THE CHAIRMAKERS ARMS Great Marlow
Updated by Charlotte and Kathryn September 2023
The Chairmaker's Arms in Dean Street seems to have been a pub dogged with misfortune. No one seemed to want to stay there long. As a fully licensed house, it was not subject to quite as much competition from its numerous beer shop neighbours in Dean Street as might be supposed but it never seemed to thrive.
IMPROPER PERSONS ALERT
In 1885 John Hodgkins left the pub after a couple of years at the helm The previous year the pub has been shut up for a while and not trading and then John had tried to have the pub transferred to a Thomas White of Wendover but this was unsuccessful. In February 1885 the brewery holding the premises was granted "holdover" of the licence from John Hodgkin's to the brilliantly named Neighbour Wilcox, who had come from London. Neighbour Wilcox applied for a permanent licence transfer in March but this was refused after the police objected. They said that Wilcox had been harbouring "improper persons" on the premises. He was also caught in possession of nets believed to be for the purposes of poaching. Neighbour said he'd accepted the nets as part payment of a debt or according to other reports, as security on a loan made by him to an associate at Ealing. He had not been aware anyone drinking on his premises had a bad reputation, he being but an innocent stranger to town. The police answered that they had physically pointed out to Wilcox those he must not serve but spot checks had found that he did serve them. Some spent what was considered a suspicious amount of time there. Constable Knight said these so called undesirable characters included convicted poachers, thieves and prostitutes as well as people of generally bad reputation. It was also said that when a policeman had entered, Wilcox had made a signal to another man who then hot footed it out of the premises a little too quickly for the suspicious constables liking. Especially as the man concerned was convicted thief Boddy. Wilcox explained away some of the nets on the basis he had formerly been a fisherman and some were for this purpose. And the so called undesirables on his premises had come by just to pay for some beer. (They are not named other than "Butcher" Lloyd. This is convicted poacher and more George Lloyd ) After Wilcox had the transfer refused, the pub was closed for several weeks.
In May the temporary holdover licence was granted to Reading publican Thomas White on his second attempt. But only a month later, White said he wanted to give it up. He declared he was ill and asked for the licence transfer to A H Neighbour (Alfred Henry Neighbour previously of the Red lion and Dog & Badger, not to be confused with Neighbour Wilcox. See link below for biography of Alfred.) The bench impatiently refused yet another change so White said he'd continue a while longer. A month later a continuation of this licence was refused as the police again strongly objected to it's continuance. They said that Thomas White was in charge in name only, and in fact did not live on the premises, a condition of the licence. (Although the brewers lawyers argued the necessity of this point.)
Of course the magistrates were more than a little annoyed by this merry go round and asked the brewers Fullers a few awkward questions about how they were choosing their candidates to put forward for licencing.
The authorities favoured stable guardianship, with tenants there for the long term. In Marlow, they were more often disappointed in this regard than satisfied. The magistrates expressed frustration at brewery owners for effectively borrowing experienced landlords with reputations for running steady premises and parachuting them into more notorious haunts to avoid those premises being closed. There was no intention of making them stay long term. They hopefully turned a place around, or at least left as soon as the brewery could find someone else to take over. This new person was often someone less experienced who was just treading water there and getting basic experience until a more profitable pub became available.
A full as we can landlord listing for this pub at the end of the post.
THOMAS WHITE IN CHARGE ...OR IS HE?
In the case of Thomas White, the police alleged that the person actually resident at and presiding over the Chairmakers arms was A.H Neighbour who the authorities had already refused a transfer of the licence to. Mr Neighbour denied this..but applied for the licence anyway in August. The magistrates were not impressed and refused the application. However Mr Neighbour was a determined man and applied again, only to to be refused. (You can read about him in detail here). They noted White appeared to be one of the landlords who'd never intended to stay at the Chairmakers, and in fact his wife and children had never joined him there (assuming White himself had actually ever taken up residence himself.) White admitted he'd spent a number of nights away, and that his family did not live with him. He now said his wife had taken objection to the Chairmakers and refused to come and live there, and this was in fact the real reason he wanted to give the place up.
The town was awash with rumour that the Chairmakers might finally be breathing its last. But the brewery Fullers would not let that happen just yet. They found a man who they thought the authorities could not object to in experienced landlord and Marlow man, James Edwards of Trinity Court. (Aka Trinity Place) He was able to call several people to attest to his good character, so at last the Chairmakers had an acceptable custodian. But if the authorities breathed a sigh of relief at this, it was premature. Because just 2 years later, James Edwards was on the move again, to the Verney Arms elsewhere in Dean Street. In fact James moved around premises fairly often as a sort of "fixer" and safe pair of hands. You will find him listed under many pubs in our landlord listings which are being gradually uploaded.
This latest move was not quite to the liking of James though. The Chairmakers lease had been sold by Fuller's to Henley brewery Holmes and Harper and James had been given notice by the former. Holmes & Harper asked him to stay on as manager on a temporary basis once his notice period was up, for £1 a week. This was because, surprise surprise, they did not have someone immediately available to take over. When they did, James demanded his full notice again. The brewers disputed the need for this, tried to get him ejected and were not immediately successful. Ambrose Frith eventually took over the Chairmaker's Arms.
A CRIME AGAINST YOUNG EDITH
In 1904, the pub was the scene of a crime that gives a window into life in the area at the time. Eleven year old Edith Hillsdon (in some reports Hillsden) of Dean Street was sent by her father Joseph to sell a bag of walnuts. In doing so she called at the Chairmaker Arms. Walnut trees grew at a number of locations around town and there have been many many convictions of those allegedly trespassing to gather them, or indeed steal them. There's no suggestion Edith had got hers in any underhand way, but the crop had more value relatively speaking than would be obvious to us now. On entering the pub, Edith put the bag of walnuts down on a table and turned away for a moment to speak to the landlord. Turning back round she found them missing. A tearful Edith had then to explain to her father what had happened. A witness saw her receiving a beating for the loss. Edith managed to tell her father that she believed a drinker in the pub, William Collins, had been the one to take her bag. A furious and apparently drunk Joseph went into the Chairmakers and collared Collins, throwing him to the floor and pinning him to the ground. A passing constable heard the furore and rushed in. He conducted a search and (acting on a tip off according to some) found the bag, with just one nut in it, hidden amongst timber in the yard. Collins denied wrong doing, but was charged. He later claimed to have legitimately bought the walnuts but he could not say from whom. He was fined 10s for the offence, as it was not his first conviction.
LANDLORDS LISTING
1878- pub to let (September 14th Reading Mercury advert). Doing good trade it was said and able to sell spirits. "Chairmakers Arms Inn". A Fullers Brewery of Maidenhead pub. A Mr Cooke applied to the magistrates for the licence later that year but was refused as he could not offer sufficient testimonials as to his character.
1880 -1. John Treadwell. 2. Thomas Miles
1881 - 1. Thomas Miles 2. John Hodgkins (alt. Hodgeskins)
1884 - John Hodgkins (proposed transfer to John Windsor falls through. For more on John Windsor see the Bricklayers Arms landlords listing), Neighbour Wilcox, Thomas White, (A. Neighbour), James Edwards. (See above)
1887 - James Edwards 2. Ambrose Frith
1888 - 1. James "Jim" Stonor 2. James Millett
1889 - 1.William Brown. 2. Alfred Lee
1891 - Alfred Lee
1893 - Alfred Lee -transfers premises to William Henry Taylor (latter had been granted holdover previous year)
1894 - WHF Taylor/William Taylor 2. William Herniman
1895 -William Hernaman qv. Proposed transfer of licence back to Alfred Lee refused. Alfred would later run a grocery shop and dairy in Dean Street.
1896 - William Oliver Hernaman 2. James Cox
1897 - Fred Herniman/Hermanean (authorities don't seem to know what spelling to fix on!) James Edward gets a holdover for the premises late this year, a second stint. See above. He is the usual choice to temporarily take charge of a premises in Marlow when a landlord leaves until a permanent choice is made. As such he's served behind the bar in a large no of Marlow's pubs.
1898 - James Stroud
1903 - James Stroud
1906 - is reported to be shut up for a few weeks. James Stroud has left and a holdover was granted to James Henry Belchar.
1907 - James Belcher* Fully licenced.
1911 - James Belcher. Moved to the Carrier's Arms, Wycombe Road. More here.
1913 - Closed Permanently? Yet 1915 trade directory gives Mrs Belcher as landlady. It is common for these books to contain out of date information however.
* For more on James Belcher, see Here
Researched and written by Kathryn Day.
For similar posts look under Pub Related menu here. And to find every mention of your ancestor here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. More Dean Street content can be found on the menu under "Specific Shops, Streets ...ETC".
SOURCES
Numerous adverts, licence hearing reports, premises details, and crime reports and:
Maidenhead Advertiser,19 March, 1st October 1884, held at the British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA.
Bucks Herald, 09 February, 22 March 1884, as above.
South Bucks Standard 14th October 1892, 06 January 1893 , 04 November 1904, as above.
Kathryn's landlord listing index and Charlotte's property ownership research.
Kelly's Post Office Directory, 1903, 1907, 1920 Kellys Directories Ltd.
