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Charles NAPPER (1817–1885)
His wife Mrs Esther NAPPER, née Allmond (1818–1899)
St Giles section: Row 22, Grave F28

Charles Napper was born in Culham in 1817 and baptised there on 18 May as Charles Knapper. He was the son of the labourer Edmund Napper and Mary Thomas, who were married at Culham on 17 January 1803. Charles's mother died at the age of 50 and was buried at Culham on 13 October 1824, and his father married his second wife Elizabeth Eustace there on 2 November 1825, and they had three children: Matilda, who was born in Dorchester in 1827, and Elizabeth and Harriet, who were born in Clifton Hampden in 1829 and 1832 respectively. By 1827 Charles's father was a schoolmaster.

Esther Allmond was born in Toot Baldon in 1818 and baptised there on 28 February. She was the daughter of the sawyer John Allmond and Esther Hillsdon, who were married at Kidlington on 4 March 1810. Esther's eldest brother William was baptised at Kidlington in 1812, and then her nine other siblings were all baptised at Toot Baldon: Mary (1817), John (1821), Alfred (1823), Elizabeth (1825), Rhoda (1827), Richard (1829), Benjamin (1831), Sarah (1833), and Joseph (1835).

On 30 September 1838 at Toot Baldon church, Charles Napper (21), described as a labourer, married Esther Allmand (19): they were both then living in Toot Baldon They had the following children:

• Eliza Ann Napper (born at Paulin's Yard, Oxford in late 1840 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 17 March 1841)
• Charles Napper junior (born at West's Court, Oxford in 1842 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 24 August):
  died the same year
• Louisa Matilda Napper (born at Little Clarendon Street, Oxford on 30 May 1854 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 5 July)
• Ernest Edmund Napper (born at Little Clarendon Street, Oxford in 1860 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 1 April).

At the time of the 1841 census Charles was working as a servant, and he and his wife Esther were living in a yard or court off St Giles's Street with their baby daughter Eliza (four months). He was described as a groom when his son Charles junior was baptised in August 1842. Charles Napper junior did not survive long, and died the same month: he was buried in the churchyard of his mother's village, Toot Baldon, on 2 September.

In 1851 Charles (33), now described as a college servant, was still living in St Giles's Street with his wife Esther (32) and daughter Eliza (10). By 1854 they had moved to Little Clarendon Street, and their daughter Louisa was born there that year, and their son Ernest in 1860.

In 1861 Charles (43) was living at Little Clarendon Street with his wife Esther (42) and their three children Eliza (20), Louisa (6), and Ernest (1), plus a lodger.

In 1871 their address was given as 14 Little Clarendon Street, and Charles and Louisa were there with their two younger children: Louisa (17) was a dressmaker, and Ernest (11) was still at school. Their elder daughter Eliza (30, but recorded as 28) was a lady's maid to the wife of a Justice of the Peace in Stinsford, Dorset.

Their son Ernest was married in 1879:

• On 14 August 1879 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, Ernest Edmund Napper (19), described as a clerk, married Mary Ann Allen (22), who was born in Woodstock and was the daughter of the innkeeper Job Allen: both were then living in that parish.

In 1881 their address was given as 16 Little Clarendon Street: Charles (63), who was still working as a college servant, was living there with his wife Esther (62). Their daughter Louisa (23) was an assistant draper living with and working for the Sherwood family in Kensington, but Eliza (40) is hard to find.

Charles died in 1885:

† Charles Napper died at 16 Little Clarendon Street at the age of 67 on 25 March 1885 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 30 March (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles's Church).

His personal estate came to £451 17s. 6d., and his wife was his executor.

In 1891 Esther (67) was living on her own means at 16 Little Clarendon Street with her daughter Louisa (30), who was a dressmaker, and Ernest Edmund Napper (9), who was the son of her son of the same name.

Esther died in 1898:

† Mrs Esther Napper née Allmond died at 16 Little Clarendon Street at the age of 80 on 13 April 1899 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 18 April (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles's Church).

Her effects came to £331 7s. 7d., and her executor was her son Ernest Edmund Napper, described as a commercial clerk.

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Children of Charles & Esther Napper

• Eliza Ann Napper (born 1840) is hard to locate after the 1871 census.
• Louisa Matilda Napper (born 1854) was aged 45 in 1901 and described herself as a dressmaker and employer: she was living on her own with one servant at 162 Kingston Road. By 1911 Louisa (56), still a dressmaker, and had moved to Hounslow to live with her widower brother Ernest Napper. She is likely to be the Louisa M. Napper who died at Colchester at the age of 89 near the beginning of 1944.
• Ernest Edmund Napper (born 1860) was described as a solicitor's clerk in 1881 and was living at 81 Kingston Road with his wife Mary and their 16-year-old servant girl. By 1891 Ernest (31) was a railway carman, living at 674 Harrow Road, London with Mary (33) and their daughter Amy (6), who had been born in Paddington. In 1901 he was a furniture carman, living at 135 Rucklidge Avenue, Willesden with his wife and their two children Ernest Edmund junior (19), who was a watchmaker's apprentice, and Amy (15). By 1911 Ernest (51) was a widower, working as a carman and living at 76 Inwood Road, Hounslow with his son Ernest (29), who was a jeweller's assistant, and his daughter Amy (26); and his sister Louisa Napper was living with them. Near the beginning of 1914 in Brentford he married his second wife Mary C. Phelan, and they had three children: Constance (1914), and twins Frank and Harold (1916). His son Ernest died fighting in France in 1916, aged 34. Ernest Edmund Napper senior died in East Hagbourne, Berkshire at the Fleur de Lys Inn, (which had been in the hands of the Napper family since at least 1837) at the age of 70 on 8 November 1930. His effects came to £7,061, and his executors were Mary Napper (presumably his second wife) and Joseph Frederick Napper, who was described as a farmer.