(1732 - 71), s. of 8th E. of Kincardine [S]; suc. fa. 1740 as 9th E.; educ. Rugby; suc. cos. 1747 as 5th E. of Elgin [S]; m. 1759 Martha White.
1756 - 7 Turin (11 May 1756), Genoa, Milan, Parma, Bologna, Florence (by 3 Jul.), Pisa, Lucca, Massa, Carrara, Rome (by 24 Nov. - Dec. 1756), Venice (18 May - 14 Jun. 1757)
Elgin travelled with his contemporary Richard Hill (later a Baronet and champion of evangelicanism) whose Travel Notes recount that they reached Turin on 11 May 1756, and proceeded via Genoa, Milan, Parma and Bologna to Florence, where they had arrived by 3 July. Hill then described visits to Pisa, Lucca, Massa and Carrara (where his surviving Notes abruptly close).1
Elgin is recorded in Rome by 24 November 17562 and he took rooms in the Casa Guarnieri below Robert Adam, of whom he had heard much 'in Florence and other places'; having been told that Adam was about to leave Rome, Elgin received him 'with open arms' on his arrival. On 30 November, St Andrew's Day, Elgin and the 3rd Earl of Rosebery gave a lavish entertainment; there was a 'sea of liquor', and Robert Adam got 'beastly drunk'. On Christmas Day Adam heard Elgin sing 'droll Scots songs' at a party given by Richard Phelps.3 Elgin ('Milord Gugliemo Elgin') was in Venice from 18 May to 14 June 1757.4
1. Travel Notes of Sir Richard Hill, Feb. - Jul. 1756, MSS; priv. coll. E. Sidney, Life of Sir Richard Hill, 18. 2. Lucy Family, 86. 3. Fleming, Adam, 221, 226. 4. ASV IS 758.