James Wyatt (1774–1853)
Mayor of Oxford 1842/3
James Wyatt was born in Oxford on 14 March 1774 and baptised at St Mary-the-Virgin Church three days later. He was the fourth son of Thomas Wyatt and Anne Clanfield, who were married at Hanborough in Oxfordshire on 11 August 1765
James's father Thomas Wyatt, who was baptised at St Mary-the-Virgin Church on 17 August 1738, was an Oxford baker who sat on the council for many years from 1771. (He should not be confused with another Thomas Wyatt who served as Mayor in 1830/1.)
James had five older siblings, all baptised at St Mary-the-Virgin Church: Mary (born on 26 December 1765 and baptised on 24 January 1766), Anne (born on 7 August and baptised on 31 August 1767 but died in infancy), John (born on 14 August and baptised on 23 August 1768), Walter William (born on 23 August and baptised on 20 September 1770), and Thomas (born on 19 October and baptised on 17 November 1771).
Right: Portrait of James Wyatt in the Town Hall depicting the instruments and tools of his trade as a picture framer
James's paternal grandparents were John Wyatt and Mary Dennett.
A commemorative diamond-shaped stone (left) in the floor of St Mary-the-Virgin Church commemorates his grandfather. It reads “JOHN WYATT died April the 21st 1771, AGED 66”.
On his fifteenth birthday (14 March 1789) James Wyatt was apprenticed to the Oxford carver and gilder Robert Archer who had a shop High Street, and he was duly admitted free seven years later on 13 May 1796. On 15 May 1802 Jackson's Oxford Journal reported that Archer had taken his former apprentice Wyatt into partnership:
PARTNERSHIP,
R. ARCHER, Carver, Gilder, Looking Glass and Picture Frame Manufacturer, High Street, Oxford, returns his grateful Thanks to the Nobility, Gentry, and the Public, for the many favours he has experienced, and begs Permission to inform them that he has, owing to the Increase of Business, taken into Partnership his late Apprentice, Mr. JAMES WYATT, and embraces this Opportunity to acquaint them, that the strictest Attention will be paid to the Execution and Dispatch of their future Orders, and flatters himself that it will merit a Continuance of their Favours and Support, which will ever be gratefully acknowledged.
The partnership between Archer and Wyatt lasted less than four years, and it was announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 15 January 1806 that on that day it had been dissolved by mutual consent. Wyatt announced that he was fitting up a shop opposite All Saints' Church, namely 115 High Street (right).
He also announced that he would be opening up a few days later and would offer the following for sale:
Colours, and every Article for Drawing.—Paintings, Prints, and Needle Work, neatly framed and glazed.—Carving in all Kinds of Wood, Stone &c.—Concave and Convex Mirrors, Looking Glass Plates of all Sizes, with or without Frames, Girandoles, Sconces and Bordering for Rooms. Old Frames new gilt, in Oil or burnished Gold
In fact the work must have taken two months rather than a few days, as the shop did not open until 22 March 1806. He inserted another advertisement in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 5 April 1806, adding that Gentlemen would be waited on at their country seats.
He would continue to live over this shop until his death in 1853, with his son James Wyatt junior running the business there in the latter years.
On 13 February 1806 at St Peter-in-the-East Church, James Wyatt married Mary Cooke of that parish, and their marriage was announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal. They had six children:
- Mary Wyatt (baptised on 1 January 1807 at All Saints’ Church)
- Ann Wyatt (baptised on 8 May 1808 at All Saints’ Church)
- Elizabeth Wyatt (baptised on 11 July 1809 at All Saints’ Church)
- James Wyatt junior (born on 19 November 1810 and baptised at All Saints’ Church on 25 December)
- George Wyatt (baptised on 9 July 1815 at All Saints’ Church)
- Sarah Wyatt (baptised on 6 March 1817 at All Saints’ Church).
In 1810 Wyatt commissioned two paintings from J. M. W. Turner both of which he sold as prints:
- “Oxford from the [Old] Abingdon Road” plus print engraved by Middiman, Pye, and Heath)
- High Street, Oxford. This oil painting cost 100 guineas, and on 30 June 1810 Wyatt announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal that the painting was being exhibited in his shop, and that Messrs Middiman and Pye would be making an engraving of it, with prints to be sold at £1 11s. 6d. each.
In September 1815 James Wyatt, gilder was elected on to the Common Council.
The other James Wyatt on the council (a shoemaker)
The carver & gilder James Wyatt should not be confused with the shoemaker James Wyatt who were both on the council at much the same time: they are distinguished in the council minutes as James Wyatt (carver & gilder) and James Wyatt (cordwainer). They had shops nearby each other on the south side of the High Street , and this announcement in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 3 February 1816 indicates that they were even confused at the time:
JAMES WYATT, Carver and Gilder, High-street, Oxford, has just seen a Circular Letter, from Mr. T. Sadler, which states that Mr. Sadler “intends shortly to recommence the trade of Chemist and Druggist, in the premises now occupied by Mr. James Wyatt, opposite All Saints' Church.” It is very probable it may be imagined that J. Wyatt, Carver and Gilder, is about to relinquish his business, or to remove to other premises; he therefore takes this early opportunity of acquainting his Friends and the Public, that Mr. Sadler is going to the house now occupied by MR. WYATT THE SHOEMAKER, and J. Wyatt, Carver and Gilder hopes for a long continuance of the favours of the University and City, in the house he now occupies.
High-street, Oxford, Feb. 2d, 1816.
In 1823 James Wyatt was listed in Pigot’s Directory as being a printseller in the High Street.
On 30 September 1826 James Wyatt, carver & gilder, bought a Chamberlain's place on the City Council for ten guineas.
James Wyatt was a prominent figure in Oxford’s public life for 38 years. He was elected on to the new Corporation in 1837 to represent the Central Ward. He was elected Sheriff of Oxford for 1839/40 and took part in the perambulation of the city at the end of his shrievalty, so his name as Sheriff appears on three boundary stones in the Wolvercote area.
On 29 August 1837 at St Mary's Church in Portsea, James Wyatt’s son James Wyatt junior was married to Eliza Moorman (born 21 December 1814), and he continued to live with his wife in his father’s home at 115 High Street in the parish of All Saints.
James Wyatt senior was elected Sheriff of Oxford for 1839/40, and so accompanied the Mayor on his perambulation of the city bounds on 14 July 1840 .
The 1841 census shows James Wyatt (67), described as a gilder, living at 115 High Street with his wife Mary; his son James Wyatt junior and his son's wife Eliza; and his two grown-up daughters Ann and Elizabeth, plus two female servants.
Later that year James Wyatt's wife Mary Wyatt died at the age of 78 and was buried at St Mary-the-Virgin Church on 9 September 1841.
Wyatt was elected an Alderman in 1841, and the following year was elected Mayor of Oxford (for 1842/3). The triennial perambulation of the city bounds fell again at the end of his mayoralty, and this duly took place on 25 July 1843:
- Report on Wyatt's perambulation in 1840
- Boundary stone inscribed with his name outside King’s Mill House near the Marston Road.
James Wyatt had a great interest in the history and antiquities of Oxford, and was curator of pictures at Blenheim Palace.
In 1846 the elderly James Wyatt met the young John Everett Millais (1829–96), who returned to Oxford as his guest frequently between 1846 and 1849, when he painted a picture of James Wyatt with his granddaughter Mary Sarah Bridges Wyatt:
The 1851 census shows Wyatt, now a widower of 77, living at 115 High Street with his spinster daughters Ann and Elizabeth. Also living in the house were his son James Wyatt junior (39), his son's wife Eliza (36), and their two young daughters Mary Sarah Bridges Wyatt (b. 31 August 1845), and Sarah Wyatt (b. 17 January 1849).
† Alderman James Wyatt died at 115 High Street at the age of 79 on 23 March 1853, and his funeral was held at All Saints’ Church on 29 March.
On 26 September 1861 at Holywell Church James Wyatt's third daughter Elizabeth Wyatt (aged 52) married the widower Thomas Robert. Roberts, an accountant of Whitchurch, Glamorganshire.
On 11 July 1862 his second daughter Ann Wyatt died at 98 Holywell Street at the age of 62.
James Wyatt's son James Wyatt junior (1810–1882) and his children
James Wyatt junior brought his wife Eliza Moorman to live with his parents over their shop at 115 High Street after their marriage in 1837 and continued his father's business. They had four children:
- Mary Sarah Bridges Wyatt (born on 31 August 1845)
Painting of Mary with her grandfather by Millais, 1849
- Sarah Wyatt (born on 17 January 1849)
Painting of Sarah with her mother by Millais, early 1850s - Eliza Fanny Mayell Wyatt (baptised at All Saints' Church on 3 March 1852)
- James Martin Acland Wyatt (baptised at All Saints Church on 27 November 1853)
- Florence Mildred Wyatt (baptised at All Saints' Church on 28 May 1855)
James Wyatt junior served as a Conservative councillor for the central ward from 1845 to 1857.
Right: Portrait by Millais of James Wyatt junior
James Wyatt junior in the censuses 1861–1881
- 1861: Aged 50 and described as a printseller & publisher, living at 115 High Street with his wife Eliza (46) and their children Mary (15), Sarah (12), James (7). and his unmarried sisters Ann and Elizabeth, plus two servants.
- 1871: Aged 60 and described as a carver & guilder employing five men and one boy, living at 115 High Street with his wife Eliza (56) and their daughters Sara (22), Eliza (19), and Florence (15), plus two domestic servants.
- 1881: Aged 70 and described as a J.P. and printseller, living at 115 High Street with his wife Eliza (66) and their daughter Florence (25), plus two domestic servants.
James Wyatt junior died on 8 August 1882 at the age of 71 and was buried in Holywell Cemetery. He left a personal estate of over £6,968. The following obituary appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 12 August 1882, and the tribute below on 19 August 1882
On 7 February 1885 Jackson's Oxford Journal advertised the forthcoming auction of 115 High Street:
THE VALUABLE AND EXTENSIVE FREEHOLD BUSINESS PREMISES,
KNOWN AS 115, HIGH STREET, OXFORD ...
having a frontage of about 33 feet, and extending a depth of about 150 feet, and containing—On the ground floor—Commanding Double-fronted Shop, Sitting Room (overlooking small garden), large Kitchen and Scullery, &c. The side-passage, giving a separate approach to the House, also leads through an ante-room to two large and lofty Picture Galleries, respectively 22ft. by 55ft., and 22ft. by 16ft., so arranged as to form one large room 22ft. by 77ft., if desired: and
On the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors—Seventeen Bed and Sitting Rooms.
Excellent Cellarage and Workshops in the basement.
This Property, situated in the very best part of the High-street, being one of the few remaining Freehold sites, may justly be considered one of the most valuable in the City of Oxford, and is well worthy the attention of those seeking extensive premises for occupation, or a first-class Freehold investment. Early possession can be arranged.
No. 115 was sold for £4,360 at the auction, and it was purchased by Richard Sydenham Rowell.
James Wyatt junior's widow Eliza Wyatt died on 28 February 1885.
James Wyatt junior's surviving daughters (grandchildren of the Mayor):
- Mary Sarah Bridges Wyatt (born 1845) married the High Street tailor and mercer Joseph Henry Standen on 9 August 1866 at All Saints' Church
- Sarah Wyatt (born 1849) married Arthur Thomas, a cotton spinner from Blackburn and the son of a gentleman on 31 May 1884 at All Saints' Church
- Eliza Fanny Mayell Wyatt (born 1852) married Richard Greenwood of Lancashire in 1877
- Florence Mildred Wyatt (born 1855) did not marry. She died on 4 April 1932 at Colville, Gratwicke Road, Worthing.
See also:
- Portraits of (1) James Wyatt by John Bridges, and (2) his son James Wyatt junior by Sir John Everett Millais, both in the St Aldate’s Room in the Town Hall
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 15 February 1806: Announcement of Wyatt’s marriage
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 26 March 1853, p. 3cd: Wyatt’s obituary
- Oxford Times, 10 October 1986, p. 4 (article about his portrait, to be centrepiece of a London exhibition)
- Malcolm Graham, Oxford City Apprentices 1697–1800, entries numbered 1092, 2887
- PCC Will PROB 11/2179/24
(Will of James Wyatt, Carver and Gilder, Widower of All Saints in the City of Oxford, proved 29 September 1853) - 1841 Census: Oxford (All Saints), 891/02/8
- 1851 Census: Oxford (All Saints), 1728/80
- Thomas Randall, Mayor of Oxford in 1859/60, who was Thomas Wyatt's first cousin once removed
