Benjamin Atkinson inherited freehold and copyhold land in Marlow from his cousin William James Atkinson* after William died in 1849. William was a barrister though he also got some income from owning land in Marlow, Marlow Bottom and Handy Cross in Buckinghamshire as well as in Kent. Despite his farming interests he only defined himself as a barrister in every record I have found. He also served as a J.P.
William split his time between his house in Chapel Street Marlow and one in London. Without children himself he decided to make Benjamin his heir, and made it a condition of the inheritance that if Benjamin had no children the son of Benjamin's sister Mary Ann would inherit.
William's maternal grandfather owned a reasonable amount of Marlow property. Some of this provided an income to William's mother and I think that William may have inherited some of the property, including some in the vicinity of the Rookery from him however I am only about a third of the way through the man's GARGANTUAN and complex will, so it'll be a while before I can judge that. It is without doubt the longest will I have ever transcribed, and believe me I've battled through plenty! The Kentish property of William James did definitely come via that grandfather.
As well as the site of the Rookery and farm lands Benjamin inherited 7 cottages in Chapel Street from William James.
In 1833 William's Rookery was described as a house with lawns, flower garden, yard, walks, kitchen garden, stables, coach yard and house, sheds, orchard and "a garden opposite".
On the 1841 census William has 3 live in servants to look after the house.
According to Victorian visitors, it was only during Benjamin's time that The Rookery became known as such (because rooks nested in the trees there). Interestingly a Joseph Heath, gentleman farmer, had a house in Marlow called the Rookery back in 1813, and later references to the Heath family's Rookery do not seek to clarify that it was a different house to the Atkinson's Rookery. That being said I believe that the Heath home was along the river near Mill End rather than in Chapel Street.
By the way the Heath family of Marlow, West Wycombe, Mill End and Ewelme, were very interesting. Well worth a delve into the archives!
It was the understanding of Victorian visitors to the Rookery that Benjamin's house had been originally created out of an ancient hermitage which in between times had been a farmhouse. Hermitage or not they said it was certainly an 11th century building at its core but with a more "modern" outer appearance, by far the oldest building in Marlow. It will be interesting if archaeological digs on site can expand on this further. To date remains from that period haven't been uncovered on the Rookery site by modern archaeologists. However, in 1877 it was reported that workman digging foundations for the new range of stables had discovered numerous interesting items which were believed to have come from the Hermitage / Chapel. These included some 11th century silver coins, a silver seal, a stone "mantelpiece" and parts of several stone columns.
So what of the man himself?
Benjamin was born in London in 1803 the son of a wealthy apothecary and surgeon Benjamin senior, who had previously owned property in Marlow himself, and Judith (née Norman). Benjamin junior became a surgeon and apothecary in partnership with his father. Originally practising in Lombard Street, but residing in Nicholas Street London, sometime after 1824 Benjamin Senior moved to King William Street there. At number 12 the two Benjamin's would carry on their business until Benjamin Senior's retirement in 1837. After that his son practised with the help of a hired assistant. Benjamin junior concentrated on the surgery side of things though. Officially he remained an apothecary as well. He also received income as medical adviser to a life assurance company.
Benjamin Senior died in 1840, with his son his heir. Judith had predeceased him.
In 1849 Benjamin junior married Eliza Griffin, a woman significantly younger than him.
At some point in the 1850s -on or after 1854- they made the Rookery their main home.
Benjamin also owned Town End (adjacent to the Rookery and sometimes called Rookery Farm, not to be confused with Town Farm, West Street) and Marlow Bottom Farms, as well as fields scattered about and although he employed people to actually run the farms for him on a day to day basis he was actively involved in them. At Marlow Bottom there was corn, wheat, barley, poultry and a big income from timber plantations - elm, beech, oak and ash.
Above, 1839 map of an estate sale, showing also a small selection of Atkinson held land in Marlow Fields.
Benjamin's warm mutual relationship with his employees was well known in the town as were the Harvest Home celebrations he treated them to. He was revolutionary in his outspoken belief that your employees should be treated as your friends. To read about the famous Harvest Home celebrations held in the Rookery see here. No doubt he had heard tales of the time in 1830 when his uncle William had received one of the infamous "Swing letters" during the machine breaking riots. You can read about the events in Marlow here
Overall I'd say he was probably a nice man. One day a week he saw local poor people for free at the Rookery for surgical consults. The South Bucks Free Press reported in 1859 a queue of 50 for his free services.
He comes across as a more compassionate J.P than the 1800s norm too when sitting at the Marlow police court. He criticised prosecutors for shouting at witnesses and showed compassion several times in his sentencing.
On numerous occasions he himself became a victim of crime. Using land at Marlow Bottom was never a good idea for anyone wanting to hold onto their crops or livestock -it was Marlow's rural crime hot spot in the 1800s! The worst theft suffered by him was that of a horse. However, for once, that event was not at Marlow Bottom. Cousin William had suffered at least two thefts himself. On another occasion he and his steward found a poor, apparently Scandinavian, tramp who had hung himself from a tree on William's land.
Benjamin died at the Rookery in 1867 leaving Eliza to a long widowhood. They had no children so as per William James Atkinson's instructions the Rookery descended to Benjamin's nephew Henry James Norman Layton (who bought New Court in Marlow in 1880 but lived usually in London). Eliza was allowed to live at the Rookery until her death. She was one of the more prominent people in later Victorian Marlow. Medical affairs were clearly important to her as she was on the committee of the St John's Ambulance and an official Lady Visitor to the cottage hospital of which she was one of the most dedicated financial supporters. To add to that she was a champion of the local fire brigade, numerous flower shows, the church choir and the foundation of a water works for Marlow. In her younger days she was one of the official Lady Patronesses of the balls held in the Town Hall. An interest in gardening especially in the cultivation of apples and pears also kept her busy.
It seems she was going to give up the house in 1880, but in the end did not. The same year her husband's heir bought New Court in the town as I have already said. Perhaps he had decided he wanted to own a house he could personally occupy in Marlow, and Eliza agreed to give up occupation of his inheritance but this became unnecessary when he found out New Court was for sale?
Eliza died in 1900 while on a visit to Folkestone taken for the hopeful benefit of healthy sea air. She had been suffering from failing health and eyesight for some years, and never fully recovered the effects of an otherwise successful cataract operation. Eliza was bought back to Marlow for burial beside her husband at All Saints.
The Rookery house is long gone but part of the garden is now a park (Wrightlands) to the rear of existing buildings in Chapel Street, and a stable block and lodge still stand.
*William donated a stained glass window to the then newly (re) built parish church in 1834.
Researched and written by Charlotte Day. Additional research Kathryn Day (1877 finds update)
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Call the Apothecary here
Marlow (Forgotten) Hero Nurse Cassidy here
Matron Mary Cole here
Marlow Heroes John and Emily Dunbar Dickson here
Midwife Sarah Price here
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© Marlow Ancestors. Please give credit and a link here if using this research (so that the source citations are not lost from the information) but you are free to do so for any family and local history research purposes.
Research sources:
Copies of original wills obtained from the Nation Archives, Kew and transcribed by me.
Property deeds at Somerset Heritage Centre
1833 Parochial Assessment, original record held by my family and transcribed by me.
Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the late John Coakley by Thomas Joseph Pettigrew (1817).
1841, 1851, 1871 and 1881 censuses from my transcription of images on LDS family centre microfilm back from when that was how you viewed such things!
1861 census info transcribed from page image from Ancestry UK accessed May 2016.
Parish registers at London Metropolitan Archives.
Death and marriage certificates from the GRO.
Bucks Herald 23rd Feb 1884 [Eliza's connection to the water works] copy held at the British Library via the BNA. Accessed January 2020.
Bucks Herald 29th July 1865 [Benjamin's horse stolen] via the BNA. Accessed January 2020. 6th Jan 1877.
South Bucks Free Press 3rd September 1859. As above. [Queue for free care]
Oxford University and City Journal.