Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden

Early life

Thomas Ellis was born in London on 9 May 1880, the only son of the 7th Baron Howard de Walden and Blanche Ellis (née Holden), daughter of William Holden the co-heir of Palace house, Lancaster. He was baptised with the name of Thomas Evelyn Ellis, and was known within his family as "Tommy". Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1917 he assumed the surname Scott-Ellis by Royal Licence.

Military career

Commissioned into the 10th Hussars as a second-lieutenant on 19 April 1899, and honorary colonel of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, he saw active military service in the Second Boer War and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 April 1900. Following the end of that war, he retired from active service in August 1902. He was appointed a captain (supernumerary) in the 2nd County of London Yeomanry (Westminster Dragoons) on 13 September 1902. Scott-Ellis resumed active military service during World War I, being promoted Major in the Royal Tank Corps.

Collecting and interests

After succeeding to his family titles in 1899 he received his inherited estates when he came of age in 1901. This included the Howard de Walden Estate in Marylebone, London and earned him the title of 'Britain's wealthiest bachelor'. His fortune derived from his grandmother's estates which she had inherited as daughter of the Duke of Portland. The relatively small Ellis family estates, built on slavery and sugar estates in Jamaica, primarily Montpelier, Jamaica had been conveyed by his grandmother to his uncle, Evelyn Henry Ellis, in 1891.

Howard de Walden took a lease on Audley End House, Essex which had once belonged to his ancestors, in 1904 but reportedly never felt settled there. The artist Auguste Rodin created a bust of him in 1906 which is held in the collection kept at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. He purchased Croesnewydd Hall near Wrexham in 1929 which had been the home of his ancestors; that in between leasing Chirk Castle, Denbighshire from 1911 in preparation for his marriage, which became his main residence after World War I until 1946; and where he learned the Welsh language, he also spent time at 'Plas Llanina', Ceredigion.

The Barony also inherited Dean Castle in Kilmarnock via inheritance from his grandmother, the 6th Baron's wife, 'Lady Lucy Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck'.

A great sportsman, he was back up for the British fencing team at the 'Intercalated games' at Athens, 1906. He had a passion for horse-racing, and was a member of the Jockey Club between 1905–1924. He was interested in sailing and powerboats, and as a crew member of the Dylan he participated in the first and only motor boat competitions at the Olympics of 1908 in London. His steam yacht, Branwen, 135 feet (41 m) length overall, launched 28 October 1905 was the first vessel built at the John I. Thornycroft & Company's Woolston yard.

In 1914, he provided financial support for the creation of Crab Tree Club in London and also in that year he was one of the people "blessed" in Wyndham Lewis's Blast Magazine.

Scott-Ellis had been awarded the a degree of LL.D. honoris causa by the University of Wales, he was President of the National Museum of Wales also a governor in the National Library of Wales. In addition, he was chairman of the British Empire Academy.

Dispute with John Lewis

John Lewis of the eponymous department store on Oxford Street engaged in a protracted legal dispute with Lord Howard de Walden, his ground landlord, over the Holles Street premises. The litigation went through the courts for twenty-three years and cost Lewis £40,000. At one point John Lewis was sent to Brixton Jail for contempt of court, and Howard de Walden sued him for libel following his erection of placards at his stores. The case was eventually settled amicably.

Family

In 1912 Howard de Walden married Margherita Dorothy van Raalte, herself a collector of antiquities. Their six children were:

John Osmael Scott-Ellis, 9th Baron Howard de Walden (27 November 1912 – 9 July 1999) married firstly Irene Gräfin von Harrach, daughter of Hans-Albrecht Graf von Harrach and Helene Gräfin von und zu Arco-Zinneberg, on 21 August 1934. He married secondly, Gillian Margaret Buckley, daughter of Cyril Francis Stewart Buckley and Audrey Burmester, in 1978 (see Viscount Mountgarret)

Hon. Bronwen Mary Scott-Ellis (b. 27 November 1912 – 2003), twin with her brother, married The Hon. James Louis Lindsay, son of the 27th Earl of Crawford and Constance Lilian Pelly, on 26 April 1933

Hon. Elisabeth Gwendolen Scott-Ellis (b. 5 December 1914 – 1976) married, firstly, Lt-Cdr Serge Orloff-Davidoff, son of Count Alexis Orloff-Davidoff, on 24 July 1935. She married, secondly, Bernard Wheeler Robinson (died 1997), son of Dr. Wheeler Robinson, on 31 October 1959

Hon. (Essylt) Priscilla Scott-Ellis (15 November 1916 – 8 March 1983) married José Luis de Vilallonga y Cabeza de Vaca, 9th Marquess of Castellbell, on 27 September 1945 (see Marquess of Castellbell). She married, secondly, Ian Hanson, a young opera singer from Manchester, in 1972

Hon. (Margaret Irene) Gaenor Scott-Ellis, JP (b. 2 June 1919 – 2002) married Lieut. Richard Heathcoat-Amory, son of Lt.-Col. Harry Heathcoat-Amory JP DL and Evelyn Stanley, on 18 July 1938 (see Earl Bathurst)

Hon. Rosemary Nest Scott-Ellis (b. 28 October 1922) married George Fitzroy Seymour JP DL, of Thrumpton, Nottinghamshire, on 1 June 1946 (see Miranda Seymour FRSL)

Lord Howard de Walden died, aged 66, on 5 November 1946 in London, being succeeded in the family titles by his eldest son, John.

Works

Some Feudal Lords and Their Seals (1903)

Banners Standards and Badges from a Tudor Manuscript in the College of Arms (1904)

The Children of Don: a drama in verse (1912)

Song of Gwyn ap Nudd (1913)

Pont Orewyn (1914)

Lanval: a drama in four acts (1908)

Dylan (1919)

The Cauldron of Annwn (1922)

The Cauldron of Annwn, including the story of Bronwen (1929)

Five Pantomimes (1930)