Sherman Gordon Venn Ellis

Lieutenant Colonel Sherman Gordon Venn Ellis, CIE, DSO (1880–1937) was a British Indian Army officer,^[1] and colonial administrator who served as the Minister of Finance of the State of Patiala from 1936 until his death in 1937.

Lieutenant Colonel Sherman Gordon Venn Ellis CIE DSO
Lieutenant-Colonel Venn Ellis
Born	(1880-02-20)20 February 1880 St Lawrence, Essex, England
Died	19 February 1937(1937-02-19) (aged 56) Karnal, Punjab, British India
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Indian Army
Years of service	1899–1937
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Battles / wars	First World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire Distinguished Service Order
Relations	Stanley Venn Ellis (brother) Sir William Charles Ellis (great grandfather)

Early Life

Arms of Ellis of Kiddal Hall

Ellis was the son of a clergyman Reverend Henry Venn Ellis, rector of Alderton, Suffolk and a descendant of the Ellis family of Kiddal Hall (an old Yorkshire family from which the Earls of Normanton and Viscounts Clifden, as well as the supposed inventor of Rugby William Webb Ellis and Sir William Ellis Secretary of State in exile to James II of England also descended from).^[2] His elder brother Stanley Venn Ellis was a Royal Navy Captain who was one of the most senior officers killed at the Battle of Jutland when his ship HMS Defence sank.

Career

Ellis joined the West India Regiment in 1899, transferring to the West African Regiment in 1900 before finally joining the British Indian Army in 1904,^[3] where he served for the remainder of his career. Ellis served as Military Accountant-General in India from 1929 to 1935 and was Financial Expert to the Indian Delegation to the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments in 1932.^[4]