Sir Henry George Elliot (30 June 1817 – 30 March 1907) was a British diplomat. He was the second son of

Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 2nd Earl of Minto Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 2nd Earl of Minto, (; 16 November 178231 July 1859), styled as Viscount Melgund between 1813 and 1814, was a British diplomat and Whig politician. Background and education Minto was the eldest son of the Gilbe ...

. He was most noted for his period as ambassador at

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, and his participation in the 1876-77

Constantinople Conference The 1876–77 Constantinople Conference ( "Shipyard Conference", after the venue ''Tersane Sarayı'' "Shipyard Palace") of the Great Powers (Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia) was held in Constantinople (now Istanbul) f ...

. Elliot took a pro-Turkish line despite the ‘ Bulgarian atrocities’. He argued in a dispatch he made on 4 September 1876 "that British interests in preventing change in the Turkish empire were 'not affected by the question whether it was 10,000 or 20,000 persons who perished in the suppression'. As a result of the unpopularity in Britain of his pragmatism in the face of atrocities he was relocated to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1877. He died at home (

Ardington House Ardington is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about east of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. Since 201 ...

near

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire, it has been a ...

) in 1907.http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33002?docPos=1 H. C. G. Matthew, 'Elliot, Sir Henry George (1817–1907)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004;The Times, Monday, 1 April 1907; pg. 7; Issue 38295; col F Death of Sir Henry Elliot.

Education

Elliot was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and then

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He did not take a degree.

Early employment

Elliot's first proper employment was to work as the ''aide-de-camp'' and private secretary to

Sir John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and thro ...

in Tasmania. He worked there from 1836 to 1839. In 1840 he worked at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

as a ''précis'' writer for

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...

at the

Diplomatic service

In 1841 Elliot entered the diplomatic service. His first posting was as an ''attaché'' at

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. This was followed first, in 1848 by a position as a secretary to the legation at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

then in 1853 to Vienna and then in 1858 he was appointed Minister at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Italy

In 1859 he was appointed Minister in Naples. This was followed in 1863 by an appointment as Minister to the King of Italy. This lasted till 1867.

Istanbul

In 1867 he was appointed Ambassador at Constantinople.

Matthew's judgement on Elliot

H. C. G. Matthews, in the concluding paragraph of Elliot's entry in the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

, notes that: :''To have annoyed both

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

and

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

was unusual. Elliot, in fact, represented the accepted Foreign Office view of his day as to the need to maintain the Porte. His illiberal statements of 1876–7 should not mask his overall competence in maintaining whiggish objectives of liberal constitutionalism, at least in western Europe.''

Meyer's judgement on Elliot

Elliot's role as Ambassador to Constantinople was a central theme in a book and BBC Four TV programme aired 22 February 2010 written and presented by Sir

Christopher Meyer Sir Christopher John Rome Meyer (22 February 1944 – 27 July 2022) was a British diplomat who served as Ambassador to the United States (1997–2003), Ambassador to Germany (1997), and the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (2003� ...

, former British Ambassador to the US. Meyer examined the possibility of an ethical foreign policy. The programme argued that Elliot supported Turkey because it acted as a bulwark between Russia and the UK's interests in the middle-east and India. Elliot's critics accused him of turning "native" but he argued, and the programme lent support to this view, that there were capital considerations they had not taken into account.Meyer, Christopher (2009) Getting Our Way: 500 Years of Adventure and Intrigue: the Inside Story of British Diplomacy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson,

References

External links

*
SIR HENRY ELLIOT.—OBSERVATIONS. (Hansard, 27 March 1877)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, Henry Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College Younger sons of earls 1817 births 1907 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Denmark Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Holy See Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Italy Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Austria-Hungary