In January 1853, a group of Marlow citizens decided to solve a problem in the town. Marlow was known for it's sporting success they said, but when it came to matters literary and scientific, other towns were ploughing ahead. It was time for Marlow to catch up and form it's own literary and scientific institution. The new boys' school room had opened in the Causeway the previous year so it probably seemed the right time to turn everyone's attention to adult education. The school room became the venue for the meeting which ended with the resolution to set up an Institute. The idea was enthusiastically received and promises of donations were made immediately. Harleyford's Sir William Robert Clayton became President.
By December the Institute was ready to give it's very first lecture. While there was obviously a delay to allow funds to be raised, it was also the intention to offer the lectures mainly during the winter season. Marlow's regency Adult Institution for promoting adult literacy had also offered classes mostly during the winter, because the long dark evenings were when the working man was mostly likely to be able to attend. Long hours of daylight meant longer working hours and less time and energy for attending lectures. The Institute did have the express purpose of providing education and recreation for artisans and workers. How successful they would be in this aim would be the subject of contention.
What the Institute didn't have at this point was a designated Institute building. The lecture was therefore held at the Town Hall. Local scientist, mathematician, inventor civil engineer and amateur astronomer Edwin Clark was the first speaker. He was sure, he said, that the Institute would provide an opportunity for self improvement within reach of any who chose to take the opportunity. Edwin's father had been pillow lace manufacturer but suffered a great deal of financial ups and downs and appears on census returns as a grocer later. Edwin probably knew more than some of the other speakers about what it meant to take charge of your own education - he was apparently a bit of a reluctant scholar himself as a young man. He credited a boyhood lecture on electricity held at the same Town Hall as an inspiration that set him on his own path of learning. He apparently constructed his own "electrical machine" afterwards to make demonstrations to his young friends. The text of Edwin's inaugural address to the Institute was published and available from local booksellers as a memento.
As well as lectures, the Institute established a library and reading room in the High Street. (In the former classroom of Mr Fields school, almost opposite Cromwell House. Mr Field was also the postmaster) In 1862 it was said to have 950 volumes. Previously Marlow had a number of subscription based circulating libraries located in the various stationers and booksellers around town, such as Calcutt and Elgie in the High Street. The Institute library would also be available to subscribers only. It was open to ladies but few were reported to have joined in the first year.
For those who could not afford the annual Institute subscription, there was from 1859, an alternative for men at least. The Night school, set up by the Vicar of All Saints, hosted lectures and classes during the winter season. It was aimed at working men and although the lectures encompassed religious and moral subjects, this was not the limit to their scope. The teaching was done by the Vicar himself, assisted by his curates and their friends. These classes seem to have been very popular, especially with youths, and continued for a number of years. In 1861 the programme extended to summer activities to keep the young men suitably occupied, with the formation of the Night School and Juveniles Cricket Club. Bats and balls would be provided.
There was also a Mutual Improvement Society which offered lectures. They were usually held in the Lecture Room in St Peters Street (now the Masonic Centre) but when the Institute got a building of it's own, it was intended to be shared with the Mutual Improvement Society. The two organisations then merged. However, there were other Mutual Improvement societies at later periods, usually based in one of the churches and chapels. (The main MIS as mentioned above started in 1877 and was chiefly aimed at young men)
Is there yawning at the back?
Back to the Institute. Reports of their first events invariably mention an enthusiastic audience. But it seems the subjects chosen did not please everyone. The South Bucks Free Press said in 1862 that lectures were now far from the rage in Marlow with large audiences unknown and "desolate benches are frequent." Other reports of a popular entertainment, as opposed to an educational one, noted a fuller audience than normal and the fact the onlookers did not for once look bored. Musical evenings do seem to feature more often as time goes on but I'm sure the supposed torture suffered by early attendees was exaggerated. The Institute was self funded and no doubt would have folded if it consistently failed to interest anyone! Of course there were ups and downs financially, with a particularly difficult time in the mid to late 1870s when funds were described as "somewhat attenuated". In 1875 the Bucks Herald went as to far as to say the Institute was retrogressing at such a rate that it would soon terminate in "utter collapse". They added that "one finds no plausible pretext for keeping it alive". This was because the membership was relatively small and declining and the number of leisure events was starting to outweigh the educational ones in their eyes. The library was in a poor state too - "dilapidated and exhausted." The paper was especially annoyed that the playing of dominoes would be allowed in the Reading Room for two hours an evening - such frivolous behaviour was the beginning of the end as far as they were concerned.
An appeal was made in 1879 for Marlow residents to donate newspaper, magazines and similar publications to the library once they had finished with them. Sir William Clayton took the lead by offering a loan of his copies of the Saturday Review and the Public Opinion during the 6 months he expected to be away on a Mediterranean cruise aboard his yacht. "Members will doubtless exercise due care in their use".
The Institute gains a home
As it is, the Institute grew and thrived. There were some blips such as a reported waning interest in the lectures in the 1880s, causing then to be moved from weekly to fortnightly. Readings and debates were dropped as part of the regular programme in 1888. Plans to have their own permanent home for activities were often floated, and in 1887, it was decided to make a definite fundraising drive to this end. The building would be a lasting memorial to the Jubilee. Some £200 of excess funds raised for those celebrations had been kept back as a start for the fund. Colonel Williams donated land for the build, in what is now Institute Road and within an area he was developing. A new headquarters for the 1st Bucks Rifle Volunteers would be built alongside, the two buildings joined by a high arch. (Read more about the dramatic first year of the Armoury here) Construction did not begin straight away, as time was needed to raise part of the building cost. (It was originally stated the Institute building should not cost more than £1200 but the lowest tender for the accepted design was priced at £500 more than that.) It was constructed by Marlow builder YJ Lovell and his workforce. The architects however were not local, which seemingly broke the rules set for determining the winner of the building design competition by the Trustees. The Building News considered the new Institute and the Armoury to look like "a pair of second rate suburban villas"! Nevertheless, the foundation stone was laid by Thomas Somers Cocks of Lymbrook (Thames Bank) in 1889 with Col Wethered doing the honours at the neighbouring HQ. Lovell was unfortunately unable to attend the formal opening due to ill health.
In June 1890 the buildings were finished, and the Volunteer HQ and Institute were opened on the same day in September of that year. This official opening was a big event in Marlow and the town was decorated with flags and bunting. A half day holiday was declared by many shops in town. Even those Marlow citizens hard at work during the Wednesday ceremony could not have missed the fact it was happening. The Volunteers Drum and Fife band paraded around town followed by a procession of Volunteers, the volunteer fire brigade and the towns friendly societies. They announced their arrival outside the HQ and Institute with bugles. While they were parading, the trustees of the Institute had been hosting a celebration dinner in the boys schoolroom. (Now the Church Hall in the Causeway.) A lucky few were offered a tour of both new buildings although the library and recreation rooms were not finished and were opened the following month. (The room dedicated in the plans to library use was however initially set up as a temporary reading room as the permanent Reading Room was acting as the stop gap Recreation Room! Only the Classroom was ready in it's proper place when the building opened. The proper Reading Room was not actually fully fitted up until 1892, as the South Bucks School of Cookery and Domestic Science hired the room for 6 months, and in doing so installed an oven and sink etc which were subsequently removed.) Next there were speeches, and the official opening ceremony. Colonel Wethered, addressing the crowd from the upper orderly room of the Volunteers HQ, also refered to the Institute which he had been involved in setting up. He remarked that the Institute had been erected for the benefit of the working man and artisan and he sincerely hoped it would live up to it's ambitions. He had, he said, developed a sense of "love and interest" in this class of person who made up such a large number of the men under his command in the Volunteer Corps.
Within a few years, disappointment was expressed at how relative few of these working class people had in fact become members. There were more than one class of membership, with first class membership unsurprisingly costing the most. All members had the right to attend events however. While some of the language used may seem patronising now, it seems many were passionately interested in opening the Institute to a wider range of people. But sadly even the cheapest subscription would have been out of reach for Marlow's poorest families, payable in advance as it was. (In 1889 the subscription was £1 1s per year for first class membership, 10s for second class, and 5s for third.) Attending a lecture or class also involved paying an extra entrance fee. Those who were not members themselves were able to attend some of the events as a guest of a member while others were open to anyone, with subscribers paying a lower admission rate. Visitors to the town could also apply to become a temporary member during their stay.
Woman were allowed to become members in their own right and while there were female only classes, woman could also attend the general ones. This was far from a given at the time, and a source of pride for forward thinking trustees such as Dr. Dunbar Dickson. At the grand opening the Dr reminded those present of the opportunity for women to join and hoped those doing so would by their example "improve the minds of the male sex." (You can read a post about the doctor here).
Third class members of either sex were not originally allowed to vote at the meetings of members, which caused much tumult at the 1878 annual meet. The disenfranchised third class members tried to change this, by proposing an amendment to the society's constitution and voting amongst themselves to adopt it. This was of course not considered a valid amendment but after "some discussion" it was decided to end the discrimination. Four members of the third class had always been part of the management committee, and this was subsequently increased to six.
Inside, the Institute consisted of a library and reading room downstairs, with a recreation room above the former, and a class room over the latter, with a small connecting room to use with either. Outside, the building was fronted by a small "tastefully planted garden" and at the rear was a large area originally intended to house a hall to accommodate bigger events but funds ran out before it was built. It was later laid down as a bowling lawn (1908). The town hall or Music Room continued to be used as a venue for large entertainments.
Donations had not just came in cash but in the form of books, furniture and fixtures for the building. For example, Reuben Nereus Smith of Beaufort Cottage donated two library chairs and a number of small mahogany chairs, and grocer Alfred Ilsley presented a complete set of the works of George Eliot. (To read more about Alfred see here.) Two mahogany bookcases and a large table in the library were the gift of Colonel Wethered along with much of the flooring. Cork flooring was used in the library to create a suitably quiet walking surface! Charles Miller Footitt offered the old town stocks and gaol door which had come into his possession. They were put on display behind the Institute/Armoury for several years before passing into the hands of the council who displayed them on the Causeway. Charles also donated a complete railway map and timetable for the British Isles.
The selection of books available was regarded as extensive by some Institution supporters but one disgruntled member writing to a local paper in 1899 thought the fiction section "a marvel of smallness and inadequacy" with two many classic works - and too much Dickens. Dickens was "intensely vulgar" and written for a generation passed away the letter writer said!
The buildings were open from 10am to 10.30pm every day except Sundays when it opened from 2-6 and 8-10pm, with the reading room closed at one period on Sundays. It had a caretaker who doubled up as the librarian. An ad for this position in 1896 specified the applicant should be well educated, married and perhaps a retired military man.
Books, billiards and ..beer?
When the building was designed, space was allowed for a billiard table. But then the trustees began to doubt whether it was quite the thing for a Literary and Scientific Institution. Or rather whether it should spend funds on this. A petition was raised to ask them to reconsider and eventually it was decided to allow the table, if a group of supporters paid for it. A charge was made to use the table, and this money was used to reimburse the table buyers and then to maintain the billiard facilities. So no Institute funds would be spent on the divisive table. Initially allowed for a year, it was a big success. The annual billiard competition attracted a large number of entrants and there were also matches between the Marlow and Wycombe Institutes. The Institute had in fact had a hired recreation room in 1888 before the current building opened. It was open 5 days a week and proved hugely popular with young men.
Refreshments were available in the building but they were to be strictly non alcoholic. This exclusion outraged a letter writer to a local paper who thought the only reason to exclude alcohol was because the trustees doubted the morals of the members and their ability to moderate their intake. His complaints were to no avail. The Institute did get a bar, but not until the 20th century.
South Kensington comes to Marlow
Soon after the Institute opened, it began hosting Technical Education Classes under the auspices of the South Kensington museums. Previously these had been held at different venues around the town such as Borlase school. The students took exams and if successful could gain a certificate and attend a prize giving at the Institute. Some 43 students were enrolled in these classes in 1893. The Technical Education committee paid to use the Institute rooms and when they eventually moved the classes back out to Borlase, a large hole was left in the funds. The solution? Install another billiard table!
The Technical classes were available in subjects such as drawing, clay modelling, French, shorthand and wood carving. A branch was set up in both Lane End and Frieth although some of these classes were subsequently dropped due to low numbers of students.
They ran both evening and day courses, with the evening option costing more.
Taxation of bachelors and other debates...
Here is a sample of the activities on offer at the Institute, aside from enjoying the books and billiards. After much debate, card playing (from 1893) joined dominoes, backgammon, bagatelle and chess as permitted games. But they could only be played in the recreation room and strictly no gambling was allowed. The recreation room was also the only place that you could smoke. Those who were disconcerted by card playing must have been horrified by the gift by Charles Footitt of his Household Artillery game which involved shooting miniature missiles at a target, with bells that rang to indicate a direct hit. Charles had exclusive rights to make this toy aimed at adults, although it had been invented by another man.
Dr Dickson offered lectures to women in First Aid as well as those on other medical subjects such as the working of the human eye. Rev Tavender of the Congregational Church gave a presentation on America and the Rev A Thompson of Little Marlow offered a virtual tour of Venice and Russia. You could also enjoy demonstrations of electrical power (1894, Edward Riley) and modern cookery - the latter took place in the Music room, St Peters Street and was presented by Miss Stanfield of the Sheffield school of Cookery. Or perhaps your Marlow ancestor would have enjoyed the illustrated talk on the Land of The Pharaoh by Wycombe's Arthur Vernon (1893), the life and times of Charles Dickens (Robert Hayes Smith,1895), allotment gardening (various times, at the Glade Road allotments and Medmenham School rooms), or oxy-hydrogen lanterns (Rev. S Wilkinson, 1893.) Sir George Higginson gave a talk in 1893 on the time he had spent as Lieutenant of the Tower of London which was especially well attended.
In the Edwardian era subjects like veterinary science were on offer as well as fitness classes conducted by Miss Morley under the Joseph Conn system. Mrs Joseph Conn visited the Institute in 1908 and bemoaned the prevailing "degeneracy" seen in all classes of society, which her brand of healthful exercise would help alleviate, or so she said.
Debates were conducted on subjects such as whether woman should get the vote (1891, Dr Dickson proposes that they should but was defeated) and whether bachelors ought to be taxed to encourage marriage. (Mr Wethered joked that it would be a difficult tax to collect but if women were employed to do it, then perhaps it would facilitate marriage in more ways than one! The tax was proposed by the happily married Robert Hayes Smith, who was also Institute Secretary. A post about him can be found here)
Less expectedly, the Institute had a successful cricket team. I can see several references to this in the 1860's but it seems to have lapsed as it was apparently "started" again in 1896. They played their first game on Crown Meadow but later they came to an arrangement to play and practice on the Marlow Cricket Club ground. It amalgamated with Marlow Cricket Club in 1901, to become their second eleven. An Institute Rowing Club seems shorter lived, as does a Minstrel troupe.
Problems a plenty
The initial enthusiasm for the Institute fulfilling (mostly) it's original function was at its peak in the first 10 years after its opening. The literary and educational aspects gradually declined relative to the social club elements. By 1902 Dr Dickson could call the institute a "disgrace" to the town. Only one lecture had been held the previous year, and one entertainment. It was dirty and dusty inside he said, and shabby looking on the outside with the front neglected and the fencing in need of replacement. A donated portrait of Sir William Clayton had apparently been ruined due to it being left about here and there as a promised picture rail had never beenout up. Rev Tavender of the Congregational Church thought the character of the library was not good. The then committee could only admit the complaints were justified. They said the caretaker was uninterested in his work and so did little of it (why he was not sacked if this was so was a question not answered). It was added that the Hon secretary L J Smith jun, had as a volunteer not nearly enough time to devote to the institution. Dr Dickson was quick to state he wished to reflect no criticism on LJ and said he thought the Institute really needed to employ a paid assistant to help run it. Alas, the surplus funds were nowhere near sufficient for this. Efforts were made to tidy it up (a new oak fence arrived at the front in 1903) and keep an educational element.
The Institute has seen many uses through time - see our post on Marlow in the First World War for more on this. (Find in the general post index linked below)
It eventually closed in 1959 and became Marlow's Library, a role it still fulfills.
Above, the Institute today. Image courtesy of Colin Groves.
To find more posts about individual buildings, streets or similar look under "Specific Shops, Streets etc" on the top drop down menu. All mentions of a person can be found under the Person Index, also on the top drop down menu.
To read other posts about everyday life in old Marlow see the post listing here
To read about Marlow's first Regency era literary Institution see here
Written and researched by Kathryn Day.
SOURCES
The Forty First Report of the Department of Science and Art Committee of Council for Education, Volume 41, The South Kensington Museums. 1894.
Journal of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce, Volume 10. RSA 1862.
Berkshire Chronicle 22 January 1814, 17 December 1855, 15 June 1861, British Library collection, accessed via the BNA, November 2020.
Bucks Chronicle and Gazette - 24 December 1853, as above.
Reading Mercury 22 January & 30 April 1853, 22 February 1890, 21 Jan 1893 as above
Kelly's Directory of Berks, Bucks, Oxon 1883,1903, 1911, 1915 - Kelly's Directories Ltd.
Maidenhead Advertiser December 17 1879.
Building News, March 29th 1889, digitised by Google.
Bucks Herald 20 Mar 1865 & April 1878, as above.
South Bucks Standard 8 March 1901, and 14 February 1902 thanks to Martin.
©Marlow Ancestors.
