Sir Samuel Howard Ellis (2 June 1889 – 19 January 1949) was a New Zealand lawyer, public servant and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er.

Early life

Ellis was born in 1889 in

Waipu Waipu may refer to: New Zealand *Waipu Lagoons, near New Plymouth *Waipu, New Zealand, town in Northland *Waipu River, river in Northland Taiwan *Waipu District, Taichung *Waipu Fishing Port The Waipu Fishing Port () is a fishing port in Houl ...

, where his father was headmaster of the local school. He attended

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...

, before studying at Auckland University College.New Knight for Fiji
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', July 1943, p7

Legal career and public service

After leaving university, Ellis worked as a lawyer and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in New Zealand in 1912.Death of Sir Howard Ellis of Fiji
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', February 1949, p28 He moved to Fiji the following year. During World War I he served in the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

. He was shot down over France in 1916 and taken prisoner, but was exchanged in 1918 and joined the Royal Air Force. He was awarded a military MBE in 1918. After returning to Fiji following the war, Ellis later joined the civil service and became Director of Labour and National Service. In this role he also served on the

Executive Council Executive Council may refer to: Government * Executive Council (Commonwealth countries), a constitutional organ that exercises executive power and advises the governor * Executive Council of Bern, the government of the Swiss canton of Bern * Ex ...

, and was knighted in the

1943 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1943 were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the British Empire. They were published on 2 June 1943 for the United Kingdom and Canada. The re ...

Cricket career

A wicketkeeper-batsman, Ellis played three first-class cricket matches for Auckland in 1911/12.

Personal life

Ellis married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Mackenzie, the daughter of New Zealand Prime Minister Thomas Mackenzie, in London in 1918. She died in 1924. The second was to Nell Joske in 1926. He died in Auckland in January 1949 at the age of 59.

References

External links