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Brief history of the telephone in Oxford


The following article about the introduction of the telephone to Oxford appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 26 January 1878:

JOJ 26 January 1878

 


Timeline

1877: Oxford’s first two telephones were installed, with lines from the Telegraph Office in Mill Street, Osney to (1) the Post Office, which was then still at the Old Town Hall in St Aldate's and (2) 48 Cornmarket Street, the home and shop of the cutler George J. Neill who was the engineer to the Oxford Volunteer Fire Brigade, who had a line to the Fire Brigade office in New Inn Hall Street

1879 (September): The Edison Telephone Company gave notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of its intention to open a telephone exchange in Oxford, but it appears not to have had enough response to make the enterprise worthwhile

1885: By 17 October the reservoir-keeper's cottage at Headington had been connected by telephone to the pumping station at Hinksey, enabling the level of water to be regulated.

1886: The South of England Telephone Company Ltd opened Oxford’s first exchange at 54 Cornmarket Street
In March that year it was proposed to establish telephonic communication between the lodges of all the Oxford colleges, but there were protests against disfiguring Oxford by a system of overhead wires.

1889: There were 55 telephone subscribers in Oxford

1890: The South of England Telephone Company was taken over by the National Telephone Company

1895: A second Exchange, the Post Office Trunk exchange, opened in Oxford, and the National Telephone Company moved to an upstairs room over the ‘Domestic Bazaar’ at 5 and 6 Magdalen Street
There were now 95 telephone subscribers in Oxford (see list below)

1899: There were 111 telephone subscribers in Oxford

1912: The Post Office Trunk Exchange took over the National Telephone Company

1923: A new central Oxford telephone exchange opened in Pembroke Street

1924: There were 1,090 telephone subscribers in Oxford

1928: Cowley and Headington exchanges opened

1929: Summertown telephone exchange opened

1934: There were 1,987 telephone subscribers in Oxford

1959: New exchanges at Oxford and Headington were opened

1963: STD (Standard Trunk Dialling) services started in Oxford

1977: There were 11,520 telephone subscribers in Oxford


The 1895 Oxford Telephone Directory

This directory, reproduced below, lists two call offices, where people who had no telephone of their own could go to make calls (at double the cost of a private line) and 96 subscribers. The latter included twelve colleges, the University Museum, the University Press, and the Examination Schools, as well as the Oxford Times, the Fire Station and the Police Station (which shared a number) and the following medical establishments: the Radcliffe Infirmary, the Eye Hospital, the Infectious Diseases Hospital, the Warneford Asylum, and most surgeons, physicians, and pharmaceutical chemists. The surgeon and physician Julius Sankey at the top end of Turl Street had the prestigious telephone number Oxford 1.

1895

List of subscribers to the Oxford Exchange

Call Offices
46 1, NORTH PARADE: City Drapery Stores
20 54, CORNMARKET STREET: National Telephone Co., Ltd
–A–
33 ALDEN, R.R., The Market
37 ALDEN, R.R., Eastwick Farm
43 ALLINGTON, Rev. E. H.
83 ALL SOULS’ COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge)
83a ALL SOULS’ COLLEGE (C. G. Robertson)
67 AXTELL, Thos., 9a St. Aldates
67a AXTELL, Thos., Edith Road, Grandpont
–B–
30 BAKER, HILL & Co., 1, Broad Street
30a BAKER, HILL & Co. (E. L. Birkbeck Hill), 59, St. Giles
30b BAKER, HILL & Co., 9 & 10, George Street
70 BALLIOL COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge)
44 BATES, J.
45 BEAUMONT, E., 10, 11, & 12, High Street
46 BEAUMONT, E. (Call Office), 1, North Parade
38 BEVERS, E. A., M.R.C.S., and L.S.A. Lond.
80 BODLEIAN LIBRARY
62 BROOKS, W. T., M.D.
2 BUTLER, A., The Market
2a BUTLER, A., 153, Cowley Road
–C–
58 CAB STAND, St. Giles
76a CANNAN, C.
24 CARFAX COAL EXCHANGE
47 CARTER, Messrs
45 CITY DRAPERY STORES, 10, 11 & 12, High Street
46 CITY DRAPERY STORES (Call Office), 1 North Parade
60 CLARENDON BUILDINGS
21 CLARENDON HOTEL
26 CLARENDON PRESS
26a CLARENDON PRESS (Horace Hart)
28b CLARENDON PRESS (P. Lyttelton Gell)
28c CLARENDON PRESS DEPOSITORY
3 COMFORT, B.
16 CO-OPERATIVE STORES
54 COUSINS, Thomas & Co.
–D–
13a DOWSON, H. M.
5 DREW, A. J., F.R.C.S
12 DRUCE, G. Claridge, M.A.
–E–
39 ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY
36 ELLISTON & CAVELL
77 EXAMINATION SCHOOLS
–F–
22 FIRE STATION
6 FRANKLIN, W., Holywell Street
19 FRANKLIN, W., Merton Street
–G–
26b GELL, P. Lyttelton, Clarendon Press
40 GELL, P. Lyttelton, Langley Lodge, Headington Hill
79e GEORGE, Rev. H. B.
25 GERRANS, H. T
29 GILLETT & Co.
24 GOOLD & SON
22a GREEN, Captain, 25, Leckford Road
22b GREEN, Captain, 5, High Street
4 GRIMBLY, HUGHES &Co.
8 G.W.R. GOODS STATION
7 G.W.R. TOWN OFFICE, High Street
–H–
27 HALL & Co.
26a HART, Horace
66 HEARN, J. W.
71 HERTFORD COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge)
71a HERTFORD COLLEGE (C. N. Jackson)
71b HERTFORD COLLEGE (The Bursary)
30a HILL, E.L. Birkbeck
11 HITCHCOCK & Co.
49 HUGGINS, B. S. & Sons
–I–
64 INFECTIOUS DISEASES HOSPITAL
–J–
71a JACKSON, C. N.
72 JESUS COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge)*
–K–
73 KEBLE COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge)
–L–
48 LAMB & FLAG CAB OFFICE
13 LION BREWERY
17 L. & N.W. RAILWAY, Goods Station
18 L. & N.W. RAILWAY, Town Office, Cornmarket Street
–M–
42 MACLARAN, Mrs
78 MANSFIELD COLLEGE
79d MATHESON, P. E.
35 MITRE HOTEL
13 MORRELL’S TRUSTEES
34 MULLINS, E. B.
–N–
76b NAGEL, D. H.
9 NATIONAL TELEPHONE Co. Ltd., 54, Cornmarket Street
20 NATIONAL TELEPHONE Co. Ltd. (Call Office), 54, Cornmarket Street
77 NEW EXAMINATION SCHOOLS
79 NEW COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge)
79a NEW COLLEGE (Senior Common Room)
79b NEW COLLEGE (Junior Common Room)
79d NEW COLLEGE (P. E. Matheson)
79e NEW COLLEGE HOUSE (Rev. H. B. George)
–O–
74 ORIEL COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge)
14 OXFORD DAIRY Co.
39 OXFORD ELECTRIC Co.
23 OXFORD EYE HOSPITAL
26 OXFORD MAGAZINE OFFICE, Clarendon Press
56 ”OXFORD TIMES” PUBLISHING OFFICE, New Road
56a ”OXFORD TIMES” PRINTING OFFICE, George Street
–P–
81B PELHAM, H. F.
22c POLICE STATION
100 POST OFFICE
31 PRESTON, A.
–R–
80a RADCLIFFE CAMERA
15 RADCLIFFE INFIRMARY
32 RANDOLPH HOTEL
48 RHODES, J.
51 RICE, E., M.D.
58 RIPPON, G.
83a ROBERTSON, C. G.
–S–
52 SANFORD-BURTON, H., F.L.S., &c.
1 SANKEY, Julius O., M.R.C.S., &c.
8 SAUNDERS & Co., G.W.R. Goods Station
7 SAUNDERS & Co., G.W.R. Town Office, High Street
81a SIDGWICK, A.
81 SOMERVILLE HALL
57 STARK, J. M., M.D.
41 ST EDWARD’S SCHOOL
75 ST JOHN’S COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge
27 SWAN BREWERY
10 SYMONDS, Horatio P.
–T–
76 TRINITY COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge)
76a TRINITY COLLEGE (C. Cannan)
76b TRINITY COLLEGE (D. H. Nagel)
65 TURNER Bros.
55 TURRELL, W. J., M.D.
82a TYLOR, Dr E. B.
–U–
53 UNION SOCIETY
26 UNIVERSITY GAZETTE OFFICE (Clarendon Press)
82 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM
82a UNIVERSITY MUSEUM (The Keeper’s House)
77 UNIVERSITY SCHOOLS
26 UNIVERSITY PRESS
–W–
50 WALFORD & SPOKES
63 WARNEFORD ASYLUM
61 WINKFIELD, A.
28 WORCESTER COLLEGE
In case of FIRE, call for FIRE BRIGADE. No number required

 

* The Telephone Company had installed this telephone in Jesus College in 1894. Permission was given “on the understanding that the Company acquire no rights and the College incur no liability thereby”.


For further information, see R. A. J. Earl, The Development of the Telephone in Oxford, 1877–1977 (The Post Office, 1978)

© Stephanie Jenkins