William Elliot of Wells
Military person
William Elliot of Wells (1696–1764) was an army officer, courtier, and Member of Parliament during the reign of George II.The son of William Elliot of Wells (know to posterity as the "Laceman", from the trade in gold-embroidered lace from which he made his fortune), the younger William was christened 17 January 1696 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster. Around 1720, he stood as legal guardian to Granville Elliott, the infant son of his elder sister Charlotte Elliot and her recently deceased husband Roger Elliott. He entered the army in 1722 as a cornet in the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, and in the following year joined Charles Churchill's Regiment of Dragoons as a captain. While serving under Col. Churchill, Elliot witnessed the will of Churchill's mistress, the celebrated actress Anne Oldfield, and was one of the pallbearers at her funeral in 1730.Elliot inherited his father's estate of Wells, in Roxburghshire, in 1728.In 1737, Elliot was commissioned as major of the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards, of which he was made lieutenant-colonel in 1741. He fought at both Dettingen and Fontenoy, but resigned his commission in 1746. His eldest sister's son, George Augustus Eliott (later Lord Heathfield, defender of Gibraltar), was one of his subordinate officers in the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards.In 1741, Elliot was elected as a Whig Member of Parliament (MP) for Calne, Wiltshire (which seat he held until 1754). Subsequently, in 1743, he was made one of the equerries to George II, and served until the king’s death in 1760.
Personal facts
| Birth date | January 01, 1696 |
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| Date of death | January 01, 1764 |
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