William Elias TAUNTON (1817–1903)
His brother
George TAUNTON (1825–1895)
His brother Charles Daniel TAUNTON (1828–1908)
Charles’s wife Mrs Sarah Ann TAUNTON (c.1830–1911)
St Mary Magdalen section: Row 4, Grave C52
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
GEORGE TAUNTON M.R.C.S
DIED FEBRUARY 19TH 1895
AGED 70 YEARS
WILLIAM ELIAS TAUNTON
LATE MAJOR
4TH MIDDLESEX MILITIA
DIED 30TH MARCH 1903
AGED 85 YEARS
CHARLES DANIEL TAUNTON
DIED
16TH JANUARY 1908
AGED 79 YEARS
ALSO SARAH ANN WIFE OF
CHARLES DANIEL TAUNTON
DIED 21ST SEPTEMBER 1911
AGED 81 YEARS
The three men buried here are grandsons of Sir William Elias Taunton senior (1744–1825), who was Clerk of the Peace of Oxfordshire and Town Clerk of Oxford, who built Grandpont House for his growing family in 1785. Four sons survived him: Sir William Elias Taunton junior (1773–1835), who was a Judge of the King’s Bench (see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography);
Thomas Henry Taunton (1775–1831), Clerk of the Peace for Oxfordshire, who took over Grandpont House
Daniel Taunton (1779–1828), attorney
The
Revd George Taunton (1784–1832).
The three men buried in this grave are all sons of Daniel Taunton, attorney, the fourth son of Sir William Elias Taunton senior.
On 8 October 1816 at Swindon, Daniel Taunton married Maria Bradford (born in Swindon in 1790). At the start of their marriage they lived in St Michael's parish in Oxford, where they had four sons:
- William Elias Taunton III (born in Oxford in 1817 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 13 October)
- James Bradford Taunton (born in Oxford in 1821 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 19 February)
- George Taunton (born in Oxford in 1825 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 23 May)
- Charles Daniel Taunton (born in Oxford in 1828 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 29 May).
Daniel Taunton died of “spasmodic affection of the heart” at the age of 49 in 1828, soon after the birth of his fourth son. The family was then living “near the church” in St Giles’s Street, but he was buried at St Aldate’s Church, probably in a family vault, on 2 July 1828.
His widow Maria Taunton was living in St Giles’s parish when she died at the age of 55. She was buried in St Mary Magdalen churchyard on 4 October 1848.
(1) William Elias Taunton III (1817–1903)
William was a Major in the army, and never married.
His address when he acted as executor to his brother James in 1866 was given as 13 Westbourne Crescent, Hyde Park.
In 1871 he was visiting his brother Charles in Lambeth, and described himself as a Captain of the Militia. In 1881 he was aged 63, a retired Major in the Reserved Forces, and staying in a boarding house at 13 Westbourne Crescent, Paddington.
He died in Oxford in 1903, and was the second of the three brothers to be buried in this grave:
† William Elias Taunton died at 15 Beaumont Street at the age of 85 on 30 March 1903 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 3 April with his younger brother George (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church, where he is described as late Major of the 4th Battalion of the Middlesex Militia).
His effects came to £5,422 12s. 6d., and his executor was Daniel Taunton.
(2) George Taunton (1825–1895)
George Taunton became a surgeon, and never married.
At the time of the 1861 census he was aged 35 and a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons visiting the surgeon Frederick Symonds and his family at 35 Beaumont Street.
By 1871 George Taunton was Symonds’s assistant, and living with him there.
By 1881 Frederick Symonds’s son Horatio (30) had taken over the practice, and George Taunton (54) was once again listed as a boarder at the house. He died in 1895, and was the first member of his family to be buried in this grave:
† George Taunton died at 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford on 19 February 1895 at the age of 70, and l was buried in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 23 February (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).
The following notice appeared in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 23 February 1895:
Feb. 19 at 36, Beaumont-street, Oxford, George Taunton, Esq., M.R.C.S.Eng., third son of the late Daniel Taunton Esq., of Walton House, St. Giles’s. Interment at St. Sepulchre’s Cemetery, Saturday, 23rd inst., at two o’clock.
The following report on his funeral appeared in Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 2 March 1895:
FUNERAL OF MR. GEORGE TAUNTON
The funeral of Mr. George Taunton, M.R.C.S., took place on Saturday last, at St. Sepulchre’s cemetery, Walton-street, in this city, the funeral cortège leaving the residence of the deceased, No. 36, Beaumont-street, at two o’clock. The coffin, which was literally covered with choice wreaths, sent by sympathising friends, was of polished elm, with plain brass furniture, and was placed in an open car, and the remains were met at the gates of the cemetery by the Rev. H. E. Clayton, Vicar of St. Mary Magdalen, who conducted the service. The mourners were—First carriage, Major Taunton and another brother; second carriage, the Master of Pembroke and the Rev. J. S. Treacher, Norham-gardens; third carriage, Mr. A. Winkfield and Mr. Briscoe; fourth carriage, Mr. H. P. Symonds and Mr. Ritchie. Among those assembled at the graveside were the Rev. R. G. Livingstone, Dr. Rice, and Mr. Drew. The body was interred in the St. Mary Magdalen portion of the cemetery, and the coffin bore the following inscription:—GEORGE TAUNTON,
Died February 19th, 1895
Aged 70 years.Messrs Ellison and Cavell carried out the arrangements of the funeral.
His effects came to £13,278 7s. 11d., and his brothers William and Charles were his executors.
(3) Charles Daniel Taunton (1828–1908) and his wife Sarah Ann (c.1830–1911)
Charles Daniel Taunton was matriculated at the University of Oxford from Worcester College on 10 July 1847, at the age of 19. He obtained his B.A. in 1851.
By 1861 Charles was married to his wife Sarah Ann (known as Annie), who was born at Bury St Edmunds in c.1823, but it is hard to find a marriage. They do not appear to have had any children.
At the time of the 1861 census Charles (43) was living at 17 Denmark Street, Lambeth with his wife Annie [sic] (37). He described himself as “Graduate Oxford University, unemployed”, and they had a boarder and one servant. Visiting him was his brother William (53), a Captain of Militia. On 13 March 1868 the following notice appeared in the list of bankruptcies in the London Gazette
Charles Daniel Taunton, late of No. 2, Sharman-villas, Aragon-road, Twickenham, prior thereto of Winchester-street, Pimlico, prior thereto of Cornwall-street, Pimlico, all in the county of Middlesex, of no business or occupation, and now a Prisoner for Debt in the Debtors’ Prison for London and Middlesex, Whitecross-street, in the city of London, having been adjudged bankrupt under a Petition for adjudication of Bankruptcy (in formâ pauperis) filed in Her Majesty’s Court of Bankruptcy, in London, on the 7th day of March, 1868, is hereby required to surrender himself to James Rigg Brougham, Esq. a Registrar of the said Court….
The 1871 census shows Charles and Annie Taunton living at 1 Edgar Villas, Parchmore Road, Croydon with the same lodger as before and again one servant. Charles now described himself as a “House Proprietor, Graduate of Oxford”.
In 1891 Charles (63) was described as a “Graduate Oxon living on own means” and was living at York Cottage, Epsom with his wife Annie (58) and the same lodger, who was now retired, and a servant.
The 1901 census shows Charles (73) living on his own means at 9 Chalfont Road, North Oxford with his wife Sarah Ann (68). Again, they had one servant.
Charles died in 1908:
† Charles Daniel Taunton died at 9 Chalfont Road at the age of 79 on 16 January 1908 and was buried in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery in the grave of his two older brothers (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).
His effects came to £7,300 4s. 11d., and his executor was his wife Sarah Ann.
At the time of the 1911 census his widow Mrs Sarah Ann Taunton was living alone at 9 Chalfont Road with one servant. She died later that year:
† Mrs Sarah Ann Taunton died at at 9 Chalfont Road at the age of 81 on 21 September 1911, and was buried in the grave of her husband and his brothers on 25 September (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).
Her effects came to £975 15s. 9d., and Dr Ernest Mallam was her executor.
Brief footnote on the fourth brother James Bradford Taunton (1821–1866), not buried here
James Bradford Taunton, the second son, was matriculated at the University of Oxford from All Souls College on 23 March 1839 at the age of 18. He became an accountant, and never married. He died at the Middlesex Hospital in Tottenham Court Road at the age of 45 on 10 January 1866 and was buried at All Souls churchyard, Kensal Green, on 15 January 1866. He was not as wealthy as his other brothers: his effects came to under £300, and his executor was his brother William.
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