William Elliot

Who was William Elliot?

William Elliot was an Irish politician who sat in the Irish House of Commons before its abolition. After the Act of Union he sat as a Whig in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Elliot was elected to the Irish House of Commons in 1796 as a Member of Parliament St Canice. At the 1798 election he was returned for both Carlow Borough and for St Canice, but chose to continue to sit for St Canice. He held that seat until the Parliament of Ireland was abolished at the end of 1800 by the Act of Union, when he did not initially have a seat in the new Parliament of the United Kingdom.

However, he was elected at an unopposed by-election in March 1801 as MP for Portarlington, and held that seat until the 1802 general election, when he was returned for Peterborough. He held that seat until his death in October 1818, aged 52.

He was sworn as a Privy Councillor in March 1806, in Dublin Castle, and appointed on 28 March as Chief Secretary for Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He held that post until 1807.