Ellis Williams – Robert C William’s Grandfather
Ellis Williams was born in either 1738 or 1758, source
information disagrees.2 Robert C. Williams said that Ellis
was born in Wales. He was ordained a minister of September
3, 1780. Close to where Ellis was a minister is a city
called Wells, England; was Ellis born in the city Wells or
in the country of Wales? Ellis married Elinore (Ellen) Jones
on July 3, 1790, in Llanycil, Merioneth, Wales. Another
record shows a marriage in England. The records agree that
Elinore died in 1828 in Bronley College, England. 6
A book describes Ellis, “In the bad old days on the hills
many well-wishing people tried to help but the difficulties
were often insurmountable. Ellis Williams, a sincere though
very poor Curate in the Church of England, made one of the
earliest attempts in the eighteenth century, when he was
given three parishes on the Blackdowns to look after but
barely enough stipend to feed and clothe himself and his
family, let along help his parishioners.
In 1787, he wrote to a friend, the Rev John Newton, “The
place where I live is called Clay-hidon, in the county of
Devon and the diocese of Exeter. The Gospel was strange to
the people when I first came among them, and for a time I
met with little success. At length some seemed under
conviction, and I asked them into my house for the better
opportunity of conversing with them. They remained for
family prayer. Presently, it was noised abroad that the
parson had prayer in his house morning and evening and that
without any [prayer] book, and that all were welcome to
come. Many did do, especially on Sunday evenings and thus
there came about a great revival in the place. Opposition
arose as a matter of course, but it soon subsided, and
enemies became friends.” 2
The poor were fed by him, though he himself was as poor as
they. The naked were warmed by his fire and he would weep
and bless them; weep because he could not cloth them. He was
steady in his affections and in his principals, and he
always acted up to them. In preaching he prayed much. His
sermons were made up as much of prayer as of teaching. The
prayers were accompanied with strong crying and tears. This
mode was not very pleasant to people who had not a religious
taste but his people were plain. Never had a man won the
hearts of his congregation more than he. 3
The Sunday before he became ill, he preached in the
afternoon at Clayhidon. He said, “My dear people, this may
be the last time that we shall ever meet on earth; forgive
my warmth my heart loves you. God only knows how sincerely I
desire your salvation and your advancement in holiness. I
know not how to part with you. Oh, remember the Redeemer,
remember him. He is the Glory of Heaven. All its beauties
center in him.“3
But little did his honest flock think they should be parted
so soon. The Sunday before, many farmers and others went in
to see him. He said to one of them, “Ah, Mr. B., I am glad
to see you here; this is Heaven upon Earth. I die in this
way only by believing that Gospel which I have preached for
nine years so happily will you all die. If you believe what
I have preached to you.” 3
Ellis was buried on August 30, 1790, while Curate of
Clayhidon, West Buckland and Angersleigh. “Thus lived and
died Ellis William in the 52 year of a laborious and useful
life having seen many seals to his labors for God. Having
through grace changed a rude people, as most that I know and
leaving behind him a name which will but soon be forgotten
and which will deserve to be had in remembrance. It is no
small pleasure to me that my cottage hath an hundred times
received him. That he hath eaten and drank in it and that
there was never anything known between us but love and
peace.” 3
Robert reported in his diary of receiving a copy of a letter
from the Reverend J. S. to the late Reverent John Newton
concerning the death of the Reverend Ellis Williams, Curate
of Clayhidon, Devon, England. The Reverend J. S. reported of
singing “Ah Lovely Appearance of Death” at the wake. “In
finishing the service, we commit his body to the ground. We
give thee hearty thanks for that it hath pleased thee to
deliver this our brother out of the miseries of this sinful
world”. J.S. said “Oh how our Minister loved you”. On the
Sunday following the funeral, J.S. reported of preaching at
Clayhidon from 2 Peter 1:7-15. 3
“But the work proved too much for Ellis Williams, who fell
ill and died in 1790, at the age of thirty-two (conflicts
with 52 in prior source). The clergyman who succeeded him
was unpopular, and the little church which had been crowded
was soon deserted, and the people of the hills were more or
less left to their own devices for the next fifty years.” 2
“It would be interesting to know if the John Newton to whom
he wrote was the famous John Newton 1725-1807 who was a
converted slave trader turned parson who wrote many famous
hymns including: “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds”, and
“May the Grace of Christ our Savior”. It seems to me
[Grosse] to be almost certain that it was one and the same.
I don’t know where Ronald Webber got the quotation from, but
I would imagine that it was from the correspondence of John
Newton, rather than from Ellis Williams who would have been
little known.” 5
Robert C Williams felt his grandfather was a good man. He
was aware of his grandfather giving his money to the poor
and leaving his family bear of the necessities of life. 3
Ellis ministered in the Clayhiddon parish. “Clayhiddon is
one of the largest parishes in Devon, some seven miles long
and three miles wide. Situated on the central eastern side
of the county it adjoins the county boundary with Somerset.
It forms an important part of the Blackdown Hills, an area
designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The
nearest towns are Wellington, Somerset, four miles to the
north and Honiton, Devon, ten miles to the south. 4
The population is small and scattered. The village center
consists of six houses based around St. Andrews Church and
the Half Moon Inn. Regardless of how scattered the community
might be, history is always in the making and being
recorded. This is a record of the parish’s history put
together by the Clayhidon Local History Group. Most
histories of Devon dismiss Clayhidon (if they mention it at
all) in a few lines, yet there is a wealth of information
about the parish. Certainly nothing sensational or headline
breaking has occurred, the most notorious event being the
murder of a tax collector in 1853. It is basically a record
of the way people lived through the ages in a very isolated
community.” 4
Sources:
1. Burial Registration, Clayhidon Parish, Devon Record
Office in Exeter
2. The Devon & Somerset Blackdowns, by Ronald Webber,
published by Robert Hale & Company, Clerkenwell House,
Clerkenwell Green, London EC1ROHT ISBN 0 7091 5691X. Copy at
Library of Congress
3. Robert C Williams Diary transcribed by Richard R
Cherrington.
4. City’s web page, http://www.dotukdirectory.co.uk/Devon/Clayhidon/
5. Letter from Rev. Anthony Grosse to Shirley Miller,
February 7, 1977, The Rectory, Hemyock, Cullompton, Devon,
England.
6. IGI
Written by Richard W. Thomsen
A view of Clayhidon
Postcard of Clayhidon Church, postmark 1903
The church was built about 1275, or possibly a little earlier. The first reference to Clayhidon in the Bishops' Registers occurs on 27 February 1275, concerning the presentation of Ralph de Hidon to the living. At the end of the 15th century, the Dynham family, patrons of the Church, inaugurated a program of building work which included the tower and south aisle, the entrance door and the rood screen. Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538, and his son Edward VI was responsible for ordering the destruction of statues and stained glass in churches. (The empty niche over the main door bears witness to this). However, the rood screen may have survived during Elizabeth's reign, when Latin Mass was reintroduced, only to be taken down during the Civil War 100 years later. The boards bearing the Ten Commandments were purchased in 1760 and the porch sundial added in 1786. A peal of 4 bells is mentioned in an inventory of 1533. A new bell cage was installed in 1762 at a cost of £30. In 1819 the bells were re-cast into a peal of 5; and in 1913 a sixth bell was added and a new iron cage provided.
Clayhidon lies in the Black Down Hills, south of Wellington and Taunton.
Clayhidon lies in the Black Down Hills, south of Wellington and Taunton.
The Blackdown Hills, where Ellis preached, is one of many protected landscapes in England
Rosemary Lane Chapel, Blackdown Hills