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Oxford 1863 directory index
Directory of Pubs in the UK, historical public houses, Taverns, Inns, Beer Houses and Hotels in Oxfordshire. The Oxfordshire listing uses information from census, Trade Directories and History to add licensees, bar staff, Lodgers and Visitors.
The following entries are in this format:
Year/Publican or other Resident/Relationship to Head and or Occupation/Age/Where Born/Source.
Oxford Civic buildings and other.
The principal Civic buildings in Oxford are as follows:
The Town Hall, St. Aldate Street, was erected in 1754, chiefly at the
expense of Thomas Rowney, Esq., formerly high-steward of the city, and its
representative in parliament. It is two storeys high, and in the centre of
the building was placed, in November, 1844, a good statue of Mr. Rowney,
presented by C. Tawney, Esq., which had been left from the time of its
erection. The Post Office, Town-Clerk's Office, and Free Library and Reading
Boom, occupy portions of the structure. Petty Sessions for the hearing of
civil and criminal causes arc held here on Tuesdays and Fridays, at which
the mayor and magistrates preside. In the Council Chamber, at the north end,
are portraits of William III., Queen Anne, John, first Duke of Marlborough;
George, third Duke of Marlborough, by Gainsborough; and other notabilities
and benefactors of the city.
The Free Library And Reading Boom is a large handsome room on the ground
floor of the Town Hall, St. Aldate Street. It was originated and is
supported by public subscription. At present the library consists of about
3000 volumes, which number is being daily increased by private
presentations. Most of the important daily Metropolitan and weekly local
newspapers are found here, and its appreciation by the working classes, for
whose benefit it was instituted, may be inferred from the number of readers
who daily attend, being about 400. In the interior is a neat little drinking
fountain, affording copious libations of " acqua pura."
The County Gaol situate on the New Road, occupies part of tho site of Oxford
Castle, of which there is an ancient tower remaining. It is a fine
substantial structure. The County Hall, comprising two spacious courts, in
which the Assizes and General Quarter Sessions for the county are held,
together with the offices for the Clerk of the Peace, was erected in 1840,
at a cost of about £15,000. It adjoins the County Gaol. The City Gaol,, on
Gloucester Green, was built in 1789 ; the "Bocardo," its predecessor, was
over one of the city gates, and taken down in 1771. In its dismal and dreary
keep were confined Bishops Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley. The door of the
cell in which Cranmer was confined is preserved, and placed in the Martyrs'
aisle at St. Mary Magdalen church.
The Radcliffe Infirmary, St. Giles, was erected at the sole expense of the
trustees of Dr. Radcliffe, and was opened for the reception of patients in
1770. It is supported by annual subcription. The ground on which it stands,
about five acres in extent, was the gift of Thomas Rowney, Esq., M.P. for
the city of Oxford.
The Market is a commodious building, situate on the northern side of High
Street; the market days are Wednesday and Saturday, the principal market is
held on Saturday. The Oxford Corn Exchange is a very fine building, erected
at the back of the Town Hall; the principal entrance is from St. Aldate
Street; this market is also held on Saturday. A cattle market is held on
Gloucester Green, on the second and last Wednesday in each month. The market
regulations are under the control of twelve commissioners, appointed for the
purpose. Fairs are held on May 3rd, Monday after September 1st, and on the
Thursday before Michaelmas, for toys, &c
The Martyrs' Memorial was erected in 1841, at the extremity of the burial
ground of St. Mary Magdalen Church, and is a most splendid monumental cross,
raised to commemorate the sufferings, in 1555 and 1556, of those great
prelates and founders of the Anglican Church, Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer.
The cross which is erected near the place of their martyrdon is 73 feet in
height, including the steps of its basement, and is an imitation of those
erected by Edward I. to the memory of Queen Eleanor; it bears some
resemblance to the cross at Waltham, though the latter is not on so
extensive a scale, being only 45 feet in height.
The Public Baths and Wash-houses in Castle Street were opened in 1852. The
Union Workhouse or House of Industry is an old building, situate in the
Walton Road; a new building, from the designs of Mr. Fisher, is about to be
erected on the Cowley Road. A list of municipal officers, civic
functionaries, &c., are given at the end of the commercial information of
Oxford.
Alms Houses.—There are six alms-houses in St. Clement's, built by Edward
Boulter, Esq., of Haseley Court, Oxfordshire, for six poor men selected from
the following counties:—Wimple, Cambridgeshire; Wherwell, Hampshire ;
Barlings, Lincolnshire; Haseley, Oxon; Deptford, with Brockley, Kent; and
Harwood, Yorkshire. Each occupant has house and garden, and eight shillings
per week, and a great-coat every two years. Opposite to these, on the south
side of the street, are the alms-houses built and endowed in 1700, for eight
poor women, by the Rev. W. Stone, Principal of New Inn Hall; each occupant
has house, garden, and about £20 per annum. Alderman Tawney's alms-houses,
built in 1799, and situate in Fisher Row, St Thomas', are for three poor men
and three poor women; they have each honse and garden, and £20 per annum.
Alderman Parsons alms-houses, in Grove Street, were erected in 1816, for
four poor men and four poor women, who receive an annual allowance of about
£20 each. There are some alms-houses on the side of St. Aldate's Church,
begun by Wolsey in the plentitude of his power, but not completed before his
fall; they were eventually endowed by Henry VIII., out of the revenues of
Christ Church College, the Dean of which has the power of nomination, and
usually gives preference to those who have been in the army and navy. There
is accommodation for sixteen families, who, with the allowance from the
charity added to the pensions received from the government, and any parish
offices they may obtain, are able to procure a comfortable sustenance.
A very useful society was established in 1860, called "The Oxford
Churchmen's Union ;" it already numbers 600 members and associates. The
object of the union, as set forth by its promoters, is to establish the
close and active co-operation of clergy and laity, by means of meetings for
conversation and mutual improvement, the circulation of books, and by
lectures, readings, singing classes, musical entertainments, and especially
by providing places and means of recreation suitable to the seasons of the
year, and refreshment-rooms for working men, with the view to encourage
temperate habita. This institution is under the patronage of the Bishop of
Oxford.
There are four able newspapers published each Saturday, Jackson's Oxford
Journal, established 1753, Henry Hall, Esq., proprietor, Messrs J. and J. W.
Lowndes, 65 Corn Market Street, publishers; the Oxford University and County
Herald, established in 1800, Mr. Joseph Vincent, 90 High Street, publisher;
the Oxford Chronicle and Berks and Bucks Gazette, established 1837,
published by the company of proprietors, at 126 High Street; and the Oxford
Times, commenced on September the 6th, 1862, by a company, and published by
Mr. Joseph Plowman, 1 St. Aldate Street.
Few visitors leave Oxford before inspecting the very extensive
establishments of Messrs. Spiers and Son, 102 and 103 High Street and 45 and
46 Corn Market Street. In their magnitude and choice selection of very
valuable articles they are probably unequalled by any house in the
provinces, and excelled by few in the metropolis. Their stock comprises an
elegant assortment of articles of taste and vertu, with guide books, maps,
stationery, &c. The proprietors take great pleasure in shewing their
establishments and in affording information to strangers.
Oxford has unequalled facilities of communication with all parts of the
kingdom. The Great Western and the West Midland Railways (now amalgamated)
have a joint station in close proximity to the city. A branch in conjunction
with these lines was opened in 1861 to the pleasant town of Witney. The
London and North Western Company have a branch affording communication with
their Buckinghamshire line at Winslow, and running thence to join their main
line at Bletchley. Tho Thames and the Oxford Canal afford means of water
conveyance, the first to London and intermediate places, and the latter,
through the Grand Junction Canal Company, to the north. Though Oxford is
without any great staple manufacture, yet being the capital of a county, the
centre of a rich, fertile, and extensive agricultural district, and the seat
of the wealthy and world-famed University, it is necessarily the emporium of
a considerable commerce, and must be recognized among the foremost of
England's cities.
New Hincksey, though on the southern or Berkshire side of the Thames, may be
considered a suburb of Oxford; it is one mile on the road to Abingdon. The
Oxford Water Works are situate here.
Summertown is an ecclesiastical district in the union of Headington, 11 mile
N. of Oxford. It contains many villas and residences of professional
gentlemen and tradesmen, whose places of business are in the city. The
population in 1861 was 1088.