George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield
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The Right Honourable The Lord Heathfield PC, KB |
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1787 portrait by
Sir Joshua Reynolds |
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| Governor of Londonderry | |
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In office 1774–1775 |
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| Governor of Gibraltar | |
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In office 1777–1790 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
25 December 1717 Wells House, nr Stobs, Roxburghshire, Scotland |
| Died | 6 July 1790 (aged 72) Schloss Kalkofen, Aachen, Germany |
| Resting place | St Andrew's Church, Buckland Monachorum, Devon |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Pollexfen Drake (1726–1772) (m. 1748–72) |
| Children |
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| Parents | Sir Gilbert Eliott, 3rd Baronet, of Stobs and Eleanor Elliot |
| Awards | PC, KB |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Service/branch |
 British Army
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| Battles/wars |
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George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield, PC, KB (25 December 1717 – 6 July 1790) was a British Army officer who served in three major wars during the eighteenth century. He rose to distinction during the Seven Years' War when he fought in Germany and participated in the British attacks on Belle Île (France) and Cuba. Eliott is most notable for his command of the Gibraltar garrison during the Great Siege of Gibraltar, which lasted between 1779 and 1783 during the American War of Independence. He was celebrated for his successful defence of the fortress.
Eliott was born at Wells House, near Stobs Castle, Roxburghshire, the 10th (and 8th surviving) son of Sir Gilbert Eliott, 3rd Baronet, of Stobs, by his distant cousin Eleanor Elliot of Brugh and Wells in Roxburghshire. Eleanor's brother was the soldier and courtier William Elliot of Wells. One of his Eleanor's sisters, Charlotte, had married Roger Elliott, another Governor of Gibraltar.
Eliott was educated at the University of Leiden in the Dutch Republic and studied artillery and other military subjects at the école militaire of La Fère in France. He served with the Prussian Army between 1735 and 1736.
In 1741 he transferred to the Engineers and joined the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards, of which his mother's brother, William Elliot of Wells, was then Lieutenant-Colonel, and of which Eliott was afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel. He served throughout the War of Austrian Succession between 1742 and 1748, fighting at the Battle of Dettingen, where he was wounded, and again at the Battle of Fontenoy. He became an Engineer Extraordinary in 1744 and Engineer Ordinary in 1747 when he was stationed at Sheerness. Eliott resigned from the Engineers in 1757.
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Wikipedia