Reginald Newnham Ellis (22 February 1891 – 26 May 1959) was an Australian sportsman who played first-class cricket for Victoria and

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

in the Victorian Football League (VFL) mainly with St Kilda. A New South Welshman, the defender played 53 games in the VFL from 1913 to 1915 and captained New South Wales in interstate football.

Early Life in Sydney

Ellis was born in

Randwick, New South Wales Randwick is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Randwi ...

, a suburb of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, however he was schooled in Melbourne for a few years where he learned to play Australian rules and developed a passion for it, continuing to play upon his return to Sydney. He joined the Y.M.C.A football club in the New South Wales Football Association Ellis represented New South Wales in the

1911 Adelaide Carnival The 1911 Adelaide Carnival was the second edition of the Australasian Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It took place from 2 to 12 August at Adelaide Oval. A crowd of 20,000 witnessed South Australia convin ...

. He became Y.M.C.A's captain in its last season in 1913. Ellis was recruited by St Kilda following the carnival and made the move to Melbourne.

VFL Football, World War I service and New South Wales representative

During his first year in Melbourne Ellis was considered a fine reliable player and an excellent executor of the drop kick and place kick. A defender, played 53 games in the VFL, all but one of them for St Kilda from 1913 to 1915. He participated in St Kilda's 1913 VFL Grand Final loss to

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

. Ellis enlisted in artillery during World War I. Upon his return from the war in 1920 he switched clubs, signing with Melbourne however made just one appearance for the club. At the

1924 Hobart Carnival The 1924 Hobart Carnival was the fifth Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It was held from 6–15 August and was the first carnival to be hosted by the Tasmanian city of Hobart. It was won b ...

, Ellis captained New South Wales to a convincing victory over Queensland.

Cricket

His cricket career began over seven years after he played his last VFL game and he was aged 36 when he made his first-class debut against Tasmania. The Victorian opening pair in the first innings of

Fred Baring Frederick Albert Baring (15 December 1890 – 10 December 1961) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the early 1900s. In 1997 he was named at fullback in Essendon's official ...

and Basil Onyons were also league footballers, as was their wicket-keeper

Stuart King Stuart Patrick King (22 April 1906 – 28 February 1943) was an Australian sportsman who played first-class cricket for Victoria and Australian rules football for Victorian Football League club St Kilda. Family The son of David James King ( ...

. Ellis came in at three and made just the one run before being dismissed. He made amends in the second innings with a century. His even hundred allowed Victoria to chase their fourth innings target of 182 with five wickets in hand. Ellis went on to represent Victoria in the 1928–29 and 1929–30 Sheffield Shield seasons. He finished with 355 runs from his seven first-class matches at an average of 29.58. His only other century came in a Shield encounter against Queensland at the MCG in 1928 when he made an unbeaten 107. Ellis also took three wickets in his career, including dismissing Test player

Alan Fairfax Alan Geoffrey Fairfax (16 June 1906 – 17 May 1955) was an Australian cricketer who played in ten Test matches from 1929 to 1931. He was an all rounder. Fairfax had a rapid rise to international honours, making his test debut the same season a ...

Footnotes

References

Reginald Newnham Ellis
at ''New South Wales Australian Football History Society''.

External links