Brief history of the telephone in Oxford
The following article about the introduction of the telephone to Oxford appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 26 January 1878:
Timeline
1877: Oxford’s first two telephones were installed, with lines from the Telegraph Office in Mill Street, Osney to (1) the Post Office, which was then still at the Old Town Hall in St Aldate's and (2) 48 Cornmarket Street, the home and shop of the cutler George J. Neill who was the engineer to the Oxford Volunteer Fire Brigade, who had a line to the Fire Brigade office in New Inn Hall Street
1879 (September): The Edison Telephone Company gave notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of its intention to open a telephone exchange in Oxford, but it appears not to have had enough response to make the enterprise worthwhile
1885: By 17 October the reservoir-keeper's cottage at Headington had been connected by telephone to the pumping station at Hinksey, enabling the level of water to be regulated.
1886: The South of England Telephone Company Ltd opened Oxford’s first exchange at 54 Cornmarket Street
In March that year it was proposed to establish telephonic communication between the lodges of all the Oxford colleges, but there were protests against disfiguring Oxford by a system of overhead wires.1889: There were 55 telephone subscribers in Oxford
1890: The South of England Telephone Company was taken over by the National Telephone Company
1895: A second Exchange, the Post Office Trunk exchange, opened in Oxford, and the National Telephone Company moved to an upstairs room over the ‘Domestic Bazaar’ at 5 and 6 Magdalen Street
There were now 95 telephone subscribers in Oxford (see list below)1899: There were 111 telephone subscribers in Oxford
1912: The Post Office Trunk Exchange took over the National Telephone Company
1923: A new central Oxford telephone exchange opened in Pembroke Street
1924: There were 1,090 telephone subscribers in Oxford
1928: Cowley and Headington exchanges opened
1929: Summertown telephone exchange opened
1934: There were 1,987 telephone subscribers in Oxford
1959: New exchanges at Oxford and Headington were opened
1963: STD (Standard Trunk Dialling) services started in Oxford
1977: There were 11,520 telephone subscribers in Oxford
The 1895 Oxford Telephone Directory
This directory, reproduced below, lists two call offices, where people who had no telephone of their own could go to make calls (at double the cost of a private line) and 96 subscribers. The latter included twelve colleges, the University Museum, the University Press, and the Examination Schools, as well as the Oxford Times, the Fire Station and the Police Station (which shared a number) and the following medical establishments: the Radcliffe Infirmary, the Eye Hospital, the Infectious Diseases Hospital, the Warneford Asylum, and most surgeons, physicians, and pharmaceutical chemists. The surgeon and physician Julius Sankey at the top end of Turl Street had the prestigious telephone number Oxford 1.
1895
List of subscribers to the Oxford Exchange
Call Offices 46 1, NORTH PARADE: City Drapery Stores 20 54, CORNMARKET STREET: National Telephone Co., Ltd –A– 33 ALDEN, R.R., The Market 37 ALDEN, R.R., Eastwick Farm 43 ALLINGTON, Rev. E. H. 83 ALL SOULS’ COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge) 83a ALL SOULS’ COLLEGE (C. G. Robertson) 67 AXTELL, Thos., 9a St. Aldates 67a AXTELL, Thos., Edith Road, Grandpont –B– 30 BAKER, HILL & Co., 1, Broad Street 30a BAKER, HILL & Co. (E. L. Birkbeck Hill), 59, St. Giles 30b BAKER, HILL & Co., 9 & 10, George Street 70 BALLIOL COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge) 44 BATES, J. 45 BEAUMONT, E., 10, 11, & 12, High Street 46 BEAUMONT, E. (Call Office), 1, North Parade 38 BEVERS, E. A., M.R.C.S., and L.S.A. Lond. 80 BODLEIAN LIBRARY 62 BROOKS, W. T., M.D. 2 BUTLER, A., The Market 2a BUTLER, A., 153, Cowley Road –C– 58 CAB STAND, St. Giles 76a CANNAN, C. 24 CARFAX COAL EXCHANGE 47 CARTER, Messrs 45 CITY DRAPERY STORES, 10, 11 & 12, High Street 46 CITY DRAPERY STORES (Call Office), 1 North Parade 60 CLARENDON BUILDINGS 21 CLARENDON HOTEL 26 CLARENDON PRESS 26a CLARENDON PRESS (Horace Hart) 28b CLARENDON PRESS (P. Lyttelton Gell) 28c CLARENDON PRESS DEPOSITORY 3 COMFORT, B. 16 CO-OPERATIVE STORES 54 COUSINS, Thomas & Co. –D– 13a DOWSON, H. M. 5 DREW, A. J., F.R.C.S 12 DRUCE, G. Claridge, M.A. –E– 39 ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY 36 ELLISTON & CAVELL 77 EXAMINATION SCHOOLS –F– 22 FIRE STATION 6 FRANKLIN, W., Holywell Street 19 FRANKLIN, W., Merton Street –G– 26b GELL, P. Lyttelton, Clarendon Press 40 GELL, P. Lyttelton, Langley Lodge, Headington Hill 79e GEORGE, Rev. H. B. 25 GERRANS, H. T 29 GILLETT & Co. 24 GOOLD & SON 22a GREEN, Captain, 25, Leckford Road 22b GREEN, Captain, 5, High Street 4 GRIMBLY, HUGHES &Co. 8 G.W.R. GOODS STATION 7 G.W.R. TOWN OFFICE, High Street –H– 27 HALL & Co. 26a HART, Horace 66 HEARN, J. W. 71 HERTFORD COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge) 71a HERTFORD COLLEGE (C. N. Jackson) 71b HERTFORD COLLEGE (The Bursary) 30a HILL, E.L. Birkbeck 11 HITCHCOCK & Co. 49 HUGGINS, B. S. & Sons –I– 64 INFECTIOUS DISEASES HOSPITAL –J– 71a JACKSON, C. N. 72 JESUS COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge)* –K– 73 KEBLE COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge) –L– 48 LAMB & FLAG CAB OFFICE 13 LION BREWERY 17 L. & N.W. RAILWAY, Goods Station 18 L. & N.W. RAILWAY, Town Office, Cornmarket Street –M– 42 MACLARAN, Mrs 78 MANSFIELD COLLEGE 79d MATHESON, P. E. 35 MITRE HOTEL 13 MORRELL’S TRUSTEES 34 MULLINS, E. B. –N– 76b NAGEL, D. H. 9 NATIONAL TELEPHONE Co. Ltd., 54, Cornmarket Street 20 NATIONAL TELEPHONE Co. Ltd. (Call Office), 54, Cornmarket Street 77 NEW EXAMINATION SCHOOLS 79 NEW COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge) 79a NEW COLLEGE (Senior Common Room) 79b NEW COLLEGE (Junior Common Room) 79d NEW COLLEGE (P. E. Matheson) 79e NEW COLLEGE HOUSE (Rev. H. B. George) –O– 74 ORIEL COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge) 14 OXFORD DAIRY Co. 39 OXFORD ELECTRIC Co. 23 OXFORD EYE HOSPITAL 26 OXFORD MAGAZINE OFFICE, Clarendon Press 56 ”OXFORD TIMES” PUBLISHING OFFICE, New Road 56a ”OXFORD TIMES” PRINTING OFFICE, George Street –P– 81B PELHAM, H. F. 22c POLICE STATION 100 POST OFFICE 31 PRESTON, A. –R– 80a RADCLIFFE CAMERA 15 RADCLIFFE INFIRMARY 32 RANDOLPH HOTEL 48 RHODES, J. 51 RICE, E., M.D. 58 RIPPON, G. 83a ROBERTSON, C. G. –S– 52 SANFORD-BURTON, H., F.L.S., &c. 1 SANKEY, Julius O., M.R.C.S., &c. 8 SAUNDERS & Co., G.W.R. Goods Station 7 SAUNDERS & Co., G.W.R. Town Office, High Street 81a SIDGWICK, A. 81 SOMERVILLE HALL 57 STARK, J. M., M.D. 41 ST EDWARD’S SCHOOL 75 ST JOHN’S COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge 27 SWAN BREWERY 10 SYMONDS, Horatio P. –T– 76 TRINITY COLLEGE (Porter’s Lodge) 76a TRINITY COLLEGE (C. Cannan) 76b TRINITY COLLEGE (D. H. Nagel) 65 TURNER Bros. 55 TURRELL, W. J., M.D. 82a TYLOR, Dr E. B. –U– 53 UNION SOCIETY 26 UNIVERSITY GAZETTE OFFICE (Clarendon Press) 82 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM 82a UNIVERSITY MUSEUM (The Keeper’s House) 77 UNIVERSITY SCHOOLS 26 UNIVERSITY PRESS –W– 50 WALFORD & SPOKES 63 WARNEFORD ASYLUM 61 WINKFIELD, A. 28 WORCESTER COLLEGE In case of FIRE, call for FIRE BRIGADE. No number required
* The Telephone Company had installed this telephone in Jesus College in 1894. Permission was given “on the understanding that the Company acquire no rights and the College incur no liability thereby”.
For further information, see R. A. J. Earl, The Development of the Telephone in Oxford, 1877–1977 (The Post Office, 1978)