apprenticeship in the shipyards of the area where he learned drafts¬ manship and the making of molds for ships. In 1800 he entered into partnership with George Chapman to form a shipbuilding company at Cleavehouses, Bideford , England , a company that built warships for the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. William began to hear about the New World where men could make a fortune and where the forests were dense and huge, so in 1814 he ended the part¬ nership with Chapman and formed a new one with T.B. Chanter . Both men came to Prince Edward Island landing on August 9, 1814 and formed the Chanter and Ellis Shipyards at Bideford . In 1826, Ellis purchased his partner's interest in the shipyard. Big Robert Ellis and Wife. William's son, James Ellis , came over with the rest of his family in 1814. He assisted his father in the shipyard until he established one of his own. He also purchased a large tract of timber land along the river from Bideford to Ellerslie , which supplied the lumber for his shipyard. He married Jane Ramsay of . They had two sons, B. Robert and John . His second wife, Marion McArthur , had Thomas along with four other sons and seven daughters. 313