Inglis was born Anthony Inglis Howard-Williams and had to change his name when he and the slightly older conductor Howard Williams was conducting Swan Lake for The Royal Ballet and Anthony Inglis conducted Swan Lake with the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet at the same time. He was born into an RAF family and he can number a great many past serving officers amongst his immediate ancestry. His father was Squadron-Leader Jeremy Howard-Williams DFC, who was a night fighter pilot during World War II before joining Fighter Interception Unit. His paternal grandfather, Air Commodore E. L. Howard-Williams was a major in the army, before joining the fledgling Royal Flying Corps, the precursor to the RAF. His uncle, Wing Commander Peter Howard-Williams DFC was in 19 Squadron flying out of Duxford during 1940 and flew in The Battle of Britain, and therefore was one of The Few. His maternal grandfather was Air Vice-Marshal F. F. Inglis CB CBE and head of RAF Intelligence during WW2 and on Adolf Hitler's hit list for after the war should Germany have won. He was sent to America by Winston Churchill where he successfully persuaded President Franklin D. Roosevelt to direct the American war against Germany rather than Japan. Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard, a Great-Uncle by marriage, was said by some to be the person who suggested to Winston Churchill the idea of sending the little ships over to Dunkirk to pick up the remnants of the British Army. Air-Commodore Peter Helmore was an uncle by marriage. Amongst his non-RAF ancestry, there is his great-uncle Lt John Inglis who lost his life at the Battle of Loos, Vermilles and Hill 70 in 1915. Anthony is directly descended from the great engineer Robert Napier of the Napier-Railton cars and more distantly related to another Robert Napier, the man to whom Samuel Cunard turned, to install engines into his first ships such as the Britannia-class steamships. Further, he is directly descended from Col Sir John Inglis who commanded the garrison during the Siege of Lucknow in 1857 and General Sir Charles James Napier, famous for conquering the Sindh province in present-day Pakistan. The statue in the south-west corner of Trafalgar Square is of him. He continues the association with the name Napier as he has given his son Alexander, Napier as his middle name.
Education
He was first educated at Freston Lodge School in Sevenoaks, where at the age of 6 he first conducted. On leaving Freston Lodge he boarded at Hordle House on the south coast of England in the village of Milford on Sea. On leaving there he gained a scholarship to Marlborough College in Wiltshire. Academically, he was not gifted and he left before failing his A Levels and entered the Royal College of Music at an early age.
Early career
On leaving the college, he did a number of music jobs which included being on the music staff for some of Ken Russell's films: Lisztomania and Mahler, plus singing on the cult film The Wicker Man; his is the high tenor heard in the pub scene. He played piano in the West End of London working his way up to being the music director for shows such as My Fair Lady with Anna Neagle and Tony Britton directed by the lyricist of the show Alan Jay Lerner; Oliver! with Ron Moody, the last time he reprised his role; The Two Ronnies with Barker and Corbett; and Irene with Jon Pertwee. Having conducted a season at the London Palladium he decided to pursue his original career: that of a classical conductor.
He has conducted six royal concerts: a dance gala with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia in the presence of Diana, Princess of Wales, two concerts with the Royal Philharmonic in the presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and the naming ceremony for the world's largest liner, the ; and two with the London Philharmonic in the presence of the Prince of Wales in aid of farmers and the naming ceremony for Cunard Line's liner, the. The sixth was for the naming ceremony of the newest Cunard liner the in the presence of the Queen.
Inglis is married and lives by the River Thames in SW London with his wife Jan and three children. Jan's early career was in theatre, performing in the West End, before spending a number of seasons in Stratford and London as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. On starting a family, she retired from the theatre and became a teaching assistant at the local primary school, she is now completing her BA in Education Studies at King's College London.
