Edward Ellice (MP for St Andrews)
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Edward Ellice the Younger (19 August 1810 – 2 August 1880) was a British Liberal Party politician and landowner.
- Politician
- landowner
Eliza Stewart
Edward Ellice the Younger | |
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| Born | 19 August 1810 London |
| Died | 2 August 1880 (aged 69) |
| Known for |
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| Spouse(s) | Katherine Jane Balfour Eliza Stewart |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Robert Ellice (uncle) Alexander Ellice (uncle) Russell Ellice (uncle) |
Life
He was the eldest son of Edward Ellice, from his first marriage to Hannah Althea Grey, the youngest sister of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey.[1] The Ellice family was English by descent, and had settled in Aberdeenshire in the mid-17th century.[2] Edward Ellice was born in London in 1810[3] and was educated at Eton College (1823–1836) and at Trinity College, Cambridge.[1] He matriculated at the University of Cambridge on the 6 June 1828 and in 1831 was awarded a master of arts degree.[3]
In 1832, he was appointed as Private Secretary to John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham for his diplomatic mission to Russia.[3] Lord Durham was a close friend and a relative of Ellice's father, having married the Earl Grey's second daughter.[3] Ellice was an unsuccessful candidate for Inverness Burghs in the 1835 general election, but was elected to represent Huddersfield in a May 1837 by-election. In the general election that year he was elected to represent St Andrews Burghs, a seat he held until 1880.[3]
Ellice continued as Durham's private secretary during his term as Governor-General of the Province of Canada; whilst he was working in Canada, his wife Katherine and her sister were captured for six days during the Rebellions of 1837–1838.[2]
He remained a backbencher throughout his political career, taking special interest in the reform of the Scottish Poor Laws.[3] He supported the idea of "clearance", but viewed indiscriminate forcible eviction of the peasantry as "cruel and indefensible".[3]
He was offered a peerage by William Gladstone in 1869, but declined the offer,[4] and retired from Parliament in early 1880, shortly before his death aged 69.[3]
Ellice married the diarist Katherine Jane Balfour, daughter of General Balfour of Balbirnie, in 1834. She accompanied him to Russia and Canada.[2] In 1859 she was hostess to the artist Richard Doyle who gifted her an illustrated diary of a journey to the islands of Rona and Skye.[5] Following her death in 1864, Ellice married in 1867 Eliza Stewart, daughter of Thomas Campbell Hagart of Bantaskine, widow of Alexander Spiers of Elderslie.[4]
Ellice owned the large Scottish Highlands sporting estate of Invergarry, where the architect David Bryce built Invergarry House (now the Glengarry Castle Hotel) for him between 1866 and 1869[6]