William Matthew Gray
Mayor of Oxford 1927/8+
William Matthew Gray (1859–1931) was the son of Matthew Gray (who was born in Great Haseley) and Harriet Quatermain (born in Little Milton). William’s father and two of his uncles were carpenters and builders who moved from Great Milton to the rapidly developing Cowley St John and were probably responsible for some of Oxford’s "base and brickish skirt".
William was born on 8 March 1859. At the time of the 1861 census, when he was two, he was living with his parents and baby sister Harriet in Rectory Road (then called Pembroke Street) in east Oxford. His father, aged 26, is described as a carpenter.
Ten years later in the 1871 census, the family's address is given more precisely as 27 Rectory Road, and William’s father is now described as a builder, employing 26 men and 98 boys. Since the last census, William had six new younger brothers: Walter (10), Joseph (8), Charles (6), George (4), Albert (2), and John (1).
Gray attended the original Cowley St John School in Iffley Road and was a chorister at the Iron Church in Stockmore Street. He left school at the age of 14 and worked with his father as a carpenter.
The 1881 census shows William as a young carpenter of 22 living at 200c Cowley Road with his father Matthew (a widower of 46), his brothers Joseph (18) and Charles (16) who were also carpenters, his sister Harriet (20) who was the family’s housekeeper, and four younger siblings who were still at school, including Agnes (8) and Alice (4), who had been born since the last census.
Gray married Elizabeth Ann Steventon of St Ebbe’s later in 1881, and they had twelve children:
- William Henry Gray (born c.1881)
- Alice Harriett Gray (baptised at St Mary & St John Church on 30 August 1883)
- Matthew Frederick Gray (born c.1884)
- Harry Joseph Gray (born c.1886 )
- Frank Arthur Gray ( born c.1888)
- Dorothy Kate Gray (born c.1890)
- Hugh Richard Gray (born c.1892)
- Victor Charles Gray (born c.1894)
- Arthur John Gray (born c. 1897)
- Elizabeth Agnes Gray (born c.1899)
- Evelyn May Gray (born c.1901)
- Thomas Walker Gray (born c.1904)
At the time of the 1891 census Gray and his family (including his father Matthew) were living at 114 Bullingdon Road.
Gray built up his own builders' and funeral director’s business at 6 Rectory Road, which later became the firm of W. M. Gray & Son Ltd. At the time of the 1901 census, when he was 42, he was living with his family at 125 Bullingdon Road and described as a Clerk of Works. His sons William (19) and Matthew (15) were now both carpenters and joiners.
Gray stood as a progressive candidate for the East Ward of the City Council in 1903 and was elected with a record number of votes.
Gray’s wife Elizabeth died in 1906, and in 1907 he married his second wife, Fanny Katherine Axtell, by whom he had four more children, making 16 in all.
Gray was chosen as Sheriff of Oxford for 1910/11.
The 1911 census shows Gray and his second wife Fanny living at 6 Rectory Road (then called Pembroke Street) with nine children from his first marriage, and two children from his second: Harold William (2) and Robert Matthew (11 months). They had one servant.
In 1927 Gray was elected Mayor of Oxford (for 1927/8), and at the end of his year of office continued for an extra five months to 31 March 1929, as the date for election of Mayors was moved to the spring.
He died in 1931, and large crowds lined the funeral route from St Clement’s Church to Rose Hill cemetery. Tributes paid to him included the following:
- "He was one of the straightest men who ever walked the streets of Oxford and was a man with one of the greatest hearts" (Dr W. Stobie)
- "There is no man who has done more for the benefit of Oxford than Alderman Gray" (Councillor Pipkin)
- "There was no man better loved than Alderman Gray in that 'Little Borough' of East Oxford, as he himself called it. He endeared himself to everyone. He had no party and had friends in every street" (Mr Butler)
See also:
- Susanne Shatford and Trevor Williams, The Changing Faces of St Clements and East Oxford, Book One (Robert Boyd Publications, 1997), pp. 47–49. This has photographs of William Gray and his family, and some of the above information was obtained from that book
- The Gray family tree (Sharon Strange)
- Oxford Monthly, February 1931, p. 25 (obituary)
- Oxford Times, 9 January 1931, p. 11ef (obituary)
- 1861 Census: Oxford (Cowley), 891/13
- 1871 Census: Oxford (Cowley), 1435/7
- 1881 Census: Oxford (Cowley), 1497/110
- 1891 Census: Oxford (Cowley), 1164/98
- 1901 Census: Oxford (Cowley St John), 1379/127