William Eagleston
Mayor of Oxford 1876/7
William Eagleston (1821–1898) was the son of Job Eagleston and Hannah Wilkins of St Clement’s.
Eagleston’s parents
Job Eagleston was born outside Oxfordshire, but he is presumably the man described of being of St Peter-in-the-East in Oxford who married Sarah Sheryer at Holborn St Andrew in London in 1812. They appear to have moved to St Clement’s after their marriage, but Sarah must have died in or shortly after childbirth, as she was buried at St Clement’s Church on 15 August 1814, the same day that their son John was baptised there. Until 1824 Job is described as a carpenter in the parish registers, but thereafter he was an ironmonger. His shop was at 7 & 8 St Clement’s Street (1–8 were demolished to make way for the Waynflete Building). At that time the parish of St Clement’s was outside the city of Oxford.
Job married his second wife Ann Wilkins (b. 1790), the daughter of William & Hannah Wilkins of St Clement’s, at St Clement’s Church on 3 January 1819, and they had five children: baptised there: Ann (2 November 1819), William (3 June 1821), Sarah (25 August 1822), another Sarah (23 August 1823), Hannah (18 January 1824), and James (10 March 1825, buried 25 January 1826). 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 himself only survived to the age of ten months.
William’s father Job married his third wife, Hannah Wilkins (b. 1794), at Feltham in Middlesex on 15 May 1826. Hannah was his previous wife’s younger sister, and was thus William Eagleston’s aunt as well as his stepmother. Such a marriage, although disapproved of by the Church (which may explain why two people from St Clement’s should have married in London), was not made illegal until 1835. They had six children baptised at St Clement’s Church: Mary (27 April 1828), Elizabeth (25 October 1829), Rebecca (12 June 1831), Job (11 April 1832), Frances (22 September 1833), and Joseph (23 October 1836).
William Eagleston
William Eagleston was thus the son of Job Eagleston’s second marriage to Ann Wilkins, and was baptised at St Clement’s Church on 3 June 1821.
The 1841 census shows William (20) described as a tinplate worker and living with his father and stepmother and four of his younger half-siblings (Elizabeth, Job, Frances, and Joseph) over his father’s ironmonger’s shop at 8 St Clement’s Street. Also living in the house is John Eagleston (William’s older half-brother by his father’s first marriage), who is described as an ironmonger. Two of William’s two older sisters, the Misses Ann and Sarah Eagleston, were bonnet makers next door at 7 St Clement’s Street, while his sister Miss Elizabeth Eagleston was a milliner & dressmaker at 37 High Street.
William’s father Job died at the age of 55 and was buried at St Clement’s Church on 19 October 1841, and his third wife Hannah took over his business. The 1851 census shows William still living over the shop with his stepmother and his sister Hannah, and his half-siblings Elizabeth and Job. In a directory of 1852, his mother Hannah is listed as an ironmonger and his sister Hannah as a straw-hat maker at 7 St Clement’s Street. His older half brother John, who had obtained his BA at London University, was advertising his Classical & Mathematical School at 14 Pembroke Street in 1859.
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 had three children:
- Sarah Louisa Eagleston (baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 20 December 1861)
- Alfred Morgan Eagleston (baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 2 March 1864)
- Edward William Eagleston (baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 16 August 1865).
At the time of the 1861 census, Eagleston was away from home, but his wife Louisa (35) was at Friar’s Entry with her father, a widower of 65 described as a baker employing three men and one boy. She is described as a bookkeeper, while Miss Esther Sylvester (46), Morgan’s sister-in-law, is the housekeeper. They have five servants.
The 1871 census still shows Eagleston’s father-in-law David Morgan as 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), Alfred (7), and Edward (5). William is described as an ironmonger employing five men and two boys, as well as being the current Sheriff of Oxford. The family have five servants.
Eagleston’s brother-in-law Henry Morgan died at the age of 45 in January 1873, followed by his father-in-law David Morgan at the age of 79 in February 1875, allowing Eagleston to take over the baking business.
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. He was elected Sheriff of Oxford for 1870/1 and was made an Alderman on 31 October 1872.
In 1876 Eagleston was elected Mayor of Oxford (for 1876/7). 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 (59) as the new 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.
Eagleston’s full sister Hannah died a spinster at the age pf 62, and was buried at St Clement’s Church on 9 December 1886. His stepmother Hannah lived to the grand old age of 95, thus surviving her husband by 49 years, and was buried at St Clement’s on 23 January 1890. Neither of them lived with Eagleston: their address was then 2 St Clement’s Street.
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
- 1861 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 0894/017
- 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