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'{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2012}} {{Use British English|date=March 2012}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] |name = The Earl of Elgin |honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KT|GCB|KSI|PC}} |image = Felice Beato (British, born Italy - Portrait of Lord Elgin, Plenipotentiary and Ambassador, Who Signed the Treaty - Google Art Project.jpg |imagesize = 250 |order1 = [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy of India]] |term_start1 = 21 March 1862 |term_end1 = 20 November 1863 |monarch1 = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]] |predecessor1 = [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|The Earl Canning]] |successor1 = [[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala|Sir Robert Napier]] <br/><small>As Acting Governor-General</small> |order2 = [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General of the Province of Canada]] |term_start2 = 1847 |term_end2 = 1854 |monarch2 = Victoria |predecessor2 = [[Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart|The Earl Cathcart]] |successor2 = [[Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet|Sir Edmund Walker Head, Bt]] |office3= [[Governor of Jamaica]] |term_start3 = 1842 |term_end3 = 1846 |monarch3 = Victoria |predecessor3 = [[Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe|Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt]] |successor3 =[[George Berkeley (British Army officer)|George Berkeley]]<br/><small>As Acting Governor</small> |birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1811|7|20}} |birth_place = London, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] |death_date = {{Death date and age|1863|11|20|1811|07|20|df=yes}} |death_place = [[Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh|Dharamsala]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Raj|India]] |nationality = British |party = |alma_mater = [[Christ Church, Oxford]] |spouse = (1) Elizabeth Cumming-Bruce <br> (d. 1843) <br> (2) Lady Mary Lambton <br> (d. 1898) |signature = James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine Signature.svg }} '''James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|KT|GCB|KSI|PC}} (20 July 1811 &ndash; 20 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as [[Governor of Jamaica]] (1842–1846), [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] of the [[Province of Canada]] (1847–1854), and [[Viceroy of India]] (1862–1863).<ref>Monet, Jacques (2015)." [http://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/james-bruce-8th-earl-of-elgin James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin]". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 14 August 2016.</ref> In 1857, he was appointed High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary in China and the Far East to assist in the process of opening up China and Japan to Western trade. In 1860, during the [[Second Opium War]] in China, in the retaliation of the torture and execution of almost twenty European and Indian prisoners, he ordered the destruction of the [[Old Summer Palace#Destruction|Old Summer Palace]] in [[Beijing]], an architectural wonder with immeasurable collections of artworks and historic antiques, inflicting invaluable loss of [[cultural heritage]].<ref>Chris Bolby, "[http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30810596 The palace of shame that makes China angry]" BBC News (2015)</ref> Subsequently, he submitted the [[Qing Dynasty]] to the [[unequal treaty]] of the [[Convention of Peking]], adding [[Kowloon Peninsula]] to the [[crown colony|British crown colony]] of [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]]. ==Early life and education== Lord Elgin was the son of the [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin|7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine]] and his second wife. He shared his birthday 20 July with his father. He had seven brothers and sisters and four half-sisters and one half-brother from his father's first marriage.<ref name="ODNB">Checkland, Olive. "Bruce, James, eighth earl of Elgin and twelfth earl of Kincardine (1811–1863)". ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004 ed.). Oxford University Press. {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/3737}}. Retrieved 14 August 2016.</ref> Lord Elgin's father was reportedly impoverished by the purchase of the [[Elgin Marbles]]. His father had acquired them at great expense, but sold them to the British government for much less.<ref name="ODNB"/> James Bruce was educated at Eton College and [[Christ Church, Oxford]], graduated with a first in Classics in 1832. While at Oxford, he became friends with [[William Ewart Gladstone]].<ref name="ODNB"/> ==Career== He was elected at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1841|1841 general election]] as a [[Member of Parliament (MP)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Southampton (UK Parliament constituency)|Southampton]], but the election was declared void on petition. He did not stand in the resulting [[by-election]].<ref name="craig1832-1885">{{cite book|last=Craig|first=F. W. S.|authorlink=F. W. S. Craig|title=British parliamentary election results 1832–1885|origyear=1977|edition=2nd|year=1989|publisher=Parliamentary Research Services|location=Chichester|isbn=0-900178-26-4|page=279}}</ref> ===Jamaica=== James Bruce became Governor of [[Jamaica]] in 1842,<ref name = "List">{{cite book | last1 = Sargeaunt | first1 = William C. | last2 = Birch | first2 = Arthur N. | title = The Colonial Office List for 1862 | publisher = Edward Stanford | year = 1862 | location = London, UK | pages = 128 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GtANAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA128 }}</ref> and in 1847 was appointed [[Governor General of Canada]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Gough | first = Barry M. | title = Historical Dictionary of Canada | publisher = Scarecrow Press | year = 2011 | location = Lanham, MD | pages = 163 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=z4xK6CasigkC&pg=PA163 | isbn = 978-0-8108-7504-3 }}</ref> ===Canada=== [[File:James Bruce Lord Elgin.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Statue of Elgin in front of the [[Parliament Building (Quebec)|Parliament Building]] in Quebec]] Under Lord Elgin, the first real attempts began at establishing [[responsible government]] in Canada. Lord Elgin became the first Governor General to distance himself from the affairs of the legislature. Since then, the Governor-General has had a largely symbolic role with regards to the political affairs of the country. As Governor-General, he wrestled with the costs of receiving high levels of immigration in the Canadas, a major issue in the constant debate about immigration during the 19th century. {{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} In 1849 the Baldwin-Lafontaine government passed the [[Rebellion Losses Bill]], compensating French Canadians for losses suffered during the [[Rebellions of 1837]]. {{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Lord Elgin granted [[royal assent]] to the bill despite heated [[Tory]] opposition and his own misgivings over how his action would be received in England. The decision sparked the [[Burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal]] by an English-speaking mob. Elgin was assaulted. Instead of calling in the military, he withdrew his family to their country residence and allowed civil authorities to restore order. The French-speaking minority in the Canadian legislature also unsuccessfully tried to have him removed from his post. {{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} In 1849, the [[Stony Monday Riot]] took place in [[Bytown]] on Monday 17 September. Tories and Reformists clashed over the planned visit of Lord Elgin, one man was killed and many sustained injuries. Two days later, the two political factions, armed with cannon, muskets and pistols faced off on the [[Sappers Bridge]]. Although the conflict was defused in time by the military, a general support for the Crown's representative, triumphed in Bytown (renamed Ottawa by Queen Victoria in 1854). In 1854, Lord Elgin negotiated the [[Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty|Reciprocity Treaty]] with the United States in an attempt to stimulate the Canadian economy. Later that year, he granted royal assent to the law that abolished the [[Seigneurial system of New France|seigneurial system]] in Quebec, and then resigned as Governor-General. {{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} ===China and Japan=== In 1857, Lord Elgin was appointed High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary in China and the Far East to assist in the process of opening up China and Japan to Western trade.<ref name="ODNB"/> During the [[Second Opium War]], he led the [[Battle of Canton (1857)|bombardment of Canton]] (Guangzhou) and oversaw the end of the war by signing the [[Treaty of Tientsin]] (Tianjin) on 26 June 1858. [[File:The State Entry of Lord Elgin into Peking.jpg|thumb|Entry of Lord Elgin into Peking, 1860]] In June 1860, Lord Elgin returned to China to assist with additional attacks, which were initially led by his brother. On 18 October 1860, not having received the Chinese surrender and wishing to spare the imperial capital of [[Beijing|Peking]] (Beijing), he ordered the complete destruction of the [[Old Summer Palace]] (Yuanming Yuan) outside the city in retaliation for the torture and execution of almost 20 European and Indian prisoners, including two British envoys and ''The Times'' journalist [[Thomas William Bowlby|Thomas Bowlby]]. The Old Summer Palace was a complex of palaces and gardens eight kilometres northwest of the walls of Beijing; it had been built during the 18th and early 19th centuries, and was where the emperors of the Qing dynasty resided and handled government affairs. An alternative account says that Lord Elgin had initially considered the destruction of the [[Forbidden City]]. However, fearing that this act might interfere with the signing of the [[Convention of Peking]], which was where it was being negotiated, he opted for the destruction of the Old Summer Palace in its stead.<ref name="Harris">Harris, David. Van Slyke, Lyman P. (2000)</ref> The Old Summer Palace was set aflame by 3,500 British troops and burnt for three days. Lord Elgin and his troops looted many treasures from the palace and took them to Britain. Attacks on the nearby [[Summer Palace]] (Qingyi Yuan) were also made, but the extent of destruction was not as great as to the Old Summer Palace. On 24 October 1860, Lord Elgin signed the Convention of Peking, which stipulated that China was to cede part of Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong in perpetuity to Britain.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} [[File:Earl of Elgin's entrance into Peking.jpg|thumb|Lord Elgin's procession in Peking, accompanied by 100 cavalry and 400 infantry]] In between Lord Elgin's two trips to China, he had visited Japan. In August 1858, he signed a [[Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce|Treaty of Amity and Commerce]] whose negotiation was much eased by the recent [[Harris Treaty]] between Japan and the United States. Lord Elgin was ambivalent about the British policy on forcing [[opium]] on the people in the Far East. It was not without internal struggle that he carried out the duty laid on him by Britain. In a letter to his wife, in regard to the bombing of Canton, he wrote, "I never felt so ashamed of myself in my life."<ref name="ODNB"/> ===India=== {{multiple image|footer =Grave memorial at [[St. John in the Wilderness]] church in Dharamsala|width=160|image1 =Lord Elgin's Tomb 01.JPG|image2=Lord Elgin grave.JPG}} He became [[Viceroy of India]] in 1862, and was the first to use [[Peterhoff, Shimla]] as the official residence of the Viceroy. He died in 1863 of a heart attack while crossing a swinging rope and wood bridge over the river Chadly, on the lap between Kullu and Lahul.<ref>Raaja Bhasin, Shimla - The Summer Capital of British India</ref> He was buried in the churchyard of [[St. John in the Wilderness]] in [[Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh|Dharamshala]]. ==Family== Elgin's first marriage to Elizabeth-Mary Cumming-Bruce on 22 April 1841 was short lived, his wife dying shortly after the birth of a second daughter on the 7 June 1843 in Jamaica. Elgin's second wife, Lady Mary-Louisa Lambton, mother of [[Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin|the 9th Earl of Elgin]] was a daughter of the [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|1st Earl of Durham]], a prominent author of the ''[[Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839)]]'' (as well as Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada and Governor General of the Province of Canada), and niece of the Colonial Secretary the [[Henry Grey, 3rd Earl Grey|3rd Earl Grey]] (who was uncle to [[Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey]], later [[Governor General of Canada]]) ==Legacy== The towns of [[Kincardine, Ontario|Kincardine]], [[Port Elgin, Ontario|Port Elgin]] and [[Bruce Mines, Ontario|Bruce Mines]] and the counties of [[Bruce County, Ontario|Bruce]] and [[Elgin County, Ontario|Elgin]] in [[Ontario]] are named after him, as are the communities of [[Elgin, New Brunswick]] and [[Elgin, Nova Scotia]]. The Elgin Bridge in Singapore was named after him including numerous Elgin Roads and Elgin Streets in Canada, India and [[Elgin Street, Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] are also named in his honour, as is the [[Lord Elgin Hotel]] in [[Ottawa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lordelginhotel.ca/hotel_information/history.aspx |title=Lord Elgin Hotel - Ottawa Resort Information - History |publisher=Lordelginhotel.ca |date= |accessdate=2012-06-14}}</ref> His legacy in Canada was the subject of a 1959 [[National Film Board of Canada]] short docudrama, ''Lord Elgin: Voice of the People'', directed by Julian Biggs.<ref name=biggs>{{cite web|last=Biggs|first=Julian|title=Lord Elgin: Voice of the People|url=http://www.nfb.ca/film/lord_elgin_voice_of_people/ |work=Online film|publisher=[[National Film Board of Canada]]|accessdate=13 January 2012}}</ref> == See also == *[[List of Lieutenant Governors of Ontario]] *[[List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec]] *[[Anglo-Chinese relations]] *[[Anglo-Japanese relations]] ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Sources== {{refbegin}} * ''Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan, 1857-8-9'' (2 volumes), [[Laurence Oliphant (1829–1888)|Laurence Oliphant]], 1859 (reprinted by Oxford University Press, 1970) {No ISBN} * {{cite book|last=Checkland|first=S.G.|title=The Elgins 1766-1917: A Tale of Aristocrats, Proconsuls and Their Wives|place=Aberdeen|publisher=Aberdeen University Press|date=1988|isbn=0-08-036395-4}} * {{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=David|last2=Van Slyke|first2=Lyman P.|date=2000|title=Of Battle and Beauty: Felice Beato's Photographs of China|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-89951-100-7}} * {{cite book|first=James L.|last=Hevia|title=English Lessons: The Pedagogy of Imperialism in Nineteenth-Century China|place=Durham|publisher=Duke University Press|date=2003}} *[http://www.collectionscanada.ca/immigrants/021017-2112.02-e.html "Moving Here, Staying Here:" ''The Canadian Immigrant Experience''], Library and Archives Canada, A letter from Lord Elgin, Governor General of the Canadas, to the Colonial Office * {{cite book|last=Morison|first=John Lyle|title=The Eighth Earl of Elgin : A Chapter in Nineteenth-century Imperial History|place=London|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|date=1928}} * {{cite book|first=John|last=Newsinger|title=Elgin in China|journal=The New Left Review|date=June 2002|ref=pp.&nbsp;119–40}} * {{cite book|last=Wrong|first=George M.|title=The Earl of Elgin|place=Toronto|publisher=G.N. Morangi|date=1906}} Also digitized by Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions, 2003. {{refend}} ==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{Hansard-contribs|lord-bruce|the Earl of Elgin }} * {{Gutenberg author |id=Elgin,+James+Bruce,+Earl+of}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=James Bruce}} * {{Internet Archive author |search=("Earl of Elgin" OR "Lord Elgin") |dname=Earl of Elgin}} *[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4324 Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''] * {{cite book | last = Ringmar | first = Erik | title = Liberal Barbarism: The European Destruction of the Palace of the Emperor of China | url = https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5277315/my%20writings/liberal%20barbarism/Erik%20Ringmar%2C%20Liberal%20Barbarism%2C%20published%20pdf.pdf | year = 2013 | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | location = New York }} * Lord Elgin, "[http://ringmar.net/europeanfury/?page_id=1601 Second Mission to China, 1860]," from ''Extracts from the Letters of James, Earl of Elgin to Mary Louisa, Countess of Elgin, 1847-1862'' (London, 1864) *[http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/large.php?accessnumber=M22464&Lang=1&imageID=165915 Painting: James Bruce, Earl of Elgin, circa 1855. McCord Museum] *{{acad|id=ELGN861J|name=Elgin and Kincardine, James, Earl of}} *{{Rayment|date=February 2012}} *{{Rayment-hc|date=February 2012}} {{S-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Southampton (UK Parliament constituency)|Southampton]] | with = [[Charles Cecil Martyn]] | years = 1841&ndash;1842 | before = [[Abel Rous Dottin]]<br />[[Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown|Viscount Duncan]] | after = [[Humphrey St John-Mildmay (1794-1866)|Humphrey St John-Mildmay]]<br />[[George William Hope]] }} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title=[[United Kingdom Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] | before=[[Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester|The Lord Colchester]] | after=[[Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley|The Lord Stanley of Alderley]] | years=1859&ndash;1860}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box | before = [[Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe|Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt]] | title = [[Governor of Jamaica]] | years=1842–1846 | after = [[George Berkeley (British Army officer)|George Berkeley]] <br>(''acting'') }} {{succession box | before = [[Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart|The Earl Cathcart]] | title = [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General of the Province of Canada]] | years = 1847–1854 | after = [[Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet|Sir Edmund Walker Head, Bt]] }}{{succession box | before=[[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|The Earl Canning]] | title=[[Governor-General of India|Viceroy of India]] | years=1862–1863 | after=[[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala|Sir Robert Napier]] (acting)}} {{s-hon}} {{succession box | before=[[James Erskine Wemyss]] | title=[[Lord Lieutenant of Fife]] | years=1854&ndash;1863 | after=[[James Hay Erskine Wemyss]]}} {{s-aca}} {{succession box | before = [[Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart|The Earl Cathcart]] | title = [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of [[University of Toronto|King's College]] | years = 1847–1849 | after = [[Peter Boyle de Blaquière]] <br>(as ''Chancellor of the University of Toronto'') }} {{succession box|title=[[Rector of the University of Glasgow]]|years=1859&ndash;1862|before=[[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton|The Lord Lytton]]|after=[[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]]}} {{s-reg|sct}} {{succession box | before = [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin|Thomas Bruce]] | title = [[Earl of Elgin]]<br>[[Earl of Kincardine]] | years = 1841–1863 | after = [[Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin|Victor Bruce]]}} {{S-end}} {{ONLG}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Elgin, James Bruce, 8th Earl Of}} [[Category:1811 births]] [[Category:1863 deaths]] [[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]] [[Category:British expatriates in China]] [[Category:British expatriates in Japan]] [[Category:British people of the Second Opium War]] [[Category:Earls of Elgin|James]] [[Category:Earls of Kincardine|James]] [[Category:Governors General of the Province of Canada]] [[Category:Governors of Jamaica]] [[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Knights of the Thistle]] [[Category:Lord-Lieutenants of Fife]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]] [[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]] [[Category:Rectors of the University of Glasgow]] [[Category:UK MPs 1841–47]] [[Category:United Kingdom Postmasters General]] [[Category:Viceroys of India]]'