The Elgin marbles are a splendid collection of ancient Greek sculptures assembled by the 7th earl of Elgin and brought to England in 1812. The sculptures are chiefly from the Parthenon of Athens. Shortly after being brought to England they were cheaply purchased by parliament for the British Museum at the cost of 35,000 pounds. They consist of figures in low and high relief and in the round, representing gods, goddesses, and heroes; the combats of the Centaurs and Lapithaa; the Panathenaic procession, etc. They exhibit Greek sculpture at its highest stage, and were partly the work of Phidias. Research Elgin marbles
Fox Maule Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie was a Scottish politician. He was born in 1801 and died in 1874. He served some years in the army and sat in parliament as member for the Elgin burghs and Perth. He became Baron Panmure on the death of his father in 1852 and was secretary at war from 1855 to 1858, when he retired from political life. In 1860, on the death of his cousin, he succeeded to the title of Earl of Dalhousie. He died in 1874 without issue, and was succeeded by his cousin, George Ramsay, as the twelfth earl. Research Fox Ramsay
George Brown was a Canadian journalist and politician. He was born in 1818 at Edinburgh, Scotland and died in 1880 when he was shot by a sacked employee. Educated at the High School at Edinburgh, he emigrated to the United States with his father, and assisted in the management of a newspaper at New York; but in 1843 removed to Toronto, Canada, where he founded a newspaper, The Globe, which was very successful.
In 1852 he was returned to parliament, and rapidly rose to the first rank as a debater and advocate of reforms. In 1858 he was called to the office of premier, and formed an administration, which, however, owing to an adverse vote of the assembly, lasted only three days. In 1862, while on a visit to Scotland, he married Miss AnnieNelson, daughter of the well-known Edinburgh publisher. On his return to Canada he joined, in 1864, the coalition government as leader of the reform section, and took an active part in the conferences held at Charlottetown and Quebec on the subject of the federation of the North American colonies; but resigned his office as minister in December 1865. He was called to the senate in 1873, and the year after went to Washington along with Sir Edward Thornton to negotiate a commercial treaty with the United States.
George Brown, though perhaps wanting in some of the qualities which make a successful parliamentary leader, was a great personal force in Canadian politics, and contributed powerfully to the cause of reform.
George Douglas Brown was a Scottish author. He was born in 1869 at Ochiltree and died in 1902. After graduating at Oxford in 1895 he went to London and entered a literary and journalistic career working as literary advisor to the publisher Macqueen. In 1901 his novel 'The House With The Green Shutters' was published under the pen-name 'George Douglas'.
Sir George Brown was a distinguished British general. He was born in 1790 near Elgin and died in 1865. He served in the Peninsular War and in the American campaign of 1814. He was knighted in 1855. Research George Brown
James Bruce was a Scottish explorer. He was born in 1730 at Kinnaird House, Stirlingshire and died in 1794 after falling down some stairs. He received his education at Harrow and at the University of Edinburgh, and entered the winetrade, but having inherited his father's estate in 1758 he soon gave up business. Erom 1763 to 1765 he held the consulship of Algiers, and in 1765 he visited successively Tunis, Tripoli, Rhodes, Cyprus, Syria, and several parts of Asia Minor, where he made drawings of the ruins of Palmyra, Baalbec, etc.
In 1768 he set out for Cairo, navigated the Nile to Syene, crossed the desert to the Red Sea, passed some months in ArabiaFelix, and reached Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia, in 1770. In that country he ingratiated himself with the sovereign and other influential persons, and in the same year succeeded in reaching the sources of the Abai, then considered the main stream of the Nile. On his return to Gondar he found the country engaged in a civil war, and more than three years elapsed before he was able to return to Cairo.
After visiting France and Italy he returned to Scotland in 1774. His long-expected Travels did not appear until 1790, and were received with some incredulity, though succeeding travellers proved them in large part accurate.
James Bruce, Earl of Elgin, Earl of Kincardine was Governor-general of India. He was born in 1811 and died in 1863. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, he entered parliament in 1841 as member for Southampton, and in the same year succeeded to the earldom, becoming the eighth earl of Elgin and rwelfth earl of Kincardine. He was appointed Governor-general of Jamaica in 1842, and in 1846 Governor-general of Canada. In 1849 he was raised to the British peerage as BaronElgin of Elgin. In 1857 he went as special ambassador to China, and concluded the Treaty of Tientsin in 1858. In 1859 he became postmaster-general in Palmerston's cabinet, in 1860 was sent on a special mission to Peking (Beijing), and in 1861 became Governor-general of India. Research James Bruce
Macbeth was King of Scotland from 1040 until his death in 1057. Macbeth's story was fictitiously told by William Shakespeare in his play Macbeth. In fact, Macbeth came to power after killing his cousin, Duncan I, in battle near Elgin on August the 14th 1040. He was killed in a battle against Malcolm, the eldest son of Duncan I, who was assisted by the English. Research Macbeth
Sue Mountstuart Elphinstone Frant Duff was a Scottish writer on political and other subjects. He was born in 1829 at Aberdeenshire and died in 1906. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, The Grange, Bishop Wearmouth, and Balliol College, Oxford. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1854, and in 1857 entered the House of Commons as Liberal member for the Elgin Burghs, which constituency he continued to represent until 1881. He was under-secretary for India in Gladstone's ministry from 1868 to 1874, and under-secretary for the colonies from 1880 to 1881, in which latter year he was appointed governor of Madras. His Indian administration was most successful, and on his retirement in 1886 he was made a GOSI. He was president of the Royal Geographical Society from 1889 until 1893, and of the Royal Historical Society from 1892 until 1899, and was also a trustee of the British Museum. His published works include Studies in European Politics (1866); A Political Survey (1868); Elgin Speeches (1871); Notes of an Indian Journey (1876); Miscellanies, Political and Literary (1879); Memoir of Sir H. S. Maine (1892); Ernest Renan (1893); and Notes from a Diary (published in seven volumes between 1897 and 1905). Research Mountstuart Duff
The Pistol Knife or Pistol Cutlass was a combination weapon of the 16th through 19th centuries, one example being patented by the Englishman George Elgin in 1837, and comprising a percussion or other form of pistol which had fitted below the barrel and uniting with the trigger guard a large bowie-like blade with a curved edge. The pistol butt then forming the hilt of the knife or sword, and the weapon being carried in a leather scabbard. Research Pistol Knife
HMS Elgin was a British improved Hunt Class minesweeper of 710 tons displacement built under the Emergency War Programme during the Great War and launched sometime between 1917 and 1919, seeing action during the Second World War. HMS Elgin was powered by Yarrow coal-fired boilers providing a top speed of 16 knots and a range of about 2400 km at top speed. She carried a complement of 73 and was armed with a 4-inch anti-aircraft gun and one smaller gun. Research Elgin
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Abbreviations
Research Elgin marbles
