Crick Road is a road in

North Oxford North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the College. Overview The lea ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, an area characterised by large

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

villas.

Location

At the western end is the

Bradmore Road Bradmore Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England. At the northern end of the road is a junction with Norham Road and at the southern end is a junction with Norham Gardens, with the University Parks opposite. Halfway along the ...

and at the eastern end is

Fyfield Road Fyfield Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England, on the Norham Manor estate. At the northern end of the road is a junction with Norham Road and at the southern end is a junction with Norham Gardens, was the University Parks opp ...

. To the north is Norham Road and to the south are

Norham Gardens __NOTOC__ Norham Gardens is a residential road in central North Oxford, England. It adjoins the north end of Parks Road near the junction with Banbury Road, directly opposite St Anne's College. From here it skirts the north side of the Oxfo ...

and the

University Parks The Oxford University Parks, commonly referred to locally as the University Parks, or just The Parks, is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in Oxford, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, thoug ...

History and residents

Houses in the road were first leased between 1876 and 1880. Architects include Willson Beasley, Frederick Codd, Galpin & Shirley, and

Frederick R. Pike Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

. The houses are mostly in pairs, with Jacobean as well as more traditional North Oxford

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

detailing. In 1879, the school that was to become known as the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

(previous known as the

Oxford Preparatory School Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

) moved from rooms at Balliol Hall in St Giles' to 17 Crick Road, which became known as "School House". The headmaster was initially A. E. Clarke and from 1886 Charles Cotterill Lynam (known as the "Skipper"). The school expanded and moved in 1895 to its current location at Bardwell Road, further north in

. In 1879, the

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and later Master of

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

Arthur Lionel Smith Arthur Lionel Smith (1850 – 12 April 1924) was a British historian at the University of Oxford. Smith served as Master of Balliol College, Oxford, from 1916 to 1924. Early life Smith was born on 4 December 1850. He studied at Balliol College, ...

married Mary Smith. They first lived at 7 Crick Road until 1893. They had had nine children together, six of whom were born at the house in Crick Road. The Haldane family lived at 11 Crick Road and the house is marked with a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

. The family included the

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

and father

John Scott Haldane John Scott Haldane (; 2 May 1860 – 14/15 March 1936) was a British physician and physiologist famous for intrepid self-experimentation which led to many important discoveries about the human body and the nature of gases. He also experimen ...

(1860–1936) and his wife Louisa, together with their children, the

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes ...

and

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life fo ...

J. B. S. Haldane (

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

), and the novelist

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote over 90 books of historical and science fiction, travel writin ...

. The family later moved to 'Cherwell' at the end of

Linton Road Linton Road is a road in North Oxford, England. Location At the western end is the Banbury Road. At the eastern end is Wolfson College, a graduate college of the University of Oxford. To the north at the eastern end, Garford Road runs paral ...

to the north, now the location of Wolfson College on the banks of the

River Cherwell The River Cherwell ( or ) is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Hellidon, Northamptonshire and flows southwards for to meet the Thames at Oxford in Oxfordshire. The river gives its name to the Cherwell local ...

. The botanist and Mayor of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

George Claridge Druce George Claridge Druce, MA, LLD, JP, FRS, FLS (23 May 1850 – 29 February 1932) was an English botanist and a Mayor of Oxford. Personal life and education G. Claridge Druce was born at Potterspury on Watling Street in Northamptonshire ...

(1850–1932), moved to 9 Crick Road in 1909. He named the house "Yardley Lodge", after the village of

Yardley Gobion Yardley Gobion ( ) is a village in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire off a by-pass of the A508 Northampton to Milton Keynes road. The village's name means 'rod wood/clearing', where they were made or acquired. Henry Gubyun ...

where he lived in his youth. He died at his home and was buried in

Holywell Cemetery Holywell Cemetery is next to St Cross Church in Oxford, England. The cemetery is behind the church in St Cross Road, south of Holywell Manor on Manor Road and north of Longwall Street, in the parish of Holywell. History In the mid 19th ce ...

, Oxford.

References

{{Reflist Streets in Oxford Dragon School