Alexander Ellice (17431805) was a Scottish merchant, landowner and lawyer who made his fortune in the

North American fur trade The North American fur trade is the (typically) historical Fur trade, commercial trade of furs and other goods in North America, beginning in the eastern provinces of French Canada and the northeastern Thirteen Colonies, American colonies (soon- ...

Early life

He was born in

Auchterless Auchterless (, meaning the "Upper Part of Less") is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland; grid reference NJ 713 416, postcode AB53 8BG. The nearest large settlement is Turriff. It is traditionally known as "Kirkton of Auchterless". History T ...

, Scotland, the eldest of five sons of a successful miller, also named Alexander Ellice, and was baptised on 28 May 1743. He attended

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease fr ...

and was admitted to the Scottish bar.

Business career

In 1765, he and his four brothers moved to

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

. The next year, he entered into a partnership to engage in

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

and general merchandising in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

and the lower

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

region. The firm of Phyn, Ellice and Company prospered, and his brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

became a partner in 1768. Phyn, Ellice and Company imported goods, first from Scotland, then from London. However, tensions mounted between the American colonies and Britain. An embargo in 1770 forced the company to bring in its imports through

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. Finally, in October 1774, the colonies broke off commercial ties with Britain. The

committee of correspondence The committees of correspondence were a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independence during the American Revolution. The brainchild of S ...

in Schenectady subsequently reprimanded Ellice for trying to sneak goods in by way of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. A decision was made. Partner James Phyn left to establish an office in London. Ellice himself left for England in October 1775. Some of the business assets were transferred to Ellice's brother James, and the remainder was liquidated. Ellice returned to North America and established Alexander Ellice and Company in Montreal in 1776. He became a major financier, supplier and middleman of the fur trade, amassing most of his fortune this way. He traveled frequently back and forth between Montreal and London. He retired in 1802 due to poor health, though in 1804 he and his son

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

attempted to buy controlling interest in the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

for £103,000. Ellice invested some of his profits in mortgages and land. For example, in January 1770 he was granted a royal grant near

Cooperstown Cooperstown is a village in and the county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in ...

encompassing . In 1795, he purchased the seigneury of Villechauve (also known as Beauharnois) from

Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Marquis de Lotbinière Michel-Alain Chartier de Lotbinière, 1st Marquis de Lotbinière (; 1723–1798), Seigneur of Vaudreuil, Lotbinière and Rigaud, Quebec etc. In 1757, on his advice at the Siege of Fort William Henry, the Marquis de Montcalm successfully attacke ...

, for £9000 and had a large manor house built there. He also bought most of the neighbouring townships of

Godmanchester Godmanchester ( ) is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is separated from Huntingdon, to the north, by the valley of the River Great Ouse. Being on the Roman roads ...

and Hinchinbrook. From his involvement in the

triangular trade Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset ...

, he acquired plantations in the Caribbean for non-payment of debts. At his death in 1805, his estate was valued at either £430,000 or over £450,000, and included extensive properties in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, including nearly in New York and Canada alone.

Personal life

He married Ann Russell around 1780. They had ten surviving children at the time of his death, including: * Edward Ellice (1783–1863), British merchant and politician, a director of the Hudson's Bay Company and a prime mover behind the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

Robert Ellice General Robert Ellice (13 October 1784 – 18 June 1856) was a British Army officer. Military career Born the son of Scottish merchant and fur trader Alexander Ellice and brother of Edward Ellice and Alexander Ellice, Ellice was commissione ...

(1784–1856), British Army general * Alexander Ellice (1791–1853), British Royal Navy officer and Member of Parliament * Russell Ellice (1799–1873), British businessman, Chairman of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

and one of the first directors of the

British American Land Company The British American Land Company (BALC) was a company formed in 1832 for the purpose of purchasing land and encouraging British immigration to Lower Canada. It was founded and promoted by John Galt, Edward Ellice and others to acquire and man ...

Business records

Alexander Ellice's business records are part of the Little Falls Business and Legal Records collection at The Buffalo History Museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellice, Alexander 1743 births 1805 deaths People from Auchterless Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Fur traders 18th-century Scottish merchants Scottish company founders 18th-century Scottish landowners 18th-century Scottish lawyers Ellice family