Sometimes we uncover a story where the facts of the case can never tell the full story of what has happened. Or rather the reasons why events unfolded as they did. The mystery of East and Harriman (Harreman) must rank amongst these.
Robert East and Thomas Walter Harriman or "Tom", were the best of friends and business partners in Georgian Marlow. On their deaths they were said to have lived together 30 years. They ran a grocers and provision dealers in the High Street from at least 1828. In the 1833 parish assessment, they are listed in Chapel Street, a recent move as they were still in the High Street premises the year before. Five years later their address is given as Spittal Street - of which Chapel Street is a continuation and the two names are often used interchangeably for premises near the start of one and end of the other. The two men seem to have been almost universally liked and respected. Their shop wasn't the biggest in town but it was well established and outlasted many others. They were comfortable off, and must have seemed an unlikely pair to suffer the calamities that would soon come.
In 1837, Robert East was missed one morning. A search was made but he was found by accident - at the bottom of the 23 ft deep well in the yard behind his shop. Assistant John Rose had gone to fetch a bucket of water and found the well obstructed. He rushed to nearby butcher Richard Davis who was lowered down with a rope and with great difficulty recovered Robert's body. Of course, an accident was possible but those investigating his death could not understand how he had fallen down feet first. The implication was he had deliberately sat on the edge and dropped down. In cases where there was any doubt about the nature of a death, the coroner's jury would almost always decide on any verdict other than suicide. To die at your own hand in this time period was sadly not uncommon, but it carried a social stigma as it was regarded as a sin. It was decided to return a verdict of "found drowned". There was puzzlement about a motive, as the shops books showed Robert and Thomas were not in any debt or difficulty, and this was generally the assumed reason for such an act. To our eyes the fact Robert had not long before lost his wife provides a simple explanation for his depressed state. He had also reported suffering from bouts of dizziness in the week or so before. Regardless of the official verdict, Robert's death was generally described as a suicide later.
About 5 weeks later, Robert's brother William, who had lived with the pair, suffered a mental breakdown. He was described as having gone suddenly insane, and was removed to a lunatic asylum. Both men are said to have been close to poor William, and the strain of watching his disintegration must have been terrible for the survivor Thomas.
Although there were no significant shop debts to settle there were a few minor creditors to pay off, and Robert's furniture and personal possessions were auctioned off from the premises*. This wasn't uncommon, depending on the deceased will of course. But the sight of Robert's things leaving their shared home together, did not help Thomas in his grief, especially coming a few days after Williams committal to the asylum. He was described as adopting a most "desponding" manner on this day. Thomas left his home before the sale and walked towards "Deadmere" in the Marlow Fields (that is Dedmere, an area name before the development of housing in that area, Marlow Fields being the Common Fields). He was never seen alive again.
A day or so later, a young boy walking in the fields with his father saw what he thought was a figure "watching" them from a distance, sat under a tree. His father said the boy had seen nothing more than the stump of a tree and they continued on their way. However, two days later the pair walked the same way again and this time approached closer to the figure. This time there was no doubt about the sad sight before them. As the boy said "Why it is poor Tom Harriman!" Thomas was kneeling dead beneath the tree, with a cord around the branch and his neck.
The death of Thomas on top of the other two tragedies shook the town. The strangeness of the double suicide was reported nationally. The coroner's verdict this time was "temporary insanity", another dodge to avoid an outright declaration of carefully considered suicide as such. The obituaries of Thomas describe how hard he had worked, his honesty and sober nature. Perhaps he did not know how much he was respected. Probably it would have made no difference. RIP Robert and Tom.
Harriman and East as it appears in the Parish Assessment, above. Also listed as East & Harriman elsewhere.
*The final auction of stock in trade and shop fittings occured in 1838. From a description of the lots offered we can see that the two men sold tea, coffee, sugar, cheese, soap, candles, tobacco, snuff, cigars, home cured ham and bacon, vinegar (they had 40 gallons in hand!), raisins, currants, salad oils, various bottled sauces, pickles, and treacle. They had in their possession goods such as pickling tubs and salting troughs which show how much was literally prepared on the premises. And of course they had the necessary coffee bean and malt mills, weighing scales and bushel measures. The non food goods offered at this grocers were perhaps even more interesting. Hair, clothes, scrubbing and hearth brushes, carpet brooms, baskets for any number of purposes, rope mats, blacking, pattens and clogs, gunpowder and shot... The gentleman's green painted spring cart and nearly new dog cart were also auctioned off.
NB A Robert East of Great Marlow, died as a "pauper lunatic" in Mr Warburton's lunatic asylum in Bethnal Green in June 1846. He died after an attack by another inmate. He has a dedicated post here
Written and researched by Kathryn Day.
To find all mentions of your ancestors here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. If you are interested in other shops or shopkeepers, see the Specific Shops, Streets etc option on the same menu.
General History is the place to go for other posts about Georgian Marlow.
Sources include:
1833 Parish Assessment transcribed from the original notebooks in our families possession.
1824 trade directory - Thanks to Jane.
Windsor and Eton Express, 1837 and 1838.
Reading Mercury 1838, copies from British Library Archive, accessed via the BNA.
North Wales Chronicle 1837 as above
Weekly Chronicle, 24 December 1837 digitised by Google.
