SAMUEL COXETER

Mr. Samuel Coxeter

A less prominent townsman who has departed is Mr. Samuel Coxeter, but his death removes the only one who could boast that he was present at the manufacture of the celebrated Newbury Coat. He was but two years of age at the time, and he scarcely knew what was going on. He, however, lived to a good old age to tell the story that made his family famous. The name will be perpetuated by his sister, though as she is a nonagenarian, it can scarcely be expected that a “Greenham” Coxeter will long flourish in our midst.

SAMUEL COXETER

DEATH OF MR. SAMUEL COXETER

A LINK WITH THE PAST

By the death of Mr. Samuel Coxeter, of Southampton-terrace, Newbury, a connecting link has been broken with the past, back to eighty years ago when the cloth industry was just beginning to wane, the days when the Bath-road was the great highroad of commerce from east to west and when Newbury was a flourishing town, before railways and modern civilization brought with them so much competition and low prices. Mr.Coxeter was the fourth son of Mr. John Coxeter, a famous manufacturer of cloth and blankets in his day, carrying on business at Greenham Mills. A memorable incident in the annals of the Coxeter family was the making of the celebrated “Newbury Coat.” The story of the making of the coat has been told often, but as Mr. Coxeter was the only survivor of those who witnessed the event, the facts may again be briefly recalled. It was at an agricultural dinner that Sir John Throckmorton, of Buckland House, Faringdon, met Mr. John Coxeter, and the conversation turned upon the best mode of reviving the manufacture of cloth in the district. Mr. Coxeter was asked in how short a period it was possible to make a coat direct from the wool of the sheep. At first he said a couple of days, but being pressed by Sir John he undertook to perform the operation between sunrise and sunset on the longest day in June. At five o’clock in the morning of June 25^th, 1811, Sir John Throckmorton came to Greenham Mills with his shepherd, bringing with him two Southdown sheep. The sheep were shorn, the wool was washed, roved, spun, and woven, the cloth was scoured, fulled, tented, raised, sheared, dyed, and dressed. The cloth was finished by four in the afternoon. The coat was cut out by the late Mr. James White, and nine men took it in by hand, and it was completed between six and seven o’clock. Sir John Throckmorton put on the coat and appeared in it at Mr. Coxeter’s window before an assemblage of five thousand persons. The two sheep were roasted and distributed among the people, as well as a hundred and twenty gallons of strong beer at Mr. Coxeter’s expense. Sir John Throckmorton dined at the Pelican Hotel in the evening with about forty other gentlemen. The whole process occupied thirteen hours and twenty minutes. The notable event was commemorated in an oil painting by Mr. Luke Clint, and in it the late Mr. Samuel Coxeter, who was then only about two years of age, is represented as holding the hand of his mother. This picture remained in the possession of Mrs. Coxeter, and on her death it passed to Mr. Charles Coxeter, of Abingdon, by whom it is still retained. A coloured print of the picture was published by John Michel, of Old Bond-street, London and copies are still in the possession of several old Newbury families. The coat still forms one of the prized heir-looms of the Throckmorton family at Buckland House. It was exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, and in 1884 was one of the most popular exhibits at the Newbury Art and Industrial Exhibition. The longevity of the Coxeter family is remarkable. The father, Mr. John Coxeter, died at a comparatively early age, but his wife, who in her later years was an inmate of an almshouse in Newbury, lived to be 101 years and nine months. Among the children still living, are Mr. Charles Coxeter, of Abingdon, born in 1806, Mr. James Coxeter, of London, born in1813, and Miss Coxeter, of Southampton-terrace, born in 1804.The deceased gentleman was born on 1809, and was therefore 84 years of age. He formerly carried on the business of baker and confectioner, which, on his retirement, he made over to the late Mr. William Hughes, a relation by marriage. Mr. Coxeter was of a retiring disposition, but carried on a quiet and charitable work amongst the poor. For many years he was a deacon of the Baptist Church, in the building of which he took a leading part, and subscribed liberally towards the expenses. On Thursday week he was out in his garden in his usual health, but on the following morning it was found that he had received a paralytic stroke, the third he had sustained. He lingered through the week, and died on Friday morning. Mr Coxeter was married, but his wife died many years ago, leaving no children. The funeral took place on Tuesday at Newbury Cemetery, the service being conducted by the Rev. G. J. Knight, pastor of the Newbury Baptist Church. The mourners included Mr. James Coxeter (brother), and Mrs. Coxeter, Mr. Charles Coxeter, jun., nephew, (Hastings), Mr. Joseph Hughes, nephew (Llanrothel), Mr. and Miss Gardiner, brother-in-law and niece, Mr. J. A. Hughes (Westerham), Mr. H. Hughes (Sutton), and the deacons of the Baptist Chapel. By request of the deceased no flowers were sent. The funeral arrangements were made by Mr. Alfred Jackson of the Market-place. Mr. Coxeter’s death will be improved next Sunday evening at the Baptist Chapel.