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William Henry HORN (1830–1919)
His first wife Mrs Esther HORN, née Bailey (1837–1888)
His second wife Mrs Amy Baynes HORN, née Marshall (1864–1929)
St Mary Magdalen section: Row 13, Grave D60

William Henry Horn was born in Oxford on 28 June 1830 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 4 July. He was the fifth son of Richard Horn and Catherine Walker, who were both of that parish and who were married there on 27 September 1808. Some of his older siblings were also baptised at St Michael’s: Catherine (1812), Ann (1813), Elizabeth (1815), John (1818), Edward (1820), William (1822, died aged five months), and Mary Margaret (1823).

William’s father Richard Horn was a baker & confectioner at 13 Cornmarket Street (just to the north of Market Street, now demolished) from at least 1823, and probably earlier. His died in 1836 at the age of 52 and was buried at St Michael’s Church on 15 September.

William’s mother Catherine Horn continued to run the business, and at the time of the 1851 census she was described as a confectioner employing four men and one boy. William was living a cook aged 20, living over the shop with his mother and three of his older siblings: John (32), who was a hatter; Edward (30), who was a confectioner; and Mary (26), who was an assistant.

His mother Catherine Horn died on 16 October 1860, shortly after William’s marriage, and her burial is recorded in the register of St Michael’s Church: she was probably buried in her husband's grave. Her son Edward ran the shop until at least 1872.

Esther Bailey was born on the north side of Broad Street, Oxford on 16 November 1837 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 8 December. She was the youngest child of John Bailey and Martha Hammond (known as Patty), who were both living in Holywell parish when they were married at St Cross Church on 13 September 1825: they remained there at first after their marriage and their eldest child Ann Maria Bailey was baptised at Holywell in 1826. By the time of their daughter Charlotte’s baptism at St Mary Magdalen Church in 1830 they had moved to Broad Street, but by 1833, when their next child Sarah Jane was baptised, they were back in Holywell parish, probably at 80 Holywell Street, and John was now a college servant at Magdalen Hall.

At the time of the 1841 Esther (3) was living at 80 Holywell Street (one of the houses demolished to make way for the new buildings at New College) with her parents and her older sisters Charlotte (13), Elizabeth (11), Sarah (9), and Esther (3), and they had four lodgers. She was still there with her parents and two of her sisters in 1851.

On 4 March 1860 at St Michael’s Church, Oxford, William Henry Horn, described as a confectioner of 15 Cornmarket Street, married his first wife Esther Bailey, who was living at the same address. They had the following children:

• Catherine Ettie Horn (born in Observatory Street in 1860 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 6 May)
• Emily Jane Horn (born at Folly Bridge on 24 March 1862 and baptised at St Aldate’s Church on 21 April);
  died near the beginning of 1864
• Anne Caroline Horn, known as Annie (born at Folly Bridge on 23 September 1863 and baptised at St Aldate’s Church on 23 September)
• William John Horn (born at 5 St John Street in 1865 and privately baptised by St Mary Magdalen Church on 1 April);
  died aged eight months on 30 July 1865
• Gertrude Helen Horn (born at 5 St John Street in 1866 and privately baptised by St Mary Magdalen Church on 10 June); died shortly after her birth
• William Henry Harold Horn (born at 5 St John Street in October 1870 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 12 November); died aged five weeks on 23 November 1870
• Walter Richard Horn (born at 5 St John Street in 1872 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 11 April).

The couple evidently lived for a short while in Observatory Street at the start of their marriage. By 1862 William Henry Horn was working as a cook at Christ Church, and lived very near at Folly Bridge. (His home must have been just over the county boundary, so that although it was virtually Oxford, it lay in North Hinksey parish in Berkshire, and hence fell into the Abingdon registration district. Sometimes in the later censuses the children put their birthplace as “Oxford, Berkshire”.)

At the time of the 1861 census William (30) was living at Folly Bridge with his wife Esther and their first daughter Catherine (1), plus a general servant. Their daughter Emily was born there on 24 March 1862, and died there near the beginning of 1864; their daughter Anne, born in 1864, survived.

William was admitted as a Freeman of Oxford on 4 September 1863.

By early 1865 (probably soon after the death of the previous occupant, Dr Leapingwell, in June 1861) the family had moved to 5 St John Street in St Mary Magdalen parish, and William was working as a cook at The Queen’s College.

Three more children who did not survive were born there: William John (died 30 July 1865); Gertrude Helen (died 1866); and William Henry (died 23 November 1870). The deaths of the two boys were announced in Jackson’s Oxford Journal. They were probably buried in an area for infants in the St Mary Magdalen section of St Sepulchre's Cemetery.

By 1871 William Henry Horn was the Manciple of The Queen’s College. At the time of the 1871 census he was living at St John Street with his wife Esther and their two surviving daughters Catherine (11) and Annie (7). They had two servants of their own, a housemaid and a nursemaid.

They were still there at the time of the 1881 census with their three surviving children: Catherine (21) was a milliner’s assistant; Annie (17) was a milliner’s apprentice; and Walter (9) was at school. They now had a housemaid and a general servant.

Their eldest daughter was married in 1887:

• On 8 September 1887 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, Catherine Ettie Horn (27) married William Joe Parsons (29), a college manciple of Ss Philip & James’s parish and the son of the maltster William Parsons.

William Horn’s first wife Esther died in 1888:

† Mrs Esther Horn née Bailey died at 5 St John Street at the age of 50 on 11 February 1888 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 16 February (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

Her death notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal read: “Feb. 11, after a short and painful illness, Esther, the beloved wife of W. H. Horn, 5, St. John-street, Oxford, aged 50.”

Her second daughter was married later that year:

• On 17 July 1888 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, Anne Caroline Horn (24) married Richard Berry (24), a spring manufacturer of Handsworth, Staffordshire.

In 1891 William Henry Horn, a widower of 60, was still working as a college manciple and living at 5 St John Street with his son Walter (19), who was an ironmonger’s assistant. They were looked after by a housekeeper and a general servant.

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William Henry Horn and his second wife Amy

Amy Baynes Marshall was born in Pimlico in 1864, the daughter of Charles Marshall and Anne Eliza Hodges, who were married at St George’s in Hanover Square in 1863. By 1871 Amy (6) was living 4 Latchmore Road Battersea with her parents and her younger siblings Beatrice (3) and Roland (1): her father then described himself as a sign-writer & grainer. They were living in Fulham in about 1872. By the time of the 1881 census Amy (16) was living at 7 Bear Garden, Neithrop near Banbury with her father Charles (48) who now described himself as a decorative artist, and her brothers Roland (11) and Ralph (8): her mother was not at home. In 1891 Amy (25) described her occupation as “Manageress” and was lodging at 111 Southmoor Road, Oxford. At the time of her marriage the next year, her father was described as the foreman of a paint factory.

On 1 September 1892 at St Mary Magdalen Church, William Henry Horn (62) married his second wife Miss Amy Baynes Marshall (27) of St Giles’s parish. She was younger than Horn’s two surviving daughters, and they had one child together:

• Arthur Cecil Horn (born in 1896 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 29 April).

They stayed at 5 St John Street, and in 1901 William (70) was still working as a Manciple & Cook. There were no longer any servants, and the only other occupants of the house were his second wife Amy (35) and their son Arthur (7).

At the time of the 1911 census William (80), described as a retired college manciple, and his second wife Amy were still living at 5 St John Street with their son Arthur Cecil (17), who was described as a student.

William Henry Horn died in 1919:

† William Henry Horn died at 5 St John Street at the age of 89 on 3 December 1919 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 8 December (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

His effects came to £40 4s. 6d., and his wife Amy was his sole executor. She continued to live at 5 St John Street, and died ten years later in 1929:

† Mrs Amy Baynes Horn, née Marshall died at 5 St John Street at the age of 64 on 7 June 1929 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 10 June (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

Her effects came to £1,004 12s., and her executor was the theatre managing director Stanley Charles Dorrill.

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Children of William Henry Horn and his first wife Esther

• Catherine Ettie Horn, Mrs Parsons (born 1860) was living at 111 Southmoor Road in 1891 with her husband William, who was still working as a college cook & manciple, and her first two children Herbert (2½) and John (ten months), plus a boarder, a housemaid, and a general servant. By 1901 they had moved to Coventry, where William was the manager of the Railway Hotel, and they now had five children: Herbert (12), John (10), Edward (5), and Robert and Doris (twins aged one). In 1911 Catherine (51) was living at 81 Walsgrave Road, Coventry with William (53), who was now working as a chef, and five of their children: Herbert (22), who was a draughtsman in the car motor trade; John (20), who was a professional cricketer; Edward (15), who was a manufacturer’s clerk; and the twins Robert and Doris (10). Catherine died in Coventry in 1919 at the age of 59.
• Anne Caroline Horn, Mrs Berry, known as Annie (born 1863) was living in Stafford in 1891 with her husband Richard, who was a carriage spring manufacturer. They then moved to Handsworth, where their only son Richard Lionel Berry was born 1893. They were still in Handsworth in 1901, but by 1911 they had moved to Coventry: Richard (47) was now working as a clerk to a cycle manufactory, and his son (17) was an apprentice in the hosiery business.
• Walter Richard Horn (born 1872) was an ironmonger’s assistant boarding in Fulham in 1901. In 1911, when he was aged 39, he was still a bachelor, boarding with many others over the warehouse of Messrs Schoolbred & Co. at 106–116 Gower Street. He is hard to trace after that date, and may have emigrated to New York.

Son of William Henry Horn and his second wife Amy

• Arthur Cecil Horn (born 1896) is probably the Arthur C. Horn who served as a Sapper in the Royal Engineers (Regimental number 23866) in the First World War. He is hard to find after that, and may be the Arthur Horn (25) who sailed for New York on 9 April 1921.