Inherited Craziness
A place to share all the nuts found on my family tree

Monday 4 September 2023

John Oxford and Elizabeth Lang

Charles Church, the second most ancient parish church in Plymouth.
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © N Chadwick - geograph.org.uk/p/5218300

John Oxford (bap. 26 Dec 1777), son of Henry and Mary Oxford, married Elizabeth Lang (bap. 24 Aug 1778 in Stoke Damerel), daughter of James Lang and Mary Smart, on 4 Sep 1803 at Charles Church, Plymouth.

John and Elizabeth had at least the following five children, all baptised at Plymouth, Charles the Martyr (Charles Church, Plymouth):
  1. John Oxford b. 7 Sep 1804, bap. 7 Apr 1805. With a subsequent child also named John, it is likely this child died as an infant and there is indeed a burial of a John Oxford, although the age is not listed, on 28 Oct 1805.
  2. John Lang Oxford b. 29 Nov 1807, bap. 6 Jan 1808.
  3. Elizabeth Ann Mills Oxford b. 22 Aug 1808, bap. 27 Aug 1809. Died, aged 12, and was buried at Charles Church, Plymouth on 15 May 1820.
  4. Henry Lang Oxford b. 13 Aug 1810, bap. 28 Oct 1810.
  5. Mary Amelia Oxford b. 29 Nov 1811, bap. 15 Jun 1817. Baptism lists her as Mary Emilia (sic) and John's occupation as Shipwright.
By 1841, John Oxford (60) was resident in Devonport Workhouse (previously Stoke Damerel Parish Workhouse). I can't find Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Oxford died, in Stoke Damerel, on 22 Dec 1845 (1845 D Quarter in STOKE DAMEREL Volume 09 Page 262) and was buried, in the parish of Stoke Damerel, on 26 Dec 1845. Her age, estimated to 60 (she was 67), is likely just a wild guess by the overseers. Her residence at the time of death was 'Workhouse'. "Until the National Health Service was established in 1948, the Workhouse Infirmary was one of the few places where medical care could be obtained free of charge. As a result, many babies were born in the Workhouse and many older people ended their days there." [SourceInside Plymouth's dismal Workhouses which housed the poor and disabled.

In 1851, John Oxford (74) Widower, is again listed at the Workhouse in Stoke Damerel, proudly listed as "Shipwright Employed Thirty Men".

John Oxford died, aged 76, on 16 Aug 1853 (1853 S Quarter in STOKE DAMEREL Volume 05B Page 184). Once more, the record of his burial, on 20 Aug 1853, in that parish, gives his last address as 'Workhouse'.