Admiral Sir Charles Elliot KCB (15 August 1801 – 9 September 1875) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator.

[1] Born in Dresden, Saxony, Elliot joined the Royal Navy in 1815 and served as a midshipman in the bombardment of Algiers against Barbary pirates the following year.

[3] On 26 March 1815, Elliot joined the Royal Navy as a first-class volunteer on board HMS Leviathan, which served in the Mediterranean Station.

In 1820, he joined the cutter Starling under Lieutenant-Commander John Reeve in the Home Station, and HMS Queen Charlotte under James Whitshed.

[3][7] In a letter to the Treasury in 1833, Prime Minister Lord Howick wrote: Lord Goderich [Secretary of State for the Colonies] feels himself bound to acknowledge that His Majesty's Government are indebted to him [Elliot], not only for a zealous and efficient execution of the duties of his office, but for communications of peculiar value and importance sent from the Colony during the last twelve months, and for essential services rendered at a critical period since his arrival in this country ... Elliot has contributed far beyond what the functions of his particular office required of him.

[9] In late 1833, Elliot was appointed as Master Attendant to the staff of Lord Napier, Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China.

[13][14] On 16 November 1839, Elliot wrote to Palmerston regarding the opium trade: "No man entertains a deeper detestation of the disgrace and sin of this forced traffic on the coast of China.

I have steadily discountenanced it by all the lawful means in my power, and at the total sacrifice of my private comfort in the society in which I have lived for some years past.

[18] Historian George Endacott wrote, "Elliot's policy of conciliation, leniency, and moderate war aims was unpopular all round, and aroused some resentment among the naval and military officers of the expedition.

"[20] Responding to the accusation that "It has been particularly objected to me that I have cared too much for the Chinese", Elliot wrote to Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen on 25 June 1842: But I submit that it has been caring more for lasting British honour and substantial British interests, to protect friendly and helpful people, and to return the confidence of the great trading population of the Southern Provinces, with which it is our chief purpose to cultivate more intimate, social and commercial relations.

In St. Helena, Elliot supported botanist Joseph Hooker's plan to culture the Cinchona plant on mountainous parts of the island.

The weathered headstone inscription to his grave reads in worn lead lettering: "To the memory of / Adm Sir Charles Elliot KCB / Born 15th August 1801 / Died 9th September 1875 / The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God".

[31] After ten years of widowhood, she died on 17 October 1885, aged 80, at The Bury, the home of her husband's nephew Captain (RN retired) Hugh Maximilian Elliot in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

[28] She is buried at the Heath Lane Cemetery, Hemel Hempstead, where a stone cross bears a worn inscription to her memory.