ELLIS-GRIFFITH
,
Sir
ELLIS (JONES)
(
1860
-
1926
),
barrister and M.P.
;
b.
24 May 1860
in
Birmingham
, where his father,
Thomas Morris
Griffith
, was a
builder
. While
Ellis
Griffith
was still a child, his father retired and the family came to live at
Tŷ Coch
,
Brynsiencyn
,
Anglesey
. He went to school at
Brynsiencyn
and
Holt
and was one of the first batch of students at the
University College
,
Aberystwyth
. He graduated in the
University of London
when he was 19 years of age, won an open
scholarship
to
Downing College
,
Cambridge
, in
1880
, and took his degree with first class honours in the law tripos [of
1883
, taking the first place in that class]. He was
president of the Union
at
Cambridge
and was elected a
Fellow
of his college. In
1887
he was
called to the Bar
by the
Middle Temple
and joined the
North Wales and Chester circuit
. He was appointed
recorder
of
Birkenhead
in
1907
and retained the appointment until
1912
. He
took silk
in
1910
. Both as a
lawyer
and as a
public speaker
he was noted for his sparkling wit and for his ability to coin a telling phrase. In
1892
, as a
Liberal
, he contested unsuccessfully the
Toxteth
division of
Liverpool
; but, in the general election of
1895
, he was elected
Liberal member
for
Anglesey
— a seat he held until
1918
when he was defeated by
Sir
Owen
Thomas
(q.v. in Appendix)
, the
Labour candidate
. In
1912
he was elected
chairman
of the
Welsh Parliamentary Party
in succession to
Sir
Alfred
Thomas
(q.v.)
, who had been elevated to the
House of Lords
as
lord Pontypridd
. In the same year he was appointed
parliamentary secretary
to the
Home Office
and took a prominent part in steering the
Welsh Disestablishment Bill
through the
House of Commons
. He resigned in
1915
. He was appointed a member of the
Privy Council
in
1914
and was created a
baronet
in
1918
. After having lost his seat in
Anglesey
he was again chosen as
Liberal candidate
but withdrew in
1921
. In
1922
he was one of three candidates for the
University of Wales
seat but was again unsuccessful. In
Dec. 1923
he was elected as
Liberal member
for the
Carmarthen
district, but he resigned in
1924
, and his parliamentary career came to an end. He d. very suddenly,
30 Nov. 1926
, while attending the assizes at
Swansea
, and was buried in
Llanidan
churchyard,
Brynsiencyn
. He m. in
1892
Mary
, daughter of
Robert
Owen
,
Tŷ Draw
,
Mold
. There were two sons and one daughter of this marriage, of whom only one son,
Ellis Arundel
, who succeeded to the title, survived him.
Sir
Arundel
d. in
June 1934
and
Lady
Ellis-Griffith
in
1941
.
Bibliography:
- Newspaper articles;
- personal knowledge;
-
T. Huws Davies
in
The Transactions of the Honourable Society
of Cymmrodorion
,
1926-7
;
-
information received from
Mrs. Gwilym Davies
, Aberystwyth.
Author:
Edward Morgan Humphreys, O.B.E., M.A., (1882-1955), Caernarfon
