Ulrich Ruegg Ellis (23 July 1904 – 4 December 1981) was an Australian journalist, political activist, and historian. He was known for his work in developing Canberra, his involvement with the New State Movement, and his behind-the-scenes work with the Country Party. He was the younger brother of the writer

Malcolm Henry Ellis Malcolm Henry Ellis, CMG (21 August 1890 – 18 January 1969) was an Australian journalist, historian and critic. He usually wrote as M. H. Ellis. His wife, Jean Ellis, founded the Penguin Club of Australia in 1937. His younger brother Ulrich ...

Early life

Ellis was born in

Mount Morgan, Queensland Mount Morgan is a rural town and locality in the Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was the administrative centre of the Mount Morgan Shire until March 2008, when it was amalgamated with neighbouring local government areas to ...

, the youngest child of Constance Jane (née Ruegg) and Thomas James Ellis. His father was an Irish-born miner and his mother was born in England. He was raised solely by his mother from the age of three, when she and the children moved to the Brisbane suburb of

Tingalpa Tingalpa is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Tingalpa had a population of 8,461 people. Geography The suburb is bounded to the west by Bulimba Creek, a tributary of the Brisbane River. The suburb has some ol ...

. Ellis attended the local state school in Kelvin Grove before going on to

Brisbane Grammar School Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) is an Independent school, independent, fee charging, non-denominational, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, Queensland, Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Austra ...

. He became a cadet journalist at the age of 16.

Journalism and life in Canberra

From 1921 to 1922, Ellis worked in Melbourne as a member of a news agency serving regional newspapers. He later worked for metropolitan daily newspapers, and then in 1925 began writing for the ''Morning Post'', the newspaper of the

Victorian Country Party The Victorian National Party, officially known as the National Party of Australia – Victoria, is an Australian political party that serves as the state branch of the federal National Party in Victoria. It represents graziers, farmers, miners an ...

. Ellis moved to Canberra in 1927 as one of the first permanent press correspondents; he was one of the forerunners of the

Canberra Press Gallery The Canberra Press Gallery, officially called the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery, is the name given to the approximately 180 journalists and their support staff, including producers, editors and camera crews, who report the workings of the ...

. He married Ray Arnot Maxwell, the daughter of federal MP

George Maxwell George Maxwell (1804–1880) was a professional collector of plants and insects in Southwest Australia. The botanical specimens he obtained were used to make formal descriptions of the region's plant species. Biography Maxwell was born in England ...

, on 19 December 1930. Ellis was a "passionate advocate of local self-government" for Canberra and an advocate for the improvement of the capital's amenities, which were those of a small country town. He was the inaugural chairman of the Canberra Tourist Bureau from 1937 to 1940, and served on the

Australian Capital Territory Advisory Council The Australian Capital Territory Advisory Council was an elected body that operated from 1930 until 1974, when it was replaced by the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly. The Council originally consisted of three elected members, being ...

, an elective office, from 1947 to 1951. In 1936, Ellis began working for the

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...

as a commercial intelligence officer. He moved to Melbourne in 1940 and joined the

Department of Munitions The Department of Munitions was an Australian government department that existed between 11 June 1940 and April 1948. Reporting to it was the Factory Board, which was in charge of the six Small Arms Ammunition Factories, along with a ...

in an administrative capacity overseeing 600 employees. In 1944, Ellis moved back to Canberra and joined the

Department of Post-War Reconstruction The Department of Post-War Reconstruction was an Australian Government department responsible for planning and coordinating Australia's transition to a peacetime economy after World War II. The department was established in December 1942 a ...

as deputy director of public relations. He wrote a letter to ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

'' in April 1945 criticising Interior Minister Joe Collings, accusing him of "laugh ngwith contempt in the face of the common principles of administrative justice" and calling him "unfit to administer his Department". He was subsequently charged under the Public Service Act and fined £2 for contravening regulations. Ellis's final public-service position was in the Department of Information from 1946 to 1947. He subsequently established a rural lobby group, the Office of Rural Research.

Politics

In 1928, Ellis was appointed private secretary to

Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian politician and surgeon who served as the 11th prime minister of Australia from 7 to 26 April 1939, in a caretaker capacity following the death of Joseph Lyons. ...

, the leader of the Country Party. They became close friends, and Ellis shared Page's passion for the New State Movement, which advocated for the creation of new states in regional

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. In 1933, Ellis served as the publicity officer for

Charles Hardy Admiral Sir Charles Hardy ( – 18 May 1780) was a Royal Navy officer, politician and colonial administrator who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain between 1764 and 1780. He served as governor of New York from 1755 to 1757. Early ...

's Riverina Movement, which advocated the secession of the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

from the rest of New South Wales. The following year, he gave evidence before the New South Wales

royal commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

on new states, chaired by Judge

Harold Sprent Nicholas Early life Harold Sprent Nicholas (1877–1953) was an Australian judge, journalist and politician. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1877 to William and Alice (née Sprent) Nicholas, daughter of James Sprent. Harold spent his childhood in Bo ...

. Ellis served on the executive of the

New England New State Movement The New England New State Movement was an Australian political movement in the twentieth century. Founded as the Northern Separation Movement, the aim of the movement was to seek the secession of the New England region and surrounding areas fro ...

from 1948, and he and his wife moved to

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 23,967 as of the 2021 census. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands reg ...

, New South Wales, in 1960. He campaigned for the "Yes" vote in the 1967 New England secession referendum, which failed. In the late 1940s Ellis was an early President of the

Australian Capital Territory Progress and Welfare Council The Australian Capital Territory Progress and Welfare Council (known as the ACT Progress and Welfare Council) was a peak co-ordination body of progress associations in the Australian Capital Territory. It also operated as a political party in ...

, which was a representative body for Progress Associations in the ACT. Ellis was a member of the ACT Advisory Council from 1947 to 1951, but as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

rather than as a representative of the council, which subsequently ran candidates for Advisory Council elections. During the 1950s, Ellis served as "publicist, valet, chauffeur, nursemaid and baggage handler" to

Arthur Fadden Sir Arthur William Fadden (13 April 189421 April 1973) was an Australian politician and accountant who served as the 13th prime minister of Australia from 29 August to 7 October 1941. He held office as the leader of the Country Party from 1940 ...

, the leader of the Country Party and Deputy Prime Minister. He published two histories of the Country Party: ''The Country Party: A Political and Social History of the Party in New South Wales'' (1958), and ''A History of the Australian Country Party'' (1963).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Ulrich 1904 births 1981 deaths Australian political journalists National Party of Australia 20th-century Australian historians Australian Capital Territory territorial politicians People from Mount Morgan, Queensland People educated at Brisbane Grammar School