Quarterly:1st & 4th, counterquartered, I & IV, Argent a Hunting Horn Sable, stringed Gules, in the dexter chief point a Crescent Gules, on a Chief wavy Azure, three Mullets Argent (Murray of Melgund); II & III, Azure, a Chevron Argent, between three Fleurs-de-lis Or (Kynynmound of that Ilk); 2nd & 3rd, Gules, on a Bend engrailed Or, a Baton Azure, within a Bordure Vair (Elliot of Minto); overall a Chief Argent, charged with a Moor’s Head couped in profile proper (augmentation, being the arms of Corsica).
The family seat is Minto Park, near Hawick in the Scottish Borders. The original family seat, Minto Castle, was demolished in 1992 after having been abandoned for some time.
History
The family descends from the politician and judge Gilbert Elliot, who served as a Lord of Session under the judicial title of Lord Minto. In 1700 he was created a baronet, of Minto in the County of Roxburgh, in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baronet. He was also a prominent judge and politician and served as a Lord of Session (under the judicial title of Lord Minto) from 1726 to 1733, as a Lord of the Justiciary from 1733 to 1765 and as Lord Justice Clerk from 1763 to 1766. His eldest son, the third Baronet, was a politician and held ministerial office as a Lord of the Admiralty from 1756 to 1762 and as Treasurer of the Navy from 1767 to 1770. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the fourth Baronet. He was a noted diplomat, politician and colonial administrator and served as Viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom from 1794 to 1796 and Governor-General of India from 1807 to 1813. In 1797 he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Baron Minto, of Minto in the County of Roxburgh.[1] In 1813 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Melgund, of Melgund in the County of Forfar, and Earl of Minto, in the County of Roxburgh.[2] The latter titles are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In 1797 Lord Minto assumed by Royal licence the additional surnames of Murray-Kynynmound after those of Elliot.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He was a diplomat and Whig politician and held office as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1835 to 1841 and as Lord Privy Seal from 1846 to 1852. Lord Minto was succeeded by his eldest son, the third Earl. He sat as a LiberalMember of Parliament for Hythe, Greenock and Clackmannanshire. On his death the titles passed to his son, the fourth Earl. He was a prominent colonial administrator and served as Governor General of Canada from 1898 to 1904 and as Viceroy of India from 1905 to 1910. As of 2014[update] the titles are held by his great-grandson (the titles having descended from father to son), the seventh Earl, who succeeded in 2005.
Jean Elliot, daughter of the second Baronet, was a poet and wrote one of the most famous versions of the Scottish folk tune The Flowers of the Forest.
Hugh Elliot, second son of the third Baronet, was a diplomat and colonial administrator and served as Governor of the Leeward Islands from 1808 to 1814. His son Sir Charles Elliot was an admiral in the Royal Navy and colonial administrator.
The Hon. John Edmund Elliot, third son of the first Earl, was a Member of Parliament. His grandson Charles Sinclair Elliot (1853–1915) was a captain in the Royal Navy.
The Hon. Sir Henry George Elliot, second son of the second Earl, was a noted diplomat and served as Ambassador to Austria from 1877 to 1884. His son Sir Francis Edmund Hugh Elliot (1851–1940) was also a diplomat and served as Minister to Greece.
