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Joseph William GRIFFIN (1845–1877)
His brother Frank Henry GRIFFIN (1847–1877)
Their sister Mrs Mary Ann BISHOP, née Griffin (1849–1921)
St Paul [St Barnabas] section: Row 24, Grave E14½

Joseph William Griffin, Frank Henry Griffin, and Mary Ann Griffin were three of the six children of Joseph Griffin and Martha Wheeler. They were all born in Oxford, in or near Worcester College, where their father worked as a gardener. For more about their early life, see separate grave of their parents.

In 1851 all three siblings were at home with their parents at Richmond Road (then called Worcester Terrace) in the Jericho area of Oxford. In 1861 the family was at 29 Nelson Street, also in Jericho.

Joseph William Griffin

At the time of the 1871 census Joseph (born 1845) was a 25-year-old college servant like his father (probably at Worcester College) and was still living with his parents at 29 Nelson Street.

Joseph died at his parents’ home in 1877:

† Joseph William Griffin died at 29 Nelson Street at the age of 31 in March 1877 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 13 March (burial recorded in the parish register of St Barnabas’s Church).

Frank Henry Griffin

At the time of the 1871 census Frank (born 1847) was a 24-year-old solicitor’s general clerk and still living with his parents at 29 Nelson Street.

He died in 1877, just two months after his brother Joseph:

† Frank Henry Griffin died at Haverstock Hill, London at the age of 30 in May 1877 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 15 May (burial recorded in the parish register of St Barnabas’s Church).

Mary Ann Griffin (later Mrs Bishop)

At the time of the 1871 census Mary Ann (born 1849) was working as a domestic servant and still living with her parents at 29 Nelson Street.

On 3 November 1879 at Ss Philip & James’s Church, Mary Ann Griffin (30) of Nelson Street married John Bishop (28), a compositor of St Bernard’s Road and the son of the coal merchant William Griffin. They had two children:

• Walter Cecil Francis Bishop, also known as Francis Walter Cecil Bishop (born at 29 Nelson Street, Oxford on 27 September 1880 and baptised at St Barnabas's Church on 18 November)
• Gertrude Alice Bishop (born at 5 Leckford Road, Oxford on 3 February 1882 and privately baptised by St Barnabas's Church on 9 April)

The couple evidently lived with Mary Ann's mother at 29 Nelson Street after the wedding.

At the time of the 1881 census Mrs Mary Bishop (31), plus her six-month-old son Walter Bishop, were at home with her mother Mrs Martha Griffin (72) at 29 Nelson Street. Her husband John Bishop (29) described himself as a widower and was the head of the household at St Bernard’s Road: his older siblings Walter (37), who was a waterman, and Mary (39), who was a dressmaker, were living with him. They must have been back together again soon after the census, and their daughter Gertrude was born less than a year later.

In 1891 Mary and her husband John were living in part of 3 Beaumont Buildings with their children (Francis)  Walter (10) and Gertrude (9). Mary’s mother was living in Nazareth House.

At the time of the 1901 census Mary Ann Bishop (51) was living at 4 Worcester Place with her husband John (49) and their children Francis (20), who was a bookseller’s assistant, and Gertrude (19), who was a dressmaker.

By 1911 Mary Ann and John Bishop (who was still working as a compositor at the age of 69) were living at 68 Norreys Avenue in south Oxford with their adult children, who still had the same occupations.

Mary Ann died at that address in 1921:

† Mrs Mary Ann Bishop née Griffin died at 68 Norreys Avenue, Oxford at the age of 71 in June 1921 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 7 June (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul's Church)

Her husband is probably the John Bishop who died in Oxford at the age of about 88 near the end of 1937, but he does not appear to have been buried in this grave.

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Children of Mary Ann and John Bishop

• Walter Cecil Francis Bishop (born 1880) was still working as a bookseller’s assistant and living at 68 Norreys Avenue with his mother in 1915 when he volunteered to serve in the Yorkshire Regiment in the First World War under the name Francis Walter Cecil Bishop. He does not appear to have married. He died at 40 Stratfield Road, Summertown on 25 November 1851. His effects came to £2,715 6s. 4d.
• Gertrude Alice Bishop (born 1881/2) never married. She was living at an old people’s home (Barton End in Headington) by the beginning of 1959, and died at the Cowley Road Hospital (205 Cowley Road) on 21 March that year. Her effects came to £506 16s. 3d.