An Oxford Timeline Famous people from Oxford Tamesibugus
An Oxford Timeline Famous people from Oxford
Tamesibugus Roman potter About 120 -170 AD This Roman potter made a mortarium (grinding bowl) and scratched the word “Tamesibugus” into the clay. Experts think this is the potter’s name and means “the dweller gy the Thames”. It’s the first name we know of anyone living in the Oxford area. The mortarium was found at the sight of the Churchill Hospital in Headlington. The higher ground around Oxford has good quality clay and there were other Roman potteries at Boars Hill, Shotover and Blackbird Leys. They supplied Roman towns all over England beyond.
St Frideswide Patron saint of Oxford About 650 -727 There are many different stories about Frideswide’s life but most versions agree on these key events…. Her father Didan was a local Saxon ruler. Frideswide set up a priory for monks and nuns. Algar, king of Mercia, tried to make Frideswide marry him but she ran away. While Algar was hunting for Frideswide he went blind. She cured him with water from a holy well and Algar let Frideswide go back to the priory.
David of Oxford Jewish banker About 1190 -1244 David of Oxford was a wealthy banker who lent money to Henry III amongs others. His wife, Licoricia, was a widow from Winchester. Many Jewish residents of Oxford, including David, lived along Great Jewry Street, now known as St Aldate’s. David probably lived in a house where the Town Hall now stands. The Town Hall’s medieval cellars were part of the house next door. When David died, much of his money went to the king in tax. Henry used it to help pay for Westminster Abbey in London. Licoricia lived for several years longer and ran her own business.
Roger Bacon Philosopher 1214 -1292 Born in Somerset, Roger Bacon was a philosopher and a Franciscan friar. He believed that studying the natural world could teach you about God. He was an early champion of science and practical experiments. In one experiment, he tried to make gunpowder with sulphur, charcoal and other chemicals. Roger wrote several important scientific books and also translated science and natural history books written in ancient Greece, Egypt and the Arab world. As well as writing and experimenting, Roger taught science and philosophy at the University.
John Davenant Innkeeper About 1570 -1622 Born and brought up in London, John went to the Merchant Taylors’ School. He moved to Oxford in 1600 and ran the Crown Inn on Cornmarket Street. John was a master vintner with a licence to import and sell wine, so his Inn was a cut above most others, which only sold beer. The Crown had a colourful painted room for entertaining important guests. John became Mayor of Oxford in 1621. He was a friend of William Shakespeare’s and named his son Will after him. Shakespeare is said to have stayed at the Crown. Did he sleep in the Painted Room?
Lady Anne Fanshawe Lady in waiting 1628 -1680 Anne came to Oxford with her father Sir John Harrison, who had come to join King Charles I’s army. Anne found life in the queen’s temporary quarters at Merton College very basic. In her letters and memoirs she describes the conditions in the overcrowded city: “. . . a very bad bed in a garret, one dish of meat, and that not the best ordered, no money, for we were as poor as Job, nor clothes more than a man or two brought in their cloak bags … sometimes plague, sometimes sicknesses of other kind, by reason of so many people being packed together…. ”
James Sadler Early balloonist 1753 -1828 Sadler was a true son of Oxford. Born at 85 High Street, he was a pastry cook and self-taught chemist. He developed steam engines for foundries and mines, and copper bottoms for Royal Navy ships. He was also the first English hot air balloonist. On 4 October 1784, Sadler took off from Merton Field in a balloon he had designed and build himself. He was airborne for around 20 minutes and reached a height of 1000 metres (3600 feet) before landing at Woodeaton, about 6 kilometres (4 miles) away.
Alice Liddell Inspiration for Alice in Wonderland 1852 -1934 Alice grew up at Christ Church where her father was the Dean (head of the college). The character of Alice in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was based on Alice Liddell. The author Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carrol) invented the story in 1882 when we was on a river picnic with Alice. Charles wrote the story by hand drew the pictures for her. The original manuscript is in the British Library. Photography was all the rage and Dodgson was a keen amateur photographer. He took many photographs of Alice and her sisters, often in fancy dress.
Sarah Jane Cooper Entrepreneur and marmalade maker 1848 -1932 In 1874, Sarah Cooper decided to make marmalade with Seville oranges, using an old family recipe. She packaged the marmalade in earthenware jars and gave the first batch (weighing 34 kg) to her husband to sell in his greengrocer’s shop on Oxford’s High Street. The marmalade was a great success and Frank Cooper’s Oxford Marmalade became an essential part of breakfast across the British Empire. It was even supplied to the royal household.
Sir James Murray Oxford English Dictionary editor 1837 -1915 The Oxford English Dictionary was created by a worldwide team who worked to discover the history and meaning of all the words in the English language. The huge quantities of material they gathered were organised by James Murray who became the dictionary’s editor in 1879. Murray built a large shed in his garden at Banbury Road for his team to work in. He called it the “scriptorium”. The Post Office had to put an extra-large post box outside his house for all the letters and documents he posted.
Henry Hare Architect 1861 -1921 Hare won the competition to design the Town Hall because of his very organised and clear plan. The Town Hall had one area for town government (the council chamber and offices), one for legal business (the court, police station and cells), and one for the public (the hall and a library with separate reading rooms for men and women). The Oxford Town Hall project made Hare’s name as an architect. He went on to design libraries, town halls and other public buildings all around the country.
William Morris Founded Morris Motors 1877 -1963 Brought up on Wood Farm, William Morris attended Cowley Road School and was apprenticed to a cycle maker in St Giles. He soon left this job to set up his own cycle repair business at his parents’ home at 18 James Street. In 1909, he set up the Morris Garage selling and repairing cars. Then, in 1911, Morris designed his own car, which he manufactured and sold. In 1913, he sold 1300 cars and the Morris brand was born. Morris became one of the most important industrialists of his age.
Olive Gibbs Lord Mayor 1918 -1995 Olive Gibbs was Lord Mayor of Oxford in 1974 and again in 1982. She joined the Labour Party after World War II and campaigned to keep public nurseries open so women could go out to work. In 1958, Olive was one of the founder members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which aimed to ban all nuclear weapons. She ran the Oxford CND group.
Colin Dexter Creator of Inspector Morse Born 1930 Colin Dexter was responsible for more than 80 murders! On a wet family holiday in Wales, Colin began writing a crime novel featuring the musicloving detective Inspector Morse. The popular Morse books, packed with details of Oxford life were also turned into a successful TV series. In 2001, Colin Dexter was given Freedom of the City of Oxford and a bar at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford is named in honour of the Inspector - one of their most famous visitors.
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