John WILSON (c.1781–1850)
His daughter Miss Ann WILSON (1809–1866)
St Mary Magdalen section: Row 12, Grave D55½
Front (shown above): BENEATH LIE THE REMAINS OF / JOHN WILSON /
44 YEARS PORTER OF WORCESTER COLLEGE WHO DIED OCTR 3RD 1850. /
IN THE 70TH YEAR OF HIS AGE
Back (shown below): ALSO / ANN /
DAUGHTER OF / JOHN AND ANN WILSON
WHO DIED AUGUST 18, 1866/ AGED 57 YEARS.
John Wilson was born outside Oxfordshire in c.1781.
In about 1806, at the age of about 25, he was appointed Porter at Worcester College, Oxford, a position he was to hold for the rest of his life.
On 30 December 1806 at St Thomas’s Church, Oxford, John Wilson married Ann North: both were living in that parish, which then included much of Walton Street and the Jericho area. They had the following children:
- James Wilson (born in Oxford in 1807 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 30 December)
- Ann Wilson (born in Oxford in 1809 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 14 May)
- Twins Catherine & Mary Wilson (born in Oxford in 1810 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 2 September); both died aged 3 and buried together in its churchyard on 3 March 1811
- Martha Wilson (born in Oxford in 1812 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 30 March)
- Joseph Wilson (born in Oxford in 1813 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 12 September);
died aged 6 and buried there on 7 May 1820 - John Wilson (born in Oxford in 1815 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 15 May).
By 1811 the family had moved to “Worcester College Road” (the south end of Walton Street) in St Mary Magdalen parish.
John’s wife Ann Wilson died at Worcester College Road at the age of 60 before St Sepulchre's Cemetery was open, so she was buried in St Mary Magdalen churchyard on 9 May 1832.
His son John Wilson junior died at Worcester College Road at the age of 20 years 7 months in November 1835, and was buried in St Mary Magdalen churchyard on 25 November.
John Wilson senior continued to live opposite Worcester College with his daughters Ann and Martha. He spent census night of 1841, when he was aged about 60, at Worcester College.
His daughter Martha was married in 1843:
- On 14 December 1843 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, Martha Wilson married the widower Thomas Rogers, who was the hall-keeper of County Hall in New Road, Oxford.
Martha went to live her husband in New Road, and by the time of the 1851 census they had four children aged 1, 2, 3, and 5.
Wilson’s eldest daughter Ann evidently remained his housekeeper. While he spent census night 1841 working as a porter at Worcester College, Ann (30) was at their home in Worcester Street, where they appear to have had two lodgers: a gentleman of 21, and an errand boy of 15.
By 1846 John Wilson and his daughter Ann had moved to 7 Beaumont Street, where he is listed in Hunt’s directory of that year. He died in 1850:
† John Wilson died at Beaumont Street on 3 October 1850 at the age of 69. He was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 8 October (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).
Ann continued to live in her father’s house at Beaumont Street (with the number given as 7 in 1851, and as 10 in 1861). She was left comfortably off: in both censuses she described herself as a house proprietor, and lived alone with one house servant. She died in 1866:
† Ann Wilson died at Beaumont Street on 18 August 1866 at the age of 57, and was buried with her father in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 23 August (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).
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