Thomas William - 'Master Mariner'
(Updated 9th March 2008)
Thomas William Ellis was born in Poonah, India on 8th May 1841.
He was the son of George Ellis and Mary Ann Ellis (nee Bradley). George was, at that time, a Sergeant with the 4th Light Dragoons on a tour of duty in Poonah. The record of Thomas' baptism on the 30th May 1841 is recorded on microform in the Oriental & India Collection at the British Library in London.
Nothing has been uncovered regarding Thomas' childhood - George Ellis re-married in 1848 (to Jane Bright, a Gloucester girl) while on tour of duty in Ireland; Mary Ann had died while Thomas was still young (no details have yet been found) and George himself died in 1856 in Trowbridge Barracks.
At the time of the 1851 census, George (any possibly the whole family) was in Ireland. In the 1861 census we find Jane Ellis living alone;in Trowbridge 5 years after her husband's death - but no children; instead, Thomas was recorded (aged 19) as a "Mariner" in a Liverpool hotel. No record has been found of Thomas in the 1871 census; it is assumed he was at sea.
On the 16th March 1872, Thomas was awarded his Master's Certificate of Competency (No. 63) at Quebec, Canada.
Lloyd's Captains Registers trace his service from 1872 to 1893 (so far), but as far as records show, he only served as "Captain" on two ships.
Thomas married for the first time at Liverpool Register Office on 6th November 1875 to Martha Caroline Cotton, the daughter of a farmer (possibly from Staffs). Sadly, Martha died in 1880 of breast cancer in a Liverpool hospice of the day. No known children have been found, and it is suspected that none survived as there is no mention of older children in later years.
On the 18th September 1881, Thomas remarried, to Hannah Dodd ; the daughter of a dock clerk, in Christchurch Kensington, West Derby , Liverpool. They settled in Bootle.
Thomas does not feature in the April 1881 census, so far as can be determined, although Hannah Dodd and her family do.
Thomas and Hannah had ten children between 1882 and 1900 but two were lost of Scarlet Fever. During this time all the ships that Thomas served on, mainly as 'mate', were all registered in Liverpool.
Despite family stories that say he died at sea in 1901, it has been found that, on the 12th November 1899, Thomas died at home of heart disease at the reported age of 58 years. He was listed on his death certificate as "Dock Labourer" , so he must have been either unable to find ship work or else he was unfit for sea duties. Hannah was not able to cope with so many children (she had seven surviving children in 1901) and so two of her sons (Frederick and Thomas) were admitted to the Royal Liverpool Seaman's Orphanage in Liverpool where they stayed from 1900-1905. Admittance records state that Thomas William's last ship was "Nepthis" belonging to the MOSS Line (Montreal Ocean Steam Ship Company).