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John Ernest WALSH (1863–1891)
His brother Frederick Albert WALSH (1868–1934)
His sister Frances Gertrude WALSH (1874–1928)
His sister Mabel Henrietta WALSH (1875–1877)
[With a mention of their brother Charles Lawrence WALSH (1864–1891)]
(and one or more others)
St Giles [Ss Philip & James] section: Row 32, Grave J27½

 

 

The people buried here are all children of William Henry Walsh senior (born in Oxford in 1835/6) and his wife Elizabeth Anne Judge (born in Banbury 1833/4). They were married at Wardington on 12 October 1859 and had twelve children:

• Henry William Walsh (born at 17 New Inn Hall Street (now 20 St Michael's Street), Oxford on 14 August 1861 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 10 September)
• John Ernest Walsh (born at 17 New Inn Hall Street, Oxford in 1862 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 2 October)
• Charles Lawrence Walsh (born at 17 New Inn Hall Street, Oxford in 1864 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 14 April)
• Catharine Mary Walsh (born at 17 New Inn Hall Street, Oxford on 2 September 1865 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 24 September)
• Alice Clementine Walsh (born at 17 New Inn Hall Street, Oxford on 27 February 1867 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 7 April)
• Frederick Albert Walsh (born at 17 New Inn Hall Street, Oxford on 25 September 1868 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 18 October)
• Ethel Florence Walsh (born at Park House, now 9 Park Town, Oxford on 2 May 1870 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 22 May)
• Eleanor Carrington Walsh (born at Park House, now 9 Park Town, Oxford on 22 July 1872 and baptised at St Michael's Church on 18 August)
• Frances Gertrude Walsh (born at Park House, now 9 Park Town, Oxford in 1874 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 19 July)
• Grace Wilhelmina Walsh TWIN (born at Park House, now 9 Park Town, Oxford in late 1875 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 26 February 1876)
• Mabel Henrietta Walsh TWIN (born at Park House, now 9 Park Town, Oxford in late 1875 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 26 February 1876); died aged 20 months
• Rose Augusta Walsh (born at Park House, now 9 Park Town, Oxford on 27 August 1877 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 22 September)

William Henry Walsh senior, who had been a pupil at Marlborough College at the time of the 1851 census, was an Oxford solicitor. From 1861 to 1868 he lived and worked at 17 New Inn Hall Street (now 20 St Michael's Street: at that time the street was quite different from today: it was not until 1872 that it was extended to connect with George Street, and it used to swing to the east and include what is now called St Michael’s Street).

At the time of the 1861 census William (25) and Elizabeth (27) were living at 17 New Inn Hall Street with one servant. They had two young visitors: Rebecca Judge (18) and Ann Sophia Delamotte (13).

By 1870 William & Elizabeth had moved to Park Town, although the solicitor’s office remained based in New Inn Hall Street. At the time of the 1871 census they were living at Park House (now 9 Park Town) with their first seven children, all born since the last census: Henry (9), John (8), Charles (7), Catherine (5), Alice (4), Frederick (2), and Ethel (11 months). They now had three servants (a nursemaid, an under-nursemaid, and a general servant).

Over the next six years they had five more children, including twins, one of whom died in 1877:

† Mabel Henrietta Walsh, died at Park Town at the age of 1 year 8 months on 6 August 1877. Her death was announced in Jackson’s Oxford Journal, and she was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 8 August (burial recorded in the parish registers of both Ss Philip & James’s and St Giles’s Church).

Just nineteen days after the funeral, Elizabeth gave birth to her twelfth and last child.

At the time of the 1881 census William and Elizabeth were at home at Park House with Henry (19), who was an Oxford undergraduate; Catherine (15); Alice (14); Frederick (12); Ethel (10); Eleanor (8); Frances (6), Grace (5), and Rose (3). They had three servants: a cook and two nursemaids. The two missing children were John (18), who was a solicitor’s clerk lodging at 1 Brockley Terrace, Lewisham, and Charles (17), who was a student of medicine lodging with the physician & surgeon Thomas W. Read at 34 St George’s Place, Canterbury.

John Ernest Walsh, who was their second son, decided to give up law and enter the church, and was matriculated at the University of Oxford as a non-collegiate student on 17 December 1884 at the age of 22. He obtained a first in the Final Honour School of Jurisprudence in June 1887, taking his degree from Exeter College.

In 1886 their third son Charles Lawrence Walsh, who had qualified as a surgeon at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, was sent out to serve in Fort William, Calcutta, and then at Dum Dum. After a period at home on sick leave, he returned to India in December 1890. He was sent to Ghansi, and learnt Hindustani in his leisure time.

The Walsh family was still in Park Town in 1891, and all the children were at home except for the three eldest sons: Henry (29), who was a clerk in holy orders lodging in Battersea; John (28), who was now the Curate of St John’s Church at Deptford; and Charles (27), who was in India. Later that year John died:

† John Ernest Walsh died at Park House at the age of 28 on 25 July 1891 and his funeral was at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 29 July (burial recorded in the parish registers of both Ss Philip & James’s and St Giles’s Church).

The following brief obituary and report on the funeral appeared in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 1 August 1891:

DEATH OF THE REV. J. E. WALSH. — With sincere regret we have to announce the death of the Rev. John Ernest Walsh, M.A., the second son of Mr. W. H. Walsh, the well-known and highly-respected solicitor, and a native of this city. The deceased was formerly a member of the legal profession, but having a wish to enter the church, he gave up the law, and matriculated at the University, where he greatly distinguished himself, obtaining a first in the Final Honour School of Jurisprudence in June 1887, taking his degree from Exeter College. He was ordained in Advent of the same year, by the Bishop of Rochester, to a curacy of St. John’s Deptford, where he has officiated ever since. He was a hard worker, yet for some time past his heath has been anything but satisfactory, and so it was thought that a holiday might be beneficial. He, therefore, went on June 30th to Cromer, where he stayed for a fortnight with his brother and sisters. He then came home to Oxford, a a few days later was taken ill. Nothing serous was at first suspected, but on the morning of July 24th he was pronounced to be dangerously ill, and died very suddenly early on Saturday. The funeral took place on Wednesday last at St. Sepulchre’s cemetery, and was conducted by the Rev. E. J. Hone, M.A., Vicar of St. John’s Deptford, and the following were the mourners:— Mr. W. H. Walsh (father; Rev. H. W. Walsh and Mr. Frederick Walsh (brothers); Miss Walsh, and the Misses Alice Ethel and Eleanor Walsh (sisters); Mr. Edward Walsh, Mr. George Walsh, and Rev. A. O. Walsh (uncles); Rev. Harlow Phibbs, Curate of St. John’s Deptford, and Rev. T. H. Gregory, Vicar of Padbury, Buckingham. A number of beautiful wreaths were received from relatives and friends, including the Vicar, Mrs. Hone and family, the Congregation of St. John’s Church, the Children and Helpers of the Band of Hope, Teachers and Children of St. John’s Sunday and Day Schools, also from others who had valued his ministrations, and from the Mission Hall of St. John’s Deptford, where the deceased gentleman was very popular, and did much good by his eloquent preaching and hard work; indeed, overwork was considered to have largely conduced to his untimely death, at the early age of 28. We are quite sure that all our readers will join us in our feeling of deep sympathy with Mr. Walsh and his family in their inexpressible sorrow. Death is always touching, but it is especially so when it seizes on one in the prime of life, whose prospects seems so fair, and whose influence is all for good.

Just ten days after his death, his brother Charles also died:

† Charles Lawrence Walsh died in Quetta of enteric fever (typhoid) at the age of 27 on 4 August 1891, and was buried in Quetta Cemetery, but is remembered on his siblings’ grave.

At the time of the 1901 census, their parents were still living at Park Town, with the number now given as 5. There were now only four children at home: Catherine (35); Frederick (32), who was a solicitor in partnership with his father; Eleanor (28), and Rose (23).

The Walsh parents both died in Oxford in the first decade of the twentieth century, and may have another grave in the cemetery: Mrs Elizabeth Anne Walsh at the age of 74 in 1907 (reg. second quarter) and William Henry Walsh senior at the age of 73 in 1909 (reg. second quarter).

The unmarried sisters then had to split up: in 1911 Ethel Florence Walsh (40) was boarding at 2 Bevington Road; Eleanor Carrington Walsh (35) was boarding at 85 St Bernard’s Road; and Rose Augusta Walsh (31) was living with her unmarried uncle Edward Walsh (72) at 58 Banbury Road.

The eldest brother, Henry William Walsh (49), was the Vicar of Ingham in Norfolk in 1911: he was living at the vicarage with his wife Beatrice, to whom he had been married for 17 years, and their only surviving child Charles Augustin Walsh (3). They had one servant.

Two other Walsh siblings were buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery in the twentieth century, and their names are inscribed on the gravestone:

† Frances Gertrude Walsh (who seems to have reversed her forenames later in life) died at the age of 54 in Lonsdale Road, Oxford and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery in the same grave as her brother and baby sister on 23 April 1928 (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church).

† Frederick Albert Walsh died in Teddington at the age of 66 on 19 October 1934 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery in the same grave as his brother and two sisters on 22 October (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church).

Two of the other sisters who never married, Catherine Mary Walsh and Alice Clementine Walsh, both died in Oxford: Catherine at the age of 75 in 1942 and Alice at 62 Lonsdale Road at the age of 93 in 1958. Theirs may be the names added at the bottom of the gravestone, although, like Charles, they are not necessarily buried there.