Oxford History: The High

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Nos. 139–140 date from the 1930s. The building is owned by Oxford City Council.

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The former pubs on the site of 138–139 High Street

The former two pubs that stood side by side on this site straddled two parishes until 1896: No. 139 was in the parish of All Saints until that church closed in 1971, while No. 140 was in the parish of St Martin's (Carfax) until that church was demolished in 1896 and then in All Saints parish until that church closed in 1971. It is now in the parish of St Michael-at-the-Northgate Church.

The two pubs on this site were:

• The Red Lion at No. 139 on the left (frontage four yards exactly in 1772)
• The original Jolly Post Boys at No. 140 on the right (frontage 4 yards 1 ft 2 in in 1772).

Morrell’s bought the lease of the Red Lion from Hall’s some time after April 1851 and closed the old Jolly Post Boys, but to confuse matters they transferred the name of the Jolly Post Boys to the former Red Lion next door in around 1852 or just after. The Post Boys, as it was usually known, remained at No. 139 until 1935, when the building was demolished.

The photograph below (Historic England CC72/02060) was taken from an old engraving by Henry Taunt and shows the pubs as they were named prior to 1852:

• Left: The Red Lion (so named, and numbered 139) on the left with the landlord James Cooper, who sold wine and spirits and was a dealer in tobacco
• Right: The Jolly Post Boys (indicated by the inn sign and numbered 140) with the landlord James Weston who sold ale, old beer, porter, and British spirits

No. 139 (Originally the Red Lion, but the Post Boys from c.1853)

In All Saints' parish

At the time of the 1772 Survey of Oxford, Mr Field occupied the former building on the site of No. 139.

The 1841 census shows Frances Harrison, a widow, as the victualler of the Red Lion, living here with Frances Margetts (her daughter by her first marriage) and a female servant. She was still here at the time of the 1851 census, aged 54, with her son James Margetts, who was a confectioner, plus a general servant.

James Winfield moved here from the pub next door along with the business soon after that census, and was listed as the licensed victualler here at the newly renamed Post Boys the time of the 1861 census, living here with his wife Jane and their two daughters, plus a boarder and a servant. He died shortly afterwards, and his widow Jane Winfield took over the pub tenancy, and the 1871 census shows her living here and described as a licensed victualler with her daughters Julia (17) and Annie (12), a barmaid, and a servant. Mrs Winfield also ran a Berlin Wool and Fancy Business here with her daughter Julia (now Mrs Green), but announced on 13 November 1875 that following the death of Julia she would be disposing of the business at Christmas. At the time of the 1881 census Mrs Winfield was here with her younger daughter Annie, her granddaughter Sophia Green (8), and her sister Miss Sophia Lamburn, who assisted her at the inn, plus one general servant.

William Charles Darby, the landlord here at the new Post Boys from 1890 to 1896, was also a taxidermist whose workshop was in Market Street. At the time of the 1891 census only the barmaid Emma Povey (22) was at home, with a general servant.

The 1901 census shows George Albert Kelly (36) as publican here at the Postboys Inn, living on the premises with his wife Margaret and their son. The 1911 census shows the three of them still living here with a servant. In 1921 George & Margaret Kelly occupied seven rooms here on their own.

No. 140 (The original Post Boys to the 1850s, then a shop)

In St Martin's parish (which became St Martin & All Saints in 1896)

At the time of the 1772 Survey of Oxford, Mrs Mary Preston was the landlady at the former building on the site of No. 140. On 3 October 1778 the following auction was advertised in Jackson's Oxford Journal:

A Freehold PUBLIC-HOUSE, with good Cellaring, two Rooms on a Floor, and three Garrets, with convenient Out-Offices; situated in the High-Street, in the City of Oxford, near Carfax Conduit: now in the Occupation of Mrs. Mary Preston, at the yearly Rent of Ten Pounds.

She was probably the Mary Preston buried in Carfax churchyard on 10 January 1796.

At the time of the 1841 census the publican John Jackson, who had formerly been the landlord of the Roebuck Tap, living here with Elizabeth Jackson and their servant, plus two lodgers. He went bankrupt in 1843.

The 1851 census shows James Winfield, landlord at the Jolly Post Boys, living here with his wife Jane and a general servant. After he moved into the pub next door at No. 139, this building at No. 140 ceased to be a pub.

It became a jeweller’s shop, and at the time of the 1861 and 1871 censuses it was occupied by Abraham Davis, a jeweller & silversmith, and his wife, and his assistant, who was a watchmaker. On 31 October 1 874 Davis announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal that he was about to retire and was selling off his stock, but this took some time, as the advertisement was repeated in March 1876.

By 1876 No. 140 had become a chemist’s shop, and the 1881 census shows the chemist Josiah Henry Jessop living upstairs, with a dentist lodger. He still lived here at the time of the 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses with his unmarried brother and sister and their servant, occupying eight rooms.

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The present building on the site of 139–140 High Street

This was Martin's Bank from 1939 to 1942, when it moved to much bigger premises on the south-west corner of Carfax (Marygold House). It was then the Oxford Trustee Savings Bank until 1958.

It was then the Oxford Information Centre, followed by the Bradford & Bingley Building society and then the Oxford City Council's payments office. Since 2007 It has been a retail shop.