James William Heading
Mayor of Oxford 1947/8+
James William Heading (c.1876–1968) was born in Sevenhampton in Highworth, Wiltshire, the son of John Heading (born in Faringdon in c.1847) and his wife Louisa (born in Wantage in c.1849).
The 1881 census shows James at the age of three living with his parents and his siblings John (4), Francis (2), Christopher (1), and Rebecca the baby at Round Robin Farm, Highworth. James’s father is described as a farmer employing four men, four women, and four boys.
Ten years later in 1891 James was staying with his grandfather James Heading (72) at Goosey House in Goosey, Berkshire. His grandfather, who was then a widower, was also a farmer.
James Heading was educated at Brighton Grammar School, and by 1900 he was employed by the bankers Gillett & Co at their Witney branch. (Gillet’s later merged with Barclays.) The 1901 census shows Heading (24) boarding in Market Square, Witney with a pianoforte dealer and his family.
In c.1906 Heading married his wife, Edith Caroline (born in Reading in c.1884). The 1911 census shows them living at 106 Abingdon Road , Oxford with their six-month-old son William Richard and one servant. By 1914 they had moved to the Banbury Road.
In November 1937, a few days after the start of his early retirement, Heading was elected on to Oxford City Council.
In 1947 Heading was elected Mayor (for 1947/8), and because he was Mayor at the time of the changeover of the month of the local election date from November to May, at the end of his year of office he served an extra six months as Mayor until May 1949. He was then made an Alderman.
Heading was then living at 386 Woodstock Road. He was a freemason, and was the founder of Annerley Lodge and a past master of Alfred Mark Lodge. He was a keen golfer, and also played football, cricket, and tennis.
Heading retired from the Council in 1957. His wife Edith died the following year, and he himself died on 4 September 1963, leaving a son and three daughters. His funeral was at St Peter’s Church, Wolvercote.
See also:
- Oxford Times, 6 September 1963, p. 26 (obituary)
- Oxford Times, 13 September 1963, p. 18 (funeral)