Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin

Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin and 15th Earl of Kincardine, KT, CD, JP, DL (born 17 February 1924), styled Lord Bruce before 1968, is a Scottish nobleman.

Ancestry

Lord Elgin is a direct living descendant of Robert Bruce (his 19th great grandfather through his 12th great grandmother Jane Blackadder), and James Bruce the Explorer (his fourth great grandfather through his great grandmother Mary Cummings-Bruce wife of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin). Lord Elgin also descends from Robert I through James Bruce the explorer; he is not however the only Bruce to descend from Robert I. Through Robert I, Lord Elgin is also a descendant of a host of other royals including William the Conqueror, Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Brian Boruma, Henry I of England, and Kenneth MacAlpin.

Biography

Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce, Lord Bruce was born in 1924, the eldest son of the 10th Earl of Elgin and 14th Earl of Kincardine and Hon. Katherine Elizabeth Cochrane, daughter of the 1st Baron Cochrane of Cults. He was educated at Eton and at Balliol College, Oxford. He served during the Second World War in the Scots Guards as a lieutenant and was wounded.

Family

In 1959 he married Victoria Mary Usher and they have five children:
*Charles Edward Bruce, Lord Bruce
*Hon. Alexander Bruce
*Hon. Adam Bruce
*Lady Georgina Bruce
*Lady Antonia Bruce

Personal ventures

He succeeded to the earldoms and other titles on the death of his father in 1968.

He has held a number of business appointments, including as President of the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society (1975–1994), Chairman of the National Savings Committee for Scotland Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1980 and 1981, was County Cadet Commandant for Fife from 1952 to 1965, Brigade President of the Boys' Brigade from 1966 to 1985, and Grand Master Mason of Scotland from 1961 to 1965. Since 1970, he has been honorary colonel of the 31 Combat Engineer Regiment (The Elgins), and of the 153 (Highland) Transport Regiment from 1976 to 1986. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1951, was Deputy Lieutenant of Fife 1955–1987, and Lord Lieutenant 1987–1999. He was appointed a Knight of the Thistle and awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration in 1981. He is a Brigadier of the Royal Company of Archers and a covenor of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.

He is a Freeman of Bridgetown, Regina, Saskatchewan, Port Elgin, Winnipeg, Manitoba, St. Thomas, Ontario, and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Lord Elgin granted permission for the formation of the Bruce Family Organization which is dedicated to preserving the history of the Bruces.