Edward Charles Ellice

Edward Ellice

Major Edward Charles Ellice, DSO, JP, DL (1 January 1858 – 21 February 1934)[1] was Liberal MP for St Andrews Burghs.

Biography

He was the son of Robert Ellice (1816–1858) and Eglantine "Tina" Balfour (1816–1907), the grandson of Robert Ellice and Eliza Courtney, a grandnephew of Edward Ellice, and a cousin and the heir of the latter's son, heir and namesake, Edward Ellice, who was a previous MP for the constituency.

Educated at Harrow School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Ellice was commissioned in the Grenadier Guards in 1876 or 1877, and promoted to captain on 5 August 1886. Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, he joined Lord Lovat's Corps as a captain of mounted infantry on 21 February 1900.[2] The corps was raised by Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat and served in South Africa through the war.

Ellice was elected at the 1903 St Andrews Burghs by-election, gaining the seat from the Liberal Unionists. He sought re-election at the 1906 General Election but was narrowly defeated.[3]

During the First World War, he rejoined the Grenadier Guards in 1914 and commanded the 7th (Guards) Entrenching Battalion in France. He was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order in 1918.

He was deputy-director of the Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway.

Electoral record

1903 St Andrews Burghs by-election[4][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Charles Ellice 1,324 50.7 +1.9
Liberal Unionist William Anstruther-Thomson 1,288 49.3 −1.9
Turnout
Majority 36 1.4 3.8
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist Swing +1.9
General election January 1906: St Andrews Burghs [4][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist William Anstruther-Gray 1,495 50.4 +1.1
Liberal Edward Charles Ellice 1,472 49.6 −1.1
Majority 23 0.8 2.2
Turnout
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal Swing

Family

He married Margaret Georgiana Thomas (1865–1929), daughter of cricketer Freeman Thomas and sister of Major Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, on 11 April 1889. They had ten children:

  • Marion Ellice (8 October 1890)
  • Edward Ellice (6 December 1891 – about 1893)
  • Isobel Ellice (18 November 1892)
  • Alexander Ellice (19 November 1894 – 16 October 1916) died in World War I, age 21
  • Margaret Ellice (19 March 1896)
  • Andrew Robert Ellice (13 October 1897 – 28 September 1916) died in World War I, age 18
  • William Ellice (19 December 1898 – 26 November 1914) died in World War I when an internal explosion sank HMS Bulwark, age 15
  • Eglantine Ellice (9 January 1900 – 1989)
  • Russell Ellice (14 November 1902 – 1989)
  • Charles Ellice (7 March 1905)

References

  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 1)
  2. ^ "No. 27167". The London Gazette. 20 February 1900. p. 1171.
  3. ^ a b c The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  4. ^ a b British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, FWS Craig
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for St Andrews Burghs
1903–1906 		Succeeded by