Ann Catherine Elwell born Ann Catherine Glass (16 June 1922 – 12 January 1996) was a British linguist, intelligence officer and diplomat.

Early life

Elwell was born in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

in 1922. She was the only child of Dr. Robert and Eileen Smartt Glass. She learnt French and German from a governess whilst attending Miss Faunce's School which was local before going to Misses Lestrange's finishing school in Florence. In Florence she added bookbinding to her skills and Italian to her languages and at some time Spanish. She was one of the last girls to be

Debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal " ...

s in 1939.

Career

Elwell joined MI5 at Wormwood Scrubs in May 1940 after being recruited at a party. That October she and MI5 moved to Oxford, where she worked at

Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non-royal, non- episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, on ...

translating Italian and enjoying the social life. In 1941 she was assigned to become the secretary to the Italian film director Filippo del Giudice who had been released to work on the film ''

In Which We Serve ''In Which We Serve'' is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by Noël Coward and David Lean. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom), Ministry of Information. The scree ...

''. She was translating for him as he took on the role of Art Director for

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

and she did some scriptwriting also. She was in that role until September 1942 when she returned to MI5 in London. At the end of the war, Elwell was sent to Rome where she spent a year as head of section reading the papers of the Italians. She took over the job from

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy. Blunt was professor of art history at the University of London, dire ...

. She served in the Information Research Department of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

from 1959. This name hid the group's intention, which was to defeat communism.

Personal life

In 1950, Ann married Charles Elwell who also worked for MI5. Joining the

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

in 1940 to smuggle British agents into occupied territory, he was captured as a prisoner-of-war in Colditz Castle, being released only at the end of the war. He was initially involved during the 1950s and early 1960s with tracking down Soviet espionage activities of the Portland Spy Ring and John Vassall, for which he was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. He remained preoccupied with "subversives" working in Britain, targeting Labour Party politicians and trades unionists such as Patricia Hewitt, Harriet Harman and

Jack Dromey John Eugene Joseph Dromey (29 September 1948 – 7 January 2022) was a British politician and trade unionist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Erdington from 2010 until his death. A member of the Labour Party, he was deput ...

. The Elwells had two sons and two daughters. On 12 January 1996, she died in Westminster, London, England. In 2008, her husband died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elwell, Ann 1922 births 1996 deaths People from Westminster British intelligence operatives 20th-century British diplomats 20th-century linguists Information Research Department British expatriates in Italy