Rachel Fletcher and I know a certain amount about Boffins Bakery in Oxford but we do not know when it changed hands and ceased trading as Boffins. We were hoping that others might shine some light on the subject. What we know: James Boffin (1816 1900) was born in Bicester. He married Eliza Townley in 1838 in Oxford and had other businesses before the Baking and Confectionery trade e.g. in the 1841 census he was a Hatter. He appears in a 1847 Directory as a Baker and Confectioner. An illustration in the Oxford Shops book shows the business established in 1847. In the 1851 census (at age 33 years) he is described as Baker and Confectioner Master employing 7 men. Its not clear whether he retired but in the 1891 census he still gave his occupation as Confectioner. James had 9 children and that included Alfred (1843 1937); others worked in the family business but Alfred was the survivor. Alfred is first noted as a Confectioner in the 1871 census. In 1901 he is shown as Bread maker; in the Administration of his second wifes estate he was shown (6 July 1906) as Retired confectioner. From the 2 marriages there were 6 children 2 of whom were male. Neither of the male children seem to have continued the trade. At some stage the business went to Coopers we are not sure who or when. We havent accessed all trade directories but we know from the Oxford Monthly that Boffins Bakery was still at Carfax in December 1931. Regards Cliff Cliff Baughen cliff@baughen.co.uk http://www.baughen.co.uk Baughen One Name Study (includes Boffin)
> Rachel Fletcher and I know a certain amount about Boffin’s Bakery in Oxford > but we do not know when it changed hands and ceased trading as Boffins. We > were hoping that others might shine some light on the subject. Cliff, Apologies if you know this already, but if you go to the Oxfordshire County Council Heritage search page at: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/heritagesearch you will find lots of references to Boffins Bakery and also James and Alfred. It looks like the business might have developed into a 'cooks, confectioners and foreign wine merchants'. There are also pictures in the photographic collection of 'Boffins Bakery' in 1955-60. Kind regards, Alison
Thank you Alison. We do have most of the references but probably need to follow up about the former director (1962). We have made some further progress and it answers when the Bakery closed. At http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/asian/working_lives/oxford_ 2.htm it says 'The basement of Dil Duniya was used as a mosque with space for thirty people. For Friday prayers, the whole restaurant became a mosque. According to the proprietor's nephew, Mr Rojob: 'In 1960, the first Bengali started working in the Boffin Bakery in Osney. He impressed the management and they began to employ a lot of Asians. Soon, 80 per cent of the workers was Asian and this was so until the bakery closed in 1979.' As to the connection with Cooper Rachel found an advertisement in Alden's Oxford Guide of 1906 showing 107 High Street & says 'also at Carfax' BUT at the bottom it says Proprietor G. H. COOPER. We have found George Henry Cooper in the 1901 census but discovered he had died before the 1911 census (i.e. wife was a widow). His death is indexed under Dec Q. 1910 aged 50 Headington 3a 534. A review of Boffin's Restaurant at Carfax in 1897 says that Alfred Boffin is managing the business. Therefore the change of ownership appears to be between 1897 and 1906. Whether the Boffins had any real connection with the business after this we currently don't know. If anyone has any further knowledge we would be pleased to receive it. Regards Cliff Cliff Baughen cliff@baughen.co.uk http://www.baughen.co.uk -----Original Message----- From: oxfordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:oxfordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of alison Gossler Sent: 04 August 2011 13:53 To: oxfordshire@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [OXF] Boffin's Bakery > Rachel Fletcher and I know a certain amount about Boffin's Bakery in Oxford > but we do not know when it changed hands and ceased trading as Boffins. We > were hoping that others might shine some light on the subject. Cliff, Apologies if you know this already, but if you go to the Oxfordshire County Council Heritage search page at: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/heritagesearch you will find lots of references to Boffins Bakery and also James and Alfred. It looks like the business might have developed into a 'cooks, confectioners and foreign wine merchants'. There are also pictures in the photographic collection of 'Boffins Bakery' in 1955-60. Kind regards, Alison ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OFHS "Wills Library" : Can you submit any wills, please?http://wills.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to OXFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message