Written and researched by Charlotte Day.
Sarah Bliss Hammond lived at the above house in West Street, Great Marlow for many years. At that time it was named The Heathers and had formerly been used as both a school and private residence. Sarah was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Bliss Barrett [Elizabeth née Waters]. She was born in 1828 and baptised in 1831 in Moulton Northamptonshire. Her father was a miller and coal merchant. Her mother died prior to her daughter's baptism at the age of just 27. Sarah was baptised on the same day as another child to the same parents, Elizabeth but given the fact that Sarah was a late baptism there is no reason to think that the two girls were twins.
It looks as if the girls' father had some financial difficulties. In 1830 he took a partner into his business, William Wood, but the partnership lasted only a matter of weeks before being legally dissolved. Two years later William was selling up much of his household furniture. What happened to him I am unsure- there is a possible death in 1841- but regardless Sarah was adopted by her uncle Daniel Sharp.
She married her husband Robert Hammond in Cheltenham on 18th November 1848. Her uncle Revd H Barrett was allowed to perform the ceremony though he was not the local vicar, in a traditional mark of courtesy. The wedding announcement tells us that Sarah was also the niece and adopted child of Dr S Sharp esq of Keynsham Bank, Cheltenham.
Robert was a Navy man and a local.J.P. He had been born in Penshurst Kent where his father Jonathan was the vicar but the Hammond family were of Marlow origin and owned Marlow property. In a will written 1818 and proved 1819 Jonathan had left The Heathers to Robert along with two neighbouring cottages and other Marlow property and land. Robert intended to follow a long navy career but the unexpected death of three older brothers meant fate had other ideas and he was required to take over the management of the family estates on his father's death. He was perhaps as strong willed and stubborn as his wife according to later reminisces, or as the local paper diplomatically put it, he was a "straightforward, outspoken man".
By 1850 if not right away Sarah and Robert had settled at The Heathers. They took time to re-decorate and modernise the house. A painter at work there had a narrow escape in 1850 when, during a lightning storm, a fireball knocked down the chimney and travelled down it, through the flue and out into the hall where he was working. It missed him by a foot. The local paper bemoaned the loss of one of the "highly decorative chimneys".
In 1853 Sarah gave birth to their daughter Eliza at the house followed in 1855 by a son Robert. Just a few months later her husband died. He was just 56. Eliza too would die young, in 1875.
Peter Borgnis of the house Highfields in Marlow was one of the guardians appointed for the children in the will of Robert, which he also executed.
When her son was 4 Sarah formally changed his last name to Hammond Chambers to meet a condition of inheritance set out in the will of the child's great aunt Elizabeth Sparrow, formerly Chambers.
In 1860 while she was attending church Sarah's silk umbrella was stolen by Ellen Gibbons. Rosa Cannon had her own silk umbrella stolen at the same time by a different girl in what was obviously a jointly planned theft. You weren't safe from thieves even in church in Victorian Marlow!
In 1868 Sarah had a serious falling out with her neighbours the Fowlers of Western House. Two years previously she had decided to create herself a kitchen garden. She negotiated the giving up of some extra land which the tenants of Western House rented from her. This land was used for farming purposes being part of a rickyard with also pigsties and other outbuildings upon it. By enclosing this kitchen garden and also adding a front wall to her property she cut off sufficient access for herself to the garden for her dung cart. She believed that no one would object to her coming in with the cart across other land occupied by the tenants of Western House. She was wrong. Western House got new tenants the Fowlers. Words ensued. Sarah at first acknowledged that she had no right of way but said she would take it as a kindness if she could have occasional cart access across the land in order to get to her garden. She thought the Fowlers had not behaved well by complaining but did not wish to argue with them as one of the Fowlers was dangerously ill at the time. After a while matters soured further however. I won't go into all the tiny details but to summarise Sarah came to believe upon legal advice that she did in fact have a protected right of way through the land.
The Fowlers disagreed. Charles Fowler, son of the tenant Maria Fowler, paid a carpenter to erect a wooden barricade on their land to stop Sarah's cart from using it. Sarah demolished said barricade (herself apparently!) and carried on. The Fowlers began legal action.
The judge felt unimpressed by both parties calling them ridiculous and petty for arguing over a 15 yard strip of land. He awarded the Fowlers damages for the destroyed barricade but advised the parties to settle the access matter out of court instead of wasting his time. It does look as if that is what happened. I have a feeling Sarah's slowness to erect a new barn as promised on the land rented to the Fowlers was the real cause of them deciding to object to her continued access to her garden across their property. Sarah had also been petty about them having stacks of wood on their land visible from her house.
The case is interesting because it shows us that there were two sides to Sarah- the genteel lady taking a silk umbrella to church and the other lady who'll tear down your barricade if you stop her dung cart!
This was not Sarah's first brush with the law when it came to defending her property, or so she saw it. In 1862 she had been in a long running dispute with Lieut General Higginson of the neighbouring The Croft (Gyldernscroft). This related to a right of way she claimed through Higginson's land. One day Higginson's staff put some posts in this path to stop animals straying. Mrs Hammond objected and immediately sent her family servant of over 30 years standing William Bradshaw* and her woodman Richard Holloway to remove the posts. The Higginsons put them back. And yes, you guessed it, Sarah's servants removed them again. They were spotted in the act by Higginson's employee Thomas Harris who threatened the digging pair with a pitchfork which he said he would plunge into their hearts! He actually lunged at them with the fork, knocked down Bradshaw, and grazed the wrist of Holloway who grabbed at the fork to save a prone Bradshaw from being stabbed. Harris was summoned for assault but it could not be proved that there had been any injury, there being no outside witnesses, and the case was dismissed. The lawyer for the defence suggested that "rich people should take such cases to the assizes and not send their servants to fight their battles". Harris was also cautioned not to fight on behalf of his master again.
Not long after he turned 21 Sarah's son Robert bought Beech Lodge not far from Highfields and decided to rebuild it. He is described as resident at the Heathers however in 1882. He was a barrister at law.
Sarah remained at the Heathers.
In 1894 a fire in some outbuildings (reports differ as to exactly which) threatened not only Sarah's home but nearby properties too. Though some damage was done the fire brigade had the flames under control before anything serious could occur. Sarah wrote a warm letter to the South Bucks Standard afterwards to offer her thanks and to praise to the skill and intelligence of the firefighters. She also wished to give "sincere and hearty thanks" to all other "kind friends" who had stepped in to help at that time.
Two years later at the age of 68 Sarah died at the Heathers after some months in decline. The property was sold by the family in 1908 following the death of her son Robert. She was buried with her husband and daughter in All Saints churchyard.
NB Stratton House was referred to as "formerly known as The Heathers" several times especially around 1909-1910 although the adjacent Stratton House / The Strattens qv was used as an address in its own right earlier than that.
*William Bradshaw was famous in Marlow for his stories of selling milk from the cows belonging to the Hammond's to the poet Shelley while he stayed in West Street. The Shelleys were apparently regular customers of his. William would not hear of criticism of Shelley or his morals. The poet was he said, "a sight better than a good many who spoke agen' him", with a polite manner and no hint of snobbery.
Photo by Kathryn. Post researched and written by Charlotte Day, with updates by Kathryn.
For more posts like this see Biographies Of Individuals on the menu. For more on residents of specific Marlow houses or streets see the menu option "Specific Shops, Streets ...Etc".
All mentions of an individual on this blog can be found on the Person Index. Hundreds of people from or associated with Marlow are mentioned.
©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here.
Sources:
Wills of Jonathan Hammond and Robert Hammond, transcribed by me from wills held at the National Archives, Kew.
Censuses my transcription from microfilm. Census information remains Crown copyright.
South Bucks Standard 23rd November 1894. South Bucks Free Press 14th June 1860. St James Chronicle 21st November 1848. Bucks Gazette 25 November 1848, British Library Archives.
Dutton, Allen and Co's Directory 1863.
Royal and Commercial Directory of Beds, Bucks etc by J.G Harrod and Co 1876.
Post Office Directory 1869 by Kelly's Directories Limited.
Inns of Court Calendar 1877 by Charles Shaw. Digitized by Google.
Moulton baptism from Jane Pullinger. Thanks Jane.
The Gentleman's Magazine, February 1848. Digitised by Google.
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