37 Holywell Street, Oxford

37 Holywell Street

37 Holywell Street dates from the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century. It is owned by Wadham College.

It is a Grade II Listed Building (1335895), with the following description:

No 37 (Wadham College Bursary) SP 5l06 NE 6/192 12.1.54. II GV 2.
House. C18-19 three-storeyed stone, with cellars on a stone plinth. There is a stone band at the second floor, a moulded eaves cornice, a moulded parapet and a Welsh slate roof. The half-basement windows have keystones and the front doorway has a stone moulded architrave. The four sash windows are in plain stone frames with cills and have glazing bars. Interior remodelled, and modern north elevation 1970-71.

Nos. 35, 36, 37, and 38 Holywell Street now comprise Staircases XIII and XIV of Wadham College to the north.

On 16 July 1836 (just after the street was renumbered), Miss Smith announced in Jackson’s Oxford Journal that she was opening a boarding and day school for young ladies at 37 Holywell Street, but it does not appear to have survived long.

Moses Brooks (who had been based at No. 31 from at least 1839 to 1846) was here in 1851 and 1852. He was a farmer of 500 acres and employed twelve men in 1851.

By 1871 No. 37 was occupied by the surgeon George Charles Henry Hitchings and his family, and his wife Louisa died here at the age of 67 on 22 March 1892. The house continued to by occupied by a medical practice until 1916.

37 Holywell Street in the censuses

1841

The 1841 census for Holywell does not give house numbers, but it is possible to deduce where people listed that year lived by examining directory entries between 1839 and 1842 and later censuses

George Bennett (40), a builder, lived here with Esther (40), an apprentice, various lodgers, and one female servant.

1851

Moses Brooks (52), a farmer of 500 acres employing twelve men, lived here with his wife Ann (48), who was a gentlemen’s lodging-house keeper, and their children Anne (25), Miriam (16), Louisa (14), Martha (9), Francis (11), William (7), and George (5). Lodging with them were a clergyman and his wife.

1861

Thomas Lucas (36), a lodging-house keeper, lived here with his wife Mary Ann (34) and children Thomas (6), Ellen (2), and William (six months). There was just one lodger, probably as the census was taken out of term time. They had a cook and general servant.

1871

George Charles Henry Hitchings (49), a surgeon, lived here with his wife Louisa (47) and his children Edward (23), Catherine (21), Elizabeth (17), Louisa (10), Robert (7), Rosa (22), and Ada (11). They had three domestic servants.

1881

George Charles Henry Hitchings (59), a surgeon, still lived here with his wife Louisa (55) and his children Katherine (31), Elizabeth (28), Ada (21), Louisa (20), and Robert (17). They had three servants (a cook, housemaid, and footman).

1891

George Charles Henry Hitchings (69), described as M.R.C.S.E., still lived here with his wife Louisa (69) and their children Katherine (41), Elizabeth (37), Ethel (31), and Louisa (30). They had one male and two female servants. He died here at the age of 75 in May 1897.

1901

Robert Hitchings (37), a medical practitioner and the son of the previous occupant, lived here with his wife Millie (30) and his daughter Evelyn (7). They had three servants (a governess, cook, and housemaid).

1911

Frances Henry Dickson (31), a General Medical Practitioner, lived here with his wife Margaret (33) and his daughter Margaret Jean (2). They had two servants (a cook and a nurse).

1921

Not listed in the census

Occupants of 37 Holywell Street listed in directories etc.
1772 Survey of Oxford	Mrs Hayward Frontage: 8 yds 0 ft 2 in
1836	Miss Smith Ladies' Seminary
1839–1846	George Bennett, Builder [but Jackson's Oxford Journal of 18 October 1841 says that Bennett was succeeded by Mrs Hope, who had removed from St John Street]
1851–1852	Moses Brooks Farmer (previously at No. 31, later at No. 65)
1861	Thomas Lucas Lodging house keeper
1866–1914	George Charles Henry Hitchings, Surgeon, lived here until his death in 1897 Robert Hitchings, Surgeon & medical officer & public vaccinator from 1897 (In 1908 Hitchings moved up to Headington but kept his practice here, and it is still listed under his name, but it was his partner, Francis Henry Dickson, Physician & surgeon, who lived here.)
1916	Eric Graham Saunders, M.B., B.S. Physician & Surgeon
1921–1928	No listing
1930–1976	Wadham College Bursary (with Percival’s Coaches in 1976: but see 39A)
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