Fonds F 169 - Phillip William Ellis family fonds

Philip William Ellis (b. 1856) was founding partner of P.W. Ellis and Company, manufacturing jewellers and silversmiths, in Toronto, Ontario during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Phillip W. Ellis was born in Ontario on 11 September 1856, son of William Henry Ellis and Susan Cain. Phillip entered the family business, establishing P.W. Ellis and Company, manufacturing jewellers and silversmiths, in Toronto, Ontario in the early 1880s. The company included Phillip's brother Matthew Cain Ellis and uncle Richard Yates Ellis, who were later joined by Philip's two younger brothers, Stephen D. Ellis and William Gordon Ellis.

Philip Ellis married Elizabeth Kate Gooderham at Toronto on 3 November 1880.

William Henry Ellis (b. ca. 1835), born into a family of jewellers, was an engineer and civil servant in Ontario during the nineteenth century, active in the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway.

William Henry Ellis, son of jeweller James E. Ellis, was born around 1835 in England. He immigrated to Canada with his family in the mid-1840s. He was an engineer and civil servant, constructing part of the Grand Trunk Railway and the Toronto Esplanade. William Henry Ellis and his brother Richard Yates Ellis were also members of the Hungerford Marble Co, and its activities were connected to William Henry Ellis' activities in railroad construction, providing transportation routes for the company.

Ellis was married in Toronto in 1855 to Susannah or Susan Jane Quirk, also born in England, who had immigrated to Canada in 1848. Their children included twins Phillip William Ellis and Matthew Cain Ellis, Charles Shuttleworth Ellis, Thomas Danvers Ellis, and William Gordon Ellis. William Henry Ellis died before the end of the nineteenth century.

William Gordon Ellis (b. 1871) was a co-founder and owner of the Bedford Park Real Estate Co., and was a member of the Toronto Rate Payers Association in the early twentieth century.

William Gordon Ellis was born on 27 June 1871, son of William Henry Ellis and Susan Jane Quirk.

He joined his brother's jewellers business, P.W. Ellis and Company. William and his uncle Richard Yates Ellis later formed the Bedford Park Real Estate Company and, to this end, purchased Parcel 625 (west section) from James John Quirk in 1914. William Gordon Ellis was also a member of the Toronto Rate Payers Association.

Richard Yates Ellis (b. 1848?) was an Ontario businessman during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Richard Yates Ellis, son of James E. Ellis, was born on 5 December [1848?] in Ontario, at which time his parents were recent immigrants to Canada, probably arriving soon before Richard's birth. He was working as a commercial traveller in 1881 but sometime before 1890 joined a jewellery firm owned by his nephews, P.W. Ellis and Company. He was also a member of the Hungerford Marble Co, and its activities were connected to his brother William Henry Ellis' activities in railroad construction, providing transportation routes for the company. Richard Yates and his nephew William Gordon Ellis created the Bedford Park Real Estate Company, and to this end, purchased Parcel 625 (west section) from James John Quirk in 1914. He also served as Treasurer of this company.

Richard Yates Ellis married a woman named Laura, who had emigrated from the US in 1889.

The Ellis family, of Toronto, were involved in many different businesses in Ontario during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, including The P.W. Ellis Co., The Hungerford Marble Co. and the Bedford Park Real Estate Company.

The Ellis family of Toronto, Ontario originated with James E. Ellis (b. ca. 1818), a jeweller who emigrated with his family from England around 1847, and many of whose descendents carried on in the jewellery business in Toronto.

James Ellis founded James E. Ellis and Company, jewellers and clockmaker, in Toronto soon after immigrating to Canada. In time the principals of the company consisted of himself, his eldest son James E. Ellis the younger, and his son-in-law Matthew J. Cain. Frank Ellis, another son, was also a jeweller. Among the remaining sons in the large family of James E. Ellis the elder were William Henry Ellis, an engineer and civil servant involved in the Grand Trunk Railway, and Richard Yates Ellis, who worked for a time as a commercial traveller. Richard later joined several of his nephews, sons of his brother William, including Philip William Ellis, in a separate Toronto jewellery firm, P.W. Ellis and Company, in the 1880s, with James E. Ellis and Company continuing to operate as a separate company.

Members of the family were involved in other business interests as well, including The Hungerford Marble Company and The Bedford Park Real Estate Company.

Matthew Cain Ellis (1857-1927) was a partner in P.W. Ellis and Company, manufacturing jewellers and silversmiths, in Toronto, Ontario in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Matthew Ellis was born on 11 September 1856, son of William Henry Ellis and Susan Jane Quirk. Named for his maternal uncle Matthew Cain, he was the twin brother of Philip William Ellis.

Matthew C. Ellis went into partnership with his brother Philip and uncle Richard Yates Ellis around 1878 to form the Toronto firm of P.W. Ellis and Company Limited. By 1891, the firm was involved in the medal and jewellery business in two offices, at 31 Wellington Street and 40 Front Street. By 1910, Matthew Ellis was Vice- President.

Matthew C. Ellis married Harriette Vallack and their children included Matthew Langdon Ellis, Harriet V. Ellis, Douglas Ellis, and Helen Ellis.

Matthew Langdon Ellis (1891-1938) was a Lieutenant serving with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France, 1915-1918.

Matthew Langdon Ellis, son of Matthew Cain Ellis and his wife Harriet, was born in Toronto on 23 July 1891.

Ellis served for about eleven months with the Second Regiment, Queen's Own Rifles, and was commissioned Lieutenant with the 83rd Battalion, Q.O.R., at Toronto in 1915. He left for England in 1916 and was transferred at first to the 36th Reserve Battalion, later moving to the 86th Battalion. He proceeded to France with the 9th Brigade Machine Gun Company and was wounded at Passchaendaele in 1917. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 and was honourably discharged. He also received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

After his discharge, he took up employment in the family business, P.W. Ellis and Company, and by 1926 was its Secretary.