Herbert Owen Ellis was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England on 20 May 1857. It is not known where or with whom he trained as an architect. . From 1910 he was in partnership with Trevor John Tatham (1878-1942) in London and in the early 1920s formed a partnership in London with William Lee Clarke (1878-1956) as Herbert O. Ellis & Clarke.
Ellis was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1925. He was also a Fellow of Society of Architects (FSA). His address was given as 46, Fenchurch Street, London in 1914; and 3, 6 and 7, Old Queen Street, Westminster, London in 1923 and 1926. He died at Holmwood in Titchfield Common, Fareham, Hampshire on 1 April 1940.
By Ellis & Clarke: The Daily Express building, 120-129 Fleet Street, London (1929-30), a noted example of Egyptian Revival architecture.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001