Ellesmere Francis
(01.01.1800–18.02.1857)
English
political and public figure, Lord, the twelfth (1853-1854) President
of the Royal Geographical Society.
At birth, he had the surname Leveson Gover and was the youngest
son of the Marquis of Stafford, later the Earl of Sutherland. Becoming
the heir of his rich and influential uncle Earl Bridgewater,
Francis, who had by that time the surname Edgerton, in 1846 was
elevated to the rank of Earl Elsmir.
Ellesmere was educated at Eton and Oxford and soon occupied a
high position in the House of Commons of the English Parliament, in
which he had been active for more than twenty years. In
the period 1828–1830 he
was a representative from Ireland in the administration of Earl
Wellington.
According to contemporaries, Ellesmere was not by nature a boss. As
head of the Royal Geographical Society, he proved himself to be a
conscientious and active leader who did much to strengthen and
develop both society and geography as a whole. In
1854, thanks to the efforts of the president, a government grant was
received to the society for the construction of rooms for books and
maps, which could be used not only by members of society, but also
by all who wished.
Ellesmere was a highly educated man, who knew several languages,
was good at painting, and had a literary gift. On
his yacht, he visited many Mediterranean countries, collecting a
large collection of paintings, of which there were many in that
region and which were very low valued and poorly preserved there.
Ellesmere has written several books and a large number of
articles on geography, literature, painting, and archeology. He
was a generous patron of poor art lovers. "The
Society has never had a more cordial friend than Lord Ellesmere, or
the President, who, with all his diverse achievements and
popularity, was better suited to meet the interests of the Society".
Ellesmere Island
(space image) |
An island in
the extreme northwest of the Canadian Arctic archipelago. Discovered
in 1616 by W.
Baffin. |