Catherine Spark(e)s was a women who must have wondered whether it wasn't the River Thames running through her veins in place of blood, so strong was her connection to it. Born in 1814 to Thomas and Ann, Catherine's family were involved in the barging business. Uncle William Sparkes was the landlord of the Black Boy inn at Church Passage, although as a bargemaster himself, he was frequently a long time away from home. As was often the case in reality, the everyday business of keeping the place running was down to Catherine's aunt. By the time Catherine was a teenager she was living in the Causeway, very close to the river. Nearby was the Swan Inn, run by another bargemen, George Cresswell. The property leased by young Catherine's family was a fairly valuable one, valued at a higher amount than the Swan, and significantly more than any of the cottages in the streets adjacent. Thomas and Ann were clearly doing well for themselves at this time.
A few years later, Catherine's parents took over the Barge Pole Inn. The adjacent Black Boy was also in the Sparkes family for many years. (See the link below for more information on these other family members and landlord listings for all those licensed premises). This was close to the river and associated with bargeman drinking and lodging there, although a close study of records shows the clientele was actually quite mixed. Although those connected to the barge trade had a tough reputation, there are fewer incidents of trouble recorded for the Barge Pole than at other inns not so associated with the trade. It is likely that many of the people the young Catherine associated with were involved with river trades in one form or another. She almost certainly followed the path of most innkeepers daughters and helped her parents run the premises. She also followed that well worn path of growing up to marry someone who was involved in the alcohol trade.
Her spouse was Henry Neighbour whom she married in 1837. I believe they had began to run the waterside Waterman's Arms (aka The Waterman) by 1841. The Neighbour family may well have been there longer. Right on the river front, at a location sometimes known as Limbrooke Wharf, The Waterman was just a few minutes walk from the other Sparks family premises. You could say they had the river side trade quite sewn up! It was a smaller affair, and does not seem to have taken lodgers, at least on a regular basis. Catherine was again most likely to be the one to be found within dealing with the customers, despite Henry's name on the licence. Henry had another job, which he would continue in for decades, that of a cordwainer. Beer or ale retailers who followed one occupation only were very much in the minority in Marlow at this time, and the most common "other" trade to follow was that of a cordwainer or shoemaker. How the worker gets described depends on the context, often only the most relevant one to the circumstances gets mentioned or just the one that generates the most income. While some "side" businesses were minor in scale, Henry employed assistants. In 1851, a pair of shoes was stolen from him by one of his employees, John Wicks. Perhaps Catherine attended the court session that saw the guilty John sentenced to 4 months hard labour. It was a punishment that took into account the fact John was considered to have committed a particularly serious theft as it was from his employer. The Neighbours clearly forgave John as he continued to be involved with the family. John was subsequently convicted of another theft, and with that being his 3rd conviction he was sentenced to 7 years transportation. He was 23. (1852). The last item stolen was a saw taken from Joseph East and taken to Henry and Catherine. They say Wicks claimed it as his own and that he was short of money and so they lent him 6d with the saw as security.
In 1854 Catherine and Henry moved premises, to The Bear in Chapel Street. It must have felt strange to be living out of ear shot of the river at last, although it was just a few minutes walk away. The Bear was a fairly small concern as regards the selling of alcohol but it also acted as a common lodging house. The Bears lodgers tended to single men working as general or agricultural labourers. Records of trouble on the actual premises itself were virtually absent. A fight to the death in the tap room lay in the future and occured under another proprietor. (Details will follow in another post!) It's fair to say The Bear was not the most luxurious place to stay in Marlow but it was quite peaceful relatively speaking during the time Catherine and Henry were in charge. The number of lodgers increased afterwards and some of those staying there became associated with petty crime. There was one incident that did see the couple appear in court as a witness however.
In 1855 John Simson of Marlow had been in the Bear drinking heavily. Some of the drinkers had (while fairly inebriated themselves) decided to play a practical joke on John and blacken his face with soot. He was apparently in no state to resist and they then attempted to paint his face with tar, but Catherine intervened and took the tar away. Catherine herself would later deny ever even seeing the tar however. Things took a more serious turn when John then went missing and some of those in the Bear on the last night he was seen alive were found to be in possession of his coat, a handkerchief and an umbrella. Three weeks later John's body was found in the river near Marlow Mills. Further investigation did however reveal that John had been seen alive by several people the morning following his Bear drinking session, when he was unsuccessfully enquiring for work in the fields. It was also revealed that he was subject to epileptic seizures, especially when he'd been drinking heavily, and there were no marks of violence on his person. Those who'd been found in possession of John's coat etc said they given him money for them on the understanding he could buy them back at the same price in a few days. A sort of unofficial pawnbroking service. Henry Neighbour was the one who'd had the umbrella and a handkerchief from John but he said he'd been drinking through the two days before as it was Marlow Fair and he couldn't recall that much about it all. This caused Henry to be censured heavily by the JP who also felt both he and Catherine had prevaricated in their evidence. They were told they were lucky not to be pursued on a charge of perjury. Henry was obviously not in much of a state to police his taproom, and Catherine seems to have been busy elsewhere in the premises during the sooting. No doubt she subsequently wished to play down the raucous behaviour on the premises rather than admit she had harboured a group of badly behaved drunks.
Henry and Catherine remained at The Bear until at least 1863. Henry had continued to work as a cordwainer after his move here. There is a possibility they moved back to the Church Passage area (or nearby) the following year, with the couple retailing beer from an unknown premises but this requires more investigation. (To rule out other members of the Neighbour family, a number of whom had similar roles). What is sadly certain is that Catherine died when she was only 55 years old. Henry had a long widowhood. By the time of the 1881 census the 67 year old was an inmate in the Union Workhouse at Saunderton. When the census enumerator came by 10 years later, Henry was still there. Despite working at two occupations, the poor man could not support himself in his old age.
Researched and written by Kathryn Day.
Related Posts:
The Sparkes Family of The Bargepole etc here
Fight to death at The Bear here
List of landlords of the Black Boy/Waterman's/ Bargepole here
A tribute to our bargemen here
All mentions of a family or individual can be found in the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. (4,000 + names and counting)
Index for other inn/beer seller etc related posts: here
100+ Marlow Pubs/Ale Houses/Inns etc list here
General posts about everyday life in Catherine's Marlow here
Sources:
Parish Assessment 1833, original notebooks belonging to our family.
Census 1841,51,61,71,81 - transcripts from microfilm made by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger.
Slaters Commercial Directory 1852
Dutton, Allen & Co Directory 1863.
Robson's Directory 1839
Bucks Herald 05 July 1851.
Windsor and Eton Express 1 December 1855, Slough Borough Libraries.
Petty Session records transcript by Nick & Jane Pullinger -1987, with thanks.
