Jonathan STRINGER (1806–1869)
His first wife Mrs Elizabeth STRINGER, née Rowell (1806–1854)
His second wife Mrs Mary Ann STRINGER, née Bayne (1817–1888)
St Giles’s section: Row 20, Grave F36
Above: IN MEMORY OF JONATHAN STRINGER / BORN JULY 3RD, 1806. / DIED JUNE 18TH, 1869. / “THY WILL BE DONE.”
Below: IN MEMORY OF ELIZABETH, WIFE OF / JONATHAN STRINGER / BORN 21 FEBRUARY 1806 / DIED 1 MARCH 1854
Edge, shown at end of page: MARY ANN, / WIDOW OF THE SAME / BORN NOV. 8TH 1818, / DIED JUNE 18TH, 1888
Jonathan Stringer was born in Kidlington on 3 July 1806 and baptised there on 28 September. He was the son of Samuel Stringer (born in Kidlington in 1772 and baptised there on 19 July) and Elizabeth Busby (born in Eynsham in 1769 and baptised there on 2 April). His father was described as being of Kidlington and his mother of St Aldate’s parish when they were married at St Aldate’s Church in Oxford on 8 November 1804. Jonathan's younger sister Hannah was baptised at Kidlington on 16 July 1809.
Jonathan’s father Samuel Stringer, who was a butcher, died in Kidlington in 1839 and was buried there on 27 September. There is a good description of his house in Kidlington when it was advertised for sale in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 30 October 1841: it included a brewhouse, slaughter-house, two-stall stable, piggeries, and fruit trees.
By the time of the 1841 census Jonathan Stringer had been appointed butler of Exeter College and was living in St Giles’ Road (the south end of the Woodstock and Banbury Roads) with his widowed mother Elizabeth and his sister Hannah.
Elizabeth Rowell (Jonathan Stringer’s first wife) was born in Oxford on 21 February 1806 and baptised at All Saints’ Church on 9 March). She was the daughter of George Rowell and Mary Rouse.
See the grave of her brother, the meteorologist George Augustus Rowell, for more about her background.
On 10 August 1843 at Cambridge, Jonathan Stringer married Elizabeth Rowell. Their marriage announcement in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 12 August 1843 read: “August 10, at Cambridge, Mr. J. Stringer, butler at Exeter College, to Elizabeth, youngest daughter of the late Mr. George Rowell, of this city.” They do not appear to have had any children.
At the time of the 1851 census Jonathan Stringer (44) was living at 61 St John Street in St Mary Magdalen parish with his first wife Elizabeth (45) and his widowed mother Elizabeth (82), plus one servant. He was described as a college butler, and Gardner’s Directory for 1852 confirms that he held this post at Exeter College.
By 1854 they were living at 13 St Giles’s Street (now part of the Lamb & Flag, which originally only occupied No. 12). Elizabeth Stringer died there in 1854:
† Mrs Elizabeth Stringer née Rowell died at 13 St Giles’s Street at the age of 48 on 1 March 1854 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 6 March (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church).
Her death notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of 4 March 1854 read: “March 1, at 13, St. Giles’s, Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Jonathan Stringer, and youngest daughter of Mr. G. Rowell, Broad-street.”
Mary Ann Bayne (Jonathan Stringer’s second wife) was born in Abingdon on 9 November 1818 according to her gravestone, but the year should probably read 1817, as she was baptised at St Helen’s Church in Abingdon on 5 January 1818. She was the youngest daughter of the cutler John Bayne of St Mary-the-Virgin parish and his wife Elizabeth Merrick, who were married at St Peter-in-the-East Church on 26 July 1810. Her older sister Elizabeth was baptised at Abingdon on 4 October 1812.
A Mary Bayne was listed as a cutler at 99 High Street, Oxford (one of the houses demolished to make way for the Rhodes Building) as early as 1816, and she is likely to have been Mary Ann’s grandmother. By the time of Robson’s Directory of 1839, Mary Ann’s father John Bayne is listed as a cutler and baker at that shop. The 1841 census shows Mary Ann living there with her parents as well as her sister Elizabeth and her husband Standish Betteris, who was a cook, and their two children.
Both of Mary Ann’s parents died in 1843, and by the time of the 1851 census her brother-in-law Standish Betteris had taken over the business. Mary Ann (31) was living over the shop with Standish (42) and Elizabeth (36) and their daughters Elizabeth Betteris (12) and Mary Betteris (10), and one servant. Gardner’s Directory for 1852, however, lists just Mary Ann herself as the cutler here.
Jonathan Stringer was still living at St Giles and working as a college butler when he married his second wife, Mary Ann Bayne, at St Mary-the-Virgin Church on 18 December 1856, with the marriage announced in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 27 December. Mary Ann was aged 46 at the time of the wedding, and there were no children.
Jonathan Stringer’s mother Elizabeth died aged 89 at Islip on 3 June 1858, and was buried in Kidlington with her husband on 8 June.
By the time of the 1861 census Jonathan Stringer, described as an “accountant etc. at a College”, was living at 12 Pembroke Street in St Aldate’s with his second wife Mary Ann and one servant. He died there in 1869:
† Jonathan Stringer died at 12 Pembroke Street at the age of 62 on 18 June 1869 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 24 June (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church).
His death notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 26 June 1869 read: “June 18, at his residence, 12, Pembroke-street, Mr. J. Stringer, after a very long and painful illness, in the 63rd year of his age. R.I.P.” His effects were nearly £2,000.
At the time of the 1871 and 1881 census, Mary Ann Stringer was living alone at 12 Pembroke Street with one servant. She died there in 1888:
† Mrs Mary Ann Stringer née Bayne died at 12 Pembroke Street, St Aldate’s at the age of 70 on 18 June 1888 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 21 June (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church).
Her death notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 23 June 1888 read: “June 18, at her residence, 12, Pembroke-street, Oxford, Mary Ann, relict of the late Jonathan Stringer.”
Her effects came to £472 16s. 4d.
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