SOLD George III Pays Lord Elgin

Thomas Bruce became the 7th Earl Elgin in 1771 at the age of five. Entering the army in 1785, he rose to the rank of major general. However, Elgin was much more interested in diplomacy, and beginning in 1790 successively served as British envoy to the Holy Roman Empire, to Brussels and to Berlin.

From 1799-1803, fate brought him to the post of ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. In this position he developed an interest in the antiquities of Athens (then under Ottoman control) and arranged for the Parthenon Frieze and other sculptures to be transported to England. There they were bought by the government and placed in the British Museum, where they lie today. Depending which side one takes in the ongoing passionate debate about where the Parthenon Friezes should reside, Elgin decided to remove the carvings either to protect them from damage from an unstable political climate or because he was a cultural enthusiast who took advantage of his position to plunder a helpless Greece. In either event, the historic sculptures are popularly known as the Elgin Marbles.

Document Signed, “At Our Court at St. James’s,” July 27 1795, ordering the Paymaster General to disburse from the funds allocated for the pay of “General and Staff Officers serving with Our Forces in North America and the West Indies,” 298 pounds, seven shillings and eight pence to Thomas Bruce for his salary as a major general for the period December 25, 1793 to April 29, 1794.

The document is countersigned by William Wyndham, Lord Grenville, Foreign Secretary and leader of the House of Lords. There are some repairs to the document, including at top right where a small piece of the “g” in “George” is missing. Within a year, Bruce would leave the army and embark on the career for which he remains famous. Although the King’s payoff here is not, alas, for the Elgin Marbles, this document is, nonetheless a remarkable memento of Elgin’s career.