View source for William Ellis (Secretary of State)

{{short description|English Jacobite, Secretary of State to James II in exile}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2016}}
'''Sir William Ellis''' (died 1732) was an English [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]], who was [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] in the 1680s and Secretary of State to [[James II of England|James II]] in exile.
==Life==
Ellis was the second son of [[John Ellis (theologian)|John Ellis]], and was educated at [[Westminster School]]. He was elected to a studentship at [[Christ Church, Oxford]], in 1665, and proceeded [[Bachelor of Arts]] (BA) 19 June 1669. He lost his studentship for accepting the degree of [[Master of Arts]] (MA) ''[[per literas regias]]'' at Cambridge in 1671, without having first obtained his grace in his own college; and, despite the intercession of [[William III of England|William III, Prince of Orange]], in whose train he had visited Cambridge, was never restored.
In 1676 he was appointed, along with his brother [[Welbore Ellis (bishop)|Welbore Ellis]], customer, comptroller and searcher for the Irish provinces of [[Leinster]] and [[Munster]]; and while holding this sinecure acquired considerable property in Ireland. He acted as secretary to [[Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell]], on the latter's appointment to the [[lord-lieutenancy of Ireland]] in 1687, and was knighted.
At the [[Glorious Revolution]] he followed the fortunes of the [[House of Stuart]]. Accompanying James II to Ireland he was placed on his privy council and appointed one of the assessors of Dublin in April 1690. He was one of six Protestants to attend James's [[Patriot Parliament]] in 1689, representing [[St Johnstown (County Longford) (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|St Johnstown]]. He was [[attainted]] in 1691, and his older brother [[John Ellis (Harwich MP)|John Ellis]], to whom he owed money, gained possession of his Irish property. He later became secretary to James in his exile at [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye|St. Germain]], and on his death in 1701 acted as treasurer to his son, the [[Old Pretender]].
Ellis died a Protestant at Rome in the autumn of 1732, aged between 65 and 90. His name is in the registry at [[Protestant Cemetery, Rome]] but there is no stone.
==References==
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{{DNB|wstitle=Ellis, William (d.1732)}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] | before=[[Cyril Wyche]] | after=[[Paul Rycaut]] | years=1682–1685}}
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{{succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[St Johnstown (County Longford) (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|St Johnstown]]
| with = [[Edmond Morres]]
| years  = 1689
| before = [[John Edgeworth]] <br/> [[Sir Henry Piers, 1st Baronet|Sir Henry Piers, Bt]]
| after  = [[John Edgeworth|Sir John Edgeworth]] <br/> [[Alexander Fraser (Irish politician)|Alexander Fraser]]
}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, William}}
[[Category:English knights]]
[[Category:English Jacobites]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:Irish MPs 1689]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland]]
[[Category:Protestant Jacobites]]
[[Category:Chief Secretaries for Ireland]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:1732 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century English people]]
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