Ellis was a son of
Alexander John Ellis. He was a long-term friend of
John Butler Yeats, sharing an interest in aesthetics, and from 1869 a London studio in Newman Street; but was not on good terms with Susan his wife. Ellis was in an association with
John Trivett Nettleship, and
Sydney Hall, also followers of Blake, as well as John Butler Yeats and George Wilson (1848–1890, a Scottish Pre-Raphaelite inspired artist). Called
The Brotherhood, the group was set up in 1869, with Hall leaving early. When the Yeats family moved to
Bedford Park in London, which occurred in 1879, Ellis met the son William Butler Yeats. W. B. Yeats became close to the "vague and depressive" Ellis in 1888. Their joint study of Blake began in 1889, and resulted in a major textual discovery, the manuscript of
Vala, or the Four Zoas. Ellis took part in the gatherings of the
Rhymers' Club, and contributed to their
anthologies. ==Works==