No. 44: St John’s College accommodation
No. 44 probably dates from the late eighteenth century. It is a Grade II listed building (List Entry No. 1068622) and lies in St Giles' parish.
At the time of the 1772 Survey of Oxford, No. 44 was in the occupation of Mr Reeves, with its frontage measuring 6 yards 1 foot 7 inches. At about this time that it was rebuilt.
The 1841 census shows No. 44 occupied by Francis Berry, a tin worker, his wife Charlotte, and their three young daughters. Also living separately in the house was Charlotte Harris, who was a young independent woman, and a baker called Elisha Barker and his wife Elizabeth and their six children.
Soon after that census the widow Mrs Taunton moved into this house with her daughter Maria.
By the time of 1851 census Charles Newman, a college servant, lived here with his wife Hannah and their young daughter, plus an undergraduate. On 25 July 1857 Jackson's Oxford Journal reported that Charles Newman was leaving Oxford and that an auction of his furniture and other effects would be held at No. 44. His wife Hannah, however, appears to have remained on the premises, and the 1861 census shows here here with her two daughters and a niece, and gain in 1871 with her daughters, Mary and Emily. In directories for 1874 and 1876 she was described as providing “University Lodgings” here. She died in Headington on 3 June 1877.
By 1876 the office of the Diocesan Branch of the Church of England Temperance Society was based here, and the 1881 census shows John Abbey, Diocesan Secretary of that society, living here with his wife Martha and their three young daughters, plus a boarder and a servant.
In 1891 the ironmonger Edwin Turner (60) lived here with his wife Mary and four children, plus their servant. They were all still here in 1901 and their two sons worked for their father: Frederick (43) as an ironmonger and George (24) as an ironmonger's assistant. ,
The 1911 census shows the photographic artist Frederick Leslie Pavière living here with his wife Edith and their ten children, with the bank manager Tracy Edward Lefroy (37) occupying a separate part of the house on his own. The Pavières were still here in 1921 with six daughters. They remained here until c.1930.
The lamppost outside this building dates from the 1860s.
Occupants of 44 St Giles’ Street listed in censuses and directories |
|
1839 |
Benjamin Atkins |
1841–1846 |
Mrs & Miss Taunton (1841) |
1851–1876 |
Charles Newman |
1876–1886 |
John Abbey |
1887–1909 |
Edwin Turner |
1911–1930 |
Frederick Leslie Pavière |
1932–1943 |
H. E. Milburn Ltd With Royal Automobile Club 1932–1939 With
Robert Emlyn Havard (Physician & Surgeon) and |
1944–1976 |
Various doctors, dentists, and chartered surveyors |
2003 |
St John’s College house |