12 Broad Street, Oxford

No. 12: Theo's Café

12 Broad Street

No. 12 Broad Street dates from the early nineteenth century. It is a Grade II listed building (List Entry No. 1047344) and is owned by Oxford City Council. It is in St Michael-at-the-Northgate parish

At the time of the 1772 Survey of Oxford the frontage of this house measured 6yd 0ft 6in. It was then occupied by the artist John Malchair (c.1730–1812). In 1793 he advertised that people could subscribe at this address “opposite Baliol [sic] College” for a print of his drawing of the Old Canterbury Gateway in Christ Church.

The 1841 census shows Philip Hawks, the carver & gilder who had the shop below, living upstairs with his wife Catherine plus a student lodger and their servant girl.

At the time of the 1851 census this building was occupied by the tailor James Price and his wife and his six children, looked after by one servant.

In 1857 the premises were destroyed by a fire that started at No. 13 next door.

Charles Titian Hawkins had his accountant’s business in the second half of the nineteenth century, but he let the upstairs rooms out, living at Mayfield in Summertown, which he had bought in 1851. (Despite being the biggest landowner in Summertown, in 1895 he became bankrupt at the age of 73: it was “one of the most sensational financial disasters known in Oxford”, according to the Oxford Times.)

The 1881 census shows three people renting the upstairs premises (the retired bookseller William Graham, an undergraduate, and a gardener), looked after by two servants.

By the time of the 1891 census the upstairs premises were occupied by the gardener John Basson (45) and his wife and daughter.

The 1901 census shows Caleb Court Cole (53), the photographer who had the shop on the ground floor, living here with his wife Caroline and their four children, plus a servant.

No one appears to have been living over the shop at the time of the 1911 census.

During the Second World War there was a post office here: hence the pillar box that still stands outside.

Occupants of 12 Broad Street listed in directories etc
By 1772 to 1792+	John Malchair
By 1838–1841	Philip Hawks, Carver, Gilder, & Printseller
1841–1852+	James Price, Tailor & robe maker	Upstairs occupied by business owner
1866–1895	Charles Titian Hawkins, Accountant and auditor (later Public Auditor)	Upstairs: Rented rooms
1896–1908	Caleb Court-Cole, Landscape and architectural photographer	Upstairs: occupied by business owner
1909–1923	J. E. Elliott & Co., Electrical engineers	Upstairs: Moses Shepherd’s lodging house,1909–10
1924–1954	Shrimpton & Morris, Bootmakers Also Post Office, 1937–1947
1956–2002	R. Gillman & Son, Bootmakers (later shoes) Very briefly to June 2002: Akme Expression (“The strangest bookshop and exhibition ever in Oxford”)
2003–2018	Isola	Upstairs: Part of Buttery Hotel from February 2008
2019–2022	Triple Two Coffee Shop
2023–present	Theo's Café