William Eagleston
Mayor of Oxford 1876/7
William Eagleston (1821–1898) was baptised on 3 June 1821 at St Clement’s Church, the son of Job Eagleston of St Clement’s and his second wife Ann Wilkins, who had married at St Clement’s on 3 January 1819. Job described himself as a carpenter until 1824, and thereafter as an ironmonger. His shop was at 7 and 8 St Clement’s Street, which at that time was outside the city of Oxford.
Job and his first wife, Sarah, had baptised one son, John, St Clement’s Church on 15 August 1814.
William had four full siblings: an older sister Ann, baptised on 2 November 1819, two younger sisters: Sarah (baptised 25 August 1822) and Hannah (18 January 1824), and a younger brother James (10 March 1825). William’s mother died at the age of 34 when he was only four years old and was buried on the day after James’s baptism; and James only survived to the age of ten months.
William’s father married a third time, and he and his new wife Hannah had six more children: Mary (baptised 27 April 1828), Elizabeth (1829), Rebecca (1831), Job (1832), Frances, and Joseph (1836).
The 1841 census shows William’s two older sisters, the Misses Ann and Sarah Eagleston, as bonnet makers at 7 St Clement’s Street, while he lived over the ironmonger’s shop next door with his father and stepmother and his four half-siblings Elizabeth, Job, Frances, and Joseph. Also living in the house is a John Eagleston (William’s older half-brother by his father’s first marriage), who is described as an ironmonger. William himself at the age of 20 was only a tinplate worker.
William’s father Job died at the age of 55 and was buried at St Clement’s Church on 19 October 1841, and his stepmother Hannah took over the business. She lived to the grand old age of 95, surviving her husband by 49 years. The 1851 census shows William still living over the shop with his stepmother and his sister Hannah, and his half-siblings Elizabeth and Job.
On 31 May 1860 William Eagleston married Louisa Morgan, the daughter of David Morgan, a baker of St Mary Magdalen parish, and they moved to his home in Friars Entry. They baptised three children at St Mary Magdalen Church: Sarah Louisa (20 December 1861), Alfred Morgan (2 March 1864), and Edward William (16 August 1865).
The 1871 census still shows David Morganas the head of the household in Friars Entry: he was then 76 and described a master baker employing three men and one boy. His son Henry, aged 42, was also living with him, as well as William and Louisa with their children Sarah (9) and Alfred (5). William is described as an ironmonger employing five men and two boys, as well as being the current Sheriff of Oxford.
Eagleston was appointed a Paving Commissioner in 1859. On 1 November 1862 he was returned on to the Town Council for the East Ward, and was re-elected in 1865, 1868, and 1871. In 1870 he was elected Sheriff of Oxford; on 31 October 1872 an Alderman; and in 1876 Mayor. He was one of the four Liberal leaders who dominated the council. He was a moderate Liberal whose leanings were Unionist after Gladstone’s Home Rule proposals.
The 1881 census shows Eagleston at the age of 59, at last the head of the household at 20 Friars Entry. He is described as an ironmonger and baker employing four men. With him are his wife Louisa (55), his son and apprentice Alfred (17), and his other son Edward (15), who was still at school.
When the city of Oxford became a County Borough on 9 November 1889, Eagleston withdrew from the council; but he was elected an Alderman again almost immediately.
By 1891 his firm is listed in Kelly’s Directory as Eagleston & Son, ironmongers, 7 & 8 St Clement’s street & blacksmiths, Black Horse yard". The census that year shows William and Louisa and their son Alfred living at 2 Gloucester Place.
Eagleston died on 27 September 1898 at the age of 77 at his home in Friar’s Entry, and his funeral was at Wolvercote Cemetery. The open hearse processed from Gloucester Street led by Oswald Cole, Superintendent of Police, followed by the Mayor’s sergeant with the mace draped in crape, and members of the corporation. They processed at walking pace along Beaumont Street, St Giles' Street, and the Banbury Road. The funeral service was taken by the Revd C.J.H. Fletcher, who was Rector of the City Church at Carfax.
See also:
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 1 October 1898, p. 10c (obituary)
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 8 October 1898, p. 7e (funeral)
- 1841 Census: Oxford (St Clement), 876/10/5
- 1851 Census: Oxford (St Clement), 1727/308
- 1871 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 1438/29
- 1881 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 1502/21
- 1891 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen 2), 1167/142