Thomas William Taphouse
Mayor of Oxford 1904/5
Thomas William Taphouse (1838–1905) was born at Sherfield Green, Hampshire, on 11 February 1838. His father, Charles Taphouse, was himself born at Sherfield Green in 1816, while his mother Sarah was born at Hartley Row, Hampshire in 1818.
Taphouse’s family moved to Osney Mill in Oxford in 1842 when he was four years old, and from the age of five he attended the Wesleyan School in Oxford.
At the time of the 1851 census the family was living in St Ebbe’s, with Thomas’s father described as a broker. Thomas was then 13, and he had two younger siblings: Henry (11) and Emma (3).
Taphouse left school at 14 and assisted his father as a cabinet maker for 4 years. During this time he saved up 10 guineas which enabled him to purchase a harmonium.
In 1856, at the age of 18 Taphouse went to London for a year to learn piano-tuning. In 1859 he went into business with his father Charles in 1859 as a music-seller at 3 Magdalen Street.
By the time of the 1861 census, Thomas (23) was the head of the household at 3 Magdalen Street. Living with him were his brother Henry (21), who was a watch and clockmaker; a lodger; and a 14-year-old servant girl. Although Thomas appears to have taken over the family business, he is described simply as a pianoforte tuner, and used to travel around Oxford with a pony and trap.
In 1865 Taphouse married Alice Milner of Broadway, Worcestershire, by whom he had two children: Charles Milner and Alice Milner Taphouse. His wife died only three years after their marriage, and ten years after her death, in 1878, he married Anne Woodward of Wootten Bassett, a widow with one daughter.
The 1881 census shows Taphouse (42) and Anne (33) living at 3 Magdalen Street with Thomas’s son Charles (13) and Anne’s daughter Eleanor (11), who were both then still at school.
Taphouse did not enter local government until the age of 50, when in 1888 he was first elected for the Central Ward. In 1892/3 he was Sheriff of Oxford.
Because he was on the Municipal Buildings Committee at the time the new Town Hall was opened in 1897, Taphouse’s head can be seen carved in stone in the Council Chamber corridor (right). He sat on numerous other committees, including Property & Estates, Public Library, Public Improvements, Watch, and Farm & Allotments.
At the time of the 1901 census, Taphouse (now described as a dealer in works of art) and his wife Anne were staying at the Tollard Royal Hotel in West Hill Road, Bournemouth. Back in Oxford, his son Charles (33 and described as a music-seller) was now head of the household at 3 Magdalen Street, living with his sister Alice (32) and his stepsister Eleanor Woodward (31), plus one servant.
Taphouse was unanimously elected Mayor in 1904, but sadly only managed to preside over one council meeting before he fell ill. He died early in January 1905 at the age of 66.
Taphouse’s music shop remained at 3 Magdalen Street until 1982.
See also:
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 14 January 1905, pp. 5a-d, 6d (obituary)
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 4 February 1905, p. 8g
- 1861 Census: Oxford (St Ebbe’s), 1728/200
- 1871 Census:
- 1881 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 1502/17
- 1891 Census: Oxford (St Mary Magdalen), 1167/121
- 1901 Census: Bournemouth (St Michael), 1040/71; Oxford (St Mary Magdalen) 1384/155 for his son