Charles Eliot (diplomat)

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Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong
In office
1912–1918
Succeeded byProf. G.P. Jordan
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield
In office
1905–1913
Succeeded byHerbert Fisher
Commissioner of the East Africa Protectorate
In office
30 December 1900 – 20 May 1904
Preceded byArthur Hardinge
Succeeded bySir Donald Stewart
Personal details
Born(1862-01-08)8 January 1862
Sibford Gower, Oxfordshire
Died16 March 1931(1931-03-16) (aged 69)
Strait of Malacca
Alma materCheltenham College
Balliol College, Oxford

Sir Charles Norton Edgcumbe Eliot

British East Africa in 1900–1904. He was British Ambassador to Japan in 1919–1925.[1]

He was also known as a

marine biologist.[2] He described a number of sea slug species, including Chelidonura varians
.

Career

Eliot was born in the village of Sibford Gower near Banbury, Oxfordshire, England and educated at Cheltenham College and Balliol College, Oxford,[3] where he took a double first in classical moderations and Greats, as well as winning the Craven, Ireland and Hertford scholarships. Remarkably, he also won the Boden Sanskrit Scholarship and the Houghton Syriac prize. He was a noteworthy linguist, with a full knowledge of 16 languages and conversant in 20 more.[4]

Eliot served in diplomatic posts in Russia (1885), Morocco (1892), Turkey (1893), and Washington, D.C. (1899). He also served as British Commissioner in Samoa. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1898 Birthday Honours and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the New Year honours list 1 January 1900.[5][6]

British East Africa

In 1900, he was appointed commissioner of

British East Africa, and on 1 January 1902 he was appointed Commissioner, Commander-in-Chief and Consul-General for the East Africa Protectorate, including the mainland dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar, and also as British Agent and Consul-General for the island dominions of the Sultan.[7] In December 1902 he hosted the British colonial secretary (Joseph Chamberlain) during his tour of the African colonies.[8]

In April 1902, the first application for land in British East Africa was made by the

Lake Rudolph, experiencing plenty of privations from want of water, and of the danger from encounters with the Maasai.[10]

In the carrying out of this policy of colonisation a dispute arose between Eliot and

Foreign Secretary. Lansdowne, believing himself bound by pledges given to the East Africa Syndicate, decided that they should be granted the lease of the 500 square miles (1,300 km2) they had applied for; but after consulting officials of the protectorate then in London, he refused Eliot permission to conclude leases for 50 square miles (130 km2) each to two applicants from South Africa. Eliot thereupon resigned his post, and in a public telegram to the prime minister, dated Mombasa, 21 June 1904, gave as his reason:- "Lord Lansdowne ordered me to refuse grants of land to certain private persons while giving a monopoly of land on unduly advantageous terms to the East Africa Syndicate. I have refused to execute these instructions, which I consider unjust and impolitic." On the day Sir Charles sent this telegram, Sir Donald William Stewart, the chief commissioner of Ashanti
(Ghana), was appointed his successor.

University administration

In 1905 Eliot was the first

Vice-Chancellor of the newly created University of Sheffield until 1912 when he was appointed the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong; he served there until 1918 when he was recalled to the diplomatic service becoming high commissioner and consul-general in Siberia.[11]

Japan

He was the British Ambassador to Japan in 1920–1926: though the position was not renewed, he stayed in Japan, studying the practice of Buddhism there.

Taken ill with influenza, he decided to return to England but died on the journey on 16 March 1931 and was buried at sea in the

Straits of Malacca.[11] He never married.[11]

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Sir Charles Eliot, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 106 works in 355 publications in 2 languages and 4,509 library holdings.[12]

  • The East Africa Protectorate (1905)
  • Turkey in Europe. London: Edward Arnold. 1900. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via Internet Archive.
  • Eliot, Charles Norton Edgcumbe (1911). "Asia" . Encyclopædia Britannica
    . Vol. 2 (11th ed.). pp. 734–756, see page 749. History
  • Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch. Vol. I. London: Edward Arnold & Co. 1921. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via Internet Archive.; Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch. Vol. II. London: Edward Arnold & Co. 1921. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via Internet Archive.; Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch. Vol. III. London: Edward Arnold & Co. 1921. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via Internet Archive.
  • Japanese Buddhism (1935)
  • A Finnish Grammar (1890)
  • "Letters from the Far East" (1907)

Malacology

Species

The World Register of Marine Species mentions 119 marine taxa named by Charles Eliot.[13] Eliotia Vayssière, 1909, a nudibranch genus was named after him.

Species described by Charles Eliot include:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Nussbaum, "Eliot, Charles Norton Edgcumbe," p. 174, p. 174, at Google Books; Ian Nish. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859–1972, pp. 114–122.
  2. Southern China
    , 1977-2001: Proceedings of an International Workshop Reunion Conference, Hong Kong, 21–26 October 2001. Hong Kong University Press, 2003.
  3. ^ "Eliot, Charles Norton Edgecumbe". Alumni oxoniensis. Vol. 2. J. Parker. 1891. p. 418.
  4. ^ Winckworth, Ronald. (1931). "Obituary. Sir Charles Eliot, 1862–1931," Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 224–226.
  5. ^ "No. 27154". The London Gazette. 16 January 1900. p. 285.
  6. ^ Saruni Oitesoi ole-Ngulay (8 June 1996). "AFRICA TWO GREAT EVILS: "SOIL EROSION AND SOUL EROSION" PRESSURE ON CUSTOMARY INSTITUTIONS FOR COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES MANAGEMENT": 10. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ "No. 27403". The London Gazette. 4 February 1902. p. 709.
  8. ^ "Mr. Chamberlain′s Journey". The Times. No. 36957. London. 22 December 1902. p. 5.
  9. . Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  10. ^ Fergusson, W.N. (1911). Adventure, Sport and Travel on the Tibetan Steppes, p. preface. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
  11. ^
    Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
    , accessed 6 August 2011
  12. ^ WorldCat Identities Archived 30 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine: Eliot, Charles
  13. ^ WoRMS: Marine taxa nemed by Charles Eliot

References

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Governor of Kenya

1900–1904
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by
New position
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield
1905–1912
Succeeded by
Preceded by
New position
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong
1912–1918
Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by British Ambassador to Japan
1919–1925
Succeeded by