Sir John Reeves Ellerman, 2nd Baronet (21 December 1909 – 17 July 1973) was an English shipowner, natural historian and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. The only son and heir of the English shipowner and investor John Ellerman, he was often said to be Britain's richest man. His sister was the writer

Bryher Bryher ( kw, Breyer "place of hills") is one of the smallest inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly, with a population of 84 in 2011, spread across . History The name of the island is recorded as ''Brayer'' in 1336 and ''Brear'' in 1500. Ge ...

Life

John Reeves Ellerman was educated at Malvern College, where as a teenager he wrote an anti-sport novel, ''Why Do They Like It?'', under the pseudonym E. L. Black.Tim Carroll
The Lost Tycoon
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The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', 22 October 2006. He read for the

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at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

before entering his father's shipping business. Ellerman was twenty three when his father died in July 1933. His father's estate was assessed for probate at £36.685 million, almost three times the previous record set in the United Kingdom, of which he received around £20 million. He promptly married his Canadian girlfriend,

Esther de Sola Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

, of whom his father had disapproved. He oversaw

Ellerman Lines Ellerman Lines was a United Kingdom, UK cargo and passenger shipping company that operated from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. It was founded in the late 19th century, and continued to expand by acquiring smaller sh ...

for many years, and was often said to be Britain's richest man. Ellerman's main interest was the study of rodents. He wrote ''The Families and Genera of Living Rodents''. He also undertook various philanthropies and helped

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

refugees to escape Nazi rule in Germany (his grandfather's homeland), earning the wrath of

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, ...

("Lord Haw-Haw") who attacked him by name in his propaganda broadcasts, incorrectly claiming that he was of Jewish descent.
Archive of Time (magazine), Time article from 1948 Shortly before his death he had transferred 79% of the shares in Ellerman Lines Ltd to grant-making trusts: The Moorgate Fund, established 1970, and The New Moorgate Fund, established 1971, were amalgamated as The John Ellerman Foundation in 1992. He died of a sudden

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in 1973. Upon his death, he left £52 million (equivalent to £ in ) which, after adjusting for inflation, was less than he had inherited. Ellerman had no children.

Works

*''The families and genera of living rodents'', 1940 (vol. 1), 1941 (vol. 2) *''Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mammals, 1758–1946'', 1951 *''Southern African mammals, 1758–1951: a reclassification'', 1953

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellerman, John, 2nd Baronet 1909 births 1973 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People educated at Malvern College British businesspeople in shipping People from Folkestone English people of German descent British mammalogists 20th-century British zoologists 20th-century English businesspeople