He was born in Dunham, Cheshire, the son of James Ellison and Ellen Fearnaught, and was educated in Manchester. Ellison entered the blacksmith and hardware business.[3] In 1873, he came to the United States, travelling from Boston to California. Ellison settled in Vernon, British Columbia in 1876. In 1884, he married Sophia Christine Johnson, the first school teacher in Vernon.[4] After not meeting much success at mining, he again worked as a blacksmith for a time in Vernon. Ellison then purchased a farm, where he grew wheat and raised livestock.[3] He served in the provincial cabinet as Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works and then as Minister of Finance and Agriculture. He also served as deputy speaker of the Legislature. Ellison was defeated when he ran for re-election to the assembly in 1916 and again in 1924.[4] He died in Vernon at the age of 81.[2]
Ellison Provincial Park was named in his honour. In 1910, as Commissioner of Lands and Works, Ellison travelled with a group of surveyors who established the boundaries for Strathcona Provincial Park, the first provincial park in British Columbia.[5]