ELLIOT, William (c.1704-1764), of Wells, Roxburgh.

William Elliot’s father came from Scotland to London as a young man, made a fortune there in trade, and bought an estate in Scotland.W. Elliot, Elliots of Brugh and Wells, 62, 64-66; G. Tancred, Rulewater and its People, 202-4. The son, mentioned by the 1st Lord Egmont as ‘by family a gentleman, though son to a laceman’,HMC Egmont Diary, ii. 414. became a professional soldier in one of the best regiments and married rank. In 1741 he succeeded his commanding officer William Duckett both in the regiment and as Member for Calne, soon afterwards obtaining a place at court and retiring from the army. Supporting the Administration in all recorded divisions, he described himself to Newcastle in 1751, in connexion with an application for the place of surveyor, as ‘a hearty and steadfast well wisher to [your] Grace and family’,29 Apr. 1751, Add. 32724, f. 268. but he did not stand again. He died 7 June 1764.