Fred Elliott Frederick Handel " Fred " Elliott was a Master Butcher , his shop being situated on Nelson Street , and first appeared in the Street as part of the Weatherfield delegation to their French twin town . At a black pudding contest , Fred tried to bribe the French judges , and nearly caused a diplomatic incident . Later in 1995 , Fred started to become a Street regular - we saw his shop and his assistant , " nephew " Ashley Peacock . Now firmly established , he was Grand Master of the Weatherfield Square Dealers , senior partner in the Street racehorse , Betty ' s Hot Shot , chasing Rita Sullivan , and famed for his repetitive speech . As a youngster , he grew up at 22 Ashchurch Grove , next door to the Mottersheads and their daughter Suzie - who later became Ken Barlow ' s head teacher at Weatherfield Comprehensive . In May 1999 , after gossiping a bit too much to Audrey Roberts , Fred was forced to admit that Ashley was his secret son . After Fred ' s first wife Sybil had died in 1975 , Fred became romantically involved with Kathleen Gutteridge , a young worker in Elliott ' s shop in Nelson Street . Kathleen became pregnant , but scoffed at the idea when Fred proposed marriage - she was too young and wanted to see the world . It was agreed that Kathleen would leave the baby boy with Fred ' s childless sister , Beryl Peacock and her husband Sam . They brought up Ashley as their own son , never telling him of his true parentage . Ashley found out that Fred was his dad and they forged a close bond , even moving in together at 4 Coronation Street which Fred bought from Mavis Wilton after the death of her husband Derek . Ashley and his wife Maxine lived there until Maxine died and then Claire Casey the nanny moved in , eventually marrying Ashley and completing the family with the birth of Freddie , a new grandson in July 2006 . Fred was scammed by a woman named Stacy Hilton who pretended to be an immigrant called Orchid , looking for a " mail order " husband . She was after his money - working with Dennis Stokes , an acquaintance of Fred ' s . Ashley discovered her working on Levenshulme Market and Fred ' s heart was again broken . A year or so later , Fred discovered Orchid beaten and being admitted to hospital . He almost took her back in but in the end sent her on her way . Always a serial proposer , having been turned down by Rita Sullivan , Audrey Roberts and Doreen Heavey , he made friends with Shelley Unwin ' s mother , Bev . They started to develop a closeness that they both shied away from , having been burned by members of the opposite sex in relationships but soon came to care deeply for each other . This time , Fred ' s proposal was accepted . They decided to move away from Weatherfield and Fred accepted an offer for the pub from Steve McDonald . The wedding was all set to go . However , his old friend Audrey was having doubts and spilled her heart out to Fred . She regretted saying no to him all those years ago ! This caused Fred a lot of anxiety but on his wedding day , he rushed from the church to see Audrey and told her gently that he was marrying Bev , whom he loved . On the way out of her house , he collapsed and died after suffering a massive stroke leaving his family , friends , and fiancée , Bev , devastated . Quotes . " Do you like a nice blood sausage ? " ( First line , to Ken Barlow ) " Nobody gets a party going like Cliff ! " ( To Gail Platt at Ken and Deirdre Barlow ' s second wedding reception in 2005 ) " Be happy , I say be happy " ( Final line , to Audrey Roberts ) .