I contacted a relative of the family through Genes Reunited, and this was her reply-
"Hi Erin
Thanks for the link.
I found this census entry a long, long time ago and I too was very amused. Henry Francis Ellis is the brother of my 2 x gt grandfather John Ellis.
My first thought was that he was completely bonkers, or drunk as he is a publican, however, the more you look at, the more it makes complete sense:
He describes his family the way he sees them, ie Olive Branches Round the Table, and says "I believe my daughters are girls, presume my sons are boys"
He is not blind - he only needs specs when daylight grows dim.
He is not deaf - he can hear the church bells.
He's definitely not dumb as he talks to himself.
The census attachment on the link you sent me does not show his birth-place but that too is funny. He was the only one of his siblings born in London - hence his birth place - City of Chimney Pots.
I expect you are aware that census forms were left by an enumerator for the household to complete, assuming someone could write. When the enumarator collected these forms ( some he had to fill in for those who couldn't write) he then had to return to his lodgings/living quarters and transcribe all this info into enumerator books. These are the books that we view today and that's why the writing is the same, page after page. The original forms were then destroyed. Although this all left plenty of room for error what struck me about this 1851 census for the Ellis' is the fact that the enumerator actually copied all this down into his book.
Regards, Shirley"
Erin
