Five generations back

 

Passing through Oxford at the end of last month, I sought out this 1840 boundary stone of which I hadn’t been aware until quite recently.

It is on the edge of Port Meadow at the point at which the city of Oxford’s common land abuts that of Wolvercote parish.  An extensive contemporary newspaper article gives an account of that year’s mayor (and a whole company) inspecting (rather than ‘beating’) the bounds of the city.  They discovered that the marker at this point needed renewing with a fresh stone – it is hard now to recognise the city’s coat of arms at the top and the names of the mayor (‘Mallam’) and sheriff beneath with the date.

My father’s parents were cousins, their mothers being sisters (Jessie and Anne Mallam, granddaughters of this mayor).  And his grave is here.