10cm (4in) x 28cm (11in) x 7cm (18in)
Admiral Sir George Elliot KCB FRS (1784-1863) was the son George Elliot was born on 1 August 1784, the second son of the 1st Earl of Minto. He joined the navy as a First-Class Volunteer in 1794, and in the 98-gun flagship HMS St George (Captain Thomas Foley), and first saw action off Genoa and Hyères Islands in 1795. Elliot followed Foley into HMS Britannia, aboard which he saw action at Cape St Vincent (1797) and at the Nile (1798) in HMS Goliath, Promoted lieutenant in 1800, he served under Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson HMS San Josef in 1801. While serving aboard St George, (Captain Thomas Hardy) the same year, Elliot accompanied the expeditionary fleet to the Baltic under Sir Hyde Parker, and was present during the Battle of Copenhagen. He was promoted to the rank of Commander in 1802, and went out to the Mediterranean in May the following year with Nelson, as a volunteer in HMS Victory.
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Nelson regarded Elliot highly and have him his first command in 1803, appointing him to the sloop HMS Termagant. He received a promotion to Post-Captain in 1804, and commanded Maidstone at the blockade of Toulon. On 11 July 1804 boats from Maidstone took part in the destruction of vessels at Lavandou in the South of France. It was around this time that Nelson described him as one of the best officers in the navy. In 1806 he was appointed to the command of HMS Modeste (36-guns) in which he chased down and captured the 18-gun French corvette Iéna in the Bay of Bengal; cut out the 8-gun Tuijneelar in the Sunda Straits; and took part in the capture of Java. He was also involved in the suppression of Borneo pirates and assisting the restoration of the Sultan of Palembang.
After a long period at home he was appointed to the command HMS Victory, then serving as the guardship at Portsmouth from 1827 until 1832. His service during this period earned Elliot the praise of the Duke of Clarence, the future King William IV. He was appointed an ADC to the King in 1830, and in September that year he was nominated a Companion of the Bath. He afterwards held a number of Admiralty appointments and sat as a Whig Member of Parliament for Roxburghshire from 1832 until his defeat in 1835. He returned to China in 1840, during the First Opium War, as Commander-in-Chief East Indies and China Station and joint plenipotentiary with his cousin, Captain Charles Elliot. He oversaw operations between July and November, but afterwards incurred the displeasure of the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston for his performance at the negotiating table.