{{Short description|English railway writer and painter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{more citations needed|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox person |name = C. Hamilton Ellis |image = |caption = |birth_name = Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis |birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|6|29|df=y}} |birth_place = |death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|6|29|1909|6|29|df=y}} |death_place = |body_discovered = |death_cause = |resting_place = |resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> |nationality = |citizenship = |other_names = |known_for = Railway painter and author |education = [[Westminster School]] |alma_mater = |employer = British Railways |occupation = |years_active = |height = |title = |term = |spouse = |partner = |children = |parents = |relations = |awards = |signature = |website = |footnotes = }}
'''Cuthbert (Chip) Hamilton Ellis''' [[FRSA]]<ref name="times-notice">{{cite news |title=Deaths: Ellis |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/newspaperRetrieve.do?sort=DateAscend&docLevel=FASCIMILE&prodId=TTDA&tabID=T003&bookId=&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R1¤tPosition=1&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28tx%2CNone%2C23%29cuthbert+hamilton+ellis%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28da%2CNone%2C23%2906%2F13%2F1987+-+08%2F13%2F1987%24&retrieveFormat=MULTIPAGE_DOCUMENT&bucketSubId=&inPS=true&userGroupName=lancs&hilite=y&docPage=article&nav=prev&docId=IF500491455&searchTypeName=BasicSearchForm&contentSet=LTO |accessdate=30 December 2017|newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=1 July 1987|page=17|url-access=subscription }}</ref> (29 June 1909 – 29 June 1987) was an English railway writer and painter. He was an Associate of the [[Institution of Locomotive Engineers]] and a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Arts]].
He attended Westminster school and is reported to have briefly been at [[Oxford]].<ref name=CHE>{{cite web |url= https://steamindex.com/library/ellis.htm |title= Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis |author= Kevin Jones |date= 8 October 2012 |accessdate= 5 December 2013}}</ref> He published the first of his 36 books, mostly on railway subjects, at the age of 21.<ref name=CHE/>
During 1940 Ellis was sent to Switzerland by [[MI6]] under the guise of reporting for ''Modern Transport'' to organise saboteurs, but is reported not to have made contact with his handlers.<ref name=CHE/>
Ellis covered a broad range of railway subjects in his books, the best-known of which is ''The Trains we Loved'' ([[Allen & Unwin]], 1947). His obituarist in ''[[The Times]]'' commented that his ''Railway Carriages in the [[British Isles]] from 1830 to 1914'' (1965, revised from an earlier book) "despite its near-obsession with matters lavatorial and ablutory ... was an epoch-making work".<ref name="times-obit">{{cite news |title=Mr Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis (obituary) |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/newspaperRetrieve.do?sort=DateAscend&docLevel=FASCIMILE&prodId=TTDA&tabID=T003&bookId=&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R1¤tPosition=2&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28tx%2CNone%2C23%29cuthbert+hamilton+ellis%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28da%2CNone%2C23%2906%2F13%2F1987+-+08%2F13%2F1987%24&retrieveFormat=MULTIPAGE_DOCUMENT&bucketSubId=&inPS=true&userGroupName=lancs&hilite=y&docPage=article&nav=next&docId=IF502611314&searchTypeName=BasicSearchForm&contentSet=LTO |accessdate=30 December 2017|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=29 July 1987|page=14|url-access=subscription }}</ref> As a knowledgeable railwayman he appeared in the 1968 TV documentary ''4472: Flying Scotsman''<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2751550/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_1 |title= 4472: Flying Scotsman (1968) |work= IMDb |accessdate= September 17, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/people/52/16.shtml |title= Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis |work= Archive - People |publisher= BBC |accessdate= September 17, 2016 |archive-date= October 23, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151023080319/http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/people/52/16.shtml |url-status= dead }}</ref> and appeared twice in the [[BBC]] TV game show ''[[Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?]]'' in railway themed episodes.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5207086/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_2 |title= British Railways |work= IMDb |publisher= IMDb.com, Inc.|accessdate= September 17, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5198942/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_2 |title= Railways and Railway Architecture |work= IMDb |publisher= IMDb.com, Inc.|accessdate= September 17, 2016 }}</ref>
He also wrote a small number of novels, such as ''[[The Engineer-Corporal]]'' (1940) and ''Dandy Hart'' (1947). Both of which were fictional, somewhat "voluble [and] long winded", and deeply based on an interest in railway operations, which was also assumed in the reader.<ref name="Kirkus, Dandy Hart" >{{Cite web |title=Dandy Hart |website=[[Kirkus Reviews]] |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hamilton-ellis/dandy-hart/ }}</ref>
He had an interest in [[model railways]]: his 1962 book ''Model Railways 1838-1939'' was said by ''The Times'' to have "led the way in charting the early history of this ... hobby".<ref name=times-obit /> He was an early member and for some time Vice-President of the [[Historical Model Railway Society]].<ref name=times-obit />
His 1959 humorous book ''Rapidly Round the Bend'' was described as "[doing] for railways what [[W. C. Sellar|Sellers]]{{sic}} and [[R. J. Yeatman|Yeatman]] had done for general history" (a reference to the authors of ''[[1066 and All That]]'').<ref name=times-obit />
He has paintings in the [[National Railway Museum]], the [[Royal Logistic Corps Museum]] and the Museum of Island Railway History<ref>{{cite web |title=Ellis, Cuthbert Hamilton 1909-1987 |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artists/ellis-cuthbert-hamilton-19091987/search/keyword:ch-ellis--referrer:global-search/page/1/view_as/grid |website=Art UK |access-date=21 August 2023}}</ref> on the [[Isle of Wight]]. The [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] holds two photographs of him, both taken in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp86970/cuthbert-hamilton-ellis |title=(Cuthbert) Hamilton Ellis (1909-1987), Railway historian and artist |publisher=National Portrait Gallery, London |accessdate= September 17, 2016 }} ''Includes both images''</ref>
== Publications == * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |title=Highland Engines and their Work |isbn= |year=1930 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The Grey Men ... Illustrations by Gilbert Dunlop |isbn= |year=1939 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The Engineer-Corporal. A story of the American civil war |others=[[Terence Cuneo]] (illus.) |isbn= |year=1940 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Rails across the Ranges |isbn= |year=1941 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Who wrecked the Mail? |others=[[Terence Cuneo]] (illus.) |year=1944 }} * {{Cite book |title=The Trains we Loved |year=1947 |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Dandy Hart |publisher=Victor Gollancz |year=1947 }}<ref name="Kirkus, Dandy Hart" /> * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Nineteenth Century Railway Carriages in the British Isles |publisher=Modern Transport Publishing |year=1949 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Some Classic Locomotives |isbn= |year=1949 }} * {{Cite book |title=Four Main Lines |publisher=Allen & Unwin |oclc=8330303 |year=1950 |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The Beauty of Old Trains |isbn= |year=1952 }} * {{Cite book |title=The Midland Railway |isbn=0711005516 |year=1975 |orig-date=1953 |publisher=Ian Allan |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The South Western Railway |publisher=George Allen and Unwin |year=1956 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=A Picture History Of Railways |series=Hulton's Picture Histories |publisher=Hulton Press |year=1956 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Famous locomotives of the world |publisher=Globe Books |year=1957 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=A Picture History of Ships |publisher=Hulton |year=1957 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Trains and Tractors |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1957 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Twenty locomotive men |publisher=Ian Allan |year=1958 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The Young George Stephenson |others=William Randell (illus.) |series=Famous childhood series |publisher=Parrish |year=1959 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The North British Railway |isbn= |year=1959 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=British Railway History |volume=1830–1876 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1959 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=British Railway History |volume=1877–1947 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1959 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |title=Cars and Trains |author2= John Peter Roberts |year=1959 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Rapidly Round the Bend |year=1959 |publisher=Parrish }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Royal journey: A retrospect of royal trains in the British Isles |publisher=[[British Transport Commission]] |year=1960 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The Beauty of Railways |publisher=Parrish |year=1960 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Model Railways 1838-1939 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1962 |oclc=8690106 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Flying Scotsman, 1862-1962 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |oclc=4849733 |year=1962 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Popular Carriage: Two Centuries of Carriage Design for Road and Rail |publisher=British Transport Commission |year=1962 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The Splendour of Steam |isbn=0043850162 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1965 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Railway Carriages in the British Isles from 1830 to 1914 |isbn=0043850146 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1965 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |title=The History of the Great Northern Railway, 1845-1922 |author2=H. V. Borley |year=1966 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Railway history |publisher=Dutton Vista |year=1966 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The Engines That Passed |isbn=0043850448 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1968 }} * {{Cite book |author=Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Railways |publisher=Paul Hamlyn |year=1968 }} * {{Cite book |title=London, Midland and Scottish. A Railway in Retrospect |isbn=0711000484 |publisher=Ian Allan |year=1970 |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=King Steam. Selected railway paintings and drawings by C. Hamilton Ellis |editor-first=George |editor-last=Perry |isbn= |year=1971 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=London, Brighton and South Coast Railway |isbn=071100269X |year=1972 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Railways : A Pictorial History of the First 150 Years |isbn=0856900087 |publisher=Peebles Press |year=1974 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/railways00cuth }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Ships : a pictorial history from Noah's Ark to the U.S.S. United States |isbn=0856900079 |publisher=Peebles Press |year=1974 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=British Trains of Yesteryear |isbn=0711005494 |year=1975 }} * {{Cite book |title=Royal Trains |isbn=0710082932 |year=1975 |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=Steam railways |publisher=Book Club Associates |year=1975 }} * {{Cite book |title=Railway Art |isbn=0904069109 |publisher=Ash & Grant |year=1977 |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 }} * {{Cite book |author=C. Hamilton Ellis |authorlink=C. Hamilton Ellis |author-mask=2 |title=The Lore Of The Train |publisher=Nordbok |year=1977 }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Art UK bio}} *{{cite web | url=https://steamindex.com/library/ellis.htm| website=Steamindex | last=Jones | first=Kevin | title=Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis | date=10 December 2010 | accessdate=30 December 2017}} ''(Substantial compilation of sourced information about Ellis including an obituary from Railway World, and details and reviews of his books)'' *{{IMDb name|5555726|name=Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, C. Hamilton}} [[Category:1909 births]] [[Category:1987 deaths]] [[Category:English artists]] [[Category:British rail transport writers]] [[Category:Railway historians]] [[Category:20th-century English historians]]