William Markby

In February 1900 he was appointed perpetual curator of the Indian Institute, in recognition of his long and valuable service to the University.

The latter, being intended in the first place for Indian students, calls attention to many difficulties in the definition and application of legal conceptions which are usually passed over in textbooks, and it ranks as one of the few books on the philosophy of law which are both useful to beginners and profitable to teachers and thinkers.

[1][3] Markby married, on 22 March 1866, Lucy Taylor (1841–1928), and their only child, an unnamed son, was born and died in Calcutta the following October.

In March 1879 Markby bought the southernmost plot of land to the east of Pullens Lane that was being sold by John Marriott Davenport.

His wife later wrote: We soon decided that Headington Hill was a desirable spot whereon to pitch our tent and so it came about that we bought a few acres of land within the sacred limits of the University and built the house that was to be our home for so many years to come.In September 1880 his family moved into their new house, usually known as The Pullens.

The 1881 census describes the house as "Joe Pullen's, Headington Hill", and shows Sir William (51) and his wife Lucy (38) looked after by a cook, parlourmaid, housemaid, and kitchenmaid.