SCOTT-ELLIS, THOMAS EVELYN (1880 - 1946), 8th BARON HOWARD DE WALDEN and 4th BARON SEAFORD, landowner and sportsman, writer, and patron of the arts

Born 9 May 1880, only son of Frederick George Ellis, 7th baron, and Blanche, eldest daughter and co-heir of William Holden, of Palace House, co. Lancaster. Educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he served in the Boer War, and afterwards in World War I. He succeeded, as 8th baron, in 1899. His descent from John Ellis, who was descended from a family of that name seated at Wrexham and who went to Jamaica in the reign of Charles II, is given in Debrett, Burke, and other works on the peerage; the additional name of Scott was adopted by the 8th baron in 1917. He married 1912, Margherita Dorothy, daughter of Charles van Raalte, and they had 6 children. He lived for years at Chirk Castle, Denbighshire; in 1929 he bought the Old Hall at Croesnewydd, near Wrexham, which had been the home of his ancestors. He also spent some time at Llanina, Cardiganshire.

Besides being a patron of dramatists (in Wales and London) and musicians, e.g. his association with Josef Holbrooke in the production of The Children of Don and Dylan, he was himself a writer, the Arthurian cycle giving him the subject of his first play, and, later, the folklore of Wales providing him with material for operatic libretti. Among his works are: Children of Don (1912), Pont Orewyn (1914), Lanval (1915), Dylan (1919), The Cauldron of Annwn (1922), The Cauldron of Annwn, including the story of Bronwen (1929), Five Pantomimes (1930), Song of Gwyn ap Nudd [ 1913 ]. He had previously published Banners, standards, and badges: from a Tudor manuscript in the College of Arms, and Some feudal lords and their seals, both in 1904. His last full-length play, which dealt with the emperor Heraclius and his relations with both Christianity and Islam, was produced in 1924. He was awarded the degree of LL.D. honoris causa by the University of Wales, was President of the National Museum of Wales and a governor of the National Library of Wales. In 1938 he became a trustee of the Tate Gallery. He died 5 November 1946 in London.

Author

• Sir William Llewelyn Davies, (1887 - 1952)

Sources

• Burke's … Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, (1949)
• Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage, (1938)
• The Times, 6 November 1949
• NLW MSS 4970-6074
• Who was who?, 1941-50

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q914546

Published date: 2001

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-RUU/1.0/