Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin

Scottish noble (1732–1771)

Charles Bruce, Earl of Elgin

Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin and 9th Earl of Kincardine (6 July 1732 – 14 May 1771) was a Scottish nobleman. He succeeded his cousin Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury as Earl of Elgin in 1747.

He was the son of William Bruce, 8th Earl of Kincardine and Janet Roberton. His mother was the daughter of James Roberton (principal Lord of Session)[1] and great-granddaughter of advocate and judge Lord Bedlay.[2][3] He was educated at Rugby School.

He was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland from 1761 to 1763. He was a founding member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews. He built the planned industrial village of Charlestown, Fife.

He is buried in the southern transept of Dunfermline Abbey close to the grave of Robert the Bruce. In 1812, Scottish composer Magdalene Stirling named her Charles Bruce Reel after him.[4]

The grave of Sir Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin, Dunfermline Abbey

## Family

[edit]

On 1 June 1759, Elgin married Martha Whyte (1739–1810), who later became governess to Princess Charlotte of Wales. They had eight children:[1]

* Lady Martha Bruce (1760-), died young
* Lady Janet Bruce (1761-), died young
* William Robert Bruce, Lord Bruce (1763-), died young
* William Robert Bruce, 6th Earl of Elgin (1764-1771)
* Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (1766-1841)
* Hon. Charles Andrew Bruce (1768-1810), Governor of Prince of Wales's Island
* Hon. James Bruce (1769-1798), Member of Parliament
* Lady Charlotte Matilda Bruce (1771-1816), married Admiral Philip Charles Durham

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Elgin, 1633 Archived 12 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine at cracroftspeerage.co.uk (Cracroft's Peerage online). Retrieved 23 October 2012
2. ^ John Birnie; William Barclay Turnbull (1838). Families of Broomhill. Edinburgh Printing Co. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
3. ^ "Archibald Roberton". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
4. ^ "Honorable Charles Bruce (The)". Traditional Tune Archive. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2021.

Masonic offices

Preceded by

The Earl of Leven

|  Grand Master of the
Grand Lodge of Scotland
1761 - 1763  | Succeeded by

The Earl of Kellie

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by

Charles Bruce

|  Earl of Elgin
1747-1771  | Succeeded by

William Bruce

Preceded by

William Bruce

|  Earl of Kincardine
1740-1771

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

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