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James Josiah Faulkner was born into o a family of cordwainers at the end of the 18th century. With the industry declining James found himself looking for a new occupation when he grew up.
Having tried to run a shop selling a variety of things in Queen Street he finally found himself selling tea in what was known as the Bishop's Palace in St Aldates, opposite Christ Church, he quickly expanded the range of items offered to include more groceries and advertised his services with a strict NO CREDIT ruling. This was only one of many things which made him stand out from the crowd.
He was leading member of what became known as the Chartist Movement advocating wider and fairer male suffrage with reform of the electoral system and Parliament. His radical views earned him few friends among the land owning class. As a Free Trader he campaigned against the Corn Laws and organised meetings within the city.
The university became a target for his campaigning when he attacked the colleges for not paying their poor rate. As a Church Warden it was his responsibility to collect the Poor Rate and he was angry that the rich colleges refused to pay the rates as all other property owners had. He finally succeeded with a prosecution against Pembroke College which forced the other colleges to start making the payments.
Another of his causes was Temperance, the fight against the evil of alcohol, and he organised meetings to try and push against the excesses of the demon drink. On one occasion he arranged for a big event where he arranged for people to be provided with tea. The sight of barrels being delivered made him suspicious that the brewers were trying to discredit him. Many of his meetings were disrupted by undergraduates causing trouble and often they ended in rioting.
He was a city councillor and freeman and tried to influence things for the good of many. At the end of the Crimean War a proposal for some kind of Peace tribute was welcomed but the manner of the tribute caused much argument. A final agreement was arrived at to have a memorial which would include a fountain and drinking water. Because of the reluctance of some trustees to begin work until all the subscriptions promised had been collected the whole project failed.
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