Edmund Butterworth Lewis (1872–1947)
Mayor of Oxford 1920/1
Edmund Butterworth Lewis in 1920/1
(Picture Oxon 0655089)
Edmund Butterworth Lewis was born at 39 Herbert Street, Hightown, Cheetham, near Manchester on 29 March 1872.
His father, Henry Lewis, was born in Ombersley in Worcestershire in 1846 and his mother Mary Frances Butterworth in Moston, Lancashire in 1847. His parents were married in the Chorlton district in the second quarter of 1871.
In about 1875 Edmund moved with his parents to 24 Walnut Street, Hightown. At the time of the 1881 census Edmund (9) was living here with his father Henry (34), who was described as a draper’s buyer, his mother Mary (33) and four younger siblings: Edith (7), Thomas (5), Frances (3), and Russell (eight months).
In 1891 Edmund (19) was a pupil teacher, living at 22 Heywood Street, Cheetham with his father Henry (44), who was still a draper's buyer, his mother Mary (43), and his four younger siblings: Thomas (15), who was a warehouseman, Frances (12), Russell (11), and Ernest (4). His mother's widowed sister Mrs Elizabeth Farrar (56) was living with them, and they employed a domestic servant.
The following year the family moved down to Oxford.
Cape's Drapery Store, Oxford
Faithful Cape, who had been a 22-year-old draper's assistant in Somerset in 1871, founded this drapery store that bears his name at 26 St Ebbe’s Street by 1877, and had expanded into No. 29 in the 1880s. He then took on the lease of Nos. 30 and 31 and rebuilt them in 1888 to match No. 29. Cape had retired in 1888, selling the business to Daniel Bailey of Bristol, who expanded it again to include No. 28 on the corner and 47 Church Street.
In 1893 Edmund's father Henry Lewis bought Cape’s Drapery Store from Daniel Bailey for £10,865 5s. (including stock and fixtures and furniture), and Edmund (21) moved to Oxford with his parents.
In 1899 Edmund's father expanded Cape’s to include 28 St Ebbe’s Street, and further expanded into No. 32 in 1900; in the latter year he also bought 8 St Ebbe’s Street on the other side of the road for a wool shop, and opened another branch at 86–90 Cowley Road.
The photograph below (Historic England CC56/00719) shows Cape's in 1907 on the left, opposite the Royal Blenheim pub:
At the time of the 1901 census Edmund (29) was a draper’s assistant, living with his family at 125 Woodstock Road, Oxford. His father Henry (53) was simply described as a draper; and his sister Frances (23) as a draper’s cashier. His only other sibling still at home was Ernest (14). His aunt Elizabeth Farrar (66) was still living with them, and they had one servant.
In the second quarter of 1901 in the Stow-on-the-Wold district, Edmund Butterworth Lewis married Florence Kate Mathews. They do not appear to have had any children.
In 1904 Edmund's father bought the lease of 71 and 72 Walton Street for another branch of Cape's. By 1905 he had also bought 11 and 12 St Ebbe’s Street for Cape’s menswear and shoe departments, and then Nos. 7 and 8 for a furnishing department.
From 1907 to 1921 Edmund’s father Henry Lewis, who was a Methodist and a member of the United Methodist Church in St Michael’s Street, served on the city council, and in 1908 Edmund followed him on to the council as the Liberal representative for the East Ward.
Edmund and his two brothers all went into their father’s business as buyers with a seat on the board. Edmund, who was the buyer for mantles, joined the Oxford Chamber of Trade in 1907, and was chosen as its President in 1910 and 1911.
The 1911 census shows Edmund and his wife (Florence) Kate living at 228 Iffley Road with one servant.
Edmund Lewis served as Sheriff of Oxford for 1919/20, and in 1920 was elected Mayor of Oxford (for 1920/1).
The 1921 census shows Lewis (49), described as a draper and employer, still living at 228 Iffley Road with his wife and their servant. Shortly after this census, on 18 July 1921. his father Henry Lewis died at 18 July 1921. His effects came to £18,088 18s. 2d.
Henceforth Edmund Lewis and his younger brothers Tom and Russell ran Cape’s, with Edmund being the buyer for ladies' mantles.
Lewis was made a Justice of the Peace in November 1926, and continued as a councillor until 1929, when he was elected an Alderman: he served the council in this capacity for the rest of his life.
Lewis was President of the Cumberland Road Allotments Association and the Oxford representative on the Thames Conservancy Board from 1925. He was also President of the National Chamber of Trade in 1928.
In 1928 Lewis opened another branch of Cape’s in Headington (6 Windmill Road), and in 1932 he moved into The Brambles at 4 Latimer Road, Headington.
The 1939 Register shows him living at 4 Latimer Road with his wife Florence and their parlourmaid. Also living with them was a nine-year-old schoolboy called Percy Albert Callegari, born in West Ham on 2 January 1930, and possibly another child.
† Edmund Butterworth Lewis was still living at 4 Latimer Road when died at the age of 75 in a nursing home at 230 Woodstock Road on 24 October 1947. His funeral was at the Wesley Memorial Church, followed by cremation at Oxford Crematorium. His effects came to £36, 754 19s 4d.
Lewis’s nephew, Major Anthony Lewis, continued to run Cape’s until its closure in 1971.
See also:
- Oxford Journal Illustrated, 10 November 1920, p. 1 (full front-page photograph of “Oxford’s New Mayor”)
- Oxford Times, 31 October 1947, p. 8e (obituary)
- 1881 Census: Lancashire (Cheetham): 4024/106
- 1901 Census: Oxford (SS Philip & James), 1381/97
- Richard Foster, F. Cape & Co of St Ebbe’s St Oxford. From Drapers Shop to Department Store (Oxford City & County Museum, Publication No. 3, 1973)
