Eliot was born at
Port Eliot,
Cornwall, the third but eldest surviving son of
Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans, and his wife Jemima (née Cornwallis). He was educated at
Eton College and then joined the
Diplomatic Service. His assignments included: • Attaché at
Hanover from 1849 to 1853 • Attaché at
Lisbon from 1851 to 1853 • 2nd Paid Attaché at
Berlin from 1853 to 1857 • 1st Paid Attaché at
Constantinople from 1857 to 1858 • 1st Paid Attaché at
Saint Petersburg from 1858 to 1859 • Secretary of Legation at
Rio de Janeiro in 1859 • Secretary of Legation at
Athens from 1859 to 1861 • Secretary of Legation at Lisbon from 1860 to 1861 • Chargé d'Affaires at Rio de Janeiro from 1861 to 1863 • Acting Secretary of Legation at
Washington, D.C. from 1863 to 1864 He resigned in 1865 and was elected
Member of Parliament for
Devonport in 1866, a seat he held until 1868. In 1870 he was summoned to the
House of Lords through a
writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Eliot. Lord St Germans died unmarried in March 1881, aged 51 and is buried, near his mother, at
Kensal Green Cemetery. He was succeeded by his younger brother,
Henry. ==References==