Nelly (later known as Eleanor Velasco) Thornton was born in Stockwell, London, on 15th April 1880 to Frederick and Sarah Ann Thornton, who was also known as ‘Nellie’. They had a son, Frederick William, four years later. By September 1887 when their daughter Rose was born, the family were living in Leamington.
Frederick Thornton, father of Nelly, Fred and Rose, was an Australian-born telegraph engineer who came to Leamington as chief engineer to Messrs Chamberlain & Hookham of Birmingham who planned the electrification of Leamington’s town centre which took place in 1887. The company bought six houses at the end of Wise Street, demolished them to erect a sub-station, manufactured all the requisite components and brought in Fred Thornton to oversee the entire installation, including digging all the trenches to house cabling to major buildings and properties in the town. Connections to the Town Hall and Pump Rooms were speedily followed by links to major shops in the Parade and Bath Street, such as Wackrill’s, Francis’ Burgis & Colburn, Gamages, Gregory the tobacconist, Notcutt the Stationer, and Watson the Baker in Gloucester Street. The Courier of 22nd October 1887 sought to reassure its readers of the safety of the installation and “the engineer of the Company is Mr Fred Thornton, who has considerable experience in electrical work and has certainly carried out his task in Leamington with skill, ability and judgement …”
Once the contract was completed, the Thornton family were on the move again,
The names Eleanor and Velasco appear to have been adopted by Nelly when she started working in the office of Car Illustrated, after leaving school at the age of sixteen. Her first secretarial post was with what is now the RAC and by the age of 22, she had become secretary and personal assistant to John Edward Scott-Montagu, later the second Baron of Beaulieu. Before long, Nelly had become his mistress and given birth to a daughter, Joan Eleanor Thornton, who was given up for adoption to avoid scandal.
When in 1909 John Scott-Montagu acquired a Rolls-Royce the cars had no mascots or other embellishment, but at the time, mascots were becoming popular with other marques. Some Rolls-Royce owners were following suit, at times with figures which RR management felt highly inappropriate. Montague therefore persuaded a friend, renowned designer and sculptor Charles Robinson Sykes to design a distinctive ornament for the bonnet. This became known as ‘The Whisperer’, and Nelly /Eleanor was the model for it. It led to Sykes’ design of 1911, also modelled by Nelly, and later named “Spirit of Ecstasy.” It depicts a woman leaning forward, arms outstretched behind and above her.
Although Henry Royce was reluctant to accept the mascot, fearing that it reduced the view of the driver, from 1911 onwards, Nelly’s alter ego was offered as an optional extra. It became so popular that by the 1920s, it had become a standard fitting. By the 1930s there was a kneeling version of the mascot, allowing a clearer view of the road for sports models. This in turn was followed by a new, smaller version of the original ‘Spirit’, the mascot still used today.
Sadly, Nelly’s new career as model of the iconic figure was short-lived. In December 1915, Montague was returning to his post of Inspector of Mechanical Transport (India), and Nelly was travelling with him on the SS Persia as far as Port Said. The boat was torpedoed off Crete by a German U-boat and sank in minutes. Sadly, Nelly drowned along with over three hundred other passengers, but Montagu survived, drifting for several days in a badly-damaged lifeboat. Probate was granted to Nelly’s only-known surviving relative, her sister Rose, who inherited Nelly’s silver model of the iconic figurine.
Nelly is commemorated on a plaque in Beaulieu Parish Church, erected by John, 2nd Lord Montagu of Beaulieu in gratitude for his miraculous escape from drowning and “in memory of Eleanor Velasco Thornton, who served him devotedly for fifteen years. Drowned December 30th, 1915.”
A Blue Plaque in memory of Nelly was unveiled in Charlotte Street on 4th June 2026.
Sources: Peter and Jan Coulls
Google; Ancestry; FamilySearch.
Chrissyhamlin.blogspot.com
Paul Tritton/Liverpool Echo