Bibby Heritage

The Bibby family attended All Saints, Childwall, a church which served a large parish that included Allerton. A memorial window was installed in the church in memory of his wife who died aged 44 on 13th November 1856. John Bibby married his second wife, Anna Maria Emily Fleetwood (1829-1899) on 19th April 1860.

It would seem that John Bibby could not have been satisfied that the memorial window at Childwall to his first wife was sufficient tribute to her memory. A decade later he decided to expend no less than £20,000 on the erection of a church at Allerton, a short distance from his home at Harthill House. The foundation stone was laid on 31st October 1872, and the church was dedicated to All Hallows, Fanny having been born on Hallowe'en 1812. The church was consecrated on 10th August 1876 by the Bishop of Chester.

On his death, he was succeeded by his eldest

son, John, junior, who became the second Patron. When his father died in 1898, John Harley Bibby (1865-1938) did not become the third Patron of All Hallows. Rather, John Bibby junior's mantle fell on his younger brother, Colonel Alfred Bibby (1847-1920). Emily, the founder's widow, continued to live at Harthill House until her death in 1899. She was buried in the Bibby Vault, and there joined John, her late husband, and John, junior and his wife Frances Caroline.

The Bibby link with Allerton was now considerably weakened for Colonel Alfred Bibby lived over two hundred miles away at Petersfield, Hampshire. On the death of his father in 1920, J. David Bibby became the fourth Patron of All Hallows. For many years he and his family lived at Childer Farm, near Alton, Hampshire, but in 1954 they emigrated to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Colonel David Bibby continued to take an interest in All Hallows

through the years. He was present at the Diamond Jubilee of the church in 1936 and the 75th anniversary in 1951. In 1979 he came to England to be present at the dedication of the memorial tablet to his ancestor, John Bibby of Linacre, that took place on 24th June. Sadly, he died in London on the previous day, aged 88.

John Bibby succeeded his father as fifth Patron of All Hallows. In the late 1990s he informed the Vicar that at his age he did not envisage returning to England and he asked to be relieved of his office. In 2000 the Vicar approached Michael James Bibby, Managing Director of the Bibby Line Group, to act as Patron, a request to which he willingly acceded. He is a direct descendant of John Bibby of Linacre through that gentleman's third son. So the link with the Bibby family continues and promises to be more active than for many years past.

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