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William Shepherd EMBURY (1825–1868)
His wife Mrs Kate Adelaide EMBURY, née Parr (1830–1899)
Their son John William EMBURY (1856–1946)
A mention of their two infant sons William and Henry, who were buried at Banbury
St Paul section: Row 18, Grave E23 [St Paul ref. R15

William Shepherd Embury was born in Bloxham in 1825, the son of the grocer Thomas Embury (born in Shippon, Oxfordshire in c.1800) and Martha Temple Shepherd (born in Banbury in 1803, the daughter of William Shepherd and his second wife Mary Clark). His parents were married at Banbury on 11 February 1823. His sister Martha and his older brother Thomas Ezra Embury were baptised together at Bloxham Church on 6 June 1824, and William himself was baptised there on 20 November 1825.

At the time of the 1841 census William (15) was a printer’s apprentice, boarding with the family of a plush weaver, Thomas Hone, in Neithrop, Banbury, while his parents had moved into Oxford and were running a grocer’s shop in St Giles’s Street. Six of William’s siblings were with them in Oxford: Thomas (17), Martha (13), Josiah (11), John (6), Ann (3), and Amelia (two months).

By 1851 William (25) was lodging with a midwife in Calthorpe Street, Neithrop, Banbury, while his parents were running a stationer’s shop in Walton Street. William’s siblings Martha (23), John (16), Anne (12), Amelia (10), and Lydia (8) were at home with them.

Kate Adelaide Parr was born Oxford in 1830 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 21 November. She was the daughter of the tailor John Parr and Mary Bliss, who were married at St Aldate’s Church on 2 February 1828.

At the time of the 1841 census Kate (12) was living in Broad Street with her parents and her siblings Mary (13), Kate (12), Emma (4) and George (nine months).

In 1851 Kate (20) was a teacher, living with her aunt, a schoolmistress called Sarah Bliss, at 2 Bliss Row (or Court) off the north side of Broad Street. (Bliss Court ran down the centre of the present Blackwell’s: photograph of it in 1916.) Kate’s parents had moved to 20 Ship Street, and four of her siblings were still with them: Mary (22), George (10), Emma (14), and Eliza (7).

On 10 May 1852 at St Michael’s Church, William Shepherd Embury of Banbury married Kate Adelaide Parr of Broad Street, Oxford, and they had four sons:

• William Parr Embury (born in Banbury in 1853, reg. third quarter; died at Grimsbury at the age of 3 with burial at Banbury Cemetery on 24 August 1856 recorded in register of St Mary’s Church, Banbury)
• John William Embury (born in Banbury in 1856, reg. third quarter)
• Henry George Embury (born in Banbury in February/March 1861; died at Crouch Street, Neithrop at the age of 2 years 11 months, with burial at Banbury Cemetery on 14 February 1864 recorded in register of St Mary’s Church, Banbury)
• Thomas Francis Embury, known as Frank (born in Oxford on 16 July 1864 and baptised at New Inn Hall Street Wesleyan Church on 2 October)

William took his new wife Kate back to the Banbury area immediately after their marriage, and at first they lived at Grimsbury. By the time of the 1861 census they were at 15 Crouch Street, Neithrop with their baby son Henry (one month): William then described himself as a a local Methodist preacher as well as a printer & compositor. Their other surviving son John William (4) was staying with his maternal grandparents John & Mary Parr in Oxford at 20 Ship Street, Oxford, where his grandfather had his tailor’s shop.

William & Kate Embury had moved from Banbury to Oxford by 1864, and their address was given as Observatory Street in 1868. William died that year, when his youngest son was just four years old:

† William Shepherd Embury died at Observatory Street at the age of 43 on 9 November 1868 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 14 November (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).

His effects came to nearly £200.

At the time of the 1871 census Kate (40), now a widow, was living at 43 Observatory Street and working as a schoolmistress. Her two surviving sons John (14), who was a compositor’s apprentice, and Frank (6) were at home with her. Frank attended the Oxford Wesleyan Boys’ School for eight years, and then in 1878 at the age of 13½ was apprenticed to a builder for five years.

In 1881 Kate’s address was given as 45 Observatory Street, and of her two children, only Frank (16) was at home with her: he was now described as a carpenter. She also had a lodger.

By 1891 Kate (60) described herself as a retired schoolmistress, and was living at 27 Observatory Street, where her unmarried son John (34), a printer & compositor, was now the head of the household. His brother Frank (26), a joiner, and his widowed aunt Mrs Emma Perry (54) were also living with him.

The following year Frank went to work on building projects in South Africa, then to Nigeria in 1895.

By the time of her death in 1899, Mrs Embury was living in Adelaide Street:

† Mrs Kate Adelaide Embury, née Parr died at 6 Adelaide Street at the age of 69 on 6 December 1899 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 11 December (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).

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The two surviving sons of William & Kate Embury

John William Embury (born 1856) did not marry. In 1901, when he was aged 44, he was working as a printer/compositor and lodging with the family of the bootmaker Charles Jones at 62 Walton Street. He died in Southampton in 1946, and his body must have been brought back to Oxford for burial with his parents:

† John William Embury died at 11 Paradise Square, Southampton at the age of 89 on 28 June 1946 and was buried with his parents at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 2 July (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).

Thomas Francis Embury (born 1864), known as Frank, married Harriette Louisa Slater (born in Kennington, London in 1874/5) in the Headington registration district in the third quarter of 1899. At the time of the 1901 census, when they were paying a visit to the Sirmans at 41 Chalfont Road, Oxford, Thomas was described as the Headmaster of a Technical Institute. His son Francis Philip Embury was born in Fulham in 1902, and his daughter Thelma Kate Embury in Christchurch in 1906. In 1907 he was appointed Superintendent of the Industrial School, Karur, Trichinopoly district, South India. He died at 25 Roberts Road, Southampton at the age of 68 on 23 September 1932.