Alfred Burdon Ellis
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Alfred Burdon Ellis (10 January 1852 – 5 March 1894) was a British Army officer and ethnographer, known for his writings on
West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
.


Life

The son of Lieutenant-general Samuel Burdon Ellis and his wife Louisa Drayson, daughter of the governor of Waltham Abbey factory, was born at Bowater House,
Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...
, on 10 January 1852. He was educated at the Royal Naval School, New Cross, entering the army as sub-lieutenant in the 34th Foot on 2 November 1872. He became lieutenant in the
1st West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...
on 12 November 1873. With them he was ordered to Ashanti, and arrived at the Gold Coast in December 1873, beginning a long connection with West Africa. He served through the
Third Anglo-Ashanti War The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Despite initial Ashanti victorie ...
, receiving the medal. Ellis was temporarily employed as civil commandant during the early part of 1874 at Seccondee on the Gold Coast; he was recalled to military duty in May 1874. In 1875, he paid a visit to
Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...
, and the following year he spent mostly in the West Indies. In March 1877 he visited
the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
on his way to
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
, where his regiment was now ordered. He went on leave to England that summer, and on 27 October 1877 was seconded for service with the Gold Coast constabulary. He was sent to survey the country around Mankessim, capital of the Fante country. In January 1878 he went to act as district commissioner at Keta, and in October and November of that year conducted operations of constabulary against the
Anlo The Anlo Ewe are a sub-group of the Ewe people of approximately 6 million people, inhabiting southern Togo, southern Benin, southwest Nigeria, and south-eastern parts of the Volta Region of Ghana; meanwhile, a majority of Ewe are located in the ...
people. Wounded, Ellis was ordered back to
Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...
in December 1878. He objected, claiming to have checked smuggling. On 2 July 1879 he became captain of the 1st West India Regiment. Sent on special service to Zululand, he was attached to the intelligence department during the
Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...
. In October he left South Africa and towards the close of this year visited Whydah in
Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...
. In the spring of 1880, Ellis travelled to
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
, and on to Bonny and
Old Calabar Duke Town, originally known as Atakpa, is an Efik The Efik are an ethnic group located primarily in southern Nigeria, and western Cameroon. Within Nigeria, the Efik can be found in the present-day Cross River State and Akwa Ibom state. The E ...
, returning to Sierra Leone in January 1881. He was ordered to the Gold Coast with his regiment, on a threat of war with the Ashantis; on 2 February 1881 he arrived at
Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...
, and on 8 February was ordered to garrison Annamaboe with 100 men. The alert passed, and he left his position on 20 March, remaining for some time on the Gold Coast in command of the troops. On 13 February 1884 Ellis was promoted major; in 1886 he was again in command of the troops on the Gold Coast. In 1889 he went with part of his regiment to the
Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
, and remained in command of the troops there till he became lieutenant-colonel on 4 February 1891. He then returned to West Africa, and stationed at
Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...
, Sierra Leone was placed in command of all the troops on the west coast; on 2 March 1892 he received the local rank of colonel in West Africa. For a short spell in May 1892 he administered the government of Sierra Leone in the absence of the governor. In June 1892 Ellis took a punitive expedition to the Tambaka country in the Sierra Leone protectorate (now on the border with
Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
), and captured Tambi. Directly afterwards he was called to the Gambia to undertake operations which ended in the taking of Toniataba, held by a supporter of Fodi Kabba, who ran a
Marabout In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a Sayyid, descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Islam, Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the f ...
campaign in the area. The diplomatic context was an agreement with the French on pacification of the area. For his conduct Ellis received the C.B. (9 August 1892) and the West African medal with special clasp. At the end of 1893 Ellis was asked to conduct an expedition against the Malian Sofas fighting for
Samori Ture Samori Ture ( – June 2, 1900), also known as Samori Toure, Samory Touré, or Almamy Samore Lafiya Toure, was a Mandinka people, Malinke and a Soninke people, Soninke Muslim cleric, military strategist, and founder of the Wassoulou Empire, an Is ...
. In its course occurred the armed clash at Waiima,
Kono District Kono District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Koidu Town. Motema is the second most populous city in the district. The other major towns in the district include Yengema, Tombodu, Jaiama ...
, Sierra Leone when British and French forces fired on each other, causing fatalities. On returning from this expedition he was struck down by fever, and on 16 February went to
Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
to recover; but died there on 5 March 1894.


Works

From 1871 to 1882 Ellis made use of opportunities to visit islands off the western coast of Africa. From 1882 onwards most of his spare time was spent on studies of African ethnology and language. His works, all published in London, were: * ''West African Sketches'', 1881. * ''The Land of Fetish'', 1883. * ''A History of the West India Regiment'', 1885. * ''West African Islands'', 1885. * ''South African Sketches'', 1887. * ''The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West Africa'', 1887. * ''The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast'', 1890. * ''A History of the Gold Coast'', 1893. * ''The Yoruba-speaking People of the Slave Coast of West Africa'', 1894.


Family

Ellis married, on 5 June 1871, Emma, daughter of Philip King, and left four children.


References


Citations


Attribution

*


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Alfred Burdon 1852 births 1894 deaths 34th Regiment of Foot officers 19th-century English writers British ethnographers West India Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Anglo-Zulu War es:Alfred Burdon Ellis#top