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Thomas Ball SHURROCK (1790–1868)
His second wife Mrs Eliza SHURROCK, née Hughes (1801–1886)
His daughter-in-law Mrs Ann SHURROCK, née Swadling (c.1822–1862)
St Paul section: Row 21, Grave E7½ (St Paul ref. C18)

The first person buried in this grave, Mrs Ann Shurrock, is the last mentioned on the grave marker, which means it was not erected until after the death of her father-in-law, Thomas Ball Shurrock. His death is wrongly given there as 21 June; in fact that was the date he was buried, and the newspaper report shows he died on 18 June.

Thomas Ball Shurrock (sometimes spelt Sherrock or Sherrard) was born in Oxford on 3 September 1790, the son of the sawyer Thomas Shurrock and Martha Ball, who were married at St Mary’s Church, Witney on 11 February 1784. Their first child, Elizabeth Anne, was born in 1785 in Chilton, Buckinghamshire (her father’s home village). By 1787 the family had moved to Oxford and six of their children (but not Thomas himself) were baptised at St Giles’s Church: a second Elizabeth (1787), Edward (1796), Sarah (1798), a third Elizabeth (1799), and a fourth Elizabeth (1801).

It appears that Thomas Ball Shurrock was the only one of their children to survive to adulthood. He became a carpenter in Oxford, and was admitted free on 7 October 1812. On 15 February 1815 at St Cross Church, Holywell he married his first wife, Susan or Susannah Cox: both were described as lodgers in that parish. They had the following children:

• Eliza Martha Shurrock (born in Oxford in 1815 and baptised at St Cross Church on 3 November)
• William Shurrock (born in Oxford on 11 March 1818 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 22 March)
• John Shurrock (born in Oxford in 1820 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 11 July)
• Thomas Shurrock junior (born in Oxford in 1822 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 16 June)
• George Shurrock (born “near [St Giles's] Church”, Oxford in 1824 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 28 March)
• Henry Shurrock (born in Workhouse Lane [= Little Clarendon Street], Oxford in 1826 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 17 September)
• Charles Shurrock (born in Little Clarendon Street, Oxford on 4 May 1829 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 14 May).

Thomas and his first wife Susan evidently remained in Holywell parish for at least a year after their wedding, and then moved to St Giles’s parish, with their address definitely Little Clarendon Street by 1826.

Two of their children were married in the late 1830s:

• On 18 June 1837 at St Andrew’s Church in Headington, their only daughter Eliza Shurrock married the butcher William Mobley.
• On 2 June 1839 at St Paul’s Church in Oxford, their eldest son William Shurrock, who was a tailor, married Mary Sarins of Union Street, the daughter of the labourer John Sarins

By 1841 Thomas’s wife Susan Shurrock had died (burial not found).

At the time of the 1841 census Thomas was living at Great Clarendon Street in Jericho with his father Thomas Shurrock, who was aged over 80. Five of his six sons were still living with him (ages corrected): John (21) and Thomas (18), who were printers; George (17), who was a butcher; and Henry (16) and Charles (11).

Two more of his sons were married in the early 1840s:

• On 28 November 1842 at St Peter-le-Bailey Church, Oxford, John Shurrock married the widow Mrs Caroline Hedges, the daughter of the gardener John Hawkins: both were then living in Queen Street. (In 1858 John Shurrock was convicted of assaulting Caroline.)
• On 17 April 1843 at St Thomas’s Church, Oxford, Thomas Shurrock junior married Ann Swadling (see full biography below).

All of Thomas Ball Shurrock’s sons were created Freemen of the city soon after attaining their majority: William on 26 July 1841, John on 27 July 1841, Thomas and George on 30 July 1847, and Henry and Charles on 30 July 1850.

Thomas Ball Shurrock’s father Thomas Shurrock died in 1850 at the age of 90 in St Thomas’s parish (probably Great Clarendon Street), but his burial on 25 August is recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church, suggesting that he may have been buried in a family grave in that churchyard.

At the time of the 1851 census Thomas Ball Shurrock, a widower of 61, was living on his own in Portland Place (the lower end of Cardigan Street).

The woman who was shortly to be his second wife, Mrs Eliza Smith née Hughes, the daughter of the carpenter William Hughes and his wife Ann, was born in Oxford on 24 August 1800 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 21 September, as were her two older siblings William (1795) and Susannah (1797). At the time of the 1851 census Eliza was a 50-year-old laundress, living at Plantation Road with her husband James Smith (55), who was a labourer. He died a few months later and was buried on 31 July 1851.

On 24 April 1853 at St Clement’s Church, Oxford, Thomas Ball Shurrock married his second wife the widow Mrs Eliza Smith née Hughes: both were described as being of St Clement’s parish, but neither can have lived there for long.

The 1861 census shows Thomas (71), who was still working as a carpenter, and his second wife Eliza (60), who was a shirtmaker, living at Great Clarendon Street.

Thomas died in 1868, and was buried in the grave where his daughter-in-law (see below) had been buried six years earlier:

† Thomas Ball Shurrock died at Great Clarendon Street at the age of 77 on 18 June 1868 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 21 June (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).

His death notice in the Oxford University and City Herald of 27 June 1868 read: “June 18, of bronchitis, Mr. Thomas Ball Shurrock, leaving a numerous family to deplore their loss; he was much respected by all who knew him.”

At the time of the 1871 census Mrs Eliza Shurrock, a widow of 70, was living at 4 Albert Terrace Court in the hope of her stepson George (46), who was a butcher, and his wife Sarah, plus their children Edwin (12) and George (9).

By 1881 Mrs Eliza Shurrock, now 80 and described as an annuitant, was lodging at 16 Great Clarendon Street. She died there in 1886:

† Mrs Eliza Shurrock née Hughes died at Great Clarendon Street at the age of 85 on 30 April 1886 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 6 May (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).

Her personal estate came to £284, and her executors were Francis Thomas, printer of 38 Walton Street, and her son Thomas Shurrock, of 32 Richmond Road (then 32 Worcester Terrace), who was a printer but is grandly described as an overseer of the Clarendon Press.

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Thomas Shurrock junior (son of Thomas Ball Shurrock), and his first wife Ann Swadling

Thomas Shurrock junior (born 1822) became a printer.

On 17 April 1843 at St Thomas’s Church Thomas Shurrock junior married the first of his two wives (both of whom were called Ann[e]): Ann Swadling: born in Oxford in c.1822, she was also living at Portland Place at the time of their marriage, and was the daughter of the tanner William Swadling. They had the following children:

• Anne Shurrock (born at St Bernard’s Road, Oxford in 1844 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 21 April);
  death registered in second quarter of 1844
• Frank Thomas Shurrock (at St Bernard’s Road, Oxford in 1845 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 22 June)
• Arthur William Shurrock (born at Portland Place, Oxford in 1847 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 15 August)
• Frederick Robert Shurrock (born at Union Street, Oxford in 1850 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 14 July)
• Thirza Frances Shurrock (born at Cardigan Street, Oxford in 1852 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 17 October)
• Henry Shurrock (born at Portland Place, Oxford in 1856 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 15 June)

At the start of their marriage Thomas Shurrock junior and his first wife Ann were evidently living in the present St Bernard’s Road (which was then known as St John’s Road, or Horse & Jockey Road after the pub on the corner of the Woodstock Road). They then moved to the Jericho district, and were living at Portland Place in 1847 and Union Street in 1850.

By the time of the 1851 census Thomas (28), described as a compositor, and the first Ann (28), who was a dressmaker, were back at Portland Place (the lower end of Cardigan Street) with three of their children: Frank (6), Arthur (4), and Frederick (1).

At the time of the 1861 census Thomas (38) and Ann (38) were living at 26 Cardigan Street with their five surviving children: Frank (15) was a carpenter, Arthur (13) was a rubber of metal type, and Fred (10), Thirza (8), and Harry (5) were still at school.

They then moved to Jericho Street, where Thomas Shurrock junior’s first wife Ann died in 1862. She predeceased her parents-in-law, and was the first to be buried in this grave:

† Mrs Ann Shurrock died at Jericho Street at the age of 40 in August 1862 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 30 August (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).

Her eldest son was married in 1867:

• On 18 August 1867 at St Paul’s Church, Oxford, Frank Shurrock married Sarah Green of St Giles’s parish, the daughter of the labourer William Green.

At the time of the 1871 census, Thomas Shurrock junior, a widower of 48, was still living in Jericho Street with two of his sons: Frederick (20) was a type founder, and Harry (14) was a printer’s boy.

In 1876 in Oxford, Thomas Shurrock junior married his second wife, Miss Anne Jenkins (born in Harrow in c.1835, and known as Annie), who at the time of the 1871 census had been a housemaid aged 35 at 34 St Giles’s Street. They do not appear to have had any children.

His fourth son was married in 1877:

• On 24 February at St Giles’s Church, Oxford, Frederick Robert Shurrock (26), a type founder of Cardigan Street, married Martha Ann Porter (28), of 18 Walton Crescent, the daughter of the farmer James Porter.

By the time of the 1881 census Thomas and Annie were living at 32 Richmond Road (then 32 Worcester Terrace), and had a boarder and a lodger: Thomas (69) was still working as a printer, and Anne (54) as a dressmaker.

In 1891 their address was given as 40 Walton Street, and both had the same occupations.

In 1901 Thomas Shurrock junior, described as a widower of 79, was an almsman at Little Park in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, and he died there in 1909. It is possible, though that he was not in fact a widower, as there is no evidence of his wife’s death before 1901; this could mean that the Annie Shurrock who died at the Cowley Road Hospital at the age of 87 in 1924 and whose funeral was at St Thomas's Church on 24 November 1924 was his wife.

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A pedigree drawn up in c.1773 of Thomas Ball Shurrock’s mother Martha Shurrock, née Ball
(born 1763, the granddaughter of Simon Ball) , can be found in the Oxfordshire History Centre (Ref. E32/9/G/1).

Shurrock History