Person:George Ellis (34)

George Ellis was baptised on 6th January 1856 at Graveley in Hertfordshire, son of a straw plaiter named Eliza Ellis, formerly Moles, and her husband William Ellis, a labourer, who had married a year to the day before George's baptism. George's father died shortly after George's birth, aged 27, being buried the month after George's baptism. George and his mother then returned to her native village of Willian, just north of Graveley, where the 1861 census finds George living with his mother and her father and sisters.

In 1867 a new landlord, Charles Frederick Hancock, had bought the village and rebuilt many of its cottages.^[5] It is also from about this time that the names and numbers are recorded for the cottages. The 1871 census finds George living with his mother and grandfather at 32 Terrace Cottages, which stood on the south-east side of Church Road facing towards All Saints' Church. The fact that Terrace Cottages were demolished in the 1930s suggests that perhaps they were not built in the 1867 remodelling of the village, but were older cottages.

By 1881, George had left Willian and gone to live in Ashwell, a few miles to the north-east. He appears lodging in a house on the High Street in Ashwell in the 1881 census. Later that year he returned to Willian, where he married Emily Louisa Watson. They have yet to be researched after their marriage.

1. ↑ England. Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. (FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, Findmypast).

   ch. 6 Jan 1856, Graveley, Hertfordshire: George son of William & Eliza Ellis

2. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 816; Folio 83; Page 3, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address	Cott[age], Willian, Hertfordshire
   Name	Relation to head	Marital status	Sex	Age	Implied birthdate	Occupation	Birthplace
   William Moles	head	widower	male	56	1804/5	Farmers Laborer	Stotfold, Bedfordshire
   Elizer Ellis	daughter	widower	female	28	1832/3	Straw Platter	Willian, Hertfordshire
   Betsey Moles	daughter	unmarried	female	18	1842/3	Straw Platter	Willian, Hertfordshire
   Hannah Moles	daughter		female	12	1848/9	Scholar	Willian, Hertfordshire
   George Ellis	grandson		male	5	1855/6	Scholar	Graveley, Hertfordshire

3. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 1365; Folio 20; Page 18, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address	No. 32 Terrace, Willian, Hertfordshire
   Name	Relation to head	Marital status	Sex	Age	Implied birthdate	Occupation	Birthplace
   William Mole	head	widower	male	67	1803/4	Lab	Stotfold, Bedfordshire
   Eliza Ellis	daughter	widow	female	38	1832/3	Plaiter	Willian, Hertfordshire
   George Ellis	grandson	unmarried	male	15	1855/6	Lab	Graveley, Hertfordshire

4. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 1411; Folio 25; Page 8, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address	High Street, Ashwell, Hertfordshire
   Name	Relation to head	Marital status	Sex	Age	Implied birthdate	Occupation	Birthplace
   Arthur Worboys	head	married	male	55	1825/6	Ag Labourer	Ashwell, Hertfordshire
   Emma Worboys	wife	married	female	54	1826/7		Newnham, Hertfordshire
   Frank Perry	lodger	single	male	23	1857/8	Gardener (Domestic Servant)	Bokenpaine, Wiltshire
   George Ellis	lodger	single	male	25	1855/6	Groom (Domestic Servant)	Willian, Hertfordshire

5. ↑ Letchworth: The First Garden City, Mervyn Miller, Phillimore, Chichester, 1989 (2nd ed. 2002) p.32