If you had strolled up the relative quiet of Little Marlow Road in Marlow in the 1850s, you might have heard the sonorous voice of James Columbine drilling the young boys of Prospect House Academy, extolling them to keep perfect time and co ordination. This was a boarding school for young gentleman offering a mixture of classical and commercial education. It was located in the now demolished Prospect House at the junction of Wycombe and Little Marlow roads, close to where the Plough pub would be. It was not therefore a military school but they boasted a drill master nonetheless, stressing in their advertising that James Columbine was a proper military man. And as a former Colour Sergeant or Pay Sergeant in the Grenadier Guards, that's exactly what James was. It was fashionable for private schools for boys to offer military drill exercises to develop mental and physical discipline..or so they hoped. Borlase at Marlow would also offer one later on. At Prospect House under then proprietor Thomas Mathew, the curriculum was flexible and the boys families could opt their sons in or out of numerous subjects, of which drill was one. Those that did take part paid an extra fee on top of the general school fees. James remained in his role at the school for about a decade accompanying the school when it moved to the considerably more grand and spacious premises of Marlow Place. You can read more about this school in the posts linked to below.
James and wife Ann (nee Miller, married Windsor 1843) were not living in at the school. They lived in West Street, in Albion House (part of Shelley Cottages) and part of the then subdivided property leased in an earlier time by the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his family. It was a home normally leased by reasonably well off citizens of Marlow. Next door, and still part of Shelley's original home was however a little beer house known then as the Bonnet o' Blue and later the Royal Standard. Marlow streets were often then more mixed in their character.
When not putting the lads of the Marlow Academy through their paces, James could be seen drilling the adult men of Marlow who were a member of the 1st Bucks Volunteers. He had joined them as soon as they were established in 1859. He took part in all their encampments - often held along the river opposite Quarry Woods. There was another Columbine to be found frequently mentioned in the records of the Volunteers. James had a son, James William, who was believed to be the youngest member of any of the Volunteers in Bucks, at 16. He was an excellent shot and caused quite a sensation by winning the 1860 Bucks Volunteers shooting competition at that age, naturally beating the numerous more experienced contestants. He was greeted on his return to Marlow by a jubilant crowd who hoisted young James on their shoulders, cup and all and paraded him around the streets to much cheering and throwing up of hats. The cup was "christened" by 2 bottles of sherry provided by Benjamin Atkinson, 3 bottles of port (Ensign Wethered) 2 bottles of champagne (Owen Wethered) and 2 quarts of sherry (Private Habgood). Let's hope James junior was safely off shoulder by the time his entourage had sampled all that!
But neither of these roles was actually the main job of James. He arrived in Marlow around 1852 - he is recorded as a pay sergeant at the St Georges Barracks in Windsor the previous year. (James was not a Marlow born man, he was from Southampton, his wife was born on the Isle Of Wight and son number two Robert was christened in Winchester in 1847.) Almost immediately he began acting as a house agent, that is someone organising the sale and rental of homes and businesses. If you wished to view a house that was to be sold at auction, you could call on James who might show you the property himself. Otherwise he would hand you a "card" which you could present at the advertised house in order to gain admission as a serious potential buyer. Among the houses whose sale or rent he was involved in was other parts of Shelley Cottages, and The Cottage off Oxford Rd (later known as Quoitings).
Soon after he was working as the agent for the Marlow portion of the Harleyford Estate of Sir William Clayton. In fact securing this role may be the reason for his move to Marlow in particular. He is also listed in commercial directories as a rent collector (not just on behalf of the Harleyford Estate), a job often running in hand with that of house and land agent. Naturally this sometimes involved James in court cases relating to unpaid rents and proposed evictions. A difficult and sometimes contentious job but obituaries of James stress his "straightforward honesty of purpose" and integrity. If you were unfortunate enough to be behind in your rent, you could have done worse than have James manage your case it seems. James also collected money for charities supported by the Clayton's such the London based Destitute Children's Dinner Fund.
James and wife Ann (nee Miller, married 1843) had their only daughter Mary Ann/Marian in Marlow. Son Robert at 14 was living at Danesfield in 1861, working as a gardeners apprentice on the large estate there. (Later he would also join the army, eventually settling in Yorkshire.) The family lived at Albion House for something like 25 years, sometimes with a live in servant. (In 1871 it's 14 year old Elizabeth Collins) The end came suddenly with the sad and unexpected death of James at home in April 1878 age 67. The grief felt locally and his involvement in the Volunteers meant his funeral was a big affair. It was decided after an "earnest request" from the men and officers of the Volunteers that the the funeral should be conducted on a "strict military model". This meant the coffin was born by the Volunteers in parade and it was attended by a vast number of Volunteers members from all over Buckinghamshire. The Bucks Herald paid tribute to the "gallant" James who had won "the good will of all". They described that whatever job James set his mind to, he devoted himself to with energy. They added that the "fine stalwart" set an example that carried a well deserved influence with all ranks.
Widow Ann died age 66 in 1884. (In Acton where her son engineer James William lived. Daughter Mary Ann/Marian had married John Frederick Bennett of Surbiton, at Marlow in 1869.)
Researched and written by Kathryn Day.
Related Posts:
Other residents/uses of Albion House : here
Life of another Marlow drill instructor for the Bucks Volunteers - here (contains distressing information)
Military related posts: here
Prospect House School: here List of 72 Marlow schools of the past here
Everyday life in Great Marlow at the time the Columbine family lived here: here
To find all mentions of an individual here use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.
SOURCES INCLUDE:
Kellys Directory of Buckinghamshire 1869. (Kelly's Directory Ltd)
Dutton,Allen & Co Commercial Directory 1863.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Women_Families_and_the_British_Army_1700.html?id=sdHVDwAAQBAJ
Census 1841,51,61,71 : transcripts from microfilm by Charlotte, and Jane Pullinger.
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NYY9-LBQ : 19 September 2020), James Columbine in entry for James William Columbine, 1844.
Bucks Advertiser 27 April 1878 and Bucks Herald 25 June 1853, 11 June 1857, 20 April 1878, 06 December 1884.
Windsor and Eton Express 3 December 1859.
Reading Mercury 25 March 1854, 20 October 1860
James Columbine, 1843; "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1843, quarter 4, vol. 6, p. 519, Windsor, Berkshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
James Columbine, 1843; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1843, quarter 2, vol. 3, p. 47, Chelsea, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
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