Wynne Ellis

[1] In 1812 Ellis became a haberdasher, hosier, and mercer at 16 Ludgate Street, city of London, where he gradually created the largest silk business in London, adding house to house as opportunity occurred of purchasing the property around him, and passing from the retail to a wholesale business in 1830.

After his retirement in 1871 his firm assumed the title of John Howell & Co.[1] In 1831 Ellis withdrew his candidature for the aldermanic ward of Castle Baynard to contest the parliamentary representation of Leicester.

[1][5] Ellis made an extensive collection of paintings, many of which were described in Gustav Friedrich Waagen's Treasures of Art, vol.

[8] The remainder of the Old Masters, together with the modern pictures, watercolours, porcelain, decorative furniture, marbles, and other objects, were disposed of at Christie, Manson, & Wood's in five days' sale in May, June and July 1876, when the total proceeds were £56,098.

The Agnews exhibited the painting at their rooms, 39B Old Bond Street, London where, on the night of 26 May, the canvas was cut out and stolen.

[1] He built the Wynn Ellis almshouses in Whitstable, setting up a charitable trust which still exists.

[1][9] 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.