Church of England Clergy.
The priests that are connected with our family can be split into two groups; one the descendants of, or who married descendants of William ELLARD [5136], the other the descendants of, or who married descendants of Matthew INGLE [27038].
From William ELLARD
William ELLARD [5136], was the brother of Thomas ELLARD who is on our direct line. These brothers married sisters Maacah and Tabitha HAKESLEY. William served as a parish clerk in Willoughby (see our Willoughby Parish Clerks page. His strong faith influenced his son Edward ELLARD [5142], a locksmith by trade also a baker and grocer, who became first a Lay reader then a Scripture reader and later an Evangelist.
Edward’s son Charles Alfred Augustus ELLARD [5247] was an insurance agent in 1901 but in 1911 he was an evangelist in established church in Stainland, Yorkshire. During the first World War he served in the Durham Light Infantry and Labour Corp. He attended Bishops' College. Cheshunt and was ordained priest in 1935 by the Bishop of Lichfield for the parish of Wolstanton. In 1939 he was a Clerk in Holy Orders living in Newcastle under Lyme. He died in The Rectory, Ashley, Market Drayton Shropshire, in 1949.
Edward’s daughter Mary Edith ELLARD [5245] married Charles Henry FOSTER [20746]. Charles worked as a pawnbroker’s assistant and insurance agent before being ordained. He studied at Lichfield Theological College and was ordained on 21 December 1919 at Lichfield Cathedral by The Bishop of Lichfield (the Right Rev. J.A. Kempthorne, D.D.) and licensed to the curacy of Heath Town, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. After serving for about two years he was ordained priest on 25 September 1921 at Lichfield Cathedral but stayed at Heath Town until 1928 when he moved to St Chad also in Wolverhampton where he was a curate before becoming the vicar of St Luke in Wellington, Staffordshire. He remained there for eight years before being instituted by the Bishop of Stafford (the Right Rev. D.H. Crick) and was inducted by the Rural Dean of Stafford (the Rev. T. O. Coupe) in the parish of Milwich. Among the clergy present at the induction on 27 September 1937 was C.A.A.Ellard then priest in charge at Cross Heath, Wolstanton. Charles resigned as vicar in November 1946 and died in July 1952 in Meir, Stoke on Trent.
Another of Edward’s daughters Fanny Isabel ELLARD [6831] married Thomas HANDLEY [20506]. Thomas’s father and grandfather were blacksmiths. Thomas joined the Church Army and in 1901 he was an evangelist boarding with the Church Army in rooms above shops in the Edgeware Road in London. After studying at Lichfield Theological College he was ordained deacon and became curate of St Luke, Wolverhampton. Thomas was ordained priest in 1909 and took up duties at St John, Huddersfield. He was Organising Secretary of the Church of England Temperance Society for the Wakefield Diocese between 1911 and 1914 before returning to parish duties as curate of St Mark, Woodhouse, Leeds moving to Holbeck in 1918 and Keighley in 1919. At Keighley he was in charge of St Mark, Utley until 1922 when he became vicar of Cowling. In 1930 he moved back to Keighley as vicar of St Peter.
According to an article that appeared in the Derby Daily Telegraph on 22 April 1930 Charles Henry FOSTER and Thomas HANDLEY were among four clergymen at the wedding of their nephew Arthur E. Ellard-
The Hull Daily Mail reported on 2 January 1932 that Thomas had a vigil in a watchman's hut, with a small brazier in front, at the gates of his church, in order to receive contributions towards the Church Jubilee Fund. He remained there from 6 am to 9 pm collecting £9 16s 4d. “It was well worth doing,” he said.
His death was reported in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer of 30 June 1953 stating the death occurred at Willingham Rectory, Gainsborough and that he was 74. It goes on to state that Mr. Handley went to help his son the Rev. P. E. Ellard-
Philip Ellard HANDLEY [20507], the son of Thomas HANDLEY [29506] was ordained deacon in 1934 from Lichfield Theological College. The Lichfield Mercury of 14 December 1934 announced the ordinations under the rather dramatic headline ELECTRIFIED INTO LIFE! The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer reported on 17 December 1934 that The Bishop of Bradford (Dr. A. W. F. Blunt) carried out the ordinations at Skipton Parish Church. Among the list of deacons was ‘Philip Ellard Handley, B.A. St Catherine's College Cambridge and Lichfield Th. Coll. (licensed to Holy Trinity Queensbury)’ and ‘Among the clergy present’ ‘Rev. T. Handley (Vicar of St. Peter's. Keighley).’ his father.
A report in 1939 The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer tells us that The Rev. Philip E. Handley, who has been appointed a chaplain in India, is the elder son of the Rev. Thomas Handley, Vicar of St. Peter's, Keighley. The Rev. Philip Handley sailed for Calcutta recently, and will spend a few weeks at Calcutta Cathedral before proceeding to his station at Dinapore Cantonment, Bihar. He was formally chaplain at Orieton School, Scarborough, and was also a member of staff of St. Martin’s Scarborough. During Christmas, he assisted his father at Keighley. A Cantonment is a military base, the one in Dinapore was for the British East India Company who had their own private army at that time. When his engagement was announced in the same newspaper he his described as the Rev. (Captain) Philip Ellard Handley, elder son of the Rev. T and Mrs. Handley, St Peter's Vicarage, Keighley. His intended was Nancy Patricia Ezard. of Scarborough. It looks as though he was a captain in that private army.
The Lincolnshire Echo reported that in August 1949 Rev. P. Ellard-
See also
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