Albert Fuller Ellis

Who was Albert Fuller Ellis?

Sir Albert Fuller Ellis was a prospector in the Pacific, he discovered phosphate deposits on the Pacific islands Nauru and Banaba Island in 1900. He was the British Phosphate Commissioner for New Zealand from 1921 to 1951.

Ellis was born in Roma, Queensland, his family moved to Auckland where he attended the Cambridge District High School. At the age of 18 Albert Ellis joined his brothers James and George in working for John T. Arundel and Co. Their father George C. Ellis, a chemist, and later a farmer in New Zealand, was a director of the company. John T. Arundel and Co. was engaged in Pacific trading of phosphates, copra, and pearl shell.

While working in the company's Sydney office in 1899 Ellis determined that a large rock from Nauru being used as a doorstop was rich in phosphate. Following the discovery Ellis traveled to Ocean Island and Nauru and confirmed the discovery.

Operations on Ocean Island commenced three months after the discovery. Ellis managed the development of the phosphate resources on Nauru, and mining began in 1906 under an arrangement with the German administrators of the island.