Family and Education

b. c.1704, 1st s. of William Elliot of Wells, Roxburgh, lace merchant of London, by his w. Eleanor. m. 4 June 1737, Lady Frances d’Auverquerque, 1st da. and coh. of Henry, Earl of Grantham, 1s. d.v.p. suc. fa. 1728.

Offices Held

Cornet R. Horse Gds. 1722; capt. 10 Drags. 1723; maj. 2nd tp. Horse Gren. Gds. 1737, lt.-col. 1741; equerry to George II 1743-60.

Biography

William Elliot’s father came from Scotland to London as a young man, made a fortune there in trade, and bought an estate in Scotland.1 The son, mentioned by the 1st Lord Egmont as ‘by family a gentleman, though son to a laceman’,2 became a professional soldier in one of the best regiments and married rank. In 1741 he succeeded his commanding officer William Duckett both in the regiment and as Member for Calne, soon afterwards obtaining a place at court and retiring from the army. Supporting the Administration in all recorded divisions, he described himself to Newcastle in 1751, in connexion with an application for the place of surveyor, as ‘a hearty and steadfast well wisher to [your] Grace and family’,3 but he did not stand again. He died 7 June 1764.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: R. S. Lea

Notes

• 1. W. Elliot, Elliots of Brugh and Wells, 62, 64-66; G. Tancred, Rulewater and its People, 202-4.
• 2. HMC Egmont Diary, ii. 414.
• 3. 29 Apr. 1751, Add. 32724, f. 268.