The Ancient Chapel At Ackhampstead

 This post is a tribute to the lost and ancient little chapel at Ackhampstead near Moor Common / Finnemore. (Otherwise known as the chapel of St. Mary de (or le)  Moor/More.) Ackhampstead was latter part of Great Marlow parish for certain civil purposes so we sometimes get enquiries about it.  No one was exactly sure when it was built but generally the tradition was that it was a chapel of ease for the wealthy Brinkhurst family of The Moore in the Tudor era. That seems very likely. They were later Catholic recusants who lost a lot for sticking by their faith. Some of the Victorian villagers believed it was specifically a female Brinkhurst that had established the chapel and who knows they may have been right.  More on them in another post.  Either way it was old, and apparently beautiful. 

The Moore(s) would later be known as Moor farm. 

The chapel had continued in use for centuries. There wasn't ever many houses immediately about it - Ackhampstead was a tiny hamlet. People who recorded they lived there may also otherwise describe themselves as resident at The Moor, Finnemore/Finnemoor or "Fennymore" but usually it was accepted there were about 12 cottages in the Regency and early Victorian Ackhampstead.  This meant a population of about 75 people in 1849.  Although the parish authorities had an exact idea of where the boundaries of where the district of Ackhampstead was, in every day life the farm labourers were less precise. The Black Boy beerhouse at Moor Common is occasionally referred to as Ackhampstead. The residents of the handful of cottages at Chisbridge Cross ("Chusbeech" , "Christbridge" and a hundred other variations) were considered part of Ackhampstead chapel district too. 

The problem for the locals was that Ackhampstead might have been surrounded by Buckinghamshire, but technically it was an outlying part of the parish of Lewknor Uphill in the Diocese of Oxford.  This was not very practically or financially  convenient for the vicar of Lewknor 8 miles away. He appointed a curate for Ackhampstead but the wages came out of his own living which was the gift of All Souls college, Oxford. In 1842 the new vicar was Rev Edward B Dean. A few years later he was accused of trying to shed Ackhampstead from his parish by any means necessary so he'd no longer need to provide for a curate. He was very determined to be rid of it for sure but we can't see into his heart and truly know what his motivations were. 

"In good sound and durable repair"

In August 1848 Benjamin Disraeli presented a petition from the parishioners in Finnemore who claimed the Bishop of Oxford was suppressing them. They were asking for the governments protection against the injury they said the Bishop was planning to subject them to - specifically pulling down their ancient chapel. It was signed by all the landowners, farmers and cottagers there, bar one lady who said that she didn't want the chapel to go but didn't want to upset the rector and curate of nearby Hambledon who were criticised in the petition. They attempted to address the question of whether Ackhampstead was a drain on parish resources. They pointed out that the vicar of Lewknor had the benefit of just over 9 acres of glebe land around Ackhampstead chapel plus he received a portion of the rent from Moor and Finnemoor farms, and the great tithes from all the land in Moor and Finnemoor which was then commuted to a rent charge. (Ready cash more desirable than a portion of crops etc by now.)  Plus the small tithes of Cadmore End. The residents that to the best of their knowledge the chapel was established for the benefit of the residents of Moor and Finnemore (Ackhampstead). It was well attended by worshipper from both from those places and from further afield and the building was in "good sound and durable repair" as they put it. This last point is important because it doesn't seem it was disputed at that time and it makes what happens later especially sad. 

Those signing the above petition believed that the Vicar of Lewknor was going to give up a portion of his living to sort of persuade Hambledon to adopt Ackhampstead as part of their parish. The point of doing so would be to close Ackhampstead in favour of a new church at Frieth they were then building and it would also increase the living at Hambledon. The farms and cottages at The Moor in particular were "remote and distant" from Frieth they said but a "remarkably short" distance from Ackhampstead. The Bishop of Oxford had sanctioned the demolition of their chapel without consulting them and now their only option was the "great expense and trouble" of challenging that decision in the ecclesiastical court of the same bishop who wanted the chapel closed. The petition didn't do any good but it bought a lot of press attention to what was happening at Ackhampstead. The Bishop said the court was not presided over by him and was subject to regular law processes. What's more the demolition wasn't his idea, but the Vicar of Lewknors (although he supported it). However Ackhampstead landowner Joseph Townsend had previously recieved a letter from the provost stating that the judge might in fact be the bishop or his commissary. 

Wanton and disorderly conduct

I mentioned above that the rector and curate of Hambledon were criticised in the petition. It was a slur on their honour to suggest they were motivated by financial rather than spiritual gain. The curate of Hambledon who had been conducting the services at the chapel. (Prior to that the chaplain of the Royal Military College junior branch in Marlow had done the honours.) The Ackhampstead residents said the services had been held at the "improper, inconvenient and uncanonical hour" of 6pm. They seem suspicious that the clerics  were making the services as difficult as possible to attend in order they could say they were unpopular and would scarcely be missed. Six pm doesn't sound too bad an hour to us but it was a different thing in the winter when travel was down unlit and notoriously muddy and difficult to traverse dark lanes. Curiously it was claimed that the late hour of service was encouraging "wanton and disorderly conduct" among the "rustic" population gathered about the chapel after dark! A constable had been called more than once to keep order while the worshippers were inside. Who were these troublemakers? Perhaps Cadmore Ender's  - see below! In response to this complaint the Bishop of Oxford had ordered that services should be held at 10.30 am and 3pm. But the villagers said this order was ignored. 

Another arguement advanced was that Ackhampstead was just too far from the rest of the parish to be convenient for those living in those places who were also not very close to Lewknor. Well those at Ackhampstead had the answer to that. They would personally donate to the cost of building a church somewhere else that would suit these other hypothetical people, as long as their own chapel at Ackhampstead was allowed to stay open. They REALLY wanted to keep it. 

Arguements for closure

Now for the other side of the arguement. Phillip Wroughton of Ibstone House said there was no evidence the chapel was intended only for the benefit of those at Ackhampstead/Finnemoor rather than the parish as a whole. So the needs of everyone no matter how far they they lived from Ackhampstead should be considered.  He said the chapels maintenance was provided for out of a general rate paid for by everyone and the principal residents of places such as Cadmore End and Studderidge (Stutridge) districts had always maintained pews there at times. So it was quite reasonable that the chapel should be effectively be moved somewhere more central in the parish in order to suit the most number of people. 

50 people who said they lived outside of the Moor and Finnemoor district but whose family used Ackhampstead chapel anyway wrote to the Bishop to support his idea of closing Ackhampstead. This was because they said they were happy to go to the new church at Frieth as it was nearer to them. If these out of district worshippers stopped going to Ackhampstead, probably only 20 worshippers would be left they claimed. So it might as well be shut up. The Bishop published this favourable letter and his grateful reply. This was followed by a letter from 46 people in Cadmore End also supporting the decision. 

The other main argument in favour of closing Ackhampstead chapel down was it was difficult to get to because of the state of the footways and lanes leading to it. The naysayers said those coming from the South or West had to cross Moor Common which "during the great part of the year, and always after wet, is a swamp" or otherwise cross some meadows ("swampy" ) or some fields ("virtually impassable" except in the summer.) There were no houses on the east. From the North it was accessed either through a "dirty field" or through a farmyard and along a lane that was considered difficult to traverse all year round after rain. The previous winter people had preferred walking through a ploughed field to passing up that lane. However this claim about the difficulty of travel was treated with some scorn in the press. It was only a matter of concern for those making the journey and those same people were overwhelmingly in favour of continuing to do so, mud or no. Joseph Townsend pointed to those from outside Ackhampstead who claimed to make up most of the regular worshippers there. If the journey was so difficult why did do so many of them make it and not travel to Hambledon for example instead? Joseph said those attending often came from Hambledon itself or Frieth. He added that he had made a path at his own expense and partially through his private land to allow pleasant access to Ackhampstead from the direction of those two places  He had allowed  this to be appropriated for general use as a footpath, but those mentioning the marsh and miry fields had forgotten to mention it. And should anyone suggest that Joseph had no right as a resident of Wood End to interfere with Ackhampstead matters, he countered that no one seemed to mind it when he donated money to the Vicar of Lewknor to look after Ackhampstead. (Money that several years later had not been spent on the project it was collected for - the fencing in of the glebe land around the chapel.)

There was much debate about whether the various cottagers would be closer to Ackhampstead or the new Frieth church. One side said of 11 cottages they considered to be within Ackhampstead, only 6 were closest to the ancient chapel and for some of those the difference was only 40 yards. (The Lewknor/ Hambledon parish boundary line was partially made up of the outer wall of one of those cottages.) For those that would be left further to travel, the inconvenience would be made up as there was a good "hard road" to Frieth they said. 

Be careful in Cadmore End

At this time it was suggested that a church might be built at Cadmore if Ackhampstead closed. It's funny to think of it now but Cadmore End or "Cadmoor" / "Cadmer End" as it was often known was considered a "wild place". Partly this was apparently because the residents lived so far from their mother church. The result? "A deplorable state of spiritual destitution". I don't know what the  agricultural labourers of Cadmore were up to exactly to cause this spiritual panic but saving their souls was apparently the real motivation for providing a church closer to them. I'm not sure that really holds water as those advancing this argument admitted that Ackhampstead was only one and a half miles away from the riotous Cadmore Enders of which there would be about 150 in number. If they wouldn't make such a short journey to Ackhampstead would they bother to turn up at another chapel slightly nearer? And there was also the chapel at Lane End, also one and a half miles away. I don't think the suggestion by the Ackhampstead residents that they'd contribute to the cost of a chapel like Cadmore was taken seriously. This was despite the fact they claimed to have £600 of the projected £800 promised already.  It was claimed that Lewknor wasn't a wealthy living and couldn't support two chapel of eases so if there was going to be one in the spiritual wasteland of Cadmore End, the other had to go. On the other hand, those at Ackhampstead said that if things were so bad at Cadmore, no doubt the church would be happy to pay to do something about it without interfering with Ackhampstead. 

It was strongly denied that Hambledon parish was going to get any payment to take on Ackhampstead. In fact the curate of Hambledon would lose his stipend for preaching at Ackhampstead if it closed. 

Your district or mine? 

Part of the problem was the issue of whether Frieth would be a built as a chapel of ease for Hambledon or would be part of a proposed new church district. This doesn't seem much of an issue in our eyes but it mattered for the reasons Joseph Townsend stated in a letter to the local paper. Technically if those at Ackhampstead were to continue to live in a different church district from Hambledon and Frieth, they did not have the automatic right to attend services in those places. They could only attend "on sufferance" as the worshippers from Hambledon had been allowed to attend Ackhampstead in the past. But if Frieth was made a new district, with Ackhampstead made part of it, they would be able to attend Frieth in their own right. I don't think anyone was seriously going to enforce these residential requirements because it's obvious that no one had done so in the recent past here. But it was a matter of principle to Joseph that the Ackhampstead people should not be cast adrift without really belonging to the nearest place of worship. Of course if a church was built at Cadmore End it would be in the same existing Lewknor Uphill parish as Ackampstead, and they could form a new district together. 

Decisions made

Back to the court case in 1849. The villagers and the two major landowners in the area (Sir William Robert Clayton of Harleyford with 300 acres and Joseph Townsend of Wood End with 134 acres) were in agreement they wanted and needed the chapel. Their plea via Disraeli included the desire that it should be possible to quickly and easily obtain justice if coming up against the ecclesiastical authorities. As things stood a "want of wealth " subjected citizens to injury in the face of the "uncontrollable power" of the ecclesiastical law. Well Clayton and Townsend did not suffer from a want of wealth and presumably it was they who paid for the appeal. But the point was understood in the national papers and the fight was partially  presented as the poor against the wealthy. The Bucks Advertiser, on the side of the Ackhampstead people, said of the Bishop of Oxford "those that do not speak of him with contempt regard him with indifference". 

The Consistory Court was presided over by Dr Phillimore (chancellor for the Diocese of Oxford) who said he thought it right to consider the Bishop of Oxfords views "with attention and respect" although the Bishop would have to abide by any decision he made. Not the most hopeful start perhaps. The court had been adjourned eleven times previously though, so I'm sure the petitioners against were more than ready to get things underway. (On 9 occasions it was because Dr Phillimore wasn't in attendance. This treatment did not go unnoticed in the national press). It was determined that those opposed to the chapels removal would not be allowed to be heard directly as they had expected but only through a legal representative, which increased their costs. 

Dr Phillimore considered the information from the endowment of Lewknor vicarage in 1412. This stated that it was entitled to all tithes from Ackhampstead and Fennymoor  and that divine service should be held at Ackhampstead every Sunday by either the vicar or a chaplain appointed by him. In 1685 the tithes of Ackhampstead were to go to Ackhampstead chapel along with the small tithes of Cadmore End. The first decision was did he have the power to grant a faculty (permission) for the removal of Ackhampstead chapel anyway? The answer he decided was yes and it was now time to consider whether he should. 

Ackhampstead's residents had strongly objected to the idea you could legally move a church. They thought the only precedent was in a case of a dilapidated one in which case a vestry (parish meeting) could be called and a rate (tax) could be decided upon to pay for the demolition of the old and rebuilding the new, in the SAME spot. Ackhampstead was in a fine condition. A vestry had been called, and in this all of the residents of Ackhampstead had voted against the move. But they weren't the only ones invited - all parishioners in Lewknor could attend and the majority of those had voted for closure. Ackhampstead said the opinion of people who actually used the chapel should be the ones listened to. 

In the end, the decision was made the chapel should go. No appeal options were left. The villagers would be given the benefit of attending Frieth but those with seats (eg family pew) in Ackhampstead would not be given them at Frieth automatically. There were however some conditions to Dr Phillimore's permission. The faculty would be granted subject to an £800 bond payable by those applying for it (Rev Dean of Lewknor) as a reassurance that the chapel should be rebuilt (or rather replaced, at Cadmore End) and that they would meet the costs of the building. (Actually they planned to raise a subscription fund to pay for the construction.) He suggested that two specific clauses should be inserted in to the faculty  - one to prevent a local rate (tax) being levied to pay for the church in the end, and secondly one to protect the old chapel from "desecration". I'm not sure if the second was included in the final version but if so, it was not abided by. 

Final service

The last service was held on 3rd June 1849 "to the deep regret if the poor who had so long worshipped within its sacred walls". Even this wasn't managed sensitively. The villagers attending did not know in advance that the doors would be shut to them afterwards and that they'd never be allowed one last look inside. (Although see below)  It was presumed that as a decision had been made to proceed with a church at Cadmore End, Ackhampstead would be allowed to stay open until it was finished and ready for services. But this didn't happen. The vicar of Lewknor announced after the service "without a word of comment or explanation" that that was the chapel was now closed. 

 Frieth church of St John the Evangelist was consecrated by the Bishop of Oxford in June 1849. It was indeed paid for by voluntary subscription. Questions were raised as to whether it would be big enough at 150 sittings to meet the needs of all those from the Hambledon area who said they'd prefer to attend there, as well as those from Ackhampstead. An extension was made to the building in 1872 it "not being sufficiently large for the congregation attending it"  so these concerns were probably justified. The new south aisle was constructed by Marlow builder Mr Corby.* 

Demolition job? 

You probably noticed the Ackhampstead residents accused the Church of not only wanting to shut their chapel but actually pull it down. Was this actually realistic? Although it's easy to find example of long abandoned chapels that had been converted into other usage, it doesn't seem to have been considered dignified or proper for Ackhampstead to be used for something else. The idea of pulling down an ancient structure horrified some. But those who thought it would otherwise fall into ruins said such an obvious sign of neglect would be "distasteful". I think the real problem was if the chapel was left standing, the Lewknor parish wouldn't have wanted to pay for its maintenance just for appearances sake, and possibly couldn't afford to. It's a pity no record of any bequests relating to its upkeep were still to be found. 

What was lost. 

When Frieth Church was built it was said to be about 7ft longer and 2 ft broader than the existing Ackhampstead chapel. 

The best descriptions of Ackhampstead come from the first few years after its closure. I'm especially grateful to the reporter of the Bucks Herald who described it in 1850. He thought it was beautiful and probably one of the oldest chapel of ease in existence. The bell had bore the date of 1665 he said. 

The main gist of the Bucks Herald article was to record his astonishment at how a chapel which had been complete and in good repair just a year before had degenerated into such a state. It was "bare ruins". The lead had been stripped from the font first. Then the hangings had vanished from the pulpit and reading desk. This was followed by the loss of the glass and lead from the windows,, the inscribed bell, many of the pews and the reading desk. Worse still an old bricked up door had been broken through and the stone and brickwork had been partially destroyed. The writer firmly blamed the church authorities for failing to properly secure the building after the final service. He said for 5 months it had stood unprotected, and even after that someone had got in and took up the floor, roof, remaining pews and seating. The building deserved better he said, and we can only agree. He thought if it was thought better to let it disappear it should have been razed with "reverence and dignity". 

A guide to ecclesiastical topography published in 1850 says that Ackhampstead chapel was a small, poor affair (in terms of decoration or monuments probably) with no particular features of interest although they do not mention it being in a ruinous state so it's not clear when they visited. These guides obviously take time to compile. It's also worth noting that this book covered the diocese of Oxford and the material was submitted for "correction" as necessary to the Archdeacon. He probably would not have wanted to dwell on the charms if any of such a bone of contention!

 An especial bone of contention was at the time of the newspaper writers visit, was that no work had begun on Cadmore End church although it soon would be. By 1912 only a fragment of the flint walls of Ackhampstead remained. The visitor describing it then could only guess that it seemed to have been rectangular with lancet windows. Trees and shrubs were growing within the ruins. 

We will never know who was responsible for this destruction. It was traditional to strip buildings and recycle materials, and if the Church authority did not seem to care what happened to it, why should the locals who could give the materials new life? It would be nice to think some of the contents such the hangings might have survived in the hands of one of those who fought so hard to keep the chapel open. The new Cadmore End church would bear the name of its destroyed namesake, St Mary Le Moor, and became an independent ecclesiastical parish. 

 NB:

Ackhampstead was later attached to Marlow for poor law, licencing and school purposes and became part of the ecclesiastical parish of Hambledon. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related Posts:

This blog deals with Great Marlow itself mainly but an index of posts about nearby places is available here

*For other construction projects of Thomas Corby see here

Index of church related posts here

To find every mention of a family or individual here use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.

If you are looking for an ancestor that lived at Ackhampstead and you are wondering where they might be buried (or married) try Lewknor, the mother church. 

Sources include: 

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire 1899

The Ecclesiastical and Architectural Topography of England: Oxford Diocese - Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain (John Henry Parker, 1850)

An inventory of the historical monuments of Buckinghamshire  - Commission on the historical monuments and constructions of England (HMSO 1912)

Wiebe, M G (Ed.)  - Benjamin Disraeli Letters Volume 5, (Toronto University Press Inc, 1993)

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 9th June (which also quotes the Daily News of that month) & 27th October 1849;Bucks Herald  26 March & 4th November 1842, 21st & 28th October & 4th November 1848,  10th & 17th Feb, 7th April,  12 & 19th May, 9th & 23rd June 1849, 16th Feb 1850; Oxford Journal 20th October 1849; Reading Mercury 16th September & 28th October 1848. All these via the BNA. 

The Times 21st August 1848. 

The Victoria County History of Buckinghamshire 1925. 

© MarlowAncestors

 

Will of James Fish, Brewer

James Fish, brewer of Great Marlow. Will written and proved 1704.

Says he feels that he is growing weak of body but is of sound and disposing mind.

Bequeaths soul to God.

Asks to be buried in the chancel of Marlow church in a decent manner.

Any debts and funeral expenses to be taken care of first then £5 to son James.

The house where son James lives in Great Marlow to testator's dear and loving wife Elizabeth.

To son Benjamin the two properties adjoining the above. Like the above these two were recently purchased from Christopher Morgan. The two houses left to Benjamin were dwelt in by Richard Harding and William ....ing at the time the will was written. Also to Benjamin 6.5 acres of arable land in the Great Common Field of Marlow  which testator had bought from John ...st and Mary his wife.

The will's executor was to take the profit of all those properties left to Benjamin until Benjamin reached 21 or finished an apprenticeship whichever came soonest.

Also to Benjamin one silver....cup , two silver salts and three silver spoons.

To daughters Elizabeth, Ann and Katherine Fish his messuage with appurtenances and a close of land belonging to it called Bonners Close which he bought from Henry Cane and Elizeus Fletcher and the outhouse [seemingly a brewhouse] adjoining this property. Also a close of land which he purchased from William Elliott, butcher, deceased which is in the tenure of Mr Prosser.

Also to daughters all his household goods except the copper and utensils for brewing which go to wife Elizabeth.

To each grandchild 12p [not individually named].

Rest of personal estate to wife Elizabeth who is appointed executor.

Will witnessed by Charles Blewitt, [barber surgeon] John ..at and Richard Goddard.

Notes: Elizeus Fletcher was the brother in law of Henry Cane. Cane was the son of innkeeper and yeoman Matthew Cane.

The Fish family were related to the Moore family also Marlow brewers.

You can obtain your own copy of this PCC will from the National Archives, Kew.

Transcription and summary by Charlotte Day.

Other wills on this blog can be found ton the Wills option on the menu.

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

The Ransoms of Sycamore House

Sometimes when I'm scanning records etc relating to Marlow's past, I pick a random name to research for a post here. We do this in the hope that by doing so we will end up with a list of people quite representative of all the souls that used to live here, rather than only the rich and famous ones. Hence today's subjects are a Victorian couple known as Jacob and Hannah Ransom or Ransome. The pair flitted about Marlow address wise in their first few years, but they are most associated with Sycamore House in West Street. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. The name isn't in use anymore and we can't be sure now which property it once referred  to, but it seems to have been on the same side as the Three Tuns (that is the side occupied by Sainsbury's currently) and probably not too far from the inn. NB There is a property in Mill Rd long known as The Sycamores which is unrelated. 

If you read descriptions of Sycamore House in the late Victorian period, when it was used as a sort of private boarding house or small hotel, with private dining and sitting rooms for guests available, it seems a perfect picture of Victorian comfort and respectability. If you walked inside, you would have found the "large club room" used by the ladies and gentlemen of Marlow's Victorian bicycling club to host meetings and "at -homes". Walking towards the back, you might hear a tap tap tap sound. That will be Jacob, engaged in his day job. While Sycamore House is technically the concern of both Jacob and Hannah (assisted by their daughter Annie) Jacob was a life long shoemaker. He does not seem to have given this up when they decided to offer accommodation at Sycamore House. On his death he was remembered as a shoemaker in his obituary, and probably that's what he would have considered himself rather than a boarding house keeper. 

Jacob was baptised as Jacob Beak to Mary Beak in Somerset in 1818. He sometimes referred to himself as Jacob Beak Ransom before generally adopting the name Ransom. He may have been illegitimate. He seems to have arrived in Marlow as a young man, having already been trained as a cordwainer. His first wife was local lady Catherine Julia Greenwood, who was also from a shoemaking family. Unfortunately Catherine died before long, leaving Jacob with a son, Richard. He subsequently married Hannah, who was from Turville. 

Jacob's life in 1850s Marlow seems not to have have been an unqualified success financially speaking. There was a lot of competition in the shoemaking trade in the town but also a lot of demand. Unfortunately Jacob was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1860. While very unfortunate for him, his doing so is useful for us as it gives a list of previous addresses for Jacob in Marlow. Not yet at Sycamore House, he was at the time of the petition living in the High Street. Prior to that he'd been resident in West Street and had combined boot and shoemaking with beer and bread selling. I haven't yet been able to trace the details of Jacob's beer selling licence, but I don't believe it's something he held for long. At this point over half of the beer shop keepers of Marlow worked as boot-makers or cordwainers as well so it was a classic combination. He may have had an off licence, but these were less common - the fact he was selling bread too may support this although usually they would specify he had been a shop keeper too in the record. Before that he'd worked as a boot and shoe maker at Oxford Terrace (Oxford Rd), Chapel Street and Spittal Street. Frequent changes of address weren't especially uncommon in 1850s Marlow.  But they can sometimes indicate financial difficulty, which given the bankruptcy that followed makes sense. People moved on when their landlord run out of patience with their backward rent payments.

 Sycamore House was then occupied by the Misses Winters school which was originally for young ladies, but they took in little boys (aged up to 9 or so) from 1865. The boys could be day or boarding pupils. The latter paid £16 an annum including their laundry expenses and dancing lessons both of which were often charged for seperately. Other subjects like music were added extras. Day boys were educated for 12s 6d a quarter. 

I can imagine that Jacob and Hannah must have taken on Sycamore House after a period of much better income, or perhaps they had some good fortune such as an inheritance. It sounds too big to be something someone who only wanted an average boot and shoemaking premises would need so perhaps they already had in mind the idea of letting rooms. They were there in 1871 if not before, and were offering rooms from at least 1875. (I think they probably did so earlier on a smaller scale.) Their advert in the Maidenhead Advertiser that year says that "Persons paying short visits to this town will find ample accomodation at the above establishment including private dining and sitting rooms". Marlow got it's own station in 1873 and perhaps this was the impetus to open up for guests, or to compete more with others offering accomodation. A predicted influx of tourists was considered both a reason to bring the rail here - and a reason not to!  In the same year Jacob advertised that he could make to measure any description of boot or shoe as well as repair them. 

The inclusion of the advert in the Maidenhead Advertiser reminds me of another of Jacobs roles - that of Marlow agent for the paper. These agents took in adverts and usually acted as a kind of reporter too. 

Unusually for a boarding house, Jacob and Hannah had a club room, more usually associated with inns. As mentioned above it was used by the Cycle Club who set out for runs, in club colours, from outside. (You can read more about them ) It could be hired by other groups too and in 1889 it's probably the room referred to that offered a bagatelle board, chess and draughts along with light refreshments courtesy of Hannah and Annie. It would have been quite a unique establishment in that it wasn't a pub but offered a socialising space and games. We are told that the Ransoms sometimes cater for large parties of visitors and as they don't seem to have actively advertised much after the 1870s, perhaps they had a good word of mouth reputation. 

Hannah died in 1895 aged 73. Sycamore House continued and it looks like eldest daughter Annie was probably in charge. She was then unmarried and in her mid forties  but that changed in 1902 when she wed their former lodger and builders ckerk Edgar Mathews. A little before Jacob decided to retire from business. He sold up in order to move in with one of his married daughters in Cambridge Rd. Jacob was in his early 80s and may have already retired from the shoe making side. No mention of cordwainers tools or stock is mentioned amongst the household goods offered for auction before his move but that may be because he'd already disposed of them. 

Sycamore House was taken on by A E Sutton the outfitter and clothier who already had a premises nearby in West Street (which was also the sub post office from 1898.) Sutton sold shoes too. He put in a new shop front and seems to have invested in making it look good. 

Jacob died in 1904 "highly respected by all that knew him". Annie and Edgar moved to Suffolk and  Sycamore House seems to have lost its name. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Further Information:

All mentions of an individual here can be found in the A -Z person person index in the top drop down menu.

No Rational Dress Allowed - the Victorian Cycle Club here

General Marlow history posts: here

Selected sources: 

Maidenhead Advertiser 2nd October 1872, 10 March & 23rd June 1875, 16th June 1889 Bayliss Media Archive

Reading Mercury 8th December 1900

South Bucks Standard 29th July 1895, 6 May 1898,  8th Jan & 14th June 1901, 27th June 1902,  19th July 1904. Bucks Chronicle 7th November 1860 - British Library Archive. 

England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2NTX-L59 : 31 December 2014), Catherine Julia Ransom, 1845; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.

Census transcriptions from the originals by Jane Pullinger and Charlotte Day. 

Kellys Directory of Leather Trades 1880, 1881, 1885. 

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire, 1880. 

Harrod & Co Directory 1876. 

England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:263T-N48 : 13 December 2014), Edgar Matthews, 1902; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1902, quarter 2, vol. 1A, p. 134, Paddington, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.

© MarlowAncestors

Grave and Research For Eliza Holford and Thomas Holford Great Marlow

 In loving memory of Eliza the dearly beloved wife of Thomas Holford died Dec 21st 1885.

Also Thomas Holford husband of the above died Jan 1902*

*The body of Thomas was found floating in the Thames at Marlow Weir some time after he was last seen alive. It appeared the body had been in the water for a length of time. Thomas had left his home in Crown Lane one evening on the express mission to consult a doctor. He walked through the town before entering Marlow bridge which puzzled a watching relative as it took him away from the direction of any doctors. Thomas was not seen alive again. His cap was found a few days later in a meadow near Marlow Lock.  Robbery was ruled out as his pockets contained money and his watch. The coroner's verdict was "found drowned". The grave gives no exact date of death for Thomas as it was not known exactly when he entered the water.

He worked for more than 20 years at Wethered's brewery as spirit taster or cellar foreman. He was "much respected" by employees and colleagues alike. The inquest was held at The Two Brewers, in St Peters Street. 

Thomas was married twice, and came to Marlow from Oxford according to his obituary. 

Grave is in Holy Trinity churchyard Marlow. Photographed February 2020.

Researched by Kathryn and Charlotte, and photographed by Charlotte Day.

*RELATED POSTS:

Graves index (Marlow, Little Marlow, Hurley, Bisham) here

Other residents of Crown Lane and images of it feature in this post here

© Marlow Ancestors. Reproduction welcome with credit to this blog.

Sources included:

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer,  Feb 1st 1902. (Copy from Slough reference library) 

Obituary newspaper clipping 1902 (possibly the Maidenhead Advertiser?)

Latimer Clark

 Josiah Latimer Clark, or Latimer as he preferred to be known, was a famous Victorian civil, electrical and telegraphic engineer born in Marlow. I must admit I found the information relating to Latimer's achievements came as quite dry reading for those not particularly interested in the more technical aspects of the history of engineering. For this reason, and because we prefer to feature those whose history isn't told elsewhere such as on Wikipedia, I nearly decided not to gather our research on Latimer. But I realised that he was actually a more entertaining individual (as well as a fiercely intelligent and creative one) than any list of his inventions and academic papers can show. 

Early Life And Some Narrow Escapes

Latimer was born in Marlow 1822, the son of "Dr" Josiah Clark, High Street lace dealer and grocer. (The Dr title was a nickname only! He was the 7th son of a 7th son, and tradition was such a person had healing powers.) Latimer's brother was the fellow engineer and mathematician Edwin Clark, who features in a post here. Lace dealing was not a flourishing industry any more and the Clarks suffered times of (relative) financial hardship. As such they were probably disappointed that the eldest son Edwin took a considerable time to settle down and make a success of himself. Was Latimer jealous of the opportunities that may have been given to his brother that the family could not afford to give to their other sons? We will never know. He was clearly always an intelligent and thoughtful boy. He attended the private school for young "gentleman" known as Faulkner's school in Marlow where the pupils were generally trained for commercial and clerical pursuits. He was one of the head boys and was remembered as studious, unassuming, and good humoured. After this, he was apparently trained as a chemist, partly in Dublin where he eventually managed a "scientific and manufacturing" chemist business. However he then moved into railway engineering, along with brother Edwin now settled to the career in which he too would excell. Edwin often had the lead role in these years, but he was quick to appoint Latimer to positions within the companies he worked for. When Edwin blagged his way into a job with THE Robert Stephenson, he would appoint Latimer as the assistant engineer supervising the construction of the Brittannia bridge over the Menai Straits. Latimer would subsequently contribute to a short book written by Edwin about their experiences in this sometimes very hair raising construction project. Both brothers nearly lost their lives in an accident there. Latimer had the narrowest of escapes, when some tonnes of equipment fell within inches of him. It was said he survived as he was pushed into a crevice but that some metal buttons on his clothes were flattened to the consistency of gold leaf. Whether he was wearing the buttoned item I'm not sure. If so he must surely have had an escape every bit as miraculous as reported. Either way, Latimer showed the squashed buttons off in the years to come. Later both Edwin and Latimer were poached by the Electric Telegraph co, and when Edwin subsequently resigned as their head engineer, Latimer took up that role, staying there until 1861 (although he remained a consultant afterwards). He then went into partnership with Sir Charles Bright and the two won substantial contracts for laying submarine and land based telegraph cables throughout the then Empire. Latimer thought that "ocean telegraphy was calculated to do universal good, not only pecuniarily but morally". 

 He spent most of his life now in London but of course he was frequently called abroad, more of which below. 

Latimer Has A Good Idea 

As Latimer's work in the field of electricity is deservedly well known (he first proposed adopting the terms ohm, volt etc and suggested the adoption of fixed standards for their measure for example) I'm going to concentrate on a few other of the very very many patents and inventions that the busy Latimer created. He really kept the patents department extremely busy, sometimes submitting a plan alone, sometimes jointly with various other scientists and engineers. My favourite is his method for taking stereoscopic photographs using a single rather than two cameras. He was apparently very interested in photography and I wonder what happened to the many experimental pictures he took? Latimer's method was adapted and developed by others but was generally regarded as "ingenious".  One reviewer did note that it required any subject to remain still for a long time even by the standards of the time. This the reviewer thought would try the patience of a portrait sitter rather too much so he personally  recommended reverting to a two camera method at such times. One obituary of Latimer records the fact he was first person to produce the type image later known as a vignette (or image with a dark edge/border). Its generally reported to be a French innovation but perhaps Latimer is a forgotten pioneer in this regard too. 

My second favourite patent taken out by Latimer, was one for "an improved patent for hanging window sashes and blinds especially useful for railway carriages", submitted along with Edward Jacob Hill. This would stay exactly at what position you rolled it down to however much the train jolted apparently. I do not know if Latimer found a commercial partner for developing this particular idea. I think it's amusing that as well as solving the great engineering problems of the day, he still found time to deal with the petty annoyances of the Victorian railway traveller. I've also seen a patent lodged under Latimer's name for a method for passengers to communicate with the guard and driver of a train while travelling (1868)

Pneumatic Dispatch Company 

Latimer was one of two chief engineers at the Pneumatic Dispatch Company, (1857) which used a method of Latimer's design, to send documents flying securely through vacuum tubes from one office or nearby building to another. (AKA the Pneumatic Cylinder Dispatch method.) This was a pretty ingenious yet simple system that was reckoned quicker than sending a telegraph message between premises close together. It replaced simply sending a messenger boy with the papers and it was considered more private and confidential. It seems Latimer designed Pneumatic Dispatch to solve a particular problem and that he did not publicly exhibit the idea. But when some French and German engineers exhibited similar systems a few years later, it was indignantly remembered that Latimer had got there first. Latimer first set up a tubeway between the Electrical Company "station" and the Stock Exchange in 1853, which worked via a steam engine powered vacuum only as the messages were required to travel just in one direction. When it proved successful the system was extended and altered to utilise air pressure to make it a two way system. With his co engineer, Latimer's main Pneumatic project was a tube laid between and under Euston Rd and St Martin's Le Grand. It seems to have satisfied it's users but the PDC decided there wasn't much profit to be made in the system overall so they sold it to the Post Office who continued to make use of it for many years. 

His best known inventions were in the field of telegraphy, including a method for protecting underwater cables from rusting or otherwise deteriorating. Clarks Compound as it was known extended the life of cables from 5 to 20 years or more. This made a huge reduction in the cost of maintaining such communication lines (1858). When a far flung Marlovian living in a distant part of the empire was able to receive news of England a short time after it happened, you can guarantee it was at least partially due to the efforts of townsman Latimer. 

Shipwrecks And Mud Baths

Bright & Clark won contracts to lay cables in the Persian Gulf in 1862, and when Latimer left the Bright partnership in 1866 he continued to specialise in grand scale submarine telegraph operations. (Also as part of Clark & Ford / Warden, Muirhead  & Clark / Latimer, Muirhead & Co,  and Clark, Staples & Clark engineers to name but a few of his business concerns) It's his work repairing and laying cables in and around the Red Sea later in the 1860s that I've been able to find the most information about in terms of what the experience was actually like for Latimer himself. In no way was he behind a desk in an office supervising things from afar. It was a difficult job and they obviously needed a civil engineer on site to make immediate decisions and adaptions in difficult conditions. The original cable had been partially ripped to shreds by coral in the Red Sea so while Latimer was in charge of repairing what he could, it was also his role to find an alternate overland route to replace as much underwater sections as possible.  Poor Latimer was ship wrecked on the way to India for this project, and was severely injured with a broken collarbone and numerous other wounds. He narrowly escaped with his life and was carried ashore unconscious, remaining insensible for several hours. All the equipment on board the ship, and Latimer's workings and documents were lost. Worse still a vessel bringing 273 miles of the necessary  cable also floundered on the way to join Latimer and it's Captain and 30 crew members lost their lives. 70 miles of the cable were put over the side in the attempt to stop the ship sinking. Miraculously, most of this was subsequently recovered and sent on it's way in the original and hastily repaired ship with only a minor delay. This was by no means the only hiccup. Latimer also had a vessel stranded on a mud bank in the Red Sea. He recalled that they needed to get the cable onboard to the shore a frustrating distance away. Those who first left the ship sunk to their waists in the mud. Latimer said they had to slide across on all fours "like a turtle" and emerged on the bank coated with mud from head to toe. The scene reminded him of a sketch in Punch and at least he found it amusing in retrospect! Another job was to personally engage with the Sheikhs of Egypt where the new cables would pass through their tribal lands. He secured agreements that the telegraphic workers would not be molested and that the tribes would guard the cables against harm in return for being paid to do so. The first part of the agreement was not always entirely respected shall we say! 

Torpedoes And Bullets

Less well known now perhaps, is that Latimer's business was also later known as a manufacturer of torpedoes for which they were contactors for the War Department. In 1887 they were awarded the contract to supply 500,000 cartridges for the Army Ordinance Dept which caused some bemusement. Why was a company listed as a electrical and telegraphic engineering one the winner of a contract to provide bullets? The answer was that Latimer and his partners had bought the patent from Herr Lorenz of Germany for a means of manufacturing the bullets to Army specifications. The required equipment was being installed at their London works. It was a trial contract the War department said, and if Clark, Muirhead & Co fulfilled it well, they would be allowed to bid for larger ones. 

Elsewhere we find Latimer perfecting floating docks (to allow easier repair of ships in particular where a "proper" dock was not readily available). He built some for amongst others, the Russian Navy. The British Navy were also much impressed by Latimer's work, which they said had contributed to national security by speeding repairs and cutting costs. The there was his eye catching electric fired 8 day  time guns for large scale works, his methods of marking cables with different ridges and lines to allow them to be easily differentiated from one another, and countless other clever ideas and improvements. (He took out at least 150 patents) He was a fellow of The Royal Geographic Society, the Royal Astronomical Society and the Physical Society, President of the Society of Telegraphic Engineers and an associate of the the Institute of Civil Engineers to name just a few. 

Closer to home, Latimer's company bid for contracts to supply electric lighting to various towns. This often seems to have been a fraught process with nervous councils reluctant to commit to all of Latimer's suggestions on cost grounds. 

In Marlow

How often did the genial Latimer return from London to visit his home town of Marlow and brother Edwin of Cromwell House? It's hard to know but he did give at least a few lectures to the Literary and Scientific Institute and the Mural Improvement Society here in the 1880s at least. As someone who addressed groups of the foremost experts in numerous engineering and scientific fields, securing Latimer to speak to a group of interested amateurs was obviously a coup. His subject? Botany and astronomy. Was there any field Latimer didn't know about I wonder?! At this period he maintained a chiefly summer residence in Maidenhead. Both Latimer and brother Edwin were tremendous bibliophiles and I'm sure they liked to compare notes on this. Latimer was especially interested in just about any publication related to electricity. He is said to have enjoyed spending his last years rearranging and cataloguing his collection which contained at least 6,500 volumes. At least some of this library was presented to the Institute of Electrical Engineers. 

Timekeeping

One last of Latimer's developments should be mentioned. This was his  "transit instrument for the determination of time". This looks like a small telescope on a stand, and it was used with a guide and annually printed charts to check that your clock or watch was keeping the correct time to within four tenths of a second, as determined by Greenwich Mean Time. It was regarded as invaluable to country clock and watchmakers, and fairly inexpensive at £10. Apparently even a child of "ordinary intelligence" could set up the transit instrument but having read the instructions, this may be a little optimistic I feel. 

Farewell

In 1898, Latimer woke suffering from an apparent bout of indigestion. He was at home in London at the time. He took some whisky and after a restless night, got up and seemed a little better. However he then went back to bed and died immediately, age 75. He was survived by his second wife Maria and sons Lyonel and Hugh. His grave is in Kensington Cemetery. 

If you wish to consult Latimer's most famous work out of curiousity - "On Electrical Tables and Formulae", produced in partnership with Mr Sabine, it is readily available online. It was a reference work in use for decades. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Further Information:

To find all mentions of an individual or family here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

SOURCES

Field, C. W. . Europe and America: Report of the Proceedings at an Inauguration Banquet, Given by Mr. Cyrus W. Field, of New York, at the Palace Hotel, Buckingham Gate, on Friday, the 15th April, 1864 : in Commemoration of the Renewal by the Atlantic Telegraph Company ... of Their Efforts to Unite Ireland & Newfoundland, by Means of a Submarine Electric Telegraph Cable. (1864) United Kingdom: W. Brown."

Hansard, T. C. Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. (1887) T.C. Hansard.

Hardwich, T. F., Hadow, E., Dawson, G. A Manual of Photographic Chemistry: Including the Practice of the Collodion Process. (1864) J. Churchill. 

Munro, J. Heroes of the Telegraph (1891) Religious Tract Society.

Plarr, Victor Gustave - Men and Women of the Time; a dictionary of contemporaries. (14th Revised Edition 1895), G Routledge & Co. 

 Woodcroft, B. Alphabetical index of patentees and applicants for patents of invention, (1869) (n.p.).

The Directory of Directors. (1883). Thomas Skinner Directories.

English Patents of Inventions, Specifications: 1853, 1857 & 58, 1868. United Kingdom: H.M. Stationery Office.

The Horological Journal: The Special Organ of the British Horological Institute. (1883). United Kingdom: Published and printed for the Institute by Kent & Company.

Mr. Latimer Clark, F.R.S. Nature 59, 38 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/059038a0

The Mechanics' Magazine and Journal of Engineering, Agricultural Machinery, Manufactures and Shipbuilding. (1862). Robertson, Brooman, & Company.

Photographic Notes. (1856). Sampson Low, Son & Company.

Specifications of Letters Patent for Inventions and Provisional Specifications: 1878. (1879). United Kingdom: Published and sold at the Commissioners of Patents Sale Department.

South Bucks Standard, 4th & 11th November 1898. British Library Archive. 

The Truth, July 21 1881 - digitised by Google. 

Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects. (1879). Institution of Naval Architects

The Electrical Journal. (1885). United Kingdom: D. B. Adams

© MarlowAncestors 

Victorian Ladies of Business - the Misses Barton

 The Misses Barton were formerly large scale employers in a characteristic Marlow industry for upwards of half a century. Yet hardly anyone remembers them now. As female business owners and ones employing an entirely female workforce, our story of Marlow's Victorian women of business wouldn't be complete without them. Their industry was the manufacturer of embroidered clothing, in particular baby clothes. Marlow used to be famous for this, and if you have a young female ancestor* who gave their occupation as satin stitch worker or embroiderer in a census, it's very likely they were working in this industry. There were several large employers in Marlow in this field, including the Washbournes, Flints, and Bartons, occupying several hundred women and girls between them. Fashion's came and went, and all the families manufacturing in this are had their financial ups and downs as we shall see, but they nevertheless lasted most of the 19th century and some beyond. 

Susan (b.1820), Rosa (b 1830, Ada (b.1826) and Amy (b.1832) never married. Their sibling Charlotte (b.1813) did but was soon widowed and returned to Marlow to live with her sisters. (It's surprisingly common for local woman who had their own means of making a comfortable income to remain single we've noticed. Money bought choices unavailable to the poor.) They had at least one brother with them for a while at Marlow -  Frederick. He will be researched more later but today's subject is the Barton woman. 

Background 

The girl's parents William and Charlotte were not of local birth and seem to have moved here from London in the late 1830s. William was a baby linen manufacturer at this time. They had certainly arrived by early 1840, when they were living in West Street in a house valued at £17, let from Sir William Clayton. A near neighbour was the Flint family of fellow embroiders/cap makers. At this time, it was estimated 2,000 women and girls were employed to produce satin stitch work for these kind of employers in the neighborhood of Marlow. The relationship between these two big rival concerns is an interesting one. I believe they became acquainted when both were in London. But by this point, their relations were anything but cordial. In 1841 William Barton acted as an "informer" as it was referred to at the time.  He reported that old family friend John Tarrand Flint was engaging in the "truck system" at Marlow. This means he was accused of paying some of his female workers in the form of groceries rather than ready money. This practice had now been made illegal for most manufacturers to do. William said this was not fair on the workers  and had a disastrous affect on local shop keepers if allowed to go on. (And of course might have reduced Flints costs in a competitive market, especially as the goods supplied were supposed to be tea and coffee supplied by one of his sons then working for a tea dealer.) Barton sent to the Aylesbury assizes to lay his information. This was not well received in Marlow where the Flints were well regarded, especially as it was said to be an act of ingratitude by the Bartons who apparently had been assisted by the Flints when in "abject need". Furthermore John Flint had taught the baby linen business to the Bartons in the first place they said. The Flints denied they paid anyone other than in coin, and the justices declined to take the case further. William Barton tried again at the local magistrates court but they said that the women's work didn't count as manufacture as defined in the Act that banned the Truck System. William then presented a letter from an MP who had first proposed the bill. The latter said it was his intention that the law should apply to all wages but the JPs said intention was all well and good, but the letter of the law as passed was their business. William thought the Flints should have to pay a heavy financial penalty, but they always denied having begun the truck system. So no more came of the matter directly. It seems that the Barton's son Frederick was involved in an altercation with Flint's son Charles the year before, which saw the former convicted of assault and fined £5. Sympathy was expressed at the levying of what was the maximum penalty, considering all that seems to have been involved was the shaking of a fist in a face, and maybe a little shove. It was assault considered that the magistrates should have taken into account that young Frederick Barton claimed to have been much provoked by Charles Flint blackening his character to his unnamed employer with the supposed intent of stealing his position! Reports in different papers come down either very harshly on the Bartons or quite the opposite, and partly this is because the papers were very politically partisan and the Barton family were associated with the Clayton political cause. When William's outbuilding in West Street was the victim of arson in 1843, the Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury news thought "It is to be regretted that any one could be found base enough to attempt to do an injury to one so universally respected and who from his kindness it was thought impossible to have an enemy". Short memories there.  As both parties were generally known for generosity and good employee relations, let's hope the squabbles worked themselves out and the two could live happily in the same town over the next few decades! 

Housing trouble

But back to the sisters. The time after their arrival in Marlow was obviously rocky. Although their house in West Street sounds a good size and had a pleasant garden stocked with fruit trees and flowers, it was also described as in quite a state of disrepair. It's hard to know how far in the past the Barton's financial difficulty was. A nice looking residence in a respectable street quietly falling apart behind the scenes suggests perhaps they needed to be cautious with their funds. They moved out to another house in West Street in the summer of 1840. I do not know if the girls themselves had any embroidery training beyond what all young ladies were expected to have, but their mother Charlotte was certainly an accomplished needlewoman. She was still had the eyesight and dexterity to execute complicated sewing projects in her senior years, including an embroidered family portrait completed when she was age 80. This was put on display in Marlow on a few occasions as part of fundraising events. 

Elections in Marlow were usually fraught, sometimes violent and always accompanied by accusations of fraud and bribery on both sides. William Barton's vote was struck off as invalid in the 1842 election as he had voted (for the Claytons) on the strength of occupying the first West Street house mentioned above. But he'd actually moved out before the election and you had to be actually be in occupation in your registered property in order for your vote to count. (And for a minimum time before the voting day.) No action was generally taken against those voting when not entitled to, and in William's case it was probably an innocent error, as the house he moved into would also have qualified him to vote had he registered on the strength of occupying it - although he might have fallen slightly short of the minimum residency. Those who wanted his vote discounted said the disputed  house was empty with a "for rent" sign up in the window.  Several workman employed to do it up then said there was no furniture there. But as what counted as "occupation" was not always simple, it was attempted to show that as the Barton girls and their mother had visited the old house and picked the fruit from the garden, it was still occupied. They had gone in as they had not got to the end of their notice period the family said, and Clayton had commenced household repairs in the hope of finding another tenant sooner. If he could, he'd let them off the rest of the notice. The court was not convinced especially as the Barton's had all the furniture in the new house, and so the vote was thrown out. 

A Comfortable Life

By 1851, the family had moved to what was then known as Mill Lane or Thames Bank, now Mill Rd. (Thames Bank was also the name of a substantial house, but the Barton were not in occupation there.) Later they would occupy the beautiful property known as Thames Lawn. Now this is NOT the house now known as Thames Lawn (which was previously known as Thames Bank House and Goodyers) but an earlier version that stood nearer the lock which burned down in 1897. It was rebuilt in a different style and much enlarged but within a few years the name had changed and Thames Lawn was adopted as a moniker for the house that currently bears the name. 10 years later we are told the Barton's employ 80 hands. By this time Rosa had sadly passed away.  The remaining Barton sisters were aged between their late 20s through to their 40s, and it's difficult for us to know how involved at this point they were in the business. Their parents were elderly though, and it's hard to imagine they wouldn't have welcomed some assistance. They clearly knew enough to practically take over things when their father died in 1872. 

At an uncertain point probably some time before Williams death, the others moved out of Thames Lawn which was then in the occupation of William Rose, a solicitor. The 1872 household furniture sale which occured on the death of Rose gives us a glimpse into what must have been a comfortable home, as well as a prettily placed one. Among the objects sold by Roses estate were a library of 900 (yes 900) books, a nearly new oak punt, a "very fine" dining suite, old Wedgwood, Chelsea and oriental china, a phaeton, bronze figures and some oil paintings. [It was common to sell up possessions when moving, even if not after a death, necessity was not necessarily involved and was not in Roses case.] The Bartons remained in Marlow - I'm uncertain as the address the immediately moved to but in the 1890s onwards they were living at Wood View. 

The Ladies Lend A Hand

It's from the 1870s on that we see the sisters start to be listed much more often at events, as subscribers, at meetings etc in their own right. I think this was a new chapter in their lives, independence in financial and social matters going together. It's a shame that so often they are listed just as "the misses Barton" as it's difficult to get an idea of the individual interests and character of the women. It does seem that all had a hand in the business though, as variously each are described as a baby linen manufacturer at times. Susan died in 1878 though. 

They always appeared amongst those ladies manning stalls and tea tables at parish events, such as the annual parish tea and harvest festival. They were especially active in supporting the cottage hospital. Not only did they subscribe to it (to provide for its maintenance), but they also organised collections to make sure everyone else contributed too! And they made very frequent donations of practical items from newspapers for the patients to read to things like butter, eggs and old linen which was recycled into cleaning materials etc. 

It seems the sisters maintained an interest in history, in particular that of their craft. They owned lots of items of antique linen and clothing which they lent to various local exhibitions and fundraisers. In 1891 they displayed some of these plus a handsomely embroidered muslin dress at a display of local craft and industry held at the Music Room in St Peter's Street (now the Masonic centre). But the exhibition I'd most like to have seen was what they contributed in 1884 to what was known as a "Conversazione" at Marlow Place. This was a fundraising event for the Literary Institute and was a  sort of display of curiosities with an supposedly intellectual bent. The Misses Barton lent the embroidered family portrait of the family completed by their mother mentioned above, as well as artwork, a piece of lace made out of the pith of an Indian tree, a silver snuff box, an Egyptian water bottle and a portrait of the former Russian Czar, as removed from a cottage at Sebastopol by a former Marlow resident. An interesting collection! 

I haven't traced the death of Amy but the last of the other sisters, Ada Sarah occured in 1906. There wasn't much of a baby linen or large scale embroidery trade left in Marlow although there were still plenty of woman earning a living as dressmakers, seamstresses and the like. Considering the work produced here was once considered amongst the best in the country, according to William Barton, it's a shame it's not a trade better remembered. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day 

* Not all of the women working in this industry were young. In 1891 it was noted that Samuel Flint (son of Charles) had a number of elderly women working for him, including some aged 80. 

Related posts:

This deals with the sudden death of one of the Barton's servants: here

The Flints, embroiders of Marlow: here

All mentions of an individual or family here can be found in the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

Index of posts related to other Marlow industries and employers etc here

Sources include:

Report into the controverted Elections at Great Marlow (1843 Anon)

Journals of the House of Commons February 3-December 13, 1842: Vol 9 Publication date February 3-December 13, 1842. HMSO

Census transcript from the originals, by Jane Pullinger and Charlotte Day. 

England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJVS-1NY : 13 March 2020), Charlotte Benton Barton in entry for Thomas Hamer, 1837.

Kelly's Directory of Bucks 1899 (Kelly's Directory Ltd)

Dutton's Commercial Directory 1863. (Dutton & Co 1863)

Windsor & Eton Express 17th March 1842, Slough Borough Libraries

South Bucks Standard 13 November 1891,  29th November 1895, British Library Archive

Bucks Herald 8 November 1884, 29th Jan & 6th October 1906, as above

Bucks Gazette 28th March 1840 & 27th February 1841, as above 

Bucks Examiner, 27th February 1891 as above. 

Bucks Advertiser And Aylesbury News 22 April 1843, as above

Thames Bank/Lawn research by Kathryn. 

Yew Tree Frieth Historic Occupiers / Timeline

Sometimes referred to as the "Yew Tree Inn" other times just as the "Yew Tree". The name came from an old yew tree in the garden. Still in business at the time of writing. Came under Marlow for licensing purposes hence our interest.

Building said to date from the 1600s or 1500s depending on source. Age of building isn't necessarily the same as the age of the pub housed in it. Landlords we have for it are:

From at least 1851- 85. John and Elizabeth Turner. In the 1850s it was a grocers and bakery with a license to sell beer on the premises and had its own orchard. John was also a farmer on a very small scale. In 1885- customer Richard Butler of Frieth prosecuted for refusing to leave the pub when John Turner the landlord asked him to, assaulting John and breaking windows at the pub.

1891- Elizabeth Turner transferred pub to Frederick Turner her son. Presumably her husband had died some point 1885-91.

1892- Fred Turner to Owen Sears.

1894- Transferred from Owen Sears to James Leaver.

1894- at least 1920 James Leaver as above. In 1896 following a draught James asked his brewery, the Wethereds of Marlow to hire a Welsh water diviner to try to find water a water supply for the pub following a long draught that caused great difficulties for all of the people of Frieth. Two spots in a meadow were indicated by the diviner's rod but water was not found in either. There had been hopes a well could be dug. I am not sure if any further attempts were made. In 1897 James started a slate club at the pub, an essential institution for working class families - to find out more about them see the post here. The Yew Tree was slightly unusual in having their annual Slate Club supper just after Christmas rather than before. With around 80 members on average, it was one of the larger affairs in the area. In 1903 James and his wife suffered the death of their little daughter to whose funeral a large number of people attended. On a happier note, James helped organise a village fete to celebrate the Coronation in 1902. In 1910 he used the pub as a site of auction when he wished to sell a cottage and two pieces of land.

1930s and 1940s- The Yew Tree is a very popular stopping off place for cycling club tours.

1939 to at least 1949-. Emma Keep landlady. Also seems to be a shop. Mrs Keep uses the Yew Tree weekday evenings 6pm till 8.30 pm to sign up volunteers to the local Civil Defence Corps in 1949.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. This post will be updated as new information emerges.

Sources:

Kelly's Directory for Buckinghamshire etc 1911, 1915, 1920 and also 1939 by Kelly's Directories Limited.

South Bucks Standard, 30th September 1892, October 9th 1896 and 22nd July 1910. British Library Archives via the BNA.

Reading Mercury 21st April 1855. Cutting.