Ernest "Ernie" Popplewell was one of the first tenants of 7 Coronation Street in 1902 alongside his son Harry, daughter-in-law Clara and grandchildren Emily and Herbert.
Prior to his move to Coronation Street, Ernest's wife Mary died of scarlet fever. Ernest was left to look after his four children alone but decided to only keep Harry, abandoning his younger three: Kitty, Ernie and Alfie, to the parish. Throughout the late 1860s, Ernest had served as a labourer helping to build the Weatherfield canal and later earned money by pulling carts of slag from the pit face and selling it to his neighbours. He received the shock of his life when he called at 11 Coronation Street and came face-to-face with Alfred, the spitting image of his late wife. Ernest collapsed in the street and was rushed to the infirmary, believing he was going to die he revealed the truth about his estranged son to Harry. Harry was interested to form a relationship with his brother but when Ernest recovered he decided that he wanted nothing to do with Alfred and refused to acknowledge him.
In 1904, Ernest participated in a game of dominoes against Tom Schofield in the snug of the Rover's Return when he suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack. None of the locals mourned his loss and Clara performed a jig on the table where he had died at his wake. Harry and Alfred started to form a brotherly bond in the wake of their father's death.
- Ernest first appeared in Daran Little and Bill Hill's "Weatherfield Life", published in 1992. Other information is derived from Little's follow-up book, "Around the Coronation Street Houses".