed to the command-in-chief at the Cape of Good Hope. This he held till February 1840, when he was sent on to China, to be at once commander-in-chief and joint plenipotentiary with Captain Charles Elliot [q. v.] His health, however, gave way, and in November he was compelled to invalid. He had no further service, but became, in course of seniority, vice-admiral on 13 May 1847, and admiral on 5 March 1853; in November 1862 he was made a K.C.B. He had long been in delicate health, and after a protracted illness, died in London on 24 June 1863.

He married, in 1810, Eliza Cecilia, daughter of Mr. James Ness of Osgodvie in Yorkshire, and had a numerous family; his eldest son is the present Admiral Sir George Elliot, K.C.B.

[O'Byrne's Nav. Biog. Dict.; Times, 25 June 1863; Nicolas's Nelson Despatches, freq. (see Index at end of vol. vii.)]  ELLIOT, GILBERT,  (1651–1718), judge, of the family of Eliot of Craigend, was born in 1651, being the eldest son of Gavin Eliot of Midlem Hill, Roxburghshire. For many years he practised successfully as a writer in Edinburgh. In 1679, when William Veitch, the covenanting minister, who afterwards remained his lifelong friend, was arrested and tried for his nonconformity, Eliot was his agent, and went specially to Lord Shaftesbury to protest against the illegality of the proceedings against Veitch. He succeeded in procuring a royal order to stay the proceedings against Veitch, and thus became well thought of by the whig leaders. While the Earl of Argyll lay in prison he acted for him, and by great promptitude secured his escape before sentence was pronounced upon him. He became deeply implicated in the subsequent plots against James, went over to Holland to prepare for the Earl of Argyll's rising, acted as clerk to the council which the rebels held at Rotterdam, collected funds among the churches of Geneva and Germany for a rising in Scotland, and, returning to Scotland, was actually in arms with the earl. He escaped by flight, but was convicted and suffered forfeiture before the justices on 17 March, and was condemned to death by the court of justiciary on 16 July 1685 (Acts Scots Parl. viii. 342, 490, xi. 259, 462;, Decisions, i. 366; , Sufferings of Church of Scotland, iv. 230). Having obtained the royal pardon he applied on 8 Nov. 1687 for admission to the Faculty of Advocates, but failing to pass the required examination, he attempted it again with success on 14 July 1688, and was admitted advocate on 22 Nov. following. Having been active in the Prince of Orange's party, and a member of the deputation from Scotland which invited him to land in England, his forfeiture was rescinded by act of parliament on 22 July 1690, and in 1692 he was knighted and appointed clerk to the privy council. He now enjoyed a large practice, and, though a member, was allowed to plead before parliament (, Decisions, i. 475; Notes, 230). He was created a baronet in 1700 and a judge of the court of session, in succession to Lord Phesdo, with the title of Lord Minto, on 28 June 1705, and was also a member of the court of justiciary. From 1703 he represented in parliament the county of Roxburgh, and his return was petitioned against in 1710. He was a commissioner of supply in several years from 1696, and opposed the abolition of the separate Scots parliament. He died on 1 May 1718. He was twice married: first, to Helen Stephenson, by whom he had one daughter, and, secondly, to Jean, daughter of Sir Andrew Carre, by whom he had one son, Gilbert (1693-1766), who is separately noticed.

[Brunton and Haig's Senators, p. 480; Barton's Hist. of Scotland; Acts Scots Parl.; Veitch's Memoirs, p. 99; Luttrell's Diary; Carstares State Papers, 625; Life and Letters of Sir Gilbert Elliot. First Earl of Minto. from 1715 to 1806, edited by the Countess of Minto, 1874.] 