Robert Buckell
Mayor of Oxford 1885/6, 1890/1, 1896/7, 1904, 1916/17, and 1918/19
Robert Buckell (or Buckle) (1841–1925) was born in St Ebbe’s, Oxford. His father, Robert (who was a plumber) and his mother Elizabeth were also born in Oxford.
At the time of the 1851 census Robert was nine years old, living in St Ebbe’s with his parents and his younger siblings John (6) and Elizabeth (1). His father died at Church Street at the age of 48 and was buried at St Ebbe’s Church on 25 June 1858, and his mother was buried there too on 22 January 1860.
Thus Robert became the head of the household at the age of 18. The 1861 census shows him at 38 Church Street, St Ebbe’s with his 16-year-old brother John, and both of them are described as plumbers. They have a young lodger, and also a housekeeper (their 24-year-old cousin, Susannah Buckell).
Buckell became a coal merchant, and the 1881 census shows him at the age of 39 at his home, 46 Leckford Road, described as "Town Councillor, Member Local Board, & Coal Merchant (Municipal)". Living with him is his wife Ann Ellen (38), born at Radford in Somerset. By 1891 he and his wife had moved to 32 Beaumont Street, where they lived alone with two servants.
It was only in 1894, when he was 53, that Buckell opened his auctioneer’s business on the corner of Broad Street. By 1911 he had gone into partnership to form the Buckell & Ballard business that still survives today. (When their Broad Street office were demolished to make way for William Baker House in 1915, the firm moved to King Edward Street.)
Buckell was a director of the National Electric Company, which planned to introduce electric trams in Oxford.
By 1899, Buckell's address was Burnham House, Woodstock Road. In 1907 he moved to The Laurels, 4 Marston Ferry Road; and his final move was to 4 Staverton Road in about 1920.
Buckell was leader of the City Liberals. He first served as Mayor in 1885/6 (when he made a public appeal for the Oxford Eye Hospital). His second term was in 1890/1, and his third (and most exciting) term was in 1896/7, when the present Town Hall was opened by the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) on Wednesday 12 May 1897. The civic dignitaries joined the royal party after lunch, and thirteen horse-drawn carriages proceeded to the new Town Hall: Robert Buckell and his wife were in the twelfth carriage, with the Prince and his equerry in the carriage immediately behind. At the opening ceremony Buckell became the first Oxford citizen ever to receive an honorary degree from the University. The Prince of Wales returned to the Town Hall at 9pm for an "At Home" held by Buckell.
Buckell received an honorary M.A. from the University in 1897 and was knighted in 1899. In the twentieth century he served as mayor three more times: in 1905 (taking over from the mayor who had died at the beginning of January); 1916/17; and 1918/19.
Buckell died in 1925 at the age of 84. The Oxford Magazine wrote:
Born a Freeman and dying the oldest Freeman of the City of Oxford, preacher, auctioneer, Chairman of the Watch Committee, member of the School Board, Thames Conservancy, City Magistrate, Worshipful Master of the Bertie Lodge, in each rôle he was conspicuous.
There are more memorials to Buckell in the present Town Hall than to any other Mayor, probably because of his many years of service.As well as his portrait in the Assembly Room (shown at the top of this page, he has his head carved in stone and two coats of arms.
Because he was on the Municipal Buildings Committee when the new Town Hall was opened (1897),Buckell’s head is carved in stone (above left) in the Council Chamber corridor.
His arms (below left) were added to the wall of the Lord Mayor’s Parlour when he served as Chief Magistrate in 1896/7. They are also set in one of the windows in the council chamber (right)
The drawing on the left shows Buckell in a cartoon postcard
See also:
- Oxford Journal Illustrated, 26 May, 1915, p.9 ("Who’s Who in Oxford")
- Oxfordshire County News, 4 March 1898, p. 8
- Oxford Magazine, 1924-5, pp. 532–3 (obituary)
- Oxford Journal Illustrated, 3 June 1925, p. 4c (obituary)
- Oxford Journal Illustrated, 10 June 1925, p. 5a (obituary)
- Portrait of Robert Buckell on the wall of the Assembly Room in the Town Hall
- 1851 Census: Oxford (St Ebbe’s), 1728/310
- 1861 Census: Oxford (St Ebbe’s), 894/128
- 1881 Census: Oxford (St Giles), 1499/117
- 1891 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen 1), 1167/120