for what is thomas ellison famous?
He was a New Zealand rugby union player and one of the first Māori admitted to the bar practicing as a solicitor and later as a barrister
Thomas Ellison
As well as being one of the first Māori admitted to the bar, 
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Thomas Ellison [SEP] Introduction
Ellison was the author of a coaching manual, "The Art of Rugby Football", published in 1902. As well as being one of the first Māori admitted to the bar, practising as a solicitor, and later as a barrister, Ellison also stood unsuccessfully for the Southern Maori parliamentary seat several times. After contracting tuberculosis in 1904, he was briefly institutionalised before dying later that year.