Artists Frances and Hamlet Bannerman were some of the first residents of Beaumont Rise. They moved in soon after their 1886 marriage. Frances was a Canadian by birth, the first Canadian artist to exhibit at the Paris Salon. Her work shows some Impressionist characteristics, unsurprisingly as she studied in France. She also featured in Royal Academy exhibitions in London. One of her best known paintings is "Marlow Regatta Course" which was painted in 1890. Nee Jones, she married her English husband in 1886. He was a member of the British Society of Artists and his work featured scenes of Marlow and Bisham. Hamlet, like his wife, was also a published poet. He also found time to play for Marlow Cricket Club on occasion. Sadly Hamlet died at Beaumont Rise in 1895 while still in his prime. Frances eventually moved away from the town.
The Bannermans weren't the only link between the arts and Beaumont Rise. Edwardian resident Samuel Bath was a professor of music and organist. He was also one of the witnesses for the prosecution in the 1920 Kate Bailey murder trial.
Though only a residential street today, Beaumont Rise had its own (small) general shop in the 1900s and 1910s operated by Mrs Ellen Osborne.
In the 1910s the street was finally, after years of pleading by concerned parties, paved, drained, lit with lamps and possessed of a pavement. In the late 1800s none of the above was the case and the road conditions there were described as so bad that it was a disgrace to the town. The South Bucks Standard (whose then Marlow agent George Kendall lived at number 4) said in 1902 that to walk down that street after rain was to wade through "lakes" of water. This is probably why it was an accident blackspot felling early cyclists, the fly that carried passengers from the Crown to the nearby station, commercial vehicles and other users.
The proximity of Beaumont Rise to the station led to several Marlow station masters living in Soho Terrace which is part of the Street. See here for more on them and Soho Terrace.
Throughout the 1890s (if not longer) there was a plant nursery, called Beaumont Nursery off the Rise ran by Mr Taplin. Taplin's 7 room home theee was also known as The Nurseries. It contained forcing pits and green houses in the large gardens as you would expect. In the early 1880s part of the land in the Rise was also planted with a crop of fruit trees but this land was soon sold off for building plots.
Other humble pursuits of Beaumont Rise's residents included dressmaking (Miss Elizabeth Bradshaw at number 1 in 1901 and 1902 and Miss Hammerton a little later) and bar work - a trade Miss E Hearne announced she wanted a new job in via a 1903 ad in the Reading Mercury. She was, she stressed, experienced and "tall" with good references. The Miss Hammerton was obviously a successful dressmaker as she was able to afford to advertise for a general servant in 1910.
Twenty one year old Ernest Hood advertised for work as a chauffeur in 1905. He obviously wished to make a new start elsewhere as his ad was in the Kent and Sussex Courier [20th Jan 1905. British Library Archives via the BNA]. Ernest reassured perspective employers that he could do all repairs to the vehicle. This was a pretty standard requirement for chauffeurs in those days. The young man ended up as a domestic chauffeur in South Kensington London in fact.
For more on Young James Lovell the Marlow builder who died at his Beaumont Rise home "Seaton" in 1912 see this biographical post. He sold the building plots mentioned above and may have built some of the buildings in the street as he did in nearby Station Road, Claremont Rd and Institute Road.
Other posts on specific Marlow streets, houses, shops etc can be found listed on this index.
Beaumont Rise in the 1887 Jubilee features here
All mentions of any individual in this blog can be found on the Person Index in the top drop down menu
NB In its early years residents of Beaumont Rise can be referred to as living in Glade Rd (adjacent, developed long before) or Junction Road (although this name was also used for nearby Claremont Rd, Station Rise and Claremont Gardens at times in their early development too)
Written and researched by Charlotte Day.
©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my research with credit to this blog.
Some Sources:
400 Years In 365 Days: A Calendar Of Nova Scotia History. By Leo J Deveau. Formac Publishing Company. 2017.
Victorian Painters: The Text. By Christopher Wood, Christopher Newall, and Margaret Richardson. Published by Antique Collectors Club. 1995. Via Google Books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Bannerman
Kelly's Directory Of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxon 1911 by Kelly's Directory Limited.
South Bucks Standard 28th June 1895. Reading Mercury 19th September 1903 and 16th December 1911. British Library Archives via the BNA.
Census transcriptions 1891, 1901 from microfilm by Charlotte.
"England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWL6-T3N : 16 May 2019), Ernest Percival Hood, Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
Slough Eton and Windsor Observer, June 1889, Slough Libraries.
