Roll of Honour of Holy Trinity Church, Headington Quarry

Anthony KIMBER (1880–1918)

Anthony Kimber was born at the Prince’s Castle pub in Barton in 1880, the son of Elias James Kimber (born in Horspath in 1847 and baptised there on 27 June) and Caroline Higgs (born in Caroline Street, Oxford in 1846 and baptised at St Clement’s Church on 15 February).

His parents were married at Horspath on 9 August 1868 had the following children:

• Louisa Caroline Kimber (born in east Oxford on 22 February 1870 and baptised at Horspath on 5 June)
• William Kimber (born in Barton in 1872, but not baptised at St Andrew’s Church until 1 February 1874, at the same time as his next brother)
• Elias James Kimber (born in Barton in 1873 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 1 February 1874)
• Arabella Emily Kimber (born in Barton on 22 August 1874 and baptised at Horspath on 11 October)
• Henry Kimber (born in Barton 1875/6)
• Augusta Martha Kimber (born in Barton in 1877, reg. last quarter)
• Thomas S. Kimber (born in Barton in 1879 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 25 May)
• Anthony Kimber (born in Barton on 25 October 1880 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 27 February 1881)
• Frederick Charles Kimber (born in Barton on 22 February 1882)
• Adelaide Margaret Kimber (born in Cowley in 1885 and baptised at St James's Church there on 27 September)
• Beatrice Mary Kimber (born in Headington Quarry in 1887 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 28 August).

Anthony’s father Elias was a bricklayer by trade, and he and Anthony's mother Caroline first lived together in Princes Street in east Oxford, where they can be seen in the 1871 census. By 1872 they had moved to Barton in Headington, where Elias soon became a publican (as his father had been before him).

At the time of the 1881 census Anthony (five months) was living at the Prince's Castle in Barton with his father Elias (32), who was described as a bricklayer & beer retailer; his mother Caroline (33); and his seven older siblings Louisa (11), William (9), Elias junior (8), Arabella (6), Henry (5), Augusta (3), and Thomas (2).

At some point between 1882 and 1886 the family appear to have moved briefly to the village of Cowley, but by the time of Beatrice’s baptism in August 1887, they were back in Quarry.

At the time of the 1891 census Anthony (10) was still at school and living at Old Road, Headington Quarry with his father Elias (43), who was again working as a bricklayer; his mother Caroline (44); his sister Louise (21); his brothers William (19) and Elias junior (18), who were bricklayers; his sister Arabella (16); his brother Henry (15), who was a greengrocer's shop boy; and Augusta (13), Thomas (12), Frederick (9), Adelaide (5), and Beatrice (3).

By 1895 they had moved to Shotover Hill Place (at the east end of Old Road), which was in the ecclesiastical parish of Headington Quarry but the civil parish of Forest Hill with Shotover. Anthony’s brother Henry Kimber died there at the age of 19 and was buried in Holy Trinity churchyard on 14 April 1895.

At the time of the 1901 census Anthony (20) was a bricklayer, living at Kiln Lane (Shotover Hill Place) with his father Elias (55), his mother Caroline (54) and his siblings Louisa (31), who helped at home; Arabella (26) who was a linen machinist; Augusta (23), who was an assistant schoolmistress; Thomas (22), who was a carman; Frederick (19), who was a mason's apprentice; Adelaide (15), who was a pupil teacher; and Beatrice (13), who was a carman.

Anthony’s mother Caroline Kimber died at Shotover Hill Place in 1906 at the age of 60 and was buried at Holy Trinity churchyard on 4 September 1906. Her gravestone reads: “In loving memory of Caroline, the beloved wife of Elias Kimber, who died Sept. 2nd 1906”.

♥ In the third quarter of 1907 in the Eastbourne registration district, Anthony Kimber married Miriam Charlotte Coppock (born in Headington Quarry in 1881). At the time of the 1901 census Miriam (who was the daughter of William Coppock, the sub-postmaster and grocer of Headington Quarry, and his wife Hannah) had been lodging at Padbury in Buckinghamshire and working there as a teacher, and her next position may have been in the Eastbourne area.

At the time of the 1911 census Anthony (30) was a builder who employed at least one other man, living on the south side of the London Road between Stile Road and Holyoake (then Western) Road (identified as 150 London Road, now “Posh Fish”). With him were his wife Miriam (29) and Miriam’s widowed mother, Mrs Hannah Coppock (74). This house was in the anomalous part of St Andrew’s parish that still lies to the south of the London Road.

Four years later on 24 March 1915, Anthony’s wife Miriam Charlotte Kimber died at Euston Road in London at the age of 33, and she was buried at Holy Trinity churchyard on 28 March 1915. They do not appear to have had any children, and Anthony may have moved back to live with his parents in Quarry after her death.

In the First World War Anthony Kimber served as a Private in the 10th Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment (Service No. 42215), and then transferred to the 231st Area Employment Company of the Labour Corps (473580).

He died of wounds aged 37 in France on 17 April 1918. Administration was granted in Oxford to his father, the builder Elias James Kimber, on 19 September 1918. Anthony left £1,886.

He was buried at the Haringhe (Bandaghem) Military Cemetery in Belgium (I. F. 9). The photograph of his grave (left) was kindly supplied by British War Graves. The inscription reads:

42215 PRIVATE
A. KIMBER
LINCOLNSHIRE REGIMENT
17TH APRIL 1918 AGE 37

†
[Crest of the Lincolnshire Regiment, which was
awarded the Sphinx emblem and Honour EGYPT
for service under Wellington in 1801]

FOR EVER IN OUR THOUGHTS

This is one of the 40% of war graves that bears a personal message at the end (for which the family had to pay 3½d per letter).

 

 

Right: The photograph of Anthony Kimber laid at the foot of that grave