The exiled centenarian who's too busy to chat

It was, of course, a source of some surprise and not a little amusement to me that a centenarian should have such a crowded social and domestic diary that he had to keep politely postponing our proposed telephone chat.

But Jack Ellis is clearly a remarkable man, still very active, possessing a meticulous memory, and still driving a car after more than 75 accident-free years at the wheel.

Fortunately, Jack was eventually able to spare me a bit of time in his busy schedule, and we had an amiable hour-long chin-wag over the phone as I tapped into his memories from a long life, particularly of his boyhood and youth in Worcester.

Jack Ellis was born in the Faithful City on August 22, 1901, the son of Cecil Pratt Ellis and his wife Winifreda. The family home for many years was 47 Ombersley Road, Worcester, and Jack had a brother Donald and a sister, Freda.

Their father spent most of his working life as a travelling representative for Hill, Evans & Co., manufacturers of pure malt vinegar whose base was the extensive Vinegar Works in Lowesmoor.

"My father, the son of a Methodist minister, was an outstanding Christian man, and we as a family regularly attended the Angel Street Congregational Church," said Jack.

"In fact, I was always fascinated to look across to the Norwich Union fire engine station which stood opposite the church."

Jack's education began at a small private school in Barbourne, run by a Miss Harlow, but from 1912, until 1917, he was a pupil of the Worcester Royal Grammar School.

"The headmaster was a very stern chap, FA Hillard, and I well recall the school assemblies in Perrins Hall, where he would stand at a central dais surrounded by the other masters, standing in a semi-circle in their different coloured gowns - it was quite an impressive sight."

Jack's best chum at the grammar school was George Dowty, who went on to become an aviation industry tycoon. He was knighted by the Queen in 1956, by which time he had become a millionaire at the head of his own empire of companies, employing more than 13,000 people in extensive factories which later included Dowty-Meco at Worcester.

"We were born in the same year, had a similar outlook on life and, more significantly, we both had a great interest in the engineering side of things.

"I especially recall the day when George and I were riding up Barbourne on the open upper deck of one of Worcester's jolty old trams. We were still only in our early teens but George turned to me and declared: 'You know Jack, I reckon that if I could get hold of a large shed, I could make quite a lot of money building vital components for aircraft wings'.

"How prophetic that comment turned out to be as George Dowty went on to build up a vast industrial empire producing aircraft components," stressed Jack.

However, George Dowty's inquisitive spirit was to lead to a devastating boyhood accident. He was testing magnesium (flash powder) near a fire, when there was an explosion and he suffered severe injuries including the loss of an eye.

"From that time onwards, he wore a glass eye but this distinct handicap didn't stop him forging ahead and making a big name for himself in the world, even though he had to spend much time in meticulous design work at drawing boards," added Jack.

At the grammar school, Jack was also in the OTC, the Officer Cadet Training Corps, and remembers going on manoeuvres in the mud of the Worcestershire countryside, dressed in uniform including putties. Fortunately, however, Jack never had to put this military training into practice because by the time he became 18, the First World War had just ended.

On leaving the grammar school, Jack went for a few months of technical education at the Victoria Institute before gaining a five-year apprenticeship with McKenzie & Holland, the nationally and internationally renowned manufacturers of railway signalling equipment. Numerous signal boxes in Britain were for many years to boast McKenzie & Holland lever mechanisms to control signals.

The company was based at the Vulcan Works, which stood on the opposite side of Shrub Hill Road from the extensive factory of Heenan & Froude.

"This enabled me to continue my friendship with George Dowty as he was also an apprentice, just across the road with Heenans."

After four years of Jack's apprenticeship which began in 1918, he was transferred to the Westinghouse Brake & Saxby Signal Company which had merged with McKenzie and Holland. This took him away from Worcester, first to Chippenham, in Wiltshire, and then to Kings Cross, London, where he completed his apprenticeship and began five years service with Westinghouse.

The remainder of his working career was to be spent in the London area, and he was never to return to live, nor work in his native Worcester. For more than 30 years, he was employed by S. Smith & Sons Limited of Cricklewood, working his way up through various positions from draughtsman to divisional engineer.

He became a specialist in the design of clocks and precision instruments, including some for the armed forces, and in recognition of his expertise, he was elected a Fellow of the British Horological Institute in 1953.

Jack retired in 1966, and he and his wife Ethel moved to live at Christchurch, near Bournemouth, where, alas, she died in 1995, just days after they had celebrated their Diamond wedding anniversary - 60 years of marriage. They had no children but a wide circle of friends, some of whom obviously still help fill Jack's busy social and visiting schedule.

During Jack's 77 years of driving - he was a keen motorcyclist before that - he has owned, in turn, more than 20 different makes of car, and he now drives a Ford Escort Automatic.

"I only drive short distances these days, visiting friends, shops and takeaways and picking up people without their own transport for church on Sundays." He is a regular worshipper at the local United Reformed Church.

Sadly, Jack has no relatives living in, or near, Worcester - "they're all dead."

His late brother Donald Ellis went to sea, serving on cargo ships, but later held a top post with ICI.

Jack's sister Freda married Harold Beardsley, who was for some years manager of the National Provincial Bank at The Cross, Worcester, though he was later transferred as manager to Truro, Cornwall.

In conclusion, I have to say it was well-worth the wait for a gap in his busy schedule to share a marvellous hour on the phone with Jack Ellis, a truly remarkable character who constantly refuses to give in to his age.

n I am grateful to Harold Tupper, a near neighbour of Jack's at Christchurch, for putting me in touch with him. Harold is also a Worcester exile and a past pupil of the Royal Grammar School, though he's a fair bit younger than Jack...

n It was on just such an open top electric tram as this, driving, as this one, along Foregate Street towards Barbourne that the teenage Jack Ellis had a remarkable conversation with his Royal Grammar School pal George Dowty in about 1916.