Thomas Ellis

THOMAS ELLIS (1842-1903)

Thomas Ellis was born 7 January 1842 at Trevetra, St Just in Penwith, and was christened 10 April 1842 at St Just. By 1851 the family were living at Kelynack, south of St Just. He married 19 April 1862 in St Just to widow Mary Ann Blewett. She was christened 3 May 1835 as Mary Ann Noy and married Stephen Blewett Wilkins on 14 April 1858 but Stephen died early in 1859. When Mary Ann married Thomas Ellis in 1862 she used the name Blewett rather than the name Wilkins. The Ellis’ were then living at Joppa St to the south of Kelynack.

The first child born to Thomas and Mary Ann was Thomas who was christened 27 July 1866 at St Just. He would die as an infant. The next born was Richard Francis on 6 April 1868.

In 1869 Thomas, Mary Ann and Richard Francis emigrated to Victoria. They were accompanied by Thomas’ younger brother Richard Francis (aged 18) and Jane Blewett who was 10 years old. Jane was Mary Ann’s daughter from her first marriage to Stephen Blewett Wilkins. In Victoria she would use the name Ellis rather than Blewett and when she died in 1936 the Death Index incorrectly gives her parents as Thomas Ellis and Mary Ann Noy rather than Stephen Blewett Wilkins and Mary Ann Noy.

The Ellis’ boarded the “Coldstream”, a barque of 683 tons which left London on 18 January 1869 sailing to Melbourne via Plymouth, where the Ellis’ boarded. There were 266 immigrants on board consisting of 14 married couples, 98 single men, 112 single women and 28 children. The Coldstream arrived in Hobson’s Bay 18 May 1869 and anchored for the night. The voyage was a good one with no deaths recorded and one birth. On 21 May the ship was taken alongside the Victorian Railways Pier and the passengers proceeded to the Immigration Depot. There was a shortage of single women in Victoria so the 112 single women were very welcome. Most of them had prior arrangements upon arrival but 34 of them were seeking employment and were accommodated at the Immigrants Home until 27 May when prospective employers could make application for their services. All 34 single women were hired within 10 minutes.

The Ellis’ then proceeded to Bendigo and settled at Eaglehawk. In 1872 Thomas Henry was born at Eaglehawk but died in 1873. Elizabeth Ellen was born 18 August 1875 at Eaglehawk and finally on on 23 October 1878 Thomas George was born at Eaglehawk.

Thomas had been working as a miner in Cornwall since about 1857 and his brother Richard Francis since about 1861. At Eaglehawk it appears that both brothers started working on mines working the St Mungo Reef in Eaglehawk. Richard is recorded as holding shares in the Muirs South St Mungo Tribute Company in 1874. The first confirmation that Thomas was working on the St Mungo Reef came in February 1884 when he resigned as Mining Manager for the New St Mungo Mine.

In October 1885 Thomas may have worked briefly for the newly registered Phoenix Gold Mine which was mining the Devonshire Reef in Eaglehawk. Thomas Ellis from Eaglehawk was listed as owning 100 shares in this company.

By January 1887 Thomas Ellis was the Mining Manager for the South Devonshire Mine. The management of the mine congratulated him for his method of getting rid of the sand and slum from the crushing plant. Previously it cost the mine £400 per annum but Ellis found a method of transporting it over a hill to the west and returning the clarified water to the crushing plant.

In May 1887 he took up donations from the employees of the South Devonshire Mine in aid of the Bendigo Hospital. They raised £4/5/0.

In the winter of 1888 Thomas Ellis fell ill and was unable to work for three months and was placed on half pay and was still not fit to resume duties by July.

By February 1891 he is no longer Mining Manager at the South Devonshire Mine. A fatal accident occurred at the mine and a miner named Thomas Cox died when some of the old workings collapsed 650 feet underground. A rescue party consisting of the Inspector of Mines together with current and former mining managers from the nearby mines set out to reach the miner. Thomas Ellis was a part of this team. After 12 hours of cautious work they recovered Cox’s body.

On 30 May 1891 Thomas Ellis started a new appointment as Mining Manager at the Crown Cross Mine 4 km to the east of Rushworth. He was appointed with a good salary and the mine had a very large crushing and pumping plant with a manager’s residence. In August 1891 Thomas was involved in an accident at the mine. He was working at the mouth of the shaft when a slab of timber fell from a brace and struck him on the shoulder. He was lucky not to be thrown down the shaft. As a result he was confined to bed but made a quick recovery. By early 1893 he appears to have returned to Eaglehawk and was possibly back at the South Devonshire Mine. In March 1893 he took up a collection at the South Devonshire Mine in aid of the widows and orphans of the Wheal Owles mining disaster in St Just, Cornwall where 20 miners drowned in January 1893. They raised £2/11/0. A lot of the mining managers working in Bendigo were from Cornwall and would be well familiar with the Wheal Owles Mine. Thomas Ellis may have had a family connection to the disaster. His wife was originally married to Stephen Blewett Wilkins and one of the victims was named Lewis Blewett Wilkins.

On 1 May 1893 Thomas Ellis was appointed Mining Manager of Horwood’s Freehold on the Garden Gully line of reef at Sandhurst. He pumped the water from the mine and commenced repairing the mine for the recommencement of operations. He was still Mining Manager in September 1896 when he is recorded as helping an injured miner named Richard Bone to the surface and to the doctor.

In January 1897 an English syndicate started the Great Eastern Company at the head of Axe Creek, Sedgwick, 15 miles south of Bendigo.   The company lease was 70 acres containing two lines of reef traceable for over 800 yards.   They erected a plant for £3000.   By February 1897 Thomas Ellis was working there as Mining Manager.   Lack of funds however meant the mine stood idle from September 1897 and the lease was in danger of being forfeited.   Thomas’ son Thomas George was also working at this mine at this stage.   By May 1899 the lease was declared void and on 9 September 1899 a new company had been formed, the Sedgwick Gold Mining Company.   Thomas had 200 shares in this new company and his son Richard Francis had 100 shares.   In January 1900 they began enlarging the dam and in February they constructed a water race from the Coliban Chanel  to the mine battery.  In February 1900 the mine workers were called upon to help fight a threatening bushfire.   800 acres in the vicinity of the mine were burning and the nearby state school was threatened so a group of 70 volunteers including the whole workforce of the mine fought the fire and saved the school.   By September 1900 they were getting satisfactory results from a crushing of 100 tons which yielded 31 ounces of gold.

In 1903 Thomas Ellis and family lived at Upper Emu Creek just north-east of Sedgwick. On 18 November 1903 Thomas Ellis died at the residence of Mrs Eddy in Kirkwood St, Eaglehawk. He was 61 years of age. Mrs Eddy is probably related. Thomas’ wife Mary Ann had a sister Eleanor who married George Eddy. George’s son William John settled in Eaglehawk in Brown St near where Thomas’s brother Richard Francis lived.

After his death Thomas’ son George was appointed Mining Manager at the Sedgwick Mine. Mary Ann Ellis eventually moved in with her daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law Samuel Southam who lived at Cardwell St, Elmore. She died 11 August 1922 at Elmore leaving an estate worth £430/14/9. The four children, Jane Ellis, Elizabeth Ellen Southam, Richard Francis Ellis and Thomas George Ellis each received quarter shares of £94/3/8.