Updated July 2023
Edward was born 1832 in Marlow to William and Mary Hatton and grew up in Dean Street (then usually going by it's original name Well End, not to be confused with the hamlet of Well End near Little Marlow/Bourne End). His father was an agricultural labourer, his mother a housewife.
He appeared on the 1851 census as an apprentice shoemaker lodging with widow Mary Perry and her children, one of whom was also an apprentice shoemaker. Edward must have been nearly finished with his apprenticeship as he was married the next year to Sarah Blewett and apprentices were not allowed to marry.
Sarah was a satin stitch worker like so many Marlow women at that time. She grew up in Gun Lane, just off Dean Street. Gun Lane is now known as Trinity Road.
On the 1861 census Edward, Sarah and 5 children lived in Cambridge Place (no longer exists, was off Cambridge Road). By the next year they had moved to West Street (Henley Road end) where Edward ran the Volunteer beer house. This doubled as a lodging house. It was located very close to the Hand and Flowers. Shoemaking was a competitive and very poorly paid trade so having a try at another occupation was very tempting. Edward knew more than most the precariousness of the shoemaking trade as his uncle also called Edward Hatton had gone bankrupt while following the trade in 1856.
In 1862 Edward was fined a shilling for using a short measure in the pub. (Plus 12s 6d costs!)
In 1867 one of his lodgers, 23 year old William Stacey and another young man John Howard stole a lamb from a field and killed it for food. They hid the remains in his garden. A third of the lamb was given to Edward to cook. He was thus charged with knowingly receiving stolen goods but was found not guilty. Several respectable citizens of the town signed a statement in support of Edward. They said he was of good character, and he also bought some character witnesses to the trial. Stacey and Howard both recieved 6 months with hard labour for their efforts. (Stacey had turned kings evidence but no reduced sentence for him as he was regarded as the instigator of the deed.)
Several tradesman wrote to the court to testify to his good character, and two more appeared personally to do the same- William East a market gardener and Owen Wright a baker.
By 1871 Edward, Sarah and 8 children were back in Cambridge Place with Edward shoemaking once more.
On the 1881 and 1891 census they lived again in West Street in the first cottage after Potlands Alley, effectively next door to the Red Lion Pub. Their little 4 room home no longer exists. It has been replaced by a car park but there are photos of the Red Lion on the SWOP site which allow you to catch a glimpse of the Hatton's home. Life was not altogether happy here for the Hattons. Sarah was suffering from ill health and in 1898 was described as in a weak and "nervous condition". The poor woman found herself in court when her 23 year old son Ernest hit her on the arm with a poker. Furious father Edward took out a warrant for Ernest's apprehension as he'd left hurriedly afterwards. Eliza made a sad figure in court, sobbing and begging the authorities not to press the charges as she was had not been much hurt. Her husband did not agree, and nor did her other son Walter who had "knocked about" Ernest on discovering the offence. Edward said this was not the first occasion on which Ernest had behaved shamefully to his mother and he had already decided to ask the courts for an order of "ejectment" to be made to remove him from their family home. Ernest admitted hitting his mother but without the intention of hurting her. Magistrate General George Higginson did not take kindly to Ernest's self pitying defence or complaints relating to the punishment already inflicted by his brother. Higginson said that Ernest had appeared to loose "all sense of what is right" and would be sentenced to 6 weeks in prison with hard labour after which he'd be bound over to keep the peace. On hearing this Ernest burst into tears, but Higginson he could not be moved to pity because "a man who strikes his own mother is unworthy of consideration". He added that brother Walter had acted quite naturally in punching Ernest on discovering his actions towards their mother. On a more positive note Ernest was a one time player for Marlow Football club, as well as some of Marlow's less well known teams.
Difficulty with his son was not the only of Edwards woes. It's not often remembered that if an elderly person unable to provide for themselves was admitted to the Union workhouse in Saunderton had adult children earning their own living, the children were expected to contribute to the maintenance of their family member. The amount depended on the children's income and dependents. In 1886 Edward found himself in court because he had failed to make the required payments in respect to his father. The court had previously considered his circumstances when deciding the sum to be contributed but Edward thought the claim unreasonable. He said he had 6 children at home age 7-19, only two of whom were working and two others had had been sick for a number of months. The paper said Edward's defence was "rambling" and whether it was or not, did him no good as he was ordered again to pay up. Edward told the magistrates the decision was "unchristian" and threatened to go to gaol rather than pay but I think he did not carry out this threat.
In 1901 Edward was listed as a bill poster. This was an official job which involved pasting up official parish notices, like that of an upcoming election. It often in Marlow went hand in hand with the role of Town Crier and this was also the case with Edward. It looks like he took on both roles in 1894.
Edward's other role in the town was as an active Wesleyan preacher on the local circuit, from 1876-1904.
He died in 1913, Sarah in 1911.
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©Marlow Ancestors.
References:
Bucks Herald 13th April 1867. Copy held at the British Library. Accessed by me online via the British Newspaper Archive October 2020.
Reading Mercury 28th June 1862, as above.
GRO index of marriages, and of deaths online.
Census my transcript from microfilm.
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