Updated by Charlotte October 2023
The Nag's Head stood a bit beyond the turning into what's now called Wethered Road. It was a beer house with a large barn and yard out back. It also had stabling for 5-6 horses. The barn was usually hired out to other tenants. The premises did not feature in the 1833 parish assessment as a beer house however I believe the building itself was there by 1829. There was a small parlour, bar, tap room and 2 kitchens downstairs, and 3 bedrooms above. Note the beerhouse "The Fighting Cocks" was immediately adjacent.
Dean Street and the neighbouring Marefield district were poor and sometimes rough. The Nag's Head does not come across as one of the worst establishments. One case I did see though was in 1864 when the wife of Robert Smith had words with Joseph East and this lead to the two men having a fight on the premises.
Below are all the publicans attached to the beer house that I can find records of and some background for them:
1845- Thomas Frith.
1846 - Thomas Frith. Fined 40 shillings plus costs for allowing dominoes to be played on the premises for money. He plead not guilty to no avail.
1848 - Thomas Frith leaves, and spends some time living on an allowance at Sir William Clayton's estate in Godstone, and some time in Wales. For the possible reasons for Clayton's patronage, see a post on the 1847 election here
1861 William East. Wife Caroline. William also a dealer. He fined 1863 for having his beer shop open during the hours of divine service. Eight customers were found inside by a constables. The 40 shillings fine was substantial.
1864 - William East
From ? to 1871 Thomas Patterson. He was also a market gardener. Before working as a publican, he was a cordwainer. Wife Ann worked as a boot binder.
1871-1882 Gardener family. William Gardener / Gardner took over the licence in 1871 and ran it until his death in 1879. His widow Clara then took over. She was the landlady until 1881 when on her death age 65 her son William Thomas Gardener briefly ran things. William senior worked as a gas stoker before taking over the licence, while the young William Thomas was a paper maker, later a gas stoker. Clara was originally from Sussex and William senior of Leicestershire. They tried unsuccessfully to get a spirit licence for the Nags Head in 1875.
1882- 84 William Todd
1884- 1891 Joseph Bristow. Said to have suddenly left town. While Dean Street was known for its pubs, there was also a reasonable temperance movement at times in the town, some of whose meetings occurred in Dean Street. A treasured hope of the movement was that non-alcoholic ginger beer could become the drink of choice for the masses. (Not all ginger beer was alcohol free) Unlikely as that now seems to us there was a real concern in the brewing industry that the temperance groups contagious fervour for their cause and promotion of the supposed health benefits in drinking ginger beer could destroy the pub trade. Obviously hedging his bets in this respect was Joseph Bristow who ran the Nag's Head while also brewing a large amount of ginger beer on the premises. It isn't clear if this was for his pub customers, for sale elsewhere, or both. In case alcohol won out he successfully upgraded the Nags Head from a beer house to a fully licensed premises in 1889! (Spirit licence gained 1885 in exchange for the Wethereds brewery permanently closing the immediately adjacent Fighting Cocks which they owned).
1885 - a "well conducted" house.
1891 Briefly Henry Price, then Thomas Price.
1891 to 1903 Thomas Price. Thomas also operated as a general dealer and farmed. In 1894 while out scaring birds in his field of peas in Marlow he suffered a gun accident which meant it misfired, blowing off part of a finger and otherwise injuring his hand.
Thomas was married to Annie Bowles at Marlow in 1879. She charged her husband with assault in 1909 but decided to withdraw the case (but not the statement that she had been assaulted) at trial.
1903 - Albert B Smith.
1906 Mr A Smith.
1907 Thomas Price.
1915/16 - George Verney. George enlisted and as Sapper Verney of the Royal Engineers sadly died "of shell shock" on August 10 1917 leaving a widow and 3 children. Formerly of the Railway Inn, Earlswood, Surrey. The 1920 post office directory lists a George Verney as a beer seller of Dean Street - relative or out of date information perhaps.
1939 - Thomas W B Tillion
For a very long list of pubs, inns and beerhouses etc in Marlow and Little Marlow, mostly vanished, see this post here
Please use the Person Index option on the top drop down menu to find people of interest to you and the Pub Related option for more pub related posts.
More Dean Street content can be found by going to the menu and choosing the "Specific Shops, Streets....Etc" option.
Post researched and written by Charlotte Day and Kathryn Day.
© Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this information for family or local history purposes but please credit this blog and link back here.
Sources:
Papers in the British Library via the BNA accessed September 2020: Bucks Herald 3rd Sept 1881, South Bucks Standard 14th June 1894, August 27th 1884, South Bucks Standard 4th December 1891, Maidenhead Advertiser Sept 4th 1889. Berkshire Chronicle 21 August 1846.
My own census transcriptions from microfilm film.
Jane Pullinger.
Slough Eton and Windsor Observer - August 29 1885 - Slough Library
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