Ellenshaw's father died in 1921, and his mother soon married the groundskeeper on an estate in Kent. Ellenshaw's biological father had family living in Wilton Castle, near Enniscorthy, Ireland, and prior to his father's death, Peter had been attending a private school in which he was taught, among other things, fine social graces. This ended abruptly as his mother remarried and his family moved into cramped living quarters on the estate his new stepfather tended to. Here, instead of kindly doffing his hat for the ladies, the seven-year old Ellenshaw