William Eliot, 4th Earl of St Germans


William Gordon Cornwallis Eliot, 4th Earl of St Germans, known as Lord Eliot from 1864 to 1877, was a British diplomat and Liberal politician.

Life and career

Eliot was born at Port Eliot, Cornwall, the third but eldest surviving son of Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans, and his wife Jemima. He was educated at Eton College and then joined the Diplomatic Service. His assignments included:
He resigned in 1865 and was elected Member of Parliament for Devonport in 1866, a seat he held until 1868. In 1870 he was summoned to the House of Lords as through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Eliot. Lord St Germans died unmarried in March 1881, aged 51 and is buried, near his mother, at Kensal Green Cemetery. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Henry.