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John Alexander PRICKETT (1849–1929)
His wife Mrs Caroline Sarah PRICKETT, née Sturges (1852–1899)
St Paul’s section: Row 9, Grave B24

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John Alexander Prickett, usually known as Alexander, was born in Adelaide Street, Oxford in 1849 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 24 November. He was the son of the carpenter William Prickett (born in Binsey in 1815) and Harriet Smith (born in Standlake in 1808) who were married at St Aldate’s Church, Oxford on 21 November 1839.

John Alexander Prickett’s parents started their married life in Standlake and then moved to Oxford by 1841, to Binsey by 1842, and back to Oxford before Alexander’s birth. At the time of the 1851 census Alexander (1) was living at Adelaide Street in Jericho with his parents and his five older siblings Hector William Prickett (11), Naomi Lavinia Ann Prickett (10), Margaret Whale Prickett (8), James Rice Prickett (6), and Thomas Walter Prickett (4).On 7 June 1852 Thomas died at Adelaide Street at the age of five (with a disease of the hip joint given as the cause on his death certificate), and he was buried at Binsey on 13 June.

John Alexander’s father William Prickett had been working for fifteen months as a carpenter for the Great Western Railway in Oxford when in December 1857 he was crossing the line between two stationary engines and an engine entered the shed and jammed him between the buffers, killing him almost instantly at the age of 42. The inquest revealed that the train driver sounded the whistle and was not to blame. He was buried in Binsey churchyard on 16 December.

At the time of the 1861 census John Alexander's widowed mother Harriet was living at Church Farm, Binsey, the home of her husband William's sisters, the three Misses Prickett – Margaret (61), Elizabeth (51), and Ann (49) – wirh her five surviving children: Hector Prickett (21) and James  Prickett (15), who were carpenters; Naomi Lavinia Ann Prickett (18) and Margaret Prickett (17), who were needlewomen; and John Alexander Prickett himself: he was aged 11 and still at school, and would follow his brothers into the carpentry trade.

Caroline Sarah Sturges was born in St Thomas’s parish, Oxford near the end of 1852 and baptised at Charlbury on 29 October. She was the daughter of James Sturges and Caroline Curtis, who were both working as servants in Charlbury when they were married there on 29 December 1851. At the time of the 1861 census James Sturges (33) was a grocer’s porter, and living at at 7 Russell’s Place, Summertown with his wife Caroline (33) and their four children: Caroline Sarah herself (8), Jane Eliza (6), Frank (3), and James (2).

On 14 August 1870 at St Lawrence’s Church, South Hinksey, John Alexander Prickett (20) married Caroline Sarah Sturges (17). They were both living in Thames Street at the time of their marriage, and their first child was already expected. They had ten children in all:

• Caroline Margaret Prickett, known as Margaret (born in Oxford on 29 January 1871 and baptised at St Barnabas’s Church on 23 February)
• William Alexander Prickett (born in Oxford in 1872 and baptised at St Barnabas’s Church on 21 April)
• Phoebe Jane Prickett, known as Jane (born in Oxford on 6 October 1874 and baptised at St Barnabas’s Church on 16 November)
• James Frederick Prickett (born at Kingston Road, Oxford on 31 December 1875 and baptised at St Barnabas’s Church on 31 January 1876); only lived ten weeks
• Alice Maud Prickett (born in Oxford on 22 October 1879 and baptised at St Barnabas’s Church on 1 January 1880)
• Edith Lavinia Prickett (born in Oxford on 8 March 1881 and baptised at St Barnabas’s Church on 10 April)
• Thomas Arnold Prickett (born in Oxford on 15 September 1882 and privately baptised by St Barnabas’s Church on 22 September; only lived two weeks)
• James Arnold Prickett (born in Oxford on 15 January 1884 and baptised at St Barnabas’s Church on 13 March)
• Charles Pascal Prickett (born at 13 Southmoor Road, Oxford on 25 April 1886 and baptised at Ss Philip & James’s Church on 23 May)
• Blanche Harriet Prickett (born at Southmoor Road, Oxford on 14 May 1887 and baptised at Ss Philip & James’s Church on 12 June).

At the time of the 1871 census John Alexander Prickett (21) and his wife Caroline (18) were living at 5 Chaundy’s Place, Paradise Square with their three-month-old daughter Caroline. Meanwhile his widowed mother Harriett (60) was living in Binsey with her sons Hector (31) who was unmarried and James (25) who was already a widower: she was described as beng supported by her sons.

By the end of 1875 John Alexander and Caroline were living at Kingston Road, where their baby son James was born at the end of December: he only lived ten weeks, and was buried in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 14 March, with the burial recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church (with their reference P7, which means that he may have been buried in this grave).

By 1881 the family had moved to Jericho, and the census that year shows John Alexander Prickett (31) and Caroline (27) living at 24 Cranham Street in the home of Caroline’s brother-in-law William Butler (26) and his wife Jane Sturges. Four of their five surviving children were lodging there with them: (Caroline) Margaret (10), William (9), (Phoebe) Jane (6), and one-month-old Edith. Alice (1) was staying at 20 Albert Road with her grandparents James and Caroline Sturges.

They then moved to 7 Cranham Street, where their son Thomas was born in 1882: he only lived two weeks and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 30 September 1882 (again the burial is recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church, ref. A.7).

By early 1886 the family had moved to 13 Southmoor Road in the parish of Ss Philip & James. This house (together with Nos. 15, 17, and 19) was built in 1885 by a builder called Prickett, doubtless a relation, and their two youngest children were born there. They were still at that address in June 1887.

Near the end of the 1880s they moved to Old Woodstock, and can be seen there in the 1891 census: John Alexander (41) and Caroline (38) were there with six of their children William (19), who was a boat builder’s apprentice, and Phoebe (14), Alice (11), Edith (10) James (7), and Charles (4). Caroline Margaret (20) was a housemaid to a retired clergyman in St Faith’s, Hampshire.

The Pricketts were living at 5 Adelaide Street in the St Paul’s District Chapelry by the spring of 1899, when Mrs Prickett died suddenly of a cerebral haemorrhage:

† Mrs Caroline Sarah Prickett, née Sturges died 5 Adelaide Street at the age of 47 on 25 April 1899 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 29 April (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).

By the time of the 1901 census John Alexander, a widower of 51, was living at 59 Southmoor Road with five of his children: William (29), who was a boat-builder; Edith (20); James (17), who was a joiner; and Charles (14) and Blanche (13). Alice (21) was a housemaid at Hoddington House, Upton Grey, Hampshire. Caroline Margaret (30) is hard to find.

Six of his eight surviving children were married between 1902 and 1908 (the eldest and the youngest, Caroline and Blanche, never married):

• On 1 January 1902 at St Aldate’s Church, Oxford, William Alexander Prickett married Alice Tyrrell, the daughter of the house decorator Thomas Walpole Tyrrell, of Chilswell Road
• On 16 June 1903 at St Paul’s Church, Oxford , Edith Lavinia Prickett married William Ewart Bint, a boatbuilder of 5 Adelaide Street and the son of the waiter Edward Charles William Bint
• On 2 September 1903 at St Giles’s Church, Oxford, Phoebe Jane Prickett married Walter Webb.
• On 6 August 1906 in Haringay, North London, Alice Maud Prickett married Thomas Egbert Thackray Reavell
• On 23 December 1909 at St Michael’s Church, Oxford, Charles Pascal Prickett married Alice Mabel Beauchamp of Ship Street, the daughter of the deceased grocer George Beauchamp
• On 26 December 1908 at St Ebbe’s Church, Oxford, James Arnold Prickett of 2 Norfolk Street married Gertrude May West of 3 Norfolk Street, the daughter of the tailor George West.

At the time of the 1911 census John Alexander Prickett (61) was still working as a carpenter and living at 59 Southmoor Road with his eldest daughter Caroline Margaret (39) and two lodgers. His youngest daughter Blanche (23), who was a dressmaker, was probably still living at home too, but was visiting a family in Maidenhead on census night.

John Alexander Prickett died at that house in 1929:

† John Alexander Prickett died at 59 Southmoor Road at the age of 79 on 30 April 1929 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 3 May (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).