32: Warden’s House, All Souls College
In 1703 Dr George Clarke (1661–1736), Fellow of All Souls College and Member of Parliament for the University of Oxford, ffered to build a house on All Souls College's land which on his death would become the college's property. Initially the lodgings were going to be built to the north of the chapel, but then there was a change of plan and this house was built in 1704–6 immediately to the east of the 1550 range.
Dr Clarke died on 22 October 1736, and since that date the house has belonged to All Souls College. It is jointly Grade II listed with the range to the east of the main quadrangle (List Entry No. 1046757). It has always been in the parish of St Mary-the-Virgin.
The house can be seen here in an engraving of 1755 looking very different from today, with an extra floor and turrets and the door on the right-hand side.
The 1772 Survey of Oxford jointly lists "All Souls College & Warden's Lodging" with a street frontage of 82 yards.
The detail from an engraving below shows this house in 1834, looking more as it does today.
The house changed again in appearance when it was refronted in 1876–7 by David Robertson.
In the censuses:
- The Warden of All Souls from 1827, Lewis Sneyd, was also the Rector of East Lockinge in Berkshire, and he was staying there at the time of the 1841 census. The 1851 census shows Sneyd (62) at home here at 32 High Street with six servants: his butler and his butler's wife who acted as his cook & housekeeper plus their two children, and a footman, kitchenmaid, and two housemaids.
- In 1861 the next Warden, Francis Knyvett Leighton, who was also Rector of East Lockinge, was away with his wife and children at Holdenhurst in Hampshire and only a visitor and two servants were at home. In 1871 Leighton (64) was at home alone here with three servants (a butler, housemaid, and under-housemaid). The 1881 census shows Leighton (71) here in the Warden's Lodgings with his wife Catherine (62), hisr married daughter Louisa O'Connell, and his sister Clare Lighton, and they had ten servants living with them (a housekeeper, nurse, three ladies’ maids, an upper housemaid, under-housemaid, kitchenmaid, butler, and footman). He died soon after that census.
- Later in 1881 William Anson became Warden of All Souls (the first Warden who was not also a cleric), and at the age of 39 was about half the age of his predecessor. In Memories of Victorian Oxford Sir Charles Oman wrote, “Sir William Anson … remained all his life a bachelor, his house being kept for him by detachments of his numerous body of sisters.” At the time of the 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses he appears to have been away and only servants were at home.
- The next Warden, Francis William Pember, was in residence at All Souls College at the time of the 1921 census, but he is listed with a number of Fellows and it is unclear who was actually living in the lodgings.
- The 1939 Register lists the Warden William George Stewart Adams here in the lodgings with his wife Muriel and son John plus four domestic servants and a lady called Rhoda Brenan, described as doing voluntary secretarial work, and Anne Brenan (12).
Wardens of All Souls College likely to have lived at 32 High Street | |
Dates of |
Name of Warden |
1726–1766 |
Stephen Niblett (possibly from after Clarke's death in 1736) |
1766–1793 |
|
1793–1817 |
|
1817–1827 |
Edward Legge (also Bishop of Oxford 1816–1827) |
1827–1858 |
|
1858–1881 |
|
1881–1914 |
|
1915–1932 |
|
1932–1933 |
|
1933–1945 |
|
1947–1951 |
|
1951–1952 |
|
1952–1977 |
|
1977–1995 |
|
1995–2008 |
|
