Will Summary For David Sherewood Great Marlow 1524

Transcribed by me from a will at the National Archives, Kew and then summarised here. 

DAVID SHEREWOOD  WILL PROVED 1524

Says he is whole of mind but sick in body.

Commends soul to God, the "lady Saint Mary" and all the company of heaven.

Asks burial at the churchyard at Allhallows church Marlow [later called All Saints]. Left money to that church's high altar for tithes and oblations forgotten, for the church's repair  and to all the church's lights. Asks for a trentel and masses to be said at Marlow church for the good of his soul and other souls. [Possibly his mother's soul too I couldn't quite read it]

Money for repair of Marlow Bridge and of the highway to Lane End.

Brother William ... shillings and a ...

Daughter Isabel money for her marriage. If she dies before then his nephews William, Reynold and Edward Sherwood get equal shares of that money.

Godson David Sherewood got sheep. Other godchildren, not named, each given money.

Rest of goods to brother Reynold so that with his other brother and the testator's father in law Leonard ?Standwayte he can dispose of them in ways that would benefit testator's soul.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to quote from my research but please give credit to this blog when you do.

As of March 2022 this blog contains mention of approximately

3,300

people from or associated with Marlow. Find someone else you are interested in by looking at the Person Index. More will posts are listed on the Will Transcription index.

Dukes Family Shop Premises *Updated June 2024*

 

This sweet West Street building was run by the Dukes family as a china and glass shop from circa 1841 (not before 1834) until into the 1900s. It would appear that they were initially in one half of the above property only but occupied the full by the early 1850s. At an earlier period it was the location of the Misses Fields' private school - read more about them here

The property was owned by the wealthy Williams family.

Thomas Edward Dukes the dad in the family was also an insurance agent. He married Maria Hedges at Aylesbury in 1838. 

Thomas had been assisting his father in the latter's Aylesbury china and crockery dealers before his move to Marlow. 

The Dukes were members of the Wesleyan chapel. In fact Thomas served as the superintendent of the Sunday school for many years, a preacher at the Wycombe circuit, and he was a trustee of the Marlow chapel. He was a long time teetotaller. 

Thomas died in 1893 after a long period of declining health and a final year much of it spent in bed rest.  The local paper then described him as a man of "sterling probity and high principle". (South Bucks Standard December 1893) His final words were appropriately for the man, a prayer. 

For a post about a theft case involving the Dukes as victims see here

For other West Street historic businesses look under "Specific Shops, Streets etc" on the menu here.

Post by Charlotte Day. Updated by Kathryn. 

©Marlow Ancestors

You are welcome to reuse this photo and information for family and local history purposes with credit to this blog.

By cross referencing property records, wills, photos censuses etc I have identified most of the Victorian occupants of premises on this side of West Street. For a few buildings Pre Victorian and 1700s occupancy can be traced. It is an ongoing project. Information will come online gradually.

Use the Person Index option on the drop down menu to find people on this blog.

Will Summary for Robert Sands of Great Marlow 1509

ROBERT SANDS [or Sandes] OF HARLEYFORD [manor] IN THE PARISH OF GREAT MARLOW. 

Will proven 1509

Commends soul to God.

Money to the high altar of the church of Great Marlow for tithes forgotten [a standard bequest for wills in this period]. Also money to the church at Hurley.

Son John house and lands in Hambledon, Bucks plus copyhold land at ?Mo....[not Marlow]

Daughter Jane house that lies next to ...in Oxford Lane [Now Oxford Road, Marlow] with his part of one acre of land that goes with it.

Brother John Sandes the sheep that were his mother's, 4 ewes, after they have been shorn.

Ewes also to a John ?obuge.

To Johan [Joan, reflects the 2 syllable pronunciation of the name in the early 1500s] "my ....", an ewe.

After debts and bequests paid rest of his goods to go to his wife Margaret so that she can dispose of them as best would please God and "for the health of my soule"

Executors, who both receive money for their efforts, Richard Andrews and John S....

Will witnesses John Clerk who will says was a chaplain, John ...lcotte, John Sobrigge, and Thomas Bo...d...

Transcription summary by Charlotte Day. Will is held at the National Archives, Kew. Apologies for not being able to make out all the names in this will.

For other will transcriptions see Will Transcriptions on the top drop down menu. More Harleyford content can be found on the menu under Nearby Places.

All mentions of an individual on this blog can be found under the Person Index.

©Marlow Ancestors. Please credit this blog if using this transcription summary but you are very welcome to do so.

The will can be found at the National Archives, Kew. I was not able to read all of it. If this is your ancestor or person of interest I recommend having a look at the will yourself.

So far this blog contains mention of approx:

3000

People from or connected to Marlow.

Grave Charlotte Gibbs / Thomas Corby Great Marlow

 

Grave for Charlotte Gibbs who died 10th April 1860 age 46 and her brother Thomas Corby who died ...[9th September]...1877 aged 73.

Photo and transcription by Charlotte Day. Grave is located at All Saints Marlow. 

More on the Corby family see here. To read about Marlow Hero Arthur Corby see here

To search for people on the blog choose the Person Index on the drop down menu. Use the Graves option to find other graves. 

©Marlow Ancestors. Reproduction of this grave image is freely permitted with credit.

These are not my ancestors. Information is gathered and put online by me, my sister Kathryn and occasionally a helper or two for the benefit of others.

So far this blog contains mention of approx

270

people from or associated with Marlow.

History of Marlow in the First World War - 1917

 JANUARY 

- A group of soldiers from the East Anglian Royal Engineers attend the Marlow Cemetery to give full service honours to Third class Officers Steward W.H Beaver of H M.S Sentinel who has died of TB aged 21.  He lived at 4 Trinity Rd. His grave can be seen here

- Marlow's first boy scout troop is formed. 

FEBRUARY 

- The Thames is frozen near both Marlow and Temple Locks and hundreds gather on flooded meadows at Cockmarsh to enjoy skating there. The price of gas is reduced to pre war levels by the Marlow Gas Company, to the relief of many. By the winter, it has inevitably risen again. 

- The Marlow tribunal suspends their work after its allegations by the military authorities that the recruitment figures from the district are less than satisfactory. They are furious and decide to immediately adjourn all appeals while they wait for a reply to their indignant letter requesting an explanation. They do not blame the military representatives who attend the tribunal, who they say do not appear to have been consulted. A few weeks later they hold a closed meeting to discuss the reply that has arrived. They feel accused of undue leniency in granting appeals and don't feel the letter gives a proper answer to their questions. So they fire off another letter to the authorities. 

- A Public meeting is held in the market square, and another at the Brewery to exhort people to take out War Savings. A savings bureau is opened at the Institute from 7-8pm each day so residents can find out more. A couple of weeks later the Post Office at Marlow say they have issued war savings certificates to the value of £1,910.

Above, The Old House in West Street,  which was used for officer accomodation for those encamped at Bovingdon Green when the camp got washed out. 

MARCH

- The home counties Royal Engineers (territorials) who have been in Marlow since late 1915, leave for Maidenhead. They have been so long associated with Marlow that their departure is sometimes mistaken for the end of soldiers being stationed here. However, they were immediately replaced by  500 members of the East Anglian  Royal Engineers (territorials) from Maidenhead. These would remain in Marlow into 1918. It's a cold day, with snow on the ground, but locals still stop and watch the men depart and their colleagues arrive under command of Major Walker.

- The newly formed Scouts begin collecting waste paper for the war effort.

- An advertisement in the local papers says the countries food stocks are low so every time a Marlow resident eats they should say to themselves that "our merchant sailors have died and are dying" to bring the food to them. 

- Local Government Board send a letter to the Marlow Tribunal saying Marlow should not have included in the list of unduly lenient ones. Pride is restored and the tribunal resumes adjudicating claims for delaying or stopping individuals conscription. 

- The war claims an indirect victim in young William T Bowles, age 7 who is run down and killed by a Red Cross Ambulance from the Canadian hospital in Taplow. The driver is exonerated of blame. It seems little William had been playing with a dog in the street and absorbed in his game, he ran out into the middle of the road immediately in front of the Ambulance. He sustained fatal head injuries. (William is the son of Thomas Bowles of 47 Dean Street. )

- The Royal Engineers have the use of Marlow cricket ground for the season, where they  mostly play military teams, in front of a civilian audience. And of course they hold one of their regular sports events, most recently a regatta, and then athletics  - held on the Borlase playing field. Gate receipts from both events raise funds for the Royal Engineers POW appeal fund.

JUNE - 

- Whitsun sees a crowded river and train service that remind some of Pre war high days and holidays. The number of motor cars heading into town is noted as petrol use for leisure activities is supposed to be limited.

JULY 

- Marlow regatta may have been cancelled for the duration of the war but the soldiers stationed in Marlow can't organise enough regattas. Military teams from a variety of local camps join the Royal Engineers in the latest military regatta held on the Thames. The evening sees a concert held at the Rowing Club in aid of the RE POW fund. 

- The Marlow War Supplies depot in Victoria Road, running since 1914,  appeals for funds as demand for their work outstrip supply. It is also a  branch of the Queen Mary Needlework Guild. 

AUGUST 

- The first Marlow Boy Scouts now number 100 members. They are asked to take part in a parade organised to commemorate the anniversary of the declaration of war on Germany. The Royal Engineers and Marlow Fire Brigade join the march. A platform is erected in Market Square and draped with flags and bunting. The town council address the crowds and propose a resolution that Marlow will carry on her war efforts through to success. Unsurprisingly, the resolution passes and the crowd cheers until the singing of the National Anthem brings things to a close. 

- Audiences attending the evening performance of Broncho Bills circus in the Crown Meadow get a surprise when the end of the show coincides with a raid aiming to catch men avoiding military service. The police, assisted by the military, arrest 4 men, one of whom is a circus worker. The others are "circus followers" who are not local. All are eventually handed over to the military authorities. 

- Sapper George Verney, Royal Engineers (Inland water transport service), and landlord of the Nags Head, Dean Street, dies of shell shock on August 10th leaving a widow and 3 children. He was in Epsom hospital after active service in France. 

Other reports suggest an external head injury was also involved. 

OCTOBER 

- Marlow urban district council display a list of maximum coal prices that will be charged, which have been negotiated with the traders. The cheapest price is for "kitchen" grade coal at 35/6 per ton. 

NOVEMBER

The East Anglian Royal Engineers at Marlow decide to follow the example of their Home Counties RE colleagues and start a mixed hockey team with local ladies. This time they also decide to have men's teams, and civilians can join.

- Borlase school hosts special service in their chapel to commemorate the many former pupils who are among the fallen and injured. A collection at the end is made for the Red Cross. 

DECEMBER

The food control committee in Marlow announce they will be starting a communal kitchen at a unused shop at 55 High Street. They have secured it with half price rent and a grant from the local council to help set it up. This will serve both eat in and takeaway meals. The aim is to help workers get a filling meal and to assist fuel preservation by using economies of scale to cook in quantity. But if you go, don't forget to take a knife and fork as they aren't supplied. You will however get a bowl and plate. Eat in diners have to order their meal at the counter then carry it upstairs where there are two rooms set aside. (See also April 1918 and January 1919)

- John Langley, chairman of the Urban council and the Marlow Tribunal, gets caught in a London Air raid. He is in Paddington station when all the lights go out. In the dark, he stumbles and falls off the platform onto the rails. Thankfully no train is moving but he sustains a fractured thigh and has to spend 6 weeks in St Mary's Hospital at Paddington. It was Mr Langley that donated land for the new Cottage Hospital off Glade Road, using part of the area he let as allotments. See also February 1918. You can read a biography of John here

Written and researched by Kathryn Day

For a post on Marlow in 1914 see here , 1915 here 1916 here 

1918 here

Brewery First World War Memorial Tablet here

To find people of interest on the blog choose the Person Index on the drop down menu which lists every mention however small of an individual found on the blog. More detailed posts can be found under the Biographies sections. 

To read other posts relating to Marlow's military history or everyday life here in the past, see the post listing here

©MarlowAncestors. You may quote this research for non commercial use, but please credit this blog and link back here to ensure original primary sources are credited.  

Spade Oak Ferryman William Round

 If in the course of other research I find interesting people from Marlow or it's immediate vicinity I take note. So here's (hopefully) an interesting ancestor for someone. Spade Oak ferry by the way connected Bourne End in Buckinghamshire with the banks of the county of Berkshire near Cookham.

William Round was born in Oxford in 1844, the son of William, a successful coal merchant, and housewife Ann. The family could afford a servant for at least part of William's childhood.

William grew up to assist his father in the business before setting up on his own as a coal, stone and hay merchant. In 1881 two of his carters were found to have creamed off part of the loads they were supposed to be delivering to one person and selling them to other people instead . William was a victim in this of course, not a criminal but it may have undermined trust in his business. Certainly he was declared bankrupt that year. His horse and cart were seized to help pay debts. His father bought them back for him but kept them officially in his own name. Otherwise they could have been seized again. When William Senior died in 1883 he left the horse and cart to Sarah Maria*, William's (2nd) wife, probably to protect them in the same manner. When a new creditor seized them in 1885 over an unpaid £24 debt for oats and hay William successfully argued that as his wife's property they could not be seized for his debts. The creditor complained that the two were clearly in business together and had fraudulently conspired to make people give William credit on the assumption that he had a good security in a horse and cart when they knew full well that that security was invalid. The judge sided with the Rounds on the basis no evidence could be provided to show husband and wife were in an official business partnership. The new Married Women's Property Act entitled Sarah Maria to hold property entirely in her own right.

William Henry did not nevertheless continue long as a coal merchant. On the 1891 census he is a steamship captain.

He became the Spade Oak ferryman in May 1893, succeeding James Sparks. At the ring of a riverside bell he would appear and ferry people and luggage across the Thames. 

By 1901 William was a widower. His cousin Elizabeth Downing came to keep house for him and look after his little son Joseph born 1894. 

At the age of seven Joseph was found floating dead in the Thames near his house. He had been last seen about to head home after playing with a friend on the Bourne End side of the river after school. The coroner recorded an open verdict. There were no signs of violence on the child and some said he had a habit of walking close to the water's edge. The coroner savaged boatman Charles King at the inquest. King had been the first adult to be found by the child who had spotted little Joseph floating in the water. He told the child to fetch a constable but made no effort to comfort him or to look at the body let alone retrieve it from the water. So it remained for twenty minutes before another boatmen went for it (in this case instantly upon hearing what had happened). The coroner called King stupid and unfeeling for his lack of response.

Nothing could have prepared William for the death of his son but finding bodies in the water was an occupational hazard for anyone who worked by the Thames. Death by drowning occurred at an astonishing level at this time period. In 1898 William had himself retrieved the badly decomposed body of one victim from the river. His older son also called William would pull a body out a few years later while home on leave from his role of Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy. The boatman who retrieved Joseph described himself as a veteran of the task.

William remained as the Spade Oak ferryman till at least 1911.

*Sarah Maria married William in West Smethwick 1877. She was née Timmins but at the time of her marriage was the widow of Luke Pope a solicitor.

Post researched and written by Charlotte Day.

More information:

To find people of interest on the blog choose the A-Z  Person Index on the top drop down menu.

Other posts related to the River Thames here

Other posts about the Spade Oak and Bourne End area see this index here

Some research sources:

Census 1881 my transcription from microfilm images of census pages. Other censuses from Jane Pullinger.

Marriage and birth certificates from the GRO.

Newspaper copies held at the British Library Archive and accessed by me via the BNA London February and September 2020: Oxford Weekly News August 25th 1885, South Bucks Standard 26th July 1901.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here so that my sources remain credited for the information they provided.