York Road was officially adopted as a name for this new road in December 1884. There were a few houses already there which went by the name of York Villas so the new name made sense. York Road was one of the earliest streets in the town laid out with all properties having running water available.
Despite this foresight the street was not favoured with universally high standards of building. Serious concerns about the structural integrity of some of the houses (which ones not specified) soon occurred. Their owners on pain of the houses being condemned to demolition otherwise were forced by local authorities to carry out remedial work. Jerry building was very common in late Victorian times in the rush to build enough new homes. Properties in nearby Eton Place and Queens Road built around the same time were also problematic with some being pulled down scarcely a generation after being put up due to low quality workmanship. The remedial builders in York Road thankfully did an excellent job and we still have this attractive street in the town today.
Most of the early development seems to have been on the Dean Street side. The land in both sides had previously been in agricultural use. Though mostly residential there was also space in York Road for some businesses. Thomas Lomax ran a flour, coal and petrol dealership there in the late 1880s and there were two marine store dealers too. These had nothing to do with marine occupations despite the name. They were second hand sellers which dealt with goods primarily of interest to trade and business buyers- old pipes, nails, rope, agricultural implements, hand tools, barrels, timber etc. Some marine store dealers had shops but many like the York Road ones traded simply out of sheds and open yards. Daniel Clark's premises seem to have been at the Queen's Road end on the Oxford Road side. Though marine store keepers had to be licensed it was seen as a low class and slightly suspicious occupation. Many operated close to the edges of the law or beyond them. Daniel Clark, in York Road by 1891 and for many years later, was certainly a ne'er do well, pulling dodgy deals and, much worse, ill using both his horse and his wife Annie. She successfully applied for a separation order from him in 1908 after years of cruelty, seemingly fueled by alcohol. She later returned to him.
His proper name was Cooper Daniel Clark.
In 1917 Daniel and Annie, given as residing at number 19 York Road, received news that their two sons, previously listed as missing after "the fight for Kut" in January were now regarded as both presumed killed in action. These were Private S and Private Harold Clark, 4th Hampshire Regiment [Sidney born 1892 and Harold 1895]*
The couple's daughter Lydia was a cook but also helped her father out in his business, sometimes driving his "van" (horse drawn) though not without some brushes with the law as a result.
In 1920 Daniel's marine stores were said to be at no 21.
The other late Victorian marine store dealer of York Road was the apparently respectable Mr Simmonds. He dealt hay and straw from the address too but while he had his sheds in the road he himself lived in nearby Dean Street.
What about other occupations?
In the male residents there was a noticeable number of gardeners mentioned in various records, mostly domestic but there were commercial market gardens off nearby Queen's Road that also would have potentially employed some of them.
Charles Sellman was an Edwardian and 1920s painter and decorator resident at no 20.
As for the women, Gertrude Sherwin was a dressmaker there in 1915. The same occupation was followed by Florence Sellman, daughter of Charles above. To read more about midwife Sarah Ann Price of number 7 York Road in the early 1900s see this post dedicated to her.
As you can see most of the first residents of York Road were working class but there were a few with more money to burn. When resident of Merton Cottage York Road Mary Plaistowe died in 1892 the contents of her home were auctioned off giving us via a report of this in the South Bucks Standard of 19th February 1892 [via the BNA / British Library Collaboration] a glimpse into her comfortable home. Mary could boast a marble topped wash stand, multiple pieces of mahogany furniture, a good pianoforte and a harmonium. She must have enjoyed games as she had a loo table (for the card game loo) and a bagatelle board too. She was probably the only York Road resident with buffalo horns on the wall but there were possibly others displaying that staple of Victorian interior design - a case of stuffed birds.
Mary was the widow of Richard and had moved to the town from Great Missenden.
Post researched and written by Charlotte Day with photos by Kathryn Day.
To find posts dedicated to other specific streets or houses in Marlow see on the menu under "Specific Shops, Streets...Etc". All mentions of an individual on the blog can be found listed on the Person Index.
*posts on Marlow in World War One
©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse this information for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.
Other Sources included:
Census, Charlotte's transcription from microfilm.
Marlow Almanack and Directory 1907 by Marlow Printing Company.
Kellys Directories of Bucks etc published by Kelly's Directories Limited 1911, 1915.
Maidenhead Advertiser 24th December 1884, held at the British Library and accessed via the BNA, October 2020.
Thanks to Jane Pullinger for access to private family material.
