32 Cornmarket Street: Part of William Baker House
William Baker House (now occupied by Mountain Warehouse) was built on the site of 32 Cornmarket Street and around the corner into Broad Street in 1914. It is in the parish of St Michael-at-the-Northgate Church.
For more information about this building, see William Baker House in the Broad Street section of this website.
The photograph below (Historic England CC72/02292) shows the flat-roofed two-storey building that was on the site of William Baker House in 1914, just prior to its demolition:
The hairdresser Alfred Martyr then occupied the ground floor 32 Cornmarket Street, but the offices of Buckell & Ballard next door facing Broad Street spread over the first -floor of the property.
For leases granted by Oxford City Council between 1581 and 1787 for 29, 30, 31, & 32 Cornmarket Street, see H. E. Salter, Oxford City Properties, pp. 246–248.
Occupants of 32 Cornmarket Street listed in directories etc. |
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1841 |
No listing |
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1848–1880 |
Frederick Irwin, Hair dresser & perfumer |
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1880–1913 |
Alfred Martyr, Hairdresser (+ Buckell & Ballard upstairs with Broad Street entrance and address from 1894) |
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1914 |
The corner shops were rebuilt as William Baker House |
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1914–1932 |
Martyr Bros, Hairdressers |
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Martyr Bros is listed at 31A in 1935 and 1936, |
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32 Cornmarket Street in the censuses
1841
Probably unoccupied.
1851
Frederick Irwin (47), hairdresser, lived here over his shop with his wife Elizabeth (45) and one gentleman lodger.
(In 1841, Irwin had been at 25 Cornmarket Street.)
1861
Frederick Irwin (57), described as a hairdresser employing one man, still lived here with his wife Esther (57) and his wife’s niece, Elizabeth Sutton (34).
1871
Alfred Martyr (44), hairdresser, lived here over Frederick Irwin's shop with his wife Ann (44) and their children Laura (19), Francis (16), William (11), and Henry (6).
1881
The building is listed as uninhabited. It is likely that Frederick Irwin had recently retired, as although he is listed here in directories he was actually living at 2 St John’s Villas, Blackhall Road. A widower of 71, he was described as a retired hairdresser, and his wife's niece Miss Elizabeth Sutton was now his housekeeper. Alfred Martyr, who had taken over the hairdressing business, was living at 12 Park End Street
1891, 1901, 1911
Listed as uninhabited: the upstairs was now occupied Buckell & Ballard's office