History - Rose & Crown Public House

History of the Rose & Crown Public House

(and nearby)

General Introduction

The pint-sized Rose and Crown is of interest historically, as it reflects the development of central north Oxford in the last century. The land upon which it stands, between St. Giles church and the village of Summertown, was farmland owned by St. John’s College. Speculators combined to buy up land and build houses there.

At North Parade (the word ‘Avenue’ hadn’t been added yet), the land “between the turnpike roads” was parcelled up into 42 lots which were sold at auction at the Horse & Jockey PH (Woodstock Road) in May 1832.

Two of the lots – numbers 28 and 29 – were designated as the sole possible sites for the construction of a “public house or beer–hall” but these failed to find a purchaser. Nearly four years later, in 1836, one of these lots was bought privately by 25 year old^*1 Daniel Stokes, a servant who was married to Harriet Quartermain.

The demands of a growing family make it clear that Daniel Stokes was unable to do more than to build a cottage on the site & make a living as a market gardener, under which profession he appears in the censuses of 1851 & 1861.

In 1863, he was reminded of the covenant and built the public house that consisted of one small bar. In 1867 he named it the Rose and Crown.

Ten years later, in 1877, Daniel was probably thinking of taking retirement since he sold the house as a going concern to Halls Brewery. Will Stokes, continued as tenant of the pub, and in 1887, Daniel’s nephew, Harry, took over as licensee remaining till 1925.

The Stokes family were involved with the runnong ran the R&C for almost sixty-two years.

This was nearly matched by the Woodward family who reigned for 41 years, when Arthur took over in 1935 followed by his widow and then his son, Gordon.

Alice and Tim Thomas were the incumbents for the next 8 years.

The Hall family, Deborah (formerly Debbie) and Andrew taking the reins on February 21st, 1983. In 2007 Adam, their son, joined them and they are all still there!

1157 – 1862

8th September 1157
King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) was born less than a mile from where the Rose and Crown stands, at Beaumont Palace. He was crowned King of England in 1189.

1209
Dissatisfied students from Oxford found the University of Cambridge.

1330
Parliament of England meets at Osney Abbey.

1536
Dissolution of the Monasteries: Rewley Abbey dissolved
1538
Greyfriars dissolved.
1539
Gloucester College, Osney Abbey and Godstow nunnery dissolved.
1540
St Mary’s College dissolved.

1646
Founded by 1646,Halls Oxford Brewery Ltd., Swan Brewery, 32-34 End Street, Oxford, Oxon. as the Swan Brewery, Paradise Garden. Acquired by William Hall 1795. Registered in December 1896 to acquire Hall & Co. From April 1899 all brewing was concentrated at the City Brewery. A list of Halls public houses.
27th April Charles I escaped the siege of Oxford on Horseback.

14th October 1784
Oxford chemist, pastry chef and Englands first aeronaut & baloonist, James Sadler took off in his hot air balloon from the vast fields by Merton College, and rose to around 3,600 ft (1097m) in the air. He flew for about 30 minutes and made it four miles (6.4km) to Woodeaton. He was brought back to the city an “an absolute hero”, according to his biographer Richard O Smith. “They took the horses off his carriage and the townspeople pulled his carriage all around Oxford for hours,” he said.
Read more at the “Morris Oxford” blog …

The first “New Theatre” was also built in 1836, and a second in 1886. In 1908, the Dorrill family took over the venue and finally in 1934, the third Theatre opened; the ‘New Theatre’. Stanley Dorrill masterminded the rebuilding of the theatre as we know it today. He commissioned a new building from the well-known theatre architects William and T.R. Milburn of Sunderland. The Milburns developed the decadent art-deco interior with T.P Bennett and Sons, who also designed the Saville Theatre in London.

1852
The Varsity Line, the Oxford to Cambridge railway line opens.

1863 – 1872

1863
Daniel Stokes, “Beerseller” builds and opens the Rose and Crown. (February 21st?).

1869
Oxford University Rugby Football Club (OURFC) has a long and illustrious history of sporting distinction and remains one of the world’s leading and most renowned amateur rugby clubs. Founded in 1869, some fifteen months before the foundation of the Rugby Football Union, the story of rugby in Oxford is nearly as old as that of rugby itself.
NB: 1-8-22 – During this time, more than 300 Oxford players have gained representative International honours; including Phil de Glanville, Joe Roff, Tyrone Howe, Anton Oliver, Simon Halliday, David Kirk and Rob Egerton. Oxford remains a breeding ground for Internationals our two most recent being Tom Mitchell (England 7’s Captain) and Will Rowlands (Wales) who received his first cap in the 2020 Six Nations.

1872
10th February
Just 500 mtrs from the Rose and Crown, in the University Parks, Oxford win the inaugural Men’s Rugby Varsity Match by one goal to nil, This match becoming one of the world’s longest running sporting fixtures.
Adnams Brewery is founded at Southwold, Suffolk. Adnams Southwold Bitter is the only ‘not local’ draught bitter served at the Rose and Crown and remains the ‘session ale’ to this day.
[In 1902 Jack and Pierce Loftus acquire a steak in the Adnams brewery. In the early 1990‘s Adnams Southwold Bitter becomes the R&C session ale. 2004(?) Simon Piers Dominic Loftus OBE (Chairman) visits the R&C.].

1896 – 1963

1896
The Halls brewery can trace its heritage back to the 17th century and in 1896 became Halls Oxford & West Brewing Company, until 1926 when taken over by Allsopp’s, along with 300 pubs. A distribution depot on Park End Street was retained, and in 1980 Ind Coope, then a brewing giant, brought back the Hall’s name for its local pubs, introducing the “Hall’s Hare” ceramic plaques that can still be seen on nearly 50 pubs around the county today, including the Rose and Crown.

NB: The word change on the tile, from Halls Oxford & West Brewing Company ( above) to Halls Oxford & West Brewery Company.
Indeed I remember in the mid 1970’s the company was called Halls Oxford, Watford & West Brewery Company.
Oh! And low and behold any publican who added an apostrophe into Halls!

1893
September, Francis Twining applied for a licence for the North Parade stores, where he had a grocer’s shop. [By 1915 Francis (in partnership with his son Ernest) had six Twining Brothers branches throughout Oxford: the original shop at 23/24 St Ebbe’s Street, 53 Cornmarket Street; 16 North Parade Avenue, 46 High Street; 56 St Aldate’s street, and 294 Banbury Road.
1935 Twining still had six shops, but some were in larger premises: 15–19 George Street; 164 Cowley Road; 15 North Parade Avenue [editor: typo? 16?]; 83 & 84 High Street; 294 Banbury Road; and 3 Woodstock Road. By 1976 the only branches that survived were at 16 North Parade Avenue and 3 Woodstock Road.] Read more …

1901 Sarah Acland 10, Park Town

1905 Andrea Angel 15, Banbury Road

1908
The very first motorcycle race held at Brooklands was won by an Oxford undergraduate.

1930 Frank and Ethel Bellamy 2, Winchester Road

October 13th, 1949
Plans are submitted to Oxford City Council, by the Rose and Crown, to build new men’s lavatory. There was NO ladies lavatory at the public house at this time and upon threat of closure from the Oxford City Magistrates, Halls Oxford Brewery decided to renovate the men’s for the use of the ‘Ladies’ and build a new lavatory, to the rear of the building, with urinal and w.c. for the “Gents”.
At the same time, they constructed a lobby inside the front door of the public house, presumably to keep the public house warmer in the winter months.

Term Time 1976
David Williams of Mansfield College (and occasionally guesting (?) for St.Peter’s) bought his all conquering student darts team to challenge the Rose and Crown PH.
They defeated the Rose and Crown.
During the visit the landlord asked David if he could play for the R&C football team the following Sunday.
Despite his acceptance of an invitation to a jolly good party at Marlow the night before, David agreed to turn out for the R&C footballers.
… and yes, you’ve guessed, the team triumphed with David scoring his greatest ever hangover hat trick!

March 1st, 1981
SCREAM was founded at the Rose and Crown by three Oriel college students, Rupert W alter s, Mark Bentley and Barry Larkin.
The acronym reads: “The Society for the Complete Removal of all Electronic Amusement Machines” [… from public houses]. Hear! Hear!

1982 20 Lathbury Road

21st February 1983
Debris and Andrew Hall take the license

22nd February 1983
First day frenetics over, Andrew and Debbie settled to the work of serving the locals and making a living. Opening at 10.30am, it was past midday and a long, nervous wait, until their FIRST CUSTOMER walked in the door, professor Peter Rivière. (half pint of Ind Coope bitter and taramasalata with pitta!)

Alice and Tim Thomas

November 1976
Alice and Tim become the Rose and Crown licensees and become Britain’s youngest ever pub tenants.

April 7th, 1979
Alice and Tim marry.

21st February 1983,
the day after leaving the public house, Alice and Tim are delivered of a baby daughter, she is named Rosa.
In the summer of 2021, we received an email from Alice and Tim full of facts and some great photos. Tim wrote:
I was full of nostalgia and visiting friends in Oxford last weekend. On return home I found a website called ‘Oxford’s lost pubs’ which was an eye opener, but I was delighted to see the Rose and Crown NOT listed and proceeded to your website …
One correction to make, our daughter born a day after leaving is named Rosa not Rose, but a shame to spoil the symmetry !! [our apologies Rosa].
We have dozens of photographs in scrapbooks and I have had a great laugh revisiting them just now. A majority of them are of us and various customers … I attach a few of the exterior, bar and back yard. …

Alice and Tim reminisce … “with a few more memories“, writing:

I don’t recall Annie Woodward (our predecessor) having any beer pumps, a jug was used to transport ale from the cellar. There was definitely no lager of any description. Anyway the brewery made sure I had draught Skol, Ind Coope bitter and Double Diamond (which nobody drank). The bitter was served under pressure through 2 gravity taps and pipe cleaning involved a bucket in the cellar and a stirrup pump. We also stocked a number of bottled beers which are rarely seen in pubs nowadays; Bottled Guinness, Light ale, Manns brown, Holsten Pils, Carlsberg Special Brew, Worthington White Shield and an odd one called Arctic Lite which was supposed to help drinkers on a diet. Cider was served from litre bottles of Norfolk Dry and wine by the glass was non existent till about 1980. Eventually 2 beer engines were fitted on my insistence, Burton Ale and Halls Harvest were then on tap, the latter according to one regular never got you drunk, which is odd because he drank it and often was ! Draught Guinness came too, along with Skol Special which was very popular among our most dangerous customers and Ansells Mild, always served with a pint of froth.

Food was very basic, to start with pork pies and scotch eggs from a Bowyers van salesman. They were kept on display in a glass cabinet on the bar top and stayed there till they were sold, sell by dates etc didn’t feature then. Thank goodness for Colman’s mustard. We brought in a sandwich menu and invested in a sandwich toaster. We employed someone to do them at lunchtime, which involved a lot of running up and down the back stairs to feed the multitude of foreign students whose diet seemed to be exclusively “sandwich and coke please ” A member of the local Dangerous Sports Club used to ask for an all in sandwich which consisted of everything on the menu between 2 slices of bread, I never knew what to charge him. Oven cooked sausages became an occasional favourite followed by a Cadbury’s Creme Egg.

Heating was always a problem in both bars and in the cellar which was freezing in winter and too hot in the summer. There was a coal fire in the back bar which belched out smoke when it felt like it and didn’t really heat the room. We attempted to clean the chimney once which involved a sack of bricks on a rope dropped down the chimney stack on the roof and a crate of Pils for refreshment. Result was thick soot throughout the pub and purchase of a gas fire. The front room had a gas fire too which Jack the local gardener used to sit in front of when wet and just steam……An old electric clothes drier handed down from parents was installed in the cellar to try and raise the temperature. A more sophisticated cellar cooling system was added near the end of our tenure.

There was a bar billiards table in the passageway next to the ladies loo wall, you could only play from one side with a full sized cue, a half sized one was provided for shots from the right hand side. It went eventually when more seating space was necessary.

When we arrived the back yard had been used by the Woodwards for rearing chickens (I caught scabies from some resulting spores), so barrow loads of chicken waste had to be wheeled through the pub before the yard could be made usable, It was made level and picnic benches added for a pleasant alfresco experience!! The sheds housed soft drinks, we got through crates and crates of lemonade having no postmix on tap.

The cottage was a bit of a white elephant; floors and roof were unsafe and the brewery offered to fix it up but also offered a massive rent increase. Jack the gardener did stay in it for a short while … .

1981 –

1982 20 Lathbury Road

21st February 1983
Debris and Andrew Hall take the license

… for more history, scroll down.

The Rose and Crown “in print”.

Colin Dexter, famed for his Inspector Morse novels, lived nearby and generously gives the R&C a mention in “The Way Through The Woods“. The tenth novel in the Inspector Morse series. It received the Gold Dagger Award in 1992.
This book marks the death from natural causes of Morse’s pathologist friend Max, whose name was revealed as Maximillian de Bryn.
ISBN 0-333-58373-6 Hard cover, paperback, aodio and kindle.

Sharon Bolton is a British author of mystery fiction (aka S.J. Bolton) and the author of ten novels, including the Lacey Flint series of police procedural novels. Her latest novel (Summer 2021) is called “The Pact” and mentions the R&C.
Attrib.: Emma Woolacott

Sunday Mag

27th September 1992
City Barge (Boat Club, Oxford) … is founded at a meeting in the Cottage at the “Rose and Crown” public house in North Parade, Oxford on 27th September 1992. Its stated aim was “to promote the use and enjoyment of hand-powered boats on the Isis and elsewhere”. The club adopted the rose and the crown as its emblems.
The late Richard Norton was the main founder of the club and arranged most of the early outings, writing news of these and other interesting topics several times a year via a newsletter called “Waves and Reflections”.

15th June 2006, Thursday.
GIMBLES and North Parade Post Office closed. The shop at 12 North Parade Avenue, sold stationary, tobacco, cards, iced lollies and was the ‘sweet shop’ for generations of schoolchildren who browsed several shelves of sweets displayed in large jars. However, most importantly it housed the local Post Office. At the time of the closure the tenants, Tim and Elaine Newbold were unable to contact the freeholder, Peter Brewer, to negotiate a new tenancy. This uncertainty led them to forgo their tenants rights and leave. Before leaving they (had to?) close the Post Office. A massive loss to the ‘wealth’ of North Parade Avenue.

10th October 2010
“Oxford” by Ben Walker is performed for the first time, to listen CLICK HERE. A great deal of artistic license was involved … but great fun!

21st October 2010
With Punch Taverns, the owners of the R&C in fiscal turmoil, they sell the freehold to the tenants (Mr. & Mrs Andrew Hall) and it becomes a freehouse again, after 133 years as a tenancy.

Thursday lunchtimes 2011
The late professor Ray Billington, in addition to Tintern and London, runs pub philosophy with mature students on Thursdays at 1.15pm -3.00pm. The cost is £3. This year they are using as their basis a glossary of philosophical terms, and three or four of these are debated each week.

27th September 2012
Twentieth anniversary lunch of CITY BARGE and lunch capped off with two cakes with the club logos of a rose and a crown.

16th August 2020
Discovered in the storeroom in a box called “Interest”. With the exception of Mrs Pearson’s letter, NOTHING is dated.
1. A typed letter, as follows:

nn, local botley road,
Oxford
19th March, 1989.

Dear Mr. Hall,
I am enclosing “photo coppies” of my Aunt Norah Cotmore, who was born at the Rose & Crown.
My cousin’s daughter & I decided to try and come and see you later on and will bring some more photos then when I can explain them. I will phone you before if possible.
Yours truly
signed by the hand – J.E.Pearson (Mrs)

Sadly, neither the telephone call, to my knowledge, nor the meeting happened.

2. In absentia?

A typed note (to accompany the photographs ?) that reads:

The COTMORES.
My Aunt Norah Cotmore was born in the Rose and Crown.
The pictures of her & uncle are taken in the garden of the cottage at the Royal Oak.
My uncle ran the first bus service to Boar’s Hill hence the photo.

3. The “photocopies”of 5 photographs.

a. a picture from a newspaper (?) with text that reads,”Mr. and Mrs Cotmore, of nn, north north oxford street, Oxford whose golden wedding anniversary is today. Mr. and Mrs Cotmore, kept the Royal Oak in Woodstock Road, for 25 years. Nine years ago their son, Mr. Gordon Cotmore, took over from them. Mr.T. Cotmore is 73 and Mrs Cotmore 69.”

b. Mrs. N Cotmore. (taken at the Royal Oak)

c. Mr. T. Cotmore. (taken at the Royal Oak)

d. Mrs Pearson’s uncle (see note above) standing with a boy in front of a bus with the registration plate MO 361.

e. Group photograph, [?? guests at Jo..?…. wedding and the Cotmore’s ??], (taken at the Royal Oak).

COMMENT by ARH: This is not the first time that I’ve heard/read of a close tie between the Rose and Crown (North Parade) and the Royal Oak (Woodstock Road).

^*1 Jeff Stokes 26-6-12 scroll down

Licensees to date:
The Stokes Family, 65 years
1. 1863 Daniel Stokes – “Beerseller”
1. 1867 Daniel Stokes – “Beer retailer”
1. 1868 Daniel Stokes – “The Rose and Crown”
2. 1877 Will(iam) Stokes (b: 1834 d:1915)
3. 1882 Harry Stokes – Daniel Stokes nephew
4. 1884 George West
5. 1887 Harry Stokes
6. 1916 Mrs E Stokes^*2 – Harry Stokes daughter-in-law
7. 1925 Chas Wallington^*2 – married Elizabeth Stokes
8. 1928 Joseph Leighton
The Woodward Family, 41 years
9. 1935 Annie & Arthur Woodward (Arthur dies in 1955)
10. 1956 Annie Woodward (Annie dies in 1985)
11. 1976 Alice & Timothy Thomas
12. 1983 Debbie & Andrew Hall

^2 Jeff Stokes 26-6-12 scroll down*

SUMMARY of OWNERS of the Rose and Crown PH
1795 – Hall’s Oxford Brewery Ltd. founded at 32/34 Park End Street. Registered in December 1896 to acquire Hall & Co.
When did the brewery buy the R&C?
1863 – Daniel Stokes
1877 – Ind Coope
1925 – Ind Coope merges with Samuel Allsopp & Sons and they close the ‘City Brewery’.

1959 – Ind Coope (Allsopp’s name is dropped)
1961 – Allied Breweries formed in a merger between Ind Coope (Burton), Ansells (Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (Leeds)
1970 – Ind Coope Oxford, Watford and West becomes Ind Coope Retail

1980 – 31st December, Halls Oxford and West Brewery Company Limited a regional company of Allied Breweries.
1992 – Allied merge with Carlsberg, known as Carlsberg-Tetley, that begat the Carlsberg Group, that begat Carlsberg UK.
1992 – Sycamore Taverns, formed 30th April in response to the ’87 Beer Orders Act, dissolved 15 October 2019.
1995 – Inn Business Group plc.
1999 – September, Punch Pub Company aka Punch Taverns.
2000 – 19 August – Punch Taverns (PTL) Ltd.
2010 – 21st October, Halls Oxford Limited, directors: Debbie and Andrew Hall.
2017 – 30th November, Halls Oxford Limited appoint their son, Adam Daniel Wood Hall, as General Manager for the family and a director.

The STOKES FAMILY

In the spring of 2012 Debbie Hall [landress] received a telephone call from JEFF STOKES, living at Adelaide, Australia !

“… all we have at present is a mention of the Rose and Crown at North Parade on our (Stokes) grandfather’s side.”

Further research by Jeff Stokes

… reveals that Will or William was Daniel and Harriet’s son, born 1834, one year after they married in 1833. William married Anne Goddard in 1856 and after that I lose him until 1871 when they lived in Oxford St.Giles(Rose and Crown). I cannot directly connect William to Harry, my great grandfather. Harry’s parents were George and Matilda Stokes of Oxford St.Paul, I have the certificates. There is obviously a family connection, but what that is I do not know at present. Our grandfather was there in 1891, but not in 1901 when he was 18, which would probably be correct in those days. So my research tells me your history is correct in that William is Daniel and Harriet’s son, but my great grandfather, Harry, is not William’s son. I know Harry is my great ^*1 grandfather because his wife’s name was Elizabeth Bell Dalrymple, that is on our grandfather’s birth cert. One other minor point, I think Daniel was only25 when he bought the land, not 35.

mail received 26th June 2012: Harry and Elizabeth Stokes shown in 1881 census at Rose and Crown are my great grandparents, he was shown as the innkeeper, but at this time Will Stokes is in your History as the Licensee. This is possible, innkeeper may not hold license. Connecting Will to Harry is proving difficult to be 100% sure of. Daniel and Harriet appear to have had a son named William in 1834, but Harry’s parents, George and Matilda of St. Paul, also appear to have had a son, William, in 1841. Thus Will could be Harry’s uncle OR his brother. I have Harry and Elizabeth’s wedding cert., married at St. Paul’s church in 1874, Harry’s father was George Stokes who was also a witness. Harry was also christened there on 13th.Aug. 1848. His parents, George and Matilda, lived in Observation St. in what is now called Jericho, I think. It is possible that Harry’s father, George Stokes, born 1809, don’t know where, was Daniel Stokes’s brother. He was born in 1811 at Minster in Thanet, Kent. Harriet Quartermaine, Daniel’s wife was born in 1809 at Chislehampton, Oxfordshire in the Garsington district.

It is hard to nail down because there may have been more than one couple called Daniel and Harriet Stokes and more than one George and Matilda Stokes in the period in question.

If Will is Daniel and Harriet’s son, born 1834, 1 year after they married, he married Anne Goddard in 1856 and died in Headington district in 1915.

^*2 Also, one odd thing in your history, it says Harry’s wife, Mrs. C Stokes took over the license from 1916 until 1925. Harry’s wife’s name was Elizabeth, formerly Dalrymple. Is it possible Elizabeth died or left and Harry re-married? Should the C really be an E??

(edit: scroll down to para starting December 2^nd, 2014)

If any of this rings any bells with anyone, please get back to me. By the way, the 1881 census is FREE, you can see Harry, Elizabeth and children all at the Rose and Crown!

mail received 22nd July 2012: Harry Stokes’s father, George, was Daniel Stokes’s brother or a relative from Kent. I think Daniel was born at Minster, Kent in 1811 and George was born close by at Sandwich in about 1805. I should get Harry’s birth Cert, this week from Oxford Registry office and that will confirm his parents. Still have no real info on which William was your licensee. Daniel’s son William lived in Cranham St. Jericho in 1881 and he is shown as a compositor. Harry is shown at Rose and Crown in 1881, but I know he lived in Jericho in 1883.

Daniel and Harriet are shown in Kent in 1881 with grandson, another link with Kent. Stokes Family, received 29th July 2012 It looks as though Harry’s father, George, was Daniel’s brother, both born in Kent, not far apart, both had parents called George and Elizabeth. They both appear in Oxford records in early 1830’s and in Saint Giles Oxford. The thing that clouded the mix was Harry’s mother, Matilda, was his father’s 2nd wife, so the William born 1841 is his half brother. Harry’s father is also listed as a gardener/farmer and in your history, Daniel initially ran the plots as a market garden.

The big mystery is who the Will or William in your history is. I think Daniel and Harriet had a son, William, born 1834, but I am fairly sure in 1881 census he was living in Cranham St. with new wife and children from both marriages and he was listed as a compositor. (Clarendon Press just down Walton St.) His younger sister, Louisa Jane at same address with her family. I think it is possible that your William is Harry’s half brother and that Daniel and George may have run the land to-gether, but Daniel appeared in the records because he could write. I have Harry’s wedding cert. and his father made his mark on it, indicating he could not write.

I quite realize that this deviates from your history before Harry and the list of licensees does not match other dates, but the licensee may have been a silent partner.

mail received 20th August 2012: Recently received Harry Stokes’s birth cert. and his parents wedding certificate. Harry was born at 7, Observatory Street, Saint Giles, Oxford (Jericho) and it confirms his parents were George and Matilda Stokes. His mother was George’s 2nd wife and this caused some confusion about older brothers, one of which was William Stokes, born 1841, but I can’t find him after 1861.

Harry’s parents wedding cert. is very interesting, it confirms his father was a widower and that his father, Harry’s grandfather, was indeed another George Stokes. The most interesting thing is that one of the witnesses of the marriage was Daniel Stokes, the founder of your pub and this is further confirmation that Harry’s father, George and Daniel were brothers from the Isle of Thanet in Kent, parents George and Elizabeth. So, Daniel Stokes was Harry’s uncle.

The 2 brothers seem to have come to Oxford from Kent in the early 1830’s. George Stokes and Sally Ann Hunt were married at Faversham in 1829, but had a daughter, Sophia, in 1932, christened at Saint Giles, Oxford and Daniel Stokes married Harriet Quartermaine in 1833 at Saint Giles, Oxford. Daniel and Harriet had a son, William, born 1834 at Saint Giles, Oxford. I am sure I have the link between Daniel and Harry, BUT, I cannot find how William Stokes fits in or which one had the license.

Harry’s half brother seems to be missing after 1861 census and I am sure that the William Stokes in the 1881 census living at 50, Cranham Street with his 2nd wife, older children by 1st wife and his younger sister’s family is Daniel and Harriet’s son born in 1834, he is shown as a compositor and Clarendon Press is just down Walton Street. In the same census, Daniel and Harriet, aged 70, are shown living or staying in a cottage at St. Lawrence, near Ramsgate on the Isle Of Thanet with a grandson who is the eldest of William’s younger sister already mentioned. Phew!! In 1881, William is listed as the licensee, so cannot make sense of it.

Another little tit bit I found, George West, another licensee, is in the 1881 census, born Chinnor, Oxfordshire in 1843 and listed as a Licensed Victualler at Wycombe.

Sorry it’s a bit long winded, I’m sure now my direct line leaves the Rose and Crown after Harry, although it looks as though George Stokes may have been involved on the land which Daniel or both of them bought. I wonder why they both came to Oxford around 1830. Best Wishes,

mail received September 18th, 2012: Rose’n’Crown history, The last marriage cert. I told you about has virtually finished my research into my paternal line in Oxford, but as Daniel Stokes was a witness on that marriage cert. in 1846, I would like to find out how the family and your pub are interconnected. I also know you would like to confirm some things, like when the pub was built. There is a researcher, Jennie .. Regards,

mail received 7th November 2012: Rose & Crown/Stokes family. I made contact with St John’s College, looking for proof and/or a list of licensees and looking at available sources and possible avenues to follow.

The archivist at St John’s was very obliging, but sadly had nothing of any use whatsoever for us. His basic answer was ” **St. John’s has never owned North Parade; it was* *one of a few segments of North Oxford that have never been ours.”** and so was never sold by them as leasehold plots. I must say I find this a little puzzling as I have found various references that talk about St John’s College and landownership in North Oxford. I may need to question him more fully at some point, but for now will take his answer to be true. This means that the sale that (according to the existing pub history) happened in May 1833 at the Horse and Jockey did not involve St John’s. Such a sale or auction would have been advertised in the local paper and evidence of such can probably be found fairly easily in the local paper of the time.

I would also like to take as look at the St Giles enclosure map of 1832 to check the detail of the plots of land situated in North Parade and see if they are freehold or leasehold and in whose name they are held. We would then know who (in theory) Daniel bought or leased the land from. I can also see if any pre-enclosure maps exist for the area that show what was there prior to the ‘cottage’ that Daniel built.

Derek S Honey in his ‘Encyclopaedia of Oxford Pubs, Inns and Taverns’ claims that the site was originally a group of farm cottages, which were part of a market garden owned by Daniel Stokes in 1836. He says it was in 1865 that Daniel apparently ‘converted’ one of these cottages into a small pub of 2 rooms with a passageway to the cottage at the rear. Mr Honey also claims that a William Stokes became a tenant in the pub for Hall’s Brewery until 1882 when it was taken over by his wife Harriot (!) and then their son Harry. Unfortunately he fails to reference these statements and so where is his evidence I wonder. Paul Marriott’s Oxford Pubs Past & Present published in 1978 may be where he has taken the buildings information from. This does give a bibliography of 14 items some of which would be worth checking out.

With regard to the list of licencees……
From 1552 onwards anyone who wanted to sell ale had to apply for a licence at the Quarter Sessions or Petty Sessions (the equivalent of Magistrates Court today). They also had to declare that they would not keep a ‘disorderly house’. These declarations were called recognizances or bonds and the History Centre holds bundles of these where they exist from the 18th & 19th century, however searching through them for particular documents is very time consuming. Registers of recognizances and licences also do exist but only survive for sporadic periods as records fell into abeyance after 1828. Sadly they often just name individuals and possibly the parish they came from, with no indication of the pub. In Oxfordshire the Quarter Sessions are indexed up to 1830 and there are 4 volumes of Victuallers Registers (QSD/V/1-4) dated 1753-1822 so no good for our purposes, but there are Petty sessions records from 1902-1925 for Oxford City. The University also had the power to grant licences but the records I have found are too early for our purposes.

Harry Stokes was licensed by the city (reference volume: PS7/A12/1) from at least 1900. The tenancy was then transferred a Frederick John Stokes (his son?) on 7th December 1915. Frederick of 14 North Parade (boot & shoe maker and licensed victualler) dies in 1919 and the licence is taken up by his wife Mrs C Stokes. Her maiden name was Cicely Hannah Barnes and there is evidence of a marriage beween her and a Frederick Stokes in 1911. Charles H Wallington becomes the licencee on 10th July 1923 and Joseph Leighton on 12th October 1926. The owner of the alehouse in 1900 (as it is described) was indeed Hall’s Oxford Brewery Ltd so it would appear that Harry was a tenant of Halls. There is also a Register of Wine Licences which shows that Harry Stokes of the Rose & Crown, North Parade paid 5 shillings to be able to sell wine at his alehouse. This licence is issued on 18th December 1907 and was renewed each year until 1915 when Frederick J Stokes is listed as having the licence. His name is crossed out after 1917 and Cicely Stokes takes on the licence from 18th December 1918 until 1921. There are no more entries in the volume after this.

Trade directories are the other way to fill in the gaps. I could start at 1900 and work backwards checking both under publicans and the street address. It seems likely that initially the ‘pub’ was just the front room of a cottage and that Daniel had another source of employment i.e market gardener. There appears to have been a vast amount of market gardening going on in between the turnpike roads with various individuals leasing off bits of land to others. I should imagine that they were growing produce for the university.

So my next hour could be to check for evidence of the land auction in the local paper (Jackson’s Oxford Journal), look at the evidence of ownership and building on the St Giles enclosure map of 1832 and work out, using the census material where the 2 Williams were in 1881, which seems to be a crucial time for the handing over of the tenancy. This is also the time when Daniel supposedly ‘sold’ the pub to Hall’s Brewery and I have discovered that the History Centre holds a collection of Hall’s Brewery papers that cover the 19th century so that may be another avenue to follow up later along with the trade directories. Stokes/Rose-n-Crown, received 08 November 2012

I’m mainly interested in how my direct line was connected to the pub and George seems only to be involved as a market gardener until the pub starts roughly. So it appears Harry is the only one of my line connected and George was not involved in the purchase of the land in 1836. I still do not have 100% proof that George and Daniel are brothers, but I have nailed the father and mother at Minster in Thanet, George Senior baptised there in 1775.

I see where the confusion comes in about William being Harry’s father, but Harriet would be Harriet, Daniel’s wife and therefore William’s mother or maybe auntie. I am as sure as I can be that Daniel and Harriet’s son, William, is the one at Cranham St. in 1881 census with 2nd wife Elizabeth and a compositor. Born 1834, not 1836.

The mystery of licensee, Mrs. C. Stokes, is solved, she is Frederick John’s wife. He was the last of the 4 children who appear to have been born at the pub between 1878and 1882. My grandfather was born in 1883 at Clarendon Buildings, St. Thomas Oxford. The details about Frederick John are the same as mine. I think Harry was running the pub for some years, but maybe not the licensee, say 1877 ‘til 1882 or 1883. George West replaced him.

I agree about the land being advertised, one or both saw something and they came up from Kent. I’d say Daniel was the motivator as George may not have been literate, made his mark on certs. Daniel was probably first as he met and married Harriet from Chiselhampton by 1833. George’s child was christened at St Giles church in 1832, as were Adam Hall (1987) and Annabel Hall (1994) the children of the present licencees.

The 1881 census was my best tool, it shows where they all are on the same date except Harry’s brother, William and their father, George, had passed in 1880.

mail received 5th December 2012:I think a “Spring Van” would be a type vehicle used by carriers and would be sought after because it was enclosed and on springs, like the old baker’s van, but with solid wheels. Sending this to point out that in 1880 entry there is a W. Stokes at Rose and Crown and William Stokes at 50, Cranham St., as per 1881 census. Does this indicate that the William in pub history is NOT Daniel’s son, but another W. Stokes and could be Harry’s older brother William or Will??? Also, is there any way of telling whether the house numbers in North Parade Avenue were the same in 1850’s as they are now? Daniel lived at no.22 in 1851 and the pub is no.14 now. In the certs. I have, George Stokes lived at 7, Observatory Street in 1846 and 1848, in your info he clearly cont’d to live there until about 1870, then moved to Cranham Street around 1872. Harry’s address on marriage cert. in 1874 is no2, Cranham Street, his father, George is a carrier, so that all fits. Also it is clear on the marriage cert. that Harry and wife, Elizabeth, were both literate and signed their names in a good hand. George Stokes made his mark.

mail received 7th December 2012: … Both George and Daniel had career changes in the early 1850’s. George was a gardener in 1848 and Daniel was a gardener in 1851 census. In 1853, Daniel is a victualler at the Cross Keys and George is a carrier, if “spring vans” is a form cart. In 1875 entry, William Stokes is mentioned at Leckford Road, if Leckford Road was in St Giles, this will be Daniel’s eldest son, the compositor with 1st wife Anne who died in 1876. In this entry Daniel is at the pub. The 1880 entry from Oxford Post Office, I think, is the most interesting, it shows a Stokes, W. at the pub and Stokes, William at 50, Cranham Street which is where Daniel’s eldest lived in 1881 census. If these are 2 separate people, who is Stokes, W. at the pub in 1880 entry??????? Also it shows Harry is at the pub in 1883, is it possible the Harriet in your list of licensees is a misspelt Harry, it could be either as Harriet is Daniel’s wife.

received 13th November 2012: Ale wives, first I’ve heard of “ ‘ale wives house”, but she did solve who the licensee, Mrs. C Stokes, was. It was Harry’s daughter-in-law.

DEFINE ALE WIVES:
Drinking alcohol daily was a common practice between 1300–1700.^[14] At this time, the quality of water was so poor that alcohol was preferred for taste. Drinking was so prevalent at the time that workers could request to be paid in alcohol instead of monetary wages. While they drank alcohol, (they) did not do so for inebriation but rather as sustenance for daily life in place of other common drinks such as water. . As the publican, I understood that the womenfolk stayed at home and brewed good ale for their menfolk after a hard days work. The 'brewing' was straightforward but time consuming and their ale had a 'best before' period of 24 hours! So it was a daily chore, and as is, when creating your ale, some were better than others. This lead to 'bartering', where one 'wife' in a street might become responsible for creating the ale for their community whilst another 'wife' might do washing, another growing vegetables, etc.. Over the centuries, a street became a borough, became a town, became a city, became a region, etc.

mail received 17th November 2012: Annie Stokes, Oxford Registry Office have confirmed the address on the birth cert. of Annie Stokes, born June quarter, 1878 is North Parade. This is the first child of Harry and Elizabeth Stokes and it indicates that they were at the pub in early 1878 at least and I know they lived at Clarendon Buildings in late 1883 where my grandfather was born. In the 1881 census, Harry is shown as an innkeeper with an address of Rose and Crown, North Parade Avenue which sounds as though it was a licensed premises in 1881. George West is shown in the 1881 census as a licensed victualler at Wycombe and he probably took over from Harry from 1884 until 1887. My point is that it sounds like a licensed premises and that Harry was there from at least 1878 even if he was NOT the licensee. I hope that makes sense!

mail received 28th November 2012: I 'googled' North Parade the other night and found a Wikipedia piece on it. It mainly reflected what is in your history, but with an added piece about shops starting in North Parade around 1855 and in South Parade, Summertown in 1859. It is worth a look. I was looking for no. 22 as Daniel and family lived there in 1851, all the nos. must have changed since then. I think the 1861 and 1871 census results will tell us a lot about where Daniel and George lived and what their job was. We know Daniel lived at North Parade in 1851 and I know George and Matilda(Harry's parents) lived in Observatory Street in 1846 and 1848. We also know that Harry's children were born at North Parade between 1878 and 1882, but my grand father was born in 1883 at Clarendon Buildings behind the Press, so Harry was at the pub from at least 1878 until 1882, but not in 1883.

mail received 3rd December 2012: I have taken a look at the St Giles enclosure map of 1832 and gone through the trade directories.

St Giles enclosure. The enclosure maps and awards are often really useful ways of accessing landownership. The parish of St Giles had an enclosure map drawn up in 1832 and it records the portions and owners of land in the parish. Enclosure was the process which (in effect) ended the traditional rights of people using 'common land', this land of course was usually in the hands of the manorial lord and not free land. By enclosing the owners had exclusive rights and it allowed owners to exchange and consolidate areas of scattered property.

The St Giles map (QS/D/A volE) was drawn up in a scale of 6 chains to an inch, a land surveyors measurement. 1 chain =100 links, or 4 poles or 66 feet, and 1 mile =80 chains. Using some string and some colleagues opinions and calculations I found what we now know as North Parade Avenue on this map. There are 2 long plots in the midst of land owned by the University (mostly St John's College) which represent the area developed into North Parade and they are clearly marked as being owned by one Richard Carr (Gent) whom I suspect to be related to Alderman Carr, a practising solicitor and 3 times mayor of Oxford. This is interesting as Daniel Stokes is described in 1836 in the parish register at the baptism of his son Frederic James as being a gent's servant – could there be a connection here?

Dr Malcom Graham a colleague of mine, whose doctorate was on the development of the Victorian Suburbs in Oxford supports the idea that the land at that point was undeveloped. He makes the point that in the enclosure period the majority of land was owned by colleges or the church, and that private landowners were by contrast barely represented. He singles out Richard Carr as the owner of a 2 acre estate on the west side of the Banbury Road claiming he was the only one to have a substantial impact on the development of the suburb. The Victoria County History (vol5) for the city also cites the enclosure award as the beginning of the development of "some building on freehold land in North Parade". Principal speculative developers around this times being Crews Dudley, County Solicitor, George Kimber, builder and Richard Carr. The first edition Ordnance Survey maps are 1876 and the Rose and Crown is plainly marked on that, but as yet I have not uncovered a map for anytime this and the 1832 map.

mail received December 2^nd, 2014: Cicely H. Stokes is not Harry's wife, she is his daughter-in-law. She married Frederick J. Stokes in 1911 and took over the license in 1916, but Frederick died in 1919. There may have been health problems, so she took over, not him. Here is the good bit, the licensee after Cicely is Charles Wallington. Cicely H. Stokes married Charles H. Wallington in 1923, so the license was still in Cicely's control. I just saw a bit about a Cicely H. Stokes marrying a Charles H. Wallington in Oxford and the name Wallington rang a bell. Sure enough, he's on the list. Cicely H. Wallington died in Oxford in 1967, aged 88.

mail received December 6^th, 2014: Cicely H. Stokes was born Cicely Hannah Barnes in 1878, married Frederick J. Stokes in 1911, was licensee in 1916, Frederick died in 1919, she married Charles Wallington in 1923 who in turn became licensee in 1925. The odd thing is Charles Wallington was 20 years younger than her and they could have had a son 3 months after they married, Cecil H. Wallington, but he was born at Thame.

In the census results, Frederick J. Stokes is listed at the pub, but he is shown as a boot repairer, not assisting in pub.

Cicely H. Wallington died in Oxford in 1967, aged 88.

mail received December 13th, 2014: Cicely Stokes … small technical point, Cicely Stokes was Harry Stokes's daughter-in-law, not Daniel's. [Edit: I've amended "Licensees to date:" above.] She married Frederick J. Stokes who was Harry and Elizabeth's son and born at the pub in 1882. My grandfather was the only child not born at R&C in 1883. I believe Harry and Elizabeth ran the pub from 1877 even if they were not the licensees then, he also carried on his father's carrying business, so I would say she ran the pub in the day while he drove a cart. Were there stables at the pub?

mail received 17th October 2015:Debbie and Andrew. That guy in Adelaide again. I have found some descendants of the youngest daughter of Harry and Elizabeth Stokes. Their grandfather, Tom Cotmore married Norah Agnes Stokes in 1909. The grandson lives in Oxford and the granddaughter lives in Buckingham. They are quite aware of their connection to the Rose and Crown as Harry's wife Elizabeth was quite involved with the upbringing of their father, Gordon Cotmore.

I will keep you informed, best wishes, Jeff Stokes, Largs Bay, SA.

(The relative I found in Adelaide was a false alarm, these are not!)

The Woodward Family, 41 years

mail received 6th June 2015: From: David Brimson Subject: Woodward Family ran the pub.

Regarding the Woodward family that ran the pub. Arthur & Annie’s son was called Dennis William Woodward & not Gordon . How do I know this? My late sister Kay Woodward was Dennis Woodward’s daughter. She sadly passed away on Thursday morning (4th June 2015) aged 72. She sometimes helped out in the pub when younger as did my late mother Doris when married to Dennis before they divorced. Kay had an Airedale dog who lived in the pub too. I have photos of her in the pub.

mail received 7th June 2015: From: David Brimson Subject: Woodward Family ran the pub.

Kay [Woodward] lived with my mum & dad after Doris, my mum remarried in 1954. I remember visiting the pub with Kay in maybe 1978 or so to visit her dad Dennis [Woodward] . He was working there then with his mother Annie [the licensee] though he lived in Headington. She died in 1985 but Arthur died in 1955.

Kay Woodward at the Rose and Crown with her Airedale dog, Trixie.
(AH: I think you’re right, they are just outside the back window in the courtyard.)

mail received 24th April 2018:

A young Dennis Woodward with Trixie in the back of the Rose & Crown, circa 1944.

mail received 10th June 2015:

… The family group is my mum Doris Brimson nee Slade, then her father in law Arthur Charles Woodward with his wife Annie & Kay front.

… Doris Brimson and Dennis Woodward.

… Annie Woodward with her daughter, Kay

Annie with Arthur Charles. I’m not sure if it’s his or her mother. The last one at present is his or her mother again. She is younger but the same woman. Either a Woodward or Painting.

mail received 10th June 2015:
I believe Dennis Woodward (Arthur and Annie’s son]worked at Littlemore Scientific in Railway Lane, Littlemore in the 1980’s as a driver or handyman. Just before the war on his daughter, Kay’s birth certificate his occupation is listed as milk rounds man “”(a milkman). The company are in Dorset now I believe. On Google earth the industrial estate has been redeveloped & maybe houses now, behind Sainsbury.

This is Annie Woodward behind the R&C bar, some things have not changed!

My brother is Gary not Roger which I spotted on your great web site.
Below is the 1911 census for both the Woodward family & Painting’s. Arthur Charles Woodward married Annie Painting in Witney in 1921. Dennis was born in 1921 he married Doris Slade, my mum in 1941. They got divorced the war I believe. Kay was born in 1942 & passed away last week ([(4th June 2015) as a result of an accident that happened last year]. Dennis like mum got re-married again.
Dennis with a monkey, on service with the RN.

A wedding shot from 1911. Joseph Woodward & Lilly King.

Probably Bampton or Aston. This was among my sisters photos.I can see a couple of Woodward’s here & probably the King family too. A great photo to have in your family. Not everyone has a wedding photo from 1911! Arthur Woodward landlord of the Rose & Crown, North Parade is behind the bride left. Then aged 18.

Arthur Woodward is in the middle row far left with the bat, his older brother Joseph Woodward is front left. Bampton or Aston Cricket club?

a visit on October 11^th, 2015:

George Pollitt

Carol Shakespeare and her husband, from Manningtree in Essex, visited us at the Rose and Crown.

Carol’s father, George Pollitt (born at at Barnsley in 1920) and his new wife, Eileen (born at Barnsley in 1921) , were struggling to find accommodation at Oxford, when a room in the Rose and Crown ‘Cottage’ was offered by landlady, Annie Woodward, This was around 1944/5, and they stayed for at least a year.

George Pollitt was a keen member of the bar billiard team and before arriving at Oxford with his new wife, he had served in the Royal Navy as a photographer. In Oxford George worked at the Bodleian Library.

Has anyone any memories, stories, or photographs of George?

1911 Census, Crawley Rd, Witney, Oxon, Folio 156, Piece 5, schedule 178. 8223 Crawley Road, Witney, Oxon

Name relationship age occupation where born

Charles Painting hd 40 Stone mason, builder Bampton, Oxon

Sarah Painting wife 41 Hailey, Oxon

William Painting son 17 masons labourer Hailey, Oxon

John Painting son 15 farm labourer Hailey, Oxon

Ann E Painting daug 13 Hailey, Oxon

Florence Painting daug 11 school New Yatt, Oxon

Charles Painting son 3 Witney, Oxon

1911 Census, Aston, Bampton, Oxon. Folio 156, Piece 2, schedule 94 Bull St, Aston

Name relationship age occupation where born

Richard Woodward hd 52 Journeyman Baker Chipping Norton, Oxon

Selina Woodward wife 55 Aston, Bampton, Oxon

Joseph Henry Woodward son 25 journeyman, carpenter joiner Aston, Bampton, Oxon

Arthur Howard Woodward son 18 apprentice, carpenter joiner Straton St Margaret, Wiltshire

Rose Woodward daughter 15 student Aston, Bampton, Oxon

Arthur and Annie had ??? children, the eldest, Dennis, was a seaman during the war and later worked at Littlemore (hospital?) as an engineer in the mobility unit.

Trade Directories are the equivalent of today’s telephone and yellow pages rolled into one. They were used by travelling salesmen and anyone who needed a person in trade or to know who their local officials were. These volumes were produced yearly but do however have their limitations in that not everyone is always recorded and the information may be out of date if not correctly updated, plus spelling mistakes and typos are nothing new! Anyway I have trawled through a selection of them and have attached a spreadsheet with the extracted information. See what you think, comments welcome. 1863 certainly seems like the date beer began to be sold from premises in North Parade but the name Rose & Crown not used until 1868.

27th January 2016 email from Dave Brimson:
A few more photos of the back of The Rose & Crown.
Kay with her dad Dennis Woodward & Trixie.
There are a couple with Dennis in Navy uniform about 1942.
Cheers….David

Oxford Bar Billiards League Finals & Dance
The Rose and Crown win the Oxford Bar Billards trophy in May 1954
Landlord Athur Woodward accepts the trophy alongside his Rose and Crown team.

WHO ARE THEY??
Could one of them be George Pollitt? (see above)

22nd April 2018: Website contact from Gayle Waiwaiole:
… a descendant of the Woodward family, my paternal grandmother was Rose Woodward, who married an American airman and left England for Portland, Oregon USA where my father was born shortly after WWI. I have been pouring through the wonderful history of the Rose and Crown and plan to visit … with two sisters and my daughter. David Brimson is half brother to our cousin, Kay Woodward … Thank you … Gayle.

24th April 2018: email from Dave Brimson:
Just checked the family tree, (Gayle) is Arthur’s sister. Arthur was the Landlord of your pub. This would be my sister’s great aunt. I only have a birth for her in 1895 but nothing else. I will get in touch and ask if Arthur Woodward, my sister’s other brother would like to contact her being a Woodward too. … Thanks David

Trade Directory Entries

1842
Piggot’s Commercial Directory of Oxfordshire & Berkshire
None found for either Rose & Crown premises or for Daniel as beer seller no evidence for anything going on in North Parade at this point.

1850
Slatter’s Oxford Directory
not listed as public house & Daniel not listed as beer seller

1852
Gardner’s Historical Gazetteer & Directory of the County of Oxford
No Stokes’ listed as beer retailers, publicans or gardeners. Rose & Crown not in Public House list

1853
Lascelles’s Oxfordshire Directory.
A Daniel Stokes is listed as a victualler at the Cross Keys, Queen Street and a George Stokes as the proprietor of ‘spring vans’ in Observatory Street.
What are “spring vans“? AI on the internet suggests:
“In 1850, a spring van was a horse-drawn, four-wheeled vehicle equipped with suspension springs, designed to transport goods or passengers more comfortably and safely than standard unsprung carts. It acted as a general-purpose vehicle for delivery or transport, similar to a modern delivery van or pickup truck.
The key characteristics of a spring van in the 1850s: Suspension: Unlike heavy, slow, “dead-axle” carts, these vans were hung on springs (often platform springs in the front and rear) to protect delicate goods from excessive jarring. Design & Usage: They typically featured a square box body, sometimes with a canopy, and were used for transporting goods that needed care, or sometimes for passenger travel. “Float” Variants: Low-entry versions, sometimes called “floats,” were common for city deliveries of goods, such as milk. Railway Use: In the context of the emerging railway system in the 1850s, the term was also associated with goods “break” (brake) vans used on trains. Popularity: They were widely popular with farmers and traders in 19th-century America and Europe for hauling, as the springs allowed for faster travel over rough roads without damaging the load.”

1854
M Billing’s Directory & Gazetteer of Berkshire & Oxfordshire A Daniel Stokes listed as victualler of the Cross Keys public house in Queen Street Trades

1863 Possibly the 1st year that beer was sold on this site …

Dutton Allen & Co Directory of Oxford & Berkshire.
Daniel Stokes, beerseller in North Parade.
No number is given and there is no evidence of a pub name.

1867
Melville & Co. Directory of Berkshire & Oxon
Daniel Stokes, beer retailer in North Parade.
George Stokes 7 observatory St, carrier & remover.

1868 … under the sign of the ROSE and CROWN

Edward Casey & Co Historic gazetteer & directory of Berks & Oxon
Rose & Crown, Stokes, D. North Parade Avenue.
Trades, Licensed victuallers

1872
Websters Oxford Directory
Rose & Crown , Stoke (s missing) D. listed in North Parade but with no number. Entry next to no. 11 & Somerset Lodge

1875
G Shrimpton’s Oxford Directory
D.Stoke, Rose & Crown, North Parade Avenue.
Geo. Stokes carrier & remover of goods, 2 Cranham St.
Henry Stokes, 7 Wytham Terrace, Kingston Rd.
James Stokes, 37 Planation Rd.
Richard Stokes, 2 Eagle & Child yard, St Giles Street
William Stokes, 7 Leckford terrace, Leckford Rd

1880
Oxford Post Office Directory compiled by JC Valters
Stokes, G, carrier 2 Cranham St.
Mrs Stokes., 2 Eagle & Child yard
Stokes, W. Rose & Crown, North Parade Ave.
Stokes, William, 50 Cranham St

1883
Kelly’s Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire directory
Harry Stokes no.14 North Parade. Rose & Crown public house

1887
Harry Stokes no.14 North Parade. Rose & Crown public house

1891
Harry Stokes no.14 North Parade. Rose & Crown public house

1895
Harry Stokes no.14 North Parade. Rose & Crown public house

1901
Alfred Stokes @ 27 Clarendon St &
Harry Stokes @ Rose & Crown

1903
Harry Stokes 14 North Parade, Rose & Crown (None listed in Private residents)

1907
Oxford Street directory
Harry Stokes at Rose & Crown public house

1911
Kelly’s Directory of Oxford
A Harry Stokes listed at 7 Paradise Square, Oxford – Private residents

1914
Bennett’s Business Directory of Berkshire & Oxfordshire
Rose & Crown listed under Public Houses but no occupant details Commercial No other Stokes listed

1915
Kelly’s Oxfordshire directory
Frederick J Stokes, boot-maker at no.4 North Parade and
Harry Stokes at Rose & Crown, North Parade

1921
Kelly’s Oxford & neighbourhood directory
Mrs C Stokes 14 North Parade Rose & Crown Commercial also a
Mrs Stokes listed at 27 Clarendon Street, private residents.

1924
Kelly’s Directory of Oxford
Mrs Cicely Stokes 14 North Parade Rose & Crown Public House Commercial (No other Stokes listed).

1928
Kelly’s Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire directory
Joseph Leighton at the Rose & Crown. Trades No other Stokes listed.

Arthur and Annie Woodward are buried at Wolvercote Cemetry [B2 318].

RIP.

With special thanks to:

JEFF STOKES for sharing his family history with us.

THE STOKES FAMILY

– for their 65 years of support to the Rose and Crown!

DAVID and ROGER BRIMSON for sharing their family history with us.

THE WOODWARD FAMILY

– for their 41 years of support to the Rose and Crown!

THANK YOU ALL.

2 END

The Hall Family, Feb 21 1983 to date

Andrew’s CV:
October 1967
Pulled my first pint at the Seacourt Bridge Inn, Botley, Oxford, under the tutelage of Bernard and Jose Herbert, the tenant landords.
September 1968
Oxford College of Further Education (later Ox Poly then Oxford Brookes). Hotel & Catering Managent. Instrumental in setting up and working the first LICENSED bar in an Oxford College – Sommerville.
September 1970
Glass Collector to Assistant Manager at the Badger Bars, Bournemouth, under the tutelage of Gordon Hendes
August 1972
Wishing to raise money to start my own catering venture, I worked in a different, better paid environment – nights at the local car factory!
February 1974
The Royal Blenheim, St. Ebbes , Oxford, an Allied Breweries ‘managed’ house, under the tutelage of Diane and Larry Nelson.
January 1976
Assistant Manager to Remzi Avci of ‘Remzis Bistro in St. Clements, Oxford
August 1976
Andrew’s 1st FULL ON license at the Rotunda Tavern, Cheltenham.
June 1979
Licensee and manager of the The Old Contemptibles public house, Edmund Street, Birmingham. Wharfmead Limited. CAMRA Good Beer Guide 1981 and 1982.
April 12th, 1980
Deborah Victoria Wood marries Andrew Robert Hall at Christ Church, Llangrove, nr. Ross on Wye
February 21st, 1983
Tenant Licensee at the Rose and Crown, Oxford. CAMRA Good Beer Guide 1990 ?? to date less one year ??? !
October 21st, 2009
Halls Oxford Limited (Debbie & Andrew Hall) purchase the freehold to the Rose and Crown PH

Working for Allied Breweries, Park End Street, Oxford, as a relief manager and then full manager I met some great brewery personnel:
Managing Directors:
Mr. McMurtrie
Mr. Thomas (whose son, Tim with his wife Alice, are former R&C licensees, SEE ABOVE).
Mr. Russell
Area Managers:
Graham Newson
Mr Newman
Stocktakers:
Guy East ( 2018 – stocktaker at the R&C)
Frank Wilkinson

Some history of the Old Contemptibles public house at Edmund Street, Birmingham, in a “Telegraph Weekend” article written by Adrian Tierney-Jones, published on December 15th, 2012. Click here.

North Parade, thereafter North Parade Avenue

There area a few pockets of commercial activity in North Oxford, one of which being the narrow one-way road, full of rainbow coloured shops and restaurants, known as North Parade Avenue. This road pre-dates most development in North Oxford, having been built in the 1830s as small terraced housing. It is a cheerful vibrant road; its narrowness creates a sense of intimacy and enclosure, and its proximity to Banbury Road is soon forgotten. 77 Banbury Road, a bright and sunny yellow stuccoed villa welcomes you at the entry point to North Parade and entices the passer-by into the bunting-lined road.
The western end of North Parade Avenue opens out into a crossroads with Church Walk and Winchester Road, which in typical North Oxford fashion is characterised by mature trees and tall gothic houses. Church Walk turns into a pedestrian access through to Woodstock Road, narrowing into a stone walled passageway between the former St Philip and St James Church and the Tudor styled former vicarage forming part of St Antony’s College. The church and the vicarage create a contrasting image: the church is one of the best known Victorian churches, designed by GE Street, 1862 and is now Grade I listed. The coursed rubble stone is interspersed with brick banding and the spire was added in the latter 1860s. The former vicarage is a Tudor inspired 1887 building by HGW Drinkwater characterised by coursed rubble limestone to the ground floor, roughcast and ornamental half timbering to the first floor and tile hanging to gable apex.

email:
Mrs Cicely Stokes
Arthur and Annie

The GARDENERS ARMS.

1980’s Landlord Jack Chester, formerly GM at the Royal Oxford Hotel

For many years a Morrells house until their sale in 1998 to Cannon Inns (?), Buccaneer Inns and eventually Greene King.

1993 25th March: The GARDENERS ARMS, welcomes new licensees are Jenny and Dave Rhymes

2022 16th November: The GARDENERS ARMS licensees Jenny and Dave Rhymes retire after 30 years service from their now ‘Greene King Pub Partners’ (!!) pub. We miss you!

November 2016, Oxford City Council

North Oxford Victorian Suburb Conservation Area Appraisal

Histor(y)ic Development

For what was to become ‘one of the most complete Victorian suburbs in the country’, North Oxford did not have the most auspicious of starts. St John’s held the land for centuries before contemplating development and once they did embark on the creation of ‘North Oxford’, it was not the immediate success they had anticipated.
The majority of the land to the north of St Giles church by the turn of the 19th century was still open countryside. Woodstock Road had seen small pockets of development taking place including the Radcliffe Infirmary (1759), the Observatory (1772), and St. John’s Terrace, nos. 47–53 Woodstock Road, built in the early 19th century for prosperous tradesmen. Banbury Road, at that time was nothing more than a country road full of pot-holes and grass verges4, with only a handful of houses having been built. North Parade had been constructed during the 1830s as a road of small terraced houses. Further north, Summertown was evolving into a self-sufficient village community but the main bulk of what was to become St John’s College’s North Oxford estate, was still a combination of fields and allotment gardens cultivating produce for the local market.

St John’s had acquired the land in the 16th century. Previously it had been owned by both St Frideswide Priory and Godstow Abbey, and was conveyed to Henry VIII’s physician George Owen following the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Owen’s son subsequently sold it to Sir Thomas White, founder of St John’s College, in 1573. The College therefore owned a large undeveloped part of the city but was restricted by the long leases already granted and were unable to consider any large scale development until reform was introduced by way of the Oxford University Act 1854. Following the introduction of this Act, leases were not renewed upon expiry and the College was able to consider ways of putting the land to its most economical use.

The College facilitated the enclosure of St Giles Field in 1828, regulating the field boundaries and ownership. This enabled other landowners to develop their land with a number of large houses being built for wealthy local businessmen eg: Thomas Mallam built the Shrubbery on Woodstock Road (now part of St Hugh’s College); George Hester commissioned the Mount and it’s lodge on Banbury Road and John Parsons (a local draper) the Lawn, Banbury Road all of which were Italianate in design.

Although freehold sites were being offered elsewhere in Oxford at this time St John’s made the decision to offer their land on a leasehold basis only. Prior to the 1850s, only 40-year leases could be offered but having obtained an Act of Parliament in 1855, St John’s were in a position to offer more competitive 99-year building leases.

Even before development was started, the potential suburb came under threat from two possible developments that if carried out, would have ended St John’s plans for a middle class suburb. The first was the proposed railway line running across St Giles by the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. The proposal was thoroughly debated in the House of Commons, and was subsequently dismissed in 1853.

The second threat came from the Board of Guardians. Having approached St John’s for a plot of its land to the west of Woodstock Road and being refused, they acquired a 9-acre site from New College off Banbury Road, abutting St John’s own land. Fortunately for the college, the Board began to question the suitability of this plot for the workhouse and delaying construction while they looked elsewhere. In 1852 the decision was taken not to develop the Banbury Road site, setting up a committee to consider suitable ways of disposing of the land and inviting architects SL Seckham and EG Bruton in 1853 to submit proposals for the best use of the site.

Although St John’s College is synonymous with the development of North Oxford, the first planned development in the suburb was not within their control. Samuel Lipscomb Seckham was appointed by the Board of Guardians in response to his proposal for a development of substantial houses for the emerging middle classes: Park Town. Initial investment in the development was slow but all the houses were occupied by the 1860s.

Although the small houses of North Parade had been built in the 1830s – 1840s, Park Town was perceived to be an area of urban development surrounded by a rural landscape with no sense of identity. The nearest church was in St Giles and Summertown to the north was virtually a self-contained village, Park Town belonged to neither one nor the other. In a n attempt to try to alleviate the problem of isolation and to encourage further development, FJ Morrell (churchwarden and College steward) petitioned St John’s for the establishment of a parish to provide a free church (ie. one where pew rents were not charged) to serve the new community of North Oxford. St John’s eventually agreed to provide the land for the church, and appointed Seckham to draw up plans for the layout of new residential streets.

Seckham’s proposals of 1854 were based around the Walton Manor Estate with grand Italianate villas along Woodstock Road, a church and smaller terraced houses to the west. The scheme was not a success with only two houses being constructed, 121 and 123 Woodstock Road. The proposal for a church in the centre of this development was not acceptable to Morrell who preferred a more central location to provide a ‘heart’ to the new community and be within easy reach of all sectors of the new suburb.

By 1860 Seckham had lost interest in developing St John’s estate with William Wilkinson taking over as supervising architect. Wilkinson’s gothic preferences were more in keeping with the overall vision St John’s had for their land, his initial auctions to dispose of plots were not successful. Despite the release of new land in Norham Manor, development was slow with only 37 houses having been built by the mid1860s.

The slow pace of development was partially blamed on the fact that St John’s were not developers and they were not building for the mass market. They wanted to create a suburb of housing suitable for the middle classes that provided them with a secure long-term income and would not compromise their ideals in order to secure immediate income from their land.

Despite their vision for a middle class suburb, the College had allocated the western portion of the estate for lower middle-class/working class housing which would be more readily developed. Due to its proximity to the canal and Tagg’s Garden5, the western section of the estate already had an established character of smaller housing and was deemed unsuitable for the larger houses St John’s planned elsewhere. Wilkinson prepared a plan for Kingston Road in 1865 and by providing plots for smaller, lower class housing, St John’s could justify its decision to reserve the vast proportion of the estate for its more substantial developments.

The 1870s finally saw a marked increase in the pace of development. The custombuild sector had virtually been exhausted being replaced by speculative development. With the availability of loans from local financial institutions, the new wave of developer was no longer reliant upon attracting investors and could build houses at a much faster rate.

As a result, by the early 1880s over 660 building proposals had been received by the College, one third of which were being financed by the building societies.6 Through loans from the Oxford & Abingdon Building Society, Frederick Codd became one of the major developers of North Oxford during the 1870s beginning with custom-build projects along Banbury Road and in Norham Manor moving onto speculative building schemes including Canterbury Road and Winchester Road. Codd was initially successful with most of his houses being bought quickly, with his houses contributing greatly to the character and appearance of the estate, but by the end of the decade, he had gone bankrupt.

The other main building society, the Oxford Building & Investment Company, also suffered during the late 1870s and by the early 1880s had gone into liquidation. Walter Gray was appointed as liquidator and took on the unfinished projects being financed by the former building society. Over the next twenty years, he became the dominant developer in North Oxford. In 1881 he entered into partnership with HW Moore who as College architect ensured that his building plans were passed quickly, and went on to build over 200 houses, mainly in the north-western sector of the suburb (Kingston Road, St Margaret’s Road, Polstead Road and Chalfont Road).

By the 1880s, over half the estate had been developed with a mixture of quality housing. St John’s released Southmoor Road in 1880, running parallel with the railway and Kingston Road, and was to continue the small-scale housing dominating the adjacent roads. Wilkinson and Moore were responsible for the development but the College found the houses they built were too large and expensive for the occupiers they were intended for. Committed to providing smaller cheaper housing, St John’s laid out Hayfield Road in 1886 ensuring the houses were kept small in line with their instruction.

Although the majority of the western section of the estate had been developed by the 1880s, large parts of the eastern side remained rural in character.

Wilkinson and Moore submitted proposals for the development of this land in 1883 and though the proposals were accepted in principle, permission was not forthcoming as the college could not afford to construct the road at that time. It was not until the 1890s that the Bardwell Estate was laid out. Wilkinson had retired, Moore was the supervising

Character Appraisal
There are three separate character areas within the conservation area:
a. East of Banbury Road
b. The central section between Woodstock and Banbury Roads
c. West of Woodstock Road
Whilst each area is undeniably related to each other through use, architects, design and materials, Woodstock Road and Banbury Road do create a physical and natural division between the three sections.

Monday, February 1st , 1988:

Debbie and Andrew were greatly flattered when student regular Dr. Christopher Smith wrote:

Ode to the Rose and Crown

Rose and Crown, Rose and Crown, Rose and Crown mine,
Elegant, eminent, Rose and Crown mine,
Far from the bustle and swiling alarms
Of juke-box and bandit (such dubious charms)
Here a haven of fraternity, tranquillity, rest.
Where the food isn’t good … ie, the excellent best,
And happiness reigns, supreme over all,
When the doors open wide for a five-thirty call
When one’s feeling unhappy, and life seems a hell,
North Parade Avenue one’s gloom will dispel,
But if you are cheerful, on top of the town,
There’s no tavern finer than the old Rose and Crown.