Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto, PC,FRSE (/kɪˈnɪnmənd/;[1] 23 April 1751 – 21 June 1814), known as Sir Gilbert Elliott, 4th Baronet until 1797, and the Lord Minto from 1797 to 1813, was a British 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 1794 to 1796 and went on to become Governor-General of India between July 1807 and 1813.
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.[4]
He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1793 and in 1794 he was appointed as viceroy of the short-lived Anglo-Corsican Kingdom.[citation needed] In 1797 he assumed the additional names of Murray and 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,[3] with his term starting on 31 July 1807. 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.
Lord Minto died at Stevenage, Hertfordshire, on 21 June 1814, aged 63, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, along with his brother Hugh. The inscription reads:[9]
Gilbert Elliot, Earl of Minto eldest son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, Baronet. Born April 23, 1751, Viceroy of Corsica 1794, Envoy Extraordinary to Vienna 1779, President of the Board of Control 1806, Governor General of India 1806-13, created Baron Minto of Minto and Viscount Melgund and Earl of Minto. Died June 21, 1814.
He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Gilbert.[9]
References
^Pointon, G. E. (1983). BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 137. ISBN0-19-282745-6.
Das, Amita; Das, Aditya. Defending British India against Napoleon: The Foreign Policy of Governor-General Lord Minto, 1807-13 ( Rochester: Boydell Press, 2016) ISBN978-1-78327-129-0. online review