▶Date of birth:   5 August 1830       Place of birth: Marton-in-Craven, Yorkshire

▶Father:  Francis John Lace, of Ingthorpe near Marton     Mother: Elizabeth Crofts

▶Spouse(s): Georgina Douglas Agg     Date(s) of marriage:  5 February 1857     Place(s) of marriage: St Paul’s Church, Cheltenham

▶Occupation: Clergyman (Anglican)

▶Lifestory: John William Lace was the eldest son of Francis John Lace, of Stone Gappe, Skipton, Yorkshire, and his wife Elizabeth (née Crofts). He matriculated at University College, Oxford in 1849, BA (fourth class in Literae Humaniores) 1855, MA 1856. Lace was ordained Deacon (Bath and Wells) in 1855, and Priest (Gloucester and Bristol) in 1857. He was licensed Curate of St Paul’s church in Cheltenham in 1855, where he became a lifelong friend of another Curate at the church, Richard Blunt, who later became Bishop of Hull (and who had relatives living in Pittville at the time). In late 1856 he added his name to a farewell address to Francis Close, who was about to leave the parish church in Cheltenham to become Dean of Carlisle.

He lived at 28 North Place, near St Paul’s and Pittville when he was married, by his Vicar at St Paul’s, to Georgina Douglas, eldest daughter of surgeon Thomas Agg, of Clarence House, Cheltenham in 1857; they had one daughter followed by nine sons. In 1857 he joined the Council of Cheltenham’s Literary and Philosophical Institution, of which his Vicar, the Revd. C. H. Bromby was President; throughout his time in Cheltenham he engaged actively in church and community business, especially in the areas of education and health, and with the Working Man’s Club, where he lectured frequently. In 1858 Lace lived at 17 Clarence Square, Pittville and in mid-year removed to 5 Clarence Square, where he remained until 1861.

Lace spoke at a number of public meetings in Cheltenham during time as Curate at St Paul’s. He noted movingly with reference to the opening of a public bath house in the town in 1860  that he hadn’t had a hot bath since he had moved to Cheltenham (whereas in Oxford he could get a bath for 6d), and he was adamant the poor as well as the rich ought to have access to a bathing facilities.

In 1861 Lace left Cheltenham when he was appointed Curate of St Cuthbert’s, Wells in Somerset, where his family increased steadily and he again threw himself into the life of the community; in time he became Senior Curate. He moved with his family to Pill, near Bristol, in Somerset in 1867, when he was appointed to the perpetual curacy of the village church. In Pill, as elsewhere, the “amiable and courteous” incumbent was known for his “impressive” sermons and his active engagement with the local community.

He remained at Pill until his death in 1896 at the Vicarage, at the age of sixty-five. His estate at death was valued at over £13,000.

▶Moved to Pittville from:  Oxford      Moved from Pittville to: Wells, Somerset

▶Date of death:  14 June 1896      Place of death: The Vicarage, Pill, Somerset

▶Date of burial:  18 June 1896       Place of burial: St George’s Church, Easton-in-Gordano, Somerset

▶Notes:  Cheltenham Mercury 6 December 1856, Cheltenham Examiner 23 May 1860      ID: 4281

Contributor(s):  John Simpson/Alan Munden