Mary English was nee Sneath, the third daughter of prominent Marlow surgeon and apothecary William Sneath and his wife Elizabeth. Her father was in partnership with George Trash for some time, the two working out of William's home. After William's death, George continued the practice, eventually moving it to his own home. Mary was therefore a member of a respected and comfortably off family. But even so, her life was touched by much sorrow.
William Sneath would have had a room at home set up as a surgery in the most literal sense, and reports suggest that a room also functioned as the apothecary shop. Surgeon and apothecary was the usual pairing of roles in the Georgian era - for more how this worked in practice see our post Call the Apothecary here. Her mother ran a boarding school for young ladies from their home too, a common "respectable" occupation for genteel ladies to take up for extra income. Some of these schools took just a handful of pupils - most in Marlow were of this type.
Young Mary was bought up to attend the parish church, but later became a non conformist. Religion featured heavily in her life, and was it seems both the cause and solace of many of her sorrows. As a young girl, she is said to have been affected by the death of a sister who on her death bed exhorted Mary to be mindful of the scriptures. This sister cautioned 12 year old Mary against novel reading in particular. This may seem an innocent occupation to warn against, but it was not uncommon for it to be considered "unsafe" for young women who it was feared could get "ideas" or become over excited. Others approached novel reading as just an indulgence and waste of time that could be better spent on more improving pursuits such as Bible reading. Still others thought it would make girls look less attractive (hunched shoulders!) or would hurt their eyesight. There were a number of booksellers in Marlow High Street that the Sneath girls could be tempted by. These operated as circulating libraries too, and were open for borrowing by members who paid a subscription. One advertised that all the books he offered had been personally approved as suitable for young women by the vicar! This attitude lingered a long time, and was one of the reasons that when Marlow got its first literary Institute with library, so few of those who borrowed books were female. It does not seem little Mary needed much warning however. A later "memoir" written about Mary described her as a child with "uncorrupted morals" and a mild character.
Later curiosity led Mary to attend the services of some evangelical and independent ministers, principally Rowland Hill who was visiting Wooburn in 1774. Rowland is an interesting man in his own right, a famous preacher in his day. He was an advocate for the smallpox vaccine amongst other things His arrival was likely to have attracted lots of those wanting to see a well known speaker in person but in Mary's case, his words were said to have struck a chord. He remained in contact with her ever after. It is likely that Mary attended Marlow's own Salem Chapel at this time. In any case she came in contact with non conformists and Quakers, and through the former she met her future husband pastor Thomas English.
Thomas was born in 1751 in Oxford, to a family of worshippers at the established church. He also counted his transference to the non conformist community to the experience of hearing a preacher who struck a spiritual cord with him. In his case he was just 14, and sent to live in London to learn a trade. It was later said the young Thomas had experienced physical, emotional and verbal abuse from the family he lodged with at this time. They found his new found piety a source of amusement and an excuse to ridicule him. But he succeeded in becoming ordained in 1775, the same year he married his first wife Susannah Evans. After serving in a number of locations, Thomas & Susannah moved from Gosport in Hampshire to Wooburn. But within weeks tragedy struck, and Susannah died.
Thomas would go on to marry our Mary Sneath in 1779. Of the couple's 5 children, only two Eliza/Elizabeth and Thomas, survived their mother. Two of the lost children died within days of each other, one while the funeral of the first was ongoing. This terrible loss was difficult for Mary to recover from. "Her countenance very strongly depicted the most affecting expressions of grief." The children had suffered painful lingering deaths, and Mary's faith was tested. She began to question if she had missed something in their care that may have made the difference between life and death. There was nothing any could do, but the poor mother could not rest. It was said that she couldn't stay quiet for long before breaking out in fresh remembrance of the children's suffering. The force of her "accumulated distress" was causing a nervous collapse as they termed it. It seems that Mary's voicing of her anger at God and fear that she was being punished for some unknown sin, was believed by some to be the voice of the devil speaking through her. And Mary began to believe the same. She is said to believe the devil had bargained for her soul, and that God was too disappointed in her to claim it back. It sounds as though she suffered a total mental collapse. Afraid to receive sacrament in case it prompted a "satanic assault", Mary must have been terrified. Poor Thomas did what he could for her, and she also befriended a group of Quakers in Maidenhead who were said to give her some comfort. At last Mary regained enough strength to travel to Brighton to take the sea air and waters. It was a fashionable place for invalids to go although the future city was nothing like the size it is now. The sea cure certainly worked its charm on Mary, and after some time she was able to return home. Of course, such grief as she had experienced as well as her spiritual trauma, could not really disappear overnight, and she continued to suffer some episodes of acute mental distress. But at least she enjoyed one period of "sweet serenity of mind".
Mary died on the 2nd October 1794. She caught a cold (as they thought it) during a visit to Bristol with her husband. This affected her severely and she scarcely made it home. She never recovered, suffering a broken blood vessel and then a painful final illness. Thomas was said to leave her side as little as possible and he was there, along with her sister, when she finally went to her rest.
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Her mother Elizabeth's will was published on this blog here. Elizabeth was nee Webb - more about her family here.
Mary's sister Sarah's will is on the blog here
To find all mention of your ancestors here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.
More Marlow church, chapel religious history content can be found on the menu under Church Related.
Written and researched by Kathryn Day.
©Marlow Ancestors.
Sources include:
The Evangelical Magazine, May 1795.
Christian Herald, June 19 1815 - digitised by Google.
Memoir of Rev Thomas English, digitised by Google.
The Annual Register (Longman, Green 1801)
