Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin

Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin

Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, 13th Earl of Kincardine, KG GCSI, GCIE, PC (16 May 184918 January 1917) was a British statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1894 to 1899.

Lord Bruce (as he was known until his father's death in 1863) was born in Montreal, while his father was serving as Governor-General of Canada. Educated at Glenalmond, Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, Elgin entered politics as a Liberal, serving as First Commissioner of Works under Gladstone in 1886.

Career as Viceroy

Following in his father's footsteps, Elgin was made Viceroy of India in 1894. His viceroyalty was not a particularly notable one. Elgin himself did not enjoy the pomp and ceremony associated with the viceroyalty, and his conservative instincts were not well suited to a time of economic and social unrest.

Indian Famine

During his time as viceroy, famine broke out in India, in which Elgin admitted up to 4. 5 million people died. Other estimates put the death toll at 11 million. Davis, Mike. Late Victorian Holocausts. 1. Verso, 2000. ISBN 1859847390 pg 158]

Return to England

He returned to England in 1899 and was made a Knight of the Garter. From 1902 to 1903, Elgin was made chairman of the commission that investigated the conduct of the Second Boer War. When the Liberals returned to power in 1905, Elgin became Secretary of State for the Colonies (with Winston Churchill as his Under-Secretary). As colonial secretary, he pursued a conservative policy, and opposed the generous settlement of the South African question proposed by Prime Minister Campbell-Bannerman, which was enacted more in spite of the Colonial Secretary's opposition than due to his efforts. Elgin retired from public life in 1908, dying nine years later at the family estate in Dunfermline.

Notes

ee Also

*Famine in India


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Edward Bruce, 10th Earl of Elgin — Edward James Bruce, 10th Earl of Elgin, 14th Earl of Kincardine KT, CMG, TD JP (9 June 1881 ndash; 27 November 1968) was the son of Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin. On 5 January 1921, he married Hon. Katherine Elizabeth Cochrane,… …   Wikipedia

  • Earl of Elgin — The title Earl of Elgin (IPA: /ˈɛl gɪn/) was created on June 21, 1633 in the Peerage of Scotland for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce of Whorlton in the Peerage of England on July 30, 1641. His son, Robert,… …   Wikipedia

  • Elgin, Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th earl of — ▪ British viceroy of India born , May 16, 1849, near Montreal died Jan. 18, 1917, Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scot.       British viceroy of India from 1894 to 1899.       He was the son of the 8th earl and was educated at Eton and at Balliol College …   Universalium

  • Brooks's — is a London gentlemen s club, founded in 1764 by 27 men including four dukes, At an early date, it was the meeting place for Whigs of the highest social order, and it remains one of the most exclusive London Clubs.Their original premises in Pall… …   Wikipedia

  • Order of the Crown of India — The Imperial Order of the Crown of India is an order in the British honours system. The insignia of the Imperial Order of the Crown of India. The Order was established by Queen Victoria in 1878, when she became Empress of India. The Order is open …   Wikipedia

  • Winston Churchill in politics: 1900–1939 — Winston Churchill (third from right), as the British Colonial Secretary, in Ottoman Damascus, 1912 Winston Churchill in politics: 1900 to 1939 documents the career of Winston Churchill in Parliament from its beginning in 1900 to the start of his… …   Wikipedia

  • Hamid Ali Khan of Rampur — Nawab Sayyid Hamid Ali Khan Bahadur (31 August 1875–20 June 1930) was Nawab of the princely state of Rampur from 1889 to 1930. Only thirteen when he ascended the throne of Rampur, he ruled under a regency to 1896, when Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Privy Counsellors (1837–1901) — This is a List of Privy Counsellors of the United Kingdom appointed during the reign of Queen Victoria, from 1837 to 1901. = Victoria, 1837 1901 = 1837*Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858) *Henry Charles Howard, Earl of …   Wikipedia

  • Lord Lieutenant of Fife — This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Fife.*George Lindsay Crawford, 22nd Earl of Crawford 1798 ndash;1807 *Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin 1807 ndash;1807 *George Lindsay Crawford, 22nd Earl of Crawford 1807… …   Wikipedia

  • Secretary of State for the Colonies — The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet official in charge of managing the various British colonies. The position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increasingly troublesome North American… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”