Captain Walter Travers Scott-Elliot (9 October 1895 – 14 December 1977) was a British company director and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served one term as a Member of Parliament. He is remembered for the cause of his

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

: he and his wife were both

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

ed by Archibald Hall, whom they had hired as a

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

Family

Scott-Elliot was from an

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

family based in Arkleton near

Langholm Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands. Location and geography Langholm sits n ...

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

, and was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

. He fought in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

during 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 ...

, until 1919. On leaving, he joined the Bombay Company Ltd, which traded goods, mainly

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

, between

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. From 1927 he was managing director. When he succeeded his father as Laird of Arkleton, he also took over the hill-farming on the estate. In 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 served as a specialist civil servant at the

Ministry of Labour A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...

Election to Parliament

At the 1945 general election, Scott-Elliot was elected as Labour Party Member of Parliament for

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

. His background made him an unlikely recruit for the Labour Party, although he was sincere in his belief that

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

planning was best for business. His connection with the cotton trade helped him make friends among the weavers in the constituency.

Offices held

Scott-Elliot served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Financial Secretaries to the War Office, successively

Frederick Bellenger Captain Frederick John Bellenger (23 July 1894 – 11 May 1968) was a British surveyor, soldier and politician. Early life Born in Bethnal Green, London, he was the son of Eugene Bernard Bellenger, a dairyman, and his wife Isabella Annette ''n ...

and John Freeman, from 1946 to 1947. A frequent contributor to House of Commons debates, he was a member of the executive committee of the

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Standing down from Parliament

Scott-Elliot disagreed with the government's policy of nationalising the

steel industry Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high elastic modulus, yield strength, fracture strength and low raw material cost, steel is one of the ...

, although not to

nationalisation 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 priv ...

in general, and he did not vote against the whip. In October 1948 he wrote a letter to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' which accepted the call by dissident Labour MP Ivor Thomas for a political truce and a government of national unity. When Thomas left the Labour Party over opposition to steel nationalisation, the Accrington Trades and Labour Party repudiated the letter, and Scott-Elliot announced that he would not fight the next election.

Post-Parliamentary career

Going back to his estate and business, Scott-Elliot retired in the late 1960s and spent most of his time collecting antiques. His first marriage to Maria von Groeller had been annulled in 1948 and he had remarried that year to Dorothy Nunn, who was much younger than he. He had a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

flat at Richmond Court on

Sloane Street Sloane Street is a major London street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, crossing Pont Street about halfway along. History Sloane Street takes its name from Sir Han ...

. In 1977, Scott-Elliot engaged a new butler called Archibald Hall. Unknown to Scott-Elliot, Hall was a

thief Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal short ...

and a murderer.

Murder

When Dorothy Scott-Elliot interrupted Hall and his accomplice discussing their burglary plans, they suffocated her. When her husband arrived back, he was drugged and the two were driven to the Scottish highlands. Mrs Scott-Elliot was buried in Perthshire, while Walter Scott-Elliot was driven to Guisachen, near

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

, where he was throttled with a scarf, beaten over the head with a spade, and then buried in the forest. Scott-Elliot's status as a former Member of Parliament added some interest to the case of Archibald Hall. Hall was nicknamed "the Monster Butler" by some newspapers. As Scott-Elliot had been murdered in Scotland while Hall's other four murders were committed in England, Hall and accomplice Michael Kitto had to be tried separately in Edinburgh for the murder of Scott-Elliot in May 1978. They were convicted and Hall was given a 15-year tariff which he had to serve before being considered for release. At his subsequent triple-murder trial in London, he was convicted and given a

whole life tariff In England and Wales, life imprisonment is a sentence that lasts until the death of the prisoner, although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for parole after a minimum term ("tariff") set by the judge. In exceptional cases a judge may ...

References

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981) *''

'' *Norman Lucas and Philip Davies, "The Monster Butler" (Mirror Books, 1979)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott-Elliot, Walter 1895 births 1977 deaths People murdered in 1977 Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 Coldstream Guards officers People educated at Eton College Scottish murder victims People murdered in Scotland People from Langholm Politics of Hyndburn British Army personnel of World War I Victims of serial killers