John William Ellis
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John William Ellis MBE (1853 – 6 August 1918) was a New Zealand businessman and mayor of Hamilton from 1917 to 1918. His progressive mother encouraged him to integrate with local
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
from an early age, which later facilitated his trading on the borders of the
King Country The King Country ( Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from Kawhia Harbour and the town of Ōtorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of th ...
and go on to gain rights to fell and mill timber. That led to formation of one of the largest timber companies, Ellis & Burnand, with its head office in Hamilton, where he became a councillor, then mayor.


Early life and family

John William was born to early feminist, Ellen Elizabeth Ellis (née Colebrook), and Oliver Sidney Ellis (a builder) in 1853 at
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
. His two younger brothers died in their childhood. They emigrated to
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
in 1859, where his mother encouraged her sons to learn
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
and play with Māori children, so that John became an interpreter, then a teacher. He and his mother returned to England in 1864. She left him at boarding school when she returned to Auckland in 1865. John returned when he was 14 and worked in a stationer's shop in Auckland. Around 6 years later (in 1900 he said he'd been in the
King Country The King Country ( Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from Kawhia Harbour and the town of Ōtorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of th ...
for 26 years, so about 1874) he opened a general store at
Moawhango Moawhango is a rural community in the northern part of Rangitikei District of the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is situated north of Taihape and 91 km northeast of Marton, New Zealand, Marton. Nearby Moawhango ...
. By 1875 he had Motakotako store, just north of
Aotea Harbour Aotea Harbour () is a settlement and smallest of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located between Raglan Harbour to the north and Kawhia Harbour to the south, 30 kilom ...
. That seems to coincide with a report of a post office, with a courteous postmaster, reopening to serve Aotea. Much of the trade exchanged goods for pigs, which he shipped to Auckland, at one stage owning a schooner, which was wrecked in 1877. In 1880 he was described as, "''acquiring a reputation for honour and probity, alike from European and Maori, which a prince might envy; and his sleek teams of ten or more bullocks drawing his heavily laded American waggon (an innovation which caused much needless speculation as to its usefulness), as seen winding along the ill-formed roads of the unkempt wilderness''". John sold the Motakotako store in 1882. At Motakotako John taught Wiremu Tauira's daughter, Te Remi Kauki Tauira, European ways and, despite attempts to discourage a romance, in 1877, he and Kauki seem to have been approved in a Māori hui 'marriage'. A daughter, Lucy, was born in 1879. John and Kauki separated in 1885 after she was called home by her family. She died at Rukumoana Marae in 1922. Lucy married John, son of Rev. J. H. Gray. John's father, Oliver, died on 12 March 1883 and his mother, Ellen, on 17 April 1895. John burnt most copies of his mother's 1882 feminist novel, believing his father to be an occasional drinker, rather than the drunkard portrayed in the novel. The sources are sometimes not quite in agreement as to dates, or people over the next decade, but it seems that in December 1882 (or 1883), John and Kauki moved to
Kihikihi Kihikihi, a small town located in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand, serves as a satellite community of Te Awamutu, five kilometres to the north, and lies 35 kilometres south of Hamilton. The estimated population was ''Kihi ...
, where John built a new store. J.W. Ellis House is now a heritage building at 37a Whitaker Street, Kihikihi.
Henry Valder Henry Valder (14 August 1862 – 12 February 1950) was a New Zealand storekeeper, sawmiller and business reformer. Early life Valder was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, in 1862, the son of Mary Collingridge and George Valder, a corn ...
joined as a partner in 1884. The old store and home at Motakotako burnt down about 1885. John's first venture into timber milling seems to have started at Ōrākau, near Kihikihi in 1884, though other sources say it wasn't until 1886. He then employed 4 men on 2 saw benches, powered by an 8 hp
portable steam engine A portable engine is an engine, either a steam engine or an internal combustion engine, that sits in one place while operating (providing power to machinery), but (unlike a stationary engine) is portable and thus can be easily moved from one wor ...
. John moved to
Ōtorohanga Ōtorohanga is a north King Country town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located south of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton and north of Te Kūiti, on the Waipā River. It is a service town for the surrounding Da ...
in 1885, where he became postmaster and opened another store with Valder and John Taonui Hetet, of
Ngāti Maniapoto Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on th ...
descent. J T Hetet & Co built the first building in
Te Kūiti Te Kūiti is a town in the north of the King Country region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of New Zealand State Highway 3, State Highways 3 and New Zealand State Highway 30, 30 and on the North Island Main Trunk rail ...
, then joining with John, also just before the arrival of the
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
construction gangs, though still there when a raid at the store resulted in a police invasion in 1890. Between the mid 1880s and mid 1890s Ellis Bros & Valder stores were set up at
Tokaanu Tokaanu is a small settlement close to Tūrangi at the southern end of Lake Taupō. The Tokaanu Thermal Pools and the easy access to Lake Taupō make it a popular lakeside holiday destination. A short walking track through the Tokaanu thermal ...
,
Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...
and followed the navvies up the North Island Main Trunk line as it was built, with stores at
Hunterville Hunterville is a small town in the Rangitikei District, Rangitikei district of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located halfway between Taupo and Wellington on State Highway 1, and as of the 2018 census has a population of 408. The town ...
, Ōhingaiti and
Taihape Taihape is in the Rangitikei District of the North Island of New Zealand. It serves a large rural community. New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1, which runs North to South through the centre of the North Island, passes through the town ...
. Valder sold his interest in the stores in 1900 and returned to England, but was soon to reappear in John's business life. In 1888, or 1889 (though his obituary said he was 33) John married his second wife, Manawa Hinewai (her obituary said she was born in Tauranga, daughter of Major F Francis), of Kihikihi (a close relative of
Ngāti Maniapoto Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on th ...
chief, Rewi) and they had 4 children, Stanley, Percy, Marjorie (Mrs Rickets) and Sidney. Sidney, was wounded near
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
in 1916 (or in the
Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
in 1915) and returned later that year to be a timber merchant. Stanley became an engineer, Percy a farmer at Puketarata, near Ōtorohanga, and Sidney, who was back by 1919, stayed in sawmilling. Stanley died on 3 February 1946, aged 58.


Sawmilling

Having started in 1884, John seems to have left further expansion in milling for a few years. Coulthard Bros had a mill at Ohaupo, which they moved to Rahu,
Te Awamutu Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato, Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipā District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south ...
in 1882. Graham joined the mill in 1883, Stephen N Westney in 1885, then John seems to have joined them at Rangiaohia from 1889 to 1890.


Ellis and Burnand

In 1889 railway engineer, Harry Burnand, and John spent 6 days taking a canoe down the
Ongarue Ongarue () is a rural community in the Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located south of Te Kūiti and Waimiha, and north of Taumarunui. It is in meshblock 1041902, which had a population o ...
and
Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...
s from Poro-o-tarao tunnel, where Harry was inspector of works. Henry Lewis and John started building a sawmill at Ōtorohanga early in 1890, with a daily capacity of , mostly of
kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori language, Māori) and white pine, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. A Podocarpaceae, podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining hei ...
, and probably including plant from John's 1884 Kihikihi mill. By the end of the year they were seeking tenders for a short tramway. John and Harry Burnand became business partners in 1890 (or, more probably, in 1891), when Harry bought Henry Lewis's interest in the Ōtorohanga mill and left his railway job. John's partnership with Henry was dissolved on 12 August 1891, the first reference to 'Ellis and Burnand' being later that month. Becoming the confidential adviser of King Tāwhiao, helped John acquire timber rights over large areas of bush at
Manunui Manunui () is a small Whanganui River settlement, about east of Taumarunui on State Highway 4, in New Zealand's King Country. It was once known as Waimarino, but John Burnand of the Ellis and Burnand sawmilling firm renamed it Manunui around 19 ...
, Ōtorohanga and Mangapehi, which influenced him to focus on the timber trade and sell his Te Kuiti and Ōtorohanga stores about 1897 (he was still described as a store owner in 1894). Ellis and Burnand Ltd was incorporated in 1903. In 1898, John secured timber rights over at Rangitoto Tuhua, also known as Te Tiroa. By 1901, they had a small portable mill at Tiroa, with some of the timber used for building the larger Mangapehi mill started in 1902 and opened in 1903, or 1904. At the same time demand for
totara ''Podocarpus totara'' (), commonly known as the , is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island, South Island and rarely on Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, montane and lower subalpine forest at ...
sleepers was high for completion of the new railway. In 1903, the capital value of Ellis and Burnand’s operations was about £30,000. In order to meet development costs at Mangapehi, the company appears to have negotiated with the Kauri Timber Company, which in 1904 secured a 47.5% stake in Ellis and Burnand. Ellis and Burnand's headquarters moved from Ōtorohanga to Hamilton in 1905 (or 1906) after they bought Coyle & Jolly's Hamilton sash and door factory in 1904 and then expanded it. By January 1905 the factory had begun production and was employing 40 staff. After extension of the railway to
Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kūiti and 55 km west of T ...
, a timber mill and box factory was opened at Manunui in 1907 and a plywood and veneer factory in 1911. John was still an active director of Ellis and Burnand in 1906, but after Henry Valder became managing director in 1908, John seems to have turned his attentions away from timber, except that in 1910 he investigated veneer making and set up Ellis Veneer Co Ltd at Manunui in 1911.


Mayoralty

John's first experience of local government was his election to Karioi Highway Board in 1876. The family moved to
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
in 1905, where John and Manawa lived in a large villa, Muriaroha, on the corner of Lake Rd and Tainui St, in Frankton borough. He got permission for a boathouse in 1906. He was on Frankton Town Board from 1912 and then on its Borough Council. In the words of Councillor John Fow, John William Ellis "was one of those who made the Empire great". During the war Mr Ellis gave generously to patriotic movements, including a Returned Soldiers' Club, resulting in his Order of the British Empire award. In March 1917 he accepted nomination as mayor and on 4 May was elected Mayor of Hamilton, but died after only 15 months in office. Ellis Street was named after J.W. Ellis.


Death

John died at Muriaroha on 6 August 1918. He had been ill for some months, and in his last fortnight was confined to his room, suffering carbuncles and diabetes. The funeral cortege had over 60 motor vehicles. He is buried in Hamilton East Cemetery. Manawa stayed at Muriaroha until 1926, when the house became
Braemar Hospital Braemar Hospital is one of the New Zealand's largest private hospitals. It is owned by the Braemar Charitable Trust located in Hamilton, New Zealand. There was a separate and unrelated organisation, Braemar Hospital in Nelson, New Zealand which ...
, demolished after the hospital moved in 2009. Manawa died at
Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...
on 23 July 1955 aged 91, outliving all their children.


References


Further reading

Ellis & Burnand. 1953 jubilee year: half a century of progress in the timber industry of New Zealand. Hamilton, 1953 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, John William 1853 births 1918 deaths Politicians from Guildford Mayors of Hamilton, New Zealand Burials at Hamilton East Cemetery 19th-century New Zealand businesspeople Military personnel from Guildford 19th-century British Army personnel Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire