Oxford History: The High

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This double-fronted shop at 44 & 45 High Street was built in 1968 by St Edmund Hall with student accommodation above. It was designed by Marshall Sissons in the late eighteenth-century style

There were formerly two separate houses/shops on this site. They were in St Peter-in-the East parish until that parish was united with St Cross parish in 1957.

The former No. 44 to 1876

The watch & clock maker John Clements had his premises here by 1808, and advertised in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 25 November 1809 saying that he sold watches of every description and clocks made to any order in his shop opposite the Angel Inn.

An advertisement for an auction of his shop that appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 24 March 1838 described it as having “a convenient yard or backside, and a building formerly used as a stable, and loft over the same. It was then owned by The Queen's College.

The 1841 census shows John Clements was still living over his shop with his wife Eliza and their children John, Henry, Eliza, Alfred, and Mary, plus their 12-year-old servant girl. Clements went bankrupt in 1843 and died suddenly here at the age of 58 on 13 August 1845. His widow Eliza Clements continued to run the shop with the help of her sons, and the 1851 census shows her living here with her two daughters (both dressmakers) and two sons (an engraver and a watchmaker).

The following auction advertisement appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 16 July 1853:

Lot 1.—A DWELLING HOUSE, No. 44, High-street, with front shop, side entrance, sitting room, and kitchen, on the ground floor; three rooms on the first floor, and attic over; cellar in the basement, back kitchen, and small yard behind the same, now in the occupation of Mrs. Clements, and is held by lease under Queen's College for a term of 40 years, from August 23, 1849.
Reserved rent, 18s.; rent £35 per annum.

After 1853 Mrs Clements moved her business to 37 High Street. The house is not listed in the 1861 census.

The 1871 census shows the unmarried baker William Bayne (65) living over this house with the four bakers who worked under him and his housekeeper and his general servant.

The former No. 45 to 1876

The following auction advertisement appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 16 July 1853:

Lot 2.—The DWELLING HOUSE, No. 45, adjoining now let as a Private Residence, containing a side entrance, hall, front and back rooms, kitchen, and every convenience on the ground floor; front drawing room, and two back rooms on the first floor; three rooms on the second floor and three attics over; cellars in the basement; the whole in excellent condition, and is held by lease under Queen's College for a term of 40 years; from August 23, 1849.
Reserved rent, 17s. 3d.; rent, £60 per annum.

At the time of the 1841 census the tailor James Embling was living over this shop with his son James junior (4) and two female servants.

The 1851 census shows the hairdresser John Hewitt living over No. 45 with his mother, sister, and a servant.

By the time of the 1861 census Richard P. Huthnance (56), described as “incapacitated for business”, lived here with his wife Mary and their four children (with his wife and his eldest daughter described as milliners), and an assistant milliner, and plus three servants, including a young messenger.

The upholsterer, cabinet maker, & paper hanger Frederick William Ansell had this shop from 1866 to 1876. The house is not listed in the 1871 census.

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The former Nos 44 & 45 combined

These two former houses numbered 44 & 45 were combined as a cabinet maker's shop in the late 1870s. The upper part of the two original shops contained 14 rooms, and was advertised to let (furnished or unfurnished) in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 13 December 1879. There was no one living on the premises of Nos. 44 & 45 at the time of the 1881 census, but the widowed lodging-house keeper Hannah Quarterman (50) lived at No. 44a with her two daughters and two lodgers.

Minty’s Furniture at the former 44 & 45 High Street (1887–1966)

By 1887 Norman Ernest Minty, the founder of the Minty Furniture firm, operated from this pair of shops. He was born in Oxford in 1860 and was only 20 when he opened his shop here at 45 High Street. he made a wicker chair known as the “Varsity” in a workshop at the back, and it was said that every undergraduate had one.

The 1891 census shows Thomas Minty (30), described as a house furnisher, living over 44 & 45 High Street with his wife Ellen and their four daughters, plus two boarders and a servant.

By the time of the 1901 census the upstairs of the Minty shop was a lodging house, run by George Taylor (48), who lived here with his wife Sarah and their five children.

The 1911 census show the lodging-house keeper Alfred Thomas Walker (65) living in the twelve rooms over the Minty furniture shop with his wife and daughter.

In 1921 the boarding house keeper here was Joseph Hervey (32), and he spent census night in four rooms here with his wife Harriett and their daughter, plus their servant.

 

Minty eventually purchased 44 High Street, and moved the factory side of the business to Cherwell Street in St Clement’s.

 

During World War One, Minty’s made canvas good (including stretchers and tents) for the armed forces, and after the war the firm continued making marquees. Additional shops were opened in London in 1920 and Manchester in 1932.

Norman Minty died in 1934, and the firm was taken over by its managing director B.  B. Bowles

See photograph taken in 1949.

 

 

The advertisement on the right dates from the 1950s.

In 1966 Minty's opened a new purpose-built factory and showroom on the Horspath Road industrial estate in Oxford; but in 1992 the firm went into receivership, and in 1994 it was sold for £1.1m to its rival, Cornwell Parker.

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The present shop at 44 & 45 High Street

The present shop at 44 & 45 High Street was built in the 1960s, and its first occupant was the Campus Boutique. It was a charity shop from about 1993 to 2012, and since 2013 it has been the Oxford Bus Company ticket shop.