"Notictis" or tbt 1Ellt11 e11. " - - o-- No, ! · of 1his work was published by Mr. J. R. Smilh, 36, Soho ·square, London, March 1857, and wu sold, arid is still on ,ale, by him, for 2s. 500 co11ies were prin ted, No. II, w111 issued September, 1862, No. Ill. March, 1864, and No. IV. and lasl, March, 1866; the 4 Numbe~ making a Volume of 300 Pazu. Not, JC., Ill., and IV l\'tre pri n1ed for private circulation only, :nd 2.50 copies of each were slruck off'; 1he.e have been dillributed chief. ly amongst peuon, of the name of Bilis in England, Scot. land, and Ireland; a Li,1, of theseR ecipienta isgive-n at the end of No. IV, in ad_di tion to whom, tho chief Library_ of abou t a dozen of the princ ipal Town, of the Uni ted Kingdom have received copies of ~he work, Complete copiu of the work have also been presented by the Author to W, IT, Whitmore, Esq., of l!os100, , U.S., and 10 the Neto En1l011d G, ftealogu,J Society; and 10 the latter 100 copiu of No. I. T~ ,acb of 1hese, this Notice is auached, to prevtnt on the part ot their ownera, or other, io the United Statci•, a useJess apolication (or the succeeding !lumbers, W. S. EL LIS, Charh,ood, Surrey, England, N~Yember, 1866. ** * Some of the opinions and theories expressed in No, I. subsequent investigation has discovered to be unsound : and some statements to be unfounded. These are noticed in the subsequent numbers, and are chiefly and in brief as follows :- P. 3. Wm. A!is, who held "Ellatune" (Alling. ton, co, Hants.) at the Domesday Survey was progenitor of Roger Alis, 1161, who was ancestor of Sir Wm. Alis, 1184, Sir Rog.er Alis, and Sir Thomas Alis, temp Hen, III,, and Wm, Alis, temp Edw. I. whose two d. and co.h. carried the estate to their respective husbands, Robert Helion, and Wm. Wodelock. It is an error therefore of the lnquisitiones that a Roger Alys died seized of it 12 Rich. lI. P. 7. Robe rt Camerarius was not ancestor of the Fitz-Elyses. P. 9. The Scotch Family of Alison is not as known descended•from the ldises. Archibald is a com. mon Scotch Christian name, and the arms of the Alisom; 3 :fieurs de lis, seem to be adopted from the French Ror al family of Alengun, whose they were. Sir Archibalil Elys is, as yet proved, a mythical personage, though it i:; possible there may have been such a person, descencletl from the Alises of Allington, and living temp Richard I. The account of the Ellises in Burke's Commoners an4 Landed ()-entry, is for the most part untrustworthy. OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND, FROM THE CONQUEST 'fO THE PRESENT TIME, INCLUDING THE FAMILIES OF ALIS, FITZ-ELYS, RELLES, ETC. BY WILLIAM SMITH ELLIS, ESQ., OF '.l'RE MIDDLE TEMPLE, "No man of well-regulated mind can feel aninitiiference respecting the genealogy -of his family."-RICHARD COBDEN (Letter to the Author, Jan. 3, 1852). "There is a great deal more in Genealogies than is generallybelieved."-THOMAS CARLYLE (at Edinburgh, April 2, 1866). 1!/ttic babto non tibi. "'l'l · father's father bore it· His father's father wore it:" As You Lik• It. 1857. [Not Published.] 1866. PRE:FACE. " -- Sparsa coegi." THE first Number or this Work was published March, 1857, with an intimation that it was " offered to those interested as the first number of a quarterly periodical intended as a medium of inter-communication on the elucidation of their ancestry by the Ellises of the present day."* The reception it met with was not such as to lead to the publication of a second number. But in September, 1862, anxious that the Collections I had formed should be recorded in print, I was induced to continue the work, and issued the Second Number gratuitously to about 200 of the Gentry bearing the name of Ellis. The result of this was a sufficient number of communications, together with the product of my own further researches, to justify the issue of a Third Number in March, 1864. But the indifference with which these two Numbers have been received, evidenced by the fact of not One-Fourth of their Recipients acknowledging their receipt, may be taken as conclusive of the inability or unwill­ ingness of the majority of the Ellises of the present day to give an account of their ancestry, and their apathy on the subject. Notwithstanding, in order to complete a volume that may per-· haps interest the rising generation, I now issue a Fourth and Concluding Number, containing the residue of my Collections, what communications I have received, and some chapters em­ bodying the fruits of considerable research, that may serve as guides to those who may hereafter prosecute these enquiries. To the comparatively small number who have shown an in- * The advantage of a periorlical publication comprising the labours of many inquirers over isolated researches must be obvious, especially in the record of family traditions and knowledge of their ancestry by the e:x:isting Ellises, one pedigree elucidating another, and the labours of one person facilitating and often super­ seding those of others. Any great progress in the compilation of Pedigrees of the Ellises can only be made by e:x:tensive co-operation, even if all the Parish Registers and Wills of the Kingdom were accessible in one central spot. Another genera­ tion may possibly witness the formation of Societies like our Archreological Societies, of Persons' bearing the same Name, for the illustration of their Genealogies. IV terest in the subject, and thanked me for my labours; and to the very much smaller number who have prosecuted any en­ quiries of their own, and thus assisted me, I must address a few parting observations. These pages record the Pedigrees of the knightly family of Alis which lasted from the Conquest till the time of Edw. II.; of the knightly family of Fitz-Elys which flourished from the time of Henry II. to Henry VI. ; of the knightly family of Elys of Kiddall which endured upwards of five centuries ; of the armigerous family of Elys of Stoneacre which subsisted nearly four centuries; and of the distinguished and titled family of Ellys of Wyham which continued from the 15th to the 18th century. Reasons have been advanced for deducing all these families from the Sir William Alis mentioned in Domesday and Ordericiis Vitalis; and to confirm or refute these will be the task of future Genealogists of the Ellises, as also to solve the problems connected with their various armorial bearings. Most of these families branched out into ramifications that pervaded not only all England but Scotland and Ireland; and thousands of the Ellises of the present day must be descended from them. All therefore who bear the name of Ellis, who have their ancestry to discover, may possibly, and very many of them according to circumstaces probably, find that ancestry in one of the ancient families mentioned. There are few Families bear­ ing names of the class to which that of Ellis belongs that can be traced up to the Conquest ; a host of Families bearing local names, and names derived from occupations, cannot be traced . nearly so high; and not half of the titled families of the king~ dom can carry their pedigrees as far back as the Crusades. If then it be a gratification to contemplate a long line of an­ cestry, and to indulge in all the associations through the varied March of History and Progress of Society connected with it ; if it be a source of pride to bear an ancient and time-honoured coat of arms and crest; it is certain that many of the Ellises of the present day are entitled to these sentimental pleasures, and to feel that they are not of those whose "ignoble blood Has crept through scoundrels ever since the flood!' Those Ellises who are not of the lineage of the Families V enumerated may have, many of them, a not less ancient de­ scent, as the Ellises of Welch origin, and the descendants of many an Elias of eminence recorded in these pages. Though I do not propose to continue this work, my researches will nevertheless not cease; and I shall be thankful for any additions and corrections to the volume of the Notices now completed. W. S. ELLIS. Hydecroft-, Charlwood, Surrey. DIRECTIONS TO BINDER. *** It is recommended to haYe the work bound interleaved, and also a qnire of blank paper at the beginning and end, which will give the opportunity of insert­ ing MS. Additions, Pedigrees, etc., Drawings of Arms, Churches, Mansions, Tombs ,tc., and Photographic Portraits, thus making the Yolume a Family Memorial. 1. Fae Simile of Deed, to face p. 213. 2. Stoneacre, to face p. 85. 3. Kiddall Hall, to face p. 170. 4. Arms of Descendants of Thomas Elys, Esq., to face p. 79. 5. Hydecroft, to face the Title. 6. Plate of Arms, to face p. 1. (Explanation.) CRESTS, 1. ELLIS of Kiddall and Stoneacre. 2. --- Wyham (p. 73). 3. ---- Yorks. (ancient). ARMS, I. Or on a cross sable 5 crescents arg. (Borne by Sir HENRY ELYS of Yorkshire; Roll of Arms 1307-18.) II. Gnles on a fess arg. 3 escallops azure between 3 crescents or ( Arms of ELLIS of Wyham, borne in the 16th century). III. Or on a cross sable 5 escallops arg. (Borne by Sir JOHN ELYS ; Roll of Arms 1392-7).