Sir George Elliot, Bart., MP
Mining engineer and self-made businessman from Gateshead in the North-East of England.
A colliery labourer who went on to own several coal mines, he later bought a wire rope manufacturing company which manufactured the first Transatlantic telegraph cable.
He was also a Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP).
Sir George, or Geordie as he was known, was born in Gateshead, the son of a miner. He started work at the age of ten as a trapper boy at Whitfield Pit, Penshaw, and eventually owned this colliery later in his life. In 1849 he became a wire rope manufacturer and his company laid the first Atlantic cable. He became an M.P. on November 26th 1868 and he was made a Baronet on May 15th 1874 by Queen Victoria. In his capacity as an M.P., he made arrangements for the new tongue of Big Ben, in Westminster, London, to be forged at Hopper's Iron Foundry in Houghton-le-Spring. His local residence was Houghton Hall.
Sir George also advised Prime Minister Disraeli to buy shares in the Suez Canal, resulting in England having control over the sea route to India.
Sir George Elliot died at his house, 17 Portland Place, London, on 23 December 1893. The obituary in The Times claimed 'the public loses in him a man who had the capacity to place himself at the head of important movements and the energy and industry to continue to direct them with success during a lifetime which has lasted for nearly 80 years.'
His funeral was held at the Hillside Cemetery on December 28th 1893 and was attended by a very large gathering of mourners.
Sir George Elliot, Bart., MP
Mining engineer and self-made businessman from Gateshead in the North-East of England.
A colliery labourer who went on to own several coal mines, he later bought a wire rope manufacturing company which manufactured the first Transatlantic telegraph cable.
He was also a Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP).
Sir George, or Geordie as he was known, was born in Gateshead, the son of a miner. He started work at the age of ten as a trapper boy at Whitfield Pit, Penshaw, and eventually owned this colliery later in his life. In 1849 he became a wire rope manufacturer and his company laid the first Atlantic cable. He became an M.P. on November 26th 1868 and he was made a Baronet on May 15th 1874 by Queen Victoria. In his capacity as an M.P., he made arrangements for the new tongue of Big Ben, in Westminster, London, to be forged at Hopper's Iron Foundry in Houghton-le-Spring. His local residence was Houghton Hall.
Sir George also advised Prime Minister Disraeli to buy shares in the Suez Canal, resulting in England having control over the sea route to India.
Sir George Elliot died at his house, 17 Portland Place, London, on 23 December 1893. The obituary in The Times claimed 'the public loses in him a man who had the capacity to place himself at the head of important movements and the energy and industry to continue to direct them with success during a lifetime which has lasted for nearly 80 years.'
His funeral was held at the Hillside Cemetery on December 28th 1893 and was attended by a very large gathering of mourners.
Gravesite Details
The Elliot vault, which dates from 1862, was vandalised and bricked up in 1957. It originally had an outer door, which lead into a large, shelved cavity with an ornately tiled floor. No inscription remains.
Family Members
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