Sir John Elliot (6 May 1898 – 18 September 1988) was a British journalist and
transport
Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
and
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
manager. Born John Elliot Blumenfeld, he was the son of the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' news editor
R. D. Blumenfeld (who later became managing editor of the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
''.) He changed his surname to Elliot (his mother's surname) in March 1923 on the advice of
Lord Beaverbrook
William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics of the first half of the 20th century ...
.
[
]
Biography
Early career
Elliot was educated at Marlborough School. He joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...
where he trained as an officer in the years immediately before the First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. During the War, he served as an officer in France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, in the 3rd The King's Own Hussars
The 3rd (The King's Own) Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and the Second World Wars, before being amalgamated with the 7th Queen's Own Hussars, ...
, before following his father into journalism. He spent three years in New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, and then returned to London to become the assistant editor of the ''Evening Standard
The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...
'' from 1922 to 1925.[
]
Railway career
In 1925, Elliot joined the Southern Railway as public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
assistant to the General Manager Sir Herbert Walker. Under Elliot's leadership, the Southern Railway became noted for the simple, direct messages in its publicity posters. One in particular, showing a small boy talking to the driver of a King Arthur 4-6-0 at Waterloo
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces
* Waterloo, Belgium
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Australia
* Waterloo, New South Wale ...
became internationally famous. The naming of this class of locomotive after characters from Arthurian legend
The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...
was "in itself a master stroke of publicity".
In 1930, Elliot became assistant traffic manager for the railway, and in 1938 was appointed assistant general manager to Gilbert Szlumper
Major General Gilbert Savil Szlumper, (18 April 1884 – 19 July 1969) was a British railwayman, and the penultimate general manager of the Southern Railway. He served as secretary of the Railway Executive Committee in World War I and left ...
. Shortly after the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he became acting General Manager when his predecessor, Sir Eustace Missenden, was appointed to the Railway Executive
The British Railways Board (BRB) was a nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain, trading under the brand name British Railways and, fr ...
. In late 1948, the Southern Railway was nationalised
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English)
is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...
, with the rest of the railway system, into British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...
. Elliot took the role of Chief Regional Officer of the Southern region of the nationalised company[ and later the ]London Midland
London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia.
London Midland was created as a result of Gov ...
region. In 1951, he became Chairman
The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
of the Railway Executive. Elliot spent much of 1949 in Australia, reporting on the Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
system, he recommended a significant re-equipment of their system, which they started in 1950.
Elliot was appointed as Chairman of London Transport in 1953, a post he held until 1959. He was an early proponent of the building of the Victoria line
The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in South London, and in the east, via the West End of London, West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run comp ...
and oversaw the trial tunneling work for it in the late 1950s, though the line did not open until many years after he left London Transport.[
In October 1937 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in the ]Engineer and Railway Staff Corps
The Engineer and Logistic Staff Corps is a part of the Royal Engineers in the British Army Reserve. It is intended to provide advisers on engineering and logistics to the British Army at a senior level. Following its work creating the NHS Nightin ...
, and was promoted to full Colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
in May 1951. He commanded the unit from January 1956 until he was retired due to his age on 7 May 1963. He resigned his commission in December 1973. He was the president of the Railway Study Association in 1950–51.[
]
After the railways
After leaving British Railways, Elliot became Chairman of Thomas Cook & Son Ltd, a post he held from 1959 until 1967. He received a knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
in the 1954 New Years honours list. From 1965 to 1969, he was a director of the British Airports Authority
Heathrow Airport Holdings is a company that operates and manages Heathrow Airport based in London, England. It was formed by the privatisation of the British Airports Authority as BAA plc as part of Margaret Thatcher's privatisation of governme ...
.[
In 1965, Eliott wrote a postscript to Alan Wood's work ''The True History of Lord Beaverbrook'', published by Heinemann after both Beaverbrook and Wood had died. Even then, some parts of the book were suppressed.
Elliot's autobiography, ''On and Off the Rails'', was published by ]George Allen & Unwin
George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...
in 1982. He was also noted for his writing about the French Revolution and the First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.[
]
Family
Elliot's son, David, was born in 1927. He was an enthusiastic railway photographer, capturing the last days of the Talyllyn Railway
The Talyllyn Railway () is a narrow-gauge railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol railway station, Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 to carr ...
before it was preserved. David later became the Academic Registrar of Trinity College of Music
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...
during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1986, David hosted a BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
radio program, claiming that the composer Anton Bruckner
Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...
was influenced by a love of railways; this spoof program brought together David's love of music and railways.
Works
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References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, John
1898 births
1988 deaths
British Rail people
Southern Railway (UK) people
Knights Bachelor
3rd The King's Own Hussars officers
Engineer and Railway Staff Corps officers
People associated with transport in London
British autobiographers
British Army personnel of World War I