Susan Williams-Ellis

POTTER, BUSINESSWOMAN

Susan Caroline Williams-Ellis began life as the daughter of Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, architect and creator of the holiday resort of Portmeirion. At 16, she was sent to Dartington Hall School in Devon, where she was taught pottery by Bernard and David Leach, an interest she returned to after her work as a map-maker in the Second World War, by which time she had permanently moved to Wales. Alongside her husband, she built up the Portmeirion Pottery business, developing her own ranges and designs which would become well-loved worldwide. She also worked as a book illustrator and painter, before retiring in 2005.