John Ellis (pastoralist)

Ellis was born c. 1803, to Sarah and Thomas Ellis, a clergyman of the Church of England.^[1]

He arrived in South Australia from England on the Buckinghamshire on 22 March 1839,^[2] listed as "Captain Ellis", though on what basis it is not known, and in company of his brother George Ellis.^[3]

In July 1839, he and his longtime friend Captain William Allen purchased two thirds of "Milner Estate" near Port Gawler from George Milner Stephen,^[4] the misrepresentation of which transaction was to haunt Stephen in later years. In 1855, he purchased Allen's share.^[5] This area includes the land later known as Buckland Park, which he sold to J. H. Browne and Col. P. J. Browne in 1856. He took up the nearby Hummocks run in 1842, and Barabba, north-east of Mallala, South Australia, in August 1844.

He bought land in New Zealand.

Starting in 1851, he purchased over 50,000 freehold acres in the Hundreds of Benara and Blanche, between Mount Gambier and Port MacDonnell and 34 square miles of leasehold land, where he ran some 73,000 sheep,^[6] He purchased the remainder of Benara (originally spelled Benaira) and an adjacent station, Coola comprising 22,000 acres of freehold and 36,000 acres of leasehold, from the South Australian Company in 1875.^[7]

The general manager of most of his properties, and largely responsible for his good fortune, was Hugh Cameron (c. May 1796 – 10 June 1884).^[8] Born in the Braes of Rannoch, Scotland, he is reported as arriving in South Australia early in 1838, but perhaps arrived on the Thomas Harrison 25 February 1839, or the Lady Bute 18 June 1839. The Hundred of Cameron was named for him.^[9]

Another significant employee was J. C. Kennedy (c. 1827 – 10 October 1897), from the same part of Scotland, who managed the Benara and Coola properties for him, then for his son T. C. Ellis.^[10]

In June 1851, he accepted the petition of a number of electors for the seat of Flinders in the reconstituted Legislative Council,^[11] and in August 1851 became one of the first sixteen elected parliamentarians in South Australia.^[12]