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John CHILD (1826–1892)
His wife Mrs Charlotte CHILD, née Armond (1834–1903)
St Michael section: Row 41, Grave N48½

John Child or Childs was born at Hunton Bridge, Hertfordshire on 23 August 1826. He was the son of George Child and Rachel Pryor, and had one brother, William, who was born in 1831 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. In 1839 when John was 13 his mother died in Kings Langley at the age of 43, and in 1841 John (15) was lodging in nearby Kings Langley. By 1851 he was probably abroad with the army.

Charlotte Armond was born at East Lodge, Enfield, Middlesex in 1834 and baptised at St Andrew's Church there on 20 July. She was the daughter of the servant Joseph Armond and Charlotte Palmer. Her father died in 1838, and in 1841 she and her siblings were admitted to Biggleswade Workhouse while her mother remained in London. In 1843 at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London her mother married her second husband John Blaydon, and her children returned to live with her. At the time of the 1851 census Charlotte Armond (17) was a dressmaker, living at Hanover Square with her stepfather John Blaydon (27), who was a coachman; her mother Charlotte (44), who was a laundress; her siblings Sarah (14) and George (12), who were at school; and her half-sister Mary Ann Blaydon (3).

On 20 January 1859 at Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, John Child married Charlotte Armond, and they had twelve children:

• John Joseph Child (born in Devonport in 1859, reg. Stoke Damerel district fourth quarter)
• Isabella Charlotte Child (born in Ireland in c.1861); died in 1875 aged 14
• Alice Maud Child (born in Dublin, Ireland in c.1863)
• Julia Rachel Child (born at New Road, Oxford in 1864 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 30 October:
  registered and baptised with surname spelt Childs)
• Percy Clifton Child (born at the Armoury, New Road, Oxford in 1865/6 and baptised on 1 April 1866:
  registered and baptised with surname spelt Childs)
• Sara Louise Marriott Child (born at the Armoury, New Road, Oxford in 1867 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 15 December; registered with surname spelt Childs); died aged nine
• Eveline (or Evelyn) Rose Florence Child (born at the Armoury, New Road, Oxford in 1869 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 19 December: registered with surname spelt Childs)
• Ada Beatrice Child (born at New Road, Oxford in 1871 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 26 November)
• Bertha Edith Child (born at New Road, Oxford in 1873 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 28 September)
• Edgar Blashfield Tompson Child (born at New Road, Oxford in 1875 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 2 May)
• William George Armond Child (born at George Street, Oxford in 1877 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 26 August)
• Emilie Ethel Child (born at George Street, Oxford in 1879 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 13 April:
  registered and baptised with surname spelt Childs).

John Child was in the army, and their first child was born in Devonport. They then moved to Ireland, and were probably there at the time of the 1861 census: their next two children were certainly born there in about 1862 and 1863.

In about 1863 John Child was appointed Sergeant Major of the Oxfordshire Militia (a military force that could be raised from the civil population to supplement the regular army in an emergency), and from October 1864 they were living at the Armoury in New Road. They chose to have their children baptised at St Paul's Church, even though they lived in St Peter-le-Bailey parish,.

At the time of the 1871 census Sergeant John Child (44) was living at the Armoury in New Road with his wife Charlotte (36) and their first seven children John (11), Isabella (9), Alice (8), Julia (6), Percy (5), Sarah (3), and Evelyn (1).

Their eldest daughter Isabella Charlotte Child died at the Armoury in New Road at the age of 14 in 1875 and her funeral was held on 16 December. Her burial is recorded in the St Paul's parish register, so she may have been buried in their section of St Sepulchre's Cemetery. Her death notice in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 18 December 1875 read:

Dec. 11, at the Armoury, New Road, Oxford, after a short illness, to the great grief of her parents in the 15th year of her age, Isabella Charlotte, eldest and beloved daughter of Sergeant-Major Child.

Just over two years later their fourth daughter Sara Louise Child (reg. as Saria) also died at the Armoury at the age of nine and her burial on 24 April 1877 was again recorded in the St Paul's parish register.

John Child retired from the Oxfordshire Militia in 1877, and the following article appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 9 June that year:

PRESENTATION.—On Thursday, the 31st ult., the officers of the Oxfordshire Militia, through the commanding officer, Colonel Annesley, present Mr. John Child, who was for 14 years the Sergeant-Major of the Militia, and who has lately retired from the regiment, with a handsome double-case gold lever watch and Albert chain, and a purse of 25 sovereigns, as a token of the esteem in which he was held by them. The watch, which is one of Bennett's, of Cheapside, has the following inscription, beautifully engraved on the inside of the case:—“Presented to John Child, late Sergeant-Major of the Oxfordshire Regiment of Militia, by Col. the Hon. S. Annesley, and the officers past and present, 31st May, 1877.” The total value of the gift is between 50l. and 60l.

On his retirement in 1877 John Child became the publican of The Grapes (right) at 7 George Street, which was in the parish of St Michael.

At the time of the 1881 census John (54) was living over The Grapes with his wife Charlotte (46) and nine of their children: John (21) was a clerk; Alice (18) was a needlewoman; Julia (16) was a dressmaker; and Evelyn (11), Ada (9), Bertha (7), Edgar (5), William (3), and Emilie (2) were at school. Their other surviving child Percy (15) was an apprentice on the Titania, a full-rigged sailing ship which traded with China, which was lying in Morte Bay in the Bristol Channel: he is hard to find after this date.

Their two eldest children were married in the 1880s:

• On 13 April 1884 at St Michael's Church, Oxford, Alice Maud Child (21) of George Street married Reuben Wenborn (25), a cutler of Cornmarket Street and the son of the chemical glass cutter Reuben Wenborn senior
• Following the last of the calling of the banns on 23 February 1885 at St Michael's Church, Oxford, John Joseph Child married Emilie Frances Smith of Cambridge.

On 24 July 1886 Jackson's Oxford Journal reported on an accident that befell their daughter Ada:

ACCIDENT.—A young girl, named Ada Childs, daughter of Mr. J. Childs, landlord of the Grapes Inn, George-street, slipped off a ladder leading to a loft at the rear of the premises, and broke her leg. She was removed to the Radcliffe Infirmary, where she is going on favourably.

At the time of the 1891 census John Child (64), described as a victualler, was living at the Grapes with his wife Charlotte (56) and six of their children: Evelyn (21) was a sewing machinist; Ada (19) was a barmaid; Bertha (17) was a draper's assistant; Edgar (15) was a cutler's assistant; and William (13) and Emilie (11) were at school. Their daughter Julia (26) was a draper's assistant, lodging with the family of a linen draper in Market Place, Bicester.

John Child died in 1892:

† John Child died at the Grapes, George Street at the age of 65 on 3 May 1892 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 8 May (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael's Church).

His death notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal read: “May 2 [May 3 according to headstone], at 'The Grapes', George-street, Oxford, after a short illness, John Childs, aged 65; he was formerly Sergeant Major of the Oxford Militia.” This was followed by a report on his funeral on 14 May 1892;

FUNERAL OF MR. J. CHILDS.—A large number of persons were attracted to St. Sepulchre’s Cemetery on Sunday afternoon last in the expectation that military honours would be paid at the funeral of Mr. Childs, of the Grapes public house, George-street, who, as we stated in an obituary notice last week, had been for 25 years in the 36th regiment, and also Sergt.-Major of the Oxfordshire Militia. In this, however, they were disappointed, but a large number of members of the Licensed Victuallers and Beerhouse-keepers Association and the Oxford Prosecution Society, (of which he was the Secretary), and the Order of Buffaloes attended, and followed the body to the grave. The service in the chapel was read by the Rev. Andrew Clark, Vicar of St. Michael’s, and at the grave side by the Rev. W. B. Duggan, Vicar of St. Paul’s. Several beautiful wreaths were sent by the societies with which he had been connected and by friends as tributes of respect.

His effects came to £469 14s. 7d., and his wife was his executor.

Three more of their daughters were married later in the 1890s:

• On 4 June 1893 at St Michael's Church, Oxford, Evelyn Rose Florence Child married Ernest Paul Ward, a clerk of Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire and the son of the house decorator Jabez Paul Ward;
• On 22 August 1893 at Bicester, Julia Rachel Child (28), a bookseller's assistant of Bicester, married Albert Thomas Broom (25), a stationer of Bicester and the son the gardener Henry Broom;
• On 24 March 1895 at St Michael's Church, Oxford, Bertha Edith Child married Frank Tindall Jones (25), a mineral water manufacturer of St Aldate's and the son of the mineral water manufacturer John Charles Jones.

At the time of the 1901 census Mrs Charlotte Child (66) was the licensed victualler at The Grapes, and four of her children were still at home: Ada (29); Edgar (25), who was a cutler & surgical instrument maker; William (23), who was a musician & tobacconist; and Emily (22).

Mrs Child died in 1903:

† Mrs Charlotte Child née Armond died at The Grapes, 7 George Street at the age of 68 on 8 March 1903 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 11 March (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael's Church).

Three more of her children were married in the next seven years:

• On 12 April 1903 at St Michael's Church, Ada Beatrice Child (31), described as a spinster of 7 George Street, married Thomas Clarke (33), a licensed victualler of 24 Mill Street, Osney and the son of the shingler Thomas Clarke senior;
• On 26 September 1903 at St Peter-in-the-East Church, Oxford, William George Armond Child (26), a musician of 39 Richmond Road, married Florence Kate Field (25) of 9 Grove Street, the daughter of the college servant Joseph Field;
• On 2 July 1905 at St Michael's Church, Emilie Ethel Child (26) married Emanuel Seymour (35), a grocer of 56 Cornmarket Street and the son of the engineer William Seymour.

In 1911 their son Edgar (35) was working as a cutler & razor maker and living in a boarding house in Maidstone. He was married in 1920:

• In the third quarter of 1920 in the Lewisham district, Edgar Blashfield Tompson Child married Elizabeth M. Nye.