Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Elliott, Edward Bishop

ELLIOTT, EDWARD BISHOP (1793–1876), divine, second son of Charles Elliott by his second wife, Eling, daughter of Henry Venn, and younger brother of Henry Venn Elliott [q. v.], and of Charlotte Elliott [q.v.], was born 24 July 1793. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated as third 'senior optime' in January 1816, and was elected to a fellowship in 1817. In the end of that year he joined his brother Henry at Rome, made a tour to Italy and Greece, and returned to England in the spring of 1819. He wrote the Seatonian prize poems in 1821 and 1822. In 1824 he accepted the vicarage of Tuxford, Nottinghamshire, in the gift of the college. In 1853 he received the prebend of Heytesbury, Wiltshire, and became incumbent of St. Mark's Church, Brighton, opened in 1849 by the exertions of his brother Henry. He died 30 July 1875. He was twice married: (1) on 26 April 1826 to Mary, daughter of J. King of Torwood, Sussex, by whom he had four children: Edward King Elliott, rector of Worthing, Sussex; Henry Venn (died young); Eugenia, married to Rev. A. Synge; and Mary, married to Rev. Clement Cobb. (2) 1 Oct. 1835 to Harriette, daughter of Sir Richard Steele, bart., by whom he had three children: Emily Steele, Anna Maria, married to Rev. R. D. Monro, and Albert Augustus (d. 1883). Elliott was a member of the evangelical school, and was active in the discharge of his duties as a parish clergyman and as an advocate of missionary enterprise. He was specially interested in the study of prophecy. His chief work, the result of many years' labour, appeared in 1844 under the title, 'Horæ Apocalypticæ, or a Commentary on the Apocalypse Critical and Historical...,' 3 vols. Sir James Stephen, referring to this work in his essay on the 'Clapham Sect,' calls it a 'book of profound learning, singular ingenuity, and almost bewitching interest.' It went through five editions, and has been more than once abridged. Elliott's interpretation agrees generally with that of the protestant commentators who identify the papal power with Antichrist, and expect the millennium to begin before the end of the nineteenth century. It led to several controversies with Dr. Candlish, Dr. Keith, and others. His other works, most of them bearing upon the interpretation of prophecy, are: 1. 'Sermons,' 1836. 2. 'The Question, "What is the Beast?" answered,' 1838. 3. 'Vindiciæ Horariæ' (letters to Dr. Keith), 1848. 4. 'The Downfall of Despotism,' &c., 1853. 6. 'The Delusion of the Tractarian Clergy' (upon the validity of orders), 1856. 6. 'The Warburtonian Lectures from 1849 to 1853,' 1856. 7. 'Apocalypsis Alfordiana' (upon Dean Alford's views of the Apocalypse). 8. 'Confirmation Lectures,' 1865. 9. 'Memoir of the fifth Earl of Aberdeen,' 1867.

[Information from the family; Christian Observer for October, 1875.]