People of Headington
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The earliest named Headington people are probably the potter Thamesubugus who signed his name on a piece of pottery made at the Roman kiln on the site of the Churchill Hospital, and Hedena (or Headan), after whose tun Headington was named.
Those shown marked ODNB have a full entry
in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Those marked with an asterisk have a road in Headington named after them.
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- Cyril ARAPOFF (1898–1976)
Photographer with a studio in Headington - Mrs Maria BALLACHEY (1797–1884)
Owner of Bury Knowle House who did good works in Headington - Sir Isaiah BERLIN (1909–1997) ODNB
Philosopher who lived at Headington House - Elizabeth BOWEN (1899–1973) ODNB
Novelist who lived in Old Headington - John Henry BROOKES (1891–1976) ODNB
Headington man who gave his name to Oxford Brookes University - Luis CERNUDA (1902–1963)
Spanish poet who stayed in St Andrew’s Lane and wrote poem about Cuckoo Lane - Hugo DYSON (1896–1975)
One of the Inklings, who lived in Sandfield Road - Godfrey ELTON (1892–1973) ODNB
First Baron Elton of Headington, who lived in Osler Road - Alfred EMDEN (1888–1979) ODNB
First President of the Friends of Old Headington, after whom Emden House is named - ETHELRED II* (968–1016) ODNB
A king with a palace in Headington - Miss Katharine FEILDEN* (1864–1954)
Built High Wall and helped to start Headington’s Orthopaedic Centre - Gathorne R. GIRDLESTONE* (1881–1950) ODNB
Orthopaedic surgeon who developed the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre - C. P. GOLIGHTLY (1807–1885) ODNB
A curate of St Andrew’s Church before he became famous - Eric HEBBORN (1934–1996)
An art forger from a family best known locally for its fairground rides - Dr Robert HITCHINGS (b.1863)
The Headington doctor who co-founded Headington United Football Club - William JACKSON (1724–1795)
The founder of Jackson’s Oxford Journal who built Headington House - Elizabeth JENNINGS (1926–2001) ODNB
Poet who lived in an Old Headington bedsit - Orlando JEWITT (1899–1869) ODNB
Famous wood engraver who lived at Church House in Old Headington - JOAN of Headington (fl. second half of 16th century)
Heroine of a 1712 play who kept a house of ill repute at the White Hart - John JOHNSON (1882–1956) ODNB
Collector of ephemera who lived in Barton Lane - Miss Mary JONES (1741–1815)
Fishmonger’s daughter who became Lady of the Manor of Heddington - William KIMBER* (1872–1961) ODNB
Quarry morris dancer who inspired Cecil Sharp - Adeline KINGSCOTE (“Lucas Cleeve”) (1860–1908) ODNB
Novelist who lived at Bury Knowle House and bankrupted the Vicar of Headington - Tyrrell KNAPP (1790–1869)
Owner of the land that became South Park - Etheldreda Janet LAING (née Winkfield) (1872–1960)
- Edward LATIMER* (1775–1845) and his family
Lords of the Manor of Heddington - C. S. LEWIS* (1898–1963) ODNB
World-famous author who lived in Headington - Sir Joseph LOCK (1760–1844)
Built Bury Knowle House and annoyed the people of Quarry - Salvador de MADARIAGA (1886–1978) ODNB
Spanish diplomat, writer, historian, and pacifist who lived at 3 St Andrew’s Road - LORDS OF THE MANOR of Headington (1) 1179–1613
Bassett*, de Plessis, d’Amory, Wilcote*, and Brome* families - LORDS OF THE MANOR of Headington (2) 1613–1849
Whorwood dynasty, including Jane Whorwood (ODNB), the mistress of Charles I - LORDS OF THE MANOR of Headington (3) 1849–1917
Peppercorn* and Hoole families - Sir William MARKBY (1829–1914) ODNB
First Reader in Indian Law at Balliol - John MATHER (1676–1748) and his daughter
John Mather, President of Corpus, and his daughter Catherine, who founded the Free School - William MATTHISON (1853–1926)
Watercolour painter known for his postcards who lived in Old High Street - John MATTOCK* (1827–1913) and his family
A family who lived and grew roses in Headington for a hundred years - Robert MAXWELL (1923–1991) ODNB
Lived at Headington Hill Hall and owned Oxford United - MORRELL family* (+ Tawneys* and Whartons*) ODNB
Brewers who built Headington Hill Hall and Headington Lodge in Osler Road - Lord NUFFIELD* (1877–1963) ODNB
Lived near Brasenose Farm before moving to Cowley Road area at age of 14 - William ORCHARD* (d.1504) ODNB
Famous architect and mason who lived in Barton and got his stone from Quarry - Joe PULLEN* (1631–1714) ODNB
A don who planted a landmark tree at the top of Headington Hill - The Revd John Holford SCOTT (later SCOTT-TUCKER) (1891–1908)
Vicar of St Andrew’s and co-founder of Headington United Football Club - Revd John STANSFELD* (1854–1939)
Vicar of St Ebbe’s who founded the Stansfeld Field Study Centre in Quarry Road - Henry STEPHEN (1889–1965) and his wife Dora STEPHEN
Famous chemist in whose memory the Henry Stephen/C.S. Lewis nature reserve was created - John W. A. TAYLOR (1818–1886)
Owner of the Rookery responsible for the development of Highfield - J. R. R. TOLKIEN (1892–1973) ODNB
World-famous author who lived at Sandfield Road in Headington - Josep TRUETA (1897–1977) ODNB
Orthopaedic surgeon - Revd Samuel WARNEFORD* (1763–1855) ODNB
The man who paid for the Warneford Hospital - Vashti de Montfort WELLBORNE (1869–1930)
Actress who lived at Barton Manor and has a window in St Andrew’s Church - Charles WINGFIELD (1786/7–1846) and his wife Hannah (1788–1870)
Responsible for the Wingfield Convalescent Home (now the NOC) - “Parson” James WOODFORDE (1740–1803) ODNB
Famous diarist who paid many visits to Headington - Mrs Barbara WOODHOUSE (1910–1988) ODNB
Dog-trainer who grew up at Sandfield Cottage, Headington - John Wesley WOODWARD (1879–1912)
A musician from Windmill Road who died on the Titanic
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography contains numerous other people who were associated with Headington, including the following:
- Evelyn ABBOTT, Classical Scholar
Lived at Pullens Cottage in Pullens Lane from 1890 to 1901 - J. L. N. BAKER (1893–1971), Geographer
Lived at Stone Rise, 11/13 New High Street, from 1928 - Henry BALFOUR (1863–1939), Museum curator
Lived at Langley Lodge in Pullens Lane from 1909 to 1939 - John Hugh Marshall BEATTIE (1915–1990), Social anthropologist
Lived at The Cottage at the top of Headington Hill from 1956) - Stuart Highworth BLANCH (1918–1994), Archbishop of York
Curate of All Saints Church, Lime Walk 1949–1952 - James Leslie BRIERLY (1881–1955), International lawyer
Lived at 6 Brookside until 1955 - Rhoda BROUGHTON (1840–1920), Novelist
Lived at River View, Headington Hill from 1900 to 1920 - Alice BRUCE (1867–1951), educationist
Lived at White Gables at the top of Headington Hill to 1951 - George Albert COOKE (1865–1939), Biblical scholar
Curate of St Andrew’s Church, Headington from 1889 - Richard Lynch COTTON (1794–1880), Provost of Worcester
Instrumental in the building of Holy Trinity Church, Headington Quarry - Rosamund DAVENPORT-HILL (1825–1902), Social reformer
Lived at Hillstow (later renamed Dorset House) on the London Road - William Harbutt DAWSON (1860–1948), Journalist
Lived at 23 Latimer Road in the 1930s - Salvador DE MADARIAGA (1886–1978),
First holder of the KIng Alfonso XIII Chair of Spanish Studies,
liberal politician, diplomat, historian and founder of the College of
Europe
Lived at 3 St Andrew’s Road until the 1970s - Vigo Auguste DEMANT (1893–1983), Theologian and social commentator
Lived at 31 St Andrew’s Road from 1971 - Sir Henry HARNESS (1804–1883), Army officer
Lived at Barton End in the 1880s - Francis John HAVERFIELD (1860–1919), Historian and archaeologist
Built Winshields in Pullens Lane and lived there until 1919 - Charles HERFORD (1853–1931), Literary scholar
Lived at 80 Old Road (then numbered 24) until 1931 - Thomas Lionel HODGKIN (1910–1982), Historian
Born in 1910 at Mendip House, Pullens Lane - William HUME-ROTHERY (1899–1968), Chemist and metallurgist
Lived at 54 Sandfield Road in the 1930s - John MASSIE (1842–1925), Biblical scholar and politician
Lived in the Rookery (now Ruskin Hall) from 1910 to 1925 - Hope MIRRLEES (1887–1978), Writer and poet
Lived in The Firs at the top of Headington Hill from 1963 - Henry Whitehead MOSS (1841–1917), Headmaster of Shrewsbury School
Lived at Highfield Park (now the Park Hospital) from 1909 - Joan MURRAY (1917–1996), Cryptanalyst and numismatist
Lived at 7 Larkfields in Quarry until 1996 - Simon Harcourt NOWELL-SMITH (1909–1996), Book collector
Lived at 7 Beaumont Road, Headington Quarry from 1965 - Sir Alan PIM (1871–1958), Administrator in India and colonial adviser
Lived at 3 Harberton Mead until 1958 - Henry Habberley PRICE (1899–1984), Philosopher
Lived at 69 Jack Straw’s Lane until 1984 - Ian RAMSEY (1917–1972), Bishop of Durham
Curate of Headington Quarry in the 1940s - James Edwin Thorold ROGERS (1823–1890), Political economist and politician
Acted voluntarily as assistant curate at Headington from 1854 to 1858 - (William) Ritchie RUSSELL (1903–1980), Neurologist
Worked at Headington Hill Hall rehabilitation centre and studied brain wounds sustained in World War II - Sir Michael Ernest SADLER (1861–1943), Educationist, his wife Eva Margaret Gilpin (1868–1940), Headmistress and educationist, and their son Michael Thomas Harvey Sadleir [sic] (1888–1957), Bibliographer and novelist
Lived at The Rookery (now Ruskin Hall) from 1934 to 1943 - Percy SIMPSON (1865–1962), Literary scholar
Lived at 61A Old Road - Gabriel TURVILLE-PETRE (1908–1978), Icelandic scholar
Lived at the Court in the Croft until 1978 - Sydney VINES (1849–1934), Botanist
Built the Vineyard, later named Pollock House, in Pullens Lane in 1885
Other Headington residents
- Alexander Duncan Campbell Peterson, known as Alec, lived at 33 St Andrew’s Road (now the Vicarage) from about 1959 to 1974. He had an interesting and adventurous war in intelligence in the Far East, and was later Head of Dover College, Director of the Oxford University Department of Education, and Liberal Parliamentary candidate for Oxford. He played an important part in the development of the Internatioinal Baccalaureate. More in Wikipedia
Headington people who served as Mayor of Oxford (up to 1962)
- John BOYCE (1722/3, 1727/8, 1739/40)
- William BUTLER (1836)
- Robert Frank KNIGHT (1957/8)
- Sir Joseph LOCK (1813/14, 1829/30): see above link to full biography
- Malcolm Anthony LOWER (1955/6)
- Robert PAWLING (1679/80)
- Edward TAWNEY (1722/3, 1784/5, 1797/8)
