Richard James Spiers, Mayor of Oxford

Richard James Spiers

Mayor of Oxford 1853/4

Richard James Spiers (1806–1877) was the eldest son of Richard Spiers (3 February 1776–6 January 1856) and Catherine Sirman (daughter of James Sirman of Oxford), who had married at St Peter-le-Bailey Church in Oxford on 17 September 1805. His grandfather, who had died on 9 September 1785, was also named Richard Spiers: he had married Elizabeth Dodd on 27 October 1772, and their other surviving sons were John (b.1774), Thomas (1777–1859), who was a tailor, and James.

Richard James Spiers’ father (who had been matriculated by the University of Oxford as a privileged person on 19 March 1798) was a hairdresser and perfumer of High Street, Oxford, who advertised his shop as a “Peruque and Ornamental hair manufactory” in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of 28 October 1809. His shop was at 28 High Street (one of the shops demolished in 1887 to make way for Brasenose’s High Street frontage), but in 1830 still held property in St Peter-le-Bailey parish.

Richard James and his three younger siblings were all baptised at St Mary the Virgin Church:

Richard James Spiers (born 16 June, baptised 18 June 1806)
Ann Spiers (born 1 September, baptised 3 September 1807)
Later (1) Mrs Samuel Patey and (2) Mrs Richard Mallam
James Spiers (born 15 April, baptised 1 May 1809)
Matriculated by the University as a “chemicus et pharmacopola on 14 June 1832; died 27 April 1848 at Iffley
Catherine Sirman Spiers (born 16 April, baptised 11 August 1811)
Later (1) Mrs Edward Standen and (2) Mrs John Wilkins.

On 26 March 1834 Richard Spiers wrote in his Family Register “I look possession of No 102 High st.” This shop was described in a directory the following year as a stationery and fancy-goods shop, and later as a china and glass warehouse. The picture below was drawn by Cuthbert Bede for his book The Adventures of Mr Verdant Green, published in 1853.

Spiers shop at 102 High Street

The new undergraduate Verdant Green is taken in by the joke that Wordsworth wrote “Oh ye Spires of Oxford” in praise of the shop, which indicates how the name Spiers was pronounced. Mr Green ended up buying the following “remembrances of Oxford”: a fire-screen to be prepared with the family coat of arms for his father; another with a view of the High for his aunt; a netting-box, card-case, and a model of the Martyrs’ Memorial for his three sisters; and a paper-knife for himself.

At the age of 21, on 30 June 1827, Spiers was matriculated by the University as a privileged person: he was then a “tonsor” (hairdresser) like his father.

In August 1836 Spiers, then aged 30, went on his last jaunt as a bachelor with his friend Edward Standen (1809–1845), a mercer and shirtmaker at 24 High Street opposite his shop who had married Spiers’s sister Catherine on 23 April 1833. Spiers describes his travels in Europe in his diary, which he entitled “Memorandum of an autumn tour in 1816”.

In the following summer, on 15 July 1837, Spiers married Elizabeth Phené Joy, aged 19 (born 16 June 1818, the eldest daughter of the late Thomas Joy, a tailor of Holywell) at Holywell Church. Their wedding tour lasted 3½ months, and again Spiers kept a journal, describing their travels to the Isle of Wight, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Italy, and back through Austria, Germany Holland and then home to Oxford via London.

The couple’s first two children were born at 102 High Street and baptised at the Church of St Mary the Virgin:

Richard Phené Spiers (born 19 May 1838, baptised on 17 June 1838)
Samuel Patey Spiers (born 27 March 1840, baptised on 26 April 1840). Spiers later added to his Family Register that he was christened by “Cardinal Newman”.

On 31 October 1840, Spiers wrote, “I qualified as Commissioner of the Thames, 6th district to Cricklade.”

At the time of the 1841 census the family was living at 19 St John Street with two servants, and Spiers is described as a perfumier. Their third child was born there:

Frank Edward Spiers (born 21 July 1841, baptised at St Giles’s Church on 1 September 1841).

Spiers records in his Family Register for 4 March 1841: “Rosehill priory first occupied by father & mother”, and they can duly be found in retirement in Iffley in the 1841 and 1851 censuses. Richard senior, who is described in the latter census as a “landed proprietor”, had himself been on the council from 1838 to 1847, and died in Iffley at the age of 79 on 6 January 1856.)

14 St Giles Street

On 6 January 1842 Spiers wrote in his diary: “I took possession of 14 St Giles’, sleeping there for 1st time”. The family was to live in that house (right) for over thirty years and had ten more children there in the next thirteen years, all baptised at St Giles’s Church:

Elizabeth Joy Spiers (born 11 July 1843, baptised 9 August 1843)
Charlotte Horn Spiers (born 5 December 1844, baptised 6 January 1845)
Alice Jane Mary Spiers (born 7 March 1846, baptised 15 April 1846)
Agnes Ellen Spiers (born 15 May 1847, baptised 7 June 1847). Died aged 3 weeks on 12 June 1847, funeral at St Giles on 14 June 1847
Walter Lewis Spiers (born 27 July 1848, baptised 1 October 1848)
Florence Ellen Pigott Spiers (born 10 June, baptised 8 November 1850)
Agnes Decima Spiers (born 27 September 1851, baptised 29 October 1851)
Arthur Hood Spiers (born 7 July 1853, baptised 25 September 1853)
Ernest George Spiers (born 15 September 1854, baptised 16 September and again on 3 November 1854)
Hubert William Spiers (born 31 July 1856, baptised 12 November 1856)
Died age 3 on 6 January 1860, funeral at St Giles’ Church two days later

Spiers meticulously recorded details of his family in Lett’s Family Register and Perpetual Diary: Intended as a journal of domestic occurrences such as births, deaths, marriages, and other remarkable events. Here he recorded the heights and weights of all his children each year, and as he included himself we learn that he was 5ft 9¾in tall, while his wife was 5ft 3¼in. He also records the family illnesses: of his twelve children who survived babyhood, eleven had measles, whooping cough, and chickenpox; two had diphtheria; and six had scarlet fever, of which Hubert (the only one to escape all the other diseases) died.

Spiers was elected Sheriff of Oxford for 1851/2.

Mayor's reception of 1854

In 1853 Spiers was elected Mayor of Oxford (for 1853/4). The above picture taken from the Illustrated London News of 1 July 1854 shows Spiers and his wife presiding over a banquet in the old Town Hall. The text in the newspaper reads:

Renowned as the city of Oxford has ever been for its hospitality, and for the liberal spirit which has characterised those who have filled the office of Chief Magistrate, it has been the particular study of the present Mayor (R. J. Spiers, Esq.) to please his native city in a still prouder position in those respects. On Tuesday, the 22nd ult., a banquet was given at the town hall, which, in point of elegance and splendour, far surpassed the ordinary style of corporation entertainments. On this occasion, in addition to his corporate friends and fellow-citizens, the Mayor had invited the leading members of the University and county gentry — including Sir H. Peyton, Bart.; the High Sheriff; the Right Hon. J. W. Henley, M.P., Mr J. H. Langston, M.P.; the Right Hon. E. Cardwell, M.P.; Mr G. Harcourt, M.P., &c….

The Reception by the Mayor and Mayoress in the Town-hall on Thursday evening was brilliantly attended. The invitations were extended to 1000. The object of this gathering was to bring again together the most distinguished members of the University, the county gentry, and the citizens, and to place before their notice works of art, rare literary works, and other objects calculated to gratify intelligent curiosity, and afford intellectual enjoyment. In this object the Mayor and Mayoress most eminently succeeded.

The town-hall presented a most brilliant appearance, for around its walls were hung some of the choicest works of Millais, Hunt, Collins, Ansdell, Allom, Prout, D. Cox, and others illustrious in art; while on stands in many parts of the room were ranged a collection of water colour drawings, by some of the most distinguished artists of the present day. In the various recesses and in the centre of the room were models of the most finished pieces of sculpture, by Calder Marshall, Macdowall, and others, imparting a degree of grace and beauty to the scene which could not be surpassed.

Soon after eight o’clock the company began to assemble. The list of guests included many of the most distinguished names in literature, science, and art. As they arrived they were introduced by Stewards to the Mayor, who then introduced them to the Mayoress, and she, as well as the Mayor, gave to each a cordial welcome. About ten o’clock the whole of the company had arrived, and, notwithstanding that upwards of 1000 persons were congregated together, there was an entire absence of confusion and pressure, owing to the excellent arrangements laid down and the admirable manner in which they were carried out by the Stewards, who undertook, as a labour of love, the duties which were assigned to them….

The Town-hall-yard was covered with a spacious tent, in which refreshments were dispensed. The Public Library was crowded during the night with parties examining the beautifully illustrated works, lent for the occasion by the Architectural Society, other public bodies, and private individuals….

In the 1850s Spiers had two shops: he sold fancy articles in his shop in the High, and china at 46 Cornmarket.

Spiers was a prominent freemason.

On 8 January 1857 Spiers was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Spiers’s wife Elizabeth (who had had 13 children in 18 years) died at the age of 40 on 29 October 1858 and was buried at St Giles’s Church on 4 November. The 1861 census shows Spiers as a widower, described as a “China & Glass Merchant, Fancy Manufacturer, Stationer & Perfumier & Alderman & Magistrate”. His shop had by then expanded to include 103 High Street, and his second son, Samuel (now 21) is described as “Assistant and superintendent of my business”.

In 1868 Spiers & Sons were appointed stationers and china & glass merchants to the Prince of Wales. By 1871 Samuel Spiers (31) managed the stationery side while his younger brother Frank (29) was in charge of the china. Both sons were unmarried and living over the shop with their sisters Elizabeth (27) and Florence (20) who were managing the house with two servants.

The Spiers business must have gone downhill under the management of Spiers’s sons, because in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of 1 June 1872 under the heading “Local liquidation cases” it was reported that the following petition had been filed:

Re Richard James Spiers, china merchant, stationer, and general fancy warehouseman, trading under the style of “Spiers and Son.” On the 17th of June, in the Clarendon Hotel.

Spiers resigned from being an Alderman in the year of his bankruptcy, and took no further part in public affairs.

In 1875 Spiers moved from St Giles’s Street, taking a lease on Huntercombe at 9 Blackhall Road. This was a large house with four sitting rooms, even bed and dressing rooms, a bathroom, and an additional two-storey building at the back.

Spiers died at 9 Blackhall Road on 28 September 1877 at the age of 71, and his funeral was at St Giles’s Church on 2 October 1877. Just four days after his funeral, his house was advertised for sale in Jackson’s Oxford Journal.

Spiers & Son closed in 1890, and the next year Spiers’s eldest son and manager, Samuel Patey Spiers, died in Bournemouth at the age of 51: his funeral was at St Giles’s Church on 2 December 1891.

Spiers’s surviving children

Richard Phené Spiers (1838–1916) trained as an architect and died on 3 October 1916
Samuel Patey Spiers (born 1840) married Mrs Elizabeth Ann Foster (née Prickett). He died at Bournemouth from influenza on 27 November 1891, and she died on 13 April 1914.
Frank Edward Spiers (1841–1925) died at the age of 83 on 26 June 1925
Miss Charlotte Horn Spiers (1844–1914) died on 7 September 1914 at Christchurch
Walter Lewis Spiers (1848–1917) became curator of Sir John Soane’s Museum and died at the age of 68 on 28 May 1917
Arthur Hood Spiers (born 1853) was Mathematics master at Gresham’s School from 1903 to 1919
Ernest George Spiers (1854–1896) died at Southend-on-Sea in 1896