Ellis or
Allis?
The origins
of this family were at first thought to be perhaps an offshoot from
the Allis family of Bristol, or even a separate group of long
standing in the area. John Alys of Bryggewater Somerset, a mercer,
was seen in the common pleas in 1475, 1477 and 1484 for example. However, this
now seems not to be the case.
A headstone
in the churchyard at Wembdon, Somerset for George, Robert, Sarah and
John Allice shows them to be of the same family where Robert and
Sarah are the mother and father.
John gave
his birthplace in the 1851 census as Durleigh which is close to
Bridgwater but the baptism for Robert was not found there, however
there is one in Bridgwater, the son of Peter and Catherine Ellis.
Peter and
Catherine had a number of children between 1794 and 1818 baptised at
Durleigh and Bridgwater (St. Mary) with surnames Allice, Wallis,
Ellis, Allis and Alice.
In the 1851
census Peter gives his birthplace as Butterleigh in Devon and his
baptism can be found on the 12 January 1769 with his parents Robert
and Rebecca Ellis. He married Catherine Trapmill as Peter Ellis on
the 31 March in Bridgwater.
Most in the
family continued to use Ellis while a few others used Allice which
compared to the other families looked at over the country is unusual.
In some cases the name appears to have been used interchangeably with
some documents having Allice / Allis and others Ellis for the same
person. For example, Ellen Ellis (birth registered in Exeter in 1865) the
daughter of James Ellis and Mary Ann Mayne married in Wembdon and
she signed the marriage register as Ellen Allice. When their children
were registered her maiden name was shown as Ellis. (Interestingly the marriage records that James Allice married Mary Ann Mayne in Trinity, Somerset, though James did only make his mark).
This family
appears to be essentially Ellis originating from Devon but where some members used Allice (with occasional Allis spellings). As this was used on a number of documents including wills and polling records, and over a long period of time, it appears to be a deliberate choice on the part of the Wembdon, Somerset branch. It certainly wasn't just a mis-spelling on the part of one or two officials, though it is possible that might have been the start of it.
They don't like to make it easy for us do they?
