Obituary : Captain George Ellis, 4th Light Dragoons.

Although some details in the following articles have been found to be inaccurate, it has been very gratifying to find that George Ellis stirred up some emotions following his death in October 1856.

The following has been transcribed from issues of the Trowbridge Advertiser of the day, obtained from the Records Office at Trowbridge.

Trowbridge Advertiser : 18th October 1856

“Our dead heroes”.

…but it is now our privilege to speak of one who has been more intimately associated with us, who has lived among us, and gained our respect in his private as well as public capacity, who has recently died amongst us full of honours but not of years who has departed this life at the age of fifty years, thirty four of which were spent in the service of his country – a period sufficient to cover him with honour, but too brief for that country’s benefit. We now speak of Captain George Ellis, late of H. M. 4th Light Dragoons , the first officer ever interred here who’s funeral took place this 10th instant whilst our last impression was in press. And (en passant ) we must express our disgust at the turbulent and indecent crowding round the procession , of a number of ill behaved boys and girls whose conduct, however much actuated by curiosity and not by premeditation, was a disgrace to the innate feelings of natural village peasantry and which misbehaviour is utterly disavowed by the decent and respectable portion of the community.
This Captain Ellis was a native of Birmingham, of very humble origin; a man of most estimable piety – a good soldier, a strict disciplinarian , thoroughly conversant with the minutest details of his profession , beloved by his fellow officers and regarded by his men as a father and a friend. In addition to his claims on our respect for having served his country in India (he was at the taking of Ghuznee in 1839)  and for having served in the Crimea, whence he was invalided after being present at Alma and Inkermann  he suffering from illness at the time of the Balaclava charge; he demands our further admiration from the fact that without being possessed of the adventitious aids of birth or wealth (he rose from the ranks and was formerly a private soldier in our very barracks) he elevated himself by his merit to the proud position of Captain in one of her Majesty’s most distinguished regiments. To persons acquainted with the difficulties and obstacles in the way of attaining such a position, the extraordinary merits of the man will be at once apparent.
His minister , the Reverent Incumbent of the Trinity Church, spoke most feelingly of him, on Sunday last – of his earnest piety and of his constant attendance at the services of the church. The writer himself has often noted there his devotional and unassuming bearing; and it is not too much to say of him that he was one of natures worthies, a man who became “in rank what he was in heart – a gentleman” a man who rose with moderation and filled his every station with becoming dignity but without ostentation, a man to whom belonged the rare merit of bearing prosperity with modesty, ever mindful of others feelings whose rise excited no envy amongst the soldiers with whom he had associated and over whom he was called on to command; and who was welcomed by those officers and gentlemen who had been his former superiors. Whether the day will ever come when promotion shall become more frequent from the ranks, and when most assuredly more of the younger sons of the clergy and gentry will enter, bringing with them the “elan” and “esprit” of public schools and colleges, this writer is not prepared to argue nor even venture an opinion on its desirability, but this can at all events be asserted that the conduct of Captain George Ellis is an instance in its favour.
We now have a few words to address to our fellow townsmen :- for years past, as great poet, the Rev. George Crabb, has slept his last sleep amongst us. To his memory a fit monument has been raised. It would be but a grateful tribute to the departed worth if we raised, by public subscription, a tomb over all that is mortal of Captain Ellis. It would be a monument to which our descendants might point with pride saying “behold the grave of a Christian , a gentleman and a soldier!. Our fathers in honouring him honoured themselves for amid the strife of a busy world they found time to perpetuate his memory and raised with willing hearts the record of a British hero”.
T.R

Trowbridge Advertiser – 25th October 1856

For the last day or two we have heard it rumoured that the Officers of the 4th Light Dragoons quartered here, with a zeal and feeling highly creditable to those gentleman, have resolved to erect (our of their own private purses) a handsome tomb in memory of their late respected friend and comrade Captain Ellis. And this rumour has received confirmation from the letter of the Rev. Mr Pizey which appear in our columns of today. We do not think however that the generous conduct of these officers should be permitted to deprive our townsmen of so favourable an opportunity of testifying their respect for the first officer and Crimean soldier interred here, and of manifesting by some testimonial to his merits, their regard for that army of which he was a most worthy representative.
We are inclined in accordance with the idea of Mr Pizey, to think that if funds can be raised, a memorial window would be a suitable method of disposing of our contributions and of expressing our feelings , or at all events a tablet in the church, but of course this would be a matter for after consideration.
And we do hope that our fellow townsmen without distinction of class or sect, will unite in this goodwill offering to one who was a brave and good soldier, and therefore a public man. We shall gladly cover in our columns the names of subscribers to the “Ellis Memorial”. Mr Chapman of Frome whose advertisement will be found in another column, is entrusted with the execution of the tomb from a beautiful design.
 
 

“The late Captain Ellis”

To the editor of the Trowbridge Advertiser.
Sir – I have perused with interest the letter of T.R. in your journal of last Saturday and now I ask the favour of a space in your columns to bear my cheerful and conscientious testimony to the worth of the late Captain Ellis of the 4th Light Dragoons.
Your correspondent has certainly stated no more than is justly due to the deceased officer, and it will afford me very sincere pleasure to add my mite to any fund which my parishioners and the inhabitants of this town may feel disposed to raise for the purpose of placing a suitable tablet of memorial window in the Trinity Church in token of our regard for so brave and excellent a man.
many of your readers will doubtless be gratified to learn that the brother officers of the departed hero have determined to erect, at their own cost, a monument over the grave which contains all that was once mortal of the hardy warrior and surely there must be many persons in this immediate vicinity who will esteem it a privilege to lend their aid in handing down to posterity the memory of one who was always ready at duties call to go forth in defence of his Queen and fellow countrymen.
Allow me to add in conclusion that I shall be most happy to receive the names of any persons who may be willing to contribute to such a fund and I shall have no doubt one of the churchwardens of this District Parish will be kind enough to act as treasurer.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully.
E. PIZEY.

Trowbridge Advertiser - 1st Nov 1856

To the Editor of the Trowbridge Advertiser,
Sir,- I perceive that a memorial window is proposed to be raised in the memory of the late Captain Ellis of the 4th light dragoons. But before subscribing and without disparagement to the character of the late Captain (I should like to ask your correspondent T.R a question – what has Captain Ellis done more than hundreds of other brave men that we should specially raise such a tribute ? Who was Captain Ellis ? And what to us, seeing that he was here but a brief time, and that we never heard of him before his coming here ? No doubt he was a good officer, no doubt he did his duty, and that kind of thing, but so did many more. If T.R will answer this to my satisfaction I shall be happy to subscribe my mite.
I am, Sir, Yours respectfully, Salt.

Trowbridge Advertiser - 8th Nov 1856

To the Editor of the Trowbridge Advertiser.
Sir , - I beg to offer my thanks to you, for giving insertion to my letter of the 22nd ult, in your Journal, and for your readiness to publish the names of those who may be willing to manifest their respect for the late Captain Ellis, by contributing towards the erection of some appropriate and durable monument to his memory.
You will, however, have but very little trouble in this matter should any of the inhabitants of this town participate in the sentiment of a recent correspondent of yours who styles himself “Salt”. I could write much in reference to the title he has been pleased to assume, but I feel he is in excellent hands, and I doubt not that you will fully satisfy him as to ‘Who Captain Ellis Was’.
I fear I am trespassing too much on your space and will therefore only add that if our fellow townsmen will unite in putting up a Memorial window in Trinity Church we can thus combine an improvement to that edifice and our testimony to the value of those services for which the country at large ought to feel deeply and gratefully indebted not only to the late worthy officer whose bones repose amongst us but to “the departed heroes” who fell gloriously in the late conflict with Russia.
I am permitted to add that Captain Lawson our resident Staff Officer, and my Churchwarden,  will be happy to act as Treasurer to the Fund.
I remain, Sir, yours faithfully, EDWARD PIZEY, Trinity Parsonage, Thursday Nov 6th 1856.
 

WHO WAS CAPTAIN ELLIS ?
To the Editor of the Trowbridge Advertiser :-
Sir,- I have been much amused by the perusal of a letter in your last week’s letter bearing the signature of “Salt” and which letter, although written what Punch and Thackeray (those great social moralists and purifiers) would call the “paw yaw, hee haw” and that kind of thing style; savours at the same time most ludicrously of the strong desire on the part of o the writer, to maintain inviolate and intact the sacred guardianship of the breeches pocket. I fear Mr Editor, that it would be useless and worse than useless to attempt to “answer” anything to Mr Salt’s satisfaction when £.s.d are in the way.
From Salt and such as Salt I should but obtain  a pooh pooh or sneer in return and such pooh poohs (however they may betray the empty-headedness or empty-heartedness of the sneerer) have at least this merit – that they are perfectly unanswerable. However, as some of our townsmen may not have perused the article wherein the proposition of a public monument to Captain Ellis is first set forth, I will (if you kindly afford me space) again recount the reasons assigned for such a tribute and shall afterwards endeavour (with your permission) to inflict on Mr Salt such a castigation as I think his letter merits.
A severe war has just been concluded; nearly the whole of our veteran soldiery  whom 30 years of European peace had brought to a high perfection have perished by Cholera at Varna or sleep beneath the rank grass of the Crimea, victims of battle,  famine and pestilence. Their departure from their country was inaugurated by the prayers and cheers of the multitudes – their return alas ! But few have returned!
Amongst the few spared for a season to see their native land was a Captain George Ellis who now rests in the graveyard of our New Church. He came to our barracks, resided here a few months, then died and was buried, but not before his social an public virtues were known to some amongst us. And now I fancy I hear some friend of Salt’s saying , Well, what of that ? What was he to us ? of course he did his duty. Stay – was it nothing that he was a veteran among veterans – a relic as it were of the past -  a distinguished member of a most gallant army – that battled, won, and passed away ? Was it nothing that , for an almost unprecedented period – for 34 years – from the age of 16 to 50 – beneath the heat of a torrid zone or the cold of a Crimean clime, this gallant soldier devoted an services to his country ? Undoubtedly he was no braver physically , than thousands of our brave troops, but for all that he was a man amongst men ; hundreds have fought as well, but few have done their duty so faithfully and for so long a period. Step by step, from the humble rank of private upwards, without influence, without wealth, this man arose ; aye and in a regiment wherein the nobles of our land are proud to hold  commissions. Scarce equalled as a disciplinarian, beloved by his fellow officers, from Lord Paget, the Colonel, downwards, and regarded with feelings of affection by his men, unmoved by change, uninflated by prosperity, this man of poor parentage and humble birth , excellent in Christian as well as in domestic life , pursued the even tenor of his way. How many more are there of like service ? Duty is but a cold word with which to speak of such a man, for he much be good and great of whom none speak evil. Well, this man of 34 years’ arduous service, this man so distinguished, not merely in the headlong fiery valour of the battle-field but in the less romantic but more enduring more trying and protracted heroisms of trench and watch, of famine, thirst, and cold – this man died amongst us. His weary bones claimed here a resting place.. How were they received when carried thither ? We may blush at the reply -  amidst turbulence and violence, amidst the scene of which the Rowdies of New York, or the scum of a London or Parisian mob would have been ashamed. And was this the conduct to be exhibited at the burial of one who had deserved well of his country ? who by rising from the ranks of the people had as it were elevated that people, and who in his own person was a proof that the gentry of the land, our much abused aristocracy  of birth, are not too proud to hold fellowship with those who by individual merit rise. The efface the painful memory of this scene, and to show that there are amongst us who are proud of our army and who do not at the first dawn of peace repudiate the obligation they owe that army, the writer, seconded by other men of more note and standing, proposed some kind of memorial to the memory of Captain Ellis. But here I fancy Salt intervenes ( and this time on the parvenn and toady principles of courtiers who hug what royalty or fashion hugs, and kick what they kick).
O, says Salt had I but known you were seconded  - by the Lord Lieutenant of the county for instance – or even-  O, Salt , Salt !
 “if but a lord had writ the simple lines,
 “How the wit brightens, how the sense refines!”
But to proceed – a monument was proposed, but of this method of disposing of our money, the gallant fellow officers of the deceased have deprived us by ordering a handsome tomb to be paid for from their own purses, and theirs is exclusively a military tribute. As they have adopted this form, it has been suggested that a memorial window in the church wherein the soldiers sit, would be a desirable mode for the disposal of our civilian contributions.
Such are the facts of the case as it now stands. It will matter little to the silent dead, what gorgeous monument or tinted glass records his worth ; or whether his canopy be merely turf of his native land or God’s own heaven ; but it is to ourselves we would do honour, it is to our town that we would do justice, by wiping out the stain of disrespect , the stigma of indecent riot. To those then who will subscribe in this spirit, frankly, freely and with loyalty – as frankly, freely and loyalty as the gallant soldier gave himself to his country – I, as far as I am concerned, would say, give and welcome. Never have you devoted money to better purpose ; but to Salt and such as Salt , I would bid – hold your hand, for but as base metal is coin grudgingly bestowed, and not such as should be employed in such a cause. Salt may perhaps now urge that Captain Ellis was no relation of his. More’s the pity for Salt. But there are such things as we may term national relationships; and Captain Ellis, by his long service, example, and unblemished integrity ; is as much entitled to our reverence and regard as Florence Nightingale and Redan Massey. Moreover he died and is buried amongst us.
And now, Mr Editor, if you will permit me a little further trespass – I should like a pleasant minute with Salt. Will you kindly permit me to address my self to him. You wish to know then, Salt, who Captain Ellis was ? It appears you are not contented with the information contained in the lengthy article “ Dead Heroes “ as an explanation, but wish probably (being evidently of an enquiring spirit) to know who was his father etc, etc ? And herein you are worse than the world itself, which, harshly enough, rarely separates a man from his pursuits or judges him by his intrinsic merits, but condemns or praises him according to its notion of the comparative vulgarity or respectability of his vocation. You, worse than the world,  and unable to quarrel with the merits or profession of the man, fall back on the schoolboy sarcasm of “who’s your father?” And here, Salt, you tread on dangerous ground. Few are there of us who here who can boast a very exalted pedigree , or who can trace back our descent to some fortunate barber-surgeon of the time of Edward the Confessor, or some equally fortunate groom who may have held the horse of William the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings.
It is enough for us if our fathers were architects of their own fortunes. It is enough for us if they have clean hearts and honest hands. For your further information , Salt, I may tell you that Captain Ellis derived his patent of gentility from his Queen, and never disgraced it. Perhaps your next question is , for of course according to your logic, “the more money a man is worth the worthier a man he must be” perhaps your next question is “was he rich ?” Yes, Salt, he was – rich in honour , for fortune, not so blind as she is represented, frequently bestows on one man, that gift in which another is deficient.
But a truce to banter. It’s all jesting with you on such a matter. You are not worth the trouble. Therefore sneer on good Salt, condemn what you don’t understand, pooh pooh, what is distasteful to you, above all things keep your money, and for all that, without your mighty “mite”. I trust you will soon hear of a committee formed for the carrying out a project wish has found favour in the eyes of some of our worthiest townsmen and will at the same time redeem the town from disgrace, and be an ornament and credit to it. With thanks for your space and patience,
I remain yours obediently & obliged
T.R.

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