Joseph Castle
Mayor of Oxford 1868/9
Joseph Castle was born in Woodstock in 1826. He is probably the Joseph Castle who was baptised with his brothers William and Thomas at New Road Baptist Chapel in Oxford in January 1829, to be followed by their sister Jane in October 1832 and Martha in July 1836. The father of this family was also called Joseph.
At the time of the 1851 census, Castle and his wife Fanny (who was born at Bladon) are listed as living in St Clements, a parish which then included the Cowley Road area. Aged respectively 24 and 28, they have a baby daughter Sarah, aged one month. At this time Castle is described as a carpenter and joiner, but in Gardner’s 1852 directory the next year he is listed as a builder.
Between 1856 and 1858 Castle made his name building the Italianate mansion Headington Hill Hall for James Morrell junior. In 1860 he began work on St Philip & St James Church in North Oxford.
In the 1861 census Castle, aged 34, is listed under Cowley Road and is described as a "Builder, Brickmaker, & Farmer, employing in the 3 branches 153 men". He and Fanny now have three children, and Fanny’s mother, Hannah Collins, is living with them. They have one servant.
In 1866 Castle was Sheriff of Oxford. Hunt’s Directory for that year lists him as "Joseph Castle & Co., builders, Cowley Road (Alma Terrace), Joseph Castle, Sheriff of the City". His home was then on the north side of the Cowley Road at 6 Alma Terrace (the house on the east corner of Alma Place).
Castle was a Liberal, and was elected Mayor in 1868. In 1869 his firm built St Barnabas Church in Cardigan Street, Jericho.
By the time of the 1871 census, when Castle was 44, his business had expanded enormously. He is described as the employer of 127 men (as well as being an Alderman and Magistrate), and was living at 11 East Avenue off Cowley Road with his wife Fanny and three children: Sarah Ann (20), John Collins (17), and Emily (15), as well as his wife’s mother Hannah Collins (aged 74 and born at Lyneham) and one servant.
At the time of the School Board elections of 1871, Castle was a "Birmingham League" candidate, who supported the idea that local authorities should provide schools that were free of religious dogma and supported by rates and taxes.
One of the last things Castle did before his death was to design New Headington Infant School. Jackson’s Oxford Journal for 24 October 1874 (p. 7c) states: "A new infant school has recently been built at Headington by Messrs. Castle, Cowley-road, from designs prepared by the late Ald. Castle."
At the time of the 1881 census, Castle’s widow, Fanny, aged 58, is described as a "Brick and Tile Manufacturer employing 26 Men and 3 Boys, also Slate Merchants". She appears to have been living at 12 rather than 11 East Avenue with her unmarried daughter Sarah Ann and her son John Collins Castle, who at 27 is described as "Acting Executor for above business", and one servant.
Ten years later in 1891, Kelly’s Directory lists Castle’s old business as "Castle Joseph (executors of), brick and tile makers (George Franklin, manager), Union Street, Cowley Road".
See also:
- 1851 Census: Oxford (St Clement), 1727/332
- 1861 Census: Oxford (Cowley), 891/20
- 1871 Census: Oxford (St Clement), 1435/88
- 1881 Census: Oxford (St Clement), 1498/76