ELSYNGE, ROBERT, brother of Henry Elsynge (qv); b.; adm.; KS; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1630, matr. 26 Oct 1632, aged 18, Westminster Student to 1641; BA 1634.
Elsdon, Francis Dominic, son of the Rev. Thomas Charles Elsdon, Vicar of St. Philip, Clerkenwell, London; b. Sept. 24, 1890; adm. Sept. 24, 1903 (R); left Dec. 1907; entered the service of the Bank of Nigeria, 1909; posted to Grand Bassarn, French Ivory Coast, 1911; accountant to a commercial firm in the Belgian Congo, 1912-1924; and at Vavau, Tonga Islands, 1924; d. at Vavau, June 16, 1927.
ELRINGTON, JAMES LOFTUS, son of Maj. -Gen. John Henry Elrington, Governor of St. Kitts, West Indies, and Sarah, dau. of James Reed; b. 12 Sep 1811; adm. 14 Jun 1822 (Stelfox's); Ensign and Lieut., 2nd Foot Guards 4 Jun 1829; Lieut. and Capt., 5 Dec 1834; Adjutant, 30 Dec 1845; Capt. and Lieut. -Col., 11 Jun 1847; retired 7 Apr 1848; d. 13 Oct 1851.
ELLYES, ---; b.; adm.; QS in 1556 (Chapter Muniments 37713).
Elliston, Julian Clement Peter, brother of Francis Albert Neville Elliston (qv); b. 16 May 1911; adm. Sept. 1924 (KS); left July 1929; Trin. Coll. Camb., matric. 1929, BA 1932; called to the Bar (Harmsworth Law Schol. Middle Temple) Nov. 1934; a Parly Counsel to HM Treasury; 2nd Lieut. 90 (City of Lond.) Field Regt RA (TA) Dec. 1932, Lieut. Dec. 1935, Capt. Nov. 1938; served in WW2 in Intelligence and Air appts, Maj. 1943; GSO 2 in HMS Victorious, Brit. Pacific Fleet, 1944-5; TD 1946; CB 1965; m. 4 Dec. 1948 Nora Joyce, d. of Stanley Leverton JP; d. 4 Mar. 1970.
Elliston, Francis Albert Neville, son of Sir George Sampson Elliston MC MP, barrister-at-law, of Elmsett, Suffolk, and Alice Louise, d. of Joseph Causton DL of Bickley, Kent; b. 10 Mar. 1907; adm. Sept. 1920 (H); left July 1923; St Catb. Coll. Camb., matric. 1923, BA 1926, MA 1930; sec. Public Dental Assn of Gt Britain 1939; E. Lancs Regt 1940-3, Parachute Regt 1943 (Capt.); m. 22 Oct. 1935 Mary Muir, d. of Robert James Muir Wilson of St Helen's, Lancs; killed in action (Normandy) 8 June 1944.
Francis Albert Neville Elliston was born at Paddington, London on the 10th of March 1907 the second son of Sir George Sampson Elliston MC, MP, MA, DL, JP, barrister at law, and Lady Alice Louise (nee Causton) Elliston of 1, Warrington Crescent, Lancaster Gate, later of 40, Heathcroft, Golders green in Middlesex. He was christened at Christ Church, Lancaster Gate on the 11th of April 1907.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Homeboarders from September 1920 to July 1923 and rowed for the 2nd IV in 1923.
He matriculated for St Catharine’s College, Cambridge as a pensioner on the 23rd of October 1923 where he read History and Law. He rowed for the College at stroke in the second May Boat in 1925 and graduated with a BA on the 29th of June 1926. During his time at Cambridge he was a regular contributor of “witty and clever articles” to the Cambridge University student magazine, the “Granta”. He was also a keen member of the Oxford Group. He qualified as a barrister and worked at Lincoln’s Inn. He was awarded a MA on the 13th of June 1930.
He was married at The Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge on the 22nd of October 1934 to Mary (nee Muir-Wilson) of Windle Grange, St Helens in Lancashire; they had a son, Robin, born on the 13th of October 1936.
He enlisted as a Private in the 1/7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment in the Territorial Army in 1939 and rose to the rank of Corporal before attending the 168th Officer Cadet Training Unit from where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the East Lancashire Regiment on the 10th of February 1940. He was promoted to Lieutenant on the 1st of June 1943. He volunteered for airborne training and attended Course No. 72 at RAF Ringway from the 12th to the 23rd of July 1943. The instructors noted that Francis Elliston was a: - “Fine type of officer and a good parachutist”.
The 13th Battalion, Parachute Regiment landed at Drop Zone N, to the north of the village of Ranville, in Normandy at 12.50am on the 6th of June 1944. The Battalion assembled and moved off from their rendezvous point on the drop zone at 2.30am with Ranville reported as having been cleared of the enemy by 3am. The Battalion was still holding the area around Ranville on the 8th of June when Francis Ellison was shot in the chest and killed at 11.30am.
His Colonel wrote: - “All of us, officers and men, have lost one of our best friends and a most able and efficient comrade.”
The Westminster school magazine, the “Elizabethan”, wrote of him: - “At one time he was actively engaged in the services of the Oxford Group, in which, as indeed in all his work, his cheerful disposition and capacity for friendship won for him the deep affection of a wide circle.”
The St Catharine’s College magazine wrote: -
“He was educated at Westminster before coming to S. Catharine's where his cheerfulness and determination proved a potent force in College rowing. But at heart he was a crusader, and as one he went into the war. For a time he held a commission in The East Lancashire Regiment, then recruited mainly from his father's constituency, but he transferred to the Parachute Regiment and led the Normandy invasion. Less than forty eight hours after dropping he was killed.”
He is commemorated on the St Helens Roll of Honour and on the war memorials at Lincoln’s Inn and at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge.
He is buried at Ranville War Cemetery Plot IA, Row E Grave 12.
Ellissen, Francis Lyon Gordon, son of Arthur Victor Ellissen, member Lond. Stock Exchange, of Richmond, Surrey, and Irene Maude Mary, d. of George Lyon Begbie; b. 26 May 1918; adm. Jan. 1932 (A); left. July 1935; RNVR in WW2; lost in the sinking by enemy action of SS Laconia 12 Sept. 1942.
Francis Lyon Gordon Ellissen was born at Richmond, Surrey on the 26th of May 1918 the son of Arthur Victor Sampson Ellissen MC MP, a barrister at law, and Irene Maude Mary (nee Begbie) Ellissen, an artist, of 6, Cardigan Road, Richmond. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from January 1932 to July 1935. On leaving school he worked as a commercial artist.
Following the outbreak of war he enlisted in the Royal Navy, was trained as a gunner and was attached to the 19,695 ton passenger liner SS Laconia.
The SS Laconia, under the command of Master Rudolph Sharp OBE, sailed from the Middle East bound for Liverpool, and stopped at Capetown before setting sail for Freetown. She was unescorted and was carrying 136 crewmen, 80 civilians, 268 military personnel, including nurses, and 1,809 Italian prisoners guarded by 160 Polish troops; she was also carrying 200 tons of general cargo.
At 10.20pm on the 12th of September 1942, the SS Laconia was sailing some 360 miles to the north, northeast of the Ascension Islands when she was struck by a torpedo which had been fired by the U-Boat U-156, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein. The torpedo struck her in the hold on the starboard side, killing many of the Italian prisoners in the explosion. She began to list to starboard and, as Captain Sharp was regaining control of her, she was struck in her Number 2 hold by a second torpedo. With the forecastle now awash, Sharp issued the order to abandon ship with the women, children and the wounded taking to the lifeboats. 32 lifeboats had been destroyed by the explosions. At 11.11pm the ship sank by the bow leaving hundreds of survivors in the water. Although estimates vary, between 1,658 and 1,757 passengers and crew are thought to have lost their lives in the attack.
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Memorial Panel 68, Column 1.
ELLISON, RICHARD, eldest illegitimate son of Richard Ellison MP, Sudbrooke Holme, Lincs., banker; b. 13 May 1807; adm. 10 Oct 1820 (Stelfox's); Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 12 May 1826; BA 1830; of Boultham Hall, Lincs.; DL JP Lincolnshire; partner, Smith, Ellison & Co., bankers, Lincoln c. 1829 – c. 1846; FSA 5 Jun 1851; m. 1 Aug 1830 Charlotte, sister of Sir George Chetwynd, Bart. (qv); d. 30 Dec 1881. [mother perhaps Jane, dau. of William Maxwell [check]]
ELLISON, JOHN; b.; adm. (aged 12) Jun 1752 (Fox's); in school list 1754. [“Elliston” in school lists].
ELLISON, JOHN, brother of Richard Ellison (qv); b. 29 Oct 1809; adm. 10 Oct 1820 (Stelfox's); Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 2 Dec 1829; BA 1833.