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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Mr. Nicholas Ellis

Mr. Nicholas Ellis was the third son of Captain Dixie Ellis of His Majesty's 49th Regiment, and was educated at King William's College, Isle of Man. He entered the railway department in the north of England, and in 1855 went out to the Crimea, where he served in the Turkish Contingent, Commissariat Department, during the war, and received the Sultan's medal with the order of the Medijie. In 1857 Mr. Ellis left the army, and came to Wellington in the ship “Alma,” and settled in Canterbury immediately afterwards. For the first few years of his colonial experience, he was engaged in quarrying, in partnership with his brother, under the style of N. and A. Ellis, Greystone Quarries, Cashmere. A great deal of the stone which appears in many important public buildings in Christchurch was quarried by the firm, including that used in the building of the Bank of New Zealand, the Cathedral, Durham Street Wesleyan church, and the immense seven-ton stone which forms the basement of the Godley monument. Mr. Ellis was appointed overseer for the Riccarton Road Board in 1868, and held the position up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 5th of March, 1901. He was also inspector under the Board of Health, and was Government Valuer for the district for many years.