Alfred William Spence HITCHMAN (1846-1912)

Alfred Hitchman, a barrister and partner in his father’s brewery business, was a good friend of Julius Sladden when he lived in Chipping Norton in the 1870s.

Alfred William Spence Hitchman (1846-1912) was born at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, in 1846, the younger of two children of William Simkins Hitchman, a wine merchant and brewer, and his wife, Isabella Ann (née Spence).  Alfred was only a year old when his mother died in 1847.

Alfred was educated at Rugby and Cambridge where he studied law.  He never married and lived at Kitebrook House, Chastleton, with his father and step-mother.  He was a great sportsman and, together with William Bliss, founded Chipping Norton Rugby Football Club.

Census returns describe Alfred as a barrister, but he was also involved in the brewery business and succeeded his father, William, on his death in 1881.  The business was registered in March 1890 as Messrs Hitchman and Co Ltd; his friend, Creswicke Rawlinson, was one of the directors.  Alfred Hitchman was chairman and, although remaining as a director, he increasingly took a back seat role, preferring to spend his days pursuing sporting activities. 

In later years Alfred bought a yacht and moved to Weymouth where he named his residence Kitebrook. He suffered from a sailing accident when returning from New Zealand in 1910.  His health declined and he died two years later on 12th March 1912, his remains being buried at sea.