Nos. 9–10: St John’s College building
No. 9
No. 9 (shown above) dates from about 1600, and lies at the southernmost end of St Giles's parish.
It was once the dairy of a farm, and Jackson’s Oxford Journal reported on 14 October 1871 that the remains of some earlier buildings were discovered during restorations by Wyatt & Son that year.
Their were only offices here by 1839, so the building is listed as unoccupied in the censuses of 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, and 1891, and 1901, and as in occupation but with no one living there in 1901.
For at least 150 years, up to 1905, No. 9 was a solicitor’s office. In that year it was restored by N. W. Harrison for St John’s College: the downstairs was used as their Estates Office the next 56 years, and the upstairs as student rooms.
This photograph of 1949 shows what the building looked like before it was heavily restored a second time by St John's College in 1962.
Nos. 10 and 10A
Nos. 10 & 10A (sometimes numbered as 10A and 10B) were behind No. 9 shown above, but were demolished in 1906 to make way for the Rawlinson Building (at the north end of the North Quadrangle).
No. 10
The 1841 census shows William Glover, the butler of St John's College, living at No. 10 with his wife Catherine and their three children, plus their servant. In 1851 Glover (61) now described the agent of the college, was still here with his wife and daughter, plus a clerk and a servant.
By the time of the 1861 census Thomas Wood (35), a clerk to a wine & spirit merchant, lived here with his wife Ann and their four children, plus two servants. John B. Trend (25), the curate of St Giles' Church, lived in a separate part of the house.
The 1871 census shows the college butler William Savage (38) living here with his three children and their servant.
In 1881 the college servant John Wilkins (70) was living here with his wife Charlotte. They were still here in 1891 with their ten-year-old grandson and their servant. Wilkins died here at the age of 81 on 31 December 1892, and the forthcoming auction sale of his furniture was advertised in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 4 March 1893.
The 1901 census shows the widow Elizabeth Slay (53) living at No. 10 with her daughter and running a lodging house here.
No. 10A
The 1841 census appears to show Comfort ?Dopen (45), a stationer, living at No. 10A with her son George (c.20), who was a sculptor, and her four other children.
By 1846 Thomas Grimsley, a “sculptor and patent roof & terracotta manufacturer” (who had moved from 76 St Giles’ Street opposite in 1841 when it was demolished to make way for the Taylorian) had his premises at 10A by 1846. He designed Headington National School (1847) and St Paul’s Girls’ School in Walton Street (1848) using structural terracotta rather than wood to reduce carpenters’ bills, and sculpted the statue of Thomas Rowney that stood over the old Town Hall. In about 1851 he moved to a third location in St Giles', at No. 27
From 1857 to 1866 Mother Marian Hughes ran her Sisters of Mercy Charity School here. The 1861 census shows two sisters of Mercy boarding here with the school mistress Elizabeth Jordan (25) and nine female charity scholars aged between 9 and 15.
The 1871 census shows the Balliol College butler William Parker (38) here at No. 10A with his wife and their three children, plus their undergraduate lodger. The situation was much the same in 1881.
In 1891 the college servant John Wilkins senior (48) lived here with his wife and their servant girl. They were still here but without a servant in 1901. In the latter year a No. 10B is also listed, occupied by Oona H. Ball (33), the wife of the head of the household, and their cook and a housemaid.
| Occupants of 9, 10 & 10A St Giles' Street listed in censuses and
directories |
|||
Date |
9 St Giles’ Street |
10 St Giles’ Street |
10a St Giles’ Street |
1839 |
P. Walsh & Son |
— |
— |
1846–1851 |
Walsh & Dayman |
William Glover |
Thomas Grimsley |
1861–1866 |
Thomas Wood |
Sisters of Mercy |
|
1867 |
Dayman & Walsh |
J. Savage |
William Parker |
1875–1889 |
John Wilkins |
||
1890–1893 |
Percival Walsh |
John Wilkins, jun. |
|
1894–1898 |
Miss Hiles |
||
1899–1902 |
Mrs Slay |
||
1903–1905 |
Henry Brooks |
||
1906–1909 |
St John’s College Estates Office |
||
1910–1962 |
St John’s College Estates Office |
||
1964–present |
Part of St John’s College |
||