Architects

Name:

Alexander Ellis

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

05/08/1830

Year of Birth :

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Date of Birth Before (Year):

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DOB (1st 'Or' Year):

DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):

Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

05/03/1917

Year of Death:

Circa Year of Death:

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Bio Notes :

Alexander Ellis was born in Aberdeen, 8 May 1830, second but eldest surviving son of Captain William and Isabella Ellis. His father died at sea in 1838 and was buried at St Jaco, Cuba leaving a third child, Edith, who married Alexander Diack, collector and cashier for Old Machar poorhouse.

Ellis was sent to Robert Gordon's College on May 1842 leaving in 1844 to attend Marischal College at the early age of 14. He left without graduating in 1846 and was articled to John and William Smith 1846-51. Thereafter, although he himself was an Episcopalian, he worked with Rt Rev James Kyle, Bishop of the Northern District, on the design of the ambitious twin towered St Peter's Church, Buckie, but whether he was working directly to the bishop, or with Alexander and William Reid who executed the church (see 'Inverness Courier' 9 January 1851) is unclear: He had completed his commitments there by January 1856 when he entered the Trustees' Academy on the recommendation of James Giles who was to be associated with him on several projects. He left in June of the same year and the commission for the Church of St Mary of the Assumption (later the Cathedral) in 1857 enabled him to set up independent practice at his mother's home at 19 Hadden Street. In 1859 he took on his first apprentice, Robert Gordon Wilson, and moved into his brother-in-law Alexander Diack's office at 4 Belmont Street, from which they moved to no 13 about 1869, the Ellises and the Diacks then sharing a large house at no 17. The Diack connection was to prove significant in relation to Parish Council work, bringing the large Buchan Combination Poorhouse at Maud won in competition in 1866.

In 1860 Ellis sent in a design for the Aberdeen Town and County Bank Head Office which was the subject of a limited competition from which he had been excluded. It was returned unopened but he exhibited it at Hay and Lyall's where it attracted some attention. In 1862 he was appointed executant architect for St Mary's Carden Place, built by the Rev Frederick George Lee to his own designs. Lee was a leading member of the Architectural Society of Oxford and an amateur architect: whether he obtained help directly from George Edmund Street, architect to the Oxford Diocese, who certainly designed the Minton tiles, whether he adapted the competition designs for the Crimea Memorial Church and other polychrome continental Gothic designs of that period, or whether Ellis himself had a large hand in the detailing is unclear, but the commission certainly enlarged Ellis's architectural vocabulary. Financially it was a serious setback as Lee became insolvent and Ellis was unable to persuade the diocese and the vestry that they had a moral responsibility to settle the architect's and contractor's accounts.

In 1869 Wilson was taken into partnership. Wilson had been born at New Pitsligo in 1844, the son of a local master builder John Wilson and Eliza Gordon. The Wilsons were a staunchly United Presbyterian family and it may have been church connections that enabled him to secure a place in the office of Alexander Thomson (c. 1866-69) at the end of his apprenticeship with Ellis. A modified Thomsonesque treatment thereafter became apparent in the firm's urban work.

In 1876 the Belmont Street house became too small to accommodate the Ellis and Diack families and Ellis and Wilson developed 54-71 Springbank Terrace - Ellis took no 66; Wilson, who had married 23 December 1875, no 60; and the Diacks no 70. Ellis did not marry until 6 August 1878, his bride being Helen Anne Murray, daughter of Dr Murray, surgeon, Glenlivet, whose elder daughter Mathilda had married the Aberdeen builder John Morgan seven years earlier in June 1871. Morgan was a man of exceptionally wide artistic interests whom Ellis had known since at least 1863 when he and his uncle Adam Mitchell were contractors for Corse House. It was probably following his marriage that Ellis built for their own occupation The Firs at Torphins, a large weekend house. Like Morgan's own bungalow, Woodcote, The Firs was largely timber framed on a brick plinth and influenced by what Morgan had seen on his visit to Toronto and Montreal.

In the mid-1880s the practice moved to the newly built Victoria Buildings on Bridge Street. Ellis had to retire in 1896 suffering from insomnia, melancholia and indigestion. He made a voyage to Australia in the spring of 1897 in the hope of a cure, but although 'much improved' he was admitted to the Royal Asylum as a voluntary patient on his return. At some unspecified time during that period of his life he was described as 'small and slim in stature'. Although he recovered sufficiently to design a house on his own account at the corner of Rubislaw Den and Glenburnie Road in 1898, the remaining twenty years of his life were divided between his two houses and the Royal Asylum where he died 3 May 1917 leaving these houses and moveable estate of £9,110.

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Notes
19 Hadden Street Aberdeen Scotland	Private/business	Ellis's mother's house, also used as Ellis's first business premises
17 Belmont Street Aberdeen Scotland	Private	House shared with brother-in-law Alexander Diack
66 Springbank Terrace Aberdeen Scotland	Private	House in town
The Firs Torphins Aberdeenshire Scotland	Private	Weekend house built by Ellis for himself

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date To	Notes
19 Hadden Street Aberdeen Scotland	Private/business	1857	1859	Ellis's mother's house, also used as Ellis's first business premises
4 Belmont Street Aberdeen Scotland	Business	1859	c. 1869	Office of Ellis's brother-in-law, Alexander Diack
13 Belmont Street Aberdeen Scotland	Business	c. 1869	Mid 188	With brother-in-law Alexander Diack
Victoria Buildings Bridge Street Aberdeen Scotland	Business	Mid 188	1896	Ellis & Wilson practice offices
181a Union Street Aberdeen Scotland	Business	1893	1896

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The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this person (click on an item to view details):

Employers2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position	Notes
J & W Smith	200455	In year 1846	In year 1851	Apprentice
Ellis & Wilson	200676	In year 1869	In year 1896	Partner

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The following individuals were employed or trained by this person (click on an item to view details):

Employees or Pupils2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position	Notes
Robert Gordon Wilson (senior)	200929	In year 1859	c. 1866	Apprentice	Later partner
John Coulson Nicol	202780	In year 1867	In year 1873	Apprentice
John Bridgeford Pirie	202299	c. 1863	c. 1866	Apprentice

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This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	Island	City or County	Country	Notes
RC Church of St Mary of the Assumption	In year 1858			Aberdeen	Scotland	Main part of church
Mayen	In year 1859	Rothiemay		Aberdeenshire	Scotland
McGrigor Obelisk, Marischall College	In year 1860			Aberdeen	Scotland	With James Giles, artist
Aberdeen Town and County Bank Head Office	In year 1860			Aberdeen	Scotland	Drew up plans but plans returned unopened
House, New Broadford	In year 1860			Aberdeen	Scotland
St Magnus Episcopal Church	In year 1862	Lerwick	Mainland	Shetland	Scotland
St Mary's Episcopal Church	In year 1862			Aberdeen	Scotland	Working in conjunction with Rev F G Lee
Inverurie School	In year 1862	Inverurie		Aberdeenshire	Scotland	Original building
Premises, corner North Broadford and Charles Street	In year 1862			Aberdeen	Scotland
Bonded warehouses	In year 1862			Aberdeen	Scotland
Corse House	In year 1863	Coull		Aberdeenshire	Scotland
Houses and shops in Union Street	In year 1863			Aberdeen	Scotland
Building in Market Street	In year 1865			Aberdeen	Scotland
Episcopal School	In year 1865			Aberdeen	Scotland
Muchalls Episcopal Church	In year 1865	Muchalls		Kincardineshire	Scotland	Addition of 3 bays to nave and chancel.

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
Morgan, John	Memoirs	1899	Aberdeen
Leith, Connie	Alexander Ellis: a fine Victorian architect	1999	Aberdeen: privately published

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Publisher	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
Aberdeen Daily Free Press		1917/05/04	*	Obituary
Aberdeen Press and Journal Weekend Review		1917/05/04	*	Obituary

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Building Id	Item Name	Notes
RIBA Biographical Files	British Architectural Library, RIBA	100004
NMRS Manuscripts	National Monuments Record of Scotland/NMRS, RCAHMS	100055			Research file, compiled by Stephen Lewis. Acc No 2005/180

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

Employees or Pupils

Employees or Pupils2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

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Periodical References

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Archive References

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