Background
Thomas was born on July 20, 1766.
Thomas was born on July 20, 1766.
He was educated at Harrow, Westminster, the University of St. Andrews, and the University of Paris
He entered the army in 1785 and rose to the rank of major general, but his real interests lay in art and diplomacy. In 1792 he was envoy in Brussels, in 1795 envoy extraordinary to Berlin, and from 1799 to 1802 ambassador to Turkey. At his own expense, Lord Elgin had drawings made of many ancient Greek monuments, and after great difficulty he secured permission from the Turkish government to take casts of them and even to remove abroad "any pieces of stone with old inscriptions or figures thereon." The open vandalism with which these monuments were being treated caused him, in face of almost incredible physical and official difficulties, to remove to London what are now called the "Elgin marbles," including the frieze of the Parthenon and other sculptures from the Acropolis in Athens. In 1816 the collection was purchased by the British Museum in London for £36,000;p36,000; Lord Elgin's expenses had been more than £50,000.p50,000. He died in Paris, Nov. 14, 1841.