Ellis Robins, 1st Baron Robins

Thomas Ellis Robins, 1st Baron Robins KBE, DSO (31 October 1884 – 21 July 1962), known as Sir Ellis Robins between 1946 and 1958, was an American-born British businessman and public servant, mainly based in Rhodesia.

Background and education

Robins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; the son of Major Robert Patterson Robins, a medical doctor, and Mary Routh Ellis, daughter of Thomas de la Roche Ellis, of Elliston, Louisiana. He was educated at the Bight School, Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Philomathean Society, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was the first Rhodes scholar. He became a British citizen in 1912. He fought with the City of London Yeomanry in Egypt, Gallipoli and Palestine during the First World War, was twice mentioned in despatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order. In 1928, he became general manager of the British South Africa Company, which he remained until 1933, and was then a resident director of the company in South Africa until 1957. in recognition of his "public services in Rhodesia". He hosted the visit of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to Rhodesia in 1953, the centenary of Cecil Rhodes's birth. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) the following year and was raised to the peerage as Baron Robins, of Rhodesia and Chelsea in the County of London, in 1958. Robins was also a freemason.