In 1864, an event happened in Great Marlow that drew a crowd of an estimated 4-5000 thousand souls. The entire town came to a halt, with shops and schools closed. Triumphant arches were erected for this great occasion. Visitors came in from far afield and the bridge was so full traffic could not pass. The man responsible for this excitement, was a certain Mr Harding.
Richard Harding was born in the High Street Marlow in approximately 1821*. He was a well liked and respectable tradesman, married to Amelia. He was also a man with a big dream and buckets of determination. For Richard decided he was going to build a luxurious 60ft long pleasure barge capable of carrying a couple of hundred people in a style rarely seen on the Thames. There might be nothing extraordinary in that if Richard had had a boat yard or special equipment or perhaps some experience in building a vessel like this. He in fact had neither, nor did he have any staff to assist him. But he did have a large garden, at the rear of his High Street home and it's there he set to work in 1862..
Richard was a cabinet maker and upholsterer by trade, as well as a bird preserver (taxidermist) according to some sources. He clearly therefore knew how to handle wood. He had tinkered with making skiffs before more of less as a hobby. He completed several which were regarded as well made. In a riverside town like Marlow, a shoddy boat builder would soon be found out! He went straight from constructing them to making the pleasure barge which was to his own design. Did he consult a professional like Marlow's James Haynes for advice perhaps? We will never know. Mr Harding's marvel would be known as The Star of The Thames.
Richards experience as an upholsterer would also be useful for the fitting out of the interior. We know the barge had a 22 window saloon capable of holding 100 diners with ease. Overall it could apparently carry at least 200 passengers (300 according to one source). The colour scheme was crimson and gold, and it was said to be finished to a very high standard. There was a upper deck surrounded by iron railings and room on both the front and back for seating.
The back garden build took two years. In the spring of 1864, Richard must have begun to think of the launch. How he planned originally to get the boat from his garden to the river is not absolutely clear. He could not obviously take it through the front door. The garden was entirely walled in with no significant back entrance so there was no hope of release there either. I only know that Richard's garden wall was demolished and the vessel dragged towards Portland Alley, which ran behind his garden. They could not knock down the alley wall as Richard did not own it, so they decided to lift it over the brickwork. How I have no idea. I am puzzled as to what they planned to do then, as the 13ft wide vessel could not surely fit easily in the alley. That was a mute point as the Star proved harder to move than previously thought and became stuck on top of the wall. This naturally attracted a number of bystanders with suggestions, helpful and otherwise, about how to advance things. Some declared it would likely stay where it was forever, or until the walls gave way. A number of schemes were tried, but in the end everyone went home to sleep on it. I can only imagine what a drinker coming out of the nearby Red Lion must have thought about their level of sobriety when they saw a 60ft barge floating above their heads! Six days after the start of the operation, and several improvised winches later, the barge had moved only 100 yards. But Marlow wasn't going to let Harding fail. Dozens of volunteers came to offer their brute strength if nothing else. Mr Borgnis allowed three of his workers to assist gratis for the week.
Over the other side of the Alley lay the kitchen garden of Remnantz. And it was here that rescue was found. The Wethered's of Remnantz allowed the Star to be bought down into the garden, and dragged through the property. Whether the gardeners were very pleased about this is unrecorded, but it was noted that the grass was significantly torn up so we can imagine not! The route the team took is puzzling as you would imagine they would leave Remnantz by the Pound Lane entrance, that coming out closest to the Thames. Instead they bought it out of the large West Street gates nearest Borlase, which had to be taken down, along with part of the wall. Reports are unanimous in that. The various eventful points in the boats journey were captured by Richard Blake, whose wife Rebecca is the more well known photographer. The Blake's lived in West Street not far from where the barge emerged from Remnantz so were ideally placed to record that moment. I do not believe any copies of their photographs survive unfortunately.
All in all the much advertised launch was delayed by a few days, but that allowed word to spread far and wide. The new launch date saw a huge volume of traffic coming into town. It was said some neighbouring towns and villages also declared a holiday for the occasion. Triumphant arches were made out of wood for the boat to pass through. As there is no record of it getting wedged beneath any, it seems the builders of the arches had taken some careful measurements. Credit here to Thames Bank gardener Robert Hobbs who erected the largest arch assisted by a team of workman.
It was launched at last from the slipway at the end of St Peter's Street at 3pm. A special peal of bells for the occasion from the adjacent All Saints church was timed perfectly. We are told a platform had been erected a little further away to accommodate more guests, and the boat was taken there. I believe this was at the wharf. Invited guests naturally got a free tour, and afterwards the curious could pay a shilling to step a board themselves. I do not know if the barge actually took anyone on a trip that day, but it may have had some difficulty moving along the river even if it wanted to, given the water was said to be absolutely crowded with the boats of spectators. The lawn of the Compleat Angler hotel on the Bisham side of the water was full too, including a band bought along for the occasion. Whether anyone could hear them play over the cheers is another thing, not to mention the fact the band of the Bucks Volunteers and at least one more brass band were present! (The Marlow band paraded from outside the Rookery to the riverside.)
The traditional naming ceremony was performed by Mrs Vansittart of Bisham Abbey, assisted by M.P Mr Brownlow Knox. Knox promised to give Harding a handsome silk flag for the Star in honour of the launch.
The first proper trip was made by Mrs Wethered, who was perhaps offered first refusal given the assistance she had made to get the barge actually on the water. She took 70 friends and family members on an excursion as far as Culham Court near Henley. This journey also attracted riverside crowds and the waving of flags from the top of Bisham Abbey. The party dined aboard near Medmenham Abbey. Mr Harding was congratulated on the excellence of his arrangements, including the fact the boat could be managed easily by a crew of two waterman and the fact the conditions for the accompanying servants were also pleasant and convenient. There were 8 servants on that trip, who we are assured were "liberally" treated to refreshments.
The boat may have had a luxurious appearance but it was far from only the gentry of the neighborhood who would get to use it. It's highly likely that if your ancestor was a child who lived in Marlow in the 1860s and 70's that they enjoyed a ride in the same. The cost of hiring the Star of The Thames was obviously lowered sufficiently for the schools and churches of the neighborhood to consider it as a means of transport to their many Sunday treats and outings. The children of the Roman Catholic schools in Marlow took a river trip to Medmenham Abbey in 1865, for example and the National school children and those of the Salem chapel Sunday school went separately to the same place on the Star in 1867 and 1868. A trip by the Marlow choir with their Hurley and Hambledon equivalents to Windsor in 1866 sounds an especially happy occasion. Someone bought along the harmonium and choirmaster Mr Ringrose played it most of the way, to the pleasure of other Thames users.
And the adults of Marlow were not left out. They could pay to use the Star to access a rural fete at Danesfield for example (1864) or the Temperance fete at Harleyford the following year. (Fare 1s 6d return to Bourne End) Other groups from the Henley Abstinence society to the local lodge of the Oddfellows hired the barge throughout the 1860's and 70s. I have also seen the Star offering short trips from Henley on occasional summer weekends.
At some point the barge was purchased by Charles Miller Footitt of The Compleat Angler hotel from whom it could be hired in a similar way. It was in already a familiar sight there - in 1872 it was stationed outside the Angler during the regatta, when it was used to house a band. It was still in use at the Angler in the early 1880s when it was being painted and provided with a new canopy. A reporter noting it's presence, commented that the Star had carried thousands of passengers up and down the Thames and he could think of no class of person that did not love her, with the possible exception of lock keepers. It was eventually sold by Footitt. I have last traced the Star to Shiplake in the late 1890s when it was still giving trips. She was a horse drawn barge, no steam for her at least at the time of the launch. Had she been converted at this point?
Hardings "magnificent pleasure barge" was in the words of the Reading Mercury, a marvel of perseverance and industry and one that had taken two years of incessant toil. Later, some recalling the launch said the boat was regarded as the eighth wonder of the world in Marlow and wondered a little sneeringly at all the excitement. But what is lovely to read is the pride everyone in Marlow, rich and poor, had in the success of one of their own. Well everyone except the gardeners at Remnantz left to put their garden back together perhaps!
* The building that Richard grew up in (and whose garden was used for the build) no longer exists. It was the former Turks Head/Saracens Head inn, once run by the Harding family but not in licensed use by the 1860s. It was replaced by a premises that housed Rowe's the jewellers for many years and F Hinds more recently. He moved out of the house as a young married man, to return later. Richard's father William combined beer selling with shoemaking, a very common pairing in Marlow. He arranged for his son to be apprenticed to royal cabinet maker the Mealings, also of the High Street Marlow. After his apprenticeship ended he went into business himself and spent some time in London before returning to Marlow. He died in 1895 at Beaumont Villa, Beaumont Rise, Marlow after a two year long period of ill health.
Written and researched by Kathryn Day with additional research by Charlotte Day.
RELATED POSTS:
Royal furniture makers the Mealings, under whom Richard served his apprenticeship - here
Charles Miller Foottit, later owner of The Star here
Everyday life in Richard's Marlow including posts related to the Thames and specific trades here
To read more about Potlands or other streets/places mentioned here, see the places index - here
Two professional Marlow boat builders - Haynes here and Shaw here
Photographer Rebecca Blake here
All mentions of an individual can be found in the A-Z index in the top drop down menu.
Sources:
Census 1861, 1871, 1881, - Jane Pullinger and Charlotte Day's transcript from the microfilm.
Reading Mercury April 9 & 30, March 19 & June 25 1864
South Bucks Free Press, July 1 1865, May 3 1895
South Bucks Standard April 6 1864, May 3 1895
Oxford Journal 10 August 1872
Maidenhead Advertiser 6 August 1883 & 1 August 1899
Beaumont Rise and High Street property holding research by Charlotte.
Our Thames by "Sylvania" 1873.
Slater's Royal and Commercial Directory 1852
Dutton's Directory 1863. (Dutton &Co 1863)
Pigots Directory of Bucks 1839.
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