8: Oxford Experience
No 8 is a very narrow building squeezed in between two wider ones. The shop has been much altered/rebuilt and is not listed. It is owned by All Souls College.
In 1772 a survey of every house in the city was taken in consequence of the Mileways Act of 1771. According to H. E. Salter, No. 8 was then in the occupation of a Mr Slatter, and its frontage measured just 4 yards 0 feet 7 inches.
This building was in the parish of All Saints until that church closed in 1971. It is now in the parish of St Michael-at-the-Northgate Church.
On 14 May 1825 the poulterer John Furley announced that he was taking over the business in the High Street of his late uncle John Midwinter, and on 23 April 1829 he married Esther Ray at All Saints' Church, Oxford. The 1841 census shows John & Esther Furley living here over the shop at No. 8 with an independent lady called Sarah Tompkins and their servant girl. He died at the age of 50 in January 1851, and on 8 February James Davis, a poulterer in the Oxford Market, announced that he had taken over the business and shop, but he does not appear to have stayed there for long. At the time of the 1851 census James Furley's widow Esther was still living on the premises with her visitor, the widow Sarah Tompkins (84), and two servants.
In Gardner's Directory for 1852 the brothers John & William Fisher are listed as auctioneers and appraisers at 8 High Street (their office) and Littlegate Street. From 1862 John Fisher was listed on his own: he lived elsewhere at The Willows in Cowley Place, so the accommodation upstairs was let separately, and at the time of the 1861 census it was occupied by the architect Charles Alban Buckler and his wife Mary. No one was living here at the time of the 1871 census.
On 17 April 1828 at St Ebbe's Church, John's sister Emily Fisher had married Henry Bashard Hobdell, whose silversmith's shop was on the site of 129 High Street, and their son John Bashard Hobdell was baptised at all Saints' Church on 27 February 1842. In 1873 John Fisher went into partnership with his nephew John and the business became Fisher & Hobdell. The 1881 census shows John Bashard Hobdell, described as a surveyor and auctioneer, living upstairs with his 15-year-old schoolboy son.
From 1887to 1896 H. Harris had a fancy bazaar shop here. No one was living on the premises at the time of the 1891 census.
In 1896 Stephen King opened a china & glass shop here, and the 1901 census shows him living over his shop with his wife and baby son. He was still here in the five rooms above the shop at the time of the 1911 census with his wife and two children, plus a servant. The firm of S. King & Son continued to operate here until 1968.
On 24 July 2024 All Souls College was granted planning permission to alter the fenestration and shop-fronts of 8 & 9 High Street. Both the Design & Access Statement and the Heritage Impact Assessment (accessed via the Documents tab of planning application 24/01333/FUL) give detailed information about the history of these two shops.
Occupiers of 8 High Street |
|
To 1825 |
John Midwinter, Poulterer |
1825–1846 |
John Furley, Poulterer |
| 1852–1861 |
John & William Fisher, Auctioneers & appraisers |
1887–1896 |
H. Harris, Fancy bazaar |
1896–1968 |
S. King & Son, China & glass warehouse |
| 1970–1980 |
Crombey Ltd, Outfitters |
1980s |
Woollon Curtains (from 1987) |
| 1990–2017 |
Reed Employment, Employment Bureau |
2018– |
Oxford Experience souvenirs (originally University Gift & Candy) |
