Oxford History: The High

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These are the last two in the terrace of eleven houses and shops now belonging to Magdalen College that is attached to the back of Magdalen Gate house. This terrace was rebuilt subsequent to the widening of Magdalen Bridge that took place in 1772–8.

Nos. 71 (left) and 72 (right) are the two halves of a single building which is Grade II listed (List Entry No. 1047290). It was in St Peter-in-the East parish until that parish was united with St Cross parish in 1957. Roger Eykyn of Gayton House in Gayton and William Wharton Robinson of New Road, Oxford inherited this building in 1889 from Mary Burnard of Bulwark Cottage, New Road, Oxford. In June 1891 the freehold of Nos. 71 & 72 was acquired by Magdalen College at auction, together with the Eastgate Hotel and Nos. 1–5 King Street, for £6,900.

No. 71

John & Joseph Mee, mercers, drapers & milliners, had their shop here from 1829 to 1832. On 7 November 1829 they stated at their show room in the High Street would be “of the most splendid order”, and they named the shop Commerce House. On 23 April 1831 it was reported that they were fined 10s. and costs for “exposing goods to sale on the footway”. They appear to have gone bankrupt, and on 25 February 1832 a sale of all their stock in trade for the benefit of their creditors was advertised, including:

Prints, Printed Muslins, Ginghams, Muslins, Irish Linens, Lawns, Dowlasses, Sheeting, Blankets, Quilts and Counterpanes; Bed Furnitures, Ticks, Table Linen, Diapers and Huckabacks; Flannels and Baizes; Brown Hollands, Calicoes Fustians, Nankeens, Dimities, Checks, Pocket Handkerchiefs, Silk Handkerchiefs, Thibets and Silk Shawls, Sarsnets, Gros de Naples, Italian Nets and Crape de Lyons; Satins and Persians; Norwich Crapes, Bombazeens, Stuffs, Crapes, Merinos, Nets, Laces and Edgings, Muslin Trimmings, Gloves, Silk, Cotton, and Worsted Stockings, Socks, a large assortment of Ribbons, Furs, Haberdashery, Umbrellas and Parasols, quantity of Stays—The Woollen Drapery comprises superfine Broad-Cloths, Kersymeres, Coatings, Waistcoatings, Cords, Fustians, Drabetts, Drills, Pelisse Cloths, Shalloons, Table Covers, Buttons. An Assortment of Men's and Boys' Hats and Caps.—The Millinery consists of Soi Cloaks, Cloth and Camlet ditto; Silk and Leghorn Bonnets, Caps, Habit Shirts and Frills, Feathers, and numerous other articles….

Mrs Sarah Plowman, who described herself as a “General Ironmonger, Brush Factor, Oil and Colour Merchant, Brazier, Tin-plate Worker, Bell-hanger, and Whitesmith” announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 1 September 1832 that together with her sons Joseph Plowman and William Plowman she had taken over this shop near the bottom of the High Street (formerly occupied by Messrs Mee & Co) in addition to her existing shop at 43 Cornmarket. On 22 February 1834 William Plowman announced that henceforth he would look after the business here, while his mother Sarah and brother Joseph would manage the old business in Cornmarket, and at the time of the 1841 census the ironmonger William Plowman was shown as living over this shop with his wife Matilda and their two young children, plus their two lodgers and two servants.

On 8 April 1843 the draper Henry Hatch announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal that he was taking over Plowman's shop opposite Longwall. He stayed here less than a year, and on 20 January 1844 he announced that he was moving to 28 Cornmarket Street.

No. 71 was described thus when it was advertised to let in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 17 May 1845:

Excellent HOUSE, in the HIGH STREET, Oxford,
Either as a Place of Business, or as a Private Residence,
TO be LET, with immediate possession,–That very superior HOUSE, No. 71, comprising (on the ground floor) private entrance, large room, extending from the front to back of the house, which has been used as a shop and counting house, and may be converted into two good sitting rooms; on the one-pair stairs floor—dining and drawing rooms, dressing room, and water closet; good kitchen and cellars in the basement; a paved yard, and detached wash-house, with servants' room over, and a good warehouse.

By 1849 the chemist Richard Jones had this shop and the 1851 census shows him living on the premises with his wife Mary and their four children, plus an assistant, an apprentice, a servant, and a lodger. He died in 1857 and on 2 January 1858 his widow Mary Jones announced that the business would in future be carried on by her son, Richard Finden Jones, together with her husband's former assistant William Henry Turner, and in 1860 Jones & Turner opened a second chemist's shop in Turl Street. At the time of the 1861 census Richard Finden Jones (26) was the head of the household upstairs here at 71 High Street, and his mother, two sisters, an apprentice, and a servant lived with him. The partnership was dissolved on 1 January 1866, and henceforth Jones ran the business here and Turner the one in Turl Street. Richard Finden Jones married Maria Bellamy near the beginning of 1869 and he still lived here at the time of the 1871 census with his wife, plus an apprentice and two servants. He died in 1873 at the age of 38.

By the time of the 1881 census the chemist Henry Varney (28) lived over his shop here with his 11-year-old niece Emily Bellamy and three servants including a 16-year-old chemist's apprentice. He was still here in 1891.

On 1 March 1890 the freehold of 71 & 72 together with that of the Eastgate Hotel was advertised for sale in Jackson's Oxford Journal.

At the time of the 1901 census the premises upstairs were occupied by two separate households the chemist & druggist Thomas Pagan (26) and his wife Cornelia, and the dentist Arthur E. Chaundy (29).

The bottle below dates from between 1902 and 1910 when John William Todd was the chemist here.

There is no listing for this shop in the 1911 census.

The 1921 census shows the lodging-house keeper William Pedley (44) living in the eight rooms over No. 1 with two boarders and two visitors.

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No. 72

This detail from a Henry Taunt postcard shows No, 72 in the
1920s, with advertisements for Fry’s and Cadbury’s chocolate.

This was a private house occupied by Dr Twycross until 1835. It was then grocer’s shop until 1870, and a sweet shop for a hundred years from about 1870 until 1971.

The grocer George Henry Warburton announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 19 September 1835 that on that day he had moved to more commodious premises in this shop, and would be stocking "fine flavoured Teas, Chocolate, Cocoa, West India and fine Mocha Coffees, Spices, Fruits; Wax, Spermaceti, London Mould, and Store Candles; fine Yorkshire Hams; Gloucester and Wiltshire Cheese; and a variety of other articles of Grocery of the best quality”. At the time of the 1841 census he was living over this shop with his wife Sarah, plus a grocer's boy, a lodger, and a servant; in 1851, when he was aged 55 and currently serving as Mayor of Oxford, he was with his wife, an assistant grocer, two servants, and a lodger. He was still here at the time of the 1861 census, but died five months later.

Walter C. Williams was a grocer, tea dealer, & wine merchant here from 1861. On 24 September 1869 he announced that he was retiring and that his business would be taken on by James Jenkin.

The 1871 census shows the college servant Henry Carr living upstairs here, and he was still here with his wife and their servant in 1881. By the time of the 1891 census he had moved to 109 Cowley Road (then numbered 47), and he died there on 22 February 1895).

By the time of the 1891 census the widow Agnes Lambourn lived upstairs, where she kept a lodging house.

On 6 June 1891 Jackson's Oxford Journal published a notification of a forthcoming auction in London of Nos. 71 & 72 along with the Eastgate Hotel to be held in London, with the City offering a speculative rebuilding opportunity. This pair of shops was bought by Magdalen College. but in the event only the hotel was demolished (and not until 1900).

The 1901 census shows Francis J. Brooks (62) and his wife Jane living over their confectioner’s shop here. By the time of the 1911 census Mrs Jane Brooks (74) was a widow, running a licensed lodging house in the eight rooms over this shop, and her brother Edward Reynolds Collins (65), who worked as an assistant in the confectionery shop downstairs. was living with her.

At the time of the 1921 census the Steward of the Oxford Old Etonian Club, Charles Ireson (49) lived over No. 72 with his Italian wife Francesca, who was a cook, and his two Italian stepsons, who were motor engineers.

The Historic England photograph below (CC72/01885) shows in the centre No. 71 (Henry Varney the chemist) and No. 72 (Jane Brooks the confectioner) in the 1890s. There is a similar photograph of the two shops from a different angle here.

The whole building is still owned by Magdalen College and is sublet to Stanford University, with the ground-floor area sublet as two independent retail shops.