Page 146 - WHO'S WHO OF DUDLEY ROTARY

achieved wide praise in educational circles for persuading the Education Secretary to force a
merger of schools to create a successful 150 pupil primary for the district.

490 Rev. Philip William DARBY (1944- ) (Inducted 19.11.1979; left in 1980 on leaving the district.)
Parish Priest. Vicar of St John's, Kates Hill, from about 1977 until early
1980 when he was appointed Vicar of Christ Church, Catshill, Bromsgrove.
He was born in Blackheath, attended King Edward’s Five Ways School,
Birmingham, and briefly Nelson Grammar School in Lancashire (where
coincidentally Club member Fred Austin was Headmaster at the time!).
He trained as a teacher and taught for perhaps two years in Birmingham
but, called to the ministry, attended Queen's Theological College,
Birmingham and was ordained in Worcester Cathedral in 1970. He served
first as a priest in Kidderminster before coming to Dudley. After Dudley
he was at Catshill from 1980 to 1988 then moved to south Devon as Vicar of Ipplepen with
Torbryan. In 2001 he was also made Rector of Denbury. In January 2002 Philip became Vicar of
Ashburton with Buckland-in-the-Moor and Bickington and later that year was made a
Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. In 2004 he was made Team Rector of the Ashburton and
Moorland Team Ministry, managing all the Exeter Diocese parishes across Dartmoor. He retired
in January 2010 but was appointed Priest Vicar of Exeter Cathedral and member of the Cathedral
Council. He is President or Chairman of numerous community organisations in the Ashburton
district, including the Twinning Association that links Ashburton with Cleder in Brittany. He is an
officer of Ashburton’s historic Court Leet so in 2010-11 served as Master Bailiff (whose job was
to keep an eye on the Ale Taster, Bread Weigher and lesser officers!) and in 2011-12 held the
highest office as the 1191st Portreeve. More importantly he is a member of the Rotary Club of
Ashburton & Buckfastleigh and its President 2014-15.

491 David G RYLEY (1947- ) (Inducted 21.1.1980; Club Secretary from July
1982; left in 1984/85 on changing employment.) Metal Fabrications.
Production Manager at Glazzard Iron & Steel, Netherton, specialist
fabricators of architectural metalwork. He moved to Steelway Fensecure
based at Wolverhampton, a similar firm of specialists in metal fabrication
from fencing and staircases to structural steelwork and overhead rail
equipment, and eventually became Health and Safety Manager. He has
lived at Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton since the 1970s.

492 Kenneth (‘Ken’) George PRICE (1927-2019) (Inducted 1.7.1980; died 24.2.2019 whilst still a
member.) Commercial Banking. Manager, Lloyds Bank, Dudley from
summer 1979 until retiring in 1987. He was born at Shardlow near Derby
but his parents moved to Leeds when he was 2 and then to Harrow when
he was 9. On leaving school he started work as a chemist but his father
arranged an interview and Ken got his job with Lloyds Bank at Deritend,
Birmingham, the start of a long career with Lloyd’s. He worked at many
branches in the Midlands as a relief staff-man before service with the Royal
Navy. On discharge he joined the bank’s Wednesbury branch. This was
followed by eight years at Walsall, two years at Colmore Row, Birmingham
and a short period at Sandpits in the Jewellery Quarter before returning to Wednesbury as chief
clerk. He moved to Littleover about 1959 when he took a management post at the Derby
branch, where he rose to be manager. He then became manager of Gooch Street, Birmingham
followed by manager of the Parade branch in Birmingham Jewellery Quarter in October 1964.
After a few years he became manager of the Brierley Hill branch, then manager at Nuneaton
from July 1974, before coming to Dudley. He moved to Hagley when he took the Dudley post.