Sarah in their house in the country village of Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, twenty miles north of London, which she had set us Rawdon House in 1840. In 1847, he was offered a post in Hoddesdon as pastor of its Congregational church. Mission to Madagascar After five years, Ellis recovered his health and accepted an LMS offer to travel to Madagascar as their official emissary. Before leaving Ellis sought the help of Roger Fenton to learn photography and obtain the requisite equipment and chemicals. Arriving in 1853, he was rebuffed by officials in attempting to establish a mission and refused permission to go to the capital. Establishing a temporary base in Mauritius, he again sought entry to Madagascar, but was refused. He made a third visit in 1856, but Queen Ranavalona I permitted him only a one-month stay. To mark these events he wrote Three Visits to Madagascar (1858). Ellis returned to Wisbech in April, 1860, delivering an address on Madagascar. A collection was taken and later used to provide a gift of a "Blackie's Imperial Atlas" and a clock to Radama II, King of Madagascar. A photographic portrait of the king in military dress, with his crown on a table, taken by Ellis was displayed at the Wisbech Working Men's Institute. On his fourth attempt in 1862, Ellis was finally permitted entry in May. French influence in the area was said to have been a factor hitherto, as the French did not want other Europeans gaining a toehold on the island. Ellis stayed until 1865, gradually laying the foundations for Christianity. He returned to a great welcome in England in 1865 and was asked to lecture widely about his travels and his religious influence in the islands. Ellis returned to Wisbech in 1867 to give a further talk on Madagascar in the Lecture Room at Wisbech Public Hall. Ellis was a member of Wisbech Working Men's Institute, after his death a fellow member Samuel Smith printed some of his photographs. Local printer and photographer Arthur Balding must have taken this opportunity to photograph Ellis, as the following month he published for sale 'carte de visite size', coloured or plain. It was claimed to be the only photograph of the sitter. A portrait in oils of Ellis was presented to the Working Men's Institute by Mr Johnathan Peckover for display, it is now (2021) in Wisbech & Fenland Museum. Specimens of