William Eliot, 4th Earl of St Germans

William Gordon Cornwallis Eliot, 4th Earl of St Germans (14 December 1829 – 19 March 1881), known as Lord Eliot from 1864 to 1877, was a British diplomat and Liberal politician.

Life and career

Eliot was born at Port Eliot, Cornwall, the third but eldest surviving son of Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans, and his wife Jemima (née Cornwallis). He was educated at Eton College and then joined the Diplomatic Service. He served as Attaché at Hanover from 1849 to 1853, as Attaché at Lisbon from 1851 to 1853, as 2nd Paid Attaché at Berlin from 1853 to 1857, as 1st Paid Attaché at Constantinople from 1857 to 1858, as 1st Paid Attaché at St Petersburg from 1858 to 1859, as Secretary of Legation at Rio de Janeiro in 1859, as Secretary of Legation at Athens from 1859 to 1861, as Secretary of Legation at Lisbon from 1860 to 1861 and from 1864 to 1865, as Chargé d'Affaires at Rio de Janeiro from 1861 to 1863 and as Acting Secretary of Legation at Washington DC from 1863 to 1864.

He resigned in 1865 and was elected Member of Parliament for Devonport in 1866, a seat he held until 1868. In 1870 he was summoned to the House of Lords as through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Eliot. Lord St Germans died unmarried in March 1881, aged 51, and was succeeded by his younger brother, Henry.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of St Germans

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Ferrand John Fleming	Member of Parliament for Devonport 1866 – 1868 With: Montague Chambers	Succeeded by Montague Chambers John Delaware Lewis
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Edward Granville Eliot	Earl of St Germans 1877–1881	Succeeded by Henry Cornwallis Eliot
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Edward Granville Eliot	Baron Eliot 1870–1881 (writ of acceleration)	Succeeded by Henry Cornwallis Eliot