Jannion Steele Elliott

Jannion Steele Elliott (25 May 1871 – 27 March 1942) was a British ornithologist and naturalist who, in particular, accumulated large amounts of information on the mammals and birds of Bedfordshire.[1][2][3]

Jannion Steele Elliott
Born(1871-05-25)25 May 1871
Bedford, Bedfordshire, England
Died27 March 1942(1942-03-27) (aged 70)
Kerry, Montgomeryshire
NationalityBritish
EducationBedford Modern School
Known forOrnithologist and naturalist

His name is sometimes spelled as "Steele-Elliott."[4]

Life

Elliott was born in Bedford on 25 May 1871 to William Elliott, an Inland Revenue officer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Jones). He was educated at Bedford Modern School.[5]

From 1896, Elliott co-owned a foundry business (Robbins & Co.) in Dudley, West Midlands with his brother William.[6] The business specialised in making fire grates and Elliott and his brother filed three patent applications regarding the improvement of the domestic fire grate.[7][8] However, Elliott's main interest was ornithology.

Elliott published his first book The Vertebrate Fauna of Bedfordshire at his own expense in 1901.[9] In their book, The Birds of Bedfordshire (1991), Paul Trodd and David Kramer stated that "the works of Jannion Steele Elliott were our base reference and it is only now that we can appreciate the importance of his writings when comparing the status of species than with those of today."

Elliott developed a large collection of the local birds of Bedfordshire which he gave to the Pritchard Museum of Bedford Modern School which was later to become a key component of the Bedford Museum.[10] His collection was later transferred to the Luton Museum.[11]

Of Elliott, the British ornithologist Bruce Campbell stated: "On June 4th, 1903, Jannion Steele-Elliott, the great Bedfordshire naturalist and his friend Ronald Bruce Campbell, my father, spent the day at Southill Park and found nests with eggs of 27 different species of bird, a feat which can have few parallels in British field ornithology."[12]

Elliott was a Tring correspondent (1899–1942) and records of his ornithological work are kept in the archives of the Natural History Museum.[13]

Elliott married firstly, in 1898, Caroline Emma Thompson, with whom he had a son (William Jannion, 1900–1929) and daughter (Marjory Caroline, born 1899); Caroline died in 1909. On 30 July 1925, Elliott married secondly Doris Amie, daughter of John Eccleston Sheldon, of Moorcroft, Barnt Green, Worcestershire, and former wife of Captain Mervyn Edward John Wingfield-Stratford (1883–1922), of the Worcester Regiment. Captain Mervyn Wingfield-Stratford was the first cousin of Georgina Grace Ida Wingfield-Stratford, wife of Elliott's son, William; the Wingfield-Stratfords descended from the politicians Richard Wingfield, 3rd Viscount Powerscourt and John Stratford, 1st Earl of Aldborough.[6][14][15] Their daughter, Petronilla, married Peter Trustram Eve, son of the 1st Baron Silsoe.[16]

Elliott had lived in Clent, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of the foundry in Dudley, until 1902. That year, he moved his family 18 km (11 mi) west when he purchased the Elizabethan era Dowles Manor, near the confluence of Dowles Brook into the River Severn, at the eastern edge of the Wyre Forest.[10] The manor, 1.5 km (0.9 mi) northwest of the center of Bewdley, Worcestershire, is in the former civil parish of Dowles.[17] By the time of his death, in 1942, he had bought up the surrounding land, piecemeal, until he owned the portion of the valley, formed by the Dowles Brook, surrounding Dowles Manor; he maintained this land as a nature reserve.[10][18][19] At Dowles Manor, he entertained friends and fellow naturalists including Charles Oldham, Thomas Coward and Herbert Forrest.[10]

He died on 27 March 1942, when visiting his brother at Kerry, Montgomeryshire.[10]

Bibliography

Among the publications of Steele Elliott are:

  • Steele-Elliott, J. (1897). The Vertebrate Fauna of Bedfordshire. Birmingham: privately published; printed by Robert Birbeck & Sons. OCLC 1051546662.[20][21]
  • Purple Heron in Herts, 1903
  • Steele Elliott, Jannion (1918). Concerning the Manor House, Dowles, and its demesne ... With illustrations, plans, and map. Dudley: Herald Press. OCLC 560072309.
  • Steele Elliott, J. (1936). "Local Duck Decoys". Survey of Ancient Buildings. 3. Aspley Guise: Bedfordshire Historical Record Society. OCLC 1114791242.[22]
  • Steele Elliott, J. (1936). Bedfordshire 'vermin' Payments: Concerning the Destruction of 'vermin' by Parish Officials During the XVI-XIX Centuries, with Extracts from Their Accounts. Luton Beds.: Luton Public Museum. OCLC 12176269.

References
  1. The Harpur Trust 1552–1973, by Joyce Godber 1973
  2. "Natural History Museum Archive Catalogue". nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  3. Jameson, Conor Mark (April 2014). Shrewdunnit. google.co.uk. ISBN 9781907807794. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  4. see e.g. OCLC 1051546662
  5. Bedford Modern School of the Black And Red, Andrew Underwood 1981
  6. The Bedfordshire Naturalist, collected issues 1–14, Bedfordshire Natural History Society, 1947, p. 37, Bedfordshire Naturalists: V – Jannion Steele Elliott (1871–1942), Henry A. S. Key
  7. "Elliott Jannion Steele – Inventor Patent Directory, Page 1". ipexl.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  8. "Espacenet". espacenet.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  9. The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1875–1900, by Simon Holloway. First Published in 1996 by T. & A. D. Poyser Ltd
  10. Forrest, H.E. (1 July 1942). "Obituary. Jannion Steele Elliott (1871-1942)" (PDF). British Birds. 36 (2): 35. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  11. Worthington George Smith and other studies. google.com. 1978. ISBN 9780851550381. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  12. "1963–2013: birding at Southill Park revisited". bloomsburywildlife.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  13. "Natural History Museum Archive Catalogue". nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  14. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 2, p. 2300.
  15. Burke's Peerage, 1999, vol. 1, p. 28.
  16. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 3, p. 3621.
  17. Harris, Michael Gerard (August 2016). Heritage Impact Statement For Completing the Rebuilding Works of the Manor House, Demolition of Barn Cottage, and the Erection of One x 4 Bedroom House At Dowles Manor, Bewdley, Worcestershire DY12 3AA (PDF) (Report). Stoneycroft Planning & Development Ltd. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  18. The Natural History of an English Forest: the Wild Life of Wyre, Norman E. Hickin, Hutchinson, 1971, p. 217.
  19. "Dowles Manor, Bewdley, Worcestershire". www.ewgreen.org.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  20. The Vertebrate Fauna of Bedfordshire was published in several parts, 1897-1901; facsimile reprint 1993 by the Bedfordshire Natural History Society; OCLC 1109595696
  21. The original edition was printed in 150 copies. In 2014, a copy was sold for £600. (see: "Lot 112". Bonhams. 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.)
  22. See also: Fadden, Kevan J (2011). Location & Review of an Ancient Duck Decoy In the Parish of Houghton Conquest (PDF) (Report). Ampthill & District Archaeological & Local History Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019. The Society’s interest was aroused ... found an article on Duck Decoys by J Steele Elliott in “... Survey of Ancient Buildings... (includes 2009 aerial image of a field, about 600 yards (52.0503,-0.4828) north-by-northeast of Houghton House, which Elliott and Fadden believe owned the decoy, with clear discoloration matching the shape of the 1797 decoy)
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