The Right Honourable  The Earl of Elgin  KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC
Viceroy of India
In office 11 October 1894 – 6 January 1899
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	The Marquess of Lansdowne
Succeeded by	The Lord Curzon of Kedleston
Born	16 May 1849 (2009-12-25T05:22:14) Montreal, Canada
Died	18 January 1917 (2009-12-25T05:22:15) Dunfermline, Fife
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford

Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, 13th Earl of Kincardine, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC (16 May 1849–18 January 1917), known as Lord Bruce until 1863, was a British statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1894 to 1899.

[edit] Background and education

Elgin was born in Montreal, Canada, the son of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, who served as Governor-General of Canada at the time, and his wife Lady Mary Louisa, daughter of John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham. He was educated at Glenalmond, Eton and Balliol College, Oxford.

[edit] Political career

Elgin entered politics as a Liberal, serving as Treasurer of the Household and as First Commissioner of Works under William Gladstone in 1886.

[edit] Viceroy of India

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. 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.^[1]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Family

The Earl of Elgin at his private estate in Scotland, 1889.

Lord Elgin married firstly Lady Constance Mary, daughter of James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk, in 1876. They had six sons and five daughters. After her death in 1909 he married secondly Gertrud Lilian, daughter of William Sherbrooke and widow of Frederick Charles Ashley Ogilvy, in 1913. They had one who, who was born posthumously in 1917. Lord Elgin died at the family estate in Dunfermline in January 1917, aged 67. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son from his first marriage, Edward. The Countess of Elgin later remarried and died in February 1971.

The children of Lord Elgin and his first wife were:

• The Lady Elizabeth Bruce (abt 1878- )
• The Lady Christina Augusta Bruce (abt 1879-1940)
• The Lady Constance Bruce (abt 1880- )
• Edward Bruce, 10th Earl of Elgin
• The Hon. Robert Bruce (abt 1883- )
• The Hon. Alexander Bruce (abt 1885- )
• The Lady Marjorie Bruce (abt 1886- )
• The Hon. David Bruce (abt 1889- )
• The Lady Rachel Bruce (abt 1890- )

[edit] See also

• Famine in India

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• www.thepeerage.com