ELLIOT, Sir Gilbert, 2nd Bt. (c.1693-1766), of Minto, Roxburgh.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1722 - June 1726

Family and Education

b. c.1693, 1st s. of Sir Gilbert Elliot, 1st Bt., M.P. [S], of Minto and Headshaw, Roxburgh, Lord Minto, S.C.J., by his 2nd w. Jean, da. of Sir Andrew Carre of Cavers, Roxburgh. educ. Utrecht 1712; adv. 1715. m. (contract 4 Aug. 1718) Helen, da. of Sir Robert Stewart, 1st Bt., M.P. [S], of Allanbank, Berwick, 5s. 8da. suc. fa. 1 May 1718.

Offices Held

Ld. of session (Lord Minto) 1726-d., ld. of justiciary 1733-d., ld. justice clerk 1763-d.

Biography

Elliot’s family was a junior branch to that of Stobs. Like his father, who owed his professional success to his ties with the house of Argyll,1 he was closely associated with the Duke of Argyll and his brother, Lord Ilay, whose assistance he invoked in the case of his unfortunate namesake of Stobs. Returned for his shire in 1722, he vacated the seat on elevation to the bench in 1726 but continued to take an active part on the Argyll side in local politics. Soon after the general election of 1747, Ilay, now Duke of Argyll, wrote to Newcastle about the bestowal of a government post ‘at the desire of Lord Minto [Sir Gilbert Elliot] who supported the court interest against Mr. [Lawrence] Dundas, the commissary, and Mr. Murray of Philiphaugh’.2 Elliot’s promotion to lord justice clerk in 1763 was owing to the good offices of his more famous son Gilbert. ‘Better acquainted with the belles lettres than with the quiddities of the feudal or municipal law’,3 he died 16 Apr. 1766.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: J. M. Simpson

Notes

  • 1. G. F. S. Elliot, Border Elliots, 314.
  • 2. Add. 32712, f. 45.
  • 3. Ramsay of Ochtertyre, Scotland and Scotsmen in 18th Cent. i. 81-82.