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.
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 artistAuguste Rodin created a bust of Lord Howard de Walden in 1906 which is held in the collection kept at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. In 1911, in preparation for his marriage, he leased Chirk Castle, Denbighshire, which became his main residence after World War I 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. In 1934 he served as treasurer of the Royal Salop Infirmary in Shrewsbury, 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, 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
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 Margherita Dorothy van Raalte ; herself a collector of antiquities. Their children were:
John Osmael Scott-Ellis, 9th Baron Howard de Walden married firstly Irene Gräfin von Harrach, daughter of :de:Hans Albrecht von Harrach|Hans-Albrecht Graf von Harrach and :de:Maximilian von Arco-Zinneberg|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
Hon. Elisabeth Gwendolen Scott-Ellis married, firstly, Lt-Cdr Serge Orloff-Davidoff, son of Count Alexis Orloff-Davidoff, on 24 July 1935. She married, secondly, Bernard Wheeler Robinson, son of Dr. Wheeler Robinson, on 31 October 1959
