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.
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