Edward Ellis was
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham
The Diocese of Nottingham () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England and a suffragan of the Metropolitan Diocese of Westminster.
The diocese covers an area of , taking in the English counties of Nottinghamshire (now exclu ...
from 1944 to 1974.
Early life and education
He was born on 30 June 1899 in
Radford,
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
. He was educated at St Mary's School, and later at
Ratcliffe College, before attending the
Venerable English College
The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English Colleg ...
.
Priest
Ellis was ordained priest on 15 October 1922 by
Bishop Thomas Dunn in Nottingham.
He was initially appointed as a curate at
Hadfield, before being appointed as Cathedral Administrator for Nottingham Cathedral in 1930. He returned to Hadfield as parish priest in 1933, and was once again re-appointed as Cathedral Administrator in 1939.
Bishop of Nottingham
On 18 March 1944, Ellis was appointed the seventh Bishop of Nottingham by
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
after the death of Bishop
John McNulty. He received his episcopal consecration the following year on 1 May from
Archbishop Godfrey of Westminster.
He would serve as bishop for thirty years.
Whilst bishop, Ellis attended the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
for its four sessions.
He would become involved in the application of the council within the diocese. The diocese also underwent large growth, with the Catholic population growing alongside the number of parishes. Ellis was also concerned with education, establishing many new Catholic schools within the diocese.
As well as this, he established the Briars Residential Centre for young people in the Diocese of Nottingham in 1970.
Death and legacy
Bishop Ellis experienced some ill-health during his episcopate, and as such, consecrated
James McGuinness as co-adjutor bishop in 1972. McGuinness would succeed Ellis when he retired as Bishop of Nottingham on 31 October 1974, aged 75.
In 1976, he was granted Freedom of the City of Nottingham in recognition of his service to the city.
Ellis died on 6 July 1979, aged 80, as Bishop Emeritus of Nottingham. He was buried in the crypt of
Nottingham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of St. Barnabas is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in the city of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the mother church of the Diocese of Nottingham and seat of the Bishop of Nottingham (Roman Catholic), Bi ...
, where he had been bishop.
He was a priest for 56 years and a bishop for 35 years.
A school in the Diocese of Nottingham, Bishop Ellis Primary School, is named after him.
References
External links
Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Edward (Roman Catholic Bishop)
1899 births
1979 deaths
Roman Catholic bishops of Nottingham
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England
Participants in the Second Vatican Council
English College, Rome alumni