Obituary of William Horton Ellis of Exeter

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Obituary of William Horton Ellis of Exeter

William Horton Ellis was born at Exeter in 1832. The greater part of his life was passed in that city, in whose welfare he always took the greatest interest. For many years he carried on business as a silversmith in the High Street.

He was elected Sheriff in 1873, and was Mayor for two successive years, 1878 and 1879. During his term of office the public Abattoir was opened, and he was also largely responsible for the formation of the Arcade and Eastgate Companies. He was chairman of both companies up to the time of his death. He was also chairman of several other companies.

In 1891 he went to live at Budleigh Salterton, until his death from heart disease on May 6, 1905.

Mr. Ellis was elected a Fellow of this Society on August 26, 1851, at the age of 19. He was much interested in meteorological and sanitary matters, and he took rainfall observations at Exeter from 1855 to 1878.

Source: Royal Meteorological Society (Great Britain) - Quarterly journal - Volume 32, Issues 137-139 - 1906

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William Horton Ellis was born at Exeter on the 29th May 1832. He served his apprenticeship under the watchmaker John Mallett (II) of Barnstaple in 1848. It is likely that part of his apprenticeship, for which Mallett was paid the large premium of £150, included some experience with the Clerkenwell watchmaker William John Upjohn, whose sister was married to Mallett's father, John Mallett (I).

On the 25th June 1854 William, and his brother, Henry Samuel, took over their father's business, that of Henry Ellis, and renamed the firm to that of Ellis Brothers of 200, High Street, Exeter.

William Horton Ellis was noted as having a wide range of interests outside that of the jewellery trade. During the years 1878 and 1879 he served the office of Mayor of Exeter, where he is recorded as being the last Mayor to read the Riot Act. In 1869 he was elected Member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1878 he was President of the Devon and Exeter Beekeepers Association, on the 21st April 1880 he was appointed as a Justise of the Peace (where he was described as a retired silversmith), also in 1880 he was noted as the President of the Dental Hospital at Exeter. On the 13th April 1885 he was elected as a Fellow of the Geological Society of London (where his address was recorded as Hartwell House, Pennsylvania, Exeter), and in 1888 he was noted as the Chairman of the Exeter Electric Light Company.

William Horton Ellis later removed to the small town of Budleigh Salterton near Exter, and died on the 6th May 1905, aged 72 years, at nearby Ottermouth Budleigh.

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