Alfred Burdon Ellis

Alfred Burdon Ellis (10 January 1852 – 5 March 1894) was a British Army officer and ethnographer, known for his writings on West Africa.

Life The son of Lieutenant-general Samuel Burdon Ellis and his wife Louisa Drayson, daughter of the governor of Waltham Abbey factory, was born at Bowater House, Woolwich, on 10 January 1852. He was educated at the Royal Naval School, New Cross, entering the army as sub-lieutenant in the 34th Foot on 2 November 1872. He became lieutenant in the 1st West India Regiment on 12 November 1873. With them he was ordered to Ashanti, and arrived at the Gold Coast in December 1873, beginning a long connection with West Africa. He served through the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, receiving the medal.

Ellis was temporarily employed as civil commandant during the early part of 1874 at Seccondee on the Gold Coast; he was recalled to military duty in May 1874. In 1875, he paid a visit to Monrovia, and the following year he spent mostly in the West Indies. In March 1877 he visited the Gambia on his way to Sierra Leone, where his regiment was now ordered. He went on leave to England that summer, and on 27 October 1877 was seconded for service with the Gold Coast constabulary. He was sent to survey the country around Mankessim, capital of the Fante country. In January 1878 he went to act as district commissioner at Keta, and in October and November of that year conducted operations of constabulary against the Anlo people.

At the end of 1893 Ellis was asked to conduct an expedition against the Malian Sofas fighting for Samori Ture. In its course occurred the armed clash at Waiima, Kono District, Sierra Leone when British and French forces fired on each other, causing fatalities. On returning from this expedition he was struck down by fever, and on 16 February went to Tenerife to recover; but died there on 5 March 1894.

Works From 1871 to 1882 Ellis made use of opportunities to visit islands off the western coast of Africa. From 1882 onwards most of his spare time was spent on studies of African ethnology and language. His works, all published in London, were:

West African Sketches, 1881. The Land of Fetish, 1883. A History of the West India Regiment, 1885. West African Islands, 1885. South African Sketches, 1887. The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West Africa, 1887. The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, 1890. A History of the Gold Coast, 1893. The Yoruba-speaking People of the Slave Coast of West Africa, 1894.

Family Ellis married, on 5 June 1871, Emma, daughter of Philip King, and left four children.