ABOUT JOHN ELWES
Member of Parliament for Berkshire from 1772 to 1784. He was a noted miser and who might have been the real-life inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge.
He was born into a wealthy, but also reportedly miserly family.
To avoid spending money he wore cast-off clothes, ate spoiled food, let his great mansion fall into disrepair, etc.
One of his distant progeny is the British actor Cary Elwes .
His legendary stinginess is said to have formed the basis for Charles Dickens ' "A Christmas Carol."
