He was appointed by Prime Minister Arthur Balfour to hold an investigative enquiry into the conduct of the Boer War in 1902 to 1903.

The Elgin Commission was the first of its kind in the British Empire, and it travelled to South Africa and took oral evidence from men who had actually fought in the battles.

It was the first to value the lives of the dead and to consider the feelings of mourning relatives left behind, and it was the first occasion in the history of the British Army that recognised the testimony of ordinary soldiery as well as that of the officers.

[2] Elgin entered politics as a Liberal, serving as Treasurer of the Household and as First Commissioner of Works under William Ewart Gladstone in 1886.

Elgin himself did not enjoy the pomp and ceremony associated with the viceroyalty, and his conservative instincts were not well suited to a time of economic and social unrest.

During his time as Viceroy, famine broke out in India, in which Elgin reportedly admitted that up to 4.5 million people died.

That view was by no means extreme: Maj-Gen J.P. Brabazon thought sword and lance were suitable only for "Latin" cavalry, and that "Anglo-Saxons" should instead be equipped with "a light battleaxe or tomahawk".

After Wolseley, Evelyn Wood and Roberts (all of whom had seen the future of cavalry as being for use as mounted infantry only) had retired, the traditional view was reestablished as French and his protégé Major-General Haig rose to the top of the Army.

In July 1902, he received the freedom of the city of St Andrews "in recognition of his devotion to the public service, whether holding the exalted position of Viceroy of India, where he watched over the interests of a vast Empire with remarkable skill, prudence, and success, or discharging the duties connected with county government and giving his time and wide experience as Chairman of the Carnegie Trust for the advancement of education in Scotland".