Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Elgin
KT CD JP DL
Born Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce
(1924-02-17) 17 February 1924
Title 11th Earl of Elgin
Tenure 1968–present
Other titles Lord Bruce (1924–1968)
Residence Broomhall House, nr. Dunfermline, Scotland
Offices Chief of Clan Bruce
Lord Lieutenant of Fife
Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1943–46, 1951–65, 1976–86
Rank Colonel
Service number 293466
Unit Scots Guards
Battles/wars

Second World War

Awards Order of the Thistle
Canadian Forces Decoration
Order of St. Olav

Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin and 15th Earl of Kincardine, KT, CD, JP, DL (born 17 February 1924), styled Lord Bruce before 1968, is a Scottish peer.[1]

Background and education

Bruce is the eldest son of Edward Bruce, 10th Earl of Elgin and the Honourable Katherine Elizabeth Cochrane, daughter of Thomas Cochrane, 1st Baron Cochrane of Cults. He was educated at Eton and at Balliol College, Oxford. On 12 September 1943, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd (Armoured) Bn Scots Guards[2][3] and was wounded during Operation Bluecoat, the break out from Normandy in August 1944. He was invalided out of the army on 24 October 1946, with the honorary rank of lieutenant.[4] On 4 April 1951, he was appointed an instructor in the Army Cadet Force, with the rank of lieutenant.[5] In July 1963, by then the County Cadet Commandant for Fife, he was awarded the Cadet Forces Medal.[6] He resigned his commission on 19 April 1965, retaining the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel.[7][8] Since 1970, he has been Colonel-in-Chief of the 31 Combat Engineer Regiment (The Elgins),[9] and was Hon. Colonel of the 153 (Highland) Transport Regiment from 1976 to 1986.

Career

Elgin has held a number of business appointments, including as President of the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society (1975–1994), and Chairman of the National Savings Committee for Scotland. He was President of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, and the Scottish motor racing team, Ecurie Ecosse.

He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1951, was Deputy Lieutenant of Fife 1955–1987, and Lord Lieutenant 1987–1999. In 1980 he was appointed by HM The Queen as Her Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and reappointed in 1981.[10] In 1982 HM The Queen installed him as a Knight of the Thistle.[11] He was awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration in 1981, and the Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1994. He is a former Captain of the Royal Company of Archers and a former convenor of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.

He was County Cadet Commandant for Fife from 1952 to 1965, Brigade President of the Boys' Brigade from 1966 to 1985, and Grand Master Mason of Scotland from 1961 to 1965.[12]

He is a Freeman of Bridgetown, Regina, Saskatchewan, Port Elgin, Winnipeg, Manitoba, St. Thomas, Ontario, and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Lord Elgin is a former President of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, and is the Life President of the Broomhall Curling Club. He skipped the Scottish curling teams that defeated the Governor General of Canada's teams in a series of matches in Ottawa in 1982.[13]

Lord Elgin is Chief of Clan Bruce, and President of the Bruce Family Organization[14] which is the main association for members of the Bruce family.

Honours







RibbonDescriptionNotes
Order of the Thistle (KT)
  • Knight Companion
  • 1982
1939–1945 Star
France and Germany Star
Defence Medal
War Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
  • 1953
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
  • 1977
  • UK Version of this Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
  • 2002
  • UK Version of this Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
  • 2012
  • UK Version of this Medal
Cadet Forces Medal
  • July 1963
Canadian Forces Decoration (CD)
  • 1981
  • With 3 Clasps
Order of St. Olav
  • 1994

Family

In 1959 he married Victoria Mary Usher and they have five children:

  • Charles Edward Bruce, Lord Bruce married Amanda Grimes (divorced 1996)[15]
  • The Hon. Alexander Bruce
  • The Hon. Adam Bruce
  • The Lady Georgina Bruce
  • The Lady Antonia Bruce.

The Countess is a Patroness of the Royal Caledonian Ball.[16] The Earl succeeded to the earldoms and other titles on the death of his father in 1968.

Ancestry

Notes

  1. ↑ Dewar, Peter Beauclerk (2001). Burke's landed gentry of Great Britain: together with members of the titled and non-titled contemporary establishment Edition 19, Burke's Peerage, ISBN 0-9711966-0-5. p. 104
  2. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/21/a4538621.shtml
  3. ↑ "No. 36206". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 October 1943. p. 4499.
  4. ↑ "No. 37767". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 October 1946. p. 5256.
  5. ↑ "No. 39274". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 June 1951. p. 3613.
  6. ↑ "No. 43051". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 July 1963. p. 5882.
  7. ↑ "No. 43652". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 May 1965. p. 4854.
  8. ↑ "No. 43712". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 July 1965. p. 6726.
  9. ↑ Video on YouTube
  10. ↑ Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
  11. ↑ List of Knights and Ladies of the Thistle
  12. ↑ "Conservatives at the heart of Freemasonry". The Independent.
  13. ↑ Video on YouTube
  14. ↑ "www.familyofbruce.org - Family of Bruce International, Inc. - About Us". familyofbruce.org.
  15. ↑ "Infamous fraudster Lady Bruce vows to return to Scotland". Deadline News.
  16. ↑ "Patronesses". Royal Caledonian Ball. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  17. ↑ James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin

References

  • Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
  • "Who's Who" (2011 edition). A & C Black Publishers Ltd; 163rd Revised edition (6 Dec 2010)
  • Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
Masonic offices
Preceded by
The Earl of Eglinton		 Grand Master Mason of the
Grand Lodge of Scotland
1961 – 1965		 Succeeded by
Ronald Orr-Ewing
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Sir John Gilmour, Bt		 Lord Lieutenant of Fife
1987 – 1999		 Succeeded by
Margaret Dean
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
Edward Bruce		 Earl of Elgin
Earl of Kincardine
1968 – present		 Incumbent
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Kinnoull		 Gentlemen
The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Elgin & Kincardine 		Succeeded by
The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Wemyss
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