No. 18: Rin Cha Thai Café
No. 18 (left) is part of the same building as No. 17 (Oxfam shop, right), and they are jointly Grade II listed (List Entry No. 1047347).
This building dates from c.1897 and is owned by Oxford City Council. It is in St Michael-at-the-Northgate parish.
The former building on the site of No. 18
At the time of the 1772 Survey of Oxford the former house on this site was occupied by a Mr Smith, with its frontage measuring 5yd 1ft 1in.
By the time of the 1841 census, the former building at No. 18 was occupied by John Francis Cripps senior, a confectioner. He died on 29 June 1844 and his widow Mrs Mary Cripps took over the business. At the time of the 1851 census Mary (51), described as the confectioner, was living here with her five sons (two of them “confectioner’s assistants”), and they had one house servant. She was still there at the time of the 1861 census, when her son John Francis Cripps junior was also described as a “fruiterer and confectioner” and her youngest son was the “confectioner’s assistant”. Mary Cripps died here at the age of 62 on 27 December 1861 and her son John Francis Cripps junior just two years later on 18 September 1863.
The Oxford University Rifle Volunteers (O.U.R.V.) occupied rooms in the former No. 18 when it was held by the Cripps family.
Jackson's Oxford Journal noted on 17 October 1868 “the rebuilding of
two dwellings with shops, opposite Balliol College, Broad Street”.
The builder was Joshua Symm.
The present building at 18 Broad Street (from 1868)
When the 1871 census was taken the proprietor, Mrs Hannah Cripps (the widow of John Francis Cripps junior) was away and her young nephew and niece were here, looked after by a governess, plus two older nieces and a boarder.
Mrs Cripps went bankrupt and on 29 November 1876 her premises were sold at auction for £1,920, and were described as follows:
All that substantially-built DWELLING HOUSE, SHOP, and PREMISES, of modern elevation, known as No.18, Broad-street, Oxford, containing, on the ground floor, spacious and lofty Front Shop, with Plate-glass Window, and large room, 12ft. by 28ft., now used by O.U.R.V.; on the first and second floors, four large sitting rooms, four bed rooms, and w.c.; also a large space over second floor, at small expense capable of being converted into three additional rooms; in the basement large kitchen, coal cellar and sub-cellar for beer, wine, &c., small yard at the back, with servants' w.c., coal cellar, knife house, &c. , and pump with well of excellent water, together with a Four-roomed COTTAGE approached by separate entrance, and a large Brick and Slated Room, now used as the O.U.R.V. Armoury, all now in the occupation of Mrs. Cripps, confectioner, and her under-tenants.
The above desirable Property, built a few years since by Mr. Symm, is in thoroughly substantial repair, and held by Lease under the Corporation of Oxford, for a term of 40 years from the 25th of March 18i68, at yearly Reserved Rents of £1 3s. 6d. and a Pullet or 1s. 3d. in money. Being situate in one of the very finest streets, an opportunity seldom met with is here offered to purchasers desirous of acquiring valuable Business Premises in the centre of the city, either for occupation or investment.
The 1881 census shows a visitor living at No. 18. The tailors & robe makers Allen & Young now had the shop, but it is possible that Hannah Cripps still lived upstairs, as at the time of the 1891 census Mrs Cripps was running a lodging house there, living with her nephew Percival John Cripps (34), a florist.
The 1901 census shows Miss Selina E. Berrill (31) and her friend Katherine Mobbs, both milliners, living here with their 15-year-old servant girl.
For over seventy years in the twentieth century, the new building was occupied by Hunt’s office services, which had started business at 19 next door in 1903. No one was living over the shop at the time of the 1911 or 1921 censuses, and William Hunt himself lived at 52 Hamilton Road, Summertown.
Photograph of 18 Broad Street in c.1988, when it was the House of Tweed.
Occupants of 18 Broad Street listed in directories |
|
Former building on this site |
|
1823, 1830 |
Fletcher & Cripps |
1839–1844 |
John Francis Cripps senior (died 29 June 1844) |
1852–1861 |
Mrs Mary Cripps, widow of John Francis Cripps senioar |
1862–1863 |
Their son John Francis Cripps junior (diied 18 September 1863) |
Present building (since 1868) |
|
1868–1876 |
Mrs Hannah Cripps (widow of John Francis Cripps junior above) |
1880–1896 |
Allen & Young |
1899–1902 |
Miss Selina E. Berrill, Milliner |
1904 |
Smith & Co: The Creamery |
1905–1908 |
Edgar William Dickeson, Boot maker |
1910–1980+ |
Hunt’s 1910–1932: William Hunt, Typewriter dealer 1934–1949: William Hunt, Typewriter dealer, stationer, copying
office 1952–1954: The Oxford Copying Office (Hunt’s (Oxford) Ltd) 1956–1960: Hunt’s (Oxford) Ltd, Typewriter dealers, stationers, & copying office 1962–1964: Hunt’s (Oxford) Ltd., Stationers & artists’ materials, and Typewriting Bureau 1970–1976: Hunt’s Typewriting Bureau, Typewriter dealers & Stationers, Copying office |
1980s–1990s |
House of Tweed |
By 1996–2024 |
Flaggs, The College Store |
2025–present |
Rin Cha Thai Café |