Country Code
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GB
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Repository Code
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233
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Repository
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National Library of Scotland
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Reference
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GB233/MS.11001-13496
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Title
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Minto Papers Manuscripts
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Dates
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18th century-20th century
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Access Status
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Open
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Description
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Correspondence and papers, of the Elliot family of Minto; for charters and other formal documents, 12th to 20th centuries, see Ch. The founder of the family was Gilbert Elliot (1651-1718), a younger son of Gavin Elliot of Midlem Mill. Gilbert Elliot was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1688, created a baronet in 1700, and appointed a Lord of Session as Lord Minto in 1705; he acquired the lands of Headshaw in Roxburghshire in 1696, and added Minto to his property in 1703. Sir Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Bart. (1693-1766), likewise had a distinguished legal career, becoming a Lord of Session as Lord Minto in 1726, a Lord of Justiciary in 1733, and Lord Justice Clerk in 1763. Sir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Bart. (1722-77), was both a leading figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and an active politician at Westminster. Sir Gilbert Elliot, 4th Bart. (1751-1814), whose political and diplomatic career culminated in his appointment in 1807 as Governor-General of India, was created Baron Minto in 1807 and Earl of Minto in 1813; he assumed the additional surnames of Murray Kynynmound in 1778 on succeeding to his mother's properties, and his successors likewise assumed these additional names on succeeding to the earldom. His eldest surviving son, Gilbert, 2nd Earl of Minto (1782-1859), served as a Cabinet Minister in the Whig Ministries of Grey, Melbourne and Russell. William Hugh, 3rd Earl of Minto (1814-91) was an active member of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The public career of Gilbert John, 4th Earl of Minto (1845-1914), culminated in his appointments in 1898 as Governor-General of Canada and in 1905 as Viceroy of India.
The Minto Papers richly document the activities of the leading members of the family, and are a valuable source for the study of most aspects of Scottish affairs in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the local history of Roxburghshire; of British politics in general, c1740-1914; of war and diplomacy in Europe and east of the Cape in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; of Italian affairs in the early and mid nineteenth century; of Canadian affairs in the late nineteenth century; and of Indian affairs in the early nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. But the collection also contains the papers of equally distinguished younger sons, as well as of related families, which extend even further the range of subject matter. The papers of the diplomatist, Hugh Elliot (1752-1830), are a rich source for the general political history of Europe in the years c1770 to 1806. The papers of the Hon. Sir Henry George Elliot (1817-1907) are chiefly concerned with European diplomacy and the Eastern Question in the years 1868 to 1884. The papers of Admiral John Elliot (1732-1808) contain material concerning lead and copper mining in the eighteenth century. The Elliot of Wells papers are chiefly concerned with the Commissariat to the allied army in Germany, 1761-4, and with the Government of Ireland in 1806-7, as well as containing estate papers concerning lands and families in Roxburghshire, Surrey, Cornwall and Northamptonshire.
Except where otherwise stated, each volume contains papers of various sizes, folio and under. The term `bound' in the descriptions indicates material which was received in the National Library arranged and bound.
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Level
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Fonds
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Arrangement
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The collection is arranged in sections, each being the papers of an individual or family, plus various subject sections. Each section has its own introduction. Where the material is correspondence, it is always the recipient, not the author, of the letter in whose papers the letter belongs. Thus, for example, letters of the 1st Earl of Minto to the 2nd Earl of Minto are with the 2nd Earl's papers, not with those of the 1st Earl. Hence, the various sections overlap to a great extent. The subject sections also overlap with sections concerning individuals and families. It is important, therefore, that the searcher should always use the index in conjunction with the catalogue description, since it is unlikely that all relevant material will be found exclusively within one section.
MS.11001-41 Early Family Papers MS.11042-739 First Earl of Minto MS.11740-12237 Second Earl of Minto MS.12238-364 Third Earl of Minto MS.12365-803 Fourth Earl of Minto MS.12804-9 Fifth and Sixth Earls of Minto MS.12810-64 Literary Papers, Music and Drawings MS.12865-84 Admiral John Elliot MS.12885-948 Elliot of Wells Family MS.12949-50 Murray of Kynynmound Family MS.12951 Brydone Family MS.12952-13059 Hugh Elliot MS.13060-88 Hon. Sir Henry George Elliot MS.13089-103 Hon. George Francis Stewart Elliot MS.13104-10 Hon. Gilbert and Lady Harriet Anne Gertrude Elliot MS.13111-53 Hislop Family MS.13154-80 Abercromby Family MS.13181-6 Grey and Farquhar Families MS.13187-307 Estate Papers and Correspondence MS.13308-20 Household Papers MS.13321-414 Local Affairs MS.13415-20 Miscellaneous MS.13421-72 Maps and Plans MS.13473-96 Additional Journals
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Creator Name
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Elliot Family of Minto
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Publication Note
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NLS Catalogue of Manuscripts Acquired Since 1925 Volume IX
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Related Material
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Ch.8971-10633 for formal documents with this collection. The National Library's holdings of the Minto Papers are not complete. Letters of David Hume to Sir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Bart., (published in J.Y.T. Greig (ed.), The Letters of David Hume, Oxford, 1932) are no longer with the collection. Many of the letters of Edmund Burke and Horatio Nelson to the 1st Earl of Minto are now in the Osborn Collection (Yale University) and the National Maritime Museum respectively, and other papers of the 1st and 2nd Earls of Minto, and of Hugh Elliot, are in the National Maritime Museum. Part of the correspondence of Thomas Stamford Raffles (see MSS. 11691-711) is now in the British Library (India Office Library and Records). For additional Minto and related family papers acquired by the Library since the completion of this catalogue see MSS.21206-38.
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Associated Persons
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NA9316 | Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound |
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