John Oxlade, Portsea (and London).
As soon as the winning line appears, another anomaly crops up...So - re. John Oxlade, having found out that he was a bookbinder and bookseller, I'm still searching for clarification of certain points in his life-history. The first is that he does not appear in his father's will (William Oxlade, 1743-1803)...As far as I can gather from the available online document, William bequeathed his goods to his grand-daughter; but there are four candidates...I'm afraid that my eyes are not good enough to pinpoint the recipient. Can anyone help?
Secondly, an Alexander Crawford was apprenticed to his uncle John, bookbinder. Crawford's father, William, had married John Oxlade's sister, Mary. Crawford was living in London and his apprenticeship would have run until 1822 ; but John Oxlade (I believe that I've got the right man) had married in 1813 and was living and working in Portsea. How can this have been?
Thirdly, John Oxlade served a term in prison for alleged misdemeanours (serious ones in all conscience). Previously he had qualified as an attorney. However, there is no mention of 'attorney' anywhere in Oxlade's life-history during the period in which he served his sentence (I think that 1802 marks the last connection), nor, subsequently, when he lived in Portsea. Can I assume that imprisonment would have automatically barred him from practising as an attorney?
roly
