Frederick Handel Elliott was a character in Coronation Street from Ep 3743 - 26 Aug 1994 to Ep 6399 - 11 Oct 2006 although he was a recurring character until 1996 when he became a regular, I say when he became a regular. Fred was a butcher, I say he was a butcher and was known for his comic repetition of words and phrases. Fred also did occasionally use underhand tactics to get what he wanted. Fred was quite comic but he did have his serious side. He took his work seriously. Fred was the blood father of Ashley Peacock, and his supposed mother Beryl Peacock, Fred's sister, was actually Ashley's aunty. Fred had had a brief fling with Kathleen Gutteridge in the 1970s, and Ashley was a result of this. It was not until 1999 that Ashley found out the truth.
Fred died suddenly in 2006 aged 68. Fred was played by actor John Savident, I say Fred was played by John Savident.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Fredderick Handel Elliott was born on the 27th October 1938 in Weatherfield to William Elliott and Amelia Elliott. Fred had a sister Beryl Elliott. Fred's maternal grandfather Bernard Cartwright was a local murderer, who died 40 years before Fred was even born. Fred's grandmother Alice Cartwright (Nee Rafferty) was killed by her husband. In 1959, 21 year old Fred married a woman named Sybil and they were married for 16 years until her death but they never had any children.
In early 1975, Sybil died and Fred was distraught. In early 1976, a year since Sybil died, he was still grieving when at his butchers in Nelson Street Fred employed Kathleen Gutteridge. She comforted him over his wife's death. She became pregnant with his child in April 1976 and he asked her to marry him but she laughed and said no. They agreed to give the baby up to Fred's sister Beryl Peacock when he/she was born. A baby boy Ashley Peacock was born in January 1977 and given to Beryl and her husband Sam. Kathleen then left Weatherfield once Ashley was born and started a new life in Oldham. For the next 22 years, Ashley never knew his true parentage.
Fred was aching to tell Ashley the truth but promised to keep quiet.
1994-2006[]
Fred's first episode where he tries to charm barmaid Tanya Pooley.
In August 1994, Fred Elliott was at a competition and used bribery/cut corners to get what he wanted. He then starting making The Rovers Return, Coronation Street his local pub and became friends with Alf Roberts and his wife Audrey Roberts. On his first visit to The Rovers, Fred took a liking to young barmaid Tanya Pooley who was not best pleased. Fred was also a bit of a sleaze and tried to woo Audrey. It transpired Fred often bribed people to get what he wanted, such as winning competitions and the like, so was a bit dodgy.
Fred had a meat counter at Freshco's Supermarket, Weatherfield where his "nephew" Ashley Peacock worked. By 1995 Fred was in his mid 50s and hoped to one day leave his business to his son Ashley, who did not know he was his son rather than his nephew. Fred became good mates with Alec Gilroy, and the two 60 odd year old men became as thick as thieves, scheming together.
In 1997 Fred romanced Maureen Holdsworth. They married in September 1997, of which Fred's middle name of Handel was revealed, which gained a few laughs from the guests, but just 2 weeks after the wedding, Maureen ran off with Bill Webster. Fred was devastated and sat at home a lot, depressed, smoking and drinking a lot. Ashley got annoyed that he was doing all the work while Fred sat at home and felt sorry for himself. Fred soon bucked his ideas up.
In 1998, Fred showed a few more of his underhand tactics when he tried to get Audrey Roberts elected as councillor over Spider Nugent. Fred and Alec bribed Spider to back out, and Fred even tried to dig the dirt on Spider about a conviction, however this failed when it was merely a minor conviction, as Spider had refused to pay a fine on point of principal. Fred, however, was pleased when Audrey won the elections, leaving Spider miffed.
In 1998 Fred wined and dined Audrey Roberts and this caused jealousy from his friend Alf, which tested their friendship. In August 1998, Alf even warned Fred to stay away from Audrey. In January 1999 Alf died of a heart attack aged 72 and Mike Baldwin insulted Fred at the funeral, telling him not to cop off with the widow. Fred took on Nita Desai as his new assistant. Now that Alf was dead, Fred may have been secretly pleased as this meant he could get closer to Audrey now.
In May 1999, Fred wined and dined Audrey, and secretly told Audrey that he has a son. But Audrey then told Maxine Heavey. Maxine told Ashley, as she felt Fred would leave his secret son all his money and the shop when he dies and leave his hard working nephew with nothing. One time during a row, Ashley told his Uncle Fred he was sick of his lies and to get his son to do his dirty work for him in future. Fred then knew Audrey had spread the word. Fred confronted Audrey saying he told her in confidence. One time Fred entered his house to wait for Ashley to return home so he could explain to him. Ashley came home and ranted off at him. He asked what Fred was doing here and Fred said he owned the house and was entitled to enter it. Ashley mouthed off at Fred and in the end Fred flipped and shouted "Shut up and let me get a word in". He said to Ashley that he does have a son, and it is him. He says he is not Ashley's uncle but his father.
Fred and Ashley sat up all night talking, Ashley had an identity crisis. The next day, Fred said that 23 years ago he employed a girl called Kathleen Gutteridge in 1976, and they romanced and she was soon pregnant. She had comforted him after his wife Sybil's death in 1975. Fred said when he proposed she laughed at him, as she did not want to commit. So Fred and Kathleen agreed to give the baby to his sister Beryl who could not have children. Fred explained that Kathleen swiftly left the area after Ashley was born. He said he promised to keep it a secret. Beryl and her husband would bring the baby up as theirs. Fred said he has been aching to tell Ashley since the day he was born, and due to having no choice, Fred had to break the promise he made to Beryl. Fred begged Ashley not to tell Beryl that Fred had told him the truth about his parentage. Ashley phoned Beryl when Fred was out. Fred was annoyed but Beryl came to visit them. Ashley and Fred soon bonded and they both agreed to parade as uncle and nephew to the neighbours who were no the wiser about their true blood link.
In November 1999, Fred entered for a weekend away in Derbyshire where they did many physical activities lead by Curly Watts. This was a Freshco's competition, they competed against another team. Curly turned into a Hitler, telling the 61 year old Fred to keep up and to walk a plank. Fred was too heavy so the plank broke. One night, Jock MacCall the Scottish team leader woke them up at 1:30 in the morning. They had to do a night time walk across the cold, dark moors. Fred fell down a hill and sprained his foot. Curly suggested leaving him on the moors overnight but Ashley said he could die. Fred had to be carried back to base. Back at the base, Fred said how much of a dictator Curly was, and Ashley vouched for Fred. Freshco's won the competition and the team swiftly returned to Weatherfield. Fred took a few weeks to get over his sprained ankle but dressed as Santa for the Christmas 1999 celebrations.
Fred dies, I say Fred dies.
In early 2000, Fred found out that his maternal grandfather was a murderer. A dead body was found on a building site, and it was believed to be Fred's grandfather until it turned out to be Tony Horrocks. Fred later became friends with Duggie Ferguson and took over as landlord of the Rovers, having bought it for Eve Sykes to work in. While Fred and Eve were married, it transpired that she had never divorced her first husband. In his final years, Fred did become a more serious character once he became landlord of the Rovers. In April 2006, Fred gave a speech at Mike Baldwin's funeral. Later on in 2006, Fred was ready to marry Bev Unwin but the wedding never went ahead due to Fred's sudden death. Before Fred died, Audrey admitted she had feelings for Fred.
Fred dead in his coffin, I say Fred dead in his coffin.
In October that year on the day he died, he said to Audrey "Be happy, I say be happy". As he walked out, he collapsed in the hallway, as he had a sudden massive stroke and died instantly. He was 67 years old, and just a couple of weeks short of his 68th birthday. Audrey had to break the news to Ashley who told Bev at the church that Fred had died.
Bev was saddened at Fred's sudden death. Bev saw Audrey at the chapel of rest and was annoyed. His funeral was held on the 20th October 2006.
Legacy[]
Fred's legacy has lived on for years after his death.
In 2009, Claire told Ashley's apprentice butcher Graeme Proctor about Fred, unknown to Ashley. When Graeme began impersonating Fred, Ashley became slightly convinced that his late father was contacting him through the afterlife, until finding out from Claire that she told Graeme about him.
After Ashley's death in December 2010, this marked the end of Elliot & Sons. The site remained empty until 2014 and when it was cleared out by Jason Grimshaw he did a Fred Elliott impression "Fred Elliott I say Fred Elliott".
In June 2020, almost 14 years after Fred's death, he was mentioned by Sharon, the sidekick of Gary Windass. Sharon said she had seen Fred Elliott, even though he has long since died. Actually Sharon mistook Adam Barlow's name for Fred Elliott's, and Gary had to correct her. Gary would not have known who Fred Elliott was, as he arrived in Coronation Street 2 years after Fred died. It appears Adam posed as a teacher called Fred Elliott, probably getting the inspiration for the alias from the long dead Fred, I say the long dead Fred.
In September 2021, at Norris Cole's funeral, at the end of the episode, a montage of photos was seen of Norris and his various neighbours and friends. One of the photos had Fred Elliot in it. I say one of the photos had Fred Elliot in it.
Memorable info[]
Appearances: 26 August–9 September 1994, 1 February 1995–6 February 1995, 30 August 1995, 6 November 1995-24 May 1996, 9 August–29 December 1996, 9 April 1997–11 October 2006
Born: 27th October 1938, Weatherfield, Lancashire
Died: 9th October 2006 (Aged 67)
Full Name: Frederick Handel Elliott
Parents: William Elliott and Amelia Elliott (Nee Cartwright)
Siblings: Beryl Peacock (Nee Elliott)
Grandfathers: Isaiah Elliott, Bernard Cartwright
Grandmothers: Alice Cartwright
Spouse: Sybil Elliott (1959-1975), Maureen Naylor (1997-1998)
Children: Ashley Peacock (1977)
Trivia[]
- Initially Fred was just a guest character in a few episodes in August and September 1994. He returned in February 1995 for a few episodes, then later that year. Due to the popularity of the character, he returned for a longer stint in 1996 before becoming a full time character in 1997 until his death in 2006.
- Actor John Savident decided to quit the show in 2005, giving a years notice, as he wanted to spend more time with his family in Hertfordshire, so his character Fred was killed off in October 2006. John occasionally slated the show after leaving, saying some of the storylines were "badly lit".
- While Fred and Ashley were said to be nephew and uncle, as Ashley was said to be Fred's sister's son, it was hinted for a while prior to May 1999 that Ashley may be Fred's secret son. Fred saw Ashley as the son he never had, and was keen to leave his empire to Ashley, who was only supposed to be a nephew. In 1999, the truth outed. Fred was indeed Ashley's father, and Ashley's real mother was Kathleen Gutteridge, whom worked for Fred in the 1970s, and when Ashley was a baby, he was adopted by his paternal aunty Beryl who could not have children herself.
- Fred's maternal grandmother was Alice Cartwright (Nee Rafferty). Rafferty is an Irish surname.
- Fellow streets resident Kevin Webster's mother Alison Webster was a Cartwright by birth before she married. However it was never stated that Kevin and Fred were related, although Fred's family had Cartwright Street named after them. It is possible Kevin and Fred never knew they were related, but Cartwright is quite a common surname anyway.
Appendices[]
List of addresses[]
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Employment history[]
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