Charles John Ellicott, best known for his Bible Commentary and as an outstanding conservative scholar in the 19th century, was born at Whitwell, near Stamford, England, on April 25, 1819. Ellicott graduated from St. John’s College in Cambridge where he became a Fellow. Later he was ordained a Priest in the Church of England. After marrying Constantia Beecher he became the rector of a small country parish where he used his spare time to study and write his well-regarded commentaries on the Epistles. He was quite accomplished as a Divinity Professor at Cambridge, Dean of Exeter, and Bishop of Gloucester but is best remembered for his commentaries on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, and Philemon. Ellicott’s other popular works include Modern Unbelief, The Being of God, and The History and Obligation of the Sabbath. In 1860 he was involved in a serious train accident while traveling between Cambridge and London. Though he had fractures to both legs and other injuries, it has been said his first concern was for the academic manuscripts he was transporting, and the second was to minister to the dying passengers around him, with little thought of himself. His injuries left him with a limp; however, the railway company gratefully awarded him a silver pass for free travel between the two cities. About ten years after the accident Ellicott was commissioned to help revise the King James Bible, which is regarded as one of the great works of his life. Ellicott was known for his sympathy toward others and for living a simple life. He was remembered as good humored, kindly, pleasant, entertaining in conversation, and as “a warm, outgoing person with a genuine interest in people.” Ellicott resigned in March 1905 due to failing health and retired with his wife to Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, where he died on October 15, 1905.^[1]

^[1]  “Charles Ellicott.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Jan. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ellicott.

Projects, Contributors to Wikimedia. “Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 Supplement/Ellicott, Charles John.” Wikisource, the Free Online Library, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 1 Jan. 2021, https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1912_supplement/Ellicott,_Charles_John.