ELLIS
,
RICHARD
(
1865
-
1928
),
librarian and bibliographer
;
b.
14 Oct. 1869
, son of
John
Ellis
,
lime merchant
, of
Aberystwyth
. He spent some time in a school kept by
David
Samuel
(q.v.)
and at the
University College of Aberystwyth
, before proceeding to
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, where he graduated in
1901
, later getting a
research fellowship
which enabled him to start his life's work — the collection of all the available materials relating to the life and
work of
Edward
Lhuyd
(q.v.)
. He published the first-fruits of his research in
Trans. Cymm.
,
1906-7
, under the title ‘
Some incidents in the life of Edward Lhuyd
’; but he did not finish his work of arranging his materials for the publication of a standard work on the life and times of
Lhuyd
, and left them in his will to the
University College library
,
Aberystwyth
. His work on
Lhuyd
made him a specialist in the history of many other
Welshmen
who were connected with
Oxford
. He published (
a
)
Facsimiles of Letters of Oxford Welshmen
(
Henry
Vaughan
the
Silurist
,
Sir
Leoline
Jenkins
,
Edward
Lhuyd
,
Ellis
Wynne
,
Edward
Samuel
,
Moses
Williams
), and (
b
)
An Elizabethan Broadside in the Welsh Language, being a Brief granted in 1591 to Sion Salusburi of Gwyddelwern, Merionethshire
. The first of these two is not dated, but the second was published in
1904
.
Towards the end of
1907
Ellis
took charge of the
Welsh library
at
Aberystwyth College
, and within a year was elected
principal assistant
to
(
Sir
)
John
Ballinger
(q.v.)
, the first
librarian
of the
National Library of Wales
. He did not, however, remain long in his new post but returned to
Oxford
to try to finish his research. He d.
6 Sept. 1928
at
Oxford
and was buried at
Aberystwyth
.
Bibliography:
-
The Welsh Gazette
,
13 Sept. 1928
;
-
The Cambrian News
,
14 Sept. 1928
;
-
T. Gwynn Jones
,
Cymeriadau
, Wrecsam, 1933
, 105-16.
Author:
Sir William Llewelyn Davies, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. (1887-1952),
Aberystwyth
Corrections and additions:
ELLIS
,
RICHARD
(
1865
-
1928
),
librarian and bibliophile (
DWB
, 210-1)
;
see the article,
Trans. Cymm.
,
1977
, on
Ellis
's career and his work on
Edward
Lhuyd
(
DWB
, 565)
which corrects and supplements the original entry.
Ellis
was born on
27 Dec. 1865
. He was educated, probably, at a private grammar school in
Aberystwyth
run by
David
Samuel
(
DWB
, 903)
before he entered the
University College
at
Aberystwyth
in
1889
. He was awarded a
scholarship
to
Jesus College
Oxford
in
1893
but, for family reasons, he did not enter the college until
1898
. He was again awarded a scholarship, on the recommendation of
R.L.
Poole
, in
1899
. He graduated
B.A.
in
1902
and
M.A.
in
1908
. At
Oxford
, he began to work on the manuscripts and letters of
Edward
Lhuyd
with the intention of publishing these papers. In
1908
, he was appointed, in succession to
J. Glyn
Davies
, the
Welsh Librarian
at the
University College
,
Aberystwyth
and he moved to the
National Library
when it opened in
1909
. But he was not happy there and he returned to
Oxford
with a research scholarship in
1912
. From
1916
to the end of
World War I
, he was the only
assistant librarian
at the
Codrington Library
in
All Souls College
. Early in the
1920s
,
Ellis
returned to
Aberystwyth
. He spent a few weeks during
1927
in
Dublin
where he pursued his research on
Lhuyd
. For the same reason, he went to
Oxford
in
July 1928
and there he died. In
1903
,
Ellis
published his
Facsimiles of Letters of Oxford Welshmen
on
Whatman paper
. In addition to the facsimile ‘broadside’ published in
1904
, he published another facsimile in
1907
—
Carol o gyngor yn galennig i'r Cymru 1658 Mathew Owen
. A selection of his
English
verse is published in the article cited above.
Author:
Evan David Jones, F.S.A., (1903-87), Aberystwyth
