Elliston & Cavell was for many years the leading

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. The store was located on the west side of

Magdalen Street Magdalen Street is a short shopping street in central Oxford, England, just north of the original north gate in the city walls. Traditionally, the name of the street is pronounced and not as the name of the Magdalen College, Oxford, Magdale ...

in central Oxford. The shop stocked uniforms for local schools such as the Dragon School.

History

Jesse Elliston originally owned a draper's shop opposite St Mary Magdalen Church in Oxford. On 9 April 1835, at the age of 22, John Cavell married Sarah Elliston, the sister of Jesse at St John Baptist Church in Summertown, Oxford. Elliston made Cavell a partner in celebration of the marriage. Thereafter, the shop became known as Elliston & Cavell. In 1853, Jesse Elliston was found dead on his walk home from work at the age of 47, while Sarah Elliston died in 1856. In 1861, James Cavell married his widowed sister-in-law Harriet Delf (''nee'' Elliston); they lived above the premises at 12 Magdalen Street. James Cavell was made Mayor of Oxford for the first time in 1865 and was the Chairman of the Oxford Building & Investments Company until 1882, but died aged 74 in 1887. The original store was demolished in 1894 to make way for the current building. It eventually became the largest department store in Oxford. The store was lavishly decorated with a sweeping staircase and a bakelite mural depicting deer in a forest glade. The ladies' powder room had basins in the shape of marble swans with gold taps, with ladies in black uniform providing dry towels. The shop was taken over by

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain that operated in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, as well as franchised locations across Europe and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and gr ...

in 1953, but the original name was retained until 1973. The building formed part of the Debenhams store until its administration in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliston and Cavell Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Retail companies of England Shops in Oxford Debenhams Former buildings and structures in Oxford History of Oxford Retail companies established in 1835 Retail companies disestablished in 1973 1835 establishments in England 1973 disestablishments in England

History

See also

References