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The Finch family built The Rookery in Old Headington (now Ruskin College) and lived there from about 1660 to 1854. It was finally sold by the Finch Trustees in 1873.

They were big Headington landowners, and the Rookery land once included most of the east side of Stoke Place, Barton West, and the whole of the Highfield Farm estate on the south side of the London Road.

Finch Close in Headington is named after them.

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Abraham Finch (d.1703), head cook at New College, Oxford
and his wife Elizabeth (d.1711)

Nephew of William Finch, cook of New College

Abraham Finch, head cook at New College, and his wife Elizabeth had the following children:

• William Finch (baptised at Holywell Church on 1 November 1672, recorded as son of Abraham)
• Bartholomew Finch (baptised at Holywell Church on 10 January 1674/5, recorded as son of Abraham);
  died in infancy and buried in the chancel of St Mary Magdalen Church on 15 September 1677
• Abraham Finch (baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 3 June 1677);
  died in infancy and buried in the chancel of that church on 28 September 1679
• Francis Finch (baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 16 December 1679)
• Elizabeth Finch (baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 28 April 1682);
  died in infancy and buried at that church on 26 July 1682
• Matthew Finch (baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church: on 22 March 1682/3);
  died in infancy and buried at that church on 6 April 1683.

It appears the family lived in Holywell between at least 1672 to 1674, and then moved to the parish of St Mary Magdalen, probably to Broad Street; but they do not appear to have lived at 46 Broad Street, because although Abraham Finch was the sole owner of this house by 1691, he then let it out to Elizabeth Hedges; and by 1705 she appears to have been the owner.

On 1 July 1688 Francis Finch, aged 16, the son of Abraham Finch, a gentleman of Oxford, was matriculated at the University of Oxford by New College. He became a Fellow of Trinity College, obtaining his M.A. in 1705 and his B.D. in 1714. He died in 1731.

In 1696 Abraham Finch paid tax on a house with twenty windows in St Mary Magdalen parish: this is likely to be Kettell Hall in Broad Street, which was leased to various members of the Finch family.

Abraham Finch inherited the Rookery in 1697 but only had it for four years as he died near the end of 1701. He was buried at St Mary Magdalen Church on 3 December, described in the register as “Cook worth £600”. His widow Elizabeth Finch was also buried there on 27 September 1711.

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William Finch, Gentleman of Headington (1672–1752)
and his wife Mary Lewington of Stanton St John (c.1674–1743)

Eldest son of Abraham and Elizabeth Finch

On 26 November 1696 William Finch married Mary Lewendon or Lewington of Stanton St John at St Cross (Holywell) Church (whose parish included New College). They had two sons:

• Richard Finch (baptised at St Andrew’s Church, Headington on 8 April 1700;
  died at the age of ten and buried at St Mary Magdalen Church on 7 July 1710)
• Thomas Finch (baptised at St Andrew’s Church, Headington on 8 November 1705).

In 1714 he was on the point of selling Kettell Hall in Broad Street to Balliol College, but Trinity College managed to seal articles with Finch on 15 April for this house.

Subsequently the Finch family appears to have been based entirely in Headington. On 17 September 1714 city council records show that William Finch of Headington was awarded a Chamberlain’s place, gratis.

 

It may have been William Finch who created the walled garden at the Rookery.

Three inscribed stones (left) are now at the south entrance of the walled garden at the Rookery, but it is thought that they were moved there from elsewhere on the site.

 

 

This obviously commemorates something that happened in 1733, but its exact meaning is unclear. It seems likely that “F W x M” stands for “Finch, William and Mary”

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Richard Finch the Elder of Headington (1740–1802), Gentleman & Wine Merchant,
and his wife Laetitia White of Newington (c.1750–1846)

Richard Finch the elder was the eldest son of Thomas & Anne Finch

Richard was only eleven when his father died in 1751 and twelve when his grandfather died in 1752, so presumably his mother Anne acted as his guardian until he could inherit the Rookery when he reached the age of 21 on 4 July 1761.

When he subscribed to the Radcliffe Infirmary in 1770 he was already described as a wine merchant. City council records show that on 3 June 1771 Mr James Etty and Mr Finch were granted new leases of a vault or cellar under the Town Hall for 40 years for a fine of £3. This lease was renewed in 1785. He also had vaults in the High Street, but these were advertised to let on 24 February 1781.

Richard Finch was a friend of Parson Woodforde, who wrote in his diary on 14 July 1775, “We put about the wine pretty brisk it being Finch’s Birth Day to day, who is now 35 Years old”.

Richard is listed in Jackson’s Oxford Journal between 1786 and 1790 among those renewing their game licences, and he was described as being of Headington (rather than of Oxford, where he had his business) when in October 1775 a horse of his was stolen or strayed from Stow Wood.

It appears that Richard Finch made a failed attempt to sell the Rookery, as Jackson’s Oxford Journal advertised a sale of an improvable estate in Headington, copyhold of inheritance and occupied by Finch, to be held by Way & Son at the Bear in Oxford on 12 June 1777 (with enquiries to Walker of Headington).

On 8 September 1778 when he was 38, Richard Finch of Headington settled down and married Laetitia White at Newington, the witnesses being Harriet Raikes and George White, and their marriage was announced in Jackson’s Oxford Journal. Their five children were born at the Rookery between 1779 and 1794:

• Richard Finch (baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 27 December 1779)
• Laetitia Finch (baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 11 January 1781)
• George Finch (no baptism recorded); died in infancy and buried at St Andrew’s Church on 15 May 1785
• Harriett Finch (baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 19 April 1787);
  married William Perry at St Andrew’s Church on 26 January 1809
• Ann Elizabeth Finch (baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 31 October 1790)
• George William Finch (baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 20 July 1794): articled to Robert Hughes of Cheltenham, and Attorney of HM Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas at Westminster on 22 May 1809

Richard Finch died at the age of 61 and was buried in St Andrew’s churchyard on 28 December 1802. His death was recorded thus in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of 25 December 1802: "On Wednesday last died, in the 62d year of his age, Richard Finch, of Headington, in this county, Esq."

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Richard Finch the Younger of Headington (1779–1851)
and his wife Clara Bunce of Marcham (1779–1849)

Richard Finch the Younger was the eldest son of Richard & Laetitia Finch

Richard Finch the younger, the eldest son of Richard and Laetitia Finch, was matriculated at the University of Oxford (Trinity College) at the age of 18 on 15 January 1798, and gained his BA in 1802. His father died at the end of 1802, and so he inherited the Rookery when he was only 23.

He was a member of the Headington Association for Protection against Thieves in April 1803, and was described as being “of Headington” when on 8 October that year he married Clara Bunce of Marcham, Berkshire, at Marcham. The following announcement of the marriage appeared in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of 15 October 1803: “Saturday last was married Richard Finch, Esq. of Headington, near this city, to Miss Bunce, of Sutton Courtney, in the county of Berks.” Clara, the daughter of William and Mary Bunce, was baptised at Marcham on 5 May 1779. They do not appear to have had any children.

Under the Headington Enclosure Award of 1804 (for which his widowed mother Mrs Laetitia Finch was one of the commissioners), Richard Finch the Younger was awarded over 30 acres in lieu of copyhold lands under Heddington Manor, while his mother was awarded 110 acres of land as a lessee of Magdalen College. These 140 acres included the site of the present house called Stoke on the other side of Stoke Place, and Highfield Farm on the other side of the London Road. These lands associated with the Rookery stretched from north of the present northern bypass to as far south as Old Road.

Richard Finch the Younger partially rebuilt the Rookery in about 1810, probably around the time he was married. He lived there with his wife, and his widowed mother Laetitia and his unmarried sister of the same name. He appears to have lived the life of a country gentleman, with Jackson’s Oxford Journal shows him being awarded game certificates in 1801 and 1806, advertising on 11 April 1812 a £1 reward for the loss of a young pointer bitch, and announcing on 7 February 1824 that his ducks had been stolen, and offering for sale on 5 May 1832 a yearling shorthorn bull. In Pigot’s Directory of 1830 he is described as a gentleman of Headington.

By 1840 when he was 61, Richard Finch appears to have tired of managing his estate, and the following advertisement appeared in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 11 & 18 July:

To be LET, at Michaelmas next, — A pleasant COTTAGE RESIDENCE, situated in a Paddock of 4 Acres, at Headington, near Oxford, with a green-house attached, opening into one of the parlours; a coach-house, 3-stall stable, pigsties, cow shed, and fowl-house. A gentleman may be accommodated with 140 more Acres.—Enquire of Mr. Finch, Headington.

It is unclear what is meant by the “cottage residence”: it is hard to imagine the Rookery being thus described, and yet the 140 acres of land matches exactly what he and his mother together had been granted under the Headington Enclosure Award:

At the time of the 1841 census Richard’s wife Clara Finch was at the Rookery with her mother-in-law (Mrs Laetitia Finch) and her two sisters-in-law (Miss Laetitia Finch and Mrs Harriet Perry). A young lady called Ann Talbot (20) was also in the house, and there were three servants: two female and one male. Richard himself appears to have been away on census night.

Between 1843 and 1849 Richard Finch sat on the Grand Jury of the Summer Assizes.

Richard’s mother Laetitia Finch died at the advanced age of 96 and was buried in St Andrew’s churchyard on 16 March 1846.

In February 1849 Richard Finch tried to let the house out again:

HEADINGTON, NEAR OXFORD,
Within half an hour’s drive of the Great Western Railway Station.
TO be LET, UNFURNISHED, for a term,—A neat comfortable RESIDENCE; consisting of two parlours (one opens into a green-house), two kitchens, a store room, and out-offices; three good bed rooms, and two smaller rooms, besides a servant’s room; a three-stall stable and coach-house, with about Three Acres and a half of good Grass Land, and a kitchen garden detached; it commands a beautiful view. — Immediate possession may be had. — Apply to Mr. Finch, Headington, near Oxford. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 17 February 1849)

On 10 April 1849 Richard Finch’s wife Clara Finch died at the age of 70, and a week later was buried in St Andrew’s churchyard. Later that year Richard Finch decided to sell the home that had been in his family for nearly two hundred years:

HEADINGTON, NEAR OXFORD.
TO be sold—a neat FREEHOLD RESIDENCE, with stabling and coach-house, and 3½ Acres of Meadow Land, and a small kitchen garden.—Apply to Mr. Finch, Headington. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 10 November 1849)

The house did not sell, and so the Headington Rate-Book of December 1850 lists Richard Finch as the occupier as well as the owner of the Rookery: its rateable value was then £81 and its estimated extent two acres. But it appears that it was let out very soon afterwards, as the April 1851 census shows Richard (then a widower of 71), and his sister Laetitia (a spinster of 70) lodging with one servant at Miss Hanwell’s school in Old High Street.

On 14 July 1851, Richard Finch made a will leaving all his rents to his sister Laetitia and empowering his trustees to sell his property after her death; and just ten days later, on 24 July 1851, he died at the age of 71, outliving his mother by only five years. His death was announced thus in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 26 July 1851: “On Thursday morning, in his 72nd year, Richard Finch, Esq. of Headington, near this city.” The next month, on 23 August, the Executrix’s solicitor, John Matthews (who owned and lived in Headington Manor House) advertised for anyone who had claims on his estate to send him particulars.

 

 

 

Richard Finch was buried with his wife in the coped grave shown at the forefront of the photograph on the left. The inscriptions on the two surfaces read:

RICHARD FINCH
DIED JULY 24, 1851
AGED 72 YEARS

IN MEMORY
OF CLARA, WIFE OF
RICHARD FINCH, Gent.
WHO DIED APRIL 10, 1849
AGED 70 YEARS

The matching grave beside this one is unmarked: it is probably the grave of Richard’s parents (Richard & Laetitia) and his unmarried sister Laetitia.

The Revd Taylor’s school must have been successful, as in 1863 he bought the Rookery, together with all its land on both sides of the London Road.

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See separate page on The Rookery for more information about the house, as well as its subsequent history