John Towle
Mayor of Oxford 1856/7
John Towle (1796–1885) was born at Cotgrave in Nottinghamshire on 13 May 1796. He was described as being of St Aldate’s, Oxford when he married Mary Ann Drewitt (born at Wolvercote in 1802) at South Hinksey church on 22 September 1828.
Towle was a paper maker at Weirs Mill in Grandpont. In January 1836, under the new scheme following the Municipal Corporation Act of 1835, Towle was returned for the South Ward as an Alderman; but he had to retire later the same year because he was not on the burgess list: he lived at Cold Harbour, Grandpont, which was then in Berkshire but is now part of the Abingdon Road.
In 1837 he contested the South Ward, and the result was a tie between him and Mr Walsh, and the latter was elected by the casting vote of the Alderman. In 1838 he was again unsuccessful, but in 1839 he was returned as a Liberal.
At the time of the 1841 census, Towle and his first wife Mary are listed at Grandpont. In October 1849 his paper mill burnt down.
Ten years later Towle is listed at Paseley (or Parsley) House, South Hinksey. His wife appears to be away, and his 28-year-old niece, Eliza Towle, is staying with him.
Towle was re-elected on to the council in 1851, and in 1853 was elected an Alderman again, and this time he was able to remain in the position. He and Isaac Grubb (also elected that year) were Oxford’s first nonconformist Aldermen.
Towle was elected Mayor in 1856. On St Scholastica’s Day, he refused to swear the traditional oath to the Vice-Chancellor, and the University was uncertain how to respond.
At the time of the 1861 census, Towle is listed at Hinksey Paper Mill, South Hinksey with his wife, Mary. They have one servant.
In 1871 his home is described as Parsley House, and he is a widower of 75. Described as a magistrate and paper maker, he is the employer of four men and five boys. His unmarried niece Miss Mary Watson (5), who was born in Nottinghamshire and is described as a farmer, was staying with him, and there was one servant.
In 1875, at the age of 79, he ceased to be an Alderman and a councillor; but in that year and again in 1877 he unsuccessfully contested the West Ward.
At the time of the 1881 census Towle was aged 85, living at his Abingdon Road home with his second wife, also called Mary (63), who was born in Nottingham. They had one servant.
Towle was the oldest magistrate on the City Bench, but seldom took part in latter years.
Towle died on 18 February 1885 at his home in Cold Harbour at the age of 89. Shortly before his death he was still riding his white pony around the streets of Oxford. He was buried at the Wesleyan Chapel in New Inn Hall Street in a brick vault by the side of the pathway where his first wife had been buried.
See also:
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 21 February 1885, p. 5d (obituary)
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 28 February 1885, p. 5e (funeral)
- 1841 Census: Berkshire (South Hinksey), 20/01/3
- 1851 Census: Berkshire (South Hinksey), 1688/382
- 1861 Census: Berkshire (South Hinksey), 733/51
- 1871 Census: Berkshire (South Hinksey), 1264/69
- 1881 Census: Berkshire (South Hinksey), 1284/72