Life

The son of John Ellis of Peckham

Peckham

Peckham is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...

, Ellis was admitted a member of St. John's College, Cambridge, 9 April 1836, elected a scholar 5 November 1839, and graduated B.A. as fifth wrangler in 1840, obtaining a fellowship 20 March 1841. He took his M.A. degree in 1843, and was ordained two years later. In 1850 he commenced B.D. He vacated his fellowship by his marriage, 2 April 1872, at Meole Brace

Meole Brace

Meole Brace is a suburb of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.The Rea Brook flows through the area, a tributary of the River Severn. The brook was in the past known as the "Meole Brook". The name Meole Brace comes from the old Saxon manor house, which no longer stands, owned by the Brace family...

, near Shrewsbury, to Jane, daughter of Francis France of Nobold

Nobold

Nobold is a small village on the south-western edge of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England. It is located on the Shrewsbury to Longden road. Nobold boasts Shropshire's oldest natural water well.Nearby are Meole Brace and Hook-a-Gate villages....

, Shropshire. He died, 20 December 1885, at 3 Higher Summerlands, Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, aged 65. He is chiefly known by his sharp controversy with William John Law

William John Law

William John Law was a British judge of the 19th century.-Biography:Law was born on December 6, 1786. His father, Ewan Law, second son of Edmund Law, Bishop of Carlisle, was Member of Parliament for Westbury, Wiltshire, 1790–5, for Newtown, Isle of Wight, 5 May to 29 June 1802, and died at...

, which ranged from 1854 to 1885, on the route followed by Hannibal in his passage of the Alps

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

. Ellis had investigated the subject during excursions in the Alps in July 1852 and in April and May 1853.

Works

• A Treatise on Hannibal's Passage of the Alps, in which his route is traced over the Little Mount Cenis, 8vo, Cambridge [printed], London, 1853. On this subject he also wrote two elaborate dissertations in December 1855 and in March 1856 in The Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology (ii, 308-29, iii. 1-34), which are entitled 'Observations on Mr. Law's "Criticism of Mr. Ellis's new Theory concerning the Route of Hannibal."'
• Contributions to the Ethnography of Italy and Greece, 8vo, London, 1858.
• The Armenian Origin of the Etruscans, 8vo, London, 1861.
• An Enquiry into the Ancient Routes between Italy and Gaul; with an examination of the Theory of Hannibal's Passage of the Alps by the Little St. Bernard, 8vo, Cambridge, 1867.
• The Asiatic Affinities of the Old Italians, 8vo, London, 1870.
• On Numerals as Signs of Primeval Unity among Mankind, 8vo, London, 1873.
• Peruvia Scythica. The Quichus Language
  Quechua languages
  Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
  
  of Peru; its derivation from Central Asia with the American Languages in general, and with the Turanian and Iberian Languages of the Old World, &c., 8vo, London, 1875.
• Etruscan Numerals, 8vo, London, 1876.
• Sources of the Etruscan and Basque Languages [with a preface by Mrs. Jane Ellis], 8vo, London, 1886.