This post is about one of Marlow's men who left our town for America in the late 1840's. Charles Susan is long dead to us now, so it's hard to think of him as a passionate and radical young man dreaming of a new life abroad but that's who he was. The Charles we feature today was born circa 1808, to another Charles Susan. Charles senior was a respectable clothes dealer and pawn broker in the High Street. This older Charles mainly sold second hand clothes rather than making them up himself. Used clothes retained value in the past when not everyone could afford new ones. Clothing was therefore also one of the items you could pawn in his shop. The very poorest had few if any spare outfits to offer and what they did have was probably of too poor a condition to be worth much. But reports suggest that items like "Sunday best" outfits were a favourite item to offer, as well as seasonal items like coats and jackets with the hope they would be redeemed back by the time they were next needed. Charles senior was also the agent for Burrows shoes, mostly hand made by workers in Marlow and Cookham, as was the younger Charles in time. (More of this forgotten but huge scale local employer in the future!)
Our Charles however principally acted as a grocer, with a sideline in pawnbroking. At first he was trading in Spittal Street, (sometimes given as Chapel Street, the two roads run into one another) but in 1839 he took over the premises of Mr Richard Grinstead in the High Street. As such he sold off all the shop fittings of his old business. The description of this gives us a lovely glimpse into the interior of his shop before the era of photographs. He had two shop counters, each 13 ft long, the best one made of mahogany, the other of deal. There were also nests of 16 & 18 drawers, painted shelves, sets of weights and scales, a lamp and 12 large cannisters. As was usual at the time, Charles lived in the same premises he traded from and when he moved, he decided to take on most of the furniture belonging to the living quarters of his new shop. So he sold off his Spittal Street household goods at the same time. Therefore we can snoop amongst his belongings offered at auction. He had a comfortable range of fashionable items, mostly made of mahogany and walnut, such as card tables and glass fronted bookcases. And of course he also shed some practical items such as "night commodes"!
Both generations of Charles Susan seem to have identified as radicals and liberals politically. This was somewhat brave in Marlow as it was opposite to the interests of the principal landlords the Williams family, who were frequently accused of evicting and bullying tenants who voted against them. Marlow elections tend to always involve accusations of bribery and corruption, and a number of results were contested. Supporters of the radicals said they often met people who expressed a wish to vote for them but said they were too afraid to do so. Therefore those men who did make a vote against the Williams were called brave and independent. In 1835 Charles Susan junior is listed amongst those. He was later described as a fierce radical. He wrote letters to the local press criticising the intimidation and bullying that went with 1830s and 40s elections in Marlow. His critics accused him of putting his name to letters dictated by others but there is no doubt they expressed the beliefs Charles himself had.
In 1841 Charles is mentioned in the press as one of those bringing a petition to the two then MPs. This, signed by 400 residents was against the "oppressive" Poor Law which had expanded the work house system. It was reported that Sir William Clayton of Harleyford recieved the deputation with courtesy but refused to present the petition on their behalf to parliament. The other M P, Colonel Williams, did however present it. It was bundled with some others that requested the new poor laws to put aside altogether in favour of resuming the old. The Marlow petitioners said they in fact didn't want the old equally unfortunate old system back, but to adapt the new to be fairer and kinder. Charles subsequently wrote to the press to deny that Clayton had refused to take their petition - he said they'd never asked him to, as Williams had already consented to do so. They merely asked him to support it, which he said he wouldn't do.
Even the voting for elected parish positions was subject to accusations of voter intimidation by candidates regarded as followers of one camp or another. Charles stood for various positions and succeeded in becoming an overseer of the poor, in an election that stood out for the precautions taken against voter interference - according to the supporters of those that won.
Both Charles and his father were members of the Salem Chapel, the dissenting or non conformist chapel in town. This is now Christchurch URC, Oxford Road. The Salem minister Rev Thomas Styles shared their political views and also publicly voted against the Williams. A number of his congregation did the same. More about the controversial minister here.
Charles Junior may have dreamed and saved for his new life abroad for a long time. He married in Marlow to Esther, who according to later reminisces was the wealthy young widow of Daniel Humphrey. Charles' eldest son was born in Great Marlow in 1840, and was also named Charles. In around 1849 the Susan family made their move across the ocean to America, at the same time as a couple of other Marlow tradesmen including Susan's brother in law. Like many, they bought land and attempted to make their way by farming. Wisconsin was their destination and it seemed they made a great success of it - eventually. Interestingly, in the 1890's a dormant bank account under the name of Charles Susan in Wisconsin was amongst those old deposits whose existence was publicised in the press. A deposit had been made in the 1840's shortly after our Charles arrived in America but never claimed thereafter. The youngest Charles, who had came to America as a little boy with his parents, thought this money had been his father's. He made a claim for it, but there were others who claimed to be the rightful heirs of the Charles Susan. The trouble was finding out which Mr Susan had really left the money. I don't know if he was ever successful in his claim.
Notes:
The very youngest Charles born 1840 in Marlow, was at this point an Archdeacon in Portage, Wisconsin. He died in 1898 after a short illness when he held the position of Archdeacon in Milwaukee diocese and chaplain to St Marks Hospital in Chicago. (It was reported that Charles senior had also changed his denomination from non conformity.) Charles junior earlier in life joined a Volunteer regiment and fought in the Civil War, before taking up farming and eventually seeking ordination.
To find all mentions of your ancestors here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. Other shopkeeper biographies can be found under the Specific Shops, Streets etc option on the same menu.
Related posts
1847 election riots - Charles appears in this post here
1880's election riots here
The election bribery case involving Jason Povey here
To find other posts about life in old Marlow when your family lived here see this index here
Sources include
1833 Parish assessment, original notebooks held by our family.
South Bucks Standard 30 August 1895, British Library Archive, accessed via the BNA.
Bucks Herald 10 & 17th April 1841, as above.
Weekly True Sun paper Jan 1835.
Census 1841, Charlotte's transcription from microfilm.
List of voters for independence and liberty, Great Marlow Elections, 1835.