At 21, largely through his father's influence, he took up a diplomatic post as the British Minister
Plenipotentiary to the
Duchy of Bavaria. Four years later, he was named as the British ambassador to
Frederick the Great in
Prussia. He developed a reputation as a great social wit, but worked hard to defeat the entreaties of American diplomats during the
American Revolutionary War (including, allegedly, at one point stealing the American
dispatch box and copying its contents). In
Berlin he married his first wife, Charlotte von Kraut, but when she committed
adultery he challenged her lover to a
duel. He himself was wounded in the duel, but received a written apology from his protagonist. The scandal was to later haunt him during his career, and is most often cited as the reason why, despite an exceptional career in the diplomatic service, he never received the customary
knighthood. Elliot then served in
Copenhagen 1782–1791, during which time his reputation soared as he was credited for stopping war between
Sweden and
Denmark, and for helping
Gustav III reintroduce absolutism in Sweden. Shortly after arriving at Copenhagen, he heard reports of the continued infidelity of his wife, who had remained in Berlin with their daughter. He decided that he would not allow their child to stay with her mother, and managed to personally carry out an abduction of her from Berlin, and bring her back to Copenhagen with him. In 1792, Elliot was named as British ambassador to the
Electorate of Saxony in
Dresden. Shortly prior to that he married his second wife, Margaret Jones, who was 20 years his junior. In 1803 Elliot was sent to
Naples which was then the capital of the
Kingdom of Naples, where he survived in tempestuous circumstances until his recall in 1806. After his recall, the family endured a period of considerable financial hardship when no postings were found for the diplomat for a period of three years but upon the death of
Lord Lavington, Elliot was appointed to serve as Governor of the
Leeward Islands in the British West Indies from 1809 to 1814. Elliot was a noted
abolitionist. Whilst Governor of the Leeward islands, he was reported to be the driving force behind the arrest, trial and execution of
Arthur Hodge for the murder of a slave in the
British Virgin Islands. His brother-in-law,
William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland presented the
bill which would become the
Slave Trade Act 1807 before the
House of Lords. In 1814, he was made a Privy Counsellor. From 1814 to 1820, Elliot was
Governor of Madras. ==Family==