Ellis Collection

The Ellis collection comprises about 4,000 mainly nineteenth century theological and philosophical books, formed by Calvinist Minister and author Griffith Ellis (1844-1913). The collection was presented to the Theological College at Aberystwyth, in 1914.

On the closure of the College in 2002, much of its library was transferred to Lampeter, including not only the Ellis Collection but also material from the Colleges of the Presbyterian Church of Wales at Bala and Trefeca. About 40 pre-1800 volumes are on deposit in the National Library of Wales.

Griffith Ellis (1844-1913) began preaching in his late teens. At 20 he went to study at Bala College. Six years later he entered Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1876 ( M.A. 1879 ) with a third class in Lit. Humanities. Before leaving Oxford, Ellis had been called to the pastorate of Stanley Road C.M. church, Bootle (he preached at the opening of the new chapel there in Dec. 1876 ), which he occupied until his retirement.

He became moderator of the North Wales C.M. Association in 1900, and of the General Assembly in 1896. He delivered the first ‘Davies lecture’ in 1894 (published in 1895 under the title Y Syched am Dduw). His other books were Hanes Methodistiaeth Corris a'r Amgylchoedd (1885), Welsh biographies of William Carey (1897), W. E. Gladstone (1898) and Edward Morgan of Dyffryn (1906). He also wrote many articles for periodicals.