Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans GCB , DL, LL.D, PC (29 August 1798 – 7 October 1877), styled Lord Elliot from 1823 to 1845, was a British politician and diplomat.

Background and education

St Germans was born in Plymouth, Devon, the son of William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans and his first wife, Lady Georgina (13 April 1769 - 4 March 1806), daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford. He was educated at Westminster School from 1809 - 1811, and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 13 December 1815.

Political career

St Germans became the Secretary of Legation at Madrid on 21 November 1821. He became Member of Parliament for Liskeard that year. Beginning his career as a Tory, he remained loyal to Robert Peel, and served as a Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1827 until 1830. Out of parliament between 1832 and 1837, he served in Peel's second government first as Chief Secretary for Ireland and later as Postmaster General. He brokered the so-called Lord Eliot Convention in Spain, which aimed to end the indiscriminate executions by firing squad of prisoners of both sides of the First Carlist War. When the debate over the Corn Laws broke the Conservative Party he followed Peel, and served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in Lord Aberdeen's coalition government. He was twice Lord Steward under Lord Palmerston. In 1860, he accompanied the Prince of Wales on his tour of Canada and the USA.

Family life

Lord St Germans married Lady Jemima Cornwallis (24 December 1803, Brome, Suffolk - 2 July 1856, Dover Street, London ), a daughter of Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquess Cornwallis, at St James Church, Westminster, on September 2 1824. They had six sons and two daughters:

1. Lady Louisa Susan Cornwallis Eliot (December 17 1825 – January 15 1911), married Walter Ponsonby, 7th Earl of Bessborough and was the mother of Edward Ponsonby, 8th Earl of Bessborough.
2. Edward John Cornwallis Eliot, Lord Eliot (April 2 1827 – 26 November 1864), born London, educated at Eton from 1839–1843, matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 21 October 1844, styled Lord Eliot from January 1845, commissioned a Cornet and Sub-lieutenant, 1st Regiment of Life Guards and subsequently Captain of that Regiment, 1852, died unmarried at Port Eliot.
3. Captain Hon. Granville Charles Cornwallis Eliot (September 9 1828 – November 5 1854), officer Coldstream Guards, killed at the Battle of Inkerman
4. William Gordon Cornwallis Eliot, 4th Earl of St Germans (December 14 1829 - March 19 1881)
5. Hon. Ernest Cornwallis Eliot (April 28 1831 – January 23 1832)
6. Lady Elizabeth Harriet Cornwallis Eliot (September 1833 – March 16 1835)
7. Henry Cornwallis Eliot, 5th Earl of St Germans (February 11 1835 – September 24 1911)
8. Colonel Hon. Charles George Cornwallis Eliot, CVO (October 16 1839 – May 22 1901), courtier and soldier, succeeded Alpin McGregor as a Gentleman Usher Daily Waiter to Queen Victoria in 1899, married on 26 October 1865 Constance Rhiannon Guest, daughter of Sir John Josiah Guest, Bt and Lady Charlotte Guest, by whom he had seven children:

#Blanche Elizabeth Eliot (18 August 1866 – 11 September 1929), married on 27 May 1909 Stephen Ormston Eaton, without issue

#Granville Eliot, 7th Earl of St Germans (22 September 1867 – 20 November 1942)

#Evelyn Radigund Eliot (31 January 1869 – 25 May 1920)

#Montague Eliot, 8th Earl of St Germans (1870–1960)

#Christian Edward Cornwallis Eliot, OBE (17 July 1872 – 20 August 1940), married first on 3 July 1897 Laura Grey Chetwode, daughter of Sir George Chetwode, 6th Baronet and had issue, and second Daisy Blossom Elkan, without issue

#Arthur Ernest Henry Eliot (13 July 1874 – 8 October 1936), married four times, without issue

#Edward Granville Eliot (3 January 1878 – 10 February 1952), married on 3 December 1907 Clara Louisa Phelips and had issue. Their daughter is the music professor, Margaret Eliot; their granddaughter is the actress Jane Asher and their grandson the music producer Peter Asher.

Lord St Germans died at St Germans on 7 October 1877, aged 79.

References

1. GRO Register of Deaths:SEP 1856 1a 135 ST GEO HAN SQ - Jemima Eliot, age unknown
2. GRO Register of Deaths:DEC 1877 5c 29 ST GERMANS Edward Granville Eliot, aged 79

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