Name Robert 1st | ||
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Reign 18 March 1664 - 20 October 1685 Spouse Lady Diana Grey (m. 1645–1685) Parents Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin Children Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury Grandchildren Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury, Robert Rolle, Marie, Princess of Hornes, John Rolle Grandparents Edward Bruce, 1st Lord Kinloss | ||
Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury and 2nd Earl of Elgin, PC, FRS (ca. March 1626 – 20 October 1685) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1663 when he inherited his father's title as Earl of Elgin.
Contents
Life
Bruce was the son of Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin. During his father's lifetime, Lord Bruce, as he was styled, was Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire in the Convention Parliament in 1660 and the Cavalier Parliament in 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.
In October 1678, Lord Ailesbury was invested as a Privy Counsellor (PC) and a Gentleman of the Bedchamber. He was Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and Hampshire from 1681 to his death. In 1685, he was invested as a Fellow of the Royal Society and Lord Chamberlain on 30 July 1685.
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.
Marriage & progeny
Lord Bruce married Lady Diana Grey, daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford, on 16 February 1645. They had seventeen children, nine of which seem to have survived to adulthood: