These sweet little premises (photographed late 2020 before this Halifax branch closed) were Benjamin Baines' grocery and confectionary shop before he went bankrupt in 1826. All his shop stock and implements not to mention his household furniture had to be sold. The Windsor and Eton Express carried an advert for this sale from which we know Benjamin sold biscuits in barrels, fish sauce, tea, sugar and pickles amongst other things.
He was able to pick himself up and continue in business in the same premises. This time he concentrated on being a confectioner.
In 1831 he was doing well enough to advertise for an apprentice to learn confectionery, fancy bread making and biscuit baking from him.
In 1833 the premises were worth £20 a year and consisted of a house, bakehouse, stable, yard and garden.
Sadly by 1840 Benjamin was again insolvent.
He bounced back once more and continued as a confectioner here.
After his death in 1844, following a long and painful illness which the Reading Mercury said he "bore with Christian fortitude" his daughter Sarah Elizabeth (born circa 1816) took over the shop.
Her occupation is not stated on the 1841 census. She lived at home and may have already been assisting her father. He likely needed help in the home too in the final year of his life as his second wife Ann, Sarah's stepmother, died in June 1843 age 87. Less than 6 months later Ann (junior) Sarah's sister lost her battle with consumption at the age of just 24. A matter of weeks after that came Benjamin's death. How important Sarah's strength and ability to keep the shop going must have been for her younger half siblings, the youngest of which was only 4 years old when he became an orphan.
Sarah's eldest sibling William Vincent Baines also became a confectioner at first. He ran a shop in Maidenhead High Street from at least 1838 to at least 1842. He later moved about a bit before settling at High Wycombe where he ran a coal business. He was a Wycombe Alderman, Councillor, Church Warden and Mayor at different times. In his will he left £100 worth of shares to pay for a yearly gift of coal to poor families of Wycombe. His son had the same name and operated as a coal, salt and building merchant in Marlow High Street in a now vanished building close to where the Baines' shop had been.
In 1846 Sarah witnessed two men break the window of her shop and steal 6 little cakes worth a penny each. Despite there also being another eyewitness to the incident (her sister Emma) the men were found not guilty of theft. However one of those accused broke her window again a little later and this time was convicted.
Following Sarah's marriage in 1847 to Stephen Morris she retired from the trade. Stephen was a farm bailiff / farmer from Little Marlow. Her young half brother Henry lived with her and Stephen at the time of the 1851 census.
Baines family grave in All Saints churchyard Marlow. You have to get quite close in to this one to read it.
Main person on stone:
Sarah Baines wife of Benjamin. It says she was born 24th February 1788 and died 23rd March 1824.
Grave is also for her husband Benjamin, his second wife Ann and "their 7 children" (not named).
Benjamin it says was born 24th June 1781 and died 27th February 1844.
Ann born 17th January 1796 and died 19th June 1843.
Though the dead children are not named on the grave, the parish records do show the sad list of loss for the Baines family- Benjamin junior died 1819; Henry died 1820 (first child named Henry born to Benjamin, he later had another); Emma and Elizabeth both died 1823 but on different dates; Edward and Dorothy both died 1826 but on different dates; Jane died 1830. Some of these children were born to Benjamin and his first wife Sarah, some to Benjamin and his second wife Ann.
William Henry Brown took over the Baines' old confectioner's business. He also sold groceries. He was a native of Pontefract Yorkshire while his wife Sophia was from Middlesex. William came from Yorkshire to Bucks when his father got a job at Little Marlow. William started out in business as a grocer in Southampton before taking on a shop on the corner of the High Street in Marlow (where the Snappy Snaps photography shop is now) before the Baines premises became available. The Browns first shop was turned into The Hope beer-house which it remained until 1900, when it became a bank.
Just before Christmas in 1862 the shop was burgled. Amongst the items stolen were Christmas cakes, wedding cakes and boxes of sweets. With stock like that if time travel is ever invented his shop is the first place in Marlow I'm going to visit / raid!
William died in 1899.
Post researched and written by Charlotte Day.
To find every mention of a person of interest use the Person Index option on menu.
Some sources:
1839 Robson's Directory. University of Leicester Archives.
Windsor and Eton Express Article 8th July 1826 [bankruptcy] Reading Mercury 20th June 1831 [apprentice sought] 13th December 1862 [theft from Brown]. Copies at British Library archives accessed via the BNA November 2020 and March 2021.
Great Marlow parish registers, my old transcriptions.
GRO marriage index also consulted online November 2020 for this post.
Parish High Wycombe in A History of The County Of Buckingham Vol 3 edited by William Pace London 1925. Www.british-history.ac.UK/vch/bucks/vol3/pp112-134
Death certificate Ann Baines.
Census transcriptions of mine from microfilm.
Researched and written by Charlotte Day.
I determine historic occupancy of buildings via research and cross referencing of property surveys, property transaction records, wills, photographs, court cases, adverts and censuses to name a few.
©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse this image and research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here so that my sources also remain credited for information provided.
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