Thomas Fox Bricknell (1762–1835)
Mayor of Oxford 1803/4, 1818/19, and 1828/9
Thomas Fox Bricknell was born at Evenlode in Gloucestershire and baptised there on 10 December 1762. He was the son of William Bricknell and Mary Fox, who were married at Blockley in Gloucestershire on 9 January 1754.
He was admitted free on 14 May 1792 on payment of 20 guineas and the usual fees to enable him to work as a tanner in Oxford.
Bricknell was selected as Mayor’s Child by the new Mayor, Christopher Yeats, on 1 October 1792 and took up his Chamberlain’s place on 30 September 1794.
In September 1797 he was elected Junior Bailiff for the forthcoming council year, and then served as a Bailiff from 1798 to 1801.
In July 1800 he took on as an apprentice tanner James Bricknell, son of Thomas Bricknell, surgeon of Amersham, and probably a relation.
On 16 December 1801 Bricknell was unanimously elected as one of the eight Mayor's Assistants.
In 1803 he was in the Oxford Regiment of Rifle Volunteers as a Cornet in the Oxford Cavalry.
Bricknell built the large mansion Littlegate House, which stood in an extensive garden alongside the Trill Mill stream (which then ran above ground), and also had his huge tanning yard there.
On 19 September 1803 Thomas Fox Bricknell was elected Mayor for the first time (for 1803/4).
During his term of office, on 30 August 1804, he married Sarah Simcox, the daughter of the late T. S. Simcox, Esq. of Harborne in Birmingham, at his parish church of St Ebbe’s. Sarah appears to have been illiterate, as she signed the register with her mark. The marriage was announced thus in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 1 September 1804: “Thursday morning was married, at St. Ebbe's, by the Rev. George Rogers, of Christ Church, Thomas Fox Bricknell, Esq. Mayor of this city, to Miss Simcox, daughter of the late T. Simcox, Esq. of Birmingham. They had two sons:
- William Simcox Bricknell (born in Oxford and baptised on 19 March 1806 at St Ebbe’s Church)
- George Simcox Yeates Bricknell (born in Oxford and baptised on 19 June 1807 at St Ebbe’s Church).
Bricknell'ss widowed mother appears to have come to live near him, as on 25 January 1808 “Mrs Bricknell, relict of William Bricknell, Esq. of Evenload, in the county of Worcester” died at her house in St Aldate's, Oxford.
On 13 December 1812 Bricknell chaired a meeting of the tanners resident in the city and county of Oxford held at the Blue Boar Inn, and they resolved to petition Parliament to repeal an additional duty on leather.
On 24 February 1814 Bricknell was elected one of the Aldermen of the city, and on 16 June 1814 he was appointed one of the Vice-Presidents of the Oxford and Oxfordshire Auxiliary Bible Society.
On 14 September 1818 Thomas Fox Bricknell was elected a second time as Mayor of Oxford (for 1818/19).
In 1820 Alderman Bricknell was appointed Postmaster of Oxford.
On 12 August 1820 Jackson's Oxford Journal advertised the forthcoming auction of Alderman Bricknell's home and tanning yard in St Ebbe's, describing it thus:
A most desirable FREEHOLD ESTATE, situate in the parish of St. Ebbe, in the City of Oxford; consisting of a capital RESIDENCE, faced with stone, coach-houses, stabling, and numerous attached and detached offices, all recently erected, at a very considerable expence, in the most substantial manner; extensive Gardens, sloping Lawn, and a MEADOW of about SIX ACRES, surrounded by a raised walk, and encircled by a stream which flows from the River Isis. Also, a capital TAN YARD, with pits, drying sheds, bark houses, mill houses, and various other buildings, well arranged for carrying on the business of a Tanner, upon an extensive scale.
Then on 9 December 1820 the auction of a further auction of adjoining freehold land was advertised:
Freehold and Tithe-free LAND, IN LOTS, For BUILDINGS and GARDENS,
In the Parish of ST. EBBE, OXFORD.
About 50 Lots of FREEHOLD LAND, adjoining the residence of Mr. Alderman Bricknell. The said lots are of a convenient size for the above purposes, the situation pleasant, and the soil exceedingly rich; part thereof is now planted with very fine fruit trees.
Friars Street was laid out on this land of Bricknell's that was sold by auction in December 1820.
By March 1821 Alderman Bricknell was one of the five directors of the County Fire Office.
On 19 July 1821 Alderman Bricknell was one of the party from Oxford in attendance at the Coronation of George III.
On 6 April 1822 Jackson's Oxford Journal announced a forthcoming auction with immediate possession of nine acres of meadow ground in St Thomas's parish called Abbey Mead currently occupied by Bricknell under a Christ Church lease.
In October 1822 Alderman Bricknell’s elder son, William Simcox Bricknell, was matriculated at the University of Oxford from Worcester College at the age of 16.
Alderman Thomas Fox Bricknell retired from business around this time and moved out of his house. On 26 October 1822 the following advertisement appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal:
TAN YARD,
In the CITY OF OXFORD,TO be DISPOSED of by Private Contract, with immediate possession. The Pits will contain more than 2000 Hides, and the Back Barns and other Buildings necessary for carrying on the Trade are spacious and well arranged.
A convenient DWELLING HOUSE adjoining may be had, if required. The situation is peculiarly convenient for water carriage. A full supply of Raw Goods on the spot, and Bark in the neighbourhood may always be relied on.
Further particulars may be known of Mr. Alderman Bricknell, the late occupier; or W. Fisher, builder, Oxford, who will shew the premises, and treat for the same.
On 30 November 1822 Jackson's Oxford Journal advertised two forthcoming auctions: one of sale of his household furniture and other effects to be held at his former Littlegate home, and the other of his tan yard:
(1) The HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, and other Effects, of Mr. Alderman Bricknell; consisting of four-post and tent bedsteads, with cotton and other furnitures, feather beds and bedding, pier and dressing glasses and mirrors. Brussels and other carpet, mahogany and other chests of drawers and basin stands, mahogany and japanned chairs and sofas, a large handsome mahogany side table, dining and other tables, wardrobes and bookcases, a large handsome alabaster vase on a pedestal, and chimney ornaments; brewing utensils; a neat gig, with a head and harness, two horses, two 6-inch wheel carts, ploughs, harrows, and other farming implements; a quantity of new and old timber and firewood, and various other articles....
(2) TAN YARD, In the CITY of OXFORD,
TO be DISPOSED OF by Private Contract, with immediate possession. The Pits will contain more than 2000 Hides, and the Bark Barns and other Buildings necessary for carrying on the Trade are spacious and well arranged.
A convenient DWELLING HOUSE adjoining may be had, if required. The situation is peculiarly convenient for water carriage. a full supply of Raw Goods on the spot, and Bark in the neighbourhood may always be relied upon.
Bull Street, New Street, and Abbey Place were laid out on Bricknell's land that was sold in late 1822.
On 28 August 1824 Mr J. Nutt announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal that he had moved his boarding and day school for young gentlemen to Alderman Bricknell's former house at Littlegate.
It appears that Alderman Bricknell had moved to his home village of Evenlode in Worcestershire, as on 27 February 1827 the question of his non-residence in Oxford was raised in Council, and on 26 July 1827 it was ordered that the Town Clerk should write to him to resign his office of Alderman. He resigned his office of one of the Commissioners of Sewers on 15 November 1827.
He presumably moved back temporarily into the city, however, as on 15 September 1828 Alderman Bricknell was elected a third time as Mayor of Oxford (for 1828/9). On 28 September 1829 at the end of his term of office his second son George Simcox Yeates Bricknell was admitted free.
On 29 January 1831 Jackson’s Oxford Journal reported a forthcoming auction at Evenlode of Bricknell's of his household furniture and out-of-door effects. Then on 24 September 1831 it reported that Alderman Bricknell, who had resided at a distance for several years, had tendered his resignation from the council.
† Thomas Fox Bricknell died at Evenlode, Worcestershire at the age of 73 and was buried there on 26 October 1835. The report on his death in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 24 October 1835 was brief: “Died, at his house, Evenlode, Worcestershire, aged 73, Thomas Fox Bricknell, Esq.”
His widow Sarah Bricknell died at the house called Evenlode (now described as her son's residence) on 8 February 1859 at the age of 76.
Thomas Fox Bricknell’s sons
William Simcox Bricknell (born 1806) married Elizabeth Nash, the daughter of Richard Skillicorne Nash, who held the advowson of the vicarage of Eynsham. William was appointed Vicar of Grove in 1836, City Lecturer at St Martin’s at Carfax in 1840, and Vicar of Eynsham in 1845. The 1851 census shows the Revd Bricknell (45) living in Eynsham with his wife and his widowed mother Sarah (68) and their two servants. William and his wife were still there at the time of the 1861 census with their son Richard Nash Bricknell (22), who was a theological student. By 1871 William Simcox Bricknell was Vicar of Eynsham, as well as a J.P. for Oxfordshire. He died on 21 May 1888, and has a long obituary in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 2 June that year. In 1893 William Nash Bricknell (born at Kendall, Westmoreland in 1863, the son of Richard Nash Bricknell) acquired the living of Eynsham.
- See the article by Lilian Wright about the Revd Bricknell in the Eynsham Record or 2004
George Simcox Yeates Bricknell (born 1807) was described as a gentleman when he and his wife Sarah had their daughter Anna Maria Bricknell baptised at St Andrew’s Church in Headington on 19 December 1834. He married his second wife, the widow Helen Mary Bird (the daughter of John Johnson, gentleman), at Evenlode on 10 May 1858. He died at Brixton in Surrey at the age of 80 on 10 November 1887 and was buried in St Edward's churchyard in Evenlode.
