This post is about my 4th Great Grandfather George Ellis. He has lead me on quite a journey!
George Ellis was baptised on 12 June 1774 at Holy Trinity Church in Guildford Surrey, the son of James Ellis and Elizabeth Bridger.
George is located as an apprentice, which confirms that George at the age of 17 years, was apprenticed to Richard Fludder, a blacksmith of Puttenham for a period of 4 years, to learn the trade for his keep and a wage of 2/- weekly for the first year, 2/6 for second year, 3/- for third year and 3/6 for the remainder, but he was turned away without notice after 3 and a half years.
We can therefore estimate the time he was apprenticed was from 1791 - 1794 or 1795. We know he joined the military in 1797, and that he was married to an unknown wife pre 1805 because when he marries Sarah Beagel in 1805, he is classed as a widower.
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Marriage to George's second wife -
Sarah Beagel 1805. St Mary's Guildford |
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Marriage to George's third wife -
Sarah Virgo in 1824 at Holy Trinity Guildford,
who signed her name as Mary Virgo!
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Statement of Service - 10th Royal Hussars, March 1797 - May 1817
The National Archives WO97/45/38
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Discharged in 1817 after serving 20 years and three months, injuries of
Stricture of Urethra, subject to fits and severe injury of the shoulder
The National Archives WO97/45/38
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George is named on the Peninsular Medal Roll as receiving 4 clasps with the following particulars:
S & B = Sahagan & Benevente
V = Vittoria
O = Orthes
T= Toulouse
This looks like where George sustained the injuries that lead to his discharge three years later.
In the early part of 2010 I was searching The National Archives site and came across a reference to George Ellis, late of the 10th Light Dragoons in relation to a pension. When the document arrived I looked and for whatever reason didn't spot that although this document relates to someone else there is an insert in relation to George. Here is the full document.
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Full document from the National Archives
with the insert relating to George Ellis 1819
The National Archives WO121/182/42
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Insert relating to George Ellis.
Who still had not received monies from
the war pension in 1819.
The National Archives WO121/182/42
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A further search at the National Archives revealed another reference
- WO121/182/42 (see film 134) - Records of Royal Hospital Chelsea - Certificates of service and related correspondence - with a mention of 11th Royal Veteran Battalion (see above)
- WO97/1184B/320 - Records of Royal Hospital Chelsea - Miscellaneous - Served 11th Royal Veteran Battalion
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An example of the dress worn by those in the 10th Royal Hussars
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Whatever he did, to fall out of favour with Richard Fludder before he joined the military is a mystery. On his death certificate he is recorded as being a blacksmith and the cause of death is "Exhausted Nature"
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Death Certificate for George Ellis 1850.
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Well Done. I haven't had the time to do more than one Remembrance Day post. I try to research one family member prior to every ANZAC day and Remembrance day. This year, I revised a prior post and added additional information.
ReplyDeleteI envy your ability to post so often. Think I need to get better organised but I seem to take so long researching and gathering information and photos.
Thank you Sharon. I wrote the majority of these posts earlier in the year and then tweaked them before the posting day. I often work ahead on posts.
DeleteIt is ok to revisit posts and tweak and repost them as further research allows. In my experience when you do this you come to the piece with a fresh set of eyes and can sometime see things that you missed first time around.
What a wonderful story and p/piece of research on an early ancestor.. .
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue. From the documents above, poor George must have really suffered. So in his own way he contributed a great deal, so it seemed fitting to share his details here.
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