At that time, as commented by one of the method ringers, there was a “stoney Sunday Service band” who were totally opposed to method ringing, only ringing call changes. Despite this a small group were determined to go ahead with method ringing although for a many more years method ringing would not be permitted for Sunday Services. Ignoring the objections, 6 ringers started to learn the methods by ringing hand-bells. They also practiced on the tower bells but with the bells silence by tying the clappers. They first managed to ring on open tower bells at a Salop Guild meeting at Oswestry in April 1921. Having proved that they could do it they began having open bell practices in Ellesmere. However the numbers had dwindled so they had to recruit a further 4 ringers and returned to silenced practices while the new ones learned the methods. They had decided to concentrate on ringing Stedman, both doubles and triples. Through the summer of 1922 they continued to improve and expand their ringing, but at this time they were ringing set touches in other churches, not at Ellesmere. They started by ringing doubles touches at Whittington and Chirk and by September they were allowed to ring a plain course of Stedman Triples at Ellesmere. So by the end of 1922 they were all quite competent and in January 1923 they formed the Saint Mary’s Society of Change Ringers with the vicar Rev Talbot as president.
During 1923 on two occasions they rang a quarter peal of Stedman Doubles on the Ellesmere Bells and continued to improve the methods on handbells. One of the ringers, Thomas R Butler managed to ring with the St Martin’s Guild in Birmingham, ringing a peal of Stedman cinques in September 1923.
October 1923 saw the Ellesmere ringers complete a peal of Stedman Doubles at Whittington. In November several of them rang with members of the Chester Guild, ringing a peal of Stedman Triples at Pulford. The ringing continued through 1924 ringing at Holt, Chirk, Hanmer, Buckley, Llangollen and on many occasions at Pulford. In September an entirely local band rang a quarter peal of Stedman Triples at Ellesmere and repeated it on another 6 occasions before the end of the year.
During 1925 they continued to ring Stedman Triples, either a full team or a group of them joining with Chester Guild ringers to ring peals at Tarporley, Oswestry, Gresford and frequently at Pulford. Finally on June 20th 1925 the local ringers rang a peal of Stedman Triples at Ellesmere.
The peal is recorded on the board hanging in the ringing chamber at St Mary’s. It took them 3 hours and 29 minutes, quite a long time for a peal as a little over 3 hours is the usual length of a peal, and it was at their 3rd attempt that they succeeded. From the board we can find out who the ringers were, where they lived, and where they worked. We have an old photo which we believe is the ringers taken after the successful peal.
Some investigations on the 1921 census allows us to give a short biography of the ringers. They were all local men from working class families who lived within the town of Ellesmere and worked locally. How they managed to visit so many towers is not recorded but at that time the railway network from Ellesmere station was extensive and also cycling was a popular means of transport, so this could help explain it.
- Bell No 1: Richard Biggs was born in Ellesmere on 4 May 1902 and lived at 45 Scotland Street. He worked as a Van Driver working for Eliza Tims and Son, Bakers. At the time of the peal he was 23 years old. He married in 1931 and died in 1969.
- Bell No 2: George Henry Edwards was born in Ellesmere on 25 March 1896 and lived at 40 Watergate Street. He was employed as Boat Builder and Carpenter at Shropshire Union Railway and Canal Co Engineering Depot. At the time of the peal he was 29 years old. He served in the Royal Engineers during the war from 1915 and in 1918 was badly wounded and gassed. He married in 1927 but sadly he died in 1930 aged 35.
- Bell No 3: Arthur Allen, was born in Ellesmere on 18 March 1877 and lived at 20 Charlotte Row. He was a Boot and Shoe Repairer, working for Miss Hasell, Boot and Shoe Dealer in Cross Street. At the time of the peal he was 48 years old. He married in 1904 and died in 1946.
- Bell No 4: Alick Haynes was born in Ellesmere on 5 January 1896 and lived at 20 Watergate Street. He worked as a Builders Labourer at Sleigh & Hodnet, Cross Street. At the time of the peal he was 29 years old. He served in the KSLI during Great War and he died in 1953.
- Bell No 5: Thomas Butler, (Senior) was born in Ellesmere on 2 December 1879 and lived at 22 Wharf Road. We was a Joiner working for Kesterton & Son, 9 Church St. He married in 1903 and at the time of the peal he was 45 years old. He enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1916. He continued ringing in Ellesmere until he died in 1951.
- Bell No 6: William Samuel Higginson, (Junior) was born in Ellesmere on 12 December 1904 and lived at 5 Grange Cottages. At the time of the 1921 Census he was an Apprentice Engineer at Darling & Lloyd Engineers and Founders, Victoria Works, Oswestry, where his father worked. At the time of the peal he was 20 years and 6 months old. He did not marry and continued to live at 5 Grange Cottages all his life. His picture, as a very old man, hangs in the ringing chamber at St Mary’s.
- Bell No 7: Thomas Rogers Butler, (Junior) was born in Ellesmere on 18 March 1904 and lived at 22 Warf Road. He was employed as a clerk in Overton. At the time of the peal he was 21 years old. In 1926 he joined the police force and is recorded as being a sergeant in Liverpool in1939. He lived in the Liverpool area and continued to ring, mainly Stedman. He died in 1979 in the ringing chamber of St Mary’s Walton-on –the-Hill having just called a touch of Stedman,
- Bell No 8: William Higginson, (Senior) was born in Ellesmere on 9 January 1878and lived at 5 Grange Cottages. He was employed as Boiler-smith at Darling & Lloyd, Engineers and Founders, Victoria Works, Oswestry, where his son did his apprenticeship. At the time of the peal he was 47 years old. He obviously did not get into the complexities of method ringing and always rang the tenor.
The two youngest ringers, Thomas R Butler and William S Higginson seem to have been the driving force behind the team. They both travelled extensively to ring with other groups and in other towers and are normally present in all the recorded ringing throughout the period. Although several of the other ringers conducted touches, this pair were the primary conductors and the Stedman Peal was conducted by Thomas R Butler. Both continued to ring for the rest of their lives, William Higginson in Ellesmere and Thomas Butler in the Liverpool area.
My information was taken largely from the 1921 census returns and from the minutes book of the Saint Mary’s Society of Change Ringers.
It is intended that a band of ringers from the Shropshire Association of Church Bell Ringers will ring a peal of Stedman Triples on the Ellesmere Bells on Friday 20 June to celebrate the centenary.
Peter Leigh Tower Captain June 2025