Biography

CHRISTIANA ELLIS

Burial register ID: 9810
Surname: ELLIS
First name: CHRISTIANA
Middle names:
Gender: Female
Age: 66 Years
Cause of death: Unknown
Burial type:
Date of death: 06-Mar-1905
Date of burial: 08-Mar-1905

Block: 161
Plot: 8
Inscription:

In loving memory of

CHRISTIANA

Wife of EPHRAIM ELLIS

Born 29th July 1838

At Rodley, Leeds, England

Died 5th March 1905

At Kirkland Hill, Roslyn.

In her 67th year.

Also her husband

EPHRAIM ELLIS

Died 23rd May 1912

At Kirkland Hill, Roslyn

In his 78th year.

And on the side of the monument:

In loving memory of

ELIZABETH FERGUSON ELLIS

(BETTY)

Dearly loved wife of

NORMAN MELLOR ELLIS

1897–1987

To the memory of

The following descendants of

EPHRAIM and CHRISTIANA ELLIS

NORMAN MELLOR ELLIS

1901–1970

JOHN LINDLEY MELLOR ELLIS

1928–1974

MATTHEW GRAHAM ELLIS

1961–1970

GRAHAM NORMAN ELLIS

1930–1978

MALCOLM NOEL ELLIS

Bio contributor: Sue Ellis

Christiana was the daughter of Elizabeth Lister and Benjamin Hustler, a clothier or woollen weaver. She was born at Rodley, Yorkshire, on 31 July 1838, according to civil registration, although the gravestone gives her birth-date as 29 July 1838. Christiana married Ephraim Ellis, a woollen weaver, on 19 June 1862. Over the next few years, Ephraim and Christiana had four children born at Farsley, Yorkshire: Sarah Ann (1864), Florence Helena (1865), Charles (28 April 1867), and Arthur (12 October 1868).

The family decided to emigrate to New Zealand on the offer of a manager’s job there for Ephraim. With them went Christiana’s older sister Dorothy, with her husband William Nicholson and children. They sailed from London on the Surat on 26 September 1873. The trip must have been less than pleasant for Christiana. She was in the latter stages of pregnancy, and a baby boy was born on 28 December 1873 but only survived 24 hours. So she was far from well when the Surat ran aground at the Catlins on New Year’s Day, 1874. Like most of the passengers, the Ellises were left with what they stood up in. Their problems were compounded because Christiana was unfit to travel, and when they were able to make their way to Dunedin three weeks later, Ephraim had lost his job as manager.

Two more children were born in New Zealand: Benjamin (9 December 1876) and Harry (1879).

Ephraim eventually turned to making flock for mattresses with his brother-in-law in the Kaikorai Valley. This business was later taken over by his son Arthur, who had worked in it from boyhood. Charlie, after serving an apprenticeship at Reid and Gray in Dunedin, emigrated in about 1887 to Port Phillip, Victoria, where he joined the army, which he made his career. He died in Sydney on 8 October 1941.

Information is from: English censuses, English birth, death and marriage certificates, The Wreck of the ‘Surat’ by Bruce E. Collins, the Surat’s register of births, deaths and marriages on the voyage, contemporary and anniversary newspaper accounts, Ephraim’s letter to his older sister Mercy in December 1894 (held by the Catlins Historical Society), an entry on Arthur Ellis in a New Zealand biographical book, Australian Archives records for Charlie’s enlistment in World War I, and his New South Wales death certificate.

Others buried here: Christiana’s husband Ephraim.

There are 6 Interments in this grave:

Surname First names Age Date of death Date of burial
ELLIS CHRISTIANA 66 Years 06-Mar-1905 08-Mar-1905
ELLIS ELIZABETH FERGUSON 90 Years 17-Aug-1987 19-Aug-1987
ELLIS EPHRAIM 78 Years 23-May-1912 26-May-1912
ELLIS GRAHAM NORMAN 48 Years 22-Apr-1978 26-Apr-1978
LUKE FLORENCE HELENA 76 Years 01-Aug-1942 07-Aug-1942
LUKE SAMUEL JAMES 78 Years 14-Aug-1930 16-Aug-1930