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James MYERS (1792–1854)
His wife Mrs Diana MYERS, née Carter (1801–1848)
His sister-in-law Mrs Rachael WAY, née Carter (1793–1873)
St Mary Magdalen section: Row 15, Grave D51

 

St Sepulchre’s Cemetery was consecrated on 23 September 1848,
and this grave dating from 22 October 1848 is the earliest one that can be identified

 

 

James Myers was born in Oxford in 1792. His parents were Thomas Myers and Martha, who had the following children (all with their surname spelt in the register as “Miers”):

• James Myers (born in Oxford in 1792 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 28 November)
• Thomas Myers (born in Oxford in 1795 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 4 March)
• George Myers (born in Oxford in 1798 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 18 April)
• Abel Myers (born in Oxford in 1801 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 29 June)
• Mary Myers (born in Oxford in 1804 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 8 April)
• Charlotte Myers (born in Oxford in 1807 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 8 February).

Rachel (or Rachael) Carter (later Mrs Way) was born at Wytham, Berkshire on 1 June 1793, and her younger sister Diana Carter (later Mrs Myers) on 15 February 1801. Their parents were Robert Carter and Ann, who had the following children:

• James Carter (born in Wytham on 9 July 1787 and baptised there on 22 July)
• Joseph Carter (born in Wytham on 16 April 1789 and baptised there on 19 April; buried on 8 November)
• Sophia Carter (born in Wytham on 10 March 1793 and baptised there on 21 March; buried on 23 April)
• Christian Carter (born in Wytham on 23 November 1794 and baptised there on 6 December)
• Rachel Carter (born in Wytham on 1 June 1797 and baptised there on 8 June)
• Jacob Carter (born in Wytham on 4 March 1799 and baptised there on 7 March)
• Diana Carter (born in Wytham on 15 February 1801 and and baptised there on 22 February, with her forename recorded as Dinah)
• Francis Carter (born in Wytham on 31 December 1803 and baptised there on 1 January 1804)
• Siley Carter (born in Wytham on 15 March 1806 and baptised there on 16 March)
• Alick Carter (born in Wytham on 18 April 1810 and baptised there on 25 April).

Diana Carter, who was the younger of the two sisters buried in this grave but the first to die, married James Myers at St Mary Magdalen Church in Oxford on 25 November 1830, and he signed his surname with another variant, “Mires”. They had just one child:

• Abel Myers (born at Dodd’s Passage in 1831 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 30 October, with his surname spelt “Miers” in the register).

James Myers was a baker, and at the time of the 1841 census he and Diana (who appears to have been known as Ann) were living at Magdalen Street with their son Abel (9). By 1848 they had evidently moved to George Street, which (apart from the south-east end) was still in the parish of St Mary Magdalen.

Diana died less than a month after St Sepulchre’s Cemetery was consecrated:

† Mrs Diana Myers née Carter died at George Street at the age of 47 on 22 October 1848 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 26 October (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

Her death announcement in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 28 October 1848 read, “Oct. 22, after a severe illness, Diana, wife of James Myers, biscuit-baker, George-street, aged 47.” Her surname in both the parish register and the General Register Office entry, however, was spelt as Miers.

At the time of the 1851 census James Myers, now described as a fancy bread baker, was living at St Giles’s Street: he gave his age as 62, but he was in fact only 58. His only son Abel (19), who was working as a printer, was living with him.

Three years later, James Myers died:

† James Myers died in St Thomas’s parish (with his age recorded as 64, but he was actually 62) on 12 February 1854 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 16 February (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

Abel Myers, the only child of James and Diana Myers who was born in 1831, is hard to trace after 1851.

---

Mrs Rachel Way née Carter

Rachel Carter (born in 1793, but very flexible about her age) was the elder sister of Diana, and her husband was probably the Thomas Way who in 1841 was an agricultural labourer aged about 50 living in Stanton St John. He died in 1850 and was buried in Stanton St John churchyard on 14 July.

At the time of the 1851 census Mrs Rachel Way, who described herself as an agricultural labourer’s widow, was living at Parsonage Farm House, Stanton St John.

By the time of the 1861 census Mrs Way (61) was the housekeeper at 11 Walton Street, Oxford and spent census night alone in the house with the housemaid Ann Attwell (53). In 1871 the situations were reversed: Ann Attwell was the housekeeper, and Mrs Way (71) was one of two servants at the house.

Two years later Mrs Way died and was buried in the grave of her sister and brother-in-law:

† Mrs Rachel Way née Carter died at 11 Walton Street at the age of 80 on 26 November 1873 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 1 December (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

Her death notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of 6 December 1873 reveals the name of her employer: “Nov. 28, at 11 Walton-street, aged 78, Mrs. Rachel Way, for many years the faithful servant of the late Jas. Banting, Esq., of this city.” James Banting, a tailor, had been Mayor of Oxford in 1832/3; he never married, and died at his residence in Beaumont Street on 4 March 1859. His sister, Miss Ann Banting, was living at 8 Walton Place (now 11 Walton Street) at the time of the 1851 census, when Ann Attwell was her only servant. Miss Banting died at Walton Street at the age of 73 on 28 May 1859.