PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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JOHN HENRY ELLIS (1855-1935)
Mr J H Ellis was Town Clerk of Plymouth during some of the most significant events its in development. John Henry Ellis was born in 1855 at Keymer, in Sussex. He was educated at Steyning and Brighton and his first post after becoming qualified was as Town Clerk of Southport, Lancashire. He was appointed as Town Clerk of Plymouth on February 21st 1891, when the Borough covered only 1,469 acres and had a population of around 84,000. Immediately upon arrival in Plymouth he set about acquiring knowledge of the Town's water supply and as part of that walked the entire length of the Plymouth Leat with the then water engineer, Mr G D Bellamy. Soon after this the Corporation decided to apply for Parliamentary powers to dam up the River Meavy at Burrator Gorge and to carry the water from there to the Town in pipes so as to safeguard the supply. During the winter periods -- especially in January 1881 and March 1891 -- the leat often froze solid, thus blocking the supply of water. Mr Ellis drafted the Parliamentary Bill and took in hand the opposition presented by the Devonport Water Company, Sir Massey Lopes, the Earl of Morley and Sir Francis Elliott-Fuller-Drake. Plymouth won the battle and all but one piece of the required land was subsequently purchased by negotiation. Burrator Reservoir is still the source of Plymouth's water supply. His next major success was in the enlargement of the Borough boundary to take in parts of Eggbuckland, Compton and Pennycross. After that Mr Ellis concerned himself with the reconstruction of the sewerage system. Some 16 miles of arterial sewers were re-laid and more than 12 miles of new intercepting sewers and a new outfall at West Hoe were constructed at a cost of some £200,000. During his time as Town Clerk, Mr Ellis also dealt with the establishment of the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Mount Gould; the fitting out of a ship in Plymouth Sound as an isolation hospital for small-pox cases; a slum clearance project hat swept away homes for 816 people and replaced them with modern accommodation for 1,585 people; a new mental hospital at Blackadon, in Ugborough parish; the freeing of the tolls on Laira Bridge; and the acquisition for the people of the Embankment. But the most significant and arduous of his tasks was the amalgamation of the Three Towns - Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport - in 1914. 'His clear direction and legal acumen were never more clearly indicated than in the prolonged struggle, in which Devonport in particular fought to the bitter end to retain its independence.' said the Western Morning News. Mr Ellis became the first Town Clerk of the amalgamated Borough, which now covered 6075 acres and had a population of nearly 215,000, and was accorded the Order of the British Empire in 1918 for his services. Mr Ellis retired in 1917 and moved first to Bournemouth only to return soon afterwards to live at Ivybridge. He became chairman of the Plymouth and Stonehouse Gas Company and oversaw the construction of that Company's 5,000,000 cubic feet gasholder in 1933. After that he moved back to his native Sussex, soon after which his wife passed away. They had been married for 54 years. Mr John Henry Ellis died at Little Peans, Robertsbridge, Sussex, on Sunday March 10th 1935. He was 80 years of age. Mr Ellis was survived by two sons, Brigadier A J Ellis and Lieutenant-Colonel J V J Ellis, Royal Artillery, and three daughters, all of whom were married to Army officers. Sources:
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