WINE DRINKING IN OXFORD - 1640-1850

Wine Drinking in Oxford 1640 – 1850 A story revealed by tavern, inn, college and other bottles With a catalogue of bottles and seals from the collection in the Ashmolean Museum Fay Banks BAR British Series 257 1997

Wine Drinking in Oxford 1640 - 1850 A story revealed by tavern, inn, college and other bottles With a catalogue of bottles and seals from the collection in the Ashmolean Museum Fay Banks BAR British Series 257 1997

BAR P U B L I S H I N G ISBN 9780860548553 paperback ISBN 9781407318851 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9780860548553 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Published in 2016 by BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR British Series 257 Wine Drinking in Oxford 1640-1850 © F Banks and the Publisher 1997 The author's moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher. BAR Publishing is the trading name of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd. British Archaeological Reports was first incorporated in 1974 to publish the BAR Series, International and British. In 1992 Hadrian Books Ltd became part of the BAR group. This volume was originally published by Archaeopress in conjunction with British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd/ Hadrian Books Ltd, the Series principal publisher, in 1997. This present volume is published by BAR Publishing, 2016. BAR titles are available from: EMAIL PHONE FAX BAR Publishing 122 Banbury Rd, Oxford, OX2 7BP, UK [email protected] +44 (0)1865 310431 +44 (0)1865 316916 www.barpublishing.com

Copyright Museum of Oxford

Contents 1. futroduction 2. Life in Oxford, 1640-1850 futroduction City government Life in the University Taverns, inns and alehouses Vintners and wine licences 3. Wine drinking and wine bottles Wine drinking in England (1640-1850) Wine drinking in Oxford Types of wine College drinking (1733-1850) 4. Wine Bottles 5. Tavern Bottles The Main Oxford taverns futroduction The Mermaid tavern The Salutation tavern The Three Tuns tavern The Crown tavern The King's Head tavern funs and vintners not associated with the main taverns Other seals 6. College Cellars and Bottles The Colleges All Souls Balliol Brasenose Christ Church Corpus Christi Exeter Jesus Lincoln Magdalen New College Oriel St John's Trinity Wine merchants Glass merchants Cork cutters 8. References Appendices 1. REE Chemistry of Archaeological Glass 2. Extracts and summaries from Wills 3. Extracts and summaries from the Bursar's Day Books at Magdalen College 1736-17 46 4. Articles agreed upon by the members of the Fellows Common Room of Magdalen College, July 17 63 5. Catalogue of Wine Bottles and seals from Oxford in the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum 6. Glossary of Terms Acknowledgements

List of Figures 5.16 The sites of the Crown and King's Head taverns 2.1 Map of the Oxford region 5.17 Typical tenement layout and frontage c. 1650 2.2 Location of taverns, inns, colleges and 5.18 An early bottle from the Crown tavern bearing landmarks in Oxford the Morrell cipher and a detached seal bearing 2.3 A typical tenement layout and frontage c. 1670 the initials AT 2.4 Invoice for rent of the Crown Tavern, 1685 5.19 Two undated shaft and globe bottles bearing the 2.5 The holders of University wine licences initials W AM belonging to William and Anne 2.6 The holders or operators of the City wine Morrell at the Crown licences 5.20 An onion bottle bearing the cipher of William 2.7 Dates when vintners were trading in Oxford and Anne Morrell and the date 1685, the Crown tavern 3.1 Quantities and types of wine imported into 5.21 Five seals from the Crown tavern bearing the England between 1675 and 1860 Morrell cipher 3.2 A typical tavern bottle 1685 5.22 An onion bottle which belonged to Joan Turton at the Crown 4.1 Descriptive terms used in describing wine 5.23 Two undated mallet bottles from the Crown bottles bearing the initials AKR for Alexander and 4.2 Different shapes of wine bottles c. 1640-1850 Katherine Richmond 4.3 Summary of sealed wine bottles belonging to 5.24 Five seals from the early years of the Richmond Oxford establishments and people tenancy at the Crown tavern 4.4 Development of bottle shape 1640-1850 5.25 Bill dated 1693 from Joan Turton at the Crown 4.5 A typical Dutch onion bottle c. 1720 tavern to New College 4.6 An early shaft and globe where the seal has 5.26 Bill dated 1709 from Alexander Richmond at flowed into a blob the Crown tavern to New College 4.7 The Development of String Rims 1640-1880 5.27 Bill dated 17 41 from Will Dawson at the Crown tavern to New College 5.1 Sites of the taverns and inns 5.28 Two bottles which belonged to Richard Walker 5.2 A shaft and globe bottle from the Mermaid at the King's Head tavern belonging to Anthony Hall snr. 5.29 The layout of the King's Head and surroundings 5.3 Detached seals from the Mermaid tavern early nineteenth century 5.4 Bottles from the Mermaid tavern belonging to 5.30 Two bills to Brasenose College from Richard Anthony Hall jnr. and Daniel and Ann Prince Walker at the King's Head both dated 1693 5.5 An early shaft and globe belonging to Thomas 5.31 Two bills to Brasenose College from the King's Wood at the Salutation tavern Head 5.6 The Three Tuns tavern c. 1720 5.32 Bottle belonging to John and Margaret Freeman 5.7 A shaft and globe bottle from the Three Tuns at the King's Head tavern belonging to Humphrey Bodicott 5.33 Bottles from the Bear and the Castle 5.8 Two bottles from the Three Tuns bearing the 5.34 Seals from the Three Gates and the King's seal REP Armes (High Street) 5.9 A variety of seals from the Three Tuns bearing 5.35 Two early shaft and globes with the seals TH the initials REP and a Bell plus the initials EH 5.10 Two detached seals from Three Tuns bottles, 5.36 Bottle bearing initials TMB which possibly one belonging to William and Anne Taylor, the belonged to Thomas and Mary Butler other to George and Joan Browne. 5.37 Onion bottle belonging to Thomas Swift 5.11 Two bottles from the Three Tuns belonging to 5.38 A variety of seals. Culpepper and Anne Tomlinson 5.39 A bill from Richard Dodwell to New College 5.12 Two bottles from the Three Tuns belonging to dated 1694 Anne Tomlinson 5.40 Top: A seal bearing a shield found in the 5.13 Bill from Anne Taylor at the Three Tuns for grounds of Jesus College in 1905. Bottom: a wine supplied to Brasenose College, dated 1698 seal bearing three sea horses 5.14 Bill dated 1704 to Brasenose College from 5.41 Two detached seals Top: bears the initials NH Culpepper Tomlinson at the Three Tuns Bottom: bears a shield with an ox on top 5.15 A bill dated 1732 to Brasenose College from 5.42 Two detached seals, Top: bears the initials RH Elizabeth Bradgate at the Three Tuns in monogram, Bottom: bears the initials NA ii

5.43 5.44 5.45 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 quite 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 6.26 6.27 Bottles bearing the seals, Thomas Ansell, Wantage, 1792; Revd. John Moore, 1817 and JS An onion bottle from Combury Park, Oxon. A broken mallet bottle with a seal bearing an ox The two earliest bottles belonging to All Souls College seals 1 and 2 The only known All Souls College bottle bearing this wording, seal 3 Two bottles from All Souls College with very different string rims but bearing the same seal, seal 4 Quart and pint bottles from All Souls College having the same seal, seal 5 The only known dated bottle from All Souls College, seal 6 Two bottles from All Souls College bearing quite similar seals, seals 7 and 8 Two bottles bearing quite similar seals to those in Figure 6.6, seals 9 and 10 Quart and pint bottles from All Souls College having the same seal, seal 11 Two All Souls quart bottles with the same seal showing the variation in size of free blown bottles, seal 12 Two bottles from All Souls College having similar but different seals, seals 13 and 14 Two bottles from All Souls College, seals 15 and 17 Quart and pint bottles from All Souls College, seal 16 The latest two bottle from All Souls College, seals 18 and 19 Bill to Brasenose College from Walter Gardner, 1760 Detached seals from Brasenose College Two free blown bottles from Christ Church Detached seals from Christ Church An early bottle c. 1770 from Corpus Christi College A detached seal from Exeter College An early bottle and seals from Jesus College Two later bottles from Jesus College Lincoln College seals An early bottle and a detached seal from Lincoln College Two Lincoln College bottles having similar seals Two bottles from Lincoln College A pint and a quart bottle from Lincoln College having similar but different seals Quart and pint bottles from Lincoln College having the same seal 111 6.28 Magdalen College seals 6.29 Two early Magdalen College bottles with long necks and square shoulders 6.30 Two early Magdalen College bottles both free blown, dated c. 1770 6.31 Two Magdalen College bottles c. 1780 with similar but slightly different seals 6.32 Two Magdalen College bottles c. 1790-1800 6.33 Late Magdalen College bottle but free blown 6.34 Detached seals from Magdalen College 6.35 An early Oriel College bottle and two early detached seals 6.36 Two early Oriel College bottles, c. 1810 with slightly different seals 6.37 Two bottles from St John's College 6.38 Three detached seals from St John's College 6.39 Bill for bottles bought by Trinity College, 1806 6.40 Bill for bottles bought by Trinity College, 1822 6.41 Bill for bottles bought by Trinity College, 1822 6.42 Bill for bottles bought by Trinity College, 1826 6.43 Duties and costs of importing a hogshead of Lisbon wine, 1822 6.44 Wine price list of 1823 6.45 Trinity College seals 6.46 Two free blown bottles from Trinity College 6.47 Two three part moulded bottles from Trinity College 6.48 Two late three part moulded bottles from Trinity College 6.49 A mallet bottle bearing a seal with the initial E 6.50 Detached wine merchant seals 6.51 Wine bill from H Syms, 1831 6.52 A bottle belonging to Frederick Latimer and a later Latimer bottle 6.53 Bill from Thomas Marsh, glassman, 1741 6.54 Bill from Mary Strange, 1782 6.55 Bill from Sutton and Brown, 1811 6.56 Bill from Samuel Sutton, 1830 List of Tables 2.1 Historical summary 6.1 Known bottle payment dates and suppliers of bottles to All Souls College 6.2 All Souls College: Bottles and seal types 6.3 Suppliers of wine and bottles to Christ Church 6.4 Dates of bottle purchases by Magdalen College 6.5 Suppliers of wine to Magdalen College 6.6 Dates of bottle purchases by Oriel College

1 Introduction This book covers the history of wine drinking, taverns, wine bottles and wine cellars in Oxford from approximately 1640 to 1850. Although the book concentrates on Oxford much of the general history applies to the whole of England. What made Oxford special was the interplay and interdependence of the city population (town) and the University population (gown). Much of this history has been deduced from research into the bottles which contained the wine. 1640 was chosen as a starting point because it was at approximately this date that heavy durable wine bottles began to be produced and used in England. At this time only a small number of people in each town were licensed to retail wine. Premises run by these individuals were called taverns. The more numerous premises which sold beer and ale but which were not licensed to sell wine were called inns or ale houses. Wine was sold for consumption on the tavern premises but was also sent out to be drunk in private houses and, in the case of Oxford, in the colleges too. It could also be sold by the taverns to inns that were not licensed to sell wine directly. This practice of sending wine out from the taverns brought about the marking of the bottles with a seal of glass upon which was stamped the tavern sign, the name or initials of the owner together sometimes with a place name and date. A deposit was charged on each bottle until it was returned to the correct tavern. Many bottles were broken and the taverns replaced their broken stock on a regular basis as we can see from the many dated bottles. The bottles are the principal data source for this study as they have been dug up all over Oxford during its redevelopment over the last two hundred years. Most of the bottles featured here are now in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum and can be seen there. Others are in the Museum of Oxford and other museums and in private collections. The period covered falls naturally into two halves. During the first half from 1640 to approximately 1730 most of the wine consumed in Oxford was supplied by retailing vintners from the taverns, although some wealthier individuals kept their own cellars. Because of the presence of the University there was an unusually large number of wealthy people in Oxford who could afford to drink wine. 1 The taverns, together with some of the better inns and coffee houses, were the main social centres of the city. Men generally went there to meet their friends and to talk over the politics and news of the day. Many clubs also used taverns or inns for their meetings. It is possible to see the wealth of the Oxford vintners wax and wane as the University population varied. Two main factors caused these variations. One was the political situation, especially during the early years which take us through the Civil War, Cromwellian rule and the Restoration. The University's position as a staunch supporter of the monarchy was significant. The other factor was the existence of epidemics. If an epidemic was raging in Oxford this would often prevent college members from coming up to the University. On the other hand, if an epidemic was raging in London this could lead to an influx of people into Oxford especially when the king moved his parliament from London to Oxford. From 1730 to 1752 the monopoly of the vintners to retail wine was gradually broken. Wholesale wine vaults around Carfax began to retail wine as did certain coffee houses and inns (University Archive). These establishments began to stock their own cellars to sell directly to their customers. By 1740 at least 40 places were selling wine although six was the maximum official limit. The situation became beyond control so that by 1752 the licence system was abandoned. By this date Oxford colleges were also laying down their own wine cellars from which wine was supplied to the college members and generally consumed on the college premises. The breakdown of licensing and development of college cellars together brought about the demise of the taverns so that from 1752 to 1850 the retail wine trade was dominated by wine merchants, inns and coffee houses. The information for this study has been gleaned from Oxford city archives, University and college archives and various published works. Most of the anecdotal information comes from Clark (1899) "The Life and Times of Anthony Wood", Beresford 1924-1931 "The Diary of a Country Parson , The Reverend James Woodforde" and Doble (1884-1888) and Ranie (1897- 1918) "Remarks and Collections of Thomas Hearne". Due to the fact that diaries tend to record only the more colourful incidents which occur it is easy to get the impression that the taverns were dens of iniquity in which drunkenness was routine and violence frequent. Woodforde, for instance, records numerous instances when he and his friends became excessively drunk but these usually occurred when they were celebrating

getting their degrees or other notable occasions. Although they did drink large quantities of wine there is nothing to suggest that students of those days were any more prone to drink than their counterparts today. Drinking heavily, then as now, was rather a :function of being young, irresponsible and away from parental control for the first time. Some of the college bottles in the Ashmolean Museum were collected and given to the museum by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) who was a fellow of All Souls College. All Souls College has the largest collection of bottles among the colleges and donated several to the museum in 1908. The inspiration for this study came initially from an interest in whether it was possible to discover anything about the origin of bottles from chemical analysis. The results of these analyses are presented as appendix 1. 2

2 Life in Oxford Introduction During the period 1640 to 1850 politics had a great influence on life in Oxford. Table 2.1 shows that the period spanned the reigns of many monarchs. Although Oxford was a backwater compared with London the political situation at any time had an effect on the University and therefore on the city. During the civil wars 1642-1649 Charles I made Oxford his headquarters and the University supported the Crown against the Commonwealth. Many of its members were expelled for their continued support of the Stuarts during Cromwell's rule. Even so the University remained staunchly Tory. This affected the number of students enrolling (matriculating) so that in February 1682 Anthony Wood noted in his diary "The University at this time is very thin and the Townsmen complain for want of their company. Reason is 1. because ever and anon are reports that the King will hold a parliament here, which deters them from coming for fear of being forced to quit their quarters -2. All those that we call Whigs, and side with the parliament against the Duke of York, will not send their sons for fear of turning Tories .... Note not 20 persons have been matriculated from Christmas to Egg Sunday whereas 120 hath been matriculated in years past. " By 1640 the townspeople of Oxford depended largely on the University members for their livelihoods. Much employment was provided by ambitious college building projects and in supplying the University members with food, drink and clothing. Oxford would probably not have developed into a city of any size had it not been for the presence of the University. Although situated in the centre of the country it lay on only one important trade route, that from Northampton to Winchester, Salisbury and Southampton. Figure 2.1 shows that the two major courier routes running west from London by-passed the city to the north and south. The Royal Court however, frequently travelled through Oxford on its way to Woodstock Palace. The main roads outside Oxford were meant to be maintained by all inhabitants living within five miles of the city by the mileways act of 1576 (Elrington, 1965) but it was not until 1771, when the St Clement's turnpike was introduced, that the roads were reasonably 3 well maintained and even then much of the money from the turnpike was spent on road improvement within the city rather than on the major roads outside. Until 1792, when the canal opened to Oxford, goods were transported into and out of the city either by carrier or by river boats plying the Thames and Cherwell rivers. River navigation was hampered by low water and floods. Figure 2.1 shows that by the late seventeenth century Oxford had a good network of carrier services and by 1683 there were services to more than 300 towns and villages (Elrington, 1965) operated by about 90 different carriers. The carriers, who drove carts and carried goods much as couriers do today, operated from smaller inns than those used by the coaches, the main ones being the Crown (not to be confused with the Crown tavern) the Blue Anchor and the White Hart. An entry in the Council Acts (Hobson 1954, p 309) states that sealed wine bottles for William Morrell at the Crown were brought to Oxford by Road (c. 1660-1679). Several wharves in Oxford serviced Thames navigation and goods were transported both down to London and north of Oxford up the Cherwell towards Banbury. The canal linking up to the Midlands did not reach Oxford until 1792 at which date Oxford was opened to canal traffic from Birmingham and NW England. The railway did not reach Oxford until 1844 and was therefore not operational during the majority of the period in which we are interested. Although the townsmen largely depended on the University for their livelihoods there were constant battles between the city (Town) and the University (Gown) over the upholding of privileges, granting of licences, raising of taxes and political affiliation. This animosity was not new and throughout the period of this study the city council still had to pay homage to the University each year as a penance for the riots which started on St Scholastica's Day in 1355 at the Mermaid tavern. This riot began when a group of scholars threw wine into the landlord's face and beat him with the empty pot (Elrington, 1965). From this small beginning the riot blossomed and lasted for three days. On the second day a large group of countrymen marched into the town in support of the townsmen and the combined force overwhelmed that of the University. Sixty three University members were killed. The Town won the fight but were forced to pay heavily over the next several hundred years. After the riot they were adjudged to have been in the wrong and in consequence the

HISTORICAL SUMMARY STUART 1625-1649 1649-1660 1660-1685 1685-1688 1689-1702 1702-1714 Charles I Commonwealth Charles II James II William III & Mary II Anne HANOVERIANS 1714-1727 George I 1727-1760 George II 1760-1820 George III 1820-1830 George IV 1830-1837 William IV 1837-1901 Victoria Table 2.1 4

xe 150KM • • • ' • ' • \. ~ . Shrewsbury ...... ,.,. Sto~dge f ..... ', .. Worcest " · ristol ., , ., ,,,.., s , .,,, PYork I j I f I I I i 1 Lincoln J ,, • ' , I I I I ' Northampton ,, ,., , ... ✓/ Cambridge Main Courier Routes Late 17th century - - Main National Routes c 1700 •-• -•- Canal opened to Oxford 1792 - - - Rivdr Thames Figure 2.1 Map of Oxford Region 5

council had to appear each year before the University in the University church of St Mary the Virgin, hold a mass and pay a penny each. The expense was not great but the humiliation was. This practice continued until the nineteenth century despite many attempts on the part of the council to abandon it. Trade within Oxford was controlled by both the city and the University. The city did so by means of creating Freemen and apprentices. The University did so by creating privileged persons. City Government Oxford was constituted a city in 1542 but the main governing charter was granted in 1605. This charter, although undergoing some changes in the seventeenth century, held until 1835. It confirmed Oxford as a free city and corporate body under the name of the mayor, bailiffs and common people (Elrington, 1965). The city was granted the power to make by-laws and to punish breaches by fine and imprisonment. The city could also sue and be sued as a corporate body and hold and dispose of property under a common seal. For this privilege, in the early seventeenth century they paid the Exchequer £39. The town council controlled the city's commercial life. Except for privileged persons belonging to the University none but freemen were allowed to set up as tradesmen or craftsmen within the city or to share in the common grazing of Port Meadow. For the privilege of being a freeman each person had to share in the city's taxation and to serve in office on the council. Throughout the seventeenth century being in a high position on the council gave a man social standing and townsmen gladly served. Later, in the eighteenth century, as trade and economic prosperity declined, the men were less eager to undertake office and often paid a fine instead of serving. Freemen's sons and those who had served as apprentices under a freeman were entitled to be free on payment of a fee which varied according to the trade and as to whether a young man was the eldest or a younger son. The fee also generally included the provision of a leather bucket for fire fighting or a cushion or a leather jack and often money to treat the council to wine. The council could also sell a freedom to people moving into Oxford. On becoming a freeman a youth could follow the trade for which he had been trained but no other. As always this system was abused if people thought that they could get away with it. There are numerous accounts in the city records of apprenticeships being voided because it became known that the apprentice was not actually working for the master to whom he was theoretically apprenticed. People were fined for carrying out trades 6 without being freemen. Misdemeanours relating to being a freeman could be punished by the loss of that status. The government of the city by the council would probably have worked well had it not been for the fact that the University also had a charter which granted it the right to make laws, grant licences and sue people in the University Chancellor's court. The University had an ultimate deterrent in being able to discommon tradesmen. This banned members of the University from trading with them in any way and was therefore an effective sanction. It is difficult to know what life for an ordinary city dweller was like. The city, at least in the early part of the period, must have been generally dirty and smelly. Dunghills fouled the streets together with heaps of rat infested rubbish which the council forced individuals to move when the inconvenience became too great. It is easy to imagine that in such insanitary conditions disease was rife. Malaria at this time was quite common as were regular attacks of plague. The main killer however seems to have been smallpox which continued to be greatly feared well into the 18th century when vaccination became possible, although this process itself was dangerous as it involved inducing a hopefully mild attack of the disease. Wood frequently mentions smallpox outbreaks in his diary, a particularly bad one being reported by him in November 1683 " ... In the middle of the month some parish bells were ordered not to toll for persons because many dying frighted people and caused trade to decay. 11 This outbreak was said to be mainly among young women and children and caused the University to be very empty between August and October. For much of the period there was no central system for maintaining the streets. Each householder was responsible for the street in front of his house up to the central gully but generally only maintained the road when forced to do so. Gradually throughout the period the roads improved. In July 1682 Wood noted" In this month and in August was the highway from near the end of St Clements church to the way leading to Marston pitched with pebbles and hard stone, for two carts on breast - the middle part with pebbles and the ... flankers with hard white stone. 11 This work was carried out from July to October and paid for by contributions amongst scholars and townsmen. It was not until 1771 that road maintenance was taken over by the Paving Committee. A toll gate was built beyond Magdalen bridge that produced £30,000 between 1771 and 1835 which was spent on city improvements. These improvements included the rebuilding of the collapsed

Magdalen bridge between 1772 and 1778 (Elrington, 1965). Life in the University By 1640 Oxford University was already well established as a centre of learning. Boys came up to the University generally at the age of 15 or 16. Being so young their tutors looked after their moral welfare as well as their academic progress. There were various types of student depending on their family circumstances. The poorest paid very low fees and worked their way through as servitors. The next rung up were commoners, whose fathers would be described as "Pleb" for plebian in the matriculation registers. Next were the gentlemen commoners. This group covered quite a wide range. At the very top were the aristocracy. There was a wide discrepancy in fees depending upon social status. For instance at Balliol in the seventeenth century, (Jones, 1988) the sons of Lords were charged £200 while the gentlemen commoners paid £20. The classes then were not so rigid as they later became. If one could afford to live as a gentleman one became a gentleman no matter which class one was born into. We see therefore that when William Turton Jnr. (Crown tavern) entered the University his father was described as "gent". Generally a vintner would have been considered to be a plebian but by this time the Turton family was rich and could afford to pay for William to enter the University as a gentleman commoner. Sometimes the son's of Lords also came as gentlemen commoners because it was so much cheaper to do so. The University as a whole was governed by a number of elected bodies made up of senior University members. Under the general umbrella of the University were a number of colleges. By 1740 there were 21. Most of the colleges were set up as charitable foundations and endowed with grants of land, often in far flung parts of England. The rents from these lands were used to support the college members. Some colleges were well endowed with land others were relatively poor. In addition fellows also received fees from the students they taught. Many students entering the University gradually worked their way up through the college hierarchy and ended up in a college living. While resident in the college or holding an official college position they were in holy orders and not allowed to marry. It was only when they progressed out into a living and became parish priests that they could marry. Many of the richer students never took their studies seriously and Oxford was just a short interlude before they went on their European tours and continued to live upon their inherited wealth. The University was therefore a tremendous mixing pot of all social classes. 7 The colleges were social communities and everybody in them was considered to be a college member from the head of the college down to the cook and laundry woman. The servants in the colleges and tradespeople in the town who worked under University licence were matriculated in the University as were the undergraduates and became privileged persons. Privileged persons were allowed to trade in Oxford without being freemen and were not liable for city taxation. They also had access to the University court for legal disputes. Being a privileged person was therefore a desirable state and the rules of privilege were frequently stretched. Theoretically, University privilege was limited to direct employees of the University i.e. college servants, the servants of scholars and to those pursuing certain trades which were; bookbinders, barbers, cooks, bakers, butlers, laundresses, limners, manciples, net-makers, parchment makers and scriveners. The number of privileged persons varied. In the early seventeenth century over 200 families were privileged but this had fallen to 120 by 1665 (Elrington, 1965). Taverns, Inns and Alehouses There was a distinct difference between taverns and inns. The vintners running the taverns were licensed to retail wine and this seems to have been their main if not only source of income. It is unclear whether food could be bought in taverns but if not it could probably be ordered in from local cookshops. Anecdotal evidence suggests that food was not provided by the taverns (see Mermaid tavern) Inns on the other hand had a much broader trading base selling corn and hay for the horses housed in their stables, beer, ale and cider and they certainly provided food. Alehouses were more lowly and as the name suggests provided principally ale. Inns and alehouses needed no licences unless they wished to hang out protruding signs in which case a licence was granted for the sign. A survey of 1661, (Salter 1920) lists "the names of such as keep Taverns, Inns and Alehouses in ye city of Oxford''. This lists the keepers of 5 taverns, 53 inns and 192 alehouses. The alehouse keepers were termed victuallers (Elrington, 1965). The vintners in 1661 were Thomas Wood at the Salutation, Humphrey Bodicott at the Three Tuns, Anthony Hall at the Mermaid, William Morrell at the Crown and Jane Allum (Hallum) who lived at Tattleton's House on Cornmarket Street but has not been tied to a named tavern at this time (see The Crown and The King's Armes, High Street). Figure 2.2. shows the location of these taverns where known. Most of them were close to the main cross road, Carfax or on either High Street or Cornmarket Street. Figure 2.3. shows a hypothetical

00 UQeLJ I= CJ ; nootY cou.&G& fJ ao· 0 1 ~ ~ . c;---==, ~-- '- ~ ~ c=~1;i;~ a CASTL& MO~ND \r:::~_r 11~caoWN , ~8:~~--~l\ ™• H INN ~c-i__lJ ~~~1--~ Figure 2.2 Oxford Location Map

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I 0 20 Feet DweJliiJg 40 , I I Figure 2.3 A Typical Tenement layout and Frontage c. 1670 9

tavern layout and frontage based on the Crown tavern. The Cross Inn, now the Golden Cross still exists on Cornmarket Street today. It was bigger than the Crown tavern. Both the Cross inn and the Crown tavern were owned by New College and records show that the Cross paid almost four times as much rent as the Crown which reflected their relative sizes. Figure 2.4. shows that in 1685 William Morrell paid £2 16s Oda year in rent for the Crown. The inns obviously ranged in size from the largest coaching inns like the Angel and the Cross to much smaller establishments. The central part of Oxford, where the taverns lay, was largely occupied by tenement buildings of varying sizes. An example of a large tenement can still be seen at the Golden Cross (The Cross Inn) on Cornmarket which is one of the few to survive in more or less original plan. In general the tenements typically had a small frontage onto the main street which would be occupied by tradespeople but stretched back from the road as much as 6 times the width. The leases of these tenements would therefore usually be held by several people or sublet in this way. For example the lease of the Crown tavern in 1675 was held by William and Anne Morrell (Salter 1920) but also in occupation presumably on subleases were Will Walker in the north; Michael Crips, milliner, south and Timothy Lanston, east. This would leave the tavern occupying the part of the tenement fronting onto Northgate Street ( present day Cornmarket). The leases generally ran for 40 years but were usually renewed several years before they expired as this required less capital outlay upon renewal. Although all the taverns have now been demolished we can get some idea of how they looked. There are no direct descriptions of the interiors of Oxford taverns but contemporary London taverns have been documented (Simon, 1906). They generally consisted of several rooms where various groups of people could meet together to drink or which could be hired for the use of private parties. Certain University clubs used various Oxford taverns as their meeting places and we know that at the Three Tuns in the High Street the senior members of All Souls College drank in one room while the junior members drank in another (Pugh, 1965). Wine was brought to the drinkers by the drawers who filled the wine bottles from the casks in the cellars. Certain cellars were also used as drinking rooms. This was the case at the Mermaid. From the poll tax of 1667 (Salter 1920) we can estimate roughly how many people were needed to run each tavern. The Crown was run by William and Anne 10 Morrell together with four apprentices and two maids. Anne's youngest daughter also lived at the tavern. The majority of Anne's children together with another apprentice, who worked in their other trade as an ironmonger, and a maid lived at the Morrell's other property a few doors away. Anne's son William, having finished his apprenticeship by this date, was probably acting as drawer. The Three Tuns was run by Richard and Elizabeth Pont together with two drawers, each paid £12 per annum, another young man servant paid £3, an apprentice and two maids. The Mermaid was run by Anthony and Anne Hall, a drawer, 3 apprentices and a maid. Vintners and Wine Licences Under Statute 7 of King Edward VI, cap 5 of 1553 no one was allowed to retail wine without licence. Only two licensed taverns were allowed for each town except London, which was permitted 40, York eight, Bristol six and nineteen other towns where three or four licences were allowed (Simon 1906-1909). Oxford fell into this last category and was permitted three. Due to the situation whereby both the University and the city held charters to govern the city they both of course claimed the right to issue the wine licences. This therefore meant that there were as many as six licences in operation at any one time. This number was further increased by people in the national government also issuing licences directly from London as was done by Lord Goringe ( c. 1650) (Salter 1920 p387). Two issued by him were honoured by the University until the licensees died but the University was not happy with the situation. The licences issued by the city are well documented in the council meeting minutes and therefore it is easy to see who held them (Salter, 1926 Appen. 2). The city licences were granted for a basic period of 21 years although the length varied. The licence was leased by paying a lump sum in advance called a fine together with an annual rent. The fine was essentially rent in advance. The size of the fine depended on the commercial climate of the day and what length of time still remained on the licence. In order for the fine not to be too large the licences were generally renewed well before they expired often even before half the time had passed. They automatically passed to heirs unless they did not want to renew them. When the licences were renewed there was often hard headed negotiations entered into before terms were agreed. When John Moreton renewed the licence left vacant by the death of his son John Wicker Moreton the negotiations extended over fourteen months. The city first proposed a £100 fine for 21 years. Moreton's

~tJtZm fummam rer,pim115 • Figure 2.4 Invoice for the rent of the Crown Tavern for the year 1685. (New College Archive 11369, part) 11

supporters on the council tried to get the fine reduced but the council resisted and retaliated by proposing a reduction in the length of the licence to 12 years and threatened to dispose of it to someone else (Hobson 1939, p242-250). Moreton finally agreed terms of 29 years for the original £100 fine. A similar negotiation in 1704, however had different results (Hobson 1954, p30). By then the vintner's trade was in decline and the council may have felt that they would have had difficulty in disposing of the licence elsewhere. In this instance Moreton's executors succeeded in getting the fine reduced from £40 to £30. Joan Turton at the Crown renewed her licence at the same time and also had her fine reduced from £80 to £70. The reason given in the council records for these reductions was that the vintners trade had decayed. In another instance, when William Morrell was mayor in 1677, he suffered great financial loss on behalf of the city (Hobson 1939, pl 14) (why is not recorded) and as some compensation in 1678 he was granted an extended renewal of his wine licence for 31 years for no fine. The licence had been renewed five years previously. Throughout most of the period of interest the annual rent for the wine licences was £ 10 which was paid in two half yearly instalments. The licences were often held by the vintners who ran the taverns but some were held by people who had nothing to do with the wine trade who then let them out to others. The University licences in particular were often sublet and it is difficult, if not impossible, to find out who was operating under them. Figure 2.5 shows who held these licences as far as we know. Some city licences were similarly sublet especially the one held by the Whicker-Moreton family. For many years however, this licence operated at the Mermaid tavern but after the Mermaid was demolished in 1709 we do not know where it operated. Figure 2.6 shows the holders of the city licences. This is generally self explanatory, except in the case of the Moreton Licence. After 1704 this was held by trustees for the Moreton estate, the first being Ferdinando Burleigh then jointly the vintners John Freeman, Culpepper Tomlinson and Alexander Richmond (Salter 1926, p352). After Culpepper's death John Freemen and Alexander Richmond were joint trustees then Margaret Freeman and Alex Richmond. The city records show that rent was still being paid on the licences up to and including 17 51 but nothing appears after this date and they were presumably abandoned. 12 The University licences are not well documented after 1650 and seem to have been often sublet. Figure 2.5 summarises the information where known but may not be accurate, (Hobson, 1954). In most cases it is therefore impossible to know where they operated at a given time. Figure 2. 7 shows the dates when vintners were trading in Oxford whether they can be tied to a licence or not. Several establishments held both a licence from the city and one from the University especially the Crown. There were constant arguments between the University and the city about the right to license. Vintners holding city licences were prosecuted in the Chancellor's court and if found guilty of illegal trading were discommoned. This had a serious effect on their trade as they were then forbidden to trade with University members in any way. Richard Walker, William Morrell and Will Dawson were all prosecuted in this way while holding city licences. Will Dawson was discommoned in 1734 (Univ. Arch.). Up until his tenancy the Crown had operated with two licences but he came to Oxford from London and probably did not appreciate the power of the University when he first took over the running of the Crown. William Morrell was forced to take a University licence in addition to the city licence as was Richard Walker. Some vintners were also prosecuted by the city for operating under a University licence. In 1674 William Stirke obtained a University licence for ten years and paid over a substantial bond. We do not know where he traded but by 1675 he was pleading in the University court to be released from the licence and to have his bond restored. There is much documentation relating to this case in the University archives (Univ. Arch.) but the result of the case is not recorded. He must have continued to trade in some guise as he enrolled two apprentices under city law in 1697 so he presumably held a city licence although his name does not appear on any licence at that time. The city licences were then held by John Freeman, the Moreton Daughters and William Turton. It is possible that the Moreton licence was sublet to him. In some instances the courts acted for the good of legitimate vintners. As early as 1710 various wine vaults were operating in and around Carfax and they were allowed to sell wine wholesale but not to retail it. By 1730 the distinction between wholesale and retail was becoming blurred and people were beginning to ignore the retail licensing laws. This was very detrimental to the tavern trade. In 1734 the University discommoned Daniel Bennet and James King, both of whom kept vaults near Carfax, for retailing wine without licences

- w University Licence 1 1620 1640 1660 1680 Snmbach/Barnes 164S ? 16S4 Thomas Wood 1663 William Morrell 1679 1620 1640 1660 1680 Salutation Crown University Licence 2 1620 1640 1660 1680 Harks/Garbrand/Rogers 1647 16S8 ??? 1673 William Slet to Humphrey Bodlcott Bodlcott re-rented Garbrand licence 10 years 1620 1640 1660 1680 University Licence 3 1620 1640 1660 1680 1620 1640 1660 1680Figure 2.5 The Holders of University Wine Licences (wher(University Archives)

Ann Morrell Stirke 0 re known) 1700 1720 1740 1696 Joan Turtonl 706 Will Turton 171S Alexander Richmond 1748 1700 1720 1740 1700 1720 1740 1691 ?Richard 1704 ? John Freeman 1704 ? Margaret Freeman 1748 Walker 1700 1720 1740 1693 ??? King's Head 1700 1720 1740 1693 Ann Walker and husbands ??? 1700 1720 1740 1693 Three Tuns ???

....... +'>- CITY LICENCE 1 1620 1640 f--------, 1624 JUDITH POTTER 1620 1640 THREE TUNS lillMPHREY & JUDITH BODICOTT CITY LICENCE 2 1620 1640 KATHERINE HARRIS+ SON FRANCIS 1620 1640 MERMAID FRANCIS HARRIS CITY LICENCE 3 1620 1640 VOID JOHN 1624 1627 THOMAS 1639 1641 DAVENANT HALLAM TC 1620 1640 3 CORNMARKET 1639 1654 1654 ALDERMAN SOUTHAMS ? 1660 1680 1665 1675 A.HALLSNR A.HALLJNR 1660 l 1680 l1665 THREE TUNS 1687R&EPONT 1660 1680 ? 1664 J. MORTON+ A. HALL JNR. JOINTLY 1660 1680 1660 ANTHONY 1675 ANTHONY HALL SNR. HALL JNR. 1660 1680 1659 WILLIAMMORRELL 1679 ANNMOAT 1660 1659 CROWN 1680 1665 Figure 2.6 The holders or operators of the City wine licences(Adapted from Salter (1926)

1700 1720 1740 1687 1698 1704 1724 R.WALKER J.FREEMAN MARGARET FREEMAN l 1700 1720 1740 I I 7 KING'S HEAD 1704 KING'S HEAD 1724 KING'S HEAD RICHARD WALKER J&MFREEMAN MARGARET FREEMAN 1700 1720 1740 1693 J. MORTON 1704 F. B. 1711 J. F., C. T., 1724 J. F. & A. R. 1731 M. F.&A.R. A.R.JOINT JOINT 1700 1720 1740 DAP 1691 1693 1696 1709 1700 1720 1740 ORRELL 1696 JOAN 1706 WILLIAMTURTON 1724 ALEXANDER RICHMOND TURTON 1700 1711 1720 FROM 1711 RENTED TO NICHOLAS FRANKLIN WORKING WIIHALEXANDERRICHMOND 1740 s ~ 1748 1750 1748 1750 1748 1750 1750 1748 WILL DAWSON 1750

...... Ul 1640 1660 1680 1700 ANTHONY ANTHONY DANIEL & ANNE R & E I HALL SNR. I HALL JNR. PfINCE I < 1660 1675 1691 1704 IWAT HUMPHREY & JUDITH BODICOTT JB IREPI ELIZABETH PONT I GJB I I AT CAT 1660 1666 1670 1687 1693 1695 1699 a THOMAS WOOD 1 647 1663 SALUTATION R & E WALKER I JANTHONYCARPENT~ 16511 687 1704 A TURTON! W & A MORRELL I A MORRELL JTURTON 1653 1659 THOMAS&JANEHALLAM RICHARD BILLINSLEY__J 16601 1665 j JOHNHUDSON 1679 1689 WILL WINSLO'\\'_____J 16871 WILL FOL TON I ANNE HARDINGHAM 1670 1684 ? 11673 WILL STIRKE j 1702 1 THOMAS SWir THOMAS AND MARY BUTLER Figure 2.7 Dates when vintners were trading in Oxford 1706

1720 1740 1760 LYNES 1109 MERMAIDTAVERN AT(2) REB ELIZABETH BRADGATE 1712 1719 1728 1748 THREE TUNS J & M FREEMAN I MARGARET FREEMAN 1724 K & A RICHMOND 1752 WILL DAWSON I J AUSTIN? KING'S HEAD 1731 DANIEL BENNET ~ JAMES KING ~ CROWN 1745 11751 JOHN STOUT (WHOLESALE) JB JUDITH BODICOTT GJB GEORGE & JOANNE BROWN REP RICHARD & ELIZABETH PONT WAT WILLIAM&ANNETAYLOR AT ANNE TAYLOR CAT CULPEPPER & ANNE TOMLINSON AT(2) ANNE TOMLINSON REB RICHARD & ELIZABETH BRADGATE

(Univ. Arch.). This must have damaged their trade to some extent but at that time they were also said to be supplying most of the private houses in Oxford. Both the city and the University were fighting a losing battle to maintain the licensing system. By 17 40 a survey of inns and coffee houses shows that, as well as the legal taverns, 24 inns, 12 coffee houses and three wine vaults were retailing wine without licence (Univ. Arch.). The inns included the Cross, the Angel and the King's Arms in Holywell, which was a popular musical venue, Of these, seven inns and 4 coffee houses were buying wine wholesale to stock their own cellars. This disregard of the licensing law must have been irksome to the vintners who were still required to pay substantial rents for their licences. On August 10th, 17 44 the city records contain the following entry; " Mr William Dawson and Mrs Margaret Freeman, to whom application had been made to pay in several years arrears of rent due to the city on their leases of licences have not only refused to pay the said arrears but the said Mr Dawson has refused to surrender his lease of licence to the city", (Hobson, 1954). Nevertheless ignoring the licensing laws was by no means a new phenomenon and was particularly prevalent during and just after the Civil War. One of the monopolistic vintner families started in just this way. In 1653 Ann Turton, who later married William Morrell with whom she ran the Crown tavern, set up a tavern on pretence of a licence from the city (Salter, 1920). For this she was prosecuted in the University Chancellor's court and condemned on 2 December 1653 (Salter, 1920). She appealed against the sentence but the sentence was upheld. She does not however appear to have been much concerned by this condemnation as she appeared to carry on business as usual. In 1659 her situation was regularised when she obtained a city licence which became vacant upon the death of Alderman Sowthams. Both men and women traded as vintners. Usually, but not invariably, when a woman vintner married, her wine licence was taken over by her husband. Men and women appeared to have had equal status, the women being able to enrol apprentices and seemingly also retaining ownership of their businesses after marriage. There are many examples of women vintners surviving one or even two husbands and continuing to run the business. This was an accepted practice in all trades, widows of freemen having the right to continue in their husband's trade. The male vintners however, could hold office on the town council, a privilege that was not extended to the women. Not all vintners were city freemen. Richard Walker at the King's Head in particular, traded by virtue of being a privileged person of the University although he also held a city wine licence. He was matriculated at the University as a vintner in March 1691 (Archiv. Univ. Oxon PyxF.20) having been apprenticed to William Morrell at the Crown in November 1668 (City Muniments Hannisters (L5/4) 1688) Not being a freemen meant that his apprentices had no right to freedom after they had finished the term of their apprenticeship. When Richard was granted the city licence in 1687 the city council anticipated that he might have trouble from the University. The problem appears to have been resolved by his matriculation. I have found no direct evidence that he held both a University and a city licence but it seems likely. The social standing of the freemen vintners among the city traders appears to have been high. Two of them, Anthony Hall and William Morrell, having originally bought bailiffs places, went on to be elected mayor. The vintner community was close knit, several apprentices marrying their master's daughters and fathers, sons and daughters all working in the trade. Throughout the period 1640-1730 vintners generally thrived although as in any trade there were ups and downs. We can clearly see however several families moving up the social scale through the generations. The Hall, Turton and Walker/Freemen families all rose in this way with the first generation founding the tavern, the next generation consolidating the position and the next generation being educated and becoming gentlemen thus giving up the trade and living on the proceeds of property rentals or as parsons in college livings. In common with most city tradesmen the taverns were eager to offer credit to scholars. This could however get out of hand. The Mermaid tavern was bankrupted in 1681 having allowed £1,500 worth of credit to members of Christ Church (Prideaux). 16

3 Wine drinking Wine drinking in England 1640-1850 Wine was consumed in Britain long before the period with which we are dealing. During the 200 years in which we are interested the type of wine imported largely depended on the political climate of the day. Britain waged periodic wars with France and Spain so that wine from these two countries were at times unobtainable or had high import duties imposed upon them (Simon, 1906-09). Figure 3 .1 shows the relative amounts of wine imported from different countries between 1675 and 1860. During the latter part of the seventeenth century and even up to the middle of the nineteenth century the types of wine imported into Britain had very poor keeping qualities and had to be consumed at most within a year of the vintage. Tavern wine was kept in casks in the cellars and drawn off into bottles as required by the drinkers. Figure 3 .2 illustrates a typical tavern bottle. This one is dated 1685. The broad body which had developed by this time made them stable decanters. In England Portuguese wines were little heard of at the Restoration (Simon 1906-09). Most wine brought in was French or Spanish. Canary and Sack and other sweet wines were luxuries bought in small quantities. Champagne and Burgundy were also beginning to compete as luxury wines. The types of wines being consumed by London gentlemen are known from Pepys' diaries (Mendlesohn, 1963). He laid down Spanish wine, Claret, Sack, Sherry, Canary, Malaga and Tent. Malaga was becoming popular as a substitute for Sack. During the period 1686-89 Claret gained in popularity at the expense of sack. French wines were no longer the fashion except at court but were common in taverns. By 1690 however the war with France meant that virtually no French wine was legally imported although some came in under disguise. To fill the gap more Portuguese and Italian wines were imported with slight increases in Spanish and Rhenish. Italian wine was liked but travelled badly. Most Spanish wine came from the Canaries, Cadiz and the Mediterranean ports (Francis, 1972). In 1695 a 17 shipment was noted coming from San Sebastian on the northern coast although few ships came from the northern ports. Some of the wine passing through there was probably French. Wealthy people were not pleased at the lack of French wine. Deprived of their good Claret they criticised the government of William and Mary. Port wine became a symbol of the Whigs and Claret a symbol of the Stuart supporters. Although in general the tax on Portuguese wines was lower than for other types the differential was increased by the Methuen treaty of 1703. In this treaty it was undertaken that Portuguese wines should never pay more than 2/3 the customs charged on French wines (Simon, 1926). Wine drinking in Oxford Wines recorded in Oxford accounts and bills at this time came from Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, The Canaries, Madeira and the Cape. Types of wine The earliest recorded wines were Spanish and sometimes they were entered as nothing more specific than "Spanish". In the late seventeenth to early eighteenth century the two most often encountered wines were "Tent" and "Sebastian". The word Tent derives from the Spanish Tinto, meaning red. "Tent", a red wine which came originally from Malaga was later a term used generally to describe any strong red wine from Spain and possibly similar wine from Portugal. In Oxford it was the wine most often used for communion wine and occurs frequently in college bills from 1693 to 1741. A wine called "Sebastian" is encountered in many bills of the late seventeenth century but not thereafter. We have been unable to find any reference elsewhere to such a wine but presume that it was a wine exported through the town of San Sebastian on the north coast of Spain. The famous wine growing area of Galicia was the first province visited by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. These pilgrims probably acquired a taste for Galician wine en route. Galician wines can be either red or white and tend to have a high acidity. In College accounts after 1710 wine from this region was called "Galicia". "Navarre" was a wine from the northern province of Spain of that name and is recorded as such. "Malaga" came from Malaga on the southern coast of Spain and was alternatively called "Mountain". "Mountain" occurs in Oxford accounts between 1710 and 1760. It was a strong red wine like Madeira. Malaga was improved by the application of heat and

00 - 100% r.!.!.!.!Jl.!.!.!.,.:-:-!.!.!.!.!.1.1.:.,:,.,,,.,:,::-:iiiillllllllllllllllllllllllll 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% -" -" _,,_ 0) 0) 0) ----..1 a> (0 01 01 01 -" ----..1 0 01 -" ----..1 -" 01 ,; 11U1,····.·.·.·.·-" -" -" ----..1 ----..1 ----..1 N W .t:. 01 01 01 -" ----..1 01 01 -1. ----..10) 01 Figure 3.1 Quantities and Types of wine imported in(Adapted from Simon, 1906 and Francis, 1972)

.··•····.·.·.·····.--:-····· .. •: .. ~ .• ·~_:··= -1. --1rr,. _). ----..1 ----..1 ----..1 ----..1 a> (0 01 01 01 _,,_ a> 0 01 -" -" a> a> _,,_ N 01 01 nto England between 1675 and 1860. -" -" a> a> w .j:l,.. 01 01 -" a> 01 01 fiEllMisc Cape IIIII Italian Canary Iii Madeira Spanish □ Portuguese 13 French 11111 German

x2/3 Figure 3 .2 A typical tavern bottle 1685. 19

motion and so was transported by ship to the tropics where it "cooked" in the holds and then returned to Europe. It was drunk as a sweet after dinner wine. "Sherry" was a fortified wine from the Jerez region, either red or white and of varying sweetness. It was first mentioned by name in Oxford accounts in 1722. "Sack" originally also came largely from Jerez but was a more general term used for fortified wines including Sherry which was sometimes called Sherry- sack. "Sack" occurs regularly in accounts from 1703-1750 and mention of it goes back to 1653 in the All Souls College accounts. In the 1660s there were three established English trading headquarters in Portugal at Lisbon, Oporto and Viana in the Minho, the northernmost province. Viana began to lose its importance to Oporto as trade with the bigger city grew and Viana's harbour silted up (Simon 1906- 09). The most popular Portuguese wine was "Port", from Oporto which was a white or more often red wine fortified after 1678 by the addition of brandy, although even into the later ~ighteenth century it had poor keeping qualities and was generally drunk twelve to eighteen months after purchase. It was certainly the most popular wine laid down in the college cellars and occurs in accounts throughout the period. Many early college accounts merely recorded buying wine but this was probably Port. "Viana" was a wine which came into favour after 1704 being a red wine from the northernmost province of Minho. "Moncao" was a stronger white wine, more stable than the usual Minho lightweight. The region around Lisbon produced mainly white wines. Between 1704 and 1830 the wine "Lisbon" occurs frequently in accounts but two other wines from this area were also mentioned more specifically. The first of these was "Calcavella" which was another name for Carcavelos, the best red wine of Portugal and sometimes sold as Port. The second was "Bucellas" which was a dry, white wine much liked by Wellington and recorded in the Christ Church accounts from 1834. Lisbon wine was generally esteemed as a cut above Port. "Navarre", "Galicia", "Viana" and "Moncao" were regarded as the next best to "Claret". Although rather thin in a good year these wines could pass as Claret. The only Italian wine encountered was "Florence" from Tuscany. This was probably a red wine rather like Chianti although the area produces some white wine. In the eighteenth century "Florence" had a disagreeable roughness. It was recorded in accounts from 1710 "Rhenish" which came down the Rhine is the only German wine encountered and was bought between 1731 and 1750. 20 In the seventeenth century most French wines were exported through Bordeaux. The port of Bordeaux exercised many privileges and managed to prevent the export of French wines from inland until their own had been sold. These High Country wines were often better than the local Bordeaux wines. The white wines of Bordeaux was perishable and expected to tum sour within a year at most and tasted best within a few months of the vintage. Wine described as "French White" in 1710 was probably Bordeaux. The favourite French wine was however "Claret". Many inferior wines were often passed off as Claret. "Claret" was made as a vin rose is made today and was similar to a modem Beaujolais Nouveau. "Burgundy" was another popular red or white wine from the Burgundy region. "Champagne" was not mentioned in Oxford records before 1827. "Hock" and "Sauterne" were much later additions. "Hermitage" was a very expensive wine grown in Touron on the Rhone and was probably one of France's greatest white wines which also aged well. It was bought by Corpus Christi College from 1817. Wines from Madeira and the Canaries were also popular and occurred in Oxford records from the earliest days. "Madeira" from the island of that name, off the Atlantic coast of North Africa, was a strong, sweet red wine the process of producing which involved heat and motion. These are now applied artificially. Historically these wines, like Mountain and Malaga, were transported by ship into the tropics where the wine would "cook" from the heat in the hold and was well agitated by the ship's motion. They were then shipped back to Europe. An item in the Corpus Christi account for 1816 states ''Messrs Blackthorn & Co. for a pipe of Madeira sent to the East Indies, £77 1 Os Od''. Even today some aquavit is still treated in this way and a premium charged when the liquor has been carried to the tropics and back. "Vidonia" was a wine which came from Tenerife in the Canaries. This was a relatively dry, high acidic wine which aged well. "Canary" was another wine from the island group which was probably sweet and popular in Oxford in the earliest bills of 1693. "Palm" was a light yellow wine from Tenerife with a scent of pineapple. It occurred from 1704 and was referred to as Palm-sack in All Souls accounts of 1750. Another popular wine from 1812 onwards was simply called "Tenerife". In 1657 legal maximum prices for wine were imposed. They were 1/6 a quart for Spanish wine, 1/- for Rhenish and 7d for French. After the Restoration in 1660 the duties on wines rose. These amounted to £9 a tun on Spanish and Levant wines, £8 Os 9d on Rhenish, £6 8s lld on French, £6 2s on Portuguese and £6 17s 3d on

sweet wines. Wines imported by aliens or in foreign ships paid more. By 1688 the legal maximum price for Claret was 2s per quart ls 3d for Madeira and ls for other Portuguese and Spanish wines. A price list for wine per quart bottle in the Corpus Christi common room m 1826 makes interesting reading: Sherry 4s, Madeira 5s 6d, Claret 5s, Port 3s 6d, Hermitage 12s, Bucellas 5s and Tenerife 5s. We can see from this how expensive Hermitage was relative to the other wines. Wine was drunk in Oxford by the richer members of society. The majority of people made do with ale and beer which was brewed all over the city. Most of the colleges had their own brewhouses but as wine had to be imported consumption of this was initially dominated by the retail wine trade. Various statutes were in force which restricted the selling of wine to small quantities in an attempt to stem the drunken riots prevalent at that time and those retailing wine had to be licensed. Wine could be consumed either on the tavern premises or it could be ordered in from the taverns and consumed privately. In Oxford it was not only private individuals who ordered wine in from the taverns but also the colleges for communion in chapel, consumption in hall on a daily basis and for grand celebrations. The sending of wine out from the taverns is what necessitated the introduction of the sealed tavern bottles. Although the licences were held long before 1640 it was only at approximately this date that glass bottles came into general usage in taverns. Each tavern needed to have its bottles marked so that they could be returned to the correct premises. The reason that it is possible to unravel the history of the taverns from their bottles is that they were sealed with a disk of glass bearing the tavern sign and the initials of the tenants. They not infrequently also bear dates, especially bottles belonging to the King's Head and Crown taverns. From the initials it is generally possible to identify the tenants and then search contemporary documents to reveal more about the lives and deaths of the people involved. Figure 3 .2 shows a typical sealed tavern bottle. This one is from the Crown tavern and is dated 1685. College accounts show that a note was kept of the number of bottles sent out and any breakages or non-returns were charged for. The taverns also rented out glasses on a similar basis. The oldest known dated wine bottle is in Northampton Museum and is dated 1657. Earlier, dated detached seals are however recorded (Dumbrell, 1983) Such 21 bottles were produced from approximately 1635. Prior to that date it seems likely that stone flagons were used rather than glass bottles. The taverns were frequented not only as drinking haunts but as meeting places too. There were five well documented taverns in the city. These were The Salutation, The Crown, The Mermaid, The King's Head and The Three Tuns. There must however have been other premises in which wine was retailed since several vintners are recorded who cannot be tied to specific premises. An example is William Stirke who was recorded as enrolling two apprentices and became involved in a law suit with the city in 1673 for trading under a University licence. College archives are a rich source of information on wine consumption. Those of Brasenose and New Colleges are particularly good in that they contain collections of tradesmen's bills. In the Brasenose College archives there are wine bills dating back to 1693 which give an insight into the types, prices and sources of the wine bought by the college for consumption in Hall. The earliest bills are signed by Richard Walker who ran the King's Head. Figure 5 .30 is a bill sent to the college at the end of 1693 and states ''for wine sent to Brasenose on Xmas day, seven shillings". Many of the bills state exactly what wine was being supplied. ''for 5 bottles of Canary and 5 bottles of Red Port seventeen shillings and six pence" (Jan 26 1693). From these it is possible to calculate that in 1698 Canary cost 2s per quart, Sebastian ls 8d and Red Port ls 6d. Bills of a similar date from Joan Turton at the Crown included Tent at 2s 6d per quart. Brasenose College also bought wine from the Three Tuns. Several of the bills were signed by Ann Taylor and one by Culpepper Tomlinson. It was not until 1704 that any other than these three types of wine were mentioned. By 1704 more wine varieties began to appear. Canary by this time had risen to 2s 6d per quart but Sebastian still cost ls 8d. As well as the usual Sebastian and Canary the college began to buy Lisbon and Viana. A bill at the end of 1704 demonstrated that the college rented glasses from the tavern for celebrations and had to pay for broken wine glasses and bottles not returned to the tavern. In another bill for wine they were also charged for one broken bottle and 3 broken glasses. By 1707 Palm had also been added to the list. By 1710 Claret appeared at 2s per quart, Mountain at 2s, Florence at ls 6d, Galicia at 2s 6d, and white French wme.

From 1722 the main suppliers to the college were Richard and Elizabeth Bradgate at the Three Tuns. They supplied Port and Sherry each at 2s per quart. In 1724 wine was bought in larger quantities. 12 gallons and 3 quarts of Port 8 gallons and 1 quart Lisbon £3 16s 6d (ls 6d / quart) £2 9s 6d (ls 6d / quart) This would appear to have been for some special celebration as 4 quarts of Port and 3 quarts of Lisbon were returned and the college paid 4s 6d for 18 broken bottles and 3 glasses. After 1724 the college for a time did not buy from the Three Tuns. Richard Bradgate died in 1724. In 1726 the college bought from a Mister Clegg. In 1727 and 1728 the college was supplied by Margaret Freeman at the King's Head but by 1732 the college was again buying from the Three Tuns and the receipts were signed by Elizabeth Bradgate. She supplied Port, Sherry and Rhenish each at 2s per quart. Elizabeth Bradgate continued as the main supplier until her death in 17 48 when the bill was paid to her son Richard as executor. After this date the college used many different suppliers and it appears that the necessity of having a wine licence was largely ignored. Suppliers were A Hobson, Mr Gamet, Edward King, James Doe, John Crosier, John Brucker, Abraham Smith, Walter Gardener, Edward Hobbs and Charles King. College drinking 1733-1850 Wine was drunk in the colleges both in Hall during dinner and in the common rooms. Senior members of the college could order bottles of wine from the common room man and settle their wine bills termly. At some colleges this privilege was also extended to the gentlemen commoners. On the whole the senior college fellows encouraged the junior members to drink in the colleges as it was likely to lead to less problems than if they drank in the city taverns. For some of the period junior college members were banned from entering taverns and the tavern owners were made to block up their back entrances to prevent escape when the university authorities entered the taverns to apprehend the miscreants. 22

4 Wine Bottles Figure 4.1 summarises the descriptive terms used in discussing wine bottles. Other terms are explained in Appendix 6. Figure 4.2 shows the basic bottle shapes which are "shaft and globe", "onion", "bladder onion", "mallet", "squat cylinder" and "true cylinder". Shaft and globe bottles ranged from c. 1635 to 1680, onions and bladder onions from c. 1680 to 1725, mallets from c. 1720 to 17 40 and squat cylinders and true cylinders from c. 1735 to present. There is obviously a certain amount of overlap. True cylinders can be further divided into "free blown" c 1735 to 1825, "three part moulded, 1811 to 1900 and "two part moulded, 1900 to present. From a collectors point of view two part moulded bottles are of little interest as they lack the character and individuality of the earlier bottles. The cylindrical free blown bottles, despite the name, often had the body blown into a dip mould but the neck and string rim were finished by hand. With the advent of three part moulded bottles a uniform capacity could be guaranteed. From 1640 to 1850 the standard wine bottle held one quart although the earlier ones obviously varied considerably. A smaller bottle held a pint. Some bottles seem to have been made with a deliberately large and deep kick-up which would obviously have greatly reduced the capacity. Figure 4.3 summarises the sealed bottles which belonged to the Oxford taverns, inns, colleges, wine merchants and individuals and uses dated bottles where possible. Prior to 1640 wine was generally transported from cellar to table in stoneware flasks called bartmans or bellarmines. From about 1640 the English glass makers developed thick, robust, dark green bottles. Initially these were quite small with globular bodies. In the early days wine was drunk more as a liqueur, beer and ale being drunk to quench the thirst. The early wine bottles were rather unstable so the development through time was first towards a larger, wider body less easily knocked over and then when binning became necessary towards a cylindrical shape. Prior to the late nineteenth century wine had poor keeping qualities. It was only with the advent of better hygiene, the introduction of wine fortification and the development of techniques to exclude oxygen that the idea of laying down bottles of wine to mature in cellars was developed. Figure 4.4 shows the main changes in bottle shapes which can be seen in bottles with an Oxford connection. 1. Ca. 1680 when the unstable "shaft and globe" was replaced by the broader based more stable "onion", 2. 23 Ca. 1720 when the bottles sides were flattened developing into the "mallet" shape and 3. c. 1735 when the bodies became thinner and the "cylinder" was developed to allow storage of the bottles on their sides. From 1735 to 1860 the general trend was for a gradual increase in the height of the body relative to the length of the neck. From 1820 onwards it became possible to make bottles by machine in three part moulds although some were still free blown. The development of cylindrical bottles can also be seen in the changing string rim. Due to the large number of dated bottles and bottles to which a limited date range can be assigned, we can follow this development from the earliest shaft and globe bottle through to a very late three part moulded cylinder. The bladder onion and squat cylinder are two types of bottle not found in Oxford city although a bladder onion belonging to the Willoughby family of Marsh Baldon, six miles south east of Oxford can be seen in the Victoria and Albert museum. It is generally assumed that most early sealed wine bottles were made in England but there is little direct evidence to prove this and there had long been a thriving international market in glassware. These bottles are called "English" because they were made using coal fired furnaces which were first developed here but they could have been manufactured on the continent. Doubtless customers bought whatever was cheapest at the time. Figure 4.5 however, shows a typical Dutch onion which is distinctly different from an English onion being much lighter both in weight and colour. Dutch bottles also have much flatter string rims. While there is a general linear development in wine bottle shape changes presumably occurred at different times in different glass houses. Bottle shape therefore gives an age range rather than a specific date. The place of manufacture of the earlier bottles has not been traced. There are no records of where these early bottles came from and no record in published works of any English glasswork excavations revealing bottles related to Oxford. The only records to date which give a provenance to bottles are provided by the accounts of All Souls College (Haslam 1970) and bills in the Trinity College archives. In 1750 it was recorded in the All Souls accounts that bottles were being bought from Mrs Bachelor, glass maker of Stourbridge, Worcestershire. This was the Dennis glass house which the Bachelors ran from 1691 so it is quite possible that earlier bottles came from there. Mrs Bachelor continued to supply bottles directly to the colleges until at least 1760.

Neck ______ Shoulder Seal Body Base Pontil mark Kick-up Figure 4.1 Terms used in describing wine bottles 24

Shaft & Globe c. 1640-1670 Shaft & Globe c. 1670-1680 Onion c. 1680-1700 Onion c. 1700-1725 Bladder Onion c. 1710-1775 Malletc. 1720-1740 Malletc. 1740-1760 Squat Cylinder c. 17 40-1850 True Cylinder c. 1740-1850 Figure 4.2 Different shapes of Wine Bottles, c. 1640-1850. 25

N 0\ 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850The Mermaid The Three Tuns The Salutation - The Crown The King's Head The Bear - The Three Gates - The Castle - The Bell - The King's Armes - Swift's -- Thomas Butler - Richard Dodwell -- Figure 4.3 Summary of Sealed Wine Bottles belonging to Oxf