Edward Ellice (merchant)

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For other people named Edward Ellice, see Edward Ellice (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable
Edward Ellice
Painting by Sir Charles William Ross
Secretary at War
In office
1833–1834
Preceded bySir John Hobhouse
Succeeded byJohn Charles Herries
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office
1830–1832
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byCharles Wood
Personal details
Born(1783-09-27)27 September 1783
London, England
Died17 September 1863(1863-09-17) (aged 79)
Glengarry, Scotland
Spouse(s)
Lady Hannah Bettesworth
​
​
(m. 1809)​
(née Lady Hannah Grey)
Anne Coke
​
​
(m. 1843; died 1844)​
, Dowager Countess of Leicester (née Lady Anne Keppel)
Children
Winchester School
Alma materMarischal College, University of Aberdeen
University of St Andrews

Edward Ellice the Elder (27 September 1783 – 17 September 1863), known in his time as the "Bear", was an English merchant and politician. He was a Director of the

Reform Bill of 1832
.

Biography

Ellice was born on 27 September 1783 in London, the son of Alexander Ellice and Ann Russell. In 1795, his father purchased the Seigneury of Villechauve in Canada from Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Marquis de Lotbinière. His younger brother was General Robert Ellice.

He was educated at

Winchester School and at Marischal College, Aberdeen. He became a partner in the firm of Phyn, Ellices and Inglis, which had become interested in the XY Company in Canada. He was sent to Canada in 1803, and in 1804 became a party to the union of the XY and North West Companies. He became a partner in the North West Company, and during the struggle with Lord Selkirk
he played an important part.

He engaged in the Canada fur trade from 1803, and as a result was nicknamed "the Bear". On 30 October 1809 he married Hannah Althea Bettesworth, née Grey, daughter of

Edward
.

In 1820, he was, with the brothers William and Simon McGillivray, active in bringing about the union of the North West and the Hudson's Bay Companies; and it was actually with him and the McGillivrays that the union was negotiated. He amalgamated the North West, XY, and Hudson's Bay companies in 1821.

In 1825 Ellice was a director of the New Zealand Company, a venture chaired by his brother-in-law, the wealthy John George Lambton, Whig MP (and later 1st Earl of Durham), that made the first attempt to colonise New Zealand. His brother Russell Ellice was also a director.[1][2][3]

He was

Privy Counsellor
in 1833.

He was awarded a DCL by

deputy-governor of the Hudson's Bay Company
.

Ellice was a co-owner of eight sugar estates in Grenada, British Guiana, Tobago and Antigua. In the 1830s, the British government emancipated the slaves, and Ellice received £35,000 in compensation for the liberation of over 300 slaves.[5]

In 1843, he married, secondly, Anne Amelia Leicester, née Keppel, daughter of

Edward Ellice Jr.
, who also sat in Parliament.

His brother General Robert Ellice married Eliza Courtney; one of their grandsons became his son's heir in 1880.

Sporting interests

On returning from Canada in 1838, Ellice bought the estate of Glenquoich in Lochaber,[6] and built a lodge on the shores of Loch Quoich designed by Inverness architect Alexander Ross. In the summer and autumn months he entertained a wide range of guests there, including artists, writers, statesmen and diplomats.

In the 1840s Ellice was also a shooting tenant on

blackcock, plus woodcock, partridge, teal, snipe and mountain hares. He shot 34 deer at Invereshie between 1834 and 1839. His sporting activities provoked complaints from the estate's farming tenants and Macpherson Grant regarded him as a problem tenant.[6]

Legacy

The

Ellice in Manitoba, Fort Ellice, and Ellice Avenue in Winnipeg[7]
are named after him.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-927277-19-5
    . Retrieved 9 December 2020. ...first published in 1977.
  2. ^ McDonnell, Hilda (2002). "Chapter 3: The New Zealand Company of 1825". The Rosanna Settlers: with Captain Herd on the coast of New Zealand 1826-7. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2020. including Thomas Shepherd's Journal and his coastal views, The NZ Company of 1825. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  3. Wakefield, Edward Jerningham (1845). Adventure in New Zealand, from 1839 to 1844: With Some Account of the Beginning of the British Colonization of the Islands
    . John Murray. p. 4. Retrieved 9 December 2020. Digitised 22 July 2009
  4. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
  5. ^ "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slavery".
  6. ^
    ISBN 9781910900987
  7. ^ History in Winnipeg Street Names at the Manitoba Historical Society

Bibliography

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Peter Moore
Peter Moore
 		Succeeded by
Thomas Bilcliffe Fyler
Richard Edensor Heathcote
Preceded by
Thomas Bilcliffe Fyler
Richard Edensor Heathcote
Thomas Bilcliffe Fyler 1830–1831
Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer 1831–1835
William Williams 1835–1847
George James Turner 1847–1851
Charles Geach 1851–1854
Sir Joseph Paxton
1854–1863 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded byas Secretary to the Treasury Financial Secretary to the Treasury
1830–1832 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary at War
1833–1834 		Succeeded by
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