John Richard Carr (1811–1893)
Mayor of Oxford 1863/4, 1867/8, and 1871/2
John Carr in 1871/2
(Picture Oxon 0655041)
John Richard Carr was baptised at St Giles’ Church, Oxford on 25 December 1811 as John Richard Towers Carr. He was the eldest son of Richard Carr, who was a wheelwright, and his wife Sarah, who lived near the church and had eight more children baptised there: Alfred Carr (1815, but born 1814), Charles Carr (1815), President Ferris Carr (1817), Cornelius Vincent Carr (1818), Caroline Charlotte Carr (1820), Maria Isabella Carr (1822), Ellin Selina Carr (1824), and Paul Theophilus Carr (1827).
On 23 January 1832 at St Andrew's Church in Headington, John Richard Carr married his first wife, Elizabeth Dodd: they were both then living in St Thomas's parish in Oxford, and the banns were called there. They had six children:
- Ellen Elizabeth Carr (born in Oxford in 1832 and baptised at
St Mary Magdalen Church on 16 December) - George Cornelius Carr (born in Oxford in 1834 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 19 October)
- Mary Ann Eliza Carr (born in Oxford in 1837 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 17 November)
- Thomas Arthur Carr (born in Oxford in 1836 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 8 July)
- Henry Theophilus Carr (born in Oxford in 1841 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 27 January)
- Sydney Frank Carr (born in Oxford in 1846 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 23 January; died on 28 January)
John Richard Carr was described as a cabinet maker at the baptism of his first two children in 1832 and 1834, but by 1837 he was an attorney's clerk in the Broad Street office of the solicitor Crews Dudley, who was also an agent for the Liberal Party.
The Post Office Directory for 1847 lists John Richard Carr as a clerk at 72 St Giles’ Street (one of the houses demolished to make way for the Taylorian Institution).
On 5 July 1851 Jackson's Oxford Journal published a letter from Carr relating to the Oxford Workhouse, of which he was Deputy Governor.
Carr worked for the Liberal Party for fifty years, and in 1852 he came on to the Council as the representative for North Ward without a contest.
The 1851 census shows Carr (40), described as a “Managing Clerk to an Attorney”, living at 72 St Giles with his first wife Elizabeth and three of his children: Ellen (18), George (16), who was described as “working in attorney’s office”, and Mary (13), who was still at school.
He was first returned to the Town Council in 1852 for the North Ward.
His first wife Elizabeth Carr died at 72 St Giles's Street on 8 August 1854 at the age of 48 and her burial four days later was recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church.
Carr's elder daughter was married the following year:
- On 26 April 1855 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Ellen Elizabeth Carr married Edward Hoskins, the son of James Hoskins of Gosport, and an announcement was placed in Jackson's Oxford Journal.
On 29 May 1856 at Summertown Church, John Richard Carr married his second wife Hannah Holiday of Summertown, daughter of the gentleman William Holiday. They had no children.
Carr's younger daughter was married in 1887:
- On 31 August 1857 at St Mary's Church, Lambeth, Mary Ann Eliza Carr of Paradise Street, Lambeth married William Henry Christopher Sharpe, a bank clerk of St Alban's Terrace, Lambeth, who was the son of William Sharpe, a Lieutenant in the Militia. Mary's father was described as a solicitor.
In 1856 Carr was appointed a Charity Trustee, and was a visitor of Littlemore Asylum for thirty years. He was also a member of the Board of Guardians (and Chairman for a considerable period), being prominent in the movement for the erection of Cowley Industrial School and Workhouse. He was a member of the Board of Thames Valley Drainage Commissioners.
Carr was one of the four Liberal leaders who dominated the council’s important committees: he was chairman of the police committee from its inception in 1869 to 1886. Under his chairmanship of the Market Committee the meat market was considerably enlarged and greatly improved.
From 1861 to 1876, John Carr practised as a solicitor at 72 St Giles’ Street.
At the time of the 1861 census John Carr (49) was living at 72 St Giles's Street with his second wife Hannah (31), his son Henry Theophilus Carr (20), who was a solicitor’s clerk, his niece Maria Page, and a servant.
Two of his sons were married in the early 1860s:
- On 3 April 1861 at St Giles's Church, Oxford, Thomas Arthur Carr (24), a government clerk of Kensington,
married Lydia Wickens (24) of St Giles, the daughter of the wine merchant James Wickens. - On 25 Mary 1862 at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, George Cornelius Carr (27), a solicitor's clerk of Brompton, married Jane Somerton (24) of Bayswater, the daughter of William Henry Somerton. The fathers of both bride and groom were described as gentlemen.
His son George Cornelius Carr died in the Kensington district at the age of 35 in 1869.
Carr also owned 9–10 Broad Street, which he leased to the photographer Henry Taunt from 1874 to 1894.
Carr was elected Sheriff of Oxford for 1861/2, and Mayor of Oxford the first time for 1863/4.
His youngest son was married during his mayoral year (with an announcement placed in Jackson's Oxford Journal):
- On 28 April 1864 at St Mary's Church, West Brompton, Henry Theophilus Carr married Emily Anna Corpe, the only surviving daughter of the late Charles Hake Corpe, Esq of Old Brompton.
Carr was elected an Alderman in October 1865. He was elected Mayor a second time for 1867/8.
In 1870 he was nominated by the Council as a Justice of the Peace.
At the time of the 1871 census John and Hannah Carr were living alone at 72 St Giles's Street, looked after by a cook, housemaid, and groom.
Carr was elected Mayor a third time for 1871/2.
In 1877 his daughter Mrs Ellen Elizabeth Hoskins married her second husband, Samuel Kemp.
In about 1880 Carr and his wife moved to 20 Beaumont Street, and the 1881 census shows him living there at the age of 69 with his Hannah (49), his granddaughter Rose Carr (15), and two servants.
On the formation of the new City Council in 1889, Carr was returned as councillor for the North Ward, and he was selected as Alderman for a full six-year term. The 1891 census again shows him at his Beaumont Street home with his wife Hannah and granddaughter Rose, plus a cook, parlourmaid, and housemaid.
On 10 February 1892 Carr's youngest son Henry Theophilus Carr, who had been a solicitor's managing clerk like his father but latterly described himself as a gentleman, died of paralysis of the brain at 23 Mabledon Place, Euston Road, London at the age of 51.
Later in the same year Carr’s second wife Hannah, although twenty years his junior, also predeceased him at the age of 63, and the following report appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 17 September 1892:
DEATH OF MRS. CARR.–We regret to announce the death, on Friday last, of the wife of Ald. John Richard Carr, of Beaumont-street. The deceased lady went on Thursday the 8th instant to Gosport, on a visit to some friends, and on the evening of that day, while she was dressing for dinner, she was seized with a fit, becoming immediately unconscious, and she remained in this condition up to the time of her death, which occurred on Friday night, the cause being paralysis of the brain. The funeral took place at Gosport on Monday. Mrs. Carr had been a sufferer for some years from rheumatic gout.
Carr never recovered from the shock of losing his second wife. He was seriously ill for some time and died the following year.
† John Richard Carr died on 28 June 1893 at the age of 82 at his home, 20 Beaumont Street. His burial on 3 July 1893 is recorded in the parish register of St Martin's Church at Carfax, but the funeral service was held at Holywell Cemetery, with the Rector of Carfax Church (C. J. H. Fletcher) conducting the service. The cortège left his residence at Beaumont Street at 3.30pm with an open hearse bearing the coffin, which was preceded by over 30 constables of the City Police Force as well as Superintendent Head, two inspectors, and four sergeants. The Mayor and a large number of the Corporation joined the procession at the Randolph Hotel after changing into their robes.
His effects came to £8,186 14s. 10d. A dispute over his will was reported at length in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 8 December 1894. The dispute went before the High Courts of Justice in London, and was further reported at length in the edition of 15 December 1894.
His daughter Mrs Mary Ann Eliza Sharpe appears to have died in the Kingston registration district of Surrey at the age of 90 near the beginning of 1928.
See also:
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 1 July 1893, p. 5g (obituary)
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 8 July 1893, p. 5f (funeral)
- 1851 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 1728/603
- 1861 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 894/6
- 1871 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 1438/13
- 1881 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 1502/14
- 1891 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 1167/119
