William Archibald Ellison died on 3rd May, 1953, at the age of 67.
From 1903 to 1907 he was a pupil in Messrs. Fraser & Chalmers Engineering Works, Erith, and then spent two years as a student at the City and Guilds of London Technical College. At the end of 1909 he went to Portugal as engineer-in-charge of the Cabeco de Peao mine of Wolfram Mining and Smelting Co., Ltd., and in 1911 was appointed assayer and surveyor to Northern Nigeria Mining and Exploration Co., Ltd., at Ninghi. Fifteen months later he became assistant manager of Kuskie Tin Fields, Ltd., and in June, 1913, was made assistant manager of Ninghi (Nigeria) Tin Mines, Ltd. In the following year Mr. Ellison took up the post of surveyor with Societe Anonyme des Huileries du Congo Belge, but left at the end of 1915 to join the Royal Engineers. He served in France with the ‘Tunnellers’, holding the rank of lieutenant.
On demobilization in 1919 he took a refresher course at the Camborne School of Mines, and later that year joined Renong Tin Dredging Co., Ltd., as assistant assayer. He was engaged in tin mining in Malaya until 1922, when he joined the Ministry of Transport as a civil engineer. He retired from Government service in 1951, having been awarded the O.B.E. in 1937.
Mr. Ellison was elected to Associate Membership of the Institution in 1920.
Vol. 62, Trans IMM 1952-53, p.527
