George Keith Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith

Admiral The Lord Viscount Keith

He was the fifth son of Charles 10th Lord Elphinstone and his wife, Lady Clementina Fleming. Born January 7, 1746, in Elphinstone Tower, now known as Dunmore. He died March 10, 1823, in Tulliallan Castle.

Cemetery Directory and Map: Kincardinehistory.com

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1st Viscount Keith GCB, British admiral active throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Fifth son of the 10th Lord Elphinstone, he was born in Elphinstone Tower, near Stirling, Scotland. Two of his brothers went to sea, and he followed their example by entering the Royal Navy in 1761, in HMS Royal Sovereign but then transferred to HMS Gosport, then commanded by Captain John Jervis, afterwards Earl Saint Vincent. In 1767, he made a voyage to the East Indies in the British East India Company's service, and put £2000 lent him by an uncle to such good purpose in a private trading venture that he laid the foundation of a handsome fortune. He became lieutenant in 1770, commander in 1772, and post captain in 1775. During the war in America he was employed against the privateers, and with a naval brigade at the occupation of Charleston, South Carolina. In January 1781, when in command of the 50-gun HMS Warwick, he captured a Dutch 50-gun ship which had beaten off a British vessel of equal strength a few days before. When war broke out again in 1793, he was appointed to the 74-gun HMS Robust, in which he took part in the occupation of Toulon by Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood. He particularly distinguished himself by beating a body of the French ashore at the head of a naval brigade of British and Spaniards. He was entrusted with the duty of embarking the fugitives when the town was evacuated. In 1794 he was promoted rear-admiral, and in 1795 he was sent to occupy the Dutch colonies at the Cape of Good Hope and in India. He returned to the Mediterranean in November as commander-in-chief. He co-operated with the Austrians in the siege of Genoa, which surrendered on 4 June 1800. It was however immediately afterwards lost in consequence of the Battle of Marengo, and the French made their re-entry so rapidly that the admiral had considerable difficulty in getting his ships out of the harbour. He was at Plymouth when Napoleon surrendered and was brought to England in HMS Bellerophon by Captain Maitland (1777–1839). He was twice married: in 1787 to Jane Mercer, daughter of Colonel William Mercer of Aldie; and in 1808 to Hester Thrale, daughter of Henry Thrale and Hester Thrale, who is spoken of as 'Queeney' in Boswell's Life of Johnson and Mme d'Arblay's Diary.