Clement James Victor Bellamy
Mayor of Oxford 1939/40 and 1940/1
Clement James Victor Bellamy (1880–1946) was born at Clee in Lincolnshire at the end of 1880.
Bellamy’s parents
Clement Bellamy’s father, William Henry Bellamy was born in Horncastle in Lincolnshire, and was only 20 at the time of his birth; his wife, Ann (born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire in c.1879) was 21.
The young couple started their married life with the husband’s parents. The 1881 census shows them with Clement at the age of four months living with John Bellamy (48) and his wife Eleanor (54) at 106 Cleethorpe Road at Clee-with-Weelsby in Lincolnshire. Three unmarried siblings were also in the household: John (23), Ann (21) and Lilley (18), as well as as married sister, Sarah Cuthburt (25), and her miller husband and their son. John Bellamy and his two sons were all ginger beer manufacturers.
William and Ann Bellamy had the following children, all born in Grimsby:
- Clement James Victor Bellamy (born in 1880)
- Gertrude Bellamy (born in 1881)
- Adlard W. Bellamy (born in 1884)
- Florence Bellamy (born in 1885)
- Charles Bellamy (born in 1890)
- Gladys Bellamy (born in 1896)
By 1891 William and Ann has moved out of their parents’ home and were living (with one servant) at 188 Cleethorpe Road in Grimsby. William Bellamy is described as a mineral water manufacturer.
Clement James Victor Bellamy
Bellamy was educated at Caistor Grammar School in Lincolnshire. He decided to take up pharmacy, and was articled at Sheffield. He then went to work as a chemist’s assistant at 16 Regent Street Gloucester, where he can be found at the age of 20 in the 1901 census. He qualified in 1902.
Bellamy then worked in London, Monte Carlo, and Paris and finally in 1906 succeeded to the business of George Claridge Druce (who himself had been Mayor in 1900/1) at 118 High Street, Oxford. The 1911 census shows Bellamy and his wife Maud Emma 9born in South Molton in c.1879) living over the shop at 118 High Street, with a chemist’s assistant lodging with them.
Bellamy held the warrant of appointment to the Duke of Windsor when (as Prince of Wales) he was at Oxford. Bellamy opened branches of his chemist shop in other parts of the city, and retained an interest in the business when it became a company in 1939. He served a term as President of the Oxford & District Chemists’ Association.
Bellamy came on to the City Council as the representative for the North Ward in 1929. In 1939 he was elected Mayor of Oxford (for 1939/40), and at the end of his term of office, which was of course in wartime, he was elected again the following year (for 1940/1). At the end of his two years in office, the University awarded him an honorary degree.
In 1930 Bellamy is listed in Kelly’s Directory as living at 1 Upland Park Road, which had just been built.
Bellamy was twice Worshipful Master of the Annesley Lodge of Freemasons, and was a senior member of Alfred Lodge. He was also a Rosicrucian. When he was younger he was a keen motorcyclist and a member of the Oxford Motor Club; later he became a golfer and a member of the Frilford Club. He served a term as magistrate, and was also Chairman of the Oxford Eye Hospital, President of the Rotary Club of Oxford, and President of the Oxford Chamber of Commerce.
Bellamy died at Oxford Eye Hospital at the age of 65 (after an illness lasting some months) on 13 January 1946. His funeral was at the City Church (then All Saints) on 16 January, and the mourners included his brothers A. W. Bellamy and R. C. Bellamy and his sister Mrs F. W. Robinson, with the Vice-Chancellor representing the University, and the Mayor and members of the Corporation the City.
See also:
- Oxford Times, 18 January 1946, p. 8g (obituary)