Edward Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans

St Germans was born in Plymouth, Devon, the son of William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans and his first wife, Lady Georgina (13 April 1769 – 4 March 1806), daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford. He was educated at Westminster School from 1809 to 1811, and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 13 December 1815.{{cite book |title= Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood|publisher=Burke's Peerage & Gentry |editor= Mosley, Charles |editor-link=Charles Mosley (genealogist) |edition=107 |year= 2003 |page=|pages= 3481–3482|ref=Burke |isbn=0-9711966-2-1}}

St Germans became the Secretary of Legation at Madrid on 21 November 1823. He became member of parliament for Liskeard the following year. Beginning his career as a Tory, he remained loyal to Robert Peel, and served as a Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1827 until 1830. Out of parliament between 1832 and 1837, he served in Peel's second government first as Chief Secretary for Ireland and later as Postmaster General of the United Kingdom. He brokered the so-called Lord Eliot Convention in Spain, which aimed to end the indiscriminate executions by firing squad of prisoners on both sides of the First Carlist War.

When the debate over the Corn Laws broke the Conservative Party he followed Peel, and served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in Lord Aberdeen's coalition government. In that role, he hosted the visit of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort to the 1853 Great Exhibition held in Dublin. The Queen gave Lady St Germans a gift of jewellery to mark the occasion.{{cite web |title=A mid 19th century turquoise, enamel and diamond bangle |url=https://www.chiswickauctions.co.uk/auction/lot/266-a-mid-19th-century-turquoise-enamel-and-diamond-bangle/?lot=129420&so=2&st=&sto=0&au=559&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=0&pp=48&pn=1&g=1 |website=Chiswick Auctions}} He was twice Lord Steward under Lord Palmerston. In 1860, he accompanied the Prince of Wales on his tour of Canada and the USA.

Lord St Germans married Lady Jemima Cornwallis (24 December 1803, Brome, Suffolk – 2 July 1856, Dover Street, London), the third daughter of Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquess Cornwallis, at St James Church, Westminster, on 2 September 1824. They had six sons and two daughters:{{cite book |last1=Lodge |first1=Edmund |title=The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing, Arranged and Printed from the Personal Communications of the Nobility Under the Gracious Patronage of the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty |date=1865 |publisher=Hurst and Blackett |page=478 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glRrSQZN5zsC&pg=PA478 |access-date=12 December 2024 |language=en}}

• Lady Louisa Susan Cornwallis Eliot (17 December 1825 – 15 January 1911), married Walter Ponsonby, 7th Earl of Bessborough and was the mother of Edward Ponsonby, 8th Earl of Bessborough.
• Edward John Cornwallis Eliot, Lord Eliot (2 April 1827 – 26 November 1864), born in London, educated at Eton from 1839 to 1843, matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 21 October 1844, commissioned a Cornet and Sub-lieutenant, 1st Regiment of Life Guards and subsequently Captain of that Regiment, 1852, died unmarried at Port Eliot.
• Captain Hon. Granville Charles Cornwallis Eliot (9 September 1828 – 5 November 1854), officer Coldstream Guards, killed at the Battle of Inkerman.
• William Gordon Cornwallis Eliot, 4th Earl of St Germans (14 December 1829 – 19 March 1881), diplomat; succeeded his father but died unmarried
• Hon. Ernest Cornwallis Eliot (28 April 1831 – 23 January 1832), died in infancy
• Hon. Elizabeth Harriet Cornwallis Eliot (24 August 1833 – 16 March 1835), died in infancy
• Henry Cornwallis Eliot, 5th Earl of St Germans (11 February 1835 – 24 September 1911), succeeded elder brother
• Colonel Hon. Charles George Cornwallis Eliot, CVO (16 October 1839 – 22 May 1901), courtier and soldier, equerry to THR Prince and Princess Christian 1869–96; Groom of the Bedchamber 1871–99, Gentleman Usher Daily Waiter to Queen Victoria 1899–1901; married on 26 October 1865 Constance Rhiannon Guest (daughter of Sir John Josiah Guest, Bt and Lady Charlotte Guest), Lady-in-Waiting to HRH Princess Frederica of Hanover

Lord St Germans died at Port Eliot in October 1877, aged 79. Through his youngest son, he was the great-grandfather of Margaret Eliot (1914–2011), the mother of Peter and Jane Asher.

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• {{Hansard-contribs | lord-eliot | the Earl of St Germans }}
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{{succession box

| title = Member of Parliament of Liskeard

| with = Sir William Henry Pringle

| before = William Eliot
Sir William Henry Pringle

| after = Charles Buller

| years = 1824–1832

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{{succession box

| title = Member of Parliament of East Cornwall

| years=1837–1845

| with = Sir Hussey Vivian, Bt 1837–1841

| with2 = William Rashleigh 1841–1845

| before = Sir Sir William Molesworth, Bt
Sir William Salusbury-Trelawny, Bt

| after = William Rashleigh
William Pole-Carew

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{{succession box | before=Viscount Morpeth | title=Chief Secretary for Ireland | years=1841–1845 | after=Sir Thomas Fremantle, Bt}}

{{succession box | title=Postmaster General | before=The Earl of Lonsdale | after=The Marquess of Clanricarde | years=1845–1846}}

{{succession box | before=The Earl of Eglinton | title=Lord Lieutenant of Ireland | years=1853–1855 | after=The Earl of Carlisle}}

{{succession box | before=The Earl Spencer | title=Lord Steward | years=1857–1858 | after=The Marquess of Exeter}}

{{succession box | before=The Marquess of Exeter | title=Lord Steward | years=1859–1866 | after=The Earl of Bessborough}}

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{{succession box | before=William Eliot | title=Earl of St Germans | after=William Eliot | years=1845–1877}}

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{{succession box | before=William Eliot | title=Baron Eliot
(descended by acceleration) | years=1845–1870 | after=William Eliot}}

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Category:Lords Lieutenant of Ireland

Category:Deputy lieutenants of Cornwall

Category:Earls of St Germans

Category:Politicians from Plymouth, Devon

Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland

Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford

Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Category:Postmasters general of the United Kingdom

Eliot, Edward

Category:People educated at Westminster School, London

Eliot, Edward

Eliot, Edward

Eliot, Edward

Eliot, Edward

Eliot, Edward

Saint Germans, E3

Category:1798 births

Category:1877 deaths

Edward Granville Eliot

Category:Chief secretaries for Ireland