Captain Edward John Eliot (20 September 1782 Shenstone, Staffordshire – 6 November 1863 Peckham, Surrey [1]) was an English soldier.

He was born into a military family - the son of a colonel, the grandson and great-grandson of generals, but he himself never rose above the rank of captain.

The couple settled firstly in Greenwich, then Finsbury and eventually Peckham, Surrey,[2][3][4] where he joined HM Customs as a landing waiter - a secure job for an ex-army officer.

Together with letters from the Peninsula War, this communication forms a substantial record of his military career.

On 22 November 1826, at All Saints' Church, Huntingdon, he married Margaret James (1802–1881), the daughter of George James (1760–1811), the captain, later colonel, of the Northumberland Regiment, and they had 6 children: His great-nephew was Major-General John Granville Harkness (1831 – 1900).