Inscriptions: British Workman
The above inscription is set into the front wall of 67 Old High Street, which was once the British Workman. It reads:
1880
THIS SITE WAS GIVEN BY
MRS BALLACHEY
AND THE BUILDINGS WERE ERECTED
AT THE EXPENSE OF
MISS NICHOL
FOR THE PROMOTION OF TEMPERANCE
IN THIS PARISH
The British Workman movement started in the north of England in the 1860s with the aim of establishing alcohol-free public houses for working men, and the Headington one opened on 30 December 1880. At that time Mrs Maria Ballachey (née Lock) was an 83-year-old widow who owned Bury Knowle House behind Old High Street, while Miss Mary Ann Nichol (64) lived opposite the British Workman at Jessamine or Jesmond Cottage (now 83 Old High Street). Miss Nichol was, paradoxically, the niece of Edward Latimer, one of Oxford's most important wine merchants who lived in Headington House.