Elgin James Bruce

Elgin, James Bruce, eighth Earl of (1811-1863), was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took a first class in classics and a fellowship at Merton College. In 1841 he entered Parliament as member for Southampton, and succeeded in the same year to the earldom. The next year he resigned his seat, and was appointed Governor of Jamaica. In 1846 he became Governor of Canada, and did much towards conciliating the discontented provinces. In 1849 he was made a British peer, with the title of Baron Elgin. In 1857

he was sent on a special mission to China, and, though he sent most of his troops to take part in subduing the Mutiny which had broken out in India, he succeeded the next year in negotiating the treaty of Tientsin. In 1859 he was Postmaster-General in Lord Palmerston's government. He succeeded Lord Canning in the Governor-Generalship of India, and died while on a tour in the northern provinces.