{{Short description|New Zealand public health administrator (1884–1963)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2014}} thumb|right|150px|Edward Pohau Ellison '''Edward Pohau Ellison''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|OBE}} (26 November 1884 – 9 November 1963), generally known as '''Ned Ellison''' and also as '''Pohau Erihana''', was a New Zealand doctor, public health administrator and rugby player.

==Biography== Ellison was born in Waikanae, New Zealand, on 26 November 1884.<ref name="DNZB Ellison">{{DNZB|title=Edward Pohau Ellison|first= Sean Ellison and Thomas|last= Brons|id=4e9|accessdate=23 April 2017}}</ref> Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngai Tahu and Te Āti Awa iwi.

Ellison attended Te Aute College and then Te Rau Theological College in Gisborne.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /> In 1912 he began his studies in science at the University of Otago, entering medical school in 1914 and gaining his MBChB in 1919.<ref name=PIM1/> Ellison came from a strong family rugby background; his brother Tom Ellison was captain of the first New Zealand Māori rugby team.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /> During his school and university years he played hockey, rugby and cricket.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /> In 1911 he was in the New Zealand Māori rugby team and at university was in the rugby and cricket teams.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" />

His first position on qualifying in medicine in 1919 was as Medical Officer in Niue and in 1921 he was appointed as the Deputy Resident Commissioner.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 October 1921 |title=Personal |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT19211008.2.18 |access-date=22 August 2025 |work=Waikato Times |pages=5}}</ref> He was later promoted to the post of Resident Commissioner.<ref name="PIM1" /> In 1923 he moved to the Chatham Islands as Medical Officer and Resident Magistrate for two years before returning to the University of Otago to study tropical medicine which included an investigation of leprosy treatment in Makogai Island, Fiji.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=March 1964 |title=Dr E.P. Ellison |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TAH196403.2.33.1 |journal=Te Ao Hou |pages=63}}</ref> He then became Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands from 1926 to 1927.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /><ref name="PIM1" /> He returned to New Zealand to succeed Peter Buck as Director of Māori Hygiene in the Department of Health from 1927 to 1931.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /><ref name="PIM1" /> He resumed the position of Chief Medical Officer to the Cook Islands in 1931.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /><ref name="PIM1" /><ref name=":122" />

Ellison returned to New Zealand in 1945 and practised medicine in Manaia, Taranaki.<ref name=":0">[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-317552427/view?partId=nla.obj-317601024#page/n10/mode/1up Retirement of Cook Is. Medical Chief] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1946, p9</ref> He retired to Taradale in 1956 and died in Napier on 9 November 1963.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /><ref name=":122">{{Cite book |last=Wright-St Clair |first=Rex |url=https://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/external/WrightSt-Clair-HistoriaNuncVivat.pdf |title=Historia nunc vivat : medical practitioners in New Zealand, 1840 to 1930 |publisher=Cotter Medical History Trust |year=2013 |isbn=9780473240738 |location=Christchurch |pages=127}}</ref>

Ellison made significant contributions to the health of both Māori and Pacific peoples in areas of public health, sanitation, immunisation and the treatment of tropical and infectious diseases.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" />

== Personal life == Ellison was married twice and had nine children; his son Dr Tom Ellison was a general practitioner in Raglan.<ref name="DNZB Ellison" /><ref name=":122" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=2012 |title=Thomas Nigel Ellison |url=https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE13207769 |journal=New Zealand Medical Journal |volume=125 |issue=1359 |pages=89 |via=NDHA}}</ref>

== Honours and awards == In 1935, Ellison was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.<ref name="EP">{{cite news | url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19350506.2.12 | title=Official jubilee medals | date=6 May 1935 | work= Evening Post | accessdate=2 July 2013 | page=4 }}</ref> He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1938 New Year Honours.<ref name=PIM1>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-314365111/view?partId=nla.obj-314383659#page/n16/mode/1up O.B.E. for Cook Is. Medical Officer] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1938, pp15–16</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=4 January 1938 |title=The New Year Honours |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19380104.2.41 |access-date=22 August 2025 |work=Press |pages=8}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== Further reading == * {{Cite journal |date=September 1963 |title=Edward Pohau Ellison |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TAH196309.2.20 |journal=Te Ao Hou |pages=46}} * "Obituary." ''New Zealand Medical Journal,'' Vol. 62, p. 627

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Edward Pohau}} Category:1884 births Category:1963 deaths Category:New Zealand medical administrators Category:Ngāi Tahu people Category:Te Āti Awa people Category:New Zealand Māori rugby union players Category:New Zealand Māori public servants Category:People educated at Te Aute College Category:University of Otago alumni Category:New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Waikanae Category:New Zealand public health doctors Category:Ellison family Category:Sportspeople from the Wellington Region