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Thomas Mallam (1786 - 28 March 1850) was an English auctioneer and Mayor of Oxford.
He was the son of Richard and Elizabeth Mallam of Oxford and baptised in St Aldates Church on 9 August 1786 [1]. His father was the founder of Mallams, one of the country's oldest and most prestigious provincial auction houses [2]. Thomas followed his father into the same business and established himself at 126 High Street, Oxford. He also traded as a tobacconist and timber merchant.
In 1818 Mallam was elected a member of the Old Corporation of Oxford. In 1823 he was elected Junior Chamberlain and in 1826 became Senior Bailiff and the city's chief magistrate. After the Municipal Coporations Act (1835) was passed, reforming local government, he was elected councillor for the Central Ward. Six days later he was elected Alderman for a term of six years. In 1839 he was elected Mayor of Oxford. During a dinner to celebrate the triennial perambulation of the city boundaries in 1840 the city turned out to "testify [to]...the high esteem they entertained" for Mallam, who "by his industry, his perseverance, and upright conduct, had raised himself to the highest office his native city could confer upon him" [3]. After being re-elected to the Corporation in 1841 he served as Mayor again in 1846, "with great credit to himself and greatly to the satisfaction of fellow citizens" [4]. He was nominated to the mayoralty again 1848 but declined to assume office. He remained a member of the Corporation until his death [5].
He once claimed that his ambition had always been to act 'impartially, independently, and conscientiously' for the good of the city [6], but in politics Mallam was a staunch Conservative and his sympathies belonged to a pre-Reform age. In a eulogy given to elect his successor as Alderman one of his colleagues noted that 'he belonged, it was true, somewhat to the past, and some might think his views were somewhat timid as to the extent to which municipal reform ought to go' [7].
In 1816 he married Lydia Butler at All Saints Church [8]. She was the sister of William Henry Butler and niece of William Slatter, both former Mayors of the city. Mallam was also related through marriage to William Ward (mayor), the father of modern Oxford Conservatism.
Mallam died after a long illness on 28 March 1850 at The Shrubbery, Oxford [9]. He is buried in All Saints churchyard.
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