Tributes have been paid to John Anthony Ellison, a stalwart of Bermuda's charitable and cultural life, who passed away on Friday at the age of 77.

Mr. Ellison was a leading light in the Island's National Trust, Festival of the Performing Arts and Musical and Dramatic Society. He was also well known as a long-standing partner in law firm Conyers Dill and Pearman.

He leaves four daughters, one son, six grandchildren and a wife, Patricia. His family have issued a statement detailing his wide-ranging personal and professional life, and commenting: "John devoted much of his life to the social and cultural enrichment of Bermuda and leaves a stellar record of achievement in this arena. He will be greatly missed by his family and a large international circle of friends."

Mr. Ellison, of Fairpoint Gardens, Pembroke, was born in Yorkshire, England on January 19 1932. He was educated at Charterhouse school and Christ Church college, Oxford. After obtaining an M.A. in Chemistry, he read for and was called to the Bar of England and Wales by the Inner Temple in 1957.

The family statement explained that as part of his national service, Mr. Ellison served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1958. This continued a family tradition of fascination with flying engendered by his Aunt Margaret who was amongst the first five female pilots in Britain and who purchased flying lessons for him as a sixteenth birthday present.

After practising at the Bar on the Midland Circuit in England, Mr. Ellison went on to serve as Acting Solicitor General of the Bahamas in 1963. According to his family, that exposure to warmer climes led to his re-location to Bermuda, where he accepted an invitation to join the partnership of Conyers Dill and Pearman in 1965, remaining with the firm until retirement in 1997. He also opened the Hong Kong office of the firm and worked there from 1985 until 1992. On retirement, he set up an office for Conyers Dill and Pearman in London.

In addition to his busy career as a corporate lawyer and barrister, Mr. Ellison also had a fascination with music and theatre. He was the founding chairman of the Bermuda Festival of Performing Arts, serving from 1974 to 1980 and then again from 2006 until his recent retirement from the position.

John Campbell, a current director of the festival, said: "He's going to be an enormous loss. John was always a very modest man and would give considerable credit to the team around him but the fact is, without him and his leadership, vision, energy and intellect, the festival would not have been launched with the success that it enjoyed."

Mr. Campbell worked at the Appleby law firm, and frequently encountered Mr. Ellison professionally. He remembered him this week as "an elegant, articulate man who was a very fine lawyer."

As President of the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society in the early 1970's, Mr. Ellison was also involved in the acquisition and development of Daylesford as the Society's headquarters.

Mr. Ellison became the second President of the Bermuda National Trust in 1972 with a determination to refocus the Trust onto environmental matters and preservation of open space, in addition to their normal responsibility for preservation of buildings. He initiated the popular Palm Sunday Walk and also established the Revolving Fund to acquire, restore and put to current use old buildings of historical and architectural merit.

During his time with the National Trust, Mr. Ellison secured the Keep Yard for the charity, which was later transformed into the Maritime Museum with Mr. Ellison as its first chairman.

He also served as a longstanding chairman of the Development Applications Board. According to his family, this gave him the opportunity to translate his concern for the preservation of Bermuda's dwindling open spaces into planning safeguards.

Jennifer Gray, Executive Director for the Bermuda National Trust, said: "The Trust has indeed lost a treasure in John Ellison who played an integral role in guiding 20th century successes of this organisation. He has been a strong supporter and advisor for more than three decades and we will miss his wisdom and participation. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family who are also friends and supporters of the Trust."

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Darling attended Charterhouse school with Mr. Ellison, and they maintained a life-long friendship.

"We were very fortunate that he chose Bermuda to spend the majority of his life and his rather superb brainpower which he applied to just about anything that came his way. He was a very bright and clever man in general and a very good organiser. Bermuda was very lucky, he's done so much here," he told The Royal Gazette.

Lt. Col. Darling, a former Commander of the Bermuda Regiment, also shared a humorous memory of Mr. Ellison's unusual role in training young soldiers. He explained that his friend was a keen pilot who owned a small plane.

"We used to get him to fly his plane over the soldiers when they were exercising on the sand dunes along Horseshoe Bay and throw bags of flour and dive bomb them," he recalled. "He used to get stuck into pretty much anything."

Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.