William Ellis (missionary)

William Ellis
From the London Missionary Society
Born	(1794-08-29)29 August 1794 London, England
Died	9 June 1872(1872-06-09) (aged 77) Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England
Spouse(s)	Mary Mercy Moor Sarah Stickney
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William Ellis (29 August 1794 – 9 June 1872) was an English missionary and author. He traveled through the Society Islands, Hawaiian Islands and Madagascar, and wrote several books describing his experiences.

He was born in London of working class parents on 24 August 1794. His father and a short-lived older brother were also named William. Not much is known of his mother, except the maiden name of Bedborough, birthplace of Reading, England and wedding date of 13 August 1792. He developed a love of plants in his youth and became a gardener, first in the East of England, then at a nursery north of London and eventually for a wealthy family in Stoke Newington. Being of a religious nature, he applied to train as Christian missionary for the London Missionary Society and was accepted to the school.

After attending Homerton College, then in Hampstead, he was ordained in 1815, and married Mary Mercy Moor on 9 November 1815. He was posted to the South Sea Islands with his wife, leaving England on 23 January 1816. They arrived at Eimeo, one of the Windward Islands, via Sydney and learned the language there. During their stay there several chiefs of nearby Pacific islands who had assisted Pomare in regaining sovereignty of Tahiti, visited Eimeo and welcomed the LMS missionaries (including John Orsmond and John Williams and their wives) to their own islands. All three missionary families went to Huahine, arriving in June 1818, drawing crowds from neighbouring islands, including King Tamatoa of Raiatea.

Ellis and a small group travelled from Tahiti on the schooner Mermaid to the Hawaiian Islands, known then as the "Sandwich Islands". On the same voyage, another small schooner called Prince Regent with six cannons was presented to King Kamehameha II. They arrived in Honolulu on 16 April 1822, and although the plan had been to visit the Marquesas Islands, they returned to Tahiti on 27 August 1822. He was invited to stay, and brought his family to Hawaii, arriving on the Active on 4 February 1823. In June 1823 Ellis joined American Missionaries Asa Thurston, Artemas Bishop and Joseph Goodrich on a tour of the island of Hawaiʻi, to investigate suitable sites for mission stations. On the way he stopped at Maui and met Queen Keōpūolani. Their first stop was Kailua-Kona, where they met the Governor of the island Kuakini, known as "John Adams".