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Mrs Martha WALTER, née Callis (1812–1892)
Her son James WALTER junior (1840–1902)
Martha's grandson (and James's son) Frederick James WALTER (1873–1876)
St Paul section: Row 27, Grave H4 [St Paul ref. D24]

Martha Callis or Collis was born in Oxford in 1812 and privately baptised by St Giles's Church on 17 February 1812, being received into the church on 24 July. She was the daughter of the coach smith John Callis and his wife Amelia (probably the John Collis and Amelia Orson who were married at St Ebbe's Church on 25 December 1805). Their eldest chid Mary Amelia was baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church in 1806, and their next four children at St Giles's Church: Milly Louisa (1810), Martha herself (1812), John (1815), Charlotte (1817), and Ruth (1820): in 1817 their address was specified as Horse & Jockey Lane. The family then moved to Gloucester Green and the next two children were baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church: John Joseph (1822) and Kezia (1824): Martha's father was running a pub in the latter year. By the time the youngest child Sam John was baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church in 1829, John Callis was a coach smith again, and they were living in Worcester Lane.

On 28 October 1838 at St Ebbe's Church, Oxford, Martha Callis of Gloucester Green married the carpenter James Walter of Pembroke Street. He was born in c.1808, the son of the carpenter James Walter senior, and his surname was spelt as Walters in marriage register. They had the following children:

• Thomas Walter (born in Oxford in 1839, reg. third quarter, but not baptised until 18 April 1849, at St Giles's Church)
• James Walter (born in Oxford at the end of 1840, but not baptised until 18 April 1849, at St Giles's Church)
• Joseph Walter (born in Oxford in 1842, reg. third quarter, but not baptised until 18 April 1849, at St Giles's Church)
• John Walter (born at Gloucester Green, Oxford in 1843 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 15 October); died aged two months and buried in that churchyard on 21 October
• Elizabeth Martha Walter (born at Little Clarendon Street, Oxford in 1844 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 27 September); died aged two and buried in that churchyard on 11 October 1846
• Ellen Martha Walter (born at Little Clarendon Street, Oxford in 1846 and baptised by St Giles's Church on 13 September and received into church on 25 October)

At the time of the 1841 census Mrs Martha Walter was living at Gloucester Green in St Mary Magdalen parish with her husband James, who described himself as a carpenter, and their first two children Thomas (1) and James (four months), plus their lodger, a young cordwainer. Their next son was born there in 1843 but only lived two months.

By the beginning of 1844 the family had moved from Gloucester Green to Little Clarendon Street in St Giles's parish, and James now described himself as a builder rather than a carpenter. Their next child Elizabeth was born there, but died aged two.

Martha's husband James Walter died at Little Clarendon Street at the age of 38 on 2 September 1846, around the time his youngest daughter Ellen was born, and (as St Sepulchre's Cemetery did not open until 1848) he was buried in St Giles's churchyard on 6 September. James had agreed to build a school at Standlake, but the job was unfinished at the time of his death, and on 12 September his widow Martha made an agreement with her youngest brother John Joseph Collis/Callis for him to finish the work (Oxfordshire History Centre PAR248/14/l1/1).

Martha's daughter Elizabeth Martha Walter died at the age of two just a month after her father and was buried in St Giles's churchyard on 11 October 1846.

On 20 February 1847 a notice appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal inviting anyone with demands on the Estate of James Walter to send the account to Mrs Martha Walter at Little Clarendon Street.

On 18 April 1849 Mrs Walter had her three eldest children baptised together at St Giles's Church.

At the time of the 1851 census Martha, a widow of 38, described herself as a grocer and was living at Little Clarendon Street with her sons Thomas (11), James (10), and Joseph (8) plus two lodgers. Ellen (4) is hard to find, and may have been omitted.

By 1861 Martha (49) described herself as a housekeeper and was living at 7 St Giles's Terrace (the south end of the Banbury Road) with her son James (20), who was a carpenter, her daughter Ellen (14), and a boarder and a lodger. Their son Thomas (21) was the footman of a family of a lieutenant colonel on half pay at Parkhurst, Bromley, Kent.

Her son Joseph Walter (18) is hard to find in the 1861 census, but on 5 May 1866 he was admitted to the Littlemore Lunatic Asylum, where he would spend the rest of his life.

Her two other sons were both married in 1869:

• On 29 March 1869 at St Giles's Church, Oxford, James Walter (28), described as a carpenter of St Giles's Road, married Ellen Snell (21) of Marsh Baldon, the daughter of the gardener William Snell. Their young son Frederick James Walter was the first to be buried in this grave: see details below.
• On 22 December 1869 in East Dulwich, Surrey, Thomas Walter married Jane Elizabeth Barnes (born in Dulwich in 1841/2). 

In 1871 Martha (59) described herself as a retired grocer and was living at 7 St Giles Terrace with an undergraduate lodger. Her daughter Ellen Martha Walter (24) was a governess, living alone at the school in Wootton near Abingdon.

In 1881 Martha (68) was living at 30 St Giles Road West, as the south end of the Banbury Road was then called: it may be the same house as before. Although she described herself as a lodging house keeper, she was alone on census night.

In 1891 Martha (78) was a housekeeper/caretaker at 63 Iffley Road, and was at home there with a servant girl on census night.

Mrs Walter died in 1892, and was buried in the same grave as her grandson:

† Mrs Martha Walter née Callis died at 1 Marine Parade, Hastings at the age of 79 on 9 January 1892 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 12 January (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul's Church).

Her death notice in Jackson's Oxford Journal read: “Jan. 9, at Hastings, after three days' illness of acute bronchitis, Martha Walter, relict of the late James Walter, builder, of this city, aged 79 years. Beloved by all who knew her.”

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Martha Walter's son James Walter junior and her grandson Frederick

Martha's son James Walter (born in Oxford in late 1840) became a builder like his father. On 29 March 1869 at St Giles's Church, Oxford, James (28), described as a carpenter of St Giles's Road, married Ellen Snell (21) of Marsh Baldon, the daughter of the gardener William Snell. They had four children:

• Ellen Louisa Walter (born at Little Clarendon Street, Oxford in 1870 and baptised at St Giles's Church on 4 September)
• Frederick James Walter (born at Observatory Street in 1873 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 2 August)
• Agnes Beatrice Walter (born at Observatory Street in 1875 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 18 April)
• Percy James Walter (born at Wytham Villa, Southmoor Road on 7 October 1883 and baptised at St Paul's Church on 8 November).

The couple began their married life in Little Clarendon Street, where their daughter Ellen Louisa Walter was born.

In the 1870s 22 houses in Kingston Road were built by “Walter” (presumably James Walter): 159 & 160, 164–166, and 168–174 in 1870; 161 in 1871; 162 & 163 in 1875; and 47–53 in 1876. In the same decade, he built 17 houses in Leckford Road: 1-10 in 1875, and 47–53 in 1876

In 1870 James Walter took on the first lease of one of the houses he had built, 164 Kingston Road, and at the time of the 1871 census James (30), described as a master builder, was living in Kingston Road with Ellen (23) and their daughter Ellen Louisa (nine months).

By August 1873 they had moved to Observatory Street in St Paul's parish, where their next child Frederick James Walter was born.

By 1876 James & Ellen Walter had moved to Walton Street, where their young son Frederick died in 1876. He was the first buried in this grave:

† Frederick James Walter died at Walton Street at the age of 3½ on 24 December 1876 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 28 December (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul's Church).

By the time of the 1881 census James and Ellen were living at 40 Observatory Street, which had a builder's yard next door, with their daughters Ellen (10) and Agnes (6).

By the time of the birth of their son Percy James Walter in October 1883, they had moved again and were now at Wytham Villa in Southmoor Road.

Their address was given as 21 Southmoor Road in the 1891 census, and they were living their with their three surviving children; Ellen (25), who was a dressmaker, Agnes (16), was a milliner; and Percy (9).

Their daughter Ellen was married in 1892:

• On 18 April 1892 at St Barnabas's Church in Jericho, Ellen Louisa Walter (21) married
  Francis Frederick George (25), the son of the compositor Frederick George.

James & Ellen Walter were still at 21 Southmoor Road in 1901 with their two unmarried children: Agnes (26) was a waitress and Percy (17) was a clerk.

James Walter died in 1902:

† James Walter died at 21 Southmoor Road at the age of 62 on 8 October 1902 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 11 October (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul's Church).

The Ellen Walter who died in 1905 at the age of 55 at 13 Frenchay Road in St Margaret's parish appears to be his widow. She was buried on 19 August 1905, and as the St Paul register records her burial even though she was living in St Margaret's parish, there is a chance she is also buried in this grave.

At the time of the 1911 census the two unmarried children of James Walter junior and Ellen were living together at 230 Banbury Road, Summertown: Percy James Walter (27) was a builder's clerk, and his older sister Agnes Beatrice Walter (36) was acting as his housekeeper. Percy was married in 1914:

• On 21 March 1914 at Wolvercote Church, Percy James Walter married Clara Margaret Sunman (25) of Wolvercote, the daughter of Henry Sunman, a lay clerk, and their son Douglas P. Walter was born in 1918. Percy died in Oxford at the age of 69 in 1953.

Their younger, Agnes Beatrice Walter never married, and died in Oxford at the age of 58 in 1933.

For more about their elder daughter, Mrs Ellen George and her family, see the nearby grave

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Back to the other surviving children of Mrs Martha Walter

• Thomas Walter (born 1839) was described as a gentleman's servant when in 1870 (a year after his marriage to Jane Elizabeth), he took on the first lease of eight houses in Kingston Road (Nos. 149–156). He and his wife Jane's first child Thomas James Walter was born in Dulwich in 1870 but was baptised at St Giles's Church in Oxford on 25 January 1871: their address was then given as Tyndale Road (then known as William Street) off the Cowley Road in east Oxford, and Thomas was described as a domestic servant. Their daughters were born in Bournemouth: Edith Clare Jane Walter in 1873/4, Alice Emily Walter in 1876, and Dora Frances Walter in 1878. At the time of the 1881 census Thomas (41) was a lodging house keeper in Bournemouth, living at Monreith Park with his wife Jane (39) and their children Thomas (10), Edith (7), Alice (5), and Dora (3). He and his wife and their daughter Edith were still running a lodging keeper at that house in 1911. Thomas died in Bournemouth in 1922 at the age of 83.
• Joseph Walter (born 1842) spent most of his adult life at the Littlemore Lunatic Asylum, and died there at the age of 52 on 11 March 1895. He was buried in the asylum burial ground.
• Ellen Martha Walter (born 1846) remained a schoolteacher. At the time of the 1901 census when she was aged 54 she was boarding with the schoolmaster and his family at School House, Holly Bush Park, Hampstead. She may have gone to live with or near her brother Thomas and his family, as she died at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Bournemouth at the age of 63 on 8 May 1910. Her effects came to £213 8s. 7d., and her executor was Miss Edith Clara Jane Walter, the elder daughter of her brother Thomas.