The Veness Family History

The Ellis Family Story Pearl and Thelma Ellis (twins) were born 3 January 1916, at Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales, to Thomas William Ellis and Ivy Pearl Haydon. They later had a brother, Thomas William Ellis born 6 May 1921. The following history of the Ellis family has been written by Pearl Ellis in 1997: My life began on 3 January 1916. Twenty minutes later my twin sister, Thelma, was born. Our mother was Ivy Pearl Haydon, and our father was Thomas William Ellis. When we were 5 years old our brother, Thomas William, was born, and named after our Dad. My mother’s great-grandparents came from Yelling, England, on the sailing ship “Una” in 1849. They were Samuel See (b. 1822) and Ann Cullip (b. 1823). Samuel was a coalminer, and went to work at the Newcastle Minmi and Wallsend mines in New South Wales. My dad’s father’s parents came from Staffordshire, England, arriving in 1854. They were Thomas Ellis (b. about 1830) and Elizabeth Griffiths (b. 1833). Thomas was a stonemason. Dad’s mother’s parents, Thomas Birks (b. 1838) and Phoebe Hodson (b. 1846), arrived in Australia in 1873, along with 4-year-old daughter, Mary Ann (b. 1869). Their 9-year-old son was buried at sea on the way out. Mary Ann married Thomas Ellis (b. 1854) on 5 June 1892, at Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales. Dad was a boilermaker, and from all reports, was very good at his trade. He served his apprenticeship, along with three brothers, at Mort’s Dockyard in Balmain, Sydney, NSW. At 14 years of age I left school and was apprenticed to millinery. I was very fortunate, as at this time the big depression had been going on for about two years and jobs were hard to get. Dad was working only three days a week, as there were no ships being built at this time. He would pick fruit from our garden and try to sell it, but housewives could not afford to buy, so he would finish up giving it to them for nothing. At this time, he and two of his brothers were offered jobs on the Sydney Harbour Bridge (then being built), and worked there until the bridge was opened on 19 March 1932. 32 | P a g e