Mr Rippington of Archer Cowley & Co, Oxford

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Richard Rippington apparently served the firm for 43 years, which, by chance, is exactly the same term as my father, FGBA, who worked from 1926 until it was sold to Cantays in 1969, or thereabouts.

There is information about Richard Rippington on James Archer’s cv, which can be found at

And I will paste it in here:

(Pasted from the end of James Archer’s cv):

Re Richard Rippington:

1901 Census data, re Richard Rippington, age 39, Contractor’s Clerk, living with his widowed mother age 63, at 37 Pembroke Street, Oxford:

  1. 37 Pembroke Street, St.Ebbes, Oxford;
  2. Richard Rippington, Head, Single, age 39, (so born 1862) Clerk – contractor’s, worker, (as opposed to ‘employer’), born Oxford city;
  3. Alice Rippington, mother, widow, age 63, living on own means, born Oxon, Noke;
  4. Note: (13.01.2009) have been so far unable to find Mark J. Cowley’s death on the official records. According to my notes (in WGRA’s cv) he died in 1944. Have ordered his 1856 birth certificate in case this assists. Now received – see above.

(Thoughts added Tuesday 6.12.16, to the above-pasted information): 

a) The date of (probably April) 1901 is eleven years after RR joined AC&Co, and he is living at the firm’s premises in Pembroke Street, where, subsequently, Arthur Archer lived, some decades later, and which included the firm’s original warehouse storage space, not far from St Aldates;

b) So RR is not married. He lives with his mother, age 63, and RR is employed, like Mack Cowley, as a clerk;

c) RR’s mother was born at Noke, Oxfordshire, one of the ‘Otmoor’ villages surrounding that wondrous and mysterious wildlife location, and which is not so very far north of Marston, where RR grew up, so, apparently the family may well have been a real ‘Oxfordshire’ family;


1891 Census data, re Richard Rippington, age 29, Corn Dealer, living with his widowed mother age 54, at 49 Kingston Road, Oxford:

  1. 49 Kingston Road, Oxford;
  2. Alice Rippington, Head, widow, age 54, living on own means, born Oxon, Noke;
  3. Richard Rippington, son, single, age 29 (so born 1862, tallies with 1881 and 1901 censuses), corn dealer, employed, born Marston, Oxfordshire;
  4. William H. Rippington, son, single, age 20, born Marston, Oxfordshire;
  5. Henry de Winter (?), could be ‘Carpenter’, single, step-grandson, age 17, something illegible, could be ‘Inspector’ of Radcliffe Observatory, employed, born Greenwich, Kent;
  6. Cyril de Winter(?), step-grandson, age 12, scholar, born Leatherhead, Surrey;
  7. F de H de Winter(?), age 10, scholar, born Bexley Heath, Kent;
  8. Annie de Winter(?), daughter, married, age 23, born Marston, Oxon;
  9. Alice de Winter(?), grand-daughter, age 1, born (looks like): ‘Durham, Durham’;



1881 Census data re Richard Rippington, age 19, Clerk to GWR, lodger at 63 Mill Street, Oxford, St Thomas:

  1. 63 Mill Street, Oxford, St. Thomas;
  2. Thomas Watts, head, married, age 31, Parcel Porter, born Freeland, Oxon;
  3. Rose Watts, wife, married, age 23, born Eynsham, Oxon;
  4. Children Ellen Watts and Annie Watts, ages 2 and 2 months respectively;
  5. Richard Rippington, lodger, age 19 (so born 1862 – tallies with 1891 census), Clerk to GWR, born Marston, Oxford, Oxon;
  6. William Jones, lodger, age 17, Railway Ticket Collector, born Kings Sutton, Northamptonshire;
  7. Next door: Thomas and Elizabeth Richard, ages 27 and 30, he being a Railway Porter born at Tackley, Oxon;


1871 Census data re Richard Rippington, age given as 16 (perhaps actually only 9), farm labourer, living with Charles and Mary Randall, farm labourer and his wife, as ‘son’, with his brothers William and Charles, in Marston: 

  1. (May not be correct, but seems worth recording): Address: Marston, ‘The Village’, Charles Randall, head, married, age 30, farm labourer, born Oxon, Oxford;
  2. Mary Randall, married, wife, age 35, no occupation, born Marston, Oxon;
  3. Sarah Randall, daughter, age 2, born Marston, Oxon;
  4. Richard Rippington, son (sic), unmarried, age 16 (sic), so born 1855 instead of 1862 for consistency with 1881/91/1901 censuses, farm labourer, born Marston, Oxon;
  5. William Rippington, son (sic), unmarried, age 14 (sic), so born 1857 instead of 1871 for consistency with the 1891 census, farm labourer, born Marston, Oxon;
  6. Charles Rippington, son (sic), age 10, scholar, born Marston, Oxon;
  7. Note re above data: the coincidence of the names Richard and William Rippington, and their birth location at Marston, which are in-line with the later census (names and birth location) data for William (1891) and Richard (1891 and 1901) Rippington, and despite the presence of another ‘brother’, Charles, (who wouldn’t have been born in 1891) seems sufficient for it to seem quite possible that this is the same Richard Rippington who was later in partnership with James Archer. More research needed.(pba.28.6.07).ends.


1861 Census data, re Richard Rippington, age 6, living with his mother Alice Warland/Wasland, servant, and his ‘godfather’ Richard Rippington, farmer, in Marston, Oxford:

  1. The Street, Marston, Oxon;
  2. Richard Rippington, head, widow, age 57, farmer of 318 acres employing 8 men and 5 boys, born Marston;
  3. Alice Wasland/Warland, servant, unmarried, age 26, born Noke, Oxfordshire;
  4. Richard Rippington (jun), son, married, age 37, ‘Father’s Assistant’, born Marston;
  5. Mary Rippington, son’s wife, married, age 24, born Elsfield;
  6. Richard Rippington (this is the one), godson, age 6, so born 1855, scholar, born Marston, Oxon;
  7. William Rippington, godson, age 1, so born 1860, born Marston, Oxon;
  8. John Rippington, godson, age also shown as 1 year, born Marston Oxon.  Presence of John adds uncertainty, but he could have died young;
  9. Perhaps Alice Wasland/Warland, servant, unmarried, age 26, thus born 1835, is the ‘Alice Rippington, mother widow’ of the 1901 census above. Her birth location of Noke, very strongly suggests to me that she is. The ages of her sons (‘godsons’ of the head of house), Richard and William are probably given reasonably accurately in 1861 as 6 years and 1 year, as their ages have not yet become a sensitive issue. Later, perhaps, after the death of their natural father, the widowed Richard Rippington senior (born 1804), it may have become desirable to adjust their dates of birth to the (latterly consistent, for ‘our’ Richard Rippington) one of 1862, after their natural father’s death (not yet looked-up).
qaa© Philip B Archer 2014