Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden

Thomas Evelyn Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden, 4th Baron Seaford (9 May 1880 – 5 November 1946) was an English peer, landowner, writer and patron of the arts.

Lord Howard de Walden was also a powerboat racer who competed for Great Britain in the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Early life
Thomas Ellis was born in London on 9 May 1880. 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, 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 inherited further estates in 1901, including property in Marylebone, London and earned the title of 'Britain's wealthiest bachelor'. His family's wealth was initially derived from slavery and sugar estates in Jamaica, primarily Montpelier, Jamaica. He 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 Lord Howard de Walden in 1906 which is held in the collection kept at the Rodin Museum. In 1911, in preparation for his marriage, he leased Chirk Castle, Denbighshire, which became his main residence after WWI until 1946, and where he learned the Welsh language; he later served as president of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales from 1931 to 1945.

Lord Howard de Walden became a keen heraldist and genealogist, as well as amassing one of the most extensive collections of British armour, most of which is now on display at Dean Castle, Kilmarnock. 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 ft 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.

Lord Howard de Walden was also an author, who produced several plays under the pseudonym of T. E. Ellis.

Dispute with John Lewis
John Lewis of the eponymous department store on Oxford Street engaged in a protracted legal dispute with 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 De Walden sued him for libel following his erection of placards at his stores. The case was eventually settled amicably.

Family
In 1912, Lord Howard de Walden married Margarita van Raalte (CBE, DStJ, died 1974); herself a collector of antiquities. Their children were:
 * John Osmael Scott-Ellis, 9th Baron Howard de Walden (27 Nov 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) 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 Nov 1916 – 8 March 1983) married José Luis de Vilallonga y Cabeza de Vaca, marqués de Castellbell, on 27 September 1945 (see Marqués de Castellbell)
 * 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 son, John Osmael Scott-Ellis.

Works

 * Some Feudal Lords and Their Seals (1903)
 * Banners Standards and Badges from a Tudor Mansucript in the College of Arms (1904)
 * The Children of Don: a drama in verse (1912)
 * Pont Orewyn (1914)
 * Lanval: a drama in four acts (1908)
 * Dylan (1919)
 * The Cauldron of Annwn (1922)