Granville Elliott

Granville Elliott (October 7 1713 - October 10 1759), (General, Graf Eliot von Port-Eliot, Comte de Morhange) was a British military officer. He served in the British Army and in several other European armies.

Elliott was born at Barnes, Surrey to Major-General Roger Elliott (CIR 1665 - May 15 1714) and his wife Charlotte Elliot (CIR 1692 - CIR 1753). He was baptised on October 27 1713 at St Mary the Virgin's Church, Barnes. His godparents were Lord Landsdowne (George Petty-Fitzmaurice) and Mrs Killigrew.

When Granville was less than one year old, his father died and Granville was brought up by his mother and her new husband, Captain Thomas Burroughs. Later that decade, he was made a ward of his mother's younger brother Colonel William Elliot (CIR 1704 - 1764). In 1725, Granville was admitted to Dr Dunster's Academy in Little Marlborough Street, London, and in 1730 he matriculated as a Law Student at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. By 1732, he was in the service of the HM Karl Philipp von Pfalz-Neuburg, Elector Palatine of the Rhine. Ahead of Granville's marriage on March 15 1735 at Mannheim to Jeanne Thérèse du Han, Comtesse de Martigny (October 30 1707 - May 7 1748), he was created a Lieutenant-General in the Elector's army and raised to the title of Comte de Morhange (which is in the Moselle region). It appears that he also converted to Catholicism, and took the forename Joseph, which caused him problems with his mother's Calvinist relatives. In August 1736, he and his mother swore oaths at the College of Arms in London that the Elliott family descended from a legal marriage of Richard Eliot (b. 1614 - unknown), the wayward second son of Sir John Eliot (statesman) (1592 - 1632) to Catherine Killigrew (1617 - 1689), daughter of Sir Robert Killigrew (1580 - 1633) and Mary Woodhouse (CIR 1584 - 1655). However, the two oaths differed in some details, and no independent evidence for any marriage of Richard has ever come to light. As a result, Granville was not recognised by the College of Arms as a legimitate relative of the then Lord Eliot of Port Eliot in Cornwall. Nevertheless, Granville Elliott had a pedigree drawn up (which survives today) and formally presented to him in Paris by the British Ambassador / Plenipotentiary. As a result of this device, Granville became known at the Elector's Court as Comte Eliot de Port-Eliot, and Graf Eliot von Port-Eliot.

In 1737, Granville was appointed Cavalry General of the States Netherlands. A few years later, he was at Lunéville, at the court of the exiled King Stanislaus I of Poland, who became Duke of Lorraine and Bar. In 1745, he was appointed Major-General of Cavalry for the Elector Palatine. On April 22 1745, he was promoted to Major-General and, on 24 June 1746, to Lieutenant-General of Cavalry, and, on November 2 1748, to Lieutenant-General of Cavalry for the States Netherlands. Following the death of his wife in 1748, Granville left his family in France, returned to the UK, foresook his Catholicism and repaired the bridges with his mother's relatives.

On September 3 1750, he married Elizabeth Duckett (June 25 1724 - October 1804) at St Mary Magdalene, Old Fish Street, London. In 1758, he was appointed Major-General of the Scotch Brigade, and, on April 21, he became Colonel of the British 61st Foot Regiment - The Glorious Glosters. That summer, he was a Staff Officer on the expedition to St Malo. On August 1 1759 he commanded the Cavalry Regiment under John Manners, Marquess of Granby, at the Battle of Minden. He died on October 10 1759 at Rodheim an der Bieber, in Germany, from wounds incurred, and is buried in the 13th Century church there.

Light Cavalry was introduced into the British Army as a direct result of advice from General Granville Elliott.

Family

Granville married twice.

Firstly, on March 15 1735 at Mannheim, to Jeanne Thérèse du Han, Comtesse de Martigny (October 30 1707-May 7 1748), by whom he had at least six sons and a daughter:

• Marie Charlotte Elliott (May 23 1736 - February 3 1785)
• Stanislaus Francois Xavier Elliott (July 6 1737 - unknown)
• Amable Gaspard Antoine Elliott (September 4 1738 - June 30 1814)
• Charles Phillippe Elliott (December 1 1740 - after 1752)
• Paul Antoine Elliott (June 12 1741 - July 25 1741)
• Francois Maximillian Elliott (June 12 1741 - unknown)
• Jean-Baptiste-François Elliott (June 25 1747 - unknown)

Secondly, on September 3 1750 at St Mary Magdalene, Old Fish Street, to Elizabeth Duckett (June 25 1724 - October 1804), by whom he had at least three sons and three daughters:

• Mary Frances Elliott (May 28 1751 - June 26 1752)
• William Roger Elliott (May 10 1753 - unknown)
• Francis Perceval Eliot (September 1755 - August 23 1818)
• Catherine Frances Eliot (January 27 1757 - March 10 1757)
• John Lewis Elliott (June 29 1758 - December 1819)
• Elizabeth Georgiana Elliott (July 21 1759 - November 22 1759)

Of these Francis Perceval Eliot and his children continued the family's close connection with the Army.

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