Author: Bellamy, James W.
Biography:
BELLAMY, James William (1788-1874: ancestry.co.uk)
He was born on 15 Nov. 1788 at Rotherham, the second son of John and Ann Bellamy. His parents’ marriage and mother’s maiden name cannot be established with any certainty. He was educated at the Merchant Taylors’ School, City of London, and Queens’ College, Cambridge (matric. 1807, BA 1812, MA 1815). He won the Seatonian Prize with his poem Jonah (1815), listed here. He was incorporated at Oxford in 1820 (BD 1821). Ordained deacon (1813) and priest (1814), he was Rector of St. Mary Abchurch, London (1816-44) and Prebendary of St. Paul’s (1817-74). He also held the living as Vicar of Sellinge, Kent (1822-74). He returned to his old school as Headmaster of Merchant Taylors’ (1819-45). He married Mary Coates Cherry, the daughter of the previous Headmaster, Dr. Thomas Cherry, on 8 Aug. 1815 at St. Mary Abchurch. They had at least six children. He died on 2 Mar. 1874 at Sellinge, leaving an estate of around £50,000, with his son, Rev. James Bellamy, DD, Fellow and President of St. John’s College, Oxford, as executor. His wife, Mary, had predeceased him in 1871. In his lifetime, he was better known for his Concordance to the Holy Bible (1818) which also contained a useful geographical index. (ancestry.co.uk 22 Feb. 2023; findmypast.co.uk 22 Feb. 2023; CCEd 22 Feb. 2023; Cambridge Chronicle 11 Aug. 1815; Kentish Gazette 31 Jan. 1871; LES 7 Mar. 1874) AA