William Thorp I
Mayor of Oxford 1775/6 and 1789/90
William Thorp (or Thorpe) (1727–1800) was the son of the hosier known as William Thorp senior.
William junior also became a hosier in Holywell parish: his shop was just to the north of the "Gateway to the Rackett Court", and must have been near the northern end of the old Indian Institute, perhaps next to the coffee house that used to stand on the corner.
Thorp was appointed Mayor’s Child by William Wickham on 30 September 1755 and came straight on to the council as a Chamberlain.
Thorp (described as being of Holywell) married his first wife, Elizabeth Hester of St Aldate’s parish, on 1 January 1752 at St Aldate’s Church. Just over two years later, on 16 April 1754, she was buried at the same church, leaving a baby daughter Sarah.
Thorp married his second wife, Elizabeth Wise of St Martin’s parish, on 23 August 1756 at St Cross (Holywell) Church. Their first child, John Wise Thorp, was baptised there on 13 November 1757, followed by Frances (28 December 1760), William (7 September 1762), and James (died as a baby in 1764).
When Parson Woodforde was at New College between 1758 and 1763, he visited Thorp’s hosiery shop nearby many times. He bought six pairs of black stockings for £1:2:0 from Thorp in November 1760 and two pairs of white cotton stockings for eight shillings in December 1762.
On 15 September 1760 Thorp was appointed Senior Bailiff, handing the keys of the city over to the new Senior Bailiff just a year later on 29 September 1761. His new scarlet gown on this occasion cost the city the princely sum of £16 (less his contribution of 5s).
In May 1764 Thorp was granted a lease by the council of property in St Martin’s parish (141 and 142 High Street) that had formerly been leased to the haberdasher John Wise, who was probably his wife’s father.
Thorpe’s second wife Elizabeth died on 5 September 1765, "of putrid sore throat", according to the announcement in Jackson’s Oxford Journal. Just over a year later the same newspaper reported the marrieage of Thorp to his third wife, Miss Mary Martindale of Ely, on 8 November 1766.
On 20 November 1767 William’s father of the same name died at the age of 70: Jackson’s Oxford Journal states that he had declined his trade in favour of his son. Although described as being "of Holywell" in the register, he was buried at St Aldate’s Church three days later.
On 9 September 1768 the council granted William Thorp a new lease of his tenement near Smithgate in Holywell parish for a fine of £15, and this was renewed in 1796.
Parson Woodforde returned to Oxford in the 1770s when he was in his thirties, and he again patronized Thorpe’s shop: he records that in October 1771 he bought four pairs of stockings to wear under silk for twelve shillings; in January 1774 three pairs of worsted stockings and six pairs of thread socks for a guinea; and in April 1774 two pairs of silk stockings for £1 10s.
In September 1771 Thorp was appointed to a Committee to view the City estates and report to Council on their condition. In May 1775 he was appointed one of the Assistants, and on 18 September that year was appointed Mayor for the first time, nominating the brewer Sutton Thomas Wood as his Child. In 1776 Thorp was appointed to a Committee to inquire into the state of Sir Thomas White’s Charity.
Jackson’s Oxford Journal reports that on 17 April 1789 Thorp’s mother (described as a hosier’s widow) died in her 94th year, having shown no sign of illness until the previous evening. Mrs Hannah Thorp was buried at St Aldate’s on 22 April.
On 14 September 1789 Thorp was appointed Mayor for the second time, choosing James Halse as his Chamberlain and Samuel Carson as his Child.
In the 1790s Thorp had a place on the Market Committee.
Thorp died on 30 September 1800 and was buried at Holywell Church on 6 October. His memorial (left) on the wall of that church reads:
Sacred to the Memory
of Mr WILLIAM THORP
who twice served the office of Mayor
of this City.
He died September the thirtieth 1800
Aged 72 Years.
Also to the Memory of his two Wives
ELIZABETH who died Sepr. 8th 1765
And MARY who died Decr. 14th 1809.
There is no mention of his first wife called Elizabeth who died in 1754.
See also:
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 4 October 1800 (death notice)
- MS Wills Oxon 101.20 (Will dated 17 October 1791 and proved on 11 November 1800)
- John Wise Thorp, Mayor 1805, 1822 (his son)
- William Thorp II, Mayor 1833, 1844, 1848 (his grandson)
- John Thorp, Mayor 1845 (his grandson)