Birth of George Ellis (d. 17 July 1905, South Australia)

[Note: As of October 2023 I consider the case for George Ellis's birthplace and parents proven and will likely not be providing further updates to this page.]

I am not aware of an Australian primary source ^{(what's this?)} that documents the birthplace or parents of my great-great grandfather, George Ellis. George's granddaughters' birthday books record his birth date as 11 June 1820.

Nellie Ellis birthday book entry for Australian George Ellis

St George's Crowhurst George Ellis baptism record

This page describes autosomal DNA and documentary evidence that George's parents were Benjamin Ellis and Hannah Agent, that the birthdate in his grandchildren's birthday books corresponds to a plausable date, and that he was baptised on 9 July 1820, a month after his birth, at St George's Church in the rural locale of Crowhurst, Surrey, England.

Proposed Family Tree

Autosomal DNA Evidence

My late mother Jill Mary Ellis performed the 23andme.com autosomal DNA test. Mum was the great granddaughter of George Ellis. Mum's DNA kit matches many triangulated Ellis relatives in Australia. One of my siblings and I have taken the Ancestry DNA test, and at that site we also match many of the Australian-born descendants of George Ellis.

Both my mother's 23andme DNA kit and her childrens' Ancestry DNA kits match descendants of a sibling, and descendants of cousins, of the George Ellis baptised 9 July 1820 in Crowhurst. These autosomal DNA matches also match with my 1st, 2nd and 3rd cousins who are descendants of the George Ellis who died in South Australia in 1905.

Descendant of sibling or cousin of Crowhurst George Ellis	DNA Match Australian George Ellis Descendant Match
A785547 (Lynne) Descendant of George William Roffey, son of Richard Roffey and Hannah Ellis	M525071 (Jill Mary Ellis) 32.0cM A687007 (Robyn) 22.4cM A978643 (Rebecca) 9.9cM
Alma Great-granddaughter of Benjamin Roffey and Susannah Legge	Stacey Campbell 20.4cM M.S. 34cM
Julie Abraham Ellis (brother of George Ellis) is 3x great grandfather	Stacey Campbell 24.7cM Cindy George 24cM Susan S 30cM M.C. 30cM Robyn S 32cM
Beverly Abraham Ellis (brother of George Ellis) is 3x great grandfather	Janette Ellis 39.4cM Cindy George 56cM Gerald 21cM
Joan Hannah Agent's brother George Agent is 3x great grandfather.	Stacey Campbell 26cM M.S. 20cM Cindy George 11cM
Kate Descendant of Hannah Ellis and Richard Roffey's son John Ellis Roffey	Stacey Campbell 7.8cM
Mary Descendant of Hannah Agent's brother, George Agent	Stacey Campbell 20cM PE 29cM
Simon Descendant of Elizabeth Agent, Hannah Agent's sister.	Stacey Campbell 10cM Cindy George 12cM M.S. 29cM
Lloyd Descendant of John Leopard Holman, Hannah Agent's maternal uncle.	Stacey Campbell 15cM Gerald 22cM Jo 31cM Liz 23cM

(For help with match sizes refer to the Shared DNA Relationship Chart at thegeneticgenealogist.com.)

George Ellis Missing from England

My great-great grandfather George Ellis emigrated from London on the Rajasthan on 27 October 1839. Given only one "George Ellis" was recorded as baptised at Crowhurst in that timeframe, someone with his name, birthplace and approximate birth date should not appear in any England Census returns from 1841 onwards. A comprehensive search of indexed 1841, 1851, 1861, etc England Census returns shows no mention of a George Ellis from Crowhurst. The surviving siblings of George Ellis from Crowhurst, however, do appear in the 1851, 1861, and 1871 England Census returns.

George's infant brother William died in 1826 and his burial was recorded at St George's in Crowhurst. To date no record has been found of a George Ellis of Crowhurst who died in England prior to the 1841 Census.

Based on the accumulated evidence I believe the George Ellis baptised 9 July 1820 in Crowhurst was my great great grandfather.

Many thanks to my cousin Robyn for her extensive research into George Ellis's life.

If you have any corrections, information, etc regarding this case for George Ellis's origin, I'd be happy to hear from you, my email address is above.