Esther Elizabeth BURROWS (née BLISS) (c1848-1935)

Esther Burrows (née Bliss) was the sister of William Bliss who was a good friend of Julius Sladden when the latter went to work in Chipping Norton in the early 1870s.  Just four months younger than Julius Sladden, Esther was also the widow of Henry Parker Burrows, a brewer, whom Julius may well have known through work.  Esther remained friends with Julius and Eugénie Sladden for the rest of their lives and sometimes went to stay with them after they had moved to Badsey.

Esther Elizabeth Bliss (1847-1935) was born at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, on 19th October 1847, the third of four children of William Bliss, a woollen manufacturer, and his wife, Esther (née Cleaver). 

On 8th September 1870 at Chipping Norton, Esther married Henry Parker Burrows, a brewer who was a partner in Langton Burrows Breweries, Maidenhead.  In April 1871 they were living at The Limes, Twickenham, with Henry’s brother, Richard, who was a master brewer.  Esther was to enjoy only just over a year of married life, as Henry died unexpectedly at Maidenhead on 20th October 1871.  According to descendant records on Ancestry, he died suddenly after eating dinner, cause unknown.  Esther was pregnant at the time and gave birth at Chipping Norton to a posthumous baby, Christine Mary Elizabeth (1872-1959), on 4th January 1872. 

At the time of the 1881 census, Esther was visiting the Budgett family at Clifton, Bristol, whilst nine-year-old Christine was with Esther’s parents in Chipping Norton.  By 1891, Esther was a boarding house keeper living at 11 Royal Parade, Cheltenham, with nine young female students staying, including her daughter.  Ten years later, at the 1901 census, Esther was Principal of St Hilda's Hall, Cowley Place, Oxford, whilst Christine was Vice-Principal.  Esther had retired by 1911 and was living at Iffley Turn Cottage, Iffley, Oxfordshire.
  
Esther died 47 Woodstock Road, Oxford, on 20th February 1935.

A detailed biography of Esther Burrows may be seen in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.