Sir Henry Ellis

Sir Henry Ellis (1777 to 1869) was an English librarian and antiquarian who served for many years as the chief librarian at the British Museum. Henry Ellis was born in London and educated at Mercer's School and the Taylors Merchant School. He entered St. John's College in Oxford, in 1796, and in 1798, he was appointed as one of two assistants at the Bodleian Library. After receiving a B.C.L. degree in 1802, he became a member of the Church of St. John until 1805. In 1805 he became assistant to the custodian of printed books at the British Museum under William White, and when the theft of prints cost White his job the following year, Ellis became head of the department just as the museum entered a period of increased activity. The library's catalogue consisted of two error-strewn volumes, full of inaccuracies. Ellis oversaw a reconstruction that began in March 1807 and was completed in December 1819. In 1811 he was elected to membership of the Royal Society.