The Joy And Tragedy Of The Armoury's First Year

The Armoury, or the Headquarters of the First Bucks Rifle Volunteers, Institute Rd. 

The Joy

This post is about the first year in the life of the above building. The 1st Bucks Rifle Volunteers were formed in 1859 but they did not get their permanent home and headquarters in Marlow until 1890. (The armoury when the Corps started in 1859 was at the town hall, after an initial plan to store their weapons at the police station were refused by the police due to lack of secure space.) The first stone was laid in 1889 by the Volunteer's Colonel Wethered, on a site donated by Owen Williams, along with that of the neighbouring Marlow Institute. It was built by Marlow man Young Lovell, who has left his mark all over our town!

The joint opening day of the two buildings was one of huge celebration in Marlow. Streets and buildings were garlanded with flags and bunting. Members of other Volunteer Corps travelled here by train to join a joyous parade of Corps, the Volunteer Fire Brigade and various friendly societies. Accompanied by the rifle volunteers drum and fife band, they bought things in the town centre to a standstill. They then announced their arrival at Institute Rd by sounding their bugles, although a crowd was already awaiting them. Colonel Wethered addressed the crowd from the upstairs window of the Armoury, where the orderlies room was located. He spoke of his pride of his Corp and their handsome building. 

After this, officers were allowed to show their wives and lucky guests around the new headquarters. There was of course an armoury room, fitted with new gun racks that could accommodate 180 rifles and bayonets. This included an "armourers bench" for for cleaning and repair of the rifles. Visitors could also see a display of antique guns above the fireplace and the drum captured at the siege of Sebastopol and presented to the Drum and Fife Band by Lieutenant Colonel Higginson in 1861. 

Outside, in the drill yard, the old town stocks and gaol door could be seen. These are later described as being on display at the rear of the adjacent Institute, in whose custody they were until they were passed to the town council for display on the Causeway. (They were donated to the Institute by Charles Miller Footitt.) 

The tragedy

A few months after the above happy day, drill instructor Edward Baldwin went to the Armoury and found a shocking scene. In the Armoury room itself, he discovered the prone figure of his predecessor, Sergeant John Mentor, with a loaded rifle between his knees and the end at his mouth. John had attached string to the trigger to enable himself to pull it easily. Horrified, Baldwin sprang forward and snatched the rifle away. He stopped to "admonish" John and remove the cartridge from the gun. While he did this, John ran out and was seen going towards his home a short distance away at The Limes, Glade Rd. Baldwin allowed him to go and went to fetch a policeman. Poor John arrived home and hid a letter to his wife. A short while later she saw him taking out some table knives which he told her he was going to clean. She told him they had been done, and thought he then returned them all to their case. Tragically he had not, and instead secreted a sharp pointed knife before leaving the house. He walked to the train station and was then seen walking alongside the train line towards Bourne End. Some plate layers working on the line spoke to him and he said he was going to catch a train at Bourne End. They alerted two policeman who had been sent to find Mentor. The Constables came across him standing quietly by the rail line, looking to their eyes as if he was waiting the chance to throw himself under a train. When John saw them approach, he ran towards the river.  Faced with their gaining on him, he suddenly stopped, turned, and stabbed himself in the heart, dying instantly. 

What had bought on this terrible and "determined suicide"? John had been suffering from depression since loosing his job as Instructor for the Volunteer's 15 months before, a position he had held for 10 years. He had came to the end of the period for which he had been engaged but had expected to be re -hired again as had happened before. Sadly those in charge decided not to recommend him for consideration. He took this understandably to heart, and regarded it as a dismissal. His comrades were said to be astonished when he left his role, but it was suggested that concerns had been raised about his mental health prior to his departure. His successor thought he was a little "insane" and others agreed he had taken to a rambling style of speech. His wife said he had sometimes drunk a little too much in the company of the Corps but she was firm in her statements that her husband had drank only moderately in the previous year. John had became bitter and sent long and abusive letters to those in charge of the Corps who he blamed for the loss of his role. These were read to the inquest behind closed doors along with a letter left on his body. Verdict - suicide while suffering from temporary insanity .

A short while after John's tragic end, a group of non commissioned officers and privates of the Volunteers held a meeting at the Greyhound. They decided to ask Mrs Mentor if she would allow them to erect the gravestone in his honour, at their expense. It's easy to imagine what a gesture like this might have meant to the widow. She replied that she would be glad of their kind mark of respect. Their stone is shown below. It can be found at All Saints Church. 

John Mentor

Born 2 Jan 1840 Died Nov 1896

Information on grave itself:

Colour Sergt (2nd) Batt 4th regiment. Ten years sergeant instructor 1879-1889 to Marlow Company of 1st Bucks R.V.C who erected the stone. 

Also of Eliza his wife, died Jul 31st 1910 age 62 years (Lizzie)

     

Notes. 

John is also described as a former "orderly room sergeant". He was the secretary of the St. John's Ambulance association in Marlow. 

The Armoury was later used as the Recruiting Committee Office in the First World War, open each evening 6-9pm. 

Related Posts:

Info about the neighbouring Institute (now Marlow library) here

Biography of Drill Instructor Columbine here

The Volunteer camps in Marlow and at Danesfield in the 1860s here

To find other posts about everyday life in old Marlow see the list here. To find every mention of your ancestor here, use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. 

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

©MarlowAncestors

Selected sources: 

South Bucks Standard - 18 September & 28 November 1890, copies from the British Library and accessed via the BNA

Bucks Herald 20 November , 6 & 27 December 1890, as above.

Maidenhead Advertiser 24 September 1890, as above

Reading Observer 29 November 1890, as above

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News - 29 November 1890

Bucks Examiner 3 December 1890 as above

Berkshire Chronicle 3rd December 1859, 29 November 1890, as above.

Aldershot Military Gazette - 15 November 1890 - as above

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer, Slough reference library. December 6 1890. 

Census 1881,1891 - transcripts by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger.