Wynne Ellis

Wynne Ellis (also Wynn Ellis) (1790–1875) was a wealthy British haberdasher, politician and art collector.

Biography Ellis, son of Thomas Ellis, by Elizabeth Ordway of Barkway, Hertfordshire, was born at Oundle, Northamptonshire, in July 1790, and after receiving a good education came to London.

Personal life

Ellis purchased the manor of Ponsbourne Park, Hertfordshire, in 1836, and sold it in May 1875. He was a justice of the peace both for Hertfordshire and Kent, and was picked to serve as sheriff for the latter county, but was excused in consideration of his having discharged corresponding duties for Hertfordshire in 1851–2.

Legacy By his will Ellis left numerous legacies to charitable and religious institutions. These included £50,000 left to the trustees of the Simeon Fund. His personalty was proved under £600,000 on 8 January 1876.

Art collection and legacy Ellis made an extensive collection of paintings, many of which were described in Gustav Friedrich Waagen's Treasures of Art, vol. II 293–8. He owned the Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius at Ægina by J. M. W. Turner. He was a committed collector, who also relied on outside advice, with mixed results. His Old Master pictures, 402 in number, he left to the nation; of these the trustees of the National Gallery, London selected 44, which were exhibited as the Wynne Ellis collection.

In the 1990s, the discovery that the Wynne mausoleum at All Saints, Whitstable, designed by Charles Barry Junior was decaying was the spur for Jill Allibone to found the Mausolea and Monuments Trust. It became a Grade II listed building in October 1997.

Family Ellis married in 1814 Mary Maria, daughter of John Smith of Lincoln. She died in 1872, and was buried in a mausoleum designed by Charles Barry, and built in Whitstable churchyard.