Eleanor Velasco Thornton (15 April 1880 – 30 December 1915) was an English actress and artist's model.

Biography

Eleanor Velasco Thornton was the name adopted by Nelly Thornton, born at 18 Cottage Grove,

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The name S ...

, London. Her father was Frederick Thornton, an

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telegraph engineer; her mother was Sarah Ann Thornton. Despite stories that her mother was

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

, possibly circulated due to her dark complexion, her mother's family were from humble origins in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, and the names Eleanor and Velasco appear to be merely names she adopted when she started working in the office of a motoring magazine, ''Car Illustrated'', after leaving school. At 22, she was the secretary of John Edward Scott-Montagu, who became the second

Baron Montagu of Beaulieu Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (, Engl. pronunciation: "bewley", from French ''beau'', "beautiful" and ''lieu'', "place"), in the County of Hampshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for the Conservative poli ...

in 1905. She became his mistress and they had an illegitimate daughter, Joan Eleanor Thornton, whom she gave up for adoption. Thornton posed for sculptor Charles Sykes and may have been the model for his ''

Spirit of Ecstasy ''The Spirit of Ecstasy'' is the bonnet ornament sculpture on Rolls-Royce cars. It is in the form of a woman leaning forwards with her arms outstretched behind and above her. Billowing cloth runs from her arms to her back, resembling wing ...

'',Wings of desire: the secret love affair that inspired Rolls-Royce's flying lady.
Chris Hastings, '' The Telegraph'', 20 April 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2014. which is used as the bonnet/hood ornament on cars manufactured by

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated ...

, as well as a precursor sculpture, ''The Whisperer''. She drowned with hundreds of other passengers on 30 December 1915 when the SS ''Persia'', on which she was travelling with Montagu through the

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on the way to

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, was torpedoed without warning by the

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U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

, commanded by Max Valentiner. Montagu survived the sinking. The Probate Registry for June 1916 shows that her sister Rose (1887–1945), by that time the last surviving member of her immediate family, administered her will. Amongst her effects was probably a similar silver model of the ''Spirit Of Ecstasy'', which it is presumed Rose kept. Rose married Gordon Willis Hayter in 1923, and many years later, the silver model was stolen from the home of Dorothy Hayter, Gordon's second wife.

References

External links

''Spirit of Ecstasy'' research notesAbout Eleanor Thornton
1915 deaths 1880 births Civilians killed in World War I Deaths due to shipwreck at sea English artists' models {{UK-model-stub