Select Ellis Miscellany
- Ellis at Kiddal Hall
- Rowland Ellis and the Quakers in Dolgellau
- Reader Feedback - Nicholas Ellis of London
- Some Early Ellis Emigrants to America
- Ellis Island
- The Ellises of Leicester
- William Ellis of Belstone
- Archibald Ellis - from Ireland to Kansas
- The Ellis House in South Dallas
- Reader Feedback - Patrick Henry Ellis in South Africa and His Descendants
Ellis at Kiddal Hall
The road crosses Potterton Bridge and on top of the rise above Potterton Beck stands Kiddal Hall, mentioned in the Domesday Book as Chidale or cow valley.
In the late 14th century, Sir John Elys held Kiddal, whose family had built the Hall and were to be associated with Kiddal for 400 years. Later, John Ellis supported the King in the Civil War. It is thought that he was killed by Parliamentary forces on the doorstep or in a small room in Kiddal Hall. It has often been said that those who live there can still hear the sound of foot haunting the old hall.
On the south wall of the Ellis chapel in Elmet church in Barwick is a stone tablet to William Ellis of Kiddal Hall who died in 1771. He had married Mary Bourne and was the last of the Ellis family to have lived in the Hall. He was a surgeon in London who inherited the hall from his brother in the 1740's and proceeded to pay off the mortgage.
Rowland Ellis and the Quakers in Dolgellau
George Fox and John ap John had travelled throughout
Wales, arriving at Dolgellau from Machynileth in 1657. Their
preaching made a great impression on many local families.
However, these Quakers went through a very difficult time when
King Charles II was restored to the throne. They were considered
a danger to society. Robert Owen of Dolsenau, the local squire,
was imprisoned for five years in a very dark prison on the banks of the
river Aran.
Rowland Ellis, a gentleman farmer who had joined the Society of Friends in 1672, led a Quaker group which emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1686. He was a man of culture and later wrote A Salutation to the Britains, the first Welsh book to be published in America.
Ellis is remembered in Wales. Along the banks of
the river Aran still stands his Bryn Mawr farmhouse. In the town
there is a permanent Quaker exhibition at Ty Meirion in Eldon
Square. Two historical novels by Marion Eames, The Secret Room and Far Wilderness, dramatized his
life. They proved a great success when televised in serial form
on BBC Wales.
Reader Feedback - Nicholas
Ellis of
London
I
am a descendant of Nicholas
Ellis (1520-1602) who was born in London. I am interested in
finding out
something about his religious history and wonder if he can be traced
from Spain
when the Jewish people were expelled.
Daryl
P. Spindler (daryl-Splindersr@yahoo.com)
Some Early Ellis Emigrants to America
Birth | Ellis Name | From - |
1593 | John | Wales (Llanycil) |
1607 | John, and Elizabeth | England |
1618 | Morris, and Catherine | Wales (Llanycil) |
1628 | John, and Elizabeth | England |
1647 | Cadwalader, and Jane |
Wales (Llanycil) |
1661 | John, and Margaret | England (Kent) |
1683 | Cadwalader, and Margaret |
Wales (Llanycil) |
1704 | Richard, and Jane | Ireland (Dublin) |
Ellis Island
Ellis Island was no more than a lot of sand in the Hudson river,
located just south of Manhattan. The island was named Kiodhk
(Gull Island) by the Michegan Indians that lived on the nearby
shores. Soon after the British took possession of the area from
the Dutch in 1664, the name of the island was changed to Gibbet Island
because men convicted of piracy were hanged there.
In the 1770's, the island was sold to Samuel Ellis, a
local joiner made a freeman of New York. He developed it as a
picnic spot. Ellis then offered the island for sale and it was
eventually sold to the US War Department in 1808 for $10,000. It
was not until 1892 that the well-known immigration station on the
island was opened.
The Ellises of Leicester
The Quaker Ellises who lived in the county of Leicester were a large and remarkable family, as a recent book, Ellis of Leicester - A Quaker Family Vocation, recounts.
Starting as successful farmers, branches of the family were soon in business, particularly in the extraction industries of lime, slate, coal, and granite. They were merchants for all these commodities and many more products besides. They were also involved in banking, building societies and insurance. From their humble beginnings, many of their businesses have continued as part of larger conglomerates.
Perhaps the best known member was John Ellis of Beaumont
Leys and Belgrave Hall, noted most of all for his involvement in the
Leicester & Swannington and Midland Railways, but there were many
other family members whose achievements are worthy and interesting to
record.
From a strong commercial base and a strong adherence to
their Quaker beliefs, they were very concerned with social welfare and
committed in their work to support hospitals, schools, churches, and
the temperance movement. Among them were writers, borough and
local councillors, and three members of Parliament.
William Ellis
of Belstone
William Ellis who died in 1936 lived all his
life in the small village of Belstone on the edge of Dartmoor in
Devon. He was described by one writer in 1902 as "the most
versatile of living Englishmen." The Book of Belstone put it this
way:
"Mr. Ellis's skills
included photographer, Dartmoor guide, repairer of watches and clocks,
chemical manure and seed merchant, dog breeder (red setters a
speciality), dealer in game, Knight of Honor and the Warden of Primose
League, postman, organist, churchwarden, bell-ringer, lay reader, boot
and shoe maker, bicycle repairer, gardener, wireless operator and
portreeve."
A later Bill Ellis from this village was well-known locally as a singer of old Devon folk songs.
Archibald Ellis
- from Ireland to Kansas
Archinald Ellis grew up in county Mayo in
Ireland but set out, at the age of 23, for America. He met his
wife Ann on the voyage over and they settled first in New Jersey and
then in Lake county, Illinois where he pursued his trade as a chandler.
He had a zest for adventure. When the news
first came through of the discovery of gold in California, he rushed
out there. He was gone two years before returning to his family
in Illinois. But the gold bug had gotten to him and he soon
retrurned for another stint, this time staying for seven years before
coming back via Cape Horn.
It was in 1859 that he set out from Illinois
with his family for Walnut valley in Kansas territory. They
embarked on a boat at La Salle on the Illinois river, went down that
stream and into the Mississippi, and at St. Louis changed to a smaller
boat and turned against the current of the Missouri and finally
disembarked at Westport Landing (now Kansas City). The family had
horses and wagons with them and they set off across the country to
Emporia, a budding new village on the Kansas prairies. There
Archibald left his family and went in search of suitable
farmland. He found it in what is now Butler county, Kansas.
Archibald and Ann had nine children, of whom the
sixth-born, John, became a prominent early Kansas stockman and
farmer. He was old enough to remember when buffalo still
roamed the area.
The Ellis House in South Dallas
Sitting at 2426 Pine Street, across the street from Charles Rice
Elementary, is the former home of James M. Ellis, an Englishman who was
among the earliest real estate developers involved with the
construction of modern-day Dallas.
It is the last vestige of a time when South Dallas was an
expanse of cotton fields and dirt roads that were paved over some eight
decades ago. Certainly, it's the last house in the area built in
the Classical Revival style, with wood shingles adorning the gables and
its wraparound front porch, steeply pitched roof, and once elegant
sunroom jutting from the side.
Researchers debate the house's age. Some insist it
was built in 1905, others say a few years later. The name of the
architect is not known.
Reader Feedback - Patrick
Henry Ellis
in South Africa and His Descendants
I
am a 6th generation Ellis after Patrick Henry Ellis
who came to South Africa in 1795. Patrick
married an Afrikaans lady, a descendant of Pierre Joubert, Margaretha
Magdalena
Joubert, in 1803.
- they had nine children, the second being my great grandfather, Gideon Jacobus Ellis, named after Magdalena’s father Gideon Joubert.
- G.J.‘s son was named Gideon Jacobus Johannes Christiaan, the 3rd and 4th names coming from Patrick’s father John Christian.
- G.J.J.C.’s
son was Patrick Henry, sometimes
known as Patrik, my grandfather.
- my
father was Gideon Jacobus
- and I am also G.J. I was born in 1931 in Ladysmith, Western Cape province.
I
have a fairly
comprehensive list of all family members of my family tree. but I would
like to
know more about Patrick’s parents and further back.
Deon Ellis (deon.ellis@mweb.co.za)
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