Alexander Ellice (1743-1805)

He was born in Auchterless, Aberdeenshire, and was educated at Marischal College (later Aberdeen University). He began his career in law before emigrating to New York in 1765. Settling in Schenectady (see images), he went into business with his relative James Phyn, and four of his brothers would join them. The firm of Phyn, Ellice & Co., traded in fur and grain and supplied the military. They circumnavigated the American trade embargo of 1769 by diverting shipments to Quebec before selling them back to America, and by 1772 they had a near monopoly over the supply trade to the Native American agents in the North American interior. In 1776, Ellice invested over £42,000 in the fur trade placing him ahead of the most dominant merchants, but the Revolution forced the firm to move their North American base from New York to Montreal (headed by Ellice) while Phyn headed up their office in London.

Ellice returned to London permanently in about 1779 although he continued to make various business trips to Montreal, and in 1795 he paid the Marquis de Lotbinière £9,000 for the Seigneury of Villechauve (324-square miles) where he built a manor-house and renamed the sub-fiefs of the seigneury for members of his family. By 1787, his company was turning its attention to the slave trade between America, the West Indies, and Europe in partnership with John Inglis, and by the early 1800s the company’s gross annual balance was in excess of one million pounds. In 1781, he married Anne Russell and they had nine surviving children. He died leaving an estate valued at £450,000 which included nearly 350,000 acres in New York and the Canadas, as well as property in Demerara (valued at £50,000), Prince Edward Island, Britain, etc. He is buried in Bath Abbey.