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William George COOKE (c.1812–1867)
His wife Mrs Emily COOKE, née Cambray (1813–1869)
Their daughter Mrs Ellen Cambray PAYNE, née Cooke (1835–1883)
Their grandson (Ellen's son) William Frank PAYNE (1862–1909)
St Giles section: Row 10, Grave B30

William George Cooke was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire in c.1812. He was a cabinet maker & upholsterer, and is likely to be related to the William Cooke of the same trade who took on ten apprentices in Oxford between 1818 and 1838 and was listed in Pigot's Directory for 1830 as operating in the High Street. Certainly by the time of his marriage in 1834, William George Cooke was living in St Peter-in-the-East parish in Oxford.

Emily Cambray was born at George Street, Oxford in 1813 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 8 June. She was the daughter of the shoemaker Richard Cambray and Sophia Dodd, who were married at St Peter-in-the-East Church on 24 October 1808. Emily's siblings were also baptised at St Mary Magdalen: Philip (1810), Sarah (1815), Matilda (1816), Richard (1818), Thomas (1820), George Augustus (1821), Charlotte (1824), James (1827), and Harriet (1828).
See also the graves of two of Emily's siblings: Sarah Cambray (Mrs Burchell) and George Augustus Cambray.

On 25 December 1834 at St Peter-in-the-East Church, Oxford, William George Cooke married Emily Cambray. They were both described as being of that parish, and Emily's first name was spelt as Emmaler in the register. They had two children:

• Ellen Cambray Cooke (born in George Street, Oxford in 1835 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 25 December)
• Matilda Cooke (born in George Street, Oxford in 1839 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 21 August).

They settled in George Street in St Mary Magdalen parish after their marriage, and William may have briefly tried a change of trade, as Robson's Directory for 1839 lists a W. G. Cooke a grocer & tea dealer at 23 George Street.

By the time of the 1841 census William was working as an upholsterer again, and he and his wife Emily were living in Holywell parish with their daughters Ellen (5) and Matilda (1), plus a lodger.

By 1851 William (40) described himself as a cabinet maker and was now living in Little Clarendon Street in St Giles's parish with his wife Emily (39) and their daughters Ellen (15), who was a dressmaker, and Matilda (11).

In 1861 William (50), still an upholsterer, was still living in Little Clarendon Street with Emily (48) and their daughters Ellen (24), who was a milliner, and Matilda (21). They had two lodgers (Nathaniel Payne and George Honeybone): within months, each of their daughters was married to one of those lodgers, with the address of the girls and their husbands all given in the marriage register as Little Clarendon Street:

• On 15 July 1861 at St Giles's Church, Matilda Cooke (22) married George Honeybone (27), a builder, the son of the builder John Baker;
• On 19 August 1861 at St Giles's Church, Ellen Cambray Cooke (25) married Nathaniel Cross Payne (25), a confectioner, who was born in Cassington.

William died in 1867:

† William George Cooke died at Little Clarendon Street at the age of 55 on 23 July 1867 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 28 July (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles's Church).

His wife died two years later:

† Mrs Emily Cooke née Cambray died at Little Clarendon Street at the age of 56 on 22 August 1869 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 24 August (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles's Church).

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Their daughter Mrs Ellen Cambray Payne, née Cooke (born 1835)
and her son William Frank Payne

Reverse of above grave

Ellen Cambray Cook (see above) and her husband the confectioner Nathaniel Cross Payne, who were married in 1861, had the following children:

• William Frank Payne (born at Little Clarendon Street, Oxford in 1862 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 1 June)
• Matilda Ellen Payne (born at Walton Street near the end of 1863 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 7 February 1864, with her forenames reversed)
• George Ernest Payne (born at New Street, St Ebbe's, Oxford in 1866 and baptised at St Ebbe's Church on 18 March).

Ellen and Nathaniel evidently started their married life in Little Clarendon Street, then moved to the north end of Walton Street, then to New Street in St Ebbe's, and then back to Little Clarendon Street again.

At the time of the 1871 census Ellen (34) was living at 26 Little Clarendon Street with her husband Nathaniel (34), who was a now a beerhouse keeper, and their children William (9), Matilda (7), and George (5), plus a servant.

Their address was given as 28 & 29 Little Clarendon Street in 1881, and Ellen's husband was described as a fruiterer and beer retailer. All three of their children were living at home and described as fruiterer's assistants: William (19), Matilda (17), and George (15). The family employed a 15-year-old servant girl.

Ellen died in 1883:

† Mrs Ellen Cambray Payne née Cooke died at Little Clarendon Street at the age of 48 [46 according to headstone and register] on 19 April 1883 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 22 April (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles's Church).

At the time of the 1891 census her husband Nathaniel Cross Payne (53) described himself as a baker and was lodging at 79 Cardigan Street. He died at 6 Oakland Terrace, Botley Road, Oxford at the age of 60 and was buried on 25 May 1897. As his burial is recorded in the parish register of St Giles's Church, it is almost certain that he was buried in St Sepulchre's Cemetery, but with three recent burials in this plot, he would have had a separate grave (not yet located).

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Ellen Cambray Payne's son William Frank Payne (born 1862)

On 18 May 1881 at St Luke's Church, Chelsea, William Frank Payne, described as a fruiterer of that parish, married Clara Rogers of St Thomas's parish, Oxford, the daughter of the tailor Thomas Rogers. They had the following children:

• Margaret Ellen Payne (born at 28 Little Clarendon Street in 1882 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 16 July)
• Helen Cambray Payne (born at 28 Little Clarendon Street in 1883 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 2 September); died aged three
• Mary Emily Payne (born in Oxford in 1884, reg. third quarter)
• Grace Catherine Payne (born at 4 Little Clarendon Street in 1885 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 20 December)
• William George Payne (born at 4 Little Clarendon Street in 1888 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 22 April)
• George Ernest Payne (born at 4 Little Clarendon Street in 1889 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 4 August)
• Matilda Frances Payne (born at 4 Little Clarendon Street in 1893, reg. fourth quarter).

After his marriage William initially worked at his mother's shop at 28 Little Clarendon Street, but by 1885 he had moved his business to 4 Little Clarendon Street.

Their daughter Helen Cambray Payne died in 1887 at the age of three and was buried on 3 March, probably in the children's area of the St Giles's section of St Sepulchre's Cemetery.

At the time of the 1891 census William Frank Payne (28), who now described himself as a fruiterer, florist, & greengrocer, was living at 4 Little Clarendon Street with Clara (30) and their children Margaret (8), Mary (6), Grace (5), William (3), and George (1), plus a general servant and someone who helped in the shop. Their seventh and last child Matilda was born in 1893.

They were at the same address at the time of the 1901 census with all six of their surviving children: Margaret (19), Mary (17), Grace (15), William (13), George (12), and Matilda (7).

From 1901 William's shop was listed in directories as being just around the corner at 33A St Giles's Street. This is the left-hand side of the present 33 St Giles's Street (right), which was let out separately at this time.

Two of William & Clara Payne's daughters were married in the next five years:

• In the third quarter of 1901 at St George's Church, Hanover Square, Mary Emily Payne married Herbert Chinnery;
• On 5 February 1906 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, Margaret Ellen Payne (23) of Little Clarendon Street married Joseph Dawson Pursey (27), a bootmaker of 151 Walton Street and the son of the bootmaker Joseph Albert Pursey.

William died in 1909:

† William Frank Payne died at 3 Little Clarendon Street at the age of 47 on 3 August 1909 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 6 August (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles's Church).

As it was now 26 years since his mother's death, there was room for his burial in the grave of his mother and grandparents. His effects came to £333 8s., and his wife was his executor.

At the time of the 1911 census his widow Clara Payne (50) had moved to live over the family fruit & florist's shop at 33A St Giles, with her daughter Dorothy (26) [presumably Grace Catherine] and her son George (21) working as her assistants. Two of her other children were still at home: William (23), who was an electrician, and Matilda (17). Clara's nephew George Honeybone (17), the son of her sister Matilda, who was an apprentice college cook, was also living with them.

Clara's daughter Matilda was married in 1914:

• In the third quarter of 1914 in the Headington registration district, Matilda Frances Payne married Reginald E. Webster.

Mrs W. F. Payne (Clara) is listed as the proprietor of the family shop at 33A St Giles's Street until 1946. She died that year at the age of 86, and then her son George Ernest Payne was the proprietor until 1967.