Early Oxford Coffee Houses and Student Life

Oxford University Students and the Early Coffee House in Oxford

Jul 20, 2009 Kathleen Duffy

The Oxford coffee house was the perfect meeting place for intellectually curious, and argumentative male students. But the Oxford University authorities were watching.

The first coffee in England is thought to have been brewed in 1637 by Nathaniel Conopios from Crete, a student at Balliol College, Oxford. This led to the first English coffee house being opened in Oxford in 1650 by Jacob, a Lebanese Jew.

Some University Student Clientele of Oxford Coffee Houses

As in London’s coffee houses where sections of society gravitated to their own particular establishment, in Oxford each college had its meeting place. Among them

Harper’s was patronised by Queens College and Magdalen College;
Bagg’s by New College , Hertford College, Wadham College;
Malbon’s by Trinity College;
Horseman’s by All Souls College, Corpus Christi College , Merton College and Oriel Collegel.

A significant coffee house was opened by Arthur Tillyard in 1655. Tillyard's was the meeting place of the Oxford Chemical Club, a group of leading scientists , including Sir Robert Boyle, and their students. From this Club the Royal Society would emerge.

Oxford Coffee Houses and Early Radical Publications

Regular publications such as political pamphlets and newspapers were the lifeblood of the coffee houses. The proprietors ordered these publications for their clients’ free perusal, and coffee house gossip and scandal provided hot topics for the same publications, many of which were anti-Government and anti-University. In 1711 the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford banned the sale of The Medley and in 1720 Terrae Filius, both publications being critical of the University.

Oxford Coffee Houses as Centres of Radical Thought

The City Council and the University authorities kept a sharp eye on these establishments. Here political ideas were openly discussed, newspapers freely available and status irrelevant. Students could escape the stultifying atmosphere of University life by discussing inter-departmental gossip and exchanging ideas on educational and political reform.

Charles II Orders Closure of Coffee Houses

Such was the concern that coffee houses could become political hotbeds of Jacobin revolt that on 29th December 1675 Charles II ordered their closure. The outcry was so widespread that Charles had to rescind the proclamation in January 1676.

Oxford Coffee Houses and Student Behaviour

The Oxford University Authorities were concerned not only with matters of radical thinking. Many Oxford coffee houses had been granted licenses to sell wine and the drunken behaviour of students was of concern.

In an attempt to limit student freedom, Proctors and Magistrates were urged by the University to visit coffee houses and urge proprietors not to allow students to build up loans, not to serve students after 11:00 at night and not to open on Sundays until 5:00. Whether such attempts at control were totally successful is unclear. What is clear is students who drank wine in coffee houses often spilled out onto the streets of Oxford causing mayhem!

Oxford Coffee Houses and Student Morals

Tom’s Coffee House in the High Street was known for its back room, nicknamed The House of Lords. It was furnished with Chippendale chairs reserved for senior members of the University and similar high-ranking officials. Despite (or maybe because of) its distinguished clientele in the back, the Vice-Chancellor was informed that morally suspect literature with dubious illustrations was freely available to students in the front.

At a coffee house opened in 1728 by a Henry Biggs in St Clements, the drunken Biggs entertained students with the favours of his wife and sister, both of ‘a loose life’. It was apparently for this reason that students frequented the house.

Decline of the Oxford Coffee Houses from Mid-18th Century

Reasons for the decline:

East India Company began to import tea from China and India - coffee prices became inflated.
Tea houses serving food became popular.
Circulating libraries took over the provision of books and free newspapers.
Newspapers employed professional correspondents rather than relying on coffee house gossip.

The Oxford coffee houses were stimulating islands of intellectual ferment and lively debauchery which served their students well. Arguably nothing quite like them exists today.

Sources:

Oxford Coffee Houses, 1651-1800 by Norma Aubertin-Potter and Alyx Bennett (Hapden Press, 1987)
PopularArticles.com History of Coffee: Part II - Spread of Coffee to Europe