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John Elwes (politician)
Encyclopedia
John Elwes [né Meggot or Meggott] (a.k.a. "Elwes the Miser"), MP
, Esq.
(7 April 1714 – 26 November 1789) was a Member of Parliament
(MP) in Great Britain
for Berkshire
(1772 – 1784) and a noted eccentric and miser
, believed to be the inspiration for the character of Ebenezer Scrooge
in Charles Dickens
' A Christmas Carol
. Dickens made reference to Elwes some years later in his last novel, Our Mutual Friend
. Elwes was also believed to inspire William Harrison Ainsworth
to create the character of John Scarfe in his novel The Miser's Daughter.
brewer
and his grandfather was Sir George Meggot, MP for that same borough. His mother, Amy Elwes, was the granddaughter of Sir Gervase Elwes, 1st Baronet and MP for Suffolk
(see Elwes Baronets
). Elwes' maternal grandmother, Lady Isabella Hervey (of the Earls of Bristol
), also happened to be a celebrated miser. He received a good education in the classics at Westminster School
, and was even something of a socialite during his early life. After graduating he traveled to Geneva
where he embraced his skill for horsemanship and love of the hunt. He was known as one of the best riders in Europe
. It was at this time that he was introduced to Voltaire
, to whom he was reported to bear a remarkable resemblance. However, Elwes was far more impressed with the quality of the horses at his riding school than by the genius of the French philosopher.
at Marcham
in Berkshire
, purchased by his father in 1717.
and MP for Sudbury
, whom Elwes obsequiously imitated to gain favour. Sir Harvey prided himself on only spending little more than £110 on himself per annum. The two of them would spend the evening railing against other people's extravagances while they shared a single glass of wine. In 1751, in order to inherit his uncle's estate, he changed his name from Meggot to Elwes. Sir Harvey died on 18 September 1763, bequeathing his entire fortune to his nephew. The net worth of the estate was more than £250,000 (approx. £18,000,000 as of 2010), a figure that continued to grow despite Elwes' inept handling of his finances.
On assuming his uncle's fortune, however, Elwes also assumed his uncle's miserly ways. He went to bed when darkness fell so as to save on candles. He began wearing only ragged clothes, including a beggar's cast-off wig
he found in a hedge and wore for two weeks. His clothes were so dilapidated that many mistook him for a common street beggar, and would put a penny into his hand as they passed. To avoid paying for a coach he would walk in the rain, and then sit in wet clothes to save the cost of a fire to dry them. His house was full of expensive furniture but also moulding food. He would eat putrefied game
before allowing new food to be bought. On one occasion it was said that he ate a moorhen
that a rat had pulled from a river. Rather than spend the money for repairs he allowed his spacious country mansion to become uninhabitable. A near relative once stayed at his home in the country, but the bedroom was in a poor state. So much so, that the relative was awakened in the night by rain pouring on him from the roof. After searching in vain for a bell, the relative was forced to move his bed several times, until he found a place where he could remain dry. On remarking the circumstance to Elwes in the morning, the latter said: "Ay! I don't mind it myself... that is a nice corner in the rain!" His biographer, Edward Topham, who knew him well, recounts:
According to author, William Haig Miller, he even "complained bitterly of the birds robbing him of so much hay with which to build their nests."
Even Elwes' health was limited by expense. In common with many misers, he distrusted physicians, preferring to treat himself in order to save paying for one. He once badly cut both legs while walking home in the dark, but would only allow the apothecary to treat one, wagering his fee that the untreated limb would heal first. Elwes won by a fortnight and the doctor had to forfeit his fee. He also bore a wound from a hunting accident. Legend has it that one day he was out shooting with a gentleman who was a particularly bad shot. This same man accidentally fired through a hedge, lodging several shot in the miser's cheek. With great embarrassment and concern, the gentleman approached Elwes to apologize. But Elwes, anticipating the apology held out his hand, and said: “My dear sir, I congratulate you on improving; I thought you would hit something in time.”
he became a Member of Parliament for Berkshire
(his election expenses amounted to a mere eighteen pence). He entered the House of Commons
in a by-election as a compromise candidate to replace Thomas Craven, which began the first of three terms. He held his seat unopposed until he stood down at the 1784 election
. Elwes sat with either party according to his whim, and he never once rose to address the House of Commons. Fellow members mockingly observed that since he possessed only one suit, they could never accuse him of being a "turncoat
". The post did, however, cause Elwes to frequently travel to London. This journey was accomplished on a poor lean horse, the route chosen being always the one whereby he could avoid turnpike
tolls. He was known to put a hard-boiled egg in his pocket, and midway on his journey would sit under some hedge and eat his egg or sleep. After 12 years he retired rather than face the prospect of laying out any money to retain his seat.
£7,000 to enable him to place a bet at Newmarket. On the day of the race, Elwes rode on horseback from Suffolk to the racetrack with nothing to eat for fourteen hours save a piece of pancake which he had put into his pocket two months earlier and which he swore to a startled companion was “as good as new”.
and frequently shifted his residence between his unrented London
properties in the neighbourhood of Marylebone
seeking out the ones which were temporarily unoccupied. A couple of beds, a couple of chairs, a table, and an "old woman" (housekeeper) were said to be all his furnishings. This same housekeeper was known to frequently catch colds because there were never any fires and often no glass in the windows.
This practice nearly cost Elwes his life when he fell desperately ill in one of these houses and no one could find him. Only by chance was he rescued. His nephew, Colonel Timms, who wanted to see him, inquired in vain at Elwes's banker's and at other places. A pot boy recollected having seen an "old beggar" go into a stable at one of Elwes's uninhabited houses in Great Marlborough Street
and lock the door behind him. Timms knocked at the door, but when no one answered, sent for a blacksmith and had the lock forced. According to author Edward Walford in Volume 4 of his "Old and New London" (1878):
He remained in this condition until some "cordials" could be administered by a neighbouring apothecary
. After he had sufficiently recovered, Elwes stated that he believed he had been ill for "two or three days", and that there was an "old woman" in the house, but for some reason or other, she had "not been near him"; that she had "been ill herself", but that he supposed she must have "recovered" and "gone away". Upon searching the premises, however, Timms and the apothecary found the woman stretched lifeless on the floor, having apparently been dead for two days.
Towards the end of his life Elwes grew feverish and restless, hoarding small quantities of money in different places, continually visiting all the places of deposit to see that they were safe. He began suffering from delusion, fearing that he would die in poverty. In the night he was heard struggling with imaginary robbers, crying: "I will keep my money! I will! Don't rob me! Oh, don't!" When asked who was there?, Elwes would reply: "Sir, I beg your pardon, my name is Elwes, I have been unfortunate enough to be robbed in this house, which I believe is mine, of all the money I have in the world of five guineas and a half, and half a crown." The family doctor was sent for, and, looking at the dying miser, was heard to remark: "That man, with his original strength of constitution, and lifelong habits of temperance, might have lived twenty years longer, but for his continual anxiety about money." Even his barrister, who drew up his £800,000 will, was forced to undertake his writings in the firelight by the dying man's bedside in order to save the cost of a candle.
The famed miser was also known to sleep in the same worn garments he wore during the day. He was discovered one morning between the sheets with his tattered shoes on his feet, an old torn hat on his head, and a stick in his hand. It was in this condition he died on 26 November 1789. His burial took place in Stoke-by-Clare
. After having lived on only £50 a year, Elwes left £500,000 (Approx £28,000,000 as of 2010) to his two sons who were born out of wedlock, George and John, (whom he loved but would not educate, believing that "putting things into people's heads is the sure way to take money out of their pockets") and the rest to his nephew.
The following summary of his character, by his friend and biographer, Mr. Topham:
Besides being a member of Parliament, Elwes's accomplishments include financing the construction of a significant amount of Georgian
London, including Portman Place, Portman Square
, and parts of Oxford Circus
Piccadilly
, Baker Street
and Marylebone
.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, Esq.
Esquire
Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...
(7 April 1714 – 26 November 1789) was a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
for Berkshire
Berkshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Berkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885...
(1772 – 1784) and a noted eccentric and miser
Miser
A miser, cheapskate, snipe-snout, penny pincher, piker, scrooge, skinflint or tightwad is a person who is reluctant to spend money, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities...
, believed to be the inspiration for the character of Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness...
in Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
. Dickens made reference to Elwes some years later in his last novel, Our Mutual Friend
Our Mutual Friend
Our Mutual Friend is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining psychological insight with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life" but is also about human...
. Elwes was also believed to inspire William Harrison Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket...
to create the character of John Scarfe in his novel The Miser's Daughter.
Family background and early life
Elwes (birth name "Meggot") was born on 7 April 1714 into a respectable English family. His father, Robert Meggot, was a respected SouthwarkSouthwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
brewer
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
and his grandfather was Sir George Meggot, MP for that same borough. His mother, Amy Elwes, was the granddaughter of Sir Gervase Elwes, 1st Baronet and MP for Suffolk
Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency)
Suffolk was a county constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1290 until 1832, when it was split into two divisions.-Boundaries and franchise:...
(see Elwes Baronets
Elwes Baronets
The Elwes Baronetcy, of Stoke in the County of Suffolk, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 22 June 1660 for Gervase Elwes, Member of Parliament for Sudbury and Suffolk. The second Baronet was Member of Parliament for Suffolk...
). Elwes' maternal grandmother, Lady Isabella Hervey (of the Earls of Bristol
Earl of Bristol
Earl of Bristol is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1622 in favour of the politician and diplomat John Digby who served for many years as Ambassador to Spain, and had already been created Baron Digby of Sherborne, in the...
), also happened to be a celebrated miser. He received a good education in the classics at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, and was even something of a socialite during his early life. After graduating he traveled to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
where he embraced his skill for horsemanship and love of the hunt. He was known as one of the best riders in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It was at this time that he was introduced to Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, to whom he was reported to bear a remarkable resemblance. However, Elwes was far more impressed with the quality of the horses at his riding school than by the genius of the French philosopher.
First inheritance
Elwes inherited his first fortune from his father who died in 1718 when he was just four years old. Although his mother was left £100,000 in the will (approx. £8,000,000 as of 2010) she reputedly starved herself to death because she was too mean to spend it. With her passing, he inherited the family estate including the Marcham ParkDenman College
Denman College is a residential adult education college centred on Marcham Park at Marcham in the English county of Oxfordshire . The college is owned and operated by the National Federation of Women's Institutes ....
at Marcham
Marcham
Marcham is a village and civil parish about west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Archaeology:...
in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, purchased by his father in 1717.
Second inheritance
The greatest influence on Elwes' life was his miserly uncle, Sir Harvey Elwes, 2nd Baronet, of Stoke CollegeStoke College
Stoke College near Haverhill, Suffolk is a co-educational day school for children aged 3 to 16, with boarding for children aged 9 to 16. It is built on the site of a major medieval monastic college.- History of the site :...
and MP for Sudbury
Sudbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Sudbury was a parliamentary constituency which was represented in the British House of Commons. A parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, it returned two Members of Parliament from 1559 until it was disenfranchised for corruption in 1844...
, whom Elwes obsequiously imitated to gain favour. Sir Harvey prided himself on only spending little more than £110 on himself per annum. The two of them would spend the evening railing against other people's extravagances while they shared a single glass of wine. In 1751, in order to inherit his uncle's estate, he changed his name from Meggot to Elwes. Sir Harvey died on 18 September 1763, bequeathing his entire fortune to his nephew. The net worth of the estate was more than £250,000 (approx. £18,000,000 as of 2010), a figure that continued to grow despite Elwes' inept handling of his finances.
Miserliness
Wig
A wig is a head of hair made from horsehair, human hair, wool, feathers, yak hair, buffalo hair, or synthetic materials which is worn on the head for fashion or various other aesthetic and stylistic reasons, including cultural and religious observance. The word wig is short for periwig and first...
he found in a hedge and wore for two weeks. His clothes were so dilapidated that many mistook him for a common street beggar, and would put a penny into his hand as they passed. To avoid paying for a coach he would walk in the rain, and then sit in wet clothes to save the cost of a fire to dry them. His house was full of expensive furniture but also moulding food. He would eat putrefied game
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
before allowing new food to be bought. On one occasion it was said that he ate a moorhen
Moorhen
Moorhens, sometimes called marsh hens, are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Gallinula....
that a rat had pulled from a river. Rather than spend the money for repairs he allowed his spacious country mansion to become uninhabitable. A near relative once stayed at his home in the country, but the bedroom was in a poor state. So much so, that the relative was awakened in the night by rain pouring on him from the roof. After searching in vain for a bell, the relative was forced to move his bed several times, until he found a place where he could remain dry. On remarking the circumstance to Elwes in the morning, the latter said: "Ay! I don't mind it myself... that is a nice corner in the rain!" His biographer, Edward Topham, who knew him well, recounts:
- "...it is curious to remark, how he contrived to mingle small attempts at saving...After sitting up a whole night at play for thousands, with the most fashionable and profligate men of the time, amidst splendid rooms, gilt sofas, wax lights, and waiters attendant on his call, he would walk out about four in the morning, not towards home, but into SmithfieldSmithfield, LondonSmithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...
! to meet his own cattle, which were coming to market from Thraydon-hall, a farm of his in EssexEssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. There would this same man, forgetful of the scenes he had just left, stand in the cold or rain, bartering with a carcass butcher for a shillingShillingThe shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
."
According to author, William Haig Miller, he even "complained bitterly of the birds robbing him of so much hay with which to build their nests."
Even Elwes' health was limited by expense. In common with many misers, he distrusted physicians, preferring to treat himself in order to save paying for one. He once badly cut both legs while walking home in the dark, but would only allow the apothecary to treat one, wagering his fee that the untreated limb would heal first. Elwes won by a fortnight and the doctor had to forfeit his fee. He also bore a wound from a hunting accident. Legend has it that one day he was out shooting with a gentleman who was a particularly bad shot. This same man accidentally fired through a hedge, lodging several shot in the miser's cheek. With great embarrassment and concern, the gentleman approached Elwes to apologize. But Elwes, anticipating the apology held out his hand, and said: “My dear sir, I congratulate you on improving; I thought you would hit something in time.”
Political career
In 1772 with the help of Lord CravenWilliam Craven, 6th Baron Craven
William Craven, 6th Baron Craven was an English nobleman.He was the son of Rev John Craven of Staunton Lacy in Shropshire and succeeded his uncle, William Craven, as Baron Craven in 1769...
he became a Member of Parliament for Berkshire
Berkshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Berkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885...
(his election expenses amounted to a mere eighteen pence). He entered the House of Commons
House of Commons of Great Britain
The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of the Parliament of Scotland, as one of the most significant...
in a by-election as a compromise candidate to replace Thomas Craven, which began the first of three terms. He held his seat unopposed until he stood down at the 1784 election
British general election, 1784
The British general election of 1784 resulted in William Pitt the Younger securing an overall majority of about 120 in the House of Commons of Great Britain, having previously had to survive in a House which was dominated by his opponents.-Background:...
. Elwes sat with either party according to his whim, and he never once rose to address the House of Commons. Fellow members mockingly observed that since he possessed only one suit, they could never accuse him of being a "turncoat
Turncoat
A turncoat is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party...
". The post did, however, cause Elwes to frequently travel to London. This journey was accomplished on a poor lean horse, the route chosen being always the one whereby he could avoid turnpike
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
tolls. He was known to put a hard-boiled egg in his pocket, and midway on his journey would sit under some hedge and eat his egg or sleep. After 12 years he retired rather than face the prospect of laying out any money to retain his seat.
Moneylending
In the meantime, Elwes lost huge sums of money to his colleagues in unrepaid loans, uncollected debts and dubious investments. He believed that one did not ask a gentleman for money, regardless of the circumstances. On one notable occasion Elwes, unsolicited, lent Lord AbingdonWilloughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon
Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon was an English peer and music patron.Bertie was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the son of Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon and Anna Maria Collins....
£7,000 to enable him to place a bet at Newmarket. On the day of the race, Elwes rode on horseback from Suffolk to the racetrack with nothing to eat for fourteen hours save a piece of pancake which he had put into his pocket two months earlier and which he swore to a startled companion was “as good as new”.
Later years
When his parliamentary career was over, Elwes devoted his full energies to being a miser as he moved about among his many properties. At his neglected estates he continued to forbid repairs, joined his tenants in postharvest gleaning, and sat with his servants in the kitchen to save the cost of a fire elsewhere. Even on the coldest day of winter he was known to sit fireless at his meals, saying that eating was "exercise enough" to keep him warm. If a stableboy put out hay for a visitor's horse, Elwes would sneak out and remove it. In his last years he had no fixed abodeNo fixed abode
No fixed abode or without fixed abode is a legal term generally applied to those who do not have a fixed geographical location as their residence...
and frequently shifted his residence between his unrented London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
properties in the neighbourhood of Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
seeking out the ones which were temporarily unoccupied. A couple of beds, a couple of chairs, a table, and an "old woman" (housekeeper) were said to be all his furnishings. This same housekeeper was known to frequently catch colds because there were never any fires and often no glass in the windows.
This practice nearly cost Elwes his life when he fell desperately ill in one of these houses and no one could find him. Only by chance was he rescued. His nephew, Colonel Timms, who wanted to see him, inquired in vain at Elwes's banker's and at other places. A pot boy recollected having seen an "old beggar" go into a stable at one of Elwes's uninhabited houses in Great Marlborough Street
Great Marlborough Street
Great Marlborough Street runs west to east through the western part of Soho in London. At its western end it joins Regent Street. Streets intersecting, or meeting with, Great Marlborough Street are, from west to east, Kingly Street, Argyll Street, Carnaby Street, and Poland Street...
and lock the door behind him. Timms knocked at the door, but when no one answered, sent for a blacksmith and had the lock forced. According to author Edward Walford in Volume 4 of his "Old and New London" (1878):
"In the lower part (of the house) all was shut and silent, but on ascending the stairs they heard the moans of a person seemingly in distress. They went to the chamber, and there on an old pallet bed they found Mr. Elwes, apparently in the agonies of death. For some time he seemed quite insensible."
He remained in this condition until some "cordials" could be administered by a neighbouring apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
. After he had sufficiently recovered, Elwes stated that he believed he had been ill for "two or three days", and that there was an "old woman" in the house, but for some reason or other, she had "not been near him"; that she had "been ill herself", but that he supposed she must have "recovered" and "gone away". Upon searching the premises, however, Timms and the apothecary found the woman stretched lifeless on the floor, having apparently been dead for two days.
Towards the end of his life Elwes grew feverish and restless, hoarding small quantities of money in different places, continually visiting all the places of deposit to see that they were safe. He began suffering from delusion, fearing that he would die in poverty. In the night he was heard struggling with imaginary robbers, crying: "I will keep my money! I will! Don't rob me! Oh, don't!" When asked who was there?, Elwes would reply: "Sir, I beg your pardon, my name is Elwes, I have been unfortunate enough to be robbed in this house, which I believe is mine, of all the money I have in the world of five guineas and a half, and half a crown." The family doctor was sent for, and, looking at the dying miser, was heard to remark: "That man, with his original strength of constitution, and lifelong habits of temperance, might have lived twenty years longer, but for his continual anxiety about money." Even his barrister, who drew up his £800,000 will, was forced to undertake his writings in the firelight by the dying man's bedside in order to save the cost of a candle.
The famed miser was also known to sleep in the same worn garments he wore during the day. He was discovered one morning between the sheets with his tattered shoes on his feet, an old torn hat on his head, and a stick in his hand. It was in this condition he died on 26 November 1789. His burial took place in Stoke-by-Clare
Stoke-by-Clare
Stoke-by-Clare is a small village in Suffolk located in the valley of the River Stour, about two miles west of Clare.In 1124 Richard de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford moved the Benedictine Priory that had been established at his castle in Clare to Stoke-by-Clare. The Priory, which was controlled by...
. After having lived on only £50 a year, Elwes left £500,000 (Approx £28,000,000 as of 2010) to his two sons who were born out of wedlock, George and John, (whom he loved but would not educate, believing that "putting things into people's heads is the sure way to take money out of their pockets") and the rest to his nephew.
The following summary of his character, by his friend and biographer, Mr. Topham:
"...his public character lives after him pure and without stain. In private life, he was chiefly an enemy to himself. To others, he lent much; to himself, he denied everything. But in the pursuit of his property, or in the recovery of it, I have it not in my remembrance one unkind thing that ever was done by him."
Besides being a member of Parliament, Elwes's accomplishments include financing the construction of a significant amount of Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
London, including Portman Place, Portman Square
Portman Square
Portman Square is a square in London, part of the Portman Estate. It is located at the western end of Wigmore Street, which connects it to Cavendish Square to its east. It is served by London bus route 274...
, and parts of Oxford Circus
Oxford Circus
Oxford Circus is the area of London at the busy intersection of Regent Street and Oxford Street, in the West End. It is served by Oxford Circus tube station, which is directly beneath the junction itself.- History :...
Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
, Baker Street
Baker Street
Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid the street out in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at a fictional 221B...
and Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
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External links
- The life of the late John Elwes, Esquire by Edward Topham at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- The life of the late John Elwes, Esquire by Edward Topham at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- The Lives and Portraits of Curious and Odd Characters at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- A visitation of the seats and arms of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain by Bernard Burke at Google Books
- A Topographical and Historical Account of the Parish of St. Mary-le-Bone by Thomas Smith at Google Books
- Chest of Books
- The New York Public Library Digital Gallery
- Chambers Book of Days
- John Elwes at Google Docs