william oxlade, printer, portsea

[roly]

After my first request for information a few years back I've managed to find some information and see that my suggested dates were way out.

A William Oxlade printed out of 174 Queen Street, Portsea in the early part of the nineteenth century...There are some of his broadside ballads dating from around 1805 and, perhaps, up until 1815.  I still can't get news of who he was, where he was born and whether or not he had a family; when he went to Portsea and when he left (or died).

The reference to a William and Jonathan, kindly provided during the earlier enquiry, has not yet got me far.

So any morsel would be gratefully received.

roly

[CaroleW]

Where does he fit in your Family History as that can sometimes help

[roly]

He doesn't.  This is, so to speak, pure research - into the lives and activities of early nineteenth century printers.

roly

[roly]

I've managed to unearth what I take to be some relevant detail concerning the printer, William Oxlade, in Portsea; but some of it still looks a tad unlikely.  It looks as if he was born in Chatham in 1738 and that he died in Gravesend in 1829.  In between he seems to have begun his printing career in London in the 1770s and I know that he was printing in Portsea during the 1810s.  I know also that he married and had children.

But when did he leave London for Portsea?  I suspect that it might have been at the turn of the century...A son, John, had become involved with the London Corresponding Society and he was, it seems, imprisoned at around 1799-1800.  Might this have precipitated WO's move to Oxlade to Portrsea?

And when did he leave Portsea for Gravesend (if, indeed, this was he)?

I thank previous correspondents for their patience and would be grafetul if anybody could confirm the outline given here (it is only an outline and I do have some more detail - but this doesn't affect the questions I'm posing); and even happier if they can add to the story.

roly