Herbert Ellison was born at Chorlton, near Manchester, on 19 September 1885.  His mother was Margaret Ann Ellison (née Hughes) who is recorded in the 1891 census as a 26-year old widow and grocer. He had an older brother (b. 1884) but nothing is known of their father.  Their mother died in 1894, and in the 1901 census, both brothers were recorded living with their uncle, William Hughes, at Broughton, Salford.  Herbert is recorded as a 15-year old electrical engineer.

He joined the Royal Navy on 6 September 1902 at the boys’ training ship HMS NORTHAMPTON, giving his previous occupation as electrician. He served briefly in the screw corvette HMS CLEOPATRA and the cruiser HMS EXMOUTH before, in May 1904, joining the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS PRINCE OF WALES stationed in the Mediterranean. He was rated Able Seaman in February 1905. In May 1906 he joined HMS VERNON where he qualified as a Leading Torpedoman and was rated Leading Seaman in April 1907. He joined the cruiser HMS TERPSICHORE in July 1907 but at the end of the year was disrated to Able Seaman and returned to Portsmouth barracks.  From February 1908 to April 1909 he served in the battleship HMS GOLIATH.

In May 1909 he joined the submarine depot ship HMS MERCURY, and was again made Leading Seaman in November 1910.  He moved to HMS ARROGANT in July 1911, was promoted Petty Officer in January 1912, and then moved to HMS BONAVENTURE until August 1912. He was then in DOLPHIN and MAIDSTONE until the start of WW1, although actual submarines are unknown.  His record shows him serving in HMS E11 (Lieut-Cdr Martin Nasmith) from October 1914 to March 1916, although it is likely he joined on commissioning in September.  After an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Baltic in October 1914 and rescuing downed pilots from the Christmas Cuxhaven raid, E11 left Harwich in company with E14 and E15 and depot ship HMS ADAMANT on 27 March 1915 for the Mediterranean. Subsequent operations in the Sea of Marmara earned Nasmith the Victoria Cross and Petty Officer Ellison the Distinguished Service Medal.  Ellison was to follow Nasmith to the new submarine HMS J4 which joined the Eleventh Submarine Flotilla (HMS TITANIA) at Blyth in August 1916, but left the boat in November on promotion to Warrant Officer as a Torpedo Gunner.  He was one of 27 Gunners (T) with seniority 7 October 1916.

In January 1917 he joined the destroyer HMS LAVEROCK. This  was a 1000 ton vessel with a complement of 73, including a Lieutenant in command (a former submariner), three other officers including a Sub-Lieut RN and a Sub-Lieut RNVR, a Surgeon Probationer, a Chief Artificer Engineer and the Gunner(T). Originally part of the Harwich Force, LAVEROCK was transferred to the Dover Patrol at the start of 1917 with the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla, and then in April transferred to the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla at Devonport where duties included convoy escort. Herbert Ellison was admitted to Plymouth Hospital on 16 November 1917 and he died on 3 December ‘from a coma following meningitis’.  He is buried at Plymouth (Ford Park) Cemetery.

He left a widow, Mary (née Crossland), whom he had married at Salford in 1913, and a daughter, Florence Margaret.