Sparks Family Of The Barge Pole

 Updated January 2024

The Barge Pole was a pub very close to the River Thames in Church Passage, Great Marlow. It was demolished in 1873.

First Sparks / Sparkes connection to it is William Sparks landlord in 1833. The day to day running of the business must have been down to his wife Mary (nee Collins) as William was also a barge master. That is he owned barges. Though of Marlow origin he was later described as having been formerly a barge master of Abingdon as well as Great Marlow so must have had an additional or earlier business base there. Being a barge owner didn't entitle you to pilot one unless you joined the Waterman's Company, something which William found to his cost when he was prosecuted for navigating a barge without such membership. He was fined £10. This was the maximum possible fine. Other barge owners packed the room in support of William and to hear the outcome of this the first case of its kind brought against a barge owner. The result meant that if they found themselves short of a crewman they could not step in and take the navigator's place unless they had served an apprenticeship and been made freeman of the Waterman's Company. Most barge owners would have worked as barge hands of some type as youngsters so likely did know fully how to steer the barge safely.

Prior to coming to the Barge Pole William and Mary had ran the Black Boy pub also in Church Passage. They were there from at least 1823.

William died of cholera in 1834. Marlow suffered repeated outbreaks of this disease in the past, including at the time of William's death and the Church Passage / St Peter's Street area where drinking water sources were contaminated by sewage from the river were always especially hit in these outbreaks. (A post on the cholera outbreak in the "notorious" St Peters Court, Marlow 1849 can be found here)

Two years after her husband's death Mary had a silver pot stolen from her by William Willis who was sentenced to a year in jail with hard labour as a result - see here for more on William who ended up transported for another crime. [Bucks Herald 21st March 1835]. If Mary took over the pub after William's death I cannot say for certain.

She and William had at least two surviving sons who became bargemen- William Junior and Thomas.

William Junior born 1808 was also a coal merchant and would go on to run the Barge Pole with his wife Maria but not for some years.

Next into the premises was actually William senior's brother Thomas Sparks. He took over the Barge Pole by 1838 with his wife Ann (née Hammerton). She died in 1843 but he was still there until his own death in 1849 aged 62. Though Thomas's name was officially on the the licence, Ann must have done most of the actual pub running on a day to day basis as Thomas's main job throughout his life was working for the Rolls family as a bargeman. He began working for them aged just 10 years old. When he was 18 he was press ganged into the navy but rescued by friends who organised a substitute to take his place!

Thomas and Ann's daughter Catherine married Henry Neighbour and with him ran the nearby Waterman's Arms.

All the children of Thomas and Ann were mentioned in the will of Thomas's employer John Rolls. See here

William and Maria Sparkes meanwhile (the son and daughter in law of William and Mary Sparkes) were in Chapel Street with William running his coal and barge business from a wharf and stores he called "The Old Bridge" stores by the river in St Peter's Street. Though he had to keep room on his barges for coal he would also transport goods between Marlow and London and all places in between for what he assured the public was a very low fee. The St Peter's Street wharf and store were in his occupation by 1835, likely he took over directly from his father in the same spot. William expanded his stores in 1865.

In 1842 William had his vote in the General Election thrown out after it was considered he no longer met the minimum value of property occupied qualification. This was because he had given up some property he had previously occupied. The loss of his voting ability would have been quite a blow to his status as a man in the town. Maria of course couldn't in those days have voted no matter how much property she occupied.

In 1848 William's coal barge sank in the Thames. No one was lost but I could find no evidence that the barge or the cargo on it was recovered. 

By 1853 (probably by 1852) the couple were also running the Black Boy in Church Passage. In 1857 William was summoned for opening the Black Boy at illegal hours.

At some point between 1863 and 1869 William and Maria moved to the Barge Pole. The business of barging and coal dealing with a sideline in timber dealing continued for William from his wharf.

In 1869 William was fined for using a short measure for alcohol on his premises at the Barge Pole. Tsk, tsk William [Reading Mercury 13th March 1869].

As well as selling alcohol the Sparks family offered lodgings for their customers. Despite William's connection to the barging world these were mostly not bargemen although some obviously were. The Fishing Gazette recalled later that the Barge Pole was a popular place for anglers to stay, and "less pretentious" than the Compleat Angler for example!  

In 1873 the owner of the Barge Pole decided to demolish it as well as other nearby buildings. There had recently been another cholera outbreak in nearby St Peter's Court and the area was seen as an unsanitary eyesore. William had his alcohol licence transferred to a new pub he had converted out of a cottage in St Peter's Street. This he dubbed the Fishermen's Retreat  but he was so associated with the barge business and thus the name Barge Pole he struggled to get any other name to stick for a business he ran and the Fishermen's Retreat was often referred to as the Barge Pole all the while a Sparks was in residence there. (Note premises most often appears as FishermAns Retreat in historical records, and even contemporary advertising at times)

William died in 1875 age 66. (His grave is still visible at All Saints, see it here). Maria took over the licence of the Fishermen's Retreat. She ran it to at least 1877 but had gone by 1880. She moved to the High Street to run a coffee shop.

By 1891 however Maria had retired. She had been elected to a post in the Almshouses for widows in Oxford Road. As well as her small home she got 5 shillings a week income as an almswoman.

On the 1891 census she had little Ethel Webb age 8 staying with her as a visitor.

Maria died at the Almshouse in 1893 age 74. 

Related Posts:

To find every mention of a person on this blog see under the Person Index - there are 4300 people listed there as of June 2022. See Pub Related menu here for more posts like this. A list of landlords for the Barge Pole and the Black Boy can be found on the blog here And a list for the Fisherman's Retreat here

To read a post about Marlow Barge men in general see here

And one about fellow barge masters come beer sellers the Creswell's see here

Catherine Neighbour nee Sparkes here

Written and researched by Charlotte Day, with additional research by Kathryn Day

See also:

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1847 and 1869

Slaters Royal, County and Commercial Directory 1852

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here. 

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