Richard WEST (1817–1868)
His second wife Mrs Sarah WEST, née Axtell (1823–1881)
Their son Richard Henry WEST (1862–1900)
St Michael section: Row 31, Grave L47
In affectionate remembrance of
Richard West
who died April 21, 1868
aged 51 years
Also of
Sarah wife of the above
who died
Jan. …, 1881
aged 56 years
Also of Richard Henry
only
son of the above
who died Jan 28, 1900
aged 37 years
R. I. P.
Richard West was born in Holywell, Oxford on 27 March 1817 and baptised at St Cross Church on 2 May as Richard Henry West. He was the son of James West, a servant of Lincoln College, and his wife Mary, who had four other children baptised at that church: Elizabeth Frances (1813), James (1815), Maria (1819, and Henry (1822). At the time of the 1841 census Richard (24) was a servant of the Revd Vaughan Thomas, Vicar of Yarnton, at Holywell Lodge (now demolished, this was in St Cross Road, Oxford, opposite the present cemetery).
On 14 August 1845 at St Ebbe's Church, Oxford, Richard West, described as a butler of 60 High Street, married his first wife Ann Munt of Wood Street, St Ebbe's, who was six years his senior. They do not appear to have had any children.
At the time of the 1851 census Richard (34) was a gentleman's servant, living at 22 Speedwell Street, St Ebbe's (which in 1845 had been taken out of the parish of St Ebbe's into that of Holy Trinity) with his first wife Ann (40). Ann West died at Speedwell Street at the age of 46 in 1857: she was buried on 17 April, probably in Osney Cemetery.
Sarah Axtell was born in Yarnton in 1824 and baptised there on 14 December. She was the daughter of the agricultural labourer John Axtell and his wife Mary Prosser, who were married at Yarnton on 10 October 1813. They had eleven other children baptised at that church: Anne (1814), Mary Ann (1815, died 1821), Anna (1817), Richard (1818, died aged eight), James (1821), Thomas (1826), Harriet (1828), Isaac (1832), Emmanuel (1834), George (1837), and Anne Catherine (1841). Around the time of John Axtell's wedding to Mary, a single woman called Elizabeth Hosier (or Osier) gave birth to John Hosier, who was John's illegitimate son and thus Sarah's half-brother: his mother died when he was two, and he was brought up with the Axtell children. At the time of the 1851 census Sarah (26) was the cook of the Revd Richard Vaughan Thomas (the former employer of her future husband Richard) who now lived at Magdalen Gate House in Oxford's High Street.
On 1 December 1857 at St Paul's Church, Oxford, Richard West, described as a widower and a licensed victualler of Speedwell Street, married Sarah Axtell, who was then living in Union Street, Jericho. They had the following children:
- Elizabeth Mary West (born at Speedwell Street, Oxford in 1858 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 14 November)
- Richard Henry West (born at Speedwell Street, Oxford in 1862 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 16 November).
At the time of the 1861 census Richard (44) was the licensed victualler at a public house at 25 Speedwell Street in Holy Trinity parish, St Ebbe's, and he lived there with his wife Sarah (37) and their daughter Elizabeth (2), plus a 17-year-old servant girl.
Their son was born in Speedwell Street towards the end of 1862, and soon afterwards Richard West took over the Abingdon Arms in Market Street, Oxford.
Richard died there in 1868:
† Richard West died at the Abingdon Arms, Market Street at the age of 51 on 21 April 1868 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 26 April (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael's Church).
An inquest was held into his death, and the following brief report appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 25 April 1868:
Inquests before Wm. Brunner, Esq. … At the Abingdon Arms, Market-street, on Wednesday evening, on the body of the landlord, Richard West, aged 52. The deceased had for some time been ailing, and he died rather suddenly Wednesday morning. Verdict, “Died by the visitation of God.”
The following report on his funeral appeared in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 2 May 1868:
FUNERAL OF AN ODD FELLOW AND DRUID. — On Sunday last the remains of Mr. West, late landlord of the Abingdon Arms, Market-street, were conveyed to the Jericho Cemetery, a procession starting from Mrs. Wright’s in the Wheatsheaf, High-street, and including numerous representatives of the Odd fellows and Druid Lodges, to both of which the deceased belonged.
Mrs West took over her husband's licence for the Abingdon Arms, and at the time of the 1871 census she was living there with their children Elizabeth (12) and Richard (8), plus a barmaid, a female servant, and a 14-year-old servant boy.
Mrs West died at the beginning of 1881:
† Mrs Sarah West née Axtell died at Market Street at the age of 56 in January 1881 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 6 January (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael's Church).
Her daughter Elizabeth was married later that year:
- On 8 August 1881 at St Michael's Church, Elizabeth Mary West married James Wilkinson, a college servant of Ss Philip & James's parish and the son of the printer Henry Wilkinson.
Their son Richard Henry West (born 1862)
At the time of the 1881 census their orphaned son Richard (18) was articled to a surveyor and lodging in London at 60 Kings Road, Lambeth.
In 1891 Richard (28) was living off his own means and lodging with his sister Elizabeth and her husband James Wilkinson at 134 Walton Street: he may have already been ill.
Richard died in 1900, and was buried with his parents:
† Richard Henry West died in the Radcliffe Infirmary at the age of 37 on 28 January 1900 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 31 January (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael's Church).
His death notice in Jackson's Oxford Journal read simply: “WEST.—January 28, at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, Richard Henry West, aged 37 years.”
The other child of Richard and Sarah West
- Elizabeth Mary West, Mrs Wilkinson (born 1858) was living at 134 Walton Street in St Giles's parish in 1891 with her husband James Wilkinson, who was a lodging house keeper, and their children James (8) and Ethel (6), and she was also looking after her brother. Elizabeth died in 1904 at the age of 46 in the Headington registration district.
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