Charlie Wonder

Before Marlow opened it's own railway station passengers for the town travelled as far as Bourne End or "Marlow Road Station" as it was known and then waited for a connecting horse-drawn omnibus. The driver of this unwieldy contraption was the much loved Charles Burns or "Charlie Wonder" as he was affectionately known as the Omnibus was called the Wonder. It dropped it's passengers three times a day outside the Crown Hotel in Market Square. The roads weren't brilliant and the omnibus rather old so the journey progressed at a pace best described as stately. A few grumpy travellers complained about that but most relished every minute as Charlie regaled them with his stories from a long career as a stagecoach and omnibus driver. Charlie you see was a precious relic of the days of stage coaches and he had seen it all. He clearly had the gift of the gab and as his omnibus passed you on the Marlow road you often heard his passengers roaring with laughter. He treated everyone the same, rich or poor.

At a time when formality in social interaction was the norm everyone nevertheless called him "Charles" or "Charlie". Not only did he get you home but while waiting at the station for the morning train he would help baffled travellers make sense of the railway timetables, which were continually changing and (I've seen them) not exactly user friendly. Grateful for such help, Lavinia Lovelace wrote to the Bucks Free Press in 1864 to praise him while another, Mary Carnegie, said he was not only "sagacious" but had a voice "so mellow and sweet". Mary was less impressed by the management at the Crown saying they failed to notify passengers of changes to their omnibus departure times. She believed this was probably a deliberate ploy to stop passengers from catching the train they didn't want to become a success. This wouldn't make a lot of sense as the train was the main way guests came up from London to the Crown and then from again.

The sweetly voiced, helpful and friendly Charlie was not a Marlow man by birth, but was baptised at Wraysbury, Buckinghamshire in 1811. On one census he indicates a birth in Birmingham (or whoever filled in the census form for that household that night believed him to have been born there) but generally he indicated Wraysbury. 

Charlie's first wife and the mother of his sons George and Owen was Anne (nee Tyler, possibly widow Powell when she married Charlie) as per their birth registrations. The family lived in Cookham. The occupation of Charlie in the 1841 census looks like "house keeper" which seems improbable unless he meant it in the sense of watchman or guardian but perhaps that might be "horse keeper"? Again that's not usual vocabulary. In 1847 Ann passed away.

Charlie first appears on the census in Marlow as a 39 year old widowed stagecoach man with two young sons in Strong Beer Acre, which was off the future Station Road. With the family was a widowed housekeeper Elizabeth Bearfoot or Barefoot. Within a few months Charlie and Elizabeth would marry. The stagecoach Charlie drove was most likely the Lovegrove and Co coach from Marlow to Maidenhead .

By the time of the next census in 1861  Bourne End Station as "Marlow Road" and Charlie had switched to become an omnibus driver as stagecoaches had been rendered obsolete. He lived then with Elizabeth at South Place. In 1871 they were entered on the census at Wycombe Road. 

In 1872 the omnibus overturned after a wheel detached. Charlie was thrown off as was the box passenger but nobody was seriously hurt. 

As well as people Charlie would carry parcels and packages and in one memorable instance a cargo of live swans (strapped on to the top of the omnibus). The swans were being relocated from Marlow where they were thought to be too numerous and a nuisance to anglers there to Bourne End.

The opening of the Marlow station meant that the end of the Bourne End to Marlow omnibus and Charlie's job driving it. The people of Marlow contributed to a fund to help him set himself up with a new living. The idea to buy him a new omnibus and horse which he could use to pick people up from Marlow Station and bring them and their luggage into the town centre (short distance though that was) was reckoned to be the best one. Contributions could be given to, amongst others, Mr Porter the Bourne End station master and Charles Carter the West Street architect and surveyor. Some £90 was collected which would have paid rent on an average house for several years to give you some idea of that sum's value at the time. It was decided to simply hand the cash to Charlie to do with what he will. He took out an ad in the Bucks Free Press to express his thanks to his friends for their kindness.

The owners of the Crown were already planning to run a coach from their hotel to the station so suggested Charlie should drive this, rather than set up another service. This meant that the money raised by Charlie's well-wishers could go directly to him. He welcomed the job but a journey time of less than 5 minutes didn't allow him much opportunity to spin his tales of yesteryear, and it was widely observed that the spark had gone out of him. Within a year he became seriously ill and had to be admitted to Reading Hospital. His faithful passengers again collected money for his aid but sadly on the 11th of June 1874 Charlie died aged of 62.  His estate was wound up by his son Owen who gave a correspondence address of 5 Park Villas, Wycombe Road, Marlow. This may in fact be his father's address as Owen was a live in servant at Bisham Abbey across the river. He is later specifically described as a "valet de chambre". Now that's posh! His brother George became a steward and then a clerk in London. Elizabeth, Mrs Burns, seems to have died in 1880.

Written and research by Charlotte Day.

Much more about the history of stagecoaches in Marlow here and here

©Marlow Ancestors.

England and Wales census 1851, 1861 and 1871 transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte Day. Census information remains Crown copyright.

"England and Wales, Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2D3R-57B : 13 December 2014), Charles Burn, 1851; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1851, quarter 3, vol. 6, p. 407, Windsor, Berkshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.

https://www.rootspoint.com/record/1841-UK-Census/Chas-Burn-1811-Out-Of-County/f1697020-e502-4f2f-8e40-55b11793859a/

Bucks Free Press 21st May 1864, 25th April 1873 and 19th June 1874. Bucks Free Press Archives.

You *#!*#* - Speaking Old Marlow

One of the most amusing aspects of reports of Victorian court cases and also the (few) letters we have been able to read written by Marlow people in the same era is the opportunity they give to us to glimpse the everyday language spoken by Marlow people,  recorded as it was without filter or correction.

Here's our little guide to fitting in in Victorian and Edwardian Marlow =

1.) Swear like a trooper, and then some. Numerous times police constables explained to flustered magistrates that the terrible words used by Marlow people in the dock were in everyday use in the town and didn't mean quite so much here as they would in most places. One unnamed word quoted by a Marlow witness managed to cause a sensation when used in the, you would think, hardened and heard -it- all-before High Court in London. This again was explained as a normal word in Marlow. Officers from elsewhere were flabbergasted during WW1 by the effing and blinding capacity of Marlow recruits. Quite literally as the F word was familiar in the town long before it was so elsewhere, at least in male-only company. Marlow ladies were also prosecuted for using "indecent language" on a regular basis however, usually directed at their husbands during a row. Ladies of Dean Street and Chapel Street we are looking at you. The guiltiest parties amongst the men for cussing were bargemen and chairmakers.

 2.) Use "be" in front of many verbs. You didn't call someone you "becalled" them. This was used to mean simple calling out to someone and also calling them unpleasant nanes, depending on context. And in terms of thinking  you "bethink" and "bethought" not think or thought. Going anywhere meant "becoming" there. And if you wanted to say that you are not something you would say "I Be Not" or more commonly "I b'aint" whilst "I am" was "I be". To "belabour" someone was to attack them. This way of speaking was widely used in the nearly villages such as Stokenchurch and Lane End and probably the wider area too.

 3.) The town is not pronounced  "Mar-low" but "Marler".  Failing to pronounce the town name correctly instantly marked you out as an "foreigner" - that is born beyond Marlow Bottom. It still did when I was a child. There are still a (very) few elderly people alive in the 2020s who keep to the traditional pronunciation. The use of "Marlow upon Thames" to refer to the town became briefly quite common in late Victorian times, almost always by newcomers  and produced eye rolling and sniggering from longer standing residents rich and poor for what was seen as it's pretentiousness.

4.) Sprinkle your speech with these expressions, all of which I have recorded in use more than once in Victorian or Edwardian Marlow :

Blackguarding someone=  calling them names. Pronounced "blaggarding".

Bread and Cheese = hawthorn leaves. This was very old usage and common in Southern England as a whole. Still used in the 20th century.

Bullragging = using abusive, deliberately provoking language to someone.

Bumbledom = pomposity. A common word in all of Victorian England.

Coachee= coachman. A dismissive and insulting term similar to calling a maid a skivvy or slavvy.

Chuff something =  to throw it.

Collar someone = any laying of hands on someone. It could mean anything from taking hold of someone's arm up to grabbing them by their throat. The Buckinghamshire working class use of this expression to mean something other than simply taking someone by the lapels or collar as it did elsewhere caused many judges and magistrates to get confused in court cases. Note that the use of " to collar" someone as a term for arresting them doesn't seem to have been usual. Instead it was said that someone had been "ketched".

Daughter of Egypt / Son of Egypt = Gypsy. This was also common throughout England as it was wrongfully presumed that Romanies originated in Egypt.

Getting on = tipsy, on the way to being drunk. "Having a spree" meant letting your hair down and having a drink. Often used in mitigation, to imply tipsiness that might have been noisy but was not in danger of causing violence or other anti-social behay  e.g "She's only having a spree, constable". Another expression used to described tipsiness was "to be a bit elevated". Someone more drunk than tipsy had had a "smart little drop" or just "a smart drop". Someone very drunk was "bursted with beer".

Give someone one or two = beat them up.

Give someone beans = to annoy or pain them.

Have something by you =  possessing something ,not necessarily having it on your person though- you could describe your family by saying, "I have three children by me" for instance or your business by saying "I have a hundred cows by me on my farm".

Hot lot = skilled sports team or person.

"Lady or man", used to call the toss of a coin, rather than heads or tails. Lady instead of heads as of course Queen Victoria was on all the coins. Presumably this when out when Edward came to the throne.

Lemon time = half time in a football match. It was lemons that the players sucked rather than oranges in those days. Rather them than me!

Little breeze = an argument. Often sarcastic, referring to a major row in fact.

Look after someone  / to belook after someone =  to be seeking them, or to be keeping a watchful eye on them on suspicion of their going to misbehave, or to be caring for them.

Piece of jobbery = the result of a conspiracy.

Sharp with someone= today being sharp with someone would mean expressing  unkindness or criticism verbally but in this era was also often used to describe physically harming them. So that an ill-treated wife might tell the police her husband was sharp with her when she meant that he had hit her.

Son of Crispin = a shoemaker. An old expression and used throughout England.

Son of Galen = a doctor. Used throughout the country too.

Sow bug = woodlouse, this was general Buckinghamshire dialect. They'll always be  Cheese Bugs to me though because my family is from Kent and Sussex originally!

Sweep = as in "You sweep!", an insult. Probably because the devil was traditionally depicted as sooty due to the burning fires of hell.

Treacle seller/ Keeper of a treacle shop (insulting) = seller of low priced, poor quality goods, especially a grocer. General Victorian and Edwardian use in England which remained in some places well into the 20th century.

Weathercock = someone who changed their opinions or loyalties frequently. Strongly insulting. Being steadfast in your principles was a cornerstone of what it meant to be a good person, especially a gentleman, in this era.

Withy tree = willow. Withys / Withies = pieces of willow.

Worth your hire = to be worth a fair wage for the job you do. This seems to have become a common expression in Edwardian times. Used as in "I'm worth my hire, give me a pay rise".

Compiled by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors.

General Sir George Higginson - the man and the myth

 General Sir George Higginson was one of Marlow's most famous residents of his day, with a long and distinguished military career with the Guards. Many in Victorian and Edwardian Marlow were obviously very proud of him and of course he lent his name to Higginson Park* as presented to the town on the occasion of his 100th birthday in 1926. However this post isn't about the man as a soldier. As such his career obviously took him far away from his childhood home. I was interested in the General as a Marlow resident, how he fitted into the life of the town. There are many stories and images conjured up that name and I wanted to separate something of the man and the myth. I've been told he was seen as: a venerated hero, an unpopular and cruel J.P who sent poor men to jail for minor offences, an eccentric who personally dug a canal, a distant figure who "did nothing for the town", "the man who sent Marlow boys to their death in the First world War"  and the generous stalwart of every institution going. I'm pleased to say I can clear George absolutely of those most negative charges! 

A local..or not?

As I mentioned above, Sir George's long military career meant he saw service in many foreign theatres of war. His various postings meant his time in Marlow was necessarily limited when he was on active service. His family home for decades was "Gyldernscroft" in Henley Rd, now sub divided. Previously it was known as The Croft, The Hall, and Townsend Cottage - Gyldernscroft was a revival of the older name for the place. Like many people of a similar comfortable background, Sir George's family long maintained a London home too, for example in Wilton Crescent. So even when in England, his residence in Marlow was not usually year round. Marlow thought of him as absolutely theirs but in reality those in his area of London probably would have claimed him too. And would have expected his trade and custom just as much as the Marlow ones - it was said later that he didn't support Marlow shops which caused resentment but without the family account books this is impossible to verify! The fact that local tradesmen were invited to celebrations of the wedding of his daughter Maud in 1889 suggests relations were reasonably cordial or that the General wished them to be. 

Gyldernscroft was sometimes let out for example for the river season and Sir George also spent time abroad for health and leisure reasons. For example the General and wife Florence spent several months in Italy in 1887 and in the south of France in early 1914.

 But the important thing is, while he was in town he threw himself into the life of the place. He was a J.P,  a member of every club and committee going and was one of those heading the list of just about all charity appeals. While it was a given that any owner of big house in town would get voted into positions such as vice president of social and sporting committees and events, some politely sent apologies for non attendance at meetings more often than not. Not Sir George, and not even when he was in his 90s did he slow down much. He wasn't just a member of the Literary Institute but gave lectures there when they struggled financially to find speakers. (Subject 1889 - heroism. It went down well). 

A friend to the little ones 

One aspect of Sir George which is not often recalled was his affinity with children. While the adults may have treated him with something like awe at times, Sir George recounted his pleasure when the youngsters came up to him in the street, took his hand and told him their news. Not quite the image we have of the stern war hero is it? He was especially devoted to the children of Bovingdon Green school, an area where he owned a lot of land. He provided a sorely needed extra room for the overcrowded village school in 1892 in memory of his mother. But he was also hands on there, serving the children personally at some of the special teas he provided them with. Others recalled that the General actively joined in with the children's games at parties - even in his 90s. 

Peril to poachers? 

Sir George was a J.P for decades. As such he saw a poaching related case at almost every session he attended. It was, like the theft of prickwood** one of the most popular Marlow activities. But after reading reports of quite literally hundreds of these kind of cases heard by Sir George at Marlow, I can say with confidence that a very small number of those accused of either went to prison on a first offence. Those that did had an been guilty in the eyes of the bench of an aggravating factor such as the use of particular violence against the game keeper or police when apprehended. What is more surprising is how those whose convictions ran comfortably into double figures managed to keep "getting away" with fines. That doesn't mean the game preservation laws were not heavily weighted towards the wants of landowners - of which the J.P's were to a man. Or that it was any less reprehensible to put  sporting pleasure above the physical needs for free food for the wretched. On the other hand some of those engaged in the "midnight art" were without questions doing so as a profitable business, rather than through abject necessity and they were capable of great brutality against those who got in their way. The issue of poaching in Marlow is a multi layered one with many shades of gray.  The J.Ps did not adjudicate on cases occuring on their own holdings although they inevitably sometimes did sit judgement on cases involving land occupied by their friends and neighbors. I think some of the confusion has been because Sir George's namesake father and other relatives were J.P's in an era when the punishments were harsher still. I believe the magistrates avoided setting jail sentences because while the convicted persons families could not claim parish relief while they were behind bars, if the convicted person lost a job or fell behind on rent later as a result then the family could potentially qualify for support. And there there was the expense of keeping them in prison and transporting them there and back. And for felonies, the Marlow bench including Sir George didn't get to decide the sentence anyway - the case went to the Quarter Sessions. If they had sent every poacher to jail on first arrest, it feels like half of Marlow's less well off population would have been behind bars at any one time! 

There was one way you could get sent immediately to jail on a first poaching conviction, and that was to fail to pay the inevitable fine. Poorer people could ask for time to pay and nearly always got it, unless they had an extra long list of convictions or had cheeked the police. This was usually 7 or 14 days. Almost all cases I looked at saw those convicted pay immediately or within the allowed time. We can only guess at the struggles they had to raise those sums. 

 Once he (semi) retired to Marlow, Sir George was one of the most present J.Ps at the Marlow sessions.  

As for other types of case, Sir George was often generous by the standards of the time in his decisions especially during the First World War years. For example in 1914 he adjourned a case of using indecent language against Emily Carter of Trinity Rd indefinitely so that she may have every chance to "reform her character". It wasn't her first offence and she had unpaid court fines. As such she could have been sent to jail and certainly could have got a hefty fine. He accepted that she became - in others words - a "terror" when in drink but also that she had three serving sons, and a hardworking husband. 

Canals and gondoliers

The "General's Canal" from Gyldernscroft to the Thames opposite Bisham church was said to be dug by the man himself, with just one helper. It would have been hard work for whoever did it,  especially where the willow trees roots spread. Was he hands on with the shovels? I have no evidence to the contrary! 

The motivation was to provide easy access to the river. Sir George in 1899 had just purchased a genuine Venetian gondola for use on Thames. It was said at the time that "Sir George and Lady Higginson are frequently to be seen on it in the Marlow district, propelled by a gondolier from Vienna". 

Above, floral art in Higginson Park to mark the park centennial. 

War recruiter

Sir George was as the most well known military man in the district the obvious person to address the first public recruitment meetings for soldiers in the First World War. No doubt his stirring words helped to persuade many to join up. But everyone was singing the same tune. If Sir George had not addressed this and other meetings, others would have done so. In 1915 he expressed the feeling that many of those who had gone overseas "were far too young". Accepting the need for as many as possible to enlist did not mean he was immune from sorrow at the results. Later the retired military officer would recall the gradual "thinning out" of the Marlow youth and the haunting sight of window blind after window blind drawn down as you walked around the town. (To indicate a house in mourning.)

Sir George disliked the term "Tommy" for a British soldier as he considered it lacking in respect and dignity for those doing the donkey work of war. 

He obviously believed in the capacity of military service to straighten out those before him as a J.P. In 1915 he recognised a prolific ex offender invalided back from the front as a spectator at the back of court, in uniform. He called the soldier forward to praise the man's smart appearance and the "new leaf" he'd turned over. Sir George went as far as to now call the soldier "a credit to his country" and to say he had every confidence he'd remain so. At the time the view that the petty criminal was born and effectively irredeemable was still expressed not infrequently.

In conclusion, if I met Sir George Higginson walking the streets of Marlow, would I have wanted to stop and shake his hand like the little Marlovians of the past? Actually I would, not least to ask if he'd like to come and dig my garden..

Above, the memorial marking at All Saints Church, the burial of various Higginson family members including our subject, his father and mother, his brother Charles and sister Frances, plus his relative by marriage the historian Rev Thomas Langley. 

NB - I've deliberately kept mention of wife Lady Higginson  to a minimum in this post because she will have eventually a post of her own. We do not like to treat the old time female Marlovians only in terms of whose wife they were  - as happened far too often in the past! 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

*Story of the foundation of Higginson Park here

George's interesting relative and Jewish convert Martha Higginson nee Isaacs, artist here

**More about the prickwood "thefts" to support the early Victorian skewer making industry here

To find all mentions on the blog of the Higginson family or any other use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

The general Marlow history index includes links to more detailed posts about World War One in Marlow and to other military subjects here

Sources include: 

Vanity Fair, vol 22, 1879.

Hart's Annual Army List vol 9,  Henry George Hart (1884)

Journal of the Household Brigade, Ed. I E A Dolby, (W Clowes & Sons, 1877)

Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica (Hamilton, Adams and Courtenay 1892) 

Country Life, 26th June 1926

Bucks Herald - July 9th 1926

Bucks Free Press - 13th Feb &  25th September 1914, 26th Feb & 6th August 1915, 30th July 1920

Slough, Windsor and Eton Observer 2nd June 1906

Bucks Standard 9th September 1899

South Bucks Standard 28th October 1892. 

Seventy one years of a  Guardsmen's life, General Sir George Higginson 1916. 

© MarlowAncestors