Dominick Elwes

Bede Evelyn Dominick Elwes (24 August 1931 – 5 September 1975) was an English portrait painter whose much publicised elopement with an heiress in 1957 created an international scandal. Early life Elwes (pronounced "El-wez") was born on 24 August 1931 at Billing Hall, Northamptonshire, to English portrait painter Simon Elwes (RA, KM), and the Hon. Gloria Rodd, daughter of Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell, some-time British Ambassador to Rome, and Conservative MP for St. Marylebone (1928–1932). Elwes was descended from the Roman Catholic Cary-Elwes (sometimes known simply as Elwes) family, which includes such noted British prelates, priests and monks as abbot Columba Cary-Elwes, Bishop Dudley Cary-Elwes, and Father Luke Cary-Elwes. He was the grandson of Gervase Cary Elwes (1866–1921), a diplomat and professional classical tenor, and Lady Winifride Mary Elizabeth Feilding, daughter of the 8th Earl of Denbigh. He was a nephew of the English novelist, biographer and journalist Nancy Mitford, and a godson of Evelyn Waugh. One of his cousins was Tremayne Rodd, 3rd Baron Rennell. For his early education, Elwes spent much of his childhood during the Second World War in the United States, after which he returned to England to attend Downside School in Somerset. Elopement At age 26, Elwes met and wished to marry 19-year-old shipping heiress Tessa Kennedy, daughter of Geoffrey Ferrar Kennedy and Daška Ivanović. Kennedy's parents, however, disapproved of the relationship and instituted wardship proceedings.