0 1650 1700 All Souls College Brasenose College Christ Church Corpus Christi College Exeter College Jesus College Lincoln College Magdalen College St John's College Trinity College W.H. Butler Latimer Etty ford establishments and people, 1650-1850 1750 1800 1850 -~ -"'" - -- - - - ■- - ·-
1639-1658 Three Tuns Humphrey Bodicott Shaft & Globe 1682 Mermaid Anthony Hall Onion 1692-1693 Mermaid Daniell & Ann Prince Onion 1651-1663 Salutation Thomas Wood Shaft & Globe 1685 Crown Anne Morrell Onion 1699 King's Head Richard & Elizabeth Walker Onion Figure 4.4 (Part 1) Development ofBottle Shape c. 1640-1700 27 1660-1679 Crown William & Anne Morrell Shaft & Globe 1687 King's Head Richard Walker Onion 1701 Three Tuns Joan Turton Onion
1709 Three Tuns Culpepper and Ann Tomlinson Onion 1717 King's Head John and Margaret Freeman. Onion ca. 1740 Magdalen College True cylinder 1713 Three Tuns Ann Tomlinson Straight sided onion 1706-1724 The Crown Alexander and Katherine Richmond Mallet ca. 1780 Magdalen College True cylinder 1715 Three Tuns Ann Tomlinson Onion ca. 1740 Jesus College Mallet ca 1820 Lincoln College True cylinder Figure 4.4 (Part 2) Development of Bottle Shape c. 1700-1820 28
X 1/2 Figure 4.5 A typical Dutch onion bottle c. 1720 29
The next named supplier of bottles to All Souls College was William Strange an Oxford glassman. No records have been traced as to where he was supplied from. He appears in the accounts of several colleges as a glass supplier providing drinking glasses and china as well as bottles. Other glassmen trading in Oxford were Aaron Marsh, his son Thomas Marsh, James Williams, William Crump, Samuel and William Sutton and John Charlwood (see section on glassmen). In the All Souls accounts bottles were also supplied by Mr Heatley 1788 and Mr Turner 1789. These last two persons have not been traced in Oxford so may have been outside dealers. Bills for wine and bottles in the Trinity College archives again show that from 1806 to 1828 the Stourbridge area was supplying bottles to Oxford. Several bills come from Westwood & Co., later Westwood, Moores and Rider, a glass manufacturer based at Brierley Hill near Stourbridge. One of these bills also contains the expense of cutting the seal which was 7s 6d in 1822 and list the different lettering on the seals. The sealed bottles are described as "marked". In the All Souls accounts up to 1806 there are 16 different deliveries of bottles recorded. Haslam identified 19 different seals of which three are three part moulded bottles and post date 1806. This leaves 16 pre1806. The number of separate bottle purchases therefore matches the number of known seals. It is assumed in most published works on sealed bottles that the seal stamps were engraved in brass. However, it has been questioned why something which must have taken a long time to produce was so readily discarded since new stamps were made for each bottle order. While many seals obviously were brass excavations at the Bolsterstone Glassworks, Yorkshire (Ashurst 1987) uncovered two bottle seal dies made from fired pot clay. Such pottery stamps would presumably have been quite easy and cheap to produce. In order to "mark" the bottle a pad of molten glass was applied to the finished bottle and the seal die applied whilst the glass of the seal was still rheid. If the die was applied whilst the glass was too runny the seal would be blurred, if too solid the impression would not take. Sometimes the seals went disastrously wrong as Figure 4.6 shows. On this bottle the seal has flowed into an amorphous blob. When dating bottles which are unsealed or undated one useful feature to consider is the string rim. Figure 4.7 shows the developments of string rims form c. 1640- 1880. The type of string rim is a general guide to date as there was great variation among bottles in any one 30 batch. There were some basic changes, however, which seem to have occurred at certain times. As a general rule the string rim gradually moved closer to the top of the neck from 1640-c. 1700. All bottles studied in the twenty year period 1700-1720 had string rims which were almost at the top of the neck. After this time they moved down again slightly. Until c. 1750 the neck passed straight through the string rim and was smoothed off at the top. After c. 1750 the top of the neck was bevelled back and by c. 1760-1765 the neck was bevelled back over the string rim to form a double string rim. Most bottles studied in this period have a very square shaped string rim the bottom of which stands well proud from the neck of the bottle. From c. 1780 extra glass was added to the top of the bottle to increase the size of the upper section of the string rim. Bottles spanning the period 1795-1815 all have a flattened conical upper part to the string rim which sticks out beyond the lower part of the string rim .. After c. 1822 the string rims were tool formed both on three part moulded bottles and on free blown bottles. By c. 1860 the top of the bottle had become 'blob' shaped.
AM 1937.999 Figure 4.6 An early shaft and globe where the seai has flowed into a blob. 31 X 1/2
·ffi ffl rn rn m 1639-1658 1670-1679 1660-1679 1682 1687 ·fR ·ffi ffl •rn rn ·m 1651-1663 1657 1661 ' J, \ 1692-93 1697 1640-1660 1660-1680 1680-1700 mn,mrnmm 1701 1709 1725 1725 1743 1745 mmmmmm 1713 1715 1729 1700-1720 rn 1764 1720-1740 1738 ~ r-,- i I ! \ I ' 1792 mrnm 1P.:=: I i ' . r i ' . • 1773 1777 1794 1799 1760-1780 1780-1800 I 1826 ff~ 1829 /~ rn I 1836 ' I~ 1820-1840 1840-1860 1748 1757 1740-1760 mm 1807 1811 f!1 m 1815 1817 1800-1820 1860-1880 Figure 4.7 The development of String Rims 1640-1880 (Based on dated bottles in the Ashmolean Museum, Somerset County Museum and Private collections) 32
5 Tavern Bottles The Main Oxford Taverns Introduction There were five well documented and named taverns in Oxford that existed for varying lengths of time during the period 1640 to 1750. These were the Mermaid, the Salutation, the Three Tuns, the Crown and the King's Head. Figure 5.1 shows the locations of the taverns which were all centred around Carfax, the main cross roads in Oxford except the Three Tuns which was further down the High Street. The existence of tavern bottles bearing initials, tavern signs and sometimes dates has made it possible to chart almost completely the history of these five taverns during the period. Since the bottles have been so useful in unravelling the histories of both the taverns and the vintners who ran them they figure largely in this chapter. There must also have been other taverns as we find bottles and seals not relating to the five main taverns and mention of other vintners in the records. It has not been possible to locate these other taverns or identify the tenants. Some of the bottles seem to have belonged to inns. We do not know whether these inns held wine licences for short periods of time or not. The earliest recorded dated wine bottle seal from Oxford belonged to William and Anne Morrell of the Crown. It is detached from its bottle and dated (16)74. The earliest seal on a bottle is the same Crown seal but with the date changed from 7 4 to 75. However from studying the tenancies it is obvious that other undated bottles are much earlier. Those of Humphrey Bodicott at the Three Tuns (1639-1658) and of Thomas Wood at the Salutation ( 1651-1663) are the earliest. The history of the taverns is complicated by the fact that families frequently used the same Christian names through several generations. Additionally some Christian names such as Anthony, Thomas and William were very common. Thus it is easy to get confused such as between Anthony Hall and Anthony Wood and between William Morrell, William Turton and his son William Turton, the last three all being connected with the Crown tavern. 33 THE MERMAID TA VERN Summary of the Mermaid Tenancies, 1575-1709 1575-1592 1592-1620 1620-1654 1654-1660 1660-1675 1675-1691 1691-1704/5 1704/5-1709 1709 William Noble Francis Harris snr. Katherine and Francis Harris jnr. Francis Harris jnr.? Anthony Hall snr. Mrs Hall (widow) and Anthony Hall jnr. Daniel and Anne Prince Richard and Elizabeth Lynes Mermaid demolished above ground. The Mermaid tavern was one of the longest established and oldest taverns in Oxford. It stood on the southwest comer of Carfax on the site now occupied by the Abbey National Bank and was known in Medieval days as the Swindlestock (flail) or Swynstock. It is recorded as a tavern as early as 1279 and was renowned for being the place where the riots of St Scholastica' s day started in 1355. The record of licence holders is fairly well known from 1575 through to the demolition of the tavern in 1709. Figures 5.2-5.4 show nine bottles or detached seals which belonged to tenants of the Mermaid tavern. From these we have been able to identify four tenants between 1660 and 1709 as listed above. The early licences, before glass bottles existed, were held as follows: 1575 William Noble (died 1592) 1592 Francis Harris snr. (died 1623) 1620 Katherine Harris & Francis Harris jnr. The period 1654 -1660 is uncertain. In 1654 the licence was obtained by John Wicker but it is unlikely that he ran the tavern himself as he was a gentleman. Francis Harris jnr. may have continued to do so. A seal is recorded by Ruggles-Brise (1949) bearing the initials FWW and a mermaid with comb and mirror. This seal possibly relates to the Wickers at the Mermaid but this requires further research. In 1660 Anthony Hall, working under John Wicker's licence, took over the running of the Mermaid and in 1661 John Wicker Moreton (John Wicker's son-in-law) obtained a licence from the Chancellor of the University, the Earl of Clarendon. In 1664 a city licence was granted to Anthony Hall and John Wicker Moreton jointly to run but one tavern (Salter, 1926) and in 1665, on the death of Judith Bodicott, Anthony Hall obtained her city licence in his own name while John Wicker
l;.) ~ GEORGE STREET Cl 01 COLLEGE BALLIOL C=STiffET KING'S !-< •· BEADl % rn JESUS COLLEGE I EXETER COLLEGE LINCOLN COLLEGE CROWN INN \ • ciossiNrt - - --- CROWNl ·cARFAX THE MITRE BIGBSTRE ,QUEEN STREET THE • MERMAID I \ CASTLE INN SALUTATION. • 8 EBEAR Ct(UEBOARLAN\ Figure 5.1 Sites of the Taverns and Inns
ALL SOULS COLLEGE ,,Di..--. Cl 1/ {j NEr ( 19 I I 250FEET tr"--::-- - - (._ OLD Cll'J, W:.-""-l, ----~ -, --.... __ ',, NEW COLLEGE ~',,_ ~ N rl
AM 1882.145 Figure 5.2 A shaft and globe bottle from the Mermaid tavern belonging to Anthony Hall Snr. 35 x2/3
AM 1915.7 AM 1914.453 , ' {m " ~,' \'v:!:Y. "* \-' ~ 0 -..... ~ AM 1896-1908.M72 AM 1932.62 1939.2 AM 1968.67 Figure 5.3 Detached seals from the Mermaid tavern 36
AM 1924.512 xl AM 1874.46 Figure 5 .4 Bottles from the Mermaid tavern. Top: belonged to Anthony Hall Jnr. dated 1682 Bottom: is undated and belonged to Daniel and Ann Prince. They were tenants from 1691 to 1704. 37 xl
Moreton retained the other city licence. It seems probable however, that one of these city licences was rented out. Since the Wicker Moretons owned the lease of the Mermaid tavern it is probable that it continued to operate under their licence. Anthony Hall snr. died in 1675 and was succeeded by his son Anthony Hall jnr. He took over his father's licence in 1675 and renewed it again in 1684. He died in 1691. Anthony Hall snr. was born in Kirtlington, about eight miles north of Oxford, in October 1624. Nothing is known of him between then and 1660 when he appeared at The Mermaid. In the poll tax record of 1667 Anthony Hall was living with his wife Anne and son Anthony. He moved his mother to Oxford and she died there in 1677 and was buried in St Martin's Church at Carfax. Anthony Hall snr. was Mayor in 1673 Figure 5.2 shows one of the several bottles attributed to the tenancy of Anthony Hall snr.. This is the earliest and is an undated shaft and globe. The seal on this bottle carries a mermaid with a ship to the right together with the initials AH. Two other similar bottles, but lacking the ship, are also in the Ashmolean Museum. Figure 5.3 illustrates detached seals from the Mermaid. It would seem that Anthony jnr.'s mother still played an active role in the business after her husband's death as a bill dated 1681 to Christ Church was paid to Mrs Hall, widow. Anthony Hall jnr. was born in 1655. His marriage has not been traced but in the St Martin's parish register there is a group of children born to Anthony Hall, vintner, between 1678 and 1684. Hannah was born in 1678 but died soon afterwards. It would seem likely therefore that he married in 1676/7. A son Anthony was born in 1679. A son, Roger, born in 1680, died that same year and twin boys William and John survived only a short time when they were born in 1684. The Mermaid tavern was one of the main meeting places for members of Christ Church who were encouraged into drinking by the granting of credit. In 1681 it was reported in Prideaux's letters that "the Mermaid tavern is lately broke, and we Christ Church men bear the blame of it, our ticks ... amounting to £1,500". Both the tavern and Anthony Hall jnr. must have recovered from this setback to carry on trading as later dated bottles show. The tavern was also visited by members of All Souls College as an incident reported by Anthony Wood in his diary on December 21 1683 shows. He wrote that Mrs Lazenby, who ran the Mitre Inn on the High Street, was literally frightened to death by three rude persons from All Souls who had been drinking at the Mermaid which was newly opened after being closed 38 for three months. They were clearly drunk when they arrived at the Mitre. They knocked up the house demanding food and that Mrs Lazenby get up and provide it for them. They threatened to cut her throat if she did not do so. The poor woman was so frightened that she died at 3am. This incident demonstrates that the Mermaid tavern at least did not supply food for had food been available there the All Souls members would not have needed to go to the Mitre unless of course they had already been expelled from the Mermaid. On August 22 1684 Anthony Wood reported that Michael Smith was expelled from the University for trying to ravish a maid at the Mermaid. Anthony Hall jnr. died in March 1691, aged 46, and was buried in St Martin's church. Two dated bottles are known from his tenancy. One (figure 5.4), an onion bottle, bears the initials AH together with a mermaid and the date 1682. The other, which is known only from a detached seal, has a mermaid together with the words Anthony* Hall * in * Oxford around the seal and a date of 1685. On the death of Anthony Hall jnr. the running of the Mermaid passed to Daniel and Anne Prince. This must definitely have been under the Wicker-Moreton licence because Anthony Hall's city licence passed to Richard Walker in 1687 and was used at the King's Head tavern. Daniel Prince jnr. was the son of the cordwainer (shoemaker) Daniel Prince. Daniel jnr. appeared as a child in the Poll Tax register of 1667. He was living with his parents Daniel and Katherine Prince and siblings Edward, Adam, Joseph, Thomas, and Katherine. Both Daniels featured prominently in civic life and were frequently mentioned as council members in the city records. Daniel jnr. 's name appeared on a Mermaid lease dated 1692-3. Daniel Prince died, aged 52 on June 13, 1704 and was buried in St Aldates Church. Ann Prince died in St Aldates parish in October 1710 but probably gave up the running of the tavern when Daniel died. Figure 5.4 shows a sealed bottle bearing a mermaid and the initials OAP, an open book and an Ox which belonged to Daniel and Ann Prince. This must date between 1691 and 1704. The next occupiers were Richard and Elizabeth Lynes. Lynes' name appeared on a Mermaid lease dated 1705- 6. The Lynes had two children baptised in St Martin's Church in 1697 and 1700. Richard last appeared in the Church rate books in 1715, and Mrs Lynes paid in 1716. He probably died in 1715 and she in 1719. She
was buried in St Martin's Church. They had previously given up the Mermaid as it was demolished above ground in 1709. The city bought the land from the Moreton estate and the site became part of the butter market. The Lynes family also ran a coffee house in St Aldates from 1699 to 1753 which was simply known as Lyne's. Figure 5 .3 shows the only seal relating to the Lynes' tenancy of the Mermaid tavern which has been recorded to date. It is detached and was found in 1967 in a trench in Oxpens Road (Hinton, 1970) and is now in the Ashmolean Museum. No wine bills from the Mermaid tavern have been found in college archives but account books show that they supplied Christ Church in 1681 and All Souls College in 1668 and 1696 and from 1704 to 1708. 39
THE SALUTATION TA VERN Summary of Salutation tenancies: 1647-1663 1663-1670 Thomas Wood(s) Thomas Burnham (Not known whether he continued to run the tavern or just the tennis court) The Salutation tavern was short-lived but provided one of the oldest wine bottles associated with Oxford. Figure 5.5 illustrates the only wine bottle recorded from the tavern which is an early shaft and globe bearing the initials TW and two tennis players. The owner of this bottle was Thomas Wood(s) who also issued trade tokens bearing a tennis racket together with his own and his wife Mary's initials. The tavern had two locations between 164 7 and 1663. In 1646 Thomas Wood was granted his freedom while living at the King's Armes in the High Street where he may have been apprenticed or worked as a drawer. In 164 7 he was granted a licence to hang out the sign of the Salutation at his house in Commarket Street which was the tenement occupied by Jane Hallam called Tattleton's House (see the Crown tavern). During these early years he rented a University wine licence from Jane Hallam. In 1651 Wood obtained the lease of a property located on the south side of High Street (figure 5 .1) belonging to Oriel College. The lease of this property was held by Katherine Edwards who's husband Richard had obtained it in 1645 from Ann Barnes (alias Sambach). Ann Barnes also held a University wine licence. The tenement had a tennis court behind it which was run together with the tavern. Although Katherine Edwards held the lease the tavern and the tennis court were run by Anthony Carpenter who had been granted leave to set up the sign of the Tennis Court at this address in 1648. Thomas Wood took over the tavern, the tennis court and the wine licence. The tennis played in those days was "real tennis" not "lawn tennis" as played today. However, Thomas presumably did not want to lose the Salutation name so he kept it for the tavern but decorated his trade tokens with a tennis racket and his wine bottles with two tennis players. He was also described at the time as a dancing master. In 1658 the diarist Anthony Wood recorded that he and some friends from All Souls gave a very handsome entertainment at the Salutation to Davis Mell, the most eminent violinist of London, who was performing in Oxford at the time. He also stated in his diaries that Thomas Wood's father 40 had been his father's servant. They do not appear to have been related despite having the same surname. Thomas Wood's bottle must date between 1651, when the Salutation moved to the High Street and 1663, the year in which he died. No bottles are recorded from the tavern when it was on Commarket Street. When Thomas Wood died the tennis court was taken over by Thomas Burnham who ran it for seven years before moving on to the tennis court in Blue Boar Lane (figure 5.1). Here he closed the Unicom inn which was associated with the court and rebuilt the court to make it the best in town. He was renowned as the most famous tennis court keeper in Oxford of his day and when he died in 1676 "the great bell of Merton rang out for Thomas Burnham of the Unicorn in St A/date's parish" (Wood). It does not appear that Thomas Burnham took over Thomas Wood's wine licence as in 1665 he was described as an innholder. Jeremy Potter in his recent book (1994) provides a fascinating insight into the tennis courts of Oxford during this period but is incorrect (page 58) when he says that the Salutation tavern in High Street became the Crown tavern. It was the first site in Commarket Street which became the Crown. The Salutation ceased to be a tavern c. 1670 but then became a prominent coffee house (Elrington, 1965). No wine bills from the Salutation tavern have been found in Oxford archives but entries in the account books of All Souls College show that Thomas Wood supplied the college with wine from 1652 to 1663. The type of wine was not specified.
X 1 1/2 AM 1896-1908.M68 Figure 5 .5 An early shaft and globe from the Salutation belonging to Thomas Wood. This must date between 1651 and 1663. 41
THE THREE TUNS TAVERN Summary of Three Tuns Tenancies Humphrey and Judith Bodicott 1639-1660 Judith Bodicott 1660-1666 Richard and Elizabeth Pont 1666-1670 Elizabeth Pont 1670-1687 George and Joan Browne 1687-?1693 William and Ann Taylor ?1693-1695 Ann Taylor 1695-1699 Culpepper and Ann Tomlinson 1699-1712 Ann Tomlinson 1712-1719 Richard and Elizabeth Bradgate 1719-1729 Elizabeth Bradgate 1729-17 48 Now part of the western end of University College. The Three Tuns was part of a tenement owned by University College on the High Street which in medieval times was called Staunton Hall. Figure 5.6 is a drawing of the tavern made in about 1720. The site is now amalgamated into the frontage of University College where it adjoins Oriel College. The tavern was a focal point for revelry in Oxford for more than a hundred years from 1639 to 1748. It was not only a tavern for drinking, but also a social centre for members of the University, especially the fellows of All Souls. It was so heavily frequented by the members of All Souls College that certain people remarked at the time that All Souls appeared more often to be in the Three Tuns than in the college. It certainly fulfilled the role that the college common rooms do today. Figures 5. 7 To 5 .12 Illustrate the several bottles and detached seals which are recorded from the Three Tuns tavern. Figure 5.7 shows the oldest bottle from the Three Tuns. This belonged to Humphrey Bodicott and dates from the period 1639-1660 and is possibly the oldest bottle which belonged to an Oxford resident. It is a fine shaft and globe of very dark "metal" and has a small kick-up. It obviously dates from before 1660 when Humphrey died aged 60 and was found during the construction of St. Edward's School off the High Street in 1874. Humphrey Bodicott was the son of Edward Bodicott and was baptised on March 8th, 1600 in Bicester which is about ten miles north east of Oxford. In 1615 he was apprenticed to Francis Harris snr. at the Mermaid tavern in Oxford for nine years. When Francis Harris snr. died in 1620 the apprenticeship was transferred to his son Francis Harris jnr.. Humphrey gained his freedom in 1626 and in the same year married Anne Penn. He obtained a University wine licence in 1627 42 on condition that he renounced one which he already held from the city. Humphrey and Anne Bodicott had four daughters between 1627 and 1633. Anne (died in infancy), Margaret, another daughter whom they also named Anne and Elizabeth (died 1663), Humphrey's wife Anne died in 1635. It is not known which tavern or inn Humphrey was running during the first ten years of his independent working life but in 1637 he had a lease from Oriel College of a. tenement called the Swan Inn (Shadwell, 1926). Hearne, writing in 1710, said that in 1636 Bodicott held one of the five wine licences in Oxford and named one of the taverns as the Swan without however linking the premises to Bodicott. Humphrey must have taken possession of the Swan sometime between 1632 and 1636 as he does not appear on the Oriel College lease at the earlier date. There are no known bottles relating to Humphrey's tenancy at the Swan but glass wine bottles were only just starting to be made at this date. After Anne's death in 1635 Humphrey married Judith Potter. They had a daughter Judith who is mentioned in her mother's will. Judith senior held a wine licence from the city that she had acquired on the death of her father in 1624. Humphrey first appeared in a lease of the Three Tuns in 1639 and he and Judith ran it, together until his death in 1660. In 1649 he also re-rented the University licence held by the Garbrand family. From 1658 it seems that the tavern operated under Judith's licence because payments from All Souls for wine taken into the college were made to Judith rather than Humphrey after this date. After Humphrey's death Judith continued at the tavern until her own death in 1666. No bottles are recorded bearing her initials. Her will is lodged in the county record office and a summary appears in Appendix 2. The most interesting fact in this will, apart from outlining relationships within the family, is the valuation of wine in the cellar at £191 14s. This represents at least 6 pipes of wine, something over 600 gallons. From 1666 to 1675 the yearly payments for the rent of the Three Tuns in the books of University College continued in the name of Humphrey's daughter Margaret Bodicott although during this period it was being run by the Ponts. The other Bodicott daughters, except Judith appear to have died by this date. Richard and Elizabeth Pont only ran the tavern together between 1666 and 1670 although Elizabeth continued
Figure 5.6 The Three Tuns Tavern c. 1720 43
AM 1874.44 Figure 5. 7 A shaft and globe bottle from the Three Tuns belonging to Humphrey Bodicott. He died in 1660. 44 X 11/2
X 11/2 AM 1915.4 X 1 1/2 AM 1896-1908.M63 Figure 5.8 Two bottles from the Three Tuns bearing the seal REP. Richard Pont died 1670. Elizabeth died 1687. 45
p OD dD E AM 1937.536 Detached Seal AM 1915.5 i\J.\1 l 896-l 908.M63 p C> C) AM 1896-1908.M74 Detached Seal AM 1915.4 Figure 5.9 A variety of seals from the Three Tuns bearing the initials REP 46
xl AM 1896-1908.M78 xl AM 1874.47 Figure 5 .10 Two detached seals from Three Tuns bottles, one belonging to William and Anne Taylor, the other to George and Joan Browne. 47
xl AM 1915.6 xl AM 1913.928 Figure 5.11 Two bottles from the Three Tuns belonging to Culpepper and Ann Tomlinson. The bottom one is dated 1709 and is probably later then the top one which is undated because the lower bottle has a seal bearing garlands which were a feature of later Ann Tomlinson bottles ( see Figure 5 .12 ) 48
xl AM 1896-1908.M65 xl AM 1896-1908.M64 Figure 5.12 Two bottles from the Three Tuns belonging to Anne Tomlinson. The top one is dated 1713. The bottom one is dated 1715. 49
alone for a further sixteen years. Richard Pont was descended from the Ponts of Moreton near Wallingford, Berkshire and was drawer at the Mermaid tavern before he married Elizabeth Andrew. The evidence for his marriage to Elizabeth Andrew is twofold. A marriage bond exists in the city archives dated February 13 1666/7 between Richard Pont and Elizabeth Andrew and states that the wedding is to take place at Iffiey. The Iffiey Parish marriage register for a period which includes this date no longer exists so it is not possible to verify that the wedding took place. That it did so however is confirmed by an entry in Anthony Wood's diary written when Elizabeth Pont was buried "Elizabeth Pont... widow of the said Pont (i.e. Richard), daughter of ... Andrews one of the sargeants of Oxon, died Wed, 2 Nov 1687; and was buried (without armes) by her husband, in fine linen contrary to the act, and in a rich coffin provided by her onlie daughter and heir Elizabeth, a vain fopp of eighteen years of age. . . This Elizabeth, who was the onlie surviving daughter of the said Richard Pont, and a rich heiress, was married the day before her mother died to .... Stanley MA. fellow of All Soules College ... (Salter,1920) states that Dick Pont married the sister of Anthony Hall junior on the basis that in Elizabeth Pont's will she states "I do forgive my brother Anthony Hall such moneys as he is indebted to me on Account and moreover give onto him the sum of twenty and three pounds". The will could however be explained if Anthony Hall had married Elizabeth Andrew's sister. His marriage has also not been traced which may be because it also took place at Iffiey. The Ponts took over the Three Tuns almost immediately upon their marriage. On March 28 1666 Wood says in his diary " at Dick Pont 's new tavern viz. at Bodicott 's where he began to sell wine the 26th day". The Ponts either operated under a University licence or they rented the city licence held by Anthony Hall. The latter seems likely as this licence fell vacant in 1687, the year Elizabeth Pont died. The Pont's first son Richard was born in 1667. Another son, Arthur was born in 1668 and a daughter Elizabeth in 1669. Had Dick Pont not died in March 1670 they may well have continued this annual procreation. Life in those days was, however, very uncertain for the year following Dick's death brought the death of little Arthur in December 1671 at the age of three. Nor was Elizabeth to be spared more tragedy as she also lost her other son Richard at the age of six in 1674. The Pont's daughter Elizabeth, as already mentioned, survived to marry at the age of eighteen. Elizabeth the elder continued to keep the Three Tuns until her own death only one day after her daughter's wedding in 1687. 50 Figure 5.8 Shows the two bottles bearing the seal of Richard and Elizabeth Pont which can be found in the Ashmolean Museum although several more bottles and detached seals are known to exist. The first, which is a shaft and globe, has a broken neck. The second is an onion. All the known seals bear both initials. At present this suggests, from the fact that onion bottles are generally considered to have appeared only after 1680, that Elizabeth retained the seal design after Dick's death. Figure 5.9 illustrates five REP seal variations. Elizabeth Pont was succeeded by George and Joan Brown who had been her employees. In Elizabeth's will she bequeathed "to my servants George Brown and Joane Richardson to each of them ten pounds and also all the particans that are mine in my now dwelling house and also twelve leathern chairs, a round table, two pairs of large .fflaxen sheets and all my implements belonging to the trade in my cellars equally". Joan Richardson had worked at the Three Tuns for a very long time as she was recorded as being there twenty years earlier in the Poll Tax of 1667. We must presume that George and Joan married soon after Elizabeth's death and apparently ran the tavern between 1687 and 1693(?). George was buried in 1693, his wife surviving him until 1701. Joan seems to have given up the tavern upon George's death although this is by no means certain. One known example of their seal, which is detached, is illustrated in figure 5 .10. Following the Browns the tavern was run by Anne Walker. She was the sister of Richard Walker who ran the King's Head and was born at Tysoe in Warwickshire in 1658 (Woodfield, 1976). She married Will Taylor in April 1693 in Holywell parish when she was 35 years old and they ran the tavern together from 1693(?) until his death in 1695. Their seal bears the familiar three tuns shield and the initials WAT (figure 5.10). After Will's death Anne continued to run the tavern with the help of her drawer Culpepper Tomlinson whom she then married in August 1699 (Bott, 1981). They ran the tavern together from 1699. Figure 5 .11 illustrates two bottles bearing their initials. Both of these are onions. The first is undated, the second bears the date 1709, the first dated bottle in the Three Tuns senes. Anne, after being widowed a second time in 1712, continued to run the tavern. A transcript of Culpepper' s will is given in Appendix 2. Figure 5.12 illustrates the
two dated bottles which are known bearing Anne's lone initials. They are dated 1713 and 1715. The earlier bottle is a straight sided onion and the later a conventional onion which is the opposite way round to what would be expected. Was it possible that Anne tried the new shape in 1713 but did not like it and reverted to the old shape in 1715? Anne died in 1719 aged 60 and was described at the time as being "very rich". This is born out by her will (Appendix 2) which also demonstrates the close family links between the Oxford vintners at this time as much of her estate was inherited by her nephew John Freeman and his children at the King's Head. The Three Tuns was then taken over by Richard and Elizabeth Bradgate. Richard Bradgate was by trade originally an apothecary (Rannie, 1897). He changed trade to become a vintner and took over the Three Tuns having married Mrs Elizabeth Mathews c. 1719. To date, records of the baptism of two Bradgate children have been traced, Richard in 1722 and Anne in 1724. However, contemporary reports stated that Elizabeth had a child every year that she was married to Dick (which would have been nine) and that four survived. The death of Richard Bradgate, vintner, was recorded in 1729 aged about 3 7 and at that time Elizabeth was about 30. Hearne recorded at the time that "she is a fine, stately, beautiful, large, young woman but very proud and empty of sense, as her husband also was, and a great company keeper". Elizabeth continued to run the tavern and was frequently mentioned in All Souls and other college accounts until her death in 1748. By this date the vintners had lost their monopoly and the tavern trade was in decline. There are no bottles known bearing the seal of the Bradgates. This may be explained by the decline in trade as they may have had ample existing bottles and therefore no need to replace breakages. Nevertheless, bottles bearing their initials may be found in the future. Figures 5.13-5.15 are bills for wine from the Three Tuns found in the Brasenose College archives and date from 1698 through to 1732 but it would appear that there were times when the Three Tuns was out of favour and not used for several years. The earliest bill (figure 5.13), dated 1698 was from Ann Taylor. She supplied the college with Sebastian, Canary and red wine as did her second husband Culpepper Tomlinson in 1702 (figure 5.14). By 1732 the bills from Elizabeth Bradgate were for Port, Rhenish and Sherry (figure 5.15). The Three Tuns was demolished c. 1842 and the site taken into the western extension of University College. 51
Figure 5 .13 Bill from Ann Taylor at the Three Tuns for wine supplied to Brasenose College, dated 1698. (Hurst Bursarial: Tradesmen's Bills 15) 52
Figure 5.14 Bill dated 1702 to Brasenose College from Culpepper Tomlinson at the Three Tuns. (Hurst Bursarial : Tradesmen's Bills 21) 53
/J ., .. ,.. ' I Figure 5.15 A bill dated 1732 to Brasenose College from Elizabeth Bradgate at the Three Tuns. (Hurst Bursarial : Tradesmen's Bills 44) 54
THE CROWN TA VERN The Crown tavern must not be confused with the Crown Inn which was and still is on the opposite, west side of Commarket Street which in the seventeenth century was called Northgate Street. Figure 5.16 shows the sites of the two premises occupied by the Crown tavern on the east side of Commarket Street. Summary of Crown Tenancies: The tavern north of the Cross Inn: The Crown ?1653-1663/65 1653-1660? Ann Turton (widow of Thomas Turton) 1660-1663/65 William and Ann Morrell (Turton) The tavern south of the Cross Inn: (Tattleton's House) The Crown 1663/65-1745 1604-1622 John Davenant 1623-1639 Thomas and Jane Hallam. 1639-1647 Jane Hallam 1647-1651 Thomas Wood (The Salutation) 1651-1663/65 Jane Hallam 1663/65-1679 William and Ann Morrell (The Crown) 1679-1696 Ann Morrell (widow) 1696-1706 Joan Turton 1706-1731 Alex and Katherine Richmond with Nicholas Franklin 1731-1745 1745-1766 Will Dawson John Austin Figure 5 .17 shows a possible layout of the Crown tenement based on the lease description (Salter, 1920) and what the frontage may have looked like based on the two contemporary properties which remain on the east side of Commarket Street today. Figures 5.18-5.24 show the many bottles and seals recorded from the Crown tavern. The earlier ones are dated. The history of the Crown tavern is complicated by the fact that three key people in the history were called William. For clarity's sake we will call William Morrell William', Ann Turton's son William William T snr.' and his son William T jnr.' The Crown tavern was probably the name given to the tavern originally run by Anne Turton. Anne, when she first set up trade as a vintner, was the widow of Thomas Turton who was an ironmonger. In 1652 the Turtons held a lease on a tenement to the west of the old Ashmolean Museum in Broad Street on the site now 55 occupied by the front of Exeter College (figure 5.1). When Thomas died she was left with at least seven children, Anne, Richard, William T snr., Elizabeth, Grace, Humphrey and Mary. Two others, Jane and Alice appear to have died in childhood since, although their births were recorded, they were not mentioned in their father's will. At this date Ann must have been aged about 25 to 30. In order to support her children Anne, as was common with widows, continued her husband's trade as an ironmonger but soon also began to sell wine to supplement her income. At first she sold wine illegally as she did not have a wine licence. We do not know where she first sold wine. It may have been in Broad Street or in Commarket Street at the tavern which occupied the western part of a large tenement north of the Cross Inn. In 1653 she was prosecuted in the University Chancellor's court for selling wine "under pretence of a city licence" (Salter,1926). For this she was sentenced and had a later appeal turned down. Despite this she appears to have continued to sell wine although she did not obtain a legitimate wine licence until September 1659 when she was granted the city licence that became available on the death of Alderman Sowthams. Although the early location of Anne Turton's tavern is not known the Crown tavern was mentioned by the diarist Anthony Wood in 1658 so must have existed then by that name. Since vintners tended to take the tavern name with them when they moved premises, and Anne Turton certainly ran The Crown tavern later, it seems likely that the tavern mentioned by Wood was hers. Some time between September 1659 and September 1660 Anne Turton married William Morrell. William Morrell appears to have migrated to Oxford and was granted the freedom of the city in September 165 9. We do not know where he originally came from although the Morrells who later became famous as an Oxford brewing family originated in Wallingford about twelve miles southeast of the city. In 1660 William applied to the city council for the wine licence to be transferred from Anne to himself stating that they were recently married. The licence was duly transferred and the two of them continued to run both the ironmonger's business and the tavern until sometime after 1665. We know this as they continued to take apprentices in both trades through to 1662 and William Morrell was mentioned in ironmongery bills in 1665. At some date after 1665 the ironmongery business was transferred to one of Anne's younger sons Richard.
I I t ' l • CROSS INN HIGRSTREET 100 FEET TlIE MITRE Figure 5 .16 The sites of the Crown and King's Head taverns 56 N
0 20 Feet Dwelling 40 , I I Figure 5 .1 7 Typical tenement layout and frontage c. 1650. 57
xl AM 1937.280 AM 1910.308 x 1/2 Figure 5.18 An early bottle from the Crown tavern bearing the Morrell cipher and a detached seal bearing the initials AT. 58 xl
xl AM 1919.6 xl AM 1913.925 Figure 5.19 Two undated shaft and globe bottles from the Crown tavern bearing the initials W AM for William and Anne Morrell. 59
X 1 X 1/2 AM 1916.19 Figure 5.20 An onion bottle bearing the cipher of William and Anne Morrell and the date 1685, the Crown tavern. 60
AM 1896-1908.M?0 AM 1916.19 AM 1934.199 AM 1938.139 .. •• • • • • .......-.~ ' - o on R AM 1934.200 Figure 5.21 Five seals from the Crown tavern bearing the Morrell cipher. 61
xl X 1/2 AM 1913.927 Figure 5 .22 An onion bottle which belonged to Joan Turton at the Crown. The seal bears the Morrell cipher and the date 1701. 62
xl AM 1940.17 X 1/2 X 1 AM 1874.45 Figure 5.23 Two undated mallet bottles from the Crown bearing the initials AKR for Alexander and Katherine Richmond. 63
AM 1874.45 AM 1934.201 AM 1948.137 .......... . •• ;y ••••• ·. :-;-.:,;••.i . ·~ ~ . R . . . . ·-.. __ A K/ • # . . . .. .. .... AM 1940.223 AM 1949.141 Figure 5 .24 Five seals from the early years of the Richmond tenancy at the Crown tavern. 64
Her eldest son William T snr. (born 1637) had been apprenticed as a vintner to his mother in 1652 and presumably worked at the tavern during this time. After completing his apprenticeship he worked at the tavern until at least 1667 when he was recorded as living at home in the Poll Tax register (Salter, 1920). It appears that he went to work in London for some period after this time. We have found no record of his marriage in Oxford or of the birth of any of his children of which there were at least six, William T jnr., born 1675, Grace, Mary, Joan, Anne and another girl. (see Anne Morrell's will Appendix 2). In his son's matriculation record he was described as William Turton of London, gent (Foster). In 1661 William Morrell's city licence was called into question and he reported to the city that he was required to take a licence ''from his Majesty's Commissioners who as yet deny the City to have right to grant any". The City thereupon decided to support his right to trade under their licence but in 1663 he obtained a University licence and from then on paid for both. Sometime between 1663 and 1665 the Morrells kept the lease of the original tenement but moved the Crown tavern to a tenement on the same side of the street but nearer to Carfax, south of the Cross Inn and belonging to New College. This property in a rent roll of 1666 is referred to as" a tenement formerly called Tatleton's House now the Crown tavern" (New College Archive). The poll tax register of 1667 shows that many people lived and worked at the Crown tavern although at this date the Morrells were also still running the ironmongery business as well. Living at the tavern at that time were William and Anne, Anne's youngest daughter Mary, four apprentices, William Stirke, John Lyne, John Goody and Robert Ward and two maidservants, Dorothy Smart and Ann Drinkwater. William's cousin Joseph Hyne was also living there possibly acting as drawer. Most of Anne's other unmarried children, Ann, Richard, William, Elizabeth and Grace were living at the tenement which had previously been the Crown together with Ann Skinner, a maid and Thomas Slatter who was an apprentice in the ironmongery business. Despite Anne's marriage to William Morrell she appears to have maintained her financial freedom and to have been the senior partner in the tavern business. When William died in 1679 his will, despite containing numerous monetary bequests and property in Birmingham, makes no mention of the Crown. In a codicil added in 1679 it is stated that the wine licence will revert to Anne upon his death. 65 William was a well respected member of the community. In 1660, a year after gaining his freedom, he bought a bailiffs place and held this rank until 1677 when he was elected Mayor. During the next two years he incurred unspecified losses due to holding the mayoral position and as some recompense for this loss the council granted him a renewal of his wine licence without cost. He became sick in 1677 at which time he made his will. He died on August 24th 1679 and was buried in St Martin's Church. Despite having no children of his own he appears to have been very good to Anne's children. He bought the living of Hampton Poyle for Anne's son Humphrey, who coincidentally died earlier in the same year as William. The living was sold in 1677, before William's death, to Queens College for £150. He also left numerous bequests to Anne's grandchildren. Figure 5 .18 illustrates a detached seal in the Ashmolean bearing the initials AT which could have belonged to Anne Turton before she married William but it is impossible to tell what sort of bottle it was originally attached to so this is pure speculation. The earliest dated seal recorded for the Crown tavern is dated (16)74 but this is also detached. This same seal however, with the 4 changed to a 5 on the date can be found on a· broken shaft and globe bottle in the Ashmolean Museum. This seal has a Morrell cipher and is illustrated in figure 5 .18. Figure 5 .19 illustrates two bottles which bear the Crown and the initials W AM which obviously relate to Anne and William's joint tenancy. A third similar detached seal is also known. We assume that the initialled bottles pre-date the cipher bottles but cannot be sure of this. From 1679 Anne Morrell ran the Crown tavern by herself. At this time she was aged about 52 to 57. At some stage her son William T snr. returned to help, possibly when William died. Anne and William T snr. are mentioned together on a joint lease dated 1687. William T snr.'s wife was called Joan and they had at least six children William T jnr., Joan, Mary, Grace, Ann and another girl. William T snr. died in 1687 aged about 42. From this date it is probable that Joan took a more active role in running the tavern. By this date Ann was probably over sixty years old. There are many existing bottles bearing Anne Morrell' s cipher which Joan Turton continued to use on her bottles. They admirably show the evolution of onion wine bottles between 1683 and 1701 as many are dated. In fact dated bottles are recorded for every year between 1683 and 1688 showing that breakages were replaced annually. Figure 5.20 illustrates an onion bottle which
belonged to Ann Morrell, dated 1685 and figure 5.21 illustrates some of the Morrell cipher seals dated between 1680 and 1701. Anne died in 1696 leaving her Birmingham estates and property to her younger son Richard and all her Oxford property and estates to Joan Turton in trust for the children of Joan and William T snr .. On Anne's death Joan took over the running of the tavern. William T jnr. did not help in the business as he was destined for better things. Although his birth record has not been discovered he must have been born c. 1675 for he was matriculated at Hartford Hall in June 1690 aged 15. From 1691 to 1703 he was a demy at Magdalen College receiving his BA in 1694 and his MA in February 1696/7. He was a fellow of Magdalen College from 1703-1715 being a proctor in 1707. He became vicar of Willoughby in Warwickshire from 1710 and then left Oxford to become rector of Bamber and vicar of St Botolph in Sussex 1715-1719. We do not know who helped Joan to run the tavern but it may have been either Alexander Richmond or Nicholas Franklin. During her tenancy Joan continued to use the Morrell cipher on the Crown bottles as the example illustrated in figure 5.22 and dated 1701 shows. In 1704 the tavern business was evidently doing rather badly and the fee charged by the city for the renewal of Joan Turton's licence was reduced from £80 to £70 " occasioned by the present great decay in the vintner's trade ". In 1711 William T jnr. renewed the wine licence for a fine of £30. Joan died in 1706. Although William T jnr. took over the wine licence and paid for the rent of the tavern he took no active part in running the tavern. Bills from the tavern to New College show that the accounts were paid to Alexander Richmond. The tavern at this time was being run by Alexander Richmond with the help of Nicholas Franklin. A detached seal bearing the initials AR and a crown is recorded (Dumbrell, 1983). Other seals, one bearing a Crown together with 1707 and Oxon and one bearing the initials AKR and a crown with the date 1706 are recorded (figure 5.24.). To date little or nothing has been found in the records concerning Alexander and Katherine Richmond. They might have married some time in 1706 assuming that Alexander ordered a batch of bottles bearing his lone initials soon after Joan's death and then another batch, after his marriage, later that year bearing both his and Katherine's initials. Why the bottle dated 1707 bore no initials we do not know. It is possible that there was some argument as to whether the Richmonds or 66 Nicholas Franklin should run the tavern. Later bottles and bills however show that the Richmonds kept control. Figure 5 .23 illustrates two undated AKR bottles. These are both mallets. There is virtually nothing about Alexander Richmond in the city records because he traded under a University licence and was not a freeman. He is mentioned however in 1731 when he was made an honorary freeman and given a bailiffs place for the usual fees. He must have died not long afterwards. On the other hand Nicholas Franklin appears frequently in the council records and William T jnr. took out his city wine licence in the name of Nicholas Franklin in 1711. Nicholas Franklin of St Martin's married Elizabeth Tausey of St Michael's on December 21 1704 in St John's College. In 1707 Nicholas took George Field as apprentice and in 1709 he took Francis Cullam as apprentice. Alexander and Katherine Richmond were obviously the senior partners in the business but Nicholas Franklin appears to have been more than a man servant. Bills dated 1712 and 1719 to New College were signed by Nicholas Franklin for Alexander Richmond but did not say "for my master". William T jnr. paid the tavern's rent to New College until at least 1709 and probably continued to do so until 1715. Prior to 1715, while William T jnr. was living in nearby Warwickshire, he retained control of both the city and University wine licences and the tavern lease but he left Oxford in 1715 to move to Sussex. Presumably this was too far removed for him to take any active interest in Oxford so at this date he sold the residue of the Crown lease and the University wine licence to Alexander Richmond for £1,000. Nicholas Franklin took over the lease which William T jnr. had owned on other property in St Peter le Bailey. When Alexander died in 1731 Katherine transferred her lease to Will Dawson of Westminster described as a coffeeman. Will Dawson then became a vintner and ran the Crown. No bottles relating to his tenancy have been recorded. Will Dawson appears to have had a rough ride as he was accused of selling wine without a licence by the University in March 1732. The proceedings of the court continued until, in March 1733, he was discommoned by the University Court. This meant that all members of the University were banned from entering his
premises or from trading with him in any way. This would obviously have had a very adverse effect on his trade. There is one interesting document (University Archive) which Will Dawson must have assembled in his defence between October 1739 and July 1740 which listed the times he was able openly to buy wine retail from persons in Oxford not holding any kind of licence. These were Mr Bowler at the Cross Inn, Johnson's coffee house and Birdwell's coffee house. There is no record of when the discommunication was lifted but a bill dated November 17 41 to New College shows that he was again trading with the University by this date. Being a London man he probably failed to appreciate the necessity of appeasing the University thinking that having a city licence gave him sufficient right to trade. The Crown tavern appears to have operated throughout most of its existence on two licences. Will Dawson broke this tradition and brought down the University's wrath upon his head. He obviously resented the fact that by the time he took over the tavern many people in Oxford were retailing wine without a licence for in 17 44 he was harangued by the City for not having paid several years arrears on rents on his wine licence because business was bad. Not only did he refuse to pay his licence rent arrears but he also refused to surrender the licence. No action appears to have been taken against him. In 1745 he transferred the lease of the tavern to John Austin who renewed it in 1766. There is no record of the wine licence being transferred and they had lapsed by 1752 (Salter, 1926). Wine bills from the Crown tavern found in college archives date between 1691 and 17 41. The early bills from the Morrells were for Tent, Port and Canary, Tent being the popular wine for communion. The later bills were exclusively for Tent. Figure 5.25 illustrates a bill from Joan Turton dated 1693. Figure 5.26 illustrates a bill from Alexander Richmond dated 1709 and figure 5.27 illustrates a bill from Will Dawson dated 1741 all to New College. Tattleton's House had been occupied by Jane Hallam before the Morrells moved the Crown tavern there. She was the wife of Thomas Hallam, vintner who died in 1639, and the daughter of William Davenant. William Davenant was a friend of Shakespeare and the bard stayed with him when he visited Oxford. Jane took over Thomas's wine licence and probably traded there herself for some time but then she rented out her licence to Thomas Wood. In 164 7 he opened the Salutation tavern at this location (see "The Salutation" for further details). In 1651 Thomas Wood obtained a 67 University licence and moved the Salutation to the High Street. From 1651 to 1665 Jane Hallam still occupied the building but we do not know whether or not she ran a tavern there during that time. She was certainly listed as one of the vintners in 1661. The only known seal bearing the initials JH belonged to the King's Armes Inn on the High Street. Since this seal is detached it is impossible to date but as Thomas Wood moved from the King's Armes, where he was living, to open the Salutation there may be some connection.
Figure 5.25 Bill dated 1693 from Joan Turton at the Crown Tavern to New College. (New College Archive 11369, part) 68
Figure 5.26 Bill dated 1709 from Alexander Richmond at the Crown Tavern to New College. (New College Archive 11372, part) 69
--.J 0 f A-~£, 4'LtoA/. ' ' l :;:->r . r-. -e11/·. ·•""':'S'f-.•r"' ✓;;_,-.,_ •· ,-n/ - ~Yh~,,:/., ,, ,J;n/ r:· ·,z i:z, ... ," ;J;;./-- .. . , 'i.1 //..J -2,~ "'''Y. ~ 0,1 . .,. , ·, ~TIJ'J7.- 7.. q,.,.,• .2# .,,•,/f:,1 .'/;,,/ - ; ') .., ', 1. ~ ~•1 -~ -. 1, .fh;-, ... 'Jn,I, J.. •. 'C,,1 .~-4, .. 4. t:I> (, 4q1/ .-x:;,,_ .tJJ•. ,1 . a.1 .!l~«.ovt r,., ,'"J;,,1 , t11. tlJ .2~>-lei_ )';,,/ · _ .. , -~ .. ,, 4 ;t"· •r ~5\,. L .., d ,/ ··_, 'fov,,,,,;f.:1!l:z1~ -JJ://. -a/.,.,,,,, ,,r,;,,,.) ~'dI . . ' . Figure 5.27 Bill dated 1741 from Will Dawson at th(New College Archive 11380, part)
4. ~--~}" -~•-::.--.--.~. -~;f(·_ ~- t .. rc:::L./tlt ' .· . ,~• . . . ' - • . -. ' ,l .. ~· , . ;/ ·~ _:l; . ;)#,{,. f:-t:.,,,,'.h C d'/Llff ~cvr"') he Crown Tavern to New College. - ,., , I . - -JI) . . . . 0 ·. .3. -: . ft. . o ·. 5\ ,~i -o . ·, .:, _. ·. ~ . S4 . LJ ;
THE KING'S HEAD TA VERN Summary of the King's Head Tenancies 1687-1704 Richard and (Elizabeth) Walker 1704-1724 John and Margaret Freeman 1724-17 45 Margaret Freeman 1752 Ceased to be a tavern 1815 Occupied by Edward Latimer Wine Merchant The King's Head tavern site on the High Street was taken into the present day covered market in 1835 (north) and 1875 (south). The King's Head tavern had a life of about 60 years and was run by one family. It was opened by Richard Walker in 1687. There had previously been an inn of the same name but the tavern first occupied a tenement near the North Gate which had formerly been the Three Gates inn. In these early days Richard failed at times to maintain good order in his tavern as Wood recorded in his diary of 1688 that "late at night a corporal of Bicester was killed by another soldier at the King's Head tavern a Protestant killed by a Papist". Richard Walker was born in 1652 in Tysoe, Warwickshire (Woodfield, 1976). He was the only son of Richard and Elizabeth Walker but had four sisters. The youngest Ann later lived in Oxford and ran the Three Tuns tavern. The eldest, Jane, became Jane Ricketts and outlived both Ann and Richard as she is mentioned in both of their wills. His other two elder sisters were called Alice and Elizabeth. One of them must have been the mother of John Freeman, who inherited the King's Head tavern upon Richard's death, but we do not know which one. Richard became apprentice to William Morrell at the Crown tavern in Oxford in 1668. There is no record of Richard Walker becoming a freeman. He must have completed his apprenticeship in about 1675 but he is not mentioned in the city records until 1687 when he was granted leave to hang out the sign of the Garland and Bush in St Michael's parish. In the same year he was also granted the city licence which had been held by Anthony Hall. This had been rented out to Elizabeth Pont at the Three Tuns and fell vacant upon her death in that year. Whatever sign he had been granted leave to hang out he actually opened the King's Head at this date. Figure 5 .28 shows a bottle bearing his initials, the King's Head; and a date of 1687. In 1688 the University tried to suppress Richard Walker's city licence and the city undertook to defend his right to trade under its licence. Some compromise must have been reached with the University as Richard 71 was matriculated there in 1691 becoming a privileged person. Presumably he acquired a University licence in addition to the one he held of the city. We do not know what the first King's Head tavern on Commarket Street was like and there is some uncertainty as to the date when the tavern moved from Commarket Street to the High Street. Figure 5 .29 illustrates the site which the tavern occupied from 1696 until its closure. In 1693 Richard Walker held the lease of part of the Mitre inn which lay just east of the later site on the High Street and seems to have been living there at that time. Richard Walker married twice, although we can find no record of his first marriage. Both his wives were called Elizabeth. His first wife died in 1693 aged 40 and her burial appears in the All Saint's Parish register. This is a strong reason for supposing that the Walkers had moved to the High Street by then as otherwise her burial would have been in St Michael's Parish register. The tavern bottles at this time bear only the initials RW. It was not until 1699 that the initials REW (Richard and Elizabeth Walker) occur on the seals. Three seal variations are known bearing this date. The first has no initials, the second has the initials RW and the third has the initials REW. A bottle dated 1699 and bearing the initials REW is illustrated in figure 5.28. Richard's second wife was Elizabeth Wildgoose whom he married in Holywell and St Cross parish in 1694. We do not know whether the King's Head tavern occupied part of the Mitre tenement for a while but wine bills from the King's Head to Brasenose College first appear in 1693. A receipt of that year reads "Received of Thos Smith seventeen shillings and six pence for five bottles of Canary and 5 bottles of Red Port sent yesterday to Brasenose by me Richard Walker" (figure 5.30). If the King's Head was in the Mitre site it would have been the nearest tavern to the college and would have been the logical place to obtain wine. Bills from the King's Head to Brasenose continue to 1728 (figure 5.31). Salter, (1926) mentions that in 1696 Richard Walker bought a property on the High Street nearer to Carfax and a few doors away from The Mitre for £840. Figure 5.31 shows a map of this area of the High Street made in 1772 (Salter 1920). The King's Head property had previously been called Croxford's or Dagville's inn. The price paid seems large but, as the map shows, this was a substantial property stretching from the High Street through to Jesus College Lane. The frontage onto the High Street was only 40 feet wide but the main building