Rev James John Ellis scrapbooks
Four volumes of material (notes, articles, maps, publications, photographs, copies of letters, etc) collected and created by Rev Ellis regarding his and others Methodist missionary work in the MMS District of Tiruchi and, particularly in and around Dharapuram, India.
| Order number: |
MMS/Special Series/Biographical/India/Box 1213 |
|---|---|
| Date(s) of creation: |
c1909-c1979 |
| Level: |
Sub-Sub-Series |
| Format: | Archive |
| Main author: | Ellis; James John (1883-1962); ordained missionary |
| Other authors: | Hobday; James (1829-1889); ordained and educational missionary, Hobday; George (1830-1912); ordained missionary |
| collection |
SOAS Archive |
|---|---|
| id |
MMS.17.02.06.20 |
| recordtype |
archive |
| scb_item_location |
Archive & Special Collections |
| item_location |
Archive & Special Collections |
| scb_loan_type |
Reference only |
| scb_order_with |
MMS/Special Series/Biographical/India/Box 1213 |
| callnumber |
MMS/17/02/06/20 |
| callnumber_txt |
MMS/17/02/06/20 |
| callnumber-sort |
MMS/17/02/06/20 |
| prefix_number |
20 |
| scb_previous_numbers |
MCOD ACC NO 190 |
| title |
Rev James John Ellis scrapbooks |
| scb_date_creation |
c1909-c1979 |
| scb_level |
Sub-Sub-Series |
| level_sort |
6/Collection/Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Sub-Collection/Series/Sub-Series/Sub-Sub-Series/ |
| scb_extent |
Four volumes |
| author |
Ellis; James John (1883-1962); ordained missionary |
| author_facet |
Ellis; James John (1883-1962); ordained missionary Hobday; James (1829-1889); ordained and educational missionary Hobday; George (1830-1912); ordained missionary |
| authorStr |
Ellis; James John (1883-1962); ordained missionary |
| author_letter |
Ellis; James John (1883-1962); ordained missionary |
| author2 |
Hobday; James (1829-1889); ordained and educational missionary Hobday; George (1830-1912); ordained missionary |
| author2Str |
Hobday; James (1829-1889); ordained and educational missionary Hobday; George (1830-1912); ordained missionary |
| format |
Archive |
| scb_admin_history |
James John Ellis was born in Wacton, Norfolk in 1883 and educated at the Central High School & York College in Leeds, Yorkshire. After graduating in science from Manchester University he considered a career in medicine but instead decided to enter the ministry leaving Didsbury College in 1907. He was then posted to India where he served at Findlay High School (later College) in Mannargudi in the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society district of Trichinopoly. In 1909 Ellis was involved in the conversion of two Brahman students, Paul Rungaramanjura and John Krishnaswami, which led to hostility from some local Hindus who burnt down the Methodist chapel. Relationships with the local Hindu community were difficult and it was a couple of years before the school returned to normal.
In 1911 Ellis relocated to the Madras District and was involved principally in evangelical work. On 6 October 1913 he married Amy Mildred Comben and in the same year they relocated to the Trichinopoly/Tiruchi District, being stationed at Dharapuram. For the next 30 years he was involved in a mass conversation movement in the district which saw the number of Christians expand from under 2000 in 1907 to over 46,000 in 1943. Ellis was directly involved in the expansion at Dharapuram where a large church, schools, hospital and training institution were all erected. He also found time to retain some involvement with Findlay College, serve on the District Education Council, act as missionary secretary for the Trichinopoly District and for his last ten years there as Chairman. In 1941 he was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind gold medal and two years later he handed over the Chairmanship to his former charge, the Rev Paul Rangaramanujam (whom he wrote a biography of in 1949).
By 1944 Ellis had returned to England where he served for three years at Mosley Road in Birmingham before becoming a supernumerary at Filey in Yorkshire. Even in retirement Ellis was involved in evangelism holding classes for young Methodists in his home. He died at Filey on 8 July 1962.
Further Reading:
Ellis, J C, Christians at work: Mannargudi, Madras and Dharapuram, 1907-1943 (MA, University of Sheffield, 1977);
Ellis, J J, Paul Rangaramanujam, servant of Jesus Christ (1949);
Noble, W J, Ploughing the rock: the story of the Trichinopoly District mass movement (1928);
'On this rock': being sketches of work in the Trichinopoly District of the Methodist Mission in South India (1939). |
| scb_custodial_history |
Gift to Methodist Church Overseas Division from Mr J C Ellis of Brigg, Lincolnshire, January 1993 |
| description |
Four volumes of material (notes, articles, maps, publications, photographs, copies of letters, etc) collected and created by Rev Ellis regarding his and others Methodist missionary work in the MMS District of Tiruchi and, particularly in and around Dharapuram, India. |
| scb_related_name_code |
GB/SOASNAF/P977 GB/SOASNAF/P978 GB/SOASNAF/P979 |
| scb_place_code |
1272873 1269750 7729896 |
| scb_access_status |
Open |
| scb_conditions_gov_access |
Gloves to be worn when consulting photographs |
| scb_copyright |
Copyright principally held by Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes |
| scb_use_restrictions |
For permission to publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library in the first instance |
| language |
English Tamil |
| language_search |
English Tamil |
| scb_related_material |
Also within the records of the (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society is the official correspondence for James John Ellis (MMS/India/Correspondence/Trichinopoly/FBN 40-41 & MMS/India/Correspondence/Madras/FBN 28). Further information on his work, as well as the work of his colleagues, will be contained in the relevant Synod Minutes (MMS/India/Synod Minutes/FBN 6-8 & MMS/India/Synod Minutes/South India/FBN 12-22). |
| hierarchy_top_id_raw |
MMS |
| hierarchy_sequence |
MMS.0017.0002.0006.0020 |