Mary Baxter Ellis

Mary "Dick" Baxter Ellis CBE (12 November 1892 – 12 April 1968) was a British commanding officer of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, also known as FANY.

Life Ellis was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1892. Her mother was Mary Sharpe Taylor and her father would be made the first Lord Mayor of Newcastle in 1907 and he would in time be Sir Joseph Baxter Ellis. She was the first of their four children.

Ellis signed up to join the volunteer FANYs in 1915.

Ellis was awarded a medal in 1918 by the Queen of Belgium for her service during World War I. The FANY would have been completely disbanded, but the organisation escaped this because they were all volunteers. However the organisation became peripheral and it was due to leadership of Ellis and others that the FANY continued. She was leading the Northumberland section in 1928 and she rose to lead the corps in 1932

Helen Gwynne-Vaughan was first made Chief Controller of the newly formed Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in 1939. Gwynne-Vaughan held the role to 1941. Ellis would become a deputy-director at the ATS throughout the war. Whilst Marian Gamwell took over the leadership of the remaining FANYs and her sister took a special interest in the FANYs who ran the Special Operations Executive.

Ellis retired in 1947 and was succeeded by Maud MacLellan. Ellis went to live with her loyal friend the artist Marjorie (Tony) Kingston Walker where they painted and cared for dogs at Bellingham and West Woodburn and died in a hospital in Corbridge in 1968.