The population in England increased in the early part of the 19th century,  towns and cities expanded as people spilled into urban areas where there were better jobs and higher wages and more opportunities than in the rural economy.

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The early 19th century housing development of St John Street, Oxford provides a good example of urbanisation. The edges of the city were being built up outwards from the market town into rural surroundings.  With better, job opportunities and higher salaries in the towns and cities, an emerging middle class were able to purchase the new properties that were being developed. (See 'Building on the Beaumonts: An Example of Early 19th Century Housing Development by Anson Osmond)

St John Street formed the L shape of Beaumont Street, the area became known as the ‘Beaumont Area of Oxford’.  The development of St John Street, Oxford, started with five plots of land on the  east side of the street.  It’s likely another three houses were built on the west side around the same time in 1824.  The houses generally were on 40 year leases and had stables at the back in Pusey Lane.  These first houses were inhabited by 1826.

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The houses had Bath stone-fronted facades, side and rear elevations of red brick. While the exteriors were similar the builders displayed a variety of styles designing the interiors.

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The houses at the northern end of St John Street were noticeable smaller and poorer in style than those at the southern end.  This reflected the socially less desirable position they occupied nearer to the workhouse in Wellington Square. [1]The occupants living in this new development which was completed by 1836, were mainly local trades people: stone masons, painters, a wheelwright, a coachman, a cordwainer, a porter, plasterer and baker. Several of the owners lived in the houses they had built, others lived elsewhere in Oxford.  These terrace houses were large enough to accommodate a maid and a ‘live in’ lodger who were often university students.