Robert Bruce (1st Earl of Ailesbury, 2nd Earl of Elgin)

Wikipedia

Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury and 2nd Earl of Elgin, PC, FRS (c. March 1626 – 20 October 1685) was the son of the Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin.

During his father's lifetime, Lord Kinloss, as he was styled, was Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire in the Parliament of 1660 and the following Parliament of 1661, until he succeeded to his father's titles in 1663. The following year (18 March 1664) he was created Earl of Ailesbury, Viscount Bruce of Ampthill and Baron Bruce of Skelton for his services in procuring the English Restoration. He was Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire from 1660 with the Earl of Cleveland and solely from 1667 to his death. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and Hampshire from 1681 to his death.

In October 1678, he was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) and a Gentleman of the Bedchamber. In 1685, he was invested as a Fellow of the Royal Society and Lord Chamberlain on 30 July 1685.

He married Lady Diana Grey, daughter of the first Earl of Stamford, on 16 February 1645. They had seven children, but only two children survived infancy:

Diana, Countess of Ailesbury, by Sir Peter Lely

• Lady Diana Bruce (d. 1672), married the 1st Duke of Rutland.
• Hon. Robert Bruce (d. 1652), died young.
• Hon. Edward Bruce (d. 1662), died young.
• Hon. Charles Bruce (d. 1661), died young.
• Hon. Henry Bruce (1656–?), died young.
• Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury (1656–1741)
• Hon. Barnard Bruce (1666–1669), died young.

Lord Ailesbury died in 1685, aged 58 at Houghton House, just north of Ampthill, Bedfordshire, and was buried on 26 October of that year, at Maulden. His widow built Ampthill House nearby in 1686, originally as a dower house.

[edit] External links

1. Website with information about the Ailesbury Mausoleum at Maulden

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Annotations

• N Wim van der Meij on Tue 16 May 2006, 05:14pm

  Robert Bruce, second Earl of Elgin, created in 1664 Baron and Viscount Bruce, and Earl of Aylesbury (English honours). He was also a Privy Councellor and one of the Lords of the King’s Bedchamber. He died in 1685, just after his appointment a Lord Chamberlain to JamesII.

References in the diary

1663

May: 15