Oxford History: The High

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The shops that were originally numbered 109 and 110 were obliterated by Oriel College in 1873 to make room for the new road, King Edward Street, immediately to the east of Shepherd & Woodward.

For the history of the two shops that stood on the site of that road, see under King Edward Street.

This large building on the west corner of King Edward Street replaced the original Nos. 111 and 112, but illogically also took in the two missing numbers 109 and 110 so that two shops had four numbers, and this anomaly still exists today, with Shepherd & Woodward which in 1954 incorporated another shop at No. 113 to the right giving their address as 109–113 instead of the more correct 111–113

The two shops here on the corner have always been the last two premises in the parish of St Mary-the-Virgin (with No. 113 on the right being in the parish of All Saints).

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The former pair of shops here, on the site of the main part of Shepherd & Woodward

The shop on the left which was originally numbered 111

By 1839 the hair cutter William London had his shop here, and the 1841 census shows him living upstairs with his wife Ruth and there three children, plus a child called Amelia Miller, their lodger the bookseller Cyril Vincent, and a servant.

The 1851 census shows the master printer Frederick Trash (50), who employed eight persons, living here with his wife Georgiana and their daughter, plus a servant.

This shop was unoccupied at the time of the 1861 census.

The 1871 census shows the glass & china dealer Henry Harris (32) living at No. 111 with his wife Julia and their four children, plus two servants

The shop on the right which was originally numbered 112

By 1839 the boot & shoe maker John Lucas had his shop here, and the 1841 census shows him living on the premises with what appears to be his wife Ann and their ten children listed in a random order, plus a servant.

Joseph Bickerton had his billiard rooms on these premises by 1846, and they were still operating in 1866.

The 1851 census shows the hair cutter Charles Chadwell (42) and his wife Maria living here with their six children and one servant, plus two student lodgers, and they were still here in 1861. Charles Chadwell died at the age of 57 in 1866, and the 1871 census shows his widow Maria Chadwell (58) as the cutler here, living with her daughter Sarah Jane Chadwell and her granddaughter Rose May (10), plus their servant.

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The present pair of shops here, now the main part of Shepherd & Woodward

These should be numbered 111 & 112 but have illogically also incorporated the
numbers 109 & 110 of the two shops that were obliterated by King Edward Street

This extract from Jackson's Oxford Journal on 11 October 1873 reports on the first two occupants of the Shepherd & Woodward shop:

[Left side, the present 109]
At the opposite corner [to the shop at 108 High Street] Mr. J. Goundry [sic], ironmonger, has had erected a house similar to Messrs. Hitchcock's, only not quite so elaborate. The ground floor and basement of the premises will be entirely taken up for business purposes, and a private entrance at the end leads to a staircase lighted from the top, which also affords an opening for ventilation. On each floor, as at Messrs. Hitchcock's, is a spacious corridor, communicating with the different rooms, which number twenty in all.

[Right side, the present 110]
Adjoining Mr Goundry's house is another of the same character, but in the High-street, built for Mr. Way, grocer. The shop is 67 feet long, and has a frontage to the public footway at the rear. The kitchen and offices, together with the drawing and dining rooms, are situate on the first floor, and on the other floors are nine bed rooms and a bath room. The private entrance in the rear opens into a hall, paved with tessellated tiles, and leading to the staircase, which is of Portland stone. Lighting and ventilation are obtained to the staircase and the corridor by means of an area, 106 feet by 60 feet, open on one side all the way up, in consequence of an ancient right of light which belonged to the premises lately pulled down. This and the foregoing house have been fitted up with every convenience. Mr. Codd was the architect, and Mr. Selby the builder. Mr. Goundry's house cost a little under 3000l., while Mr. Way's came to about 1200l. The latter was opened three weeks ago.

The present shop on the left (on the western corner of King Edward Street)

Illogically numbered 109

John Goundrey, the ironmonger whose terraced shop at No. 108 had to be demolished when it was rebuilt by Oriel at the same time as they put in the road, moved across to the new shop on this corner in 1873. Goundrey moved into this new shop in 1873. He can be seen in the 1881 census, described as employing ten men and eight boys, living upstairs with his wife and four children, plus a cook, a nurse, and a general servant. John Goundrey died at Summertown at the age of 64 on 29 July 1887, and the 1891 census lists his widow Elizabeth Goundrey as the ironmonger at No. 109, living here with three of her children and a general servant. In 1901 the new No. 109 was described as an ironmonger's shop with no one living there

This was Joseph Vincent's stationery shop from 1909 to 1931, and no one lived on these premises at the time of the 1911 and 1921 censuses.

The present shop on the right (the second one to the west of King Edward Street)

Illogically numbered 110–112

The grocers Way & Sons moved into this new shop in 1873. At the time of the 1881 census the grocers living here were the widow Elizabeth Way (66) and her son James Arthur Way (36). Three more of Elizabeth's children and two of her grandchildren also lived with them, plus a servant.

The 1891 census shows No. 110 occupied by two households, those of the grocers Henry Way (48) with his wife Selina and two daughters plus a servant, and of James Arthur Way (46) with his wife Olive and a servant. The two households were much the same in 1901.

The robe makers Standen & Co moved here in about 1909, and there was no listing for these premises in the 1911 census. This photograph (Historic England HT13882) shows their shop in 1912:

The 1921 census shows the Revd Melville Watson Patterson (48), a Trinity College tutor, living over the tailor's shop No. 110 with his wife Clara and their two children, plus their Swizz governess and servant.

In 1928 the tailors Arthur Shepherd & Woodward took over this shop.

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Shepherd & Woodward from 1932

Arthur Shepherd bought his first Oxford business from a tailor called Arthur Brockington and opened at 62 Cornmarket Street in 1877. He then moved to 6 Cornmarket, and in 1907 demolished this shop together with its neighbour at No. 8 Cornmarket to form a large new shop.

Dennis Venables was apprenticed to Arthur Shepherd in 1927, and bought his share of the partnership in 1945.

It was not until 1929 that Arthur Shepherd amalgamated his business with that of Mr Wilton Woodward who was then operating at 110 High Street, and they were able to expand into the corner shop next door at No. 109.

In 1943 Dennis Venables bought Shepherd & Woodward, and in 1954 the shop expanded into No. 113 on the right. The advertisement below dates from the 1950s.

Dennis Venables died in 1984 and was succeeded by his two sons John Richard Venables (died 2021) and Peter Venables. The present managing director is Adrian Palfreyman, the husband of John's daughter Tracie.