Rev S R Wilkinson - The man for treats and trips

 If there was one man in Victorian Marlow who did more than any other to bring a little fun into the lives of it's youngsters, rich and poor, it must be the Rev Sheldon Robert Wilkinson. Rev Wilkinson was the proud possessor of the means to show to the public "dissolving views" by his oxy hydrogen limelight. Before moving pictures, this was the most exciting way to see images. He was able to project the pictures on to a large screen in front of the audience. It involved a flame of a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen being used to heat a block of lime. Operating it was therefore something you had to be careful with as there was the potential for explosions to occur. The slide shows were accompanied by a narration (usually read by someone else, Wilkinson needed to concentrate on the light) and sometimes music. It's hard for us to understand just how popular these shows were, but they were a staple of school treats, lectures, and fundraising efforts for decades in Marlow. 

Son of a surgeon and apothecary 

Sheldon Robert Wilkinson was born in 1844 to surgeon and apothecary (as he was initially styled) Joseph Sheldon Wilkinson who was based in Marlow High Street. Wilkinson senior was originally in partnership with fellow surgeon George Rawden Robson but they parted ways and the latter went bankrupt in 1865. Sheldon spent his early childhood in Marlow before moving away to  boarding school followed by Oxford university. When he was ordained, he had to wait for an appointment as a curate or assistant curate and there was not yet a vacancy at Marlow. It was said in a newspaper article on Sheldon's death that his return to Marlow dated from the death of his father in 1861 but while he may have done so for a while he was serving as a curate at Colnbrook in 1871. In this year his mother Abiah died in Brighton where she had retreated in the vain hope of improving her health.  A few months Sheldon begins to pop up regularly in Marlow records so I think the newspaper obituary previously mentioned may have muddled which parents death precipitated Sheldon's full time return to Marlow. He would serve as assistant curate, then curate at Marlow with stints assisting in neighbouring parishes too including Hambledon and Bisham. He was unusual for being a man of the cloth who was a native of the area he was spiritually serving. 

Fun and games for young and old 

I've mentioned that there was scarcely any celebration in Marlow where you could not find Sheldon wielding his magic lantern. If your ancestor went to the national schools or Sunday schools, they would have probably seen a lot of the man. He seems to have been fond of children as he was constantly organizing entertainments for them for the slimmest of reasons. The young lads who were part of the church choir were probably the most fortunate. While it was common for them to receive an annual treat even before Sheldon arrived back in town, he certainly upped the scale of the entertainments. For example in 1873 he hosted the boys at his own home for tea and supper, interspersed with cricket matches, a show of dissolving views and ending in a pyrotechnic display at which the boys were given squibs and crackers to throw about. The day ended with "bumpers of punch" and three cheers for Rev Wilkinson. Not perhaps something that would pass the health and safety requirements these days! And no this wasn't the only time Sheldon liked to treat the young people to some alcohol - he gave them champagne at the 1875 celebration. All of these treats and many others such as  magicians performance for Sunday school children, were paid for entirely out of his own funds. 

The older residents were treated to Sheldon's images at more serious minded lectures and talks, usually in the music room (now the Masonic centre) or the boys school room (church hall, Causeway). In 1875 for example he illustrated a lecture by T S Cocks on the habits of wild animals by showing images of those captive in Regents Park zoo. This was followed by coloured photos taken by celebrated Paris photographers Messrs Ferrier of European capital cities, then an illustrated whimsical story. This was all to raise funds for the church organ fund. On another occasion he supported Marlow's famous engineer Edwin Clark* by illustrating a lecture on bridges, and on another he provided the images for a 4 part course on botany for the Mutual Improvement Society.  

One place you would not find Sheldon providing entertainment were at any of the many non Church of England Sunday schools in town. He was not a supporter of non conformity but of course many of the events he participated were open to all. He was however friendly with Marlow's Roman Catholic priest Canon Bernard Smith***, to whom he was apparently related. 

Other entertainments paid for by Sheldon include seaside trips (also for the choir) and gifts of buns and oranges for poor children at Christmas. He was also an enthusiastic participant in the "Penny Readings" at Marlow & Bovingdon Green where for a penny you got to hear readings of famous books and poems, often with a song thrown in. Sheldon usually contributed Dickens excerpts. 

Sheldon the bee keeper 

When not showing off his dissolving views, Sheldon could be found in the garden of End House tending his bees. He was passionately interested in the subject as he believed that amongst other things it was a usual appendage to a working man's income - always supposing they could afford to get started if course. In 1879 he offered for sale a hive complete with bees for £3 15s. He was obviously successfully at beekeeping as one of his hives was reported to have produced 100lbs of honey in 1895. Unsurprising he walked away with first prize for honey at the Marlow Horticulture Society show that year. His main rival in the show tent was George Sawyer**, but it was a friendly one as he actually employed George as his gardener in 1897 and eventually as assistant bee keeper.  George also kept an eye on other Marlow hives for their owners and actually made them too. 

A Farewell

Rev Sheldon died of flu in Marlow in 1900, one of a number of people to do so. He never married. He left a generous gift of £1000 to Marlow Cottage Hospital which was a very large amount at the time. His obituary of course mentioned his extensive collection of "stethoscopic views" . Only a month before his death he had demonstrated a new and expensive magic lantern to the children of Oxford Road infants school, as part of their Christmas party. His "genial and happy disposition" was also mentioned which seems fitting for a man who made so many others lives more fun..

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

*More about Edwin Clark and his family is available here

** George Sawyer was well known as a member of the Victorian Volunteer Marlow fire brigade. You can read about the brigade here

***A biography of Canon Bernard Smith is available on the blog here

Related information

To search for every mention if any individual on this blog, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

For an index of other posts relating to clergy and churches and chapels of Marlow see here

SOURCES:

Census 1851-1891 from the transcripts by Jane Pullinger.

Marlow Directory and Almanack 1891

Kelly's Directory 1854 & 1883 

Buckinghamshire Express 9th December 1871

South Bucks Free Press 3rd October 1873 

Bucks Herald 23rd Jan 1875 , 24th Jan 1878

Reading Mercury 5th April 1879, 29th October 1881

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 28th May 1883

South Bucks Standard - October 9th 1891, August 9th 1895, February 17th & December 8th 1899,  February 1st 1901

Globe, London 1 Feb 1901

© MarlowAncestors

Edwardian / WW1 Trinity Road and Trinity Place Part Two

Part One dealt with the odd numbers in this street and is available here. This part contains the even numbered homes and their residents as well as those people whose exact address, odd or even, is not known.

Trinity Road was previously Gun Lane and at times during the Edwardian era was also referred to as "Trinity Lane". Trinity Place was a small cul de sac which lead off Trinity Road and was previously known as Gun Place. It was at times numbered as if it was part of Trinity Road, and sometimes as a separate entity*

This was poor area with most homes consisting of just three rooms (kitchen come family room downstairs and two bedrooms above). Piped water arrived here at the close of the 1800s but not before the only well for the residents had already run dry. Life here was tough and there is some distressing content below which may involve your own particular family.

All the homes listed below were demolished long ago.

It is likely some residents have been missed due to the rapid tenant turnover in poorer streets. We will endeavour to add in anyone found to be missing as research opportunities permit.

Even numbered* properties were on the right as you came in from Dean Street. Numbers given as they were then=

2.) Charlotte (bn circa 1845) and Joseph Budd (bn circa 1848). He worked at the gasworks in nearby Cambridge Road as did sons John and Walter who lived at home. Charlotte's 62 year old maternal cousin, Alfred White who also lived in Trinity Road at an unknown address but likely with Charlotte sadly took his own life by hanging in 1907. His body was found by a telegraph boy in the yard of Mr Lovell the builder (off the High Street). Charlotte gave evidence in the resulting inquest. She said that she thought Alfred intellectually impaired. He was deaf and had trouble speaking. As a result of this he had been known as "Dummy White". Earlier in his life Alfred had spent time in jail for stabbing George Grace in the arm following a quarrel. By coincidence George had also died by his own hand in Marlow Fire Station. Alfred had become depressed due to unemployment. Instead of help in his worries he had been prosecuted at Maidenhead for threatening to do away with himself on a previous occasion.

Joseph and Charlotte Tubb's daughter Jane features in the Edwardian Trinity Road post Part One.

4.) This brick and tile house formed a pair with no.6. Thomas and Eliza Barnes and their children then Clara and Amos Moody with their children, followed by a Mr Beaver. 

Thomas Barnes was a bricklayer born circa 1860/61. Eliza was born circa 1863, and was nee Cook.  Thomas was earlier in his life attacked in Trinity Road by two men from other Marlow streets. Amongst the projects that he worked on as a bricklayer was the building of the Salvation Army chapel in Crown Road. This was later rebuilt and is now a daycare nursery. The family moved to Chapel Street by 1911. 

Clara and Amos Moody were both born around 1866. Both spent at least some of their childhoods in nearby Dean Street. Amos was the son of John and Elizabeth Moody, Clara the daughter of Caleb and Elizabeth Boot. Clara and her living-at-home daughter Ada were both laundresses when they lived in Edwardian Trinity Road. Amos worked at the paper mills in the Edwardian era but had been a farm worker as a young man. Amos's sister Jane had a very troubled and sad life. She may have lived in Trinity Road for a while early in the Edwardian era with her husband. A full biographical post about her is already on the blog (distressing) here.

6.)Frederick and Charlotte Bailey and their children, then H Tubb, then labourer William Henry Tubb with his wife Mary and their children.

Frederick Bailey was born circa 1866 and Charlotte in circa 1865. Frederick was a drayman at the brewery. Charlotte died in 1909 following a strange incident where a varicose vein in her leg ruptured when she was out at night near the Plough in Wycombe Road. Instead of getting help from the pub or nearby houses Charlotte made her way home, bleeding. Her daughter Annie fetched the doctor. Police from the police station in Trinity Road as they had first aid training but nothing could save Charlotte and she quickly passed away. How her leg came to be injured was investigated. She had just parted company from her husband at that time (he perhaps intending to visit the Plough?). To one person she said someone had kicked her in the leg. To others she said she had just knocked it herself. A trail of blood lead to a horse trough by the Plough but no further conclusions could be arrived at. 

Charlotte was born Charlotte Bowles, the daughter of George and Ann Bowles of Dean Street.

After Charlotte's death Frederick moved with his children away from Trinity Road and became a gardener. They lodged at the Black Horse, Chapel Street. As a teenager Frederick had had to pay a one shilling fine for gambling at cards with his friends in the "recreation ground" (Gossmore). A less controversial teenage hobby of his was playing football for the Marlow Star football team who played in Star Meadow, off Wycombe Road, very close to Trinity Road. He was their captain in 1886.

Mary Tubb was born circa 1888 and William Henry around 1884. 

This house was a brick and tile building which formed a pair with number 4.

8.) In 1907 Samuel Macklow /Mucklow a bricklayer and probable former soldier who was born around 1854 in Worcester and his wife Ann aka "Annie". This Annie was one of the neighbors who rushed to help the dying Charlotte Bailey of no 6 above in 1909. Samuel and Annie lived in Dean Street in 1902 when they were fined with other of the street's residents for abusing and violently assaulting a Bristol man who had come into the town to do a job at the brewery and was lodging in Dean Street. Other outsiders were also employed on the same job and staying in the lodging houses along there. This caused huge resentment amongst the Marlow men who felt work which was rightfully theirs was being stolen from them by strangers. One of the accused Marlow women stabbed the Bristol man with a knife during the fracas but it wasn't clear to the court exactly which woman was responsible. This incident wasn't the first time that Samuel had been convicted of disorderly conduct.

Niece Gladys Sewell was also in household of the Mucklows. She was the daughter of Walter and Elizabeth Sewell of Dean Street and granddaughter of Edwin Sewell who lived at no 12 Trinity Road. See below.

10.) In 1907 Mr G Armstrong, then agricultural labourer John Lovegrove born circa 1861, his widowed sister in law Jane Rockell and Jane's widowed daughter Henrietta Bidmead, a laundress. In 1909 Jane died from heart disease and an ulcerated leg after refusing medical treatment. John found her dead in bed when he came home from work. At some time between 1911 and 1915 both John and Henrietta left this house. Henrietta moved to number 13 on the other side of the street. She was born a Rockell in around 1871 and married William Henry Bidmead.

12.) This property was condemned and demolished in 1932 Edwin Sewell born circa 1846-49 who had come to Marlow from Rickmansworth Hertfordshire as a child with his parents. He moved from Dean Street Marlow to Trinity Road between 1901 and 1905. Wife Ada. Daughter Alice when married lived at no 22, see below. Granddaughter was Gladys Sewell who lived at no 8 Trinity Road.

14.) This property was condemned and demolished in 1932 Hannah Burt an unmarried laundress born around 1871. Her agricultural labourer brother Joseph lived with her as did, early in the era, her elderly mother Harriett. The latter was the widow of Thomas Burt and had raised her children in the Hamlet of Monday Dean near Marlow, at Ragman's Castle on the outskirts of the town, at Boulter End, Flackwell Heath and in Dean Street Marlow. She and her husband were evicted from their Dean Street home in 1897 and may have moved to Trinity Road as a result. She was deaf by the late 1880s. Thomas died early in 1901, before the census. He had been a labourer. Harriett died in 1903. She was at marriage Harriett Boddy. Emma, daughter of Thomas and Harriett appears amongst the inhabitants of Trinity Road without an assigned house number. See at the end of the house listings below.

16.) Also known as 1 Trinity Place Thomas and Ann "Annie" Rockell  and their children. Thomas was born circa 1849 and Ann in around 1850-2. Probable maiden name Frith. Long term Trinity Road residents as a couple and it looks like Ann spent part of her childhood there too.

18.) Also known as 2 Trinity Place Mrs Ann Goodchild, widow born circa 1846. Came from West Wycombe. Her labouring son William James lived with her. Earlier in her widowhood Ann had worked as a chair caner in Marlow.

20.) Also Known as 3 Trinity Place George and Louisa "Lewey" Budd and their children. Early on in the era James Bowles who was described as George Budd's brother in law (born circa 1848) also resided here. George Budd was an agricultural labourer and born circa 1874. Louisa was born circa 1878, the daughter of William and Ann Bowles. James Bowles was marked on the 1901 census as deaf from birth.

22.) Also Known as 4 Trinity Place Thomas Turner and his wife Elizabeth and their children, then in 1907 the newly married couple Robert and Alice Armstrong who had several children in this house, then R Stroud. 

Thomas Turner was a labourer born circa 1866 and Elizabeth in circa 1873. They moved to Chapel Street before 1911.

Robert and Alice Armstrong were both born around 1882. He was a house painter. Alice was nee Sewell, the daughter of Edwin Sewell who lived at no 12. The family later moved to Oxford Road. 

24.) Also known as 5 Trinity Place James and Louisa Cook and their children. James was a bricklayer's labourer born circa 1866. Louisa was born 1870. One of the children was Edith who was found along with other young laundry hands to have been working longer hours than legally permitted at Quarry Laundry in 1908. They started at 8am and should have finished at 4pm but instead ended their working day at 5.30pm. Her employer was fined. It is unknown whether this extra work was actually welcomed as an opportunity by Edith or whether she was being exploited.

26.) Also Known as 6 Trinity Place. Thomas and Mary Langley then Arthur and Beatrice Bowles, then Beatrice Bowles as a widow.

Thomas Langley was born around 1867 and Mary in around 1868. He was a labourer. She was nee Mary Louisa Edwards. She spent her childhood in Trinity Road. Her parents were Caroline and James Edwards.

Arthur Frederick Bowles was a gardener born circa 1884. He was a casualty of the first world war, dying in hospital at Bedford of pneumonia in 1918. He had served in the Labour Corps according to the newspaper reports as to his death and the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry according to his grave. As a teenager Arthur was found to have stolen some partridge eggs from private property. One of his co-accused was Thomas Rockell son of Thomas and Ann Rockell of no 16 above.

Beatrice Bowles was at her 1907 marriage to Arthur Beatrice Usher.

Residents whose house numbers are unknown or questionable=

Florence Collier and her children resident 1912. She was fined for swearing at them.

Charles and Mary Edwards. Residents 1901. He born circa 1870 and she in 1871. They had with them "adopted child" Dorothy Bright born circa 1897.

Sophia Edwards resident 1901 Trinity Road. Born circa 1834. Widow of William Edwards. Had lived in Trinity Place in 1895 and Trinity Road earlier. Kept pigeons in her back yard.

Mrs Harriett Elizabeth Groves who slit her throat with a razor in what was ruled as a fit of "temporary insanity" in 1911. She was taken to the Cottage Hospital but could not be saved. Wife of Alfred Groves, a labourer. Harriett was Harriett Ford at marriage. She was in her 27th year when she died.

Henry and Emma "Emily" Harris who lived Trinity Road on the 1901 Census with Mary Ann Burt age 20, Henry's stepdaughter and their other children. Henry Harris is not to be confused with the close-in-age Henry Harris, saddler and harness maker of Spittal Street. Henry of Trinity Road (bn circa 1857-59) was a worker at the brewery while his wife Emma (bn circa 1857) was a furrier. The family including Mary Ann Burt left Marlow for Langley Marish in Bucks where Henry worked as a farm carter by 1911. Emma was nee Burt and though born in Flackwell Heath had spent some of her childhood in Marlow. Her sister and widowed mother both lived at no 14 Trinity Road, see above. Emma was a servant as a teenager.

Sarah Ann and Joseph Hiscock. Trinity Road residents in 1909 but in Dean Street by 1911. Some of their children were born in Winchester Hampshire. Joseph was that classic Dean Street occupation - a vegetable hawker. Sarah worked at Quarry Laundry. When the owner went bankrupt in 1910 he owed money to many of his employees including Sarah. The court ordered him to pay them.

Alfred and Elizabeth Hopgood both originally of Reading lived in this street in 1911 but had left the town by 1915. Alfred was born around 1863 and was a building labourer. 

Mary Loftin born circa 1835 resident of Trinity Road 1901. Mary was a widow who worked as a charwoman. On the census she says that she was born at Bledlow Ridge. She died in 1907. Widow of William Loftin a gas / engine fitter. The couple were also living in Trinity Road at the time of his death in 1896 and previously. They had married late in life in 1890 when both were already widowed and so had no children together. Mary Ann was at the time of her second marriage the widow of farm worker Joseph Martin. William Loftin had been the lodger in their Trinity Road home.

William Moody who was a resident in 1916 when he was fined 10 shillings for having no light on his cart.

Sarah Slade resident 1901 age 62 with her 24 year old son. Widow of Charles Slade. She had lived in Trinity Road for many years. Charles was fined for being drunk and disorderly in Trinity Road in 1895.

Ada and Eli Smith with their children who moved to Marlow circa 1911 from Wooburn. She worked in a paper mill at Wooburn even after she moved to Marlow  and he was by trade a builder's labourer. This family suffered severe hardship due to Eli's continued unemployment. He was imprisoned for child cruelty at the behest of the NSPCC because of the deprivation the children experienced. The court seemed sceptical about his attempts to provide for them while recognizing that Ada worked very hard. It isn't clear if she actually lived at home during the working week. She told the court that her working hours meant she could not see to things at home anyway. She had sold her clothes and bedding so that the children could eat. Nevertheless the children suffered from vermin, sores, uncleanliness and a lack of education because they had no clothes in which to attend school. The Inspector from Marlow Police Station in Trinity Road collected donations of clothes for the children from other Marlovians. There was virtually no furniture in their "filthy" home, and no fire in winter. The court ordered Ada against her wishes to place the children in the Union Workhouse until their home situation improved and so they could be intensely treated. If she did not take them to the workhouse she too would be jailed, despite the NSPCC saying they did not think any charges against her should be pressed.

Wages were low in this period giving families little chance to save money for emergencies. Children being unable to attend school because they didn't have a full set of clothes still, shockingly, occurred in Marlow in the 1940s. The court's apparently sceptical attitude towards Eli should be taken with some reservations. The privileged men who sat in judgement generally subscribed to the view that you could always find work if you wanted to and that all poverty must be the victim's fault. That those working could be paid so little they could neither fulfill their family's wants nor save for when they weren't in work wasn't within their understanding. Eli, while not in paid employment, made rag rugs which the children hawked in the town, so he was hardly idle. See above under house number 2 for a case of the suicide of an unemployed man. The Smiths moved to Dean Street by February 1912. Ada was at marriage Ada Priest. 

Private Thomas Stroud son of Henry and Sarah Stroud of Trinity Place was killed in action in December 1914 while serving with the Royal Berkshires. He died instantly after being shot in the heart. The news of his death broke locally early the next year. He was also said to be a resident of Trinity Place then.

*Note= Marlow was beyond terrible at organizing street numbering, displaying house numbers, or making sure everyone knew what number they lived at. Some people refused to acknowledge the fact that their home had been officially renumbered and carried on using the old number. Others don't ever seem to have understood what their house's number was even after it was officially given one. Some people without moving house would give a different number for their home every different time they were asked, based presumably on guesswork. I often have to use multiple sources to repopulate an Edwardian street in this town reliably.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use our research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

Similar Posts 

Victorian residents of Trinity Cottages Jeremiah and Emma Harding here

General earlier history of Trinity Road here

Edwardian St Peter Street here.

Edwardian Cambridge Place here

Edwardian Spittal Street and Spittal Square Part One here and Part Two here

Edwardian wedding gifts in Marlow here

Some Sources=

Marlow Town Guide and Almanack 1907 and 1915 editions. Marlow Printing Company.

Bucks Herald February 16th 1916. Reading Mercury Nov 26th 1884 both British Library Archives, via the BNA.

South Bucks Standard and 22nd Feb 1907 , 13th August 1909 and July 8th 1910.

Reading Mercury 16th Nov 1918. Copy at the British Library.

Bucks Free Press Feb 16th 1912, Bucks Free Press Archives.

All 1901 census from the microfilm transcriptions of Jane Pullinger, with thanks.

"England and Wales, Census, 1911", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7VP-JRQ : Thu Feb 13 06:47:46 UTC 2025), Entry for Eli Smith and Ada Smith, 1911.

https://buckinghamshireremembers.org.uk/php_scripts/bksidget.php?id=5578

"England and Wales, Census, 1911", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7VL-H36 : Thu Feb 13 16:47:53 UTC 2025), Entry for Henry James Harris and Emma Harris, 1911.

"England and Wales, Census, 1911", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7VP-JRS : Thu Feb 13 06:35:45 UTC 2025), Entry for Alfred Hopgood and Elizabeth Hopgood, 1911.

"England and Wales, Census, 1871", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKZ2-ZW5S : Tue Oct 08 17:32:05 UTC 2024), Entry for Thomas Burt and Harriett Burt, 1871.

"England and Wales, Census, 1911," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7VP-NLV : 22 July 2019), Frederick Henry Edward Bailey in household of Thomas Blewitt, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

1905 Williams estate sale papers, copy kindly provided by Adam Baxter of the Marlow Society.

GRO Birth, marriage and death registration indexes, GRO online. Except Marriage of Henry Harris and Emma Burt which was Find My Past https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=BMD%2FM%2F1883%2F3%2FAZ%2F000128%2F092

Personal interview, rent receipt.

Life In 1930s Marlow Part Two Sport, Leisure, Transport

 Part One dealt with homes, shopping and employment. See here. A further part covering childhood and religion will become available next year.

Sport and Leisure

The Regatta attracted a world record (for an Amateur event) 107 entries in 1930 and continued to thrive during the thirties. It wasn't only local teams competing- in 1936 a team from the Tokyo Imperial University stormed to victory in the Grand Challenge Cup with their ultra light cedarwood boat and what was described as an unorthodox even eccentric rowing style. Sadly in just what eccentric way that they were rowing has been lost to history. The crew also raced at Henley Regatta that year, long a magnet for foreign teams, before flying off from Croydon Airport to the Berlin Olympics. Despite the hype around the team before the event no Japanese rower actually medalled at Berlin.

Spectators at each Regatta crowded onto the bridge despite dire warnings that their combined weight exceeded the 5 ton safety limit for this old structure.

Winners at the Regatta carried of solid silver prizes supplied as they had been for decades by Rowe's jewellers in the High Street.

Marlow also had a Rowing Club Regatta until the number of members on anti aircraft duty or military service forced the temporary cancellation of the event in 1939. The Rowing Club wasn't popular with everyone - Marlow's vicar successfully asked for Sunday morning rowing practice to be removed from the club's normal schedule as it coincided with his services.  The fury of the nothing but church on a Sunday brigade cannot be underestimated. Some wanted the swings taken out of the playground in Higginson Park on a Sunday!

The Regatta was part of "Marlow Week" which also typically involved tennis tournaments as well as sometimes bowls and putting ones not to mention fireworks and fun fairs.

In Higginson Park there were then two putting greens. As well as the Marlow Week tournaments they hosted a separate annual one. Normal putting cost 6d a round in 1931 including the use of the putter, a score card and the ball. A Putting Club existed in the park and organized it's own small weekly competition for members. Mr R Young in 1932 broke their course record by getting two holes in one! Don't you just wish you could have been there to see it?

Elsewhere in the Court Garden complex were three hard tennis courts which could be hired at a cost of 2 shillings an hour. Thirsty sports people could obtain refreshment from the park pavilion.

Due to a legal tangle part of Higginson Park was run at the time by the Higginson Park Society, and part by the council. Members of the society were asked to pay a minimum subscription of 5 shillings a year early in the decade. They had their own tennis group which organised an annual "American Tennis" tournament, whatever that was.

There was also a Higginson Park Social Club by 1938 which met in a room at Court Garden. Their activities included dances (they had their own swing band), darts competitions and whist drives.

The Football Club reached the dizzying heights of the Premier Division of the Spartan League in 1938. It's Supporter's Club was newly formed at the beginning of the decade.

Marlow Working Men's Cricket Club meanwhile played in the Wycombe and District League and operated from Higginson Park, a near neighbour to the Bowling Club whose new 6 rink Court Garden premises opened in 1931. Marlow's other cricket team the Marlow Cricket Club of Pound Lane was defunct by this time but later revived and still exists in this second incarnation today.

The nearby village of Little Marlow had its own Cricket Club and team of which the residents were very proud.

Billiards and snooker tournaments were regularly held at the Institute billiards room in Institute Road. In fact the fees generated from entries into billiards events and for other use of the billiards table did much to keep the institution going. This building is now Marlow Library.

At Borlase school the boys could make use of a fives court as well as the more conventional tennis courts, running tracks, football pitch and cricket field.

Hockey had been played informally in Marlow since the mid 1800s and the Hockey Club had its inaugural meeting in 1909. Both men's, women's and mixed teams competed for the town in the 1930s and both received coverage in the local press near equal to that of the football team which reflects the enhanced popularity of hockey as a spectator sport at that time. The Hockey Club ground from 1921 was a field near the railway station, with the Gossmore recreation ground also being used at times during the 1930s. The men's team at times struggled to find enough sufficiently skilled players to compete so in some seasons only Marlow's women were able to represent the town.

Hockey and tennis were the main but not only sporting opportunities for female residents in the town. Some of the annual Regatta events were for women as were occasional swimming competitions in the River Thames. Female Marlovians were often mentioned as spectators at Marlow's home football matches. They had been attending regularly since at least the late 1800s. However while Marlow F.C had had a female President in the 1920s, Lady Vera Terrington of Spinfield, there was not apparently any ladies team playing for them.

Darts tournaments in pubs were popular for men but women were also casual players and informal competitors. A Pub Darts League, probably for male players only, was started in Marlow in 1935 involving teams from the Duke of Cambridge, Railway Hotel, Horns,  Carpenter's Arms, Ship, Royal Oak at Bovingdon Green, Carrier's arms, Three Tuns, Red lion, Hare and Hounds, Two Brewers, Wheatsheaf and Nag's Head. 

The Bucks Amateur Athletic Association formed just before the 1930s and held some events in Marlow. Ladies events began in 1932. More informally athletic sports organized by the Marlow Bottom Residents Association took place at Bencombe Farm at least a couple of times during the decade. The bar may not have been set too high at the latter. As mentioned in a previous posts one of the competitions was "cigarette lighting".

Leisure swimmers could enjoy the official bathing place in the Thames at Marlow and another at Hurley both with their own attendants. Council hopes to go one better and build a lido in Higginson Park where the football pitch is now were dashed when the Ministry of Health refused the necessary funding.

Those who wanted to learn to ride were fortunate in having a riding school at Field House Farm on the edge of town complete with a show jumping arena. Occasional gymkhanas took place at the farm. These were quite informal- with events such as "mop polo" where instead of the usual stick the ball was hit with mops.

Special coach services were laid on so equine loving Marlovians could attend Newbury horse races and during Ascot week a roaring trade in hire cars was done thanks to all the Marlovians who wanted to go there.

Greyhound racing at an informal level took place at meets in nearby Booker. Coach trips were organized every year from Marlow to greyhound tracks in London and elsewhere. Pigeon racing was popular and the town had its own pigeon racing club for those involved.

The worldwide political situation inevitably meant that some leisure hours were spent not in relaxing but in urgent political discussion. Marlow had a branch of the League of Nations Union a pacifist organisation which held that disarmament of all countries and membership of the League of Nations was the only way forward for the world. Captain Liston of New Court was one of the members of the Marlow Branch. As it became apparent to many that a second war with Germany was inevitable nationwide membership of this organization dwindled. Those Marlovians who did not hold with the notion of pacifism urgently encouraged the participation of the town's adolescent and young adult males in leisure activities which would see them transform themselves into better soldiers when their time came. Gymnastics was promoted because it fostered strength and self discipline, while shooting at targets was encouraged for obvious reasons.

The less energetic could enjoy films (the new County Cinema opened in Station Road in 1938, replacing the Spittal Square cinema). Or perhaps they preferred to sit back at home and listen to the radio or gramophone. Both Platts in Quoiting Square and Compton's Cycle Agents in West Street functioned as radio dealerships alongside their other trades. Mr Platt proudly advertised that he was the sole agent of both Murphy and Bush radios in the town. A Murphy radio would set you back a minimum of £6 10 shillings. Sounds cheap doesn't it? Consider this- a plot of land on Marlow on which to build a bungalow cost from £15-16 in the same era. Leo Ryan and J.G Mackey both in the High Street were two other men who sold radios. J.G  Mackey was the Philco brand stockist. This company also made early televisions but it is not known if Mackey in Marlow sold these too.

Photographer Norman Greville offered the Patheoscope for viewing short reels at home, which doesn't seem to have caught on.

The Masonic Centre in St Peter Street was sometimes used for dances in the 1930s and the George and Dragon in the High Street held them fortnightly from 8pm til midnight- tickets 2s or 3s 6d for a couple. Bargain hunters with their own transport could find cheaper dances held every so often in local village halls. At Lane End in 1937 entry cost just 1s 6d for one person. Frieth village hall was cheaper still at a round shilling. In many of these dances spot prizes were given to those whom the judges deemed to be the best dancing couples. These prizes might be in cash so that a talented pair could hope to win back their cost of entry and even make a profit from their night out.

Hilda Bailey of High Street Marlow taught dancing in the town as well as in High Wycombe and Beaconsfield. She could teach you ballroom and ballet as well as a bizarre array of fancy moves -"Comic dancing", "Character dancing", "Greek Operatic Dancing" and "Acrobatic Dancing". I think we'd all like to have been a fly on the wall during those classes. Hilda also held a ladies fitness class every week. Other keep fit classes, for both men and women, were held at the Domestic Science Centre rooms off Wethered Road.

In Marlow Bottom a "Witches Barn Club" is listed in Kelly's Directory 1939 edition. On their website the current Barn Club date their existence only from 1948 so the nature of this earlier club is unknown to me. A few years before this 1939 mention there was in existence a Witches Barn Tea Garden And Motor Service in Marlow Bottom. The barn used for this was originally at White Hill outside Marlow, was taken apart bit by bit and re-erected in Marlow Bottom.

Another initially unexplained aspect of Marlow in the 1930s was what exactly the "Marlow Players" were doing when they competed in "Drama League" competitions. Competitive acting?!? Upon research I find that yes that really was a thing in this period. In each area of Britain local teams of amateur actors took to the stage one after the other and their performances were ranked by an adjudicator who then gave prizes to those in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The Marlow Players formed in 1937 and were competing in the League from the next year. They weren't the first amateur team from Marlow to be involved however, one called the "St Martins" team was competing from 1936.

Readers could enjoy a part time library and newspaper reading room in a portion of what is now Liston Hall thanks to the generosity of Nesta Liston who helped the town to buy this former chapel. 

Marlow had a small museum in Court Garden opened in the former billiards room there in 1934 whose exhibits included a mammoth tusk and skull bone found there at the Folley Brothers pit at Well End, Little Marlow.

Transport

Car ownership was increasing significantly in the 1930s. By 1939 there were 3 million motor cars in Great Britain. Marlow had at least four motor garages by the end of the decade - two in the High Street, one in Station Road and Platts in Quoiting Square. Secondhand cars, vans and trucks could be bought from a dealership at no. 19 York Road while cars could be hired from the Three Tuns in West Street, a business in Little Marlow Road and the above mentioned Witches Barn Motor business at Marlow Bottom. Pubs such as the Two Brewer's were quick to advertise the fact that they had safe lock up garages available for guests.

Houses with their own garage were still quite a rarity but Suffolk Lodge off Station Road had one, The Sycamores had two and Quarry Wood Hall boasted four!

Despite the growth of motoring the majority of local travel was still done on foot, by bicycle (single or tandem), by bus or by train. Buses to High Wycombe took 25 minutes from Marlow and left every half hour in 1930. Buses also served Maidenhead via Bisham and Reading via Henley. The Maidenhead service went over Marlow Bridge despite the fact that this caused the structure to wobble! And that was with the passengers getting off and walking across separately. Plans to knock down and replace the bridge with a new one in 1930 were abandoned due to the expense involved. Thank goodness- the replacement was to be of utilitarian concrete!

Some of the bus services were run by the Marlow and District Motor Company. They also offered special excursion trips to the seaside and elsewhere. Tickets for those as well as season tickets for the everyday routes could be bought from the company's town centre office. The other Marlow bus service, at least in the early 1930s, was Crooks which ran a single bus back and forth to High Wycombe. Thames Valley Coaches laid on special services to events like the horse races mentioned under leisure above.

In an extraordinary case at the start of the decade Marlow bus conductor Mr Stacey (Thomas?) was fined for, as a joke, letting off a firework in a bus owned by the  Marlow and District Motor Company. The vehicle was then on a journey from Wargrave to Henley (and presumably then on to Marlow) on Guy Fawkes Day 1930. The firework startled the driver who swerved, drove into a ditch and then overturned. One of the passengers was killed. Others received injuries. The police deemed driver Walter Newell ultimately responsible for what happened on his bus and as well as charging the conductor they charged him with failing to prevent the discharge of fireworks on a public vehicle.  Charges against Walter were dismissed in court. If he was keeping his eye on the road he couldn't really be watching his conductor's every move and it is reasonable to assume that the conductor throwing a firework en route wasn't high on Walter's list of probable events he might experience that day! It landed by the driver's seat, fizzed, but I think did not fully explode. Stacey did not give evidence in court so that we can't know his take on the events. The cab window was open at the time which may indicate that he intended to throw the firework past the driver and out through it. Hardly less risky though! 

Road accidents were relatively common despite lower vehicle speeds. Motor bikes were seen as glamorous but dangerous and accidents involving them appeared regularly in the local press. Most of these were not fatal but in 1930 Alice Budd of Chapel Street, a pillion passenger on her boyfriend's motorbike, was killed in a smash. Lionel Evans of York Road suffered two broken legs and a fractured skull in a motorcycle accident in 1939. 

Both motorcycles for the glamorous and cycles for everyday transport could be bought from Comptons and Baileys, both in West Street. Even more glamorous was of course air travel. In 1934 during the Whitsun holiday an aircraft owner offered short flying trips from a field in Wycombe Road, Marlow. Understandably there was a long queue of Marlovians who wanted to take to the air for the very first time. 

Leisure trips on the River Thames were available for those that wished to visit Windsor Castle or cruise past Quarry Woods. Boats could also be hired at Marlow riverside. Heaven help anyone who wanted to go through Marlow Lock while scantily clad however. In 1934 a bye law to prevent anyone passing through wearing less than "full rowing costume" or "full university bathing costume" was proposed due to complaints that that wasn't always the case. Was rowing in your undergarments a thing in the 1930s?!?

A more unusual form of water transport from the usual rowing boats and steam launches was owned by Mr Vivian Simon of Stoneyware, Bisham- an electric canoe!

For all that electric modernity, Marlow was still a place where horse drawn transport certainly wasn't over with and the council used a horse drawn cart for the town's rubbish collection. At least one of the town milk floats was continued to be pulled by horse in 1934. The Pinches at Field House Farm still did a ready trade in farm and other cart horses.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my research with credit to this blog.

Selected Sources=

Marlow Town Guide 1931/32

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire etc 1939, Kelly's Directories.

Bucks Herald Feb 20th 1931 (Marlow regatta record breaking), 8th April 1932 (defunct cricket club). Both British Library Archives.

Reading Mercury 26th Aug 1939 and Saturday 25 November 1939 British Library Archives in this case via the BNA.

Sheffield Independent 6th and 26th November 1930. British Library Archives via the BNA.

Bucks Free Press August 17th 1934, March 10th 1933 and 19th August 1932. Bucks Free Press archives.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations_Union

Regatta Programmes

Crown Hotel Marlow guide. 1930s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_at_the_1936_Summer_Olympics

Historic advertising literature, personal interviews.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Theatre_Association