Long clothes and ribbons do not always mix well with open fires and candles. But our ancestors had no choice but to use what to us seems risky forms of heating and lighting around small children or the infirm. From researching the lives and deaths of many hundreds of Marlow citizens of old, we know how often accidents occured. This post is dedicated to telling the story of some of them, but be warned, it is sad reading.
Deaths of babies and children whose bed linen or more often clothing had come in contact with an unguarded candle or a fire spark were sadly the most common. In December 1892, 5 year old Annie Katie Leach of Wood End accompanied her mother Mary Ann and her little brother stone picking in the fields. Her father Jesse worked as a cowman for Mr Field at Wood End. It rained and was freezing cold, so Mary Ann let the children go home ahead of her to their cottage. The boy still felt cold inside, so tragically Annie decided to try and light a fire to warm him. It was not something she was generally allowed to do and there was no fuel in the grate. So she used her initiative and tried to use a little wooden toy horse in the fireplace. She had found some matches which it is believed her father had accidentally left out earlier. Seconds later screams were heard and Annie come running out of the cottage, her clothes ablaze. Neighbour George Low heard her shouting for her "mammy" and managed to catch the running girl and beat out the flames. He ran to collect her Dad and Mum. Little Annie was severely burned but managed to say "Mammy don't hit me, I won't do it again, I was lighting the fire". The adults wrapped her in vaseline coated linen strips and Mr Field came with his cart to take the girl to the Marlow Cottage Hospital in Cambridge Road. But her injuries were so severe she died the same day.
An adult who suffered a similar accident was "fancy goods" and toy dealer Hannah Bliz(z)ard. Hannah was a 70 year old spinster, but one who was shortly due to marry - possibly. More of which in a moment! She had lived in Marlow 23 years. Her premises were in the building now occupied by Sainsburys in West Street, which at the time was divided into small shops of which Hannah eventually occupied the next but one to where the Giggling Squid restaurant is now, which then was the Sadlers Arms pub. In June 1896 Hannah was cooking potatoes for her dinner on a small portable or "bargemans" stove in the living room behind the shop. She later said she had been attempting to stir up the fire when her apron caught the flame. She attempted to beat it out with a "chip of wood" which did not succeed. She had then ran screaming into the Sadlers Arms adjacent, where John Adams who occupied the shop next door (see note below) and a youth passing in the street rushed to her aid. They did the best to put the flames out quickly and took her to the Cottage Hospital in Cambridge Rd. But sadly Hannah died. She had been suffering from poor health previously, and had had a paralytic stroke some time before the accident. She seems to have been regarded as tough, stubborn and independent and had resisted attempts by friends to get her to avoid using the stove amongst other things. At her inquest it was said she had been shortly due to marry. However Hannah's nephew Richard Truckell of Rotherhithe strongly denied this and while he admitted banns had been published to this effect, he believed this was against her will. Contemporary accounts are careful to avoid naming the prospective groom, especially given they were hinting at some kind of fraudulent intent on his behalf. Hannah left her business to her family, with niece Ruth North taking over, so any attempts to gain an inheritance by marriage were thwarted. On the other hand, Hannah was known to do her own thing so perhaps a late marriage was something she did not involve her nephew or others in, hence their surprise to hear of it later. You can see Hannah's grave here. Hannah's executors gave a gift of toys and coffee in her honour to the Marlow Cottage Hospital. Such gifts were the life blood of the perennially cash poor hospital and were very gratefully received.
Last mention goes to Mary Edwards, who was killed by fire in 1838. While in a "state of intoxication" poor Mary fell asleep with a pipe in her mouth, which fell into her lap, and set her clothes aflame. Severely injured, Mary lingered for a few days before succumbing to her burns. The inquest was held at the Greyhound. (It was not as unusual as you may think for working class women in Marlow to smoke pipes. I have spoken to someone who remembers walking up Chapel Street in the late 1920's as a young boy, past pipe smoking women sitting in their cottage doorways while working on things like sewing or the podding of peas! He associated it mainly with older women at the time)
Note 1
Hannah had taken over the fancy goods, toys and sweets half of neighbouring shopkeeper John Adams. John occupied the little shop immediately next to the Sadlers Arms as a stationer/newsagent. He had originally expanded into toy and novelty sales, taking on the second shop that Hannah would occupy later. He operated both as a bazaar for a while before financial ups and downs meant he had to split the business and pass the toy shop on to Hannah. He was found dead in his back of shop living room about 6 months after Hannah's terrible accident. He was 70.
Related Posts:
To find every mention of your ancestor here use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu.
Hannah's grave here
Ruth North toy dealer here
John Adams toyseller here
Patients treated at the first Cottage Hospital here
Other medical related posts can be found in medical section of this index here including the history of the Cottage Hospital and what it was like for patients.
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