James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin

His Excellency The Right Honourable The Earl of Elgin KT GCB KSI PC FSA Scot
The 8th Earl of Elgin, c. 1860
Viceroy and Governor-General of India
In office 21 March 1862 – 20 November 1863
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	The Earl Canning
Succeeded by	Sir Robert Napier As Acting Governor-General
Governor General of the Province of Canada
In office 1847–1854
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	The Earl Cathcart
Succeeded by	Sir Edmund Walker Head
Governor of Jamaica
In office 1842–1846
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Sir Charles Metcalfe
Succeeded by	George Berkeley As Acting Governor
Personal details
Born	(1811-07-20)20 July 1811 London, England
Died	20 November 1863(1863-11-20) (aged 52) Dharamshala, Punjab, British India
Spouses	Elizabeth Cumming-Bruce ​ ​ (m. 1841; died 1843)​ Lady Mary Lambton ​ (m. 1846)​
Children	Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin
Parent(s)	Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin Elizabeth Oswald
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Signature

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, KT, GCB, KCSI, PC, FSA Scot (20 July 1811 – 20 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847–1854), and Viceroy of India (1862–1863).^[1] In 1857, he was appointed High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary in China and the Far East to assist in the process of opening up China and Japan to Western trade. In 1860, during the Second Opium War in China, he ordered the destruction of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, an architectural wonder with immeasurable collections of artworks and historic antiques, inflicting incalculable loss of cultural heritage.^[2] Subsequently, he compelled the Qing dynasty to sign the Convention of Peking, adding Kowloon Peninsula to the British crown colony of Hong Kong.