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victor ellis Posted by Ian Sanderson on November 21, 2007, 12:47 pm 210.50.228.5 G'day from Oz. I wonder can anyone help me track down a banjo-maker by the name of Victor Ellis. He lived and worked at 191 St John's Hill, Battersea, from 1903 - 1911 and is listed as "Ellis, Victor Banjo Studio" in the business directories of the time. I have one of his banjos (which I bought in the Clifford Essex store in Earlham Street in the late 60s), and would love to find out about Ellis and his career. It has the serial number 1804, which suggests that Victor was a prolific manufacturer. I notice in my searches that there are several references to Herbert J. Ellis... I wonder are they related. As far as I am aware, Ellis is not a particularly common name - especially in the banjo world. Any information, or suggestions as to where I can look would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Ian Sanderson Melbourne Australia  Post a Response

Re: victor ellis Posted by dominic on October 14, 2008, 11:08 pm, in reply to "victor ellis" 210.11.188.30 howdy ian I too have an ellis banjo mandolin and i am after similar history/ information. How did you get on with your search. If you have anything to pass on that would be ace. dominic melb australia  Post a Response

Re: victor ellis Posted by Ian Sanderson on October 15, 2008, 12:34 pm, in reply to "Re: victor ellis" 210.50.228.4 Hi Dominic. Great to hear from you. I'd almost given up hope of getting any response to the various messages I'd sent out over the past year or so. I'm not sure what information you read in my November 07 contact... but basically I'd been searching for Victor Ellis under the umbrella of "banjo-maker". I drew a blank in Google... but last May I got this response from a banjo expert in England who'd seen photographs of the instrument: "Hi Ian, "It's a good looking banjo! - 19 fret normal scale tenor "I showed the pictures to a banjo expert and he identifies it as being made by J G Abbott probably in the 20s or 30s or possibly a little earlier and that Victor Ellis was a player/teacher. Abbott was known as one of the 'makers to the trade' and would make banjos to a client's specification so Ellis probably commissioned this or possibly several with his name on to sell to pupils." There's plenty of stuff about Abbott in Google... but nothing more on Victor Ellis. I can fill you in with other bits and bobs, but if you let me know your Email address I can send you some shots of the banjo which, incidentally, I've always played with plectrum tuning, as opposed to a tenor. Looking forward to hearing from you. Cheers Ian  Post a Response

Re: victor ellis Posted by Ian Sanderson on December 10, 2008, 1:42 am, in reply to "Re: victor ellis" 210.50.228.4 awaiting a reply from Dominic in Melbourne  Post a Response

Re: victor ellis Posted by dominic on December 10, 2008, 3:44 am, in reply to "Re: victor ellis" 210.11.188.18 howdy Ian as i said I have a banjo mandolin I have recently done up. It had 2 x3 pence pieces as part of the mechanisum seperating the pot from the wooden box they were from 1935 and 1943. As previously stated it is called "the Ellis" and plays quite well now. regards dominic  Post a Response

Re: victor ellis Posted by Ian on December 10, 2008, 6:11 am, in reply to "Re: victor ellis" 210.50.228.4 G'day Dominic If you let me know your Email address I'll send you a pic of my banjo. Cheers Ian  Post a Response

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