Elwes Explained

Elwes is an English surname whose spelling over the years has included Helwish, Helewise, Helwys, Elwaiss, Elwaies and Elway. A notable family of the name were landed gentry, of Roxby in Lincolnshire; several of the individuals listed below were from this Elwes family, members of which invariably used the final middle name "Cary" (sometimes hyphenated to form a double-barrelled surname) following the 1717 marriage of Robert Elwes (1690-1752) and Martha, daughter of Richard Cary, of Bedford Row, London, a merchant and a governor of the Bank of England.^[1]

People with the Elwes surname:

• Columba Cary-Elwes (1903–1994), English Benedictine monk
• Elwes baronets, 1660–1787
• Eva Elwes (1876-1950), English actor and playwright
• Catherine Elwes (born 1952), British feminist video artist
• Sir Gervase Elwes, 1st Baronet (1628–1706)
  • Gervase Elwes, junior politician
• Gervase Elwes (1866–1921), English singer; father of Simon
  • Simon Elwes (1902–1975), English artist; father of Dominick and Peter
    • Peter Elwes (1929-2017)
      • Luke Elwes (born 1961), English artist
        • Jake Elwes (born 1993), English media artist
    • Dominick Elwes (1931–1975), English artist; 3 sons listed below
      • Cassian Elwes (born 1959), English independent film producer
      • Damian Elwes (born 1960), English artist
      • Cary Elwes (born 1962), English actor
• Henry John Elwes (1846–1922) English botanist and plant-collector
• John Elwes (politician) (1714–1789), grandson of Sir Gervase (born Meggot)
• John Elwes (tenor) (born 1946), English singer
• Polly Elwes (1928–1987), English television reporter and presenter
• Richard Elwes (1901-1968), English barrister and High Court judge
• Robert Elwes (British Army officer) (1856–1881), English soldier
• Robert Elwes (painter) (1818–1878), English traveller and painter

Notes and References

1. Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 1, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965, p. 236