The entrance to what used to be Wadham Place (now part of Wadham College) is between 35 and 36 Holywell Street, and their upper storeys exted to join over that entrance at first- and second-floor level.
In 1851 Wadham Place was known as Hope’s Yard (after Joseph Hope, the builder, who lived first in Hope’s Yard itself and then at No. 36).
The six cottages in Wadham Place ran in a row northwards from the back of No. 35, as can be seen on the 1876 Ordnance Survey map (right).
They could not have had back gardens, as immediately behind them was the grandeur of the Holywell Music Room; and they appear to be completely enclosed except for the entrance on Holywell Street.
This row of cottages (without the large building to the north) appears on the Longmate map of 1773.
When Nos. 35 and 36 Holywell Street were put up for auction in November 1845, this yard and three cottages there were included. The advertisement stated that the occupiers of both 35 and 36 had the use of this gateway, and the whole yard was then occupied by Mr Hope the builder, and the three cottages by Jones, Hedges, and Jackson.
Below: The back of the former entrance to Wadham Place, viewed from inside Wadham College
Wadham Place, off Holywell Street, in the censuses
1841
The 1841 census for Holywell does not give house numbers, but it is possible to deduce where people listed that year lived by examining directory entries between 1839 and 1842 and later censuses
The following are listed between 36 and 35 Holywell Street, and appear to be living in Wadham Place:
Kendrick Hedges (25), a male servant, lived here with his wife Martha (20) and their children Kendrick(2) and Arthur (2 months). They had one female servant.
John Weaver (30), male servant, and his wife Elizabeth (30) and their children Jane (10), James (9), William (7), John (5), Elizabeth (3), and Ann (4 months).
George Hedges (25), male servant, and his wife Ann (20) and children John (3) and Henry (1). They had one lodger.
Richard Morgan (35), a labourer, and his wife Elizabeth (40), and Mary Carter (70), described as “poor”.
1851
No. 1 Hope’s Yard
William Thorp (50), a tailor, lived here with his schoolmistress wife Anne (45).No. 2 Hope’s Yard
John Smith (32), an upholsterer’s porter, lived here with his wife Sara (33) and their children Louisa, William, Elizabeth, and Emma.No. 3 Hope’s Yard
George Hedges (36), a groom, lived here with his wife Ann (36) and their children George (13), John (12), Thomas (7), Stephen (4), and Elizabeth (1).No. 4 Hope’s Yard
Joseph Jones (44), a widowed journeyman baker, lived here with his children Emma (15), who acted as his housekeeper), and Thomas (14), Caroline (12), a house servant), Louisa (10), Martha (7), and Elizabeth (3).
1861
No. 1
John Gardener (49), a printer, writer etc., lived here with his wife Rebecca (48) and his children Thomas (22), who was a painter, and Emily (19), a dressmaker.No. 2
George Styles (34), a carpenter & joiner, lived here with his wife Eliza (32) and his children Catherine (6) and Emma (3). They have a widowed ostler and his 8-year-old daughter lodging with them.No. 3
Joseph Chaundy (26), a cook, lived here with his wife Ellen (26) and his daughter Eliza (3). The family has a servant girl of 14.No. 4
John Hinton (23), a college servant, lived here with his wife Martha (20) and his sister-in-law Emma Batter (21).No. 5
UnoccupiedNo. 6
Edward Hunt (32), a tennis marker (change by enumerator to “No occupation”), lived here with his wife Mary (33) and his children Mary (6), Julia (3), and Fanny (1)
1871
No. 1
James Gardener (72), a printer, lived here alone.No. 2
George Styles (44), a carpenter, still lived here with his wife Eliza (43) and their children Emma (13) and Edward (8).No. 3
Thomas Thornton (44), a waiter, lived here with his wife Elizabeth (41) and their son John (20), who worked as a servant.No. 4
Mary Fairfax (64), an independent widow, lived here with a boarder.No. 5
John Wiltshire (40), a messenger, lived here with his wife Sarah (37), who was a dressmaker, and their son Sydney (1).No. 6 is no longer listed from this census onwards
1881
No. 1
George Styles (54), a carpenter, still lived here with his wife Eliza (52) and their daughter Emma (23), who was a dressmaker.No. 2
Mary Humphris (51), the wife of the head of the household (a coachman), lived here with her daughter Gertrude (5) and five lodgers (a coachman, three girls aged 14, 8, and 6, and a groom).No. 3
Frederick Bernard (28), a groom, lived here with his wife Alice.No. 4
William G. Haynes (41), a wine merchant’s foreman, lived here with his wife Elizabeth (37) and his children William (14, a tailor’s apprentice), John (12), Alice (11), Arthur (10), Alfred (4), and Sarah (10 days). They had a coachman lodging with them.No. 5
Mary Fairfax (74), a widowed needlewoman, lived here alone. (In 1871 she lived at No. 4, which may be the same house.
1891
No. 1
Emma Pilcher (49), a widow, lived here with her children Hellen (24), who was a dressmaker, Fred (22), who was a harness maker, Flora (16), who was a machinist, Edith (14), who was a book binder, Rose (11), and Minnie (10).No. 2
Henrick Hedges (78), a cattle medicine manufacturer, lived here with his wife Emma (68), their daughter Fanny Hedges (27), who was a dressmaker, and their grandchild Mabel Gain (5).No. 3
Listed as unoccupied.No. 4
John Carter (42), an upholsterer, lived here with his wife Elizabeth (44) and their children Elizabeth (17), who was a domestic servant, William (12), Laura (11), Charles (9), Bertha (7), Mary (6), Ellen (4), Theophilus (3), and Annie (1).No. 5
William Haynes (51), a cellarman, lived here with his wife Elizabeth (47) and their children William (24) and Arthur (19), who were both grooms, and Ewart (14), Annie (10), and Ada (6).
1901
No. 1
John Richards (68), a house painter working on his own account, lived here with his wife Alice (74).No. 2
William Pledge (38), a general labourer, lived here with his wife Mary (39) and his four children. Agatha (14) is described as her mother’s help, looking after Dorothy (8), Francis (5), and Winifred (4).No. 3
Emma Kitchen (65), a widowed lodging-house keeper, lived here with her unmarried niece Emma Walker (26), who was a dressmaker. She had a young stonemason as a lodger.No. 4
Hannah Silman (74), an unmarried lodging-house keeper, lived here alone.No. 5
Family absent on census night.
1911
No. 1
Edwin Spiers (27), an outdoor furniture porter, lived here with his wife Ada (27) and daughter Ivy (1).No. 2
William Pledge (47), still a general labourer, continued to live here with his wife Mary (49) and his children. Dorothy (18), Reginald (15), Winifred (14), and Sidney (8).No. 3
Charles Pavier (70), a tailor’s cutter, lived here with his wife Lydia (58).No. 4
Joseph Shepherd (34), a college servant (“Under Boots”) lived here with his wife Grace (24) and their son Reginald Victor (8).No. 5
Thomas Slaymaker (58), a builder’s yard foreman, lived here with his wife Mercy (57) and his grandchildren Daisy Hillsdon (1) and Joy Birmingham (9).
1921
No. 1
No listing.No. 2
Charles Richard Gurden (33), a plasterer's labourer with J. Herbert & Sons of Windmill Road, Headington, lived here with his wife Beatrice Daniels, and their two children.No. 3
Elizabeth Dawson, a widow of 65, lived here with her unmarried son James (38), who was a boiler fireman at the Radcliffe Infirmary.No. 4
Mercy Slaymaker (64), a widow of 64, lived here with her granddaughter Daisy Hillsdon (21), who was a grocer's assistant at the Star Tea Company at 5 Queen Street. (This possibly should be numbered 5, where the Slaymakers lived in 1911.)No. 5
No listing.
In the Oxford City Directory of 1871, Mrs Styles, James Gardner, Thomas Thornton, and Mrs Cord were listed as living in four cottages numbered 2, 3, 4, and 6 Wadham Place.