Image Ref : VAR08 0044.tif

Ellis Family, four generations, 1899

Left to right: James Ellis (1818–1902); Philip Ellis (1842–1912); Frederick Henry Phillips Ellis (1897–1917); Philip Ellis (1871–) James Ellis (1818–1902), about 82 in this photograph, was the sixth child of Richard and Mary Ann Ellis (née Langworthy). They married in East Allington on 4 November 1806. James was born in Blackawton and spent part of his life farming, including at East Hartley farm (a modern-day image of the farmhouse is shown at IoE 99791). He married Elizabeth Baker at Blackawton on 29 October 1840, at which date he is recorded as a farmer. At the time their son Philip was baptised in November 1842, James had become the landlord of the Commercial Inn at Blackawton (shown in image DRA 4572), later the Normandy Arms and now a private residence. The 1901 Census shows him widowed, living with his son Richard Langworthy Ellis at Farmston Farm, Halwell, where he died on 27 October 1902. James’s second child was Philip Ellis (1842–1912), also born in Blackawton. He lived for most of his adult life in Lambeth and was manager a of carpet warehouse. He married Sara Eliza Stapleton, from Hoxton, on 16 July 1868, and they had two children: Elizabeth and Philip. He died in West Ealing in 1912. Philip Ellis (1871–?) was born in Camberwell, Surrey. He was the second child of Philip and Sara Eliza Ellis and followed his father in the carpet sales business, working with Maple & Co Ltd. He married twice, including Mary Frances Tesseyman on 6 July 1895. He had two children: Frederick and Philip. Frederick Henry Phillips Ellis (1896–1917) was born in Herne Hill, Surrey, the eldest child of Philip and Mary Ellis. He was a lance corporal in the Honourable Artillery Company and died in action in Flanders on 9 October 1917. Photographer: Brinley & Son, 43 Fore Street, 1899. Some of the information was provided by Barbara Stevenson of New Zealand whose great-grandfather was a son of James Ellis.