Sir Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Baronet, of Minto

For other people named Gilbert Elliot, see Gilbert Elliot (disambiguation).

Sir Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Baronet, (of Minto) (c. 1693 – 16 April 1766) was a Scottish lawyer, politician and judge from Minto in the Scottish Borders. From 1763 until his death 3 years later, he was Lord Justice Clerk, the second most senior judge in Scotland.

The Right Honourable Sir Gilbert Elliot Bt
Lord Justice Clerk
In office 1763–1766
Preceded by	Lord Tinwald
Succeeded by	Lord Glenlee
Member of Parliament for Roxburghshire
In office 1722–1726
Preceded by	William Douglas
Succeeded by	Sir Gilbert Eliott, 3rd Bt, of Stobs
Personal details
Born	c. 1693
Died	16 April 1766(1766-04-16) (aged 72–73)
Nationality	Scottish
Spouse	Helen Stewart
Children	Gilbert Elliot Jean Elliot Andrew Elliot John Elliot
Parent	Sir Gilbert Elliot, 1st Baronet, of Minto
Alma mater	University of Utrecht

Early life

He was the oldest son of the judge Sir Gilbert Elliot, 1st Baronet, of Minto (c. 1650–1718).^[1] Elliot studied law at the University of Utrecht and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1715.^[1]

Career

He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Roxburghshire from 1722 to 1726^[1] He was an eager agriculturist, and was one of the members of an Edinburgh "committee of taste for the improvement of the town." He was a keen supporter of the Hanoverian succession, in opposition to Jacobitism.^[2]

In June 1726, he was made a judge of the Court of Session, taking the judicial title Lord Minto. He became a Lord of Justiciary in 1733, and, in 1761, Keeper of the Signet. In 1763, he was promoted to Lord Justice Clerk.^[3]

Personal life

In 1718, Elliot was married to Helen Stewart, the daughter of Sir Robert Steuart, 1st Baronet, who had been a member of the pre-union Parliament of Scotland.^[1] Together they were the parents of :^[3]

• Eleanor Elliot (1719–1797), who married John Rutherfurd in 1737.^[4]
• Sir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Baronet (1722–1777), who married Agnes Dalrymple-Murray-Kynynmound, a daughter of Hugh Dalrymple-Murray-Kynynmound.
• Jean Elliot (1727–1805), a poet who never married.
• Andrew Elliot (1728–1797), a trader in British North America who served as acting colonial governor of the Province of New York in 1783; he married twice: Eleanor McCall in 1754; and after her death in 1756, to Elisabeth Plumsted, daughter of William Plumsted, in 1760.^[5][6]
• John Elliot (1732–1808), an admiral in the Royal Navy who never married.^[7]

Sir Gilbert died on 16 April 1766 and was survived by nine children.

Descendants

Through his eldest daughter Eleanor, he was a grandfather to John Rutherfurd, MP for Roxburghshire (who married Mary Ann Leslie, the only child of Maj.-Gen. Alexander Leslie), Elizabeth Rutherfurd (who married Andrew St Clair of Herdmanston, de jure 12th Lord Sinclair, parents of Charles St Clair, 13th Lord Sinclair)^[8] and Jane Rutherfurd (who married William Oliver of Dinlabyre).^[9]

Through his son Andrew, he was a grandfather of Eleanor Elliot (c. 1756–1830), who married James Jauncey Jr.^[10] and Admiral Robert Digby,^[11] Agnes Murray Elliot (1763–1860), who married Sir David Carnegie, 4th Baronet, and Elizabeth Elliot (c. 1764–1847), who married William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart.^[12]

References

1. Simpson, J. M. (1970). R. Sedgwick (ed.). "ELLIOT, Sir Gilbert, 2nd Bt. (c. 1693–1766), of Minto, Roxburgh". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715–1754. Boydell and Brewer. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Elliot, Gilbert (1693-1766)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
3. Blackie, Jane. "Elliot, Sir Gilbert, second baronet, Lord Minto". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8659. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. Rutherford, Anna Clay Zimmerman (1986). Genealogical History of the Rutherford Family. W.K. Rutherford. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
5. Young, John Russell (1895). Memorial History of the City of Philadelphia: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1895. New-York History Company. p. 289. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
6. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography: PMHB. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1887. p. 131. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
7. Laughton. "Elliot, John (1732–1808)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
8. Burke, Bernard (1879). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Harrison. p. 1392. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
9. Tancred, George (1907). Rulewater and Its People: An Account of the Valley of the Rule and Its Inhabitants. Printed at the University Press by T. and A. Constable. p. 349. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
10. Brown, Joseph Outerbridge (1876). The Jaunceys of New York. Thitchener & Glastaeter, printers. pp. 17–19. ISBN 978-0-598-99447-9. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
11. Kassler, Michael (24 March 2021). The Diary of Queen Charlotte, 1789 and 1794: Memoirs of the Court of George III, Volume 4. Routledge. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-000-41983-2. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
12. "Plumsted family papers 1787". www2.hsp.org. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 28 October 2022.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by William Douglas	Member of Parliament for Roxburghshire 1722–1726	Succeeded by Sir Gilbert Eliott, 3rd Bt, of Stobs
Legal offices
Preceded by Lord Tinwald	Lord Justice Clerk 1763–1766	Succeeded by Lord Glenlee
Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Preceded by Gilbert Elliot	Baronet (of Minto) 1718–1766	Succeeded by Gilbert Elliot