Sir Ellis Jones Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet, PC, KC (23 May 1860 – 30 November 1926) was a British barrister and radical Liberal politician. He was born Ellis Jones Griffith.

Family and education

Griffith was the only child of Thomas Morris Griffith (1827-1901), a master builder, and his wife Jane (née Jones) (1823-1881). Both his parents were Welsh, but had been living in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and the time of his birth, before moving to Brynsiencyn when Griffith was a child. He was initially educated at the Holt Academy, and passed both the Cambridge & Oxford local examinations in 1873. The following year he passed a scholarship examination for the

University College, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic facul ...

, where he began studying in 1876. He took an arts degree at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1879, graduating with double honours in English and Philosophy, before moving to

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

, in 1880, where he read law and was President of the

Cambridge Union The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a historic debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. The society was founded in 1815 making it the oldest ...

. Ellis-Griffith married Mary (1862-1941), daughter of Robert Owen, in 1892. They had two sons and one daughter. The couple's only surviving son, Ellis succeeded in the baronetcy after his father's death, but died without issue in 1934.

Legal career

Griffith was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, in 1887 and worked on the

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

Circuit. Among his most notable cases was his defence of Major Spilsbury in the

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Tourmaline Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline silicate mineral, silicate mineral group in which boron is chemical compound, compounded with chemical element, elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. This gemstone comes in a ...

smuggling case in 1898. He was

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

from 1907 to 1912 and was appointed a

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1910.

Political career

Griffith initially stood unsuccessfully for West Toxteth in

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

but in

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

was successfully returned to Parliament for

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

. He was returned unopposed in 1900. Upon his appointment as

in 1907 he was required to re-submit himself to his electorate at Anglesey and was returned unopposed. Whilst an MP he voted in favour of the 1908 Women's Enfranchisement Bill. He served in the Liberal administration of

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department This article lists past and present parliamentary under-secretaries of state serving the home secretary of the United Kingdom at the Home Office. Non-permanent and parliamentary under-secretaries, 1782–present *April 1782: Evan Nepean *Apri ...

from 1912 to 1915, in which position he played an important role in steering the Welsh Disestablishment Bill through the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1914. In 1918 he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of

Llanidan Llanidan is a community in the south of Anglesey, Wales which includes the village of Brynsiencyn (). The parish is along the Menai Strait, about 4 miles north-east of Caernarfon (across the strait). The parish church of St Nidan is near the A ...

in the County of Anglesey and changed his surname to Ellis-Griffith. He was narrowly defeated at Anglesey in the 1918 general election by the Labour candidate Owen Thomas. He then unsuccessfully contested the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

constituency in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, before returning to the House of Commons in

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

, when he was elected for

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

, but he resigned the seat the following year, citing personal unfulfillment in his parliamentary career.

Personal life & death

In November 1926, Ellis-Griffith (who had previously suffered small bouts of ill health) was in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, as defence in a

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

case at the assizes court. It was noted during the day that Griffith appeared unwell, and after retiring to his room at the Metropole Hotel that evening, he was found by two colleagues, in great pain, on the floor. Despite receiving medical treatment, he died at the scene, aged 66. His wife, Jane, was in the

Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( ; ) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinally it extends from the border with F ...

at the time of his death, and was brought home shortly afterwards. The cause of death was later ruled as

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

. He was buried at St Nidan's Church, Llanidan on the 4 December.

Election results

He was returned unopposed in 1900.

References

*
Archives Network Wales

Welsh Biography Online

External links

*
Monument to Sir Ellis Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet, at Brynsiencyn Church
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis-Griffith, Sir Ellis, 1st Baronet 1860 births 1926 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Alumni of Aberystwyth University Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Presidents of the Cambridge Union Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1923–1924 Welsh barristers Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Carmarthenshire constituencies