Henry Cornwallis Eliot, 5th Earl of St Germans (February 11 1835 - September 24 1911)

Henry Cornwallis Eliot was born in London on February 11 1835 to Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans and his wife Jemima Cornwallis (December 24 1803 - July 2 1856).

Henry was educated at Eton College from 1845 - 1847, and served as a Midshipman in the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean Sea from 1848 - 1853. He was appointed as a Junior Clerk in the Foreign Office on January 28 1855, where he worked until he succeeded to the Peerage in 1881. On November 26 1864 Henry was granted the usage of the title of Lord Eliot on the death of his older brother Edward John Cornwallis Eliot. In July 1867, he was Secretary to a special mission of Earl Vane to St Petersburg to invest the Emperor of Russia with the Order of the Garter. He was a Assistant Clerk from 1872 until the death of his older brother William Gordon Cornwallis Eliot, 4th Earl of St Germans on March 19 1881 when he succeeded as 5th Earl of St Germans. In the 1881 Census, he was living at 13 Grosvenor Gardens, St George Hanover Square, London - RG11/0101 f.54 p.25

Henry married on October 18 1881 at the Chapel Royal, Savoy Street , London to Emily Harriett Labouchere (June 24 1844 - October 18 1933), the daughter of Henry Labouchere, the first and last Baron Taunton . They had two sons:

• Edward Henry John Cornwallis Eliot, Lord Eliot (August 30 1885 - August 24 1909)
• John Granville Cornwallis Eliot, 6th Earl of St Germans (June 11 1890 - March 31 1922)

Henry died on September 24 1911 at Port Eliot, Cornwall and is buried at St Germans Church. His titles passed to his second son, John, since the eldest son had predeceased him.