Joseph Round
Mayor of Oxford 1874/5
Joseph Round (1803–1880) was the eldest son of Henry Round, an Oxford coal merchant who married Elizabeth Higgins at St Cross Church on 10 October 1802. Joseph was born on 3 September 1803 (at Oldbury in Staffordshire, according to later censuses), and was baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church in Oxford four days later. He had four younger siblings: William, Sarah (baptised 3 January 1808), Henry (6 June 1810), and George (19 July 1812).
At the time of the 1841 census, Round was lodging with a couple called Roberts upstairs at 3 Queen Street in the parish of St Martin’s. His parents were then living in Titmouse Lane with his three younger brothers George, William, and Henry.
In 1851 Round was still unmarried at the age of 46 and lodging in the same household in Queen Street: he is then described as a coal merchant employing three men.
By 1861 Round had married and was living at 64 St John Street in St Mary Magdalen parish with his wife Louisa, aged 47, and two servants. By the time of the next census in 1871 the couple had moved to 33 Beaumont Street, where they spent the rest of their days: at the age of 67 Round is still described as a coal merchant. He was also Managing Director of the Oxford Corn Exchange Company and founder of the Volunteer Fire Brigade.
Round was elected Mayor of Oxford in 1874.
Round’s wife Louisa died at the age of 67 and was buried at St Mary Magdalen Church on 21 August 1876. Round himself died four years later at the age of 76, and was buried at the same church on 26 August 1880. In the burial register he is listed informally as "Joe Round".
See also:
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 28 August 1880, p. 5d (obituary)
- 1841 Census: Oxford (St Martin), 891/13/6
- 1851 Census: Oxford (St Martin), 1728/108
- 1861 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 894/27
- 1871 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 1438/20