Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 17.djvu/322

  1746; The Principles of the British Constitution asserted in An Apology for Lord Balmerino, 1746; Gent. Mag. vol. xvi., and Scots Mag. vol. viii., both of which give copious details in regard to the trial and execution; Jesse's The Pretenders and their Adherents; Walpole's Letters; Douglas's Scotch Peerage (Wood), i. 188-9.]  ELPHINSTONE, GEORGE KEITH, (1746–1823), admiral, fifth son of the tenth Lord Elphinstone and grand-nephew of Marshal Keith, earl Marischal, after whom he was named, was born at Elphinstone Tower, near Stirling, on 7 Jan. 1745-6. His second brother, Charles, was a midshipman of the Prince George, and perished with her on 18 April 1768 [see ]. The third son, William, also entered the navy, but quitted it while still a lad for the service of the East India Company, in which he eventually acquired a considerable fortune. George determined on following his brothers' example, and in 1761 was entered on board the Gosport of 44 guns, under the care of Captain John Jervis, better known as Earl St. Vincent. He afterwards served successively in the Juno, Lively, and Emerald frigates, and in 1767 entered on board an East India Company's ship, commanded by his brother William, with whom he made a voyage to China, for a private venture in which his grand-uncle advanced him 2,000l., thereby enabling him, we are told, to lay the foundation of a pecuniary independence. In December 1769 he was appointed to the Stag frigate going out to the East Indies with the broad pennant of Commodore Sir John Lindsay, by whom, on 28 June 1770, he was promoted to a lieutenant's vacancy. In October he left the Stag and returned to England, and in the following May was appointed to the Trident, flagship of Sir Peter Denis in the Mediterranean. On 18 Sept. 1772 he was promoted to command the Scorpion sloop, and to bring her to England. In December he returned to the Mediterranean in the Scorpion, and commanded her, for the most part at Minorca and on the coast of Italy, till the summer of 1774. On 11 May 1775 he was posted to the Romney, in which he convoyed the trade to Newfoundland, and on his return was appointed in March 1776 to the Perseus frigate. In July he was sent out to New York in charge of convoy, and during the following years was actively employed in cruising against the enemy's privateers or blockade runners, and in co-operating with or supporting the troops on shore. In April and May 1780 he served on shore at the reduction of Charleston, and was afterwards sent to England carrying Captain Hamond with the despatches. On the Perseus paying off, he was immediately appointed to the Warwick of 50 guns, and during the autumn and early winter was principally employed cruising on the Soundings for the protection of the homeward-bound trade. In September 1780 he was returned to parliament for Dumbartonshire. On 5 Jan. 1781, he fell in with and captured the Dutch ship Rotterdam of 50 guns — a capture rendered more brilliant by the fact that a few days before the Rotterdam had beaten off the Isis, a ship of the same nominal force. A few weeks later, 27 March 1781, the Warwick sailed from Cork with a convoy for North America, and continued on that station till the peace. Towards the end of 1781 Prince William Henry, then a midshipman of the Prince George [see ], was placed for some time under Elphinstone's care, and was still with him on 16 Sept. 1782, when the Warwick, in company with the Lion, Vestal, and Bonetta sloop, drove ashore, at the mouth of the Delaware, and captured the Aigle, a powerful 40-gun frigate, together with two smaller vessels. The Gloire, another frigate, escaped up the river into shallow water. On the return of the Warwick to New York, Elphinstone, whose health was failing, was appointed to the Carysfort for the passage to England, where he arrived in the end of November.

For the next ten years Elphinstone lived at home or in London, attending to his duties in parliament as member for Dumbartonshire and after 1790 for Stirlingshire. During this time also he married, 10 April 1787, Jane, eldest daughter and coheiress of Colonel William Mercer of Aldie(, Peerage, s.n. 'Nairne'). It was not till war with France was imminent that he applied for a ship; and on 2 Feb. 1793 he was appointed to the Robust of 74 guns, in which a few months later he went out to the Mediterranean with Lord Hood. By the middle of August the fleet was off Toulon, which after some little negotiation was delivered over to the English. On 27 Aug. Elphinstone was landed, with fifteen hundred men, to take possession of Fort La Malgue; and on the 30th, with a joint English and Spanish force numbering six hundred men, he attacked and routed a body of French, which had advanced as far as Ollioules. According to James (i. 77), 'the success of Captain Elphinstone in this affair gained him many compliments on his knowledge of military tactics, so little expected in an officer of the navy.' He had, however, already had some experience of shore fighting at Charleston; and through