same year, only a few months after his father. He left one son Thomas, who was Patron of the Vicarage of Barkby when Burton wrote his History, about 1622. It is not clear who was the John Stanford authorized in 1613 to issue King James I's farthing tokens. It cannot have been either the Grazier or the Recorder, as North thought, for both of them had been dead for ten years.
The name of Ellis occurs in the Records of the Borough from the 13th century onwards, but the Ellises who became prominent in Elizabethan times came out of Yorkshire. James Ellis was appointed one of the Mayor's brethren in 1575, and filled many public offices, being Mayor of Leicester in 1586-87, and in 1602-3. He had a draper's shop, which he closed on the Sabbath Day. It is possible that he may also have been a brewer, for "Mr. Ellis" was returned in 1585 among the Leicester brewers able to deliver 240 barrels of ale a week or more. During his second Mayoralty the death of good Queen Bess was proclaimed at the High Cross and at the Gainsborough. On the 23rd day of June, 1603, James Ellis rode out beyond the West Bridge with six Aldermen to welcome the new Queen and her son, who were passing through the town. He presented to her and to the young princes standing cups with covers of silver double gilt, which had been subscribed for by the town. The Princess Elizabeth, who arrived the night before, did not receive a cup, but she was also welcomed by the Mayor and regaled with claret and rhenish and sugar. In his Will, which bears date the 4th day of September, 1615, James Ellis the Elder of the Borough of Leicester, Woollen Draper, gave "towards the repairing of the Church of St. Martin in Leicester four marks; to the poor people of the new hospital called Wigston's hospital 40s.; to the poor people of the parish of All Saints 20s. in bread; and to the rest of the poor people in Leicester 40s. in bread." He stated that he was born "in the parish of Horton in Ryplesdale in the county of York," and gave legacies to the Church and poor people of that parish. After various family devises and bequests, the Testator declared, "Item I give and bequeath my house with the appurtenances in the Southgate within the borough of Leicester now in the
169