Ellis Family
Contents
A Brief Family History
It would seem that the Ellis family of our interest originated in Swaffham from where members of the family moved to London and later from there to Sprowston. John Ellis found below seems to have been the first of the family to settle in the Sprowston area in about 1857 he was to be followed in the next few years by other family members from London. All appear to have been involved in the family tradition of boot making. Prior to John`s arrival the name of Ellis does not appear to feature in the Sprowston area at all. Therefore, anyone with that name found today in the Sprowston area or even in Norwich are almost certain to be descendants from the few that first settled here.
John Ellis 1810-1890
Born in Swaffham in 1810 John Ellis son of a boot maker was perhaps the most prominent member of the family through his work with the reforming of young criminals which led to him helping in the formation of Reformatory Schools. In 1840 he was found in London sharing a house with his brother Charles Ellis. John had recently married Mary Ann Barkham in the St Pancras District in 1840. In the census of 1841 it tells us that John and Mary Ann were now parents to a son of 2 months named William.
John as a Reformer
John was soon however to be a widower and he and William were found living at 117 Albany Street in a rough and run-down area close to Regents Park. It was in this area that John started his work with young criminal boys. John rescued a number of these boys from prison, being a master boot maker it was through his training of his profession which enabled these boys to make an honest living in later life. All of this was at his own expense without receiving any outside funding. Working alongside these boys was his son William also learning the trade. As well as running his workshop John spent time in the evenings at the Ragged School in Brook Street which was close by. The chairman of the Select Committee C B Adderley later to become Lord Norton was so impressed with John Ellis that when he founded the Birmingham Reformatory he appointed him as its first superintendent. Saltley Reformatory School was originally established by Joseph Sturge in 1853 and on 26 Aug 1854 the establishment was certified under the Reformatory School Act. John was to marry for a second time in 1857 on the Isle of Wight to Harriet Payne a school teacher who was born in North Nibley Gloucestershire in 1824 she was some fourteen years younger than John. Why John was in this part of the country is not known for certain but Portsmouth was the home of John Pounds, also a shoemaker, he was credited with forming the first Ragged School in the country so John may have been visiting or working with him at that time. Prior to 1857 John seemed to not have had any connection to the Sprowston area but his name was mentioned when the Reformatory School at Buxton which had opened 1855 was short of accommodation and a smaller establishment was set up in Catton. This only ran from 1857 to 1859. John was listed as being a school teacher when his daughter Rose Edith Ellis was baptised at Catton on 6 Nov 1859 indicating that he was actively involved within the school. It would now seem that John returned to full time boot making as in the census of 1861 he was found living in Constitution Place the place where he was to remain for the rest of his life. Living with John and his wife Harriet at that time was his nephew Samuel Ellis also a boot maker born in John`s home town of Swaffham . Business seemed to have blossomed as by the next census in 1871 John was employing 20 men and 4 boys with Harriet having 11 women and herself working as machinists. There were also two further children born, John in 1861 who also became a shoemaker and Jessie in 1866 who was to become a teacher as her mother Harriet had been before her. John and Harriet carried on the business through the 1880`s but John was now advancing in years and in 1890 at the age of 80 years he passed away Harriet having died the year before in 1889. Both are buried at St Mary and St Mary in Sprowston.
William Ellis 1841-1899
Son of John Ellis and Mary Ann Barkham was born in the St Pancras district of London. William was trained by his father and remained in his employment for many years he married Sarah Ann Garner at St Mary and St Margaret Sprowston on 4 Oct 1862. Sarah Ann was a school mistress prior to her marriage to William where she was found living with her sister Elizabeth next door to the Ellis family in Constitution Place. After their marriage William and Sarah Ann remained living next door to John and Harriet, in the census of 1871William was listed as being a foreman in the boot warehouse. This was to change as by 1881 William and Sarah Ann had moved to Primrose Cottages on Sprowston Road where William was listed as a boot maker employing 14 men and 2 boys with Sarah Ann working as a machinist. They were to have six children. Alice Mary 1864 Maud Lizzie 1865 Charles William 1867 Florence Mary 1869 Ernest 1873 Frances Edith 1875 With the exception of Florence who became a school teacher the others as they reached working age became involved in the family boot and shoe business. Business carried on in this way until 4 Dec 1899 when William died at the early age of 48 years. Sarah Ann continued to work in boot manufacturing on a reduced scale for a while. In 1901 there was just her along with son Ernest and daughter Frances involved. By 1911 at the age of 72 years she had moved to live with her married daughter Alice Mary Rump at 310 Sprowston Road. Sarah Ann was to die just over a year later on the 18 December 1912 she was buried at St Mary and St Margaret. Her son Ernest Ellis as can be seen in the next entry was to continue in the manufacture of foot ware. The youngest of the family Frances Edith Ellis born in 1875 who never married was to die at the age of 99 years in 1974 just weeks away from her 100th birthday. (A photograph of Frances appears below)
Ernest Ellis 1873-1916
Ernest married Annie Maria Hastings on 8 April 1901 at St Mary and St Margaret church Sprowston. Annie born in Sprowston in 1874 was living with her brother Ernest Hastings a market gardener in Sidney Row at the time of her marriage. She continued working in assisting Ernest with the business until his early death in 1916 at the age of 43 years. At the time of Ernest`s death the address of the business was given as 399 Sprowston Road. Annie passed away in 1952.
These premises were later to be used by Fred Mann and Co Ltd boot and shoe manufacturers and later still for a short period after WW2 by Douglas MacLaren when he first started up his handbag manufacturing business.
Other Members of the Ellis Family
Other members of the Ellis family that were to take up residence in Sprowston after moving from London are featured below.
Robert Ellis born in Swaffham in 1825 was a son of Samuel Ellis the brother of John Ellis mentioned at the beginning of this text. He married Maria Emma Waite 1828-1893 in Clerkenwell in 1849. By the census of 1871the family had moved to Sprowston. However in 1881 Robert was found living back in London with Maria and the rest of the family living at 2 Primrose Cottages next door to William Ellis and his family. Maria and the younger children Eva b1865 and Walter b1866 joined him some time later in the Paddington district where they remained for the rest of their days leaving the now grown up older children in Sprowston. Harry William b1854, Robert b1857, Helen b1861, Horace b1862, Sydney b1863. The children that remained were to make the area their permanent home.
Mention should be made of Harry William Ellis son Ernest Edgar Ellis a casualty of WW1 his story can be found further down the page.
Samuel Ellis 1828-1911.Brother of Robert above was also born in Swaffahm. He was found in 1861 living with his uncle John Ellis at Constitution Place having moved away from London.
In 1862 Samuel married Elizabeth Brice Garner 1844-1881 she was the sister of Sarah Ann Garner who was later that same year to marry his cousin William Ellis.
Samuel and Elizabeth were to have five children.
Mary b1864,
Frederick b1867,
Thomas b1869,
Bessie b1873,
Alfred 1879.
In 1881 Elizabeth died at the age of 38 years by this time her daughter Mary and son Frederick had married. After Elizabeth`s death her daughter Bessie was living with her now married sister Mary Marsh in Mud Row until her own marriage in 1894 to Maurice Williams later to move to Sheffield.
Samuel in 1891 was living at 4 Cobbs Row with his two sons Thomas and Alfred, after they had left Samuel continued to live on his own at the same place until his death in 1911 at the age of 83 years.
John Ellis Shoe Manufacturer.
John Ellis Shoe Manufacturer.
Miss Francis Edith Ellis was born in 1875, 1905, she served the Brickmakers with tea.
Private Ernest Edgar Ellis
Private Ernest Edgar Ellis Royal Scots16th Battalion Service No.19009. Died on the 1st July 1916, age 30. Son of Harry and Maria Ellis of 236 Sprowston Road, Norwich. Husband of Isobel Ellis of 21 Tarvit Street, Edinburgh. Brother to Norah, Harry, Gladys, Horace, Ivy and Sydney. Contalmaison Chateau Cemetery
He was a footballer, having started with Norwich City (30th August 1907), then at Doncaster Rovers (1908-9), then Barnsley (1909-1910) and finally Heart of Midlothian after that. Private Ernest Edgar Ellis. Born at Sprowston, Norwich, on the 30th November 1885, on St. Andrews Day. By trade he was a boot operator. He had played for Norwich, then Doncaster Rovers and Barnsley before signing in time to join Hearts on their successful summer tour of Denmark. The Royal Scots had left for France on 8th January 1916 which meant that he was never to see the daughter born to him after that date. His wife Isobel lived at 25, Tarvit Street, Edinburgh. Ellis was thirty years old. These sixteen club and team members decided to enlist in the Royal Scots and Ernest E Ellis and six other colleagues made the ultimate sacrifice. On 1st July, 1916, in that corner of France which will forever be Tynecastle, Hearts player and platoon leader, Sergeant Duncan Currie, led his men over the top. He died with team-mates Private Harry Wattie and Private Ernest Ellis and Lance Corporal James Boyd was killed two days later.
Football teams associated with Ernest E Ellis.
Ernest E Ellis.
Heart of Midlothian FC Team 1914.
Members of the Hearts Team on the Front.
