Biggs / Bristow Family Bakers

 Joseph Biggs, originally of Dinton Bucks, moved to Spittal Street Great Marlow in the very late 1850s or 1860.

He was a middle aged widower with a much younger "servant" Sarah Bristow in tow, by whom he had had 3 children - Ellen, Joseph and Alfred. The children were referred to as both Bristows and Biggs at different times. Sarah had worked for him since at least 1851.

Joseph was a corn dealer and baker with a shop in Spittal Street. After his death in age 71 Sarah, sometimes as Sarah Biggs and calling herself a widow, other times as Sarah Bristow, ran the business herself. In 1868 she was fined for having deficient scales used for weighing out bread and also, interestingly, meat. Such prosecutions occur frequently with shopkeepers whose scales needed to be recalibrated every so often to keep them true but who often forgot to organize this. In 1890 Sarah was again fined this time it was 10 shillings for selling bread without weighing it first, another very common offence. Such prosecutions arose from random test visits by the authorities.

By then Sarah's children were no longer at home. On the 1891 census she had a ten year old servant Nellie Edwards living with her to assist her. She may also have had daily shop staff that didn't live in with her.

Sarah's premises on the left hand side. 

Sarah's son Joseph junior with two of his friends had been hailed as "romantic" and "gallant" heroes for diving into the Thames to rescue an exhausted and capsized rower following a competitive race at Marlow in 1874.

One of those friends, John Langley junior, went on to marry Joseph junior's sister Ellen in 1877. Both Joseph junior and his brother Alfred were successful young rowers at Marlow themselves. Women did row competitively at this time but I have found no evidence of Ellen Biggs also competing. You can see the grave of Ellen Biggs/Langley at Holy Trinity church, Marlow here. 

I think Sarah Biggs may perhaps have died in 1909. She had left these premises by 1907 and they became a cafe.

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Thousands of people are mentioned on the blog in relation to Marlow and some of its nearby places. Use the Person Index on the top drop down menu to search for individuals.

More posts about specific Marlow families indexed here.

More Spittal Street content indexed here. Other nearby streets also have indexed content on the same index.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. ©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog.

Some Sources:

"England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXS5-G47 : 26 June 2022), Ellen Biggs in entry for Sarah Biggs, 1871.

"England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4GGB-V6Z : 22 February 2021), Sarah Biggs, Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Buckinghamshire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

1881 census Great Marlow, my transcription from microfilm. 

Bucks Herald 15th August 1874. British Library Archives.

Reading Mercury 26th July 1890. British Library Archives.

Great Marlow Parish Registers, original.

Harman's Chemist

Bernal Harman was a chemist with a shop in Market Square / Spittal Street Marlow in later Victorian and early Edwardian times.

He was born in High Wycombe in 1846. His full name was Bernal Osbourne Ralph Harman. His unusual first name comes from his godfather Wycombe M.P Ralph Bernal Osbourne, who in turn had it in the family as he was paternally of Jewish ancestry. Bernal Harman's father Charles, a solicitor and Mayor of High Wycombe was a political ally of the Liberal M.P.

Our Bernal had a privileged but tragic childhood, losing his mother Ellen (née Tatem) in his third year and his father in his ninth. He appears on the 1851 census living in Easton Street there with his widowed father Charles and siblings plus two servants. Bernal still lived in Easton Street in 1861 this time with his older brother John but by 1868 he was married and operated his own "family chemist" in Magdalen Street Glastonbury, Somerset. From there he mixed up his own tooth powder guaranteed to give you a winning smile for life.

Then, by 1870, he moved his shop to Park Street, East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. His advertisements in local papers bear the legend that he was the chemist for the royal household at Osborne at this time. But he must have struggled as he appears in court reports as a debtor and he went into liquidation there in 1871. Finally, in 1881 Bernal and his wife Ellen (née Duckett, married Somerset 1867) and their children moved to Marlow so that Bernal could take over Banbury's Chemist and Druggist in Spittal Street.

As well as being a chemist his shop acted as a parcel agents and Bernal was one of the principle movers and shakers behind the establishment of a Literary and Scientific Institute in the town.

In 1891 Bernal faced serious trouble when the landlady of the nearby Wheelwrights Arms in Spittal Street, Mrs Lucy Jeffs, died after taking an opiate based sleeping draft which he supplied to her. The doctor and surgeon who attended her before her death suspected that the draught contained more opium than Bernal claimed and had poisoned her. A post mortem revealed that taking opium had brought on her death but that she was about to die anyway. She was a consumptive of long standing and very close to death from that. She asked for the draught because she was in too much pain to sleep. The expert opinion was that as her condition had deteriorated significantly the normally safe dose Bernal insisted that he gave her was not a dose she could withstand in her condition and made her exhibit symptoms of overdose. It is likely that he did not realise how much nearer to death she had become in the hours before he handed the sleeping draught to her young son in his shop. The inquest jury recorded a verdict of Homicide Through Misadventure. Bernal seems to have escaped further scrutiny as far as our research can so far find. The verdict meant that Bernal had while acting lawfully and without intent to do harm nevertheless caused death. 

Above 1905 ad. Sole proprietor of the  "Carrington Bouquet" refers to a locally created perfume with a contentious history - see here for more. 

Bernal died in 1906 following a long illness. His wife Ellen survived him and lived later in Claremont Road. Their son Henry "Harry" Harman fully qualified as a chemist and druggist in 1896-7 and had already taken over the day to day running of Bernal's business before Bernal's death though even afterwards for a while afterwards the name above the door still said "Bernal Harman".

Harry supplied bandages and disinfectant to the local council. He continued to act as a parcel agent like his father had done, as well as being a chemist. He was a successful rower for Marlow Rowing Club in his spare time. He married May Flint from West Street. Sadly, he died aged just 45.

Written and researched  by Charlotte Day. 

Related posts:

For other posts about specific shops/businesses and other content related to Spittal Street see the index here

Information on other chemists and pharmacists in Great Marlow plus apothecaries, surgeons and other medical related posts see the index here

Index of biographies of other individuals connected to Marlow here

For every mention of an individual or family here see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. There's more than 4,000 people listed there. 

Some sources:

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire etc 1883 and 1907. Kelly's Directory of Hampshire 1880. Kelly's Directories Limited.

The Post Office Directory of Chemists and Druggists: Containing Lists of the Chemists and Druggists Throughout England, Manufacturing Chemists, Wholesale Druggists, Patent Medicine Vendors and Manufacturers, and Every Trade in Connection Therewith. (1870). United Kingdom: Kelly. 1885 edition also.

1851 census High Wycombe and 1881 East Cowes via Rootspoint.

The Pharmaceutical Journal Volume 51 printed by J Churchill. 1921.

The Chemist And Druggist. February 10th 1906. 

South Bucks Standard 12th Feb 1897 and 6th March 1891. Bucks Gazette 4th April 1846. British Library Archives via the BNA.

The Weekly Notes. United Kingdom, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, 1877. Via Google Books.

"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2DK3-W4K : 13 December 2014), Bernal Osborne R Harman, 1867; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1867, quarter 1, vol. 5C, p. 814, Wells, Somerset, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. 

Hurley Grave Wedderspoon

 Kenneth Gordon Wedderspoon

In Hurley churchyard. Died October 13th 1923. Age 33.

Post by Charlotte Day.

For posts related to the history of Hurley see the index here

Index of other grave images and inscriptions see here

To find every mention of an individual or family here, check the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. Our focus is on Great Marlow and there are over 4,000 individuals listed there. 

©Marlow Ancestors. Reproduction for family or local history purposes freely permitted with credit to this blog.

Emma Carter The Butcher

Emma Carter and her husband Thomas arrived in Marlow in the early 1870s to take over the butcher's shop in Spittal Street previously ran by James Creswell. Previously the couple and their children had lived in Fawley at Dobson's Farm. Thomas was farming 170 acres in 1871 and employing 4 men and 3 boys. He also operated as a butcher, or given how busy he would have been on his farm more likely Emma was behind the counter. Née Goss, she was the daughter of a butcher come farmer, Joseph Goss, of Waddesdon.

When Thomas died in 1876 Emma took over the shop in her own name. She was assisted when they were grown by her sons Thomas, Joseph and Frederick.

The first year few years after her husband died must have been a struggle. In 1878 the local sanitary inspector visited her shop and the slaughterhouse behind it. A rancid carcass of a diseased sheep which she had bought cheap was found dressed for sale. It was clear part of the animal had already been cut off and sold. The offense was so serious she faced three months in jail and a £20 fine but as it was a first offence Emma got a £5 fine plus costs and a heavy warning not to come before the bench again. 

Emma was in the right hand side of the above. 

She must have got on top of things sufficiently well as 1878 is the only time I find Emma in court charged with sanitary offences. Such charges I must say were not uncommon for Marlow butchers in the 1800s.

Emma raised her own sheep and fowls for her business. She lost one of her sheep, most likely to thieves, at Marlow Market in 1907 and another from a field where it was grazing at Handy Cross in 1904. She offered rewards for the return of both and described her animals as being marked with a red C to identify them. Whether Emma got her animals back is unknown. 

For the first few decades of her business Emma was renting her shop from the wealthy Williams family but in 1905 the premises came up for sale and she scooped them and the small cottage next door up for £615 in a local auction.

By 1920 it was her son Thomas who was running the shop. Emma died in 1925.

The shop was later Tom Morris, butchers.

Emma also appears In this post about the sad death of one of her neighbours.

Find more Spittal Street or general historic shops content on this index.

Find more Victorian women in business or other interesting historic Marlow residents on the Biographies of Individuals index here

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. 

Related posts:

For other posts about specific shops/businesses and other content related to Spittal Street see the index here

Information on daily life in Emma's Great Marlow here

Index of biographies of other individuals connected to Marlow here

For every mention of an individual or family here see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. There's more than 4,000 people listed there. 

©Marlow Ancestors. Reproduction of research for family or local history purposes welcome if with credit to this blog and a link here.

Thanks to Jane Pullinger for seeking out the 1871 census and Waddesdon marriage records. Census information always remains Crown Copyright.

More Sources:

Kellys Directory of Buckinghamshire etc, 1883, 1899, 1907 and 1920. Kellys Directories Limited. University of Leicester Archives.

1881 census Great Marlow, my transcription from microfilm.

South Bucks Standard 8th June 1900, 14th July 1905. Via the BNA / British Library Archives.

Bucks Herald 23rd March 1878. As above.

Marlow area Local Directory 1902.

Warne Grave, Marlow

 Grave of:

Francis Warne 1847-1916

Margery Jane Warne - 1858 - 1938

Percy Warne - 1881 - 1946

Allan Warne - 1903 - 1915

Grave stone is in Marlow Cemetery

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this image with credit to this blog.

To find other grave images, use the Graves index here. You will also find an A-Z person index in the top drop down menu containing mentions of over 4,000 people connected to Marlow in the past. 

An Edwardian Christmas In Marlow

 

A Victorian Christmas in Marlow was the subject of a previous pair of posts. So this one is about how the Edwardian Marlow residents enjoyed their festivities but I recommend you read the Victorian posts too as much remained the same. 

The streets still sound with the music of carol singers performing their rounds. The Church choir was only one of many to tour the streets. Most were making collections for charity, but a few reports show that children formed impromptu groups and went about hoping to part generous minded adults with their spare cash to be used as pocket money. Some of the less well off have more money than usual thanks to the annual share out of the Slate Clubs which continue in most of the pubs and some of the chapels. The Slate Clubs were a savings club and a kind of friendly society. In exchange for paying in a regular weekly sum, workers could access sickness and unemployment benefits paid out of the funds recieved. Payments were usually made to pay doctors fees and for funerals of the member (and sometimes their spouse). Anything left over in December was then shared out between the members. The share out was a big event, and was usually accompanied by a celebratory dinner or "smoking concert" or both. Many of these have now been running for decades in Marlow but show no sign of loosing popularity. On the contrary, many report higher levels of membership than they did during the previous century. Some of those definitely having a slate club that was active in Edwardian times include the Clayton Arms, Greyhound, Prince Of Wales, White Hart, Verney Arms, King's Head (Little Marlow), Bricklayers Arms and the Jolly Cricketers and Royal Oak in Bovingdon Green. The Verney club was now one of the biggest, with 216 members in 1910. (You can read more about Slate Clubs and poverty in Victorian and Edwardian Marlow here)

A "rather young looking Santa Claus" was said to be stationed in the somewhat unlikely location of poulterer Mr Rippington's shop in 1908. This was presumably a figure in a window or other display. Father Christmas does not seem to visit Marlow very often in the run up to Christmas during these years. During the children's parties run by schools and clubs the children tend to get invited to pick a small gift directly off the tree or are handed a small bag of modest (in our eyes only)  treats by a benefactor hosting the event. (Standard gift bag offerings seem to be an orange, some nuts and a piece of cake.) 

Although Marlow has always been well supplied with dedicated toy shops, during the festive season other businesses introduced or expanded their own range of toys and festive novelties. This especially applied to drapers and stationers. Morgans the draper in Market Square for example bought in a range of dolls and toys to tempt shoppers. W B Langston's* (William Bradley) the boot and shoe warehouse open a "Christmas Bazaar" inside their already crowded premises in the High Street. Inside can be found "mechanical toys, picture books and dolls in great variety." Elsewhere in the High Street Timberlake's, who sell bicycles and phonographs, also have a special Christmas "department" offering more mechanical toys, and magic lanterns as well as "talking machines" and records. (A selection from 1905.) C J Bateman, the cycle depot in West Street (now also describing themselves as motor engineers) was one place to go for model steam trains, priced at 6d and above, as well as models of Bleriot, Wright and other planes. 

By now the shops are all closed on Christmas Day and most but not all are also shut on both Boxing Day and January 1st. The fact they are closed is something of a source of pride for some traders who want their customers to know that they follow their religious and social duty, as they saw it. Of course for those in domestic service, and in many other roles, the festive season included much less free time than average. 

Now for some of the delights available in the Marlow grocers and other shops. Alfred Ilsley in the High Street offers ready made mincemeat from Chivers, as well as the most plump fruit for making your own puddings. He had home cured smoked hams on sale too. Ready made Christmas cakes could be picked up at Carter's (now Berger's) and also at Browns in the High Street. Browns also offered Christmas stockings, perhaps not the obvious place to look for the latter! They made "Marlovian Shortbread" from 1910, a snip at 8d a lb. And Carter's could supply mince pies and plum puddings if you didn't wish to make your own. "Why bother about making puddings and mincemeat this Christmas time when Carter supplies some of the best at reasonable prices?"

Above, the former Morgan's store. 

But for those that did, Christmas pudding charms in solid silver could be bought at Rowes the jeweller for just a shilling a set. Mr Rowe, who could probably sell sand to Egypt, said they were selling by the hundreds and "great fun". 

The tradition of shops holding "Christmas shows" over one of two days to showcase their very best goods continues. The butchers and poulterers sometimes decorate the outside of their premises with animal carcasses (or imitation ones) for these events, but this is less often mentioned in Marlow specifically compared to other towns such as High Wycombe. The best quality meat is not put outside to get dusty in any case, it can be viewed in relative comfort inside. Some of the customers may have been a spectator at the Fat Stock shows held near the train station just before Christmas. The animals now lying on the butchers slab were paraded before them. All animals entered into the show are auctioned off at the end, and the butchers try to outbid one another for the animals that win their classes. They advertise their success so prospective buyers will know where to head to buy the best beef for example. The members of the Christmas Fat Stock Show Association include most of the dairy, mixed and beef farmers in the neighbourhood. They have an annual dinner hosted by the Crown, and held in the old assembly rooms. This is a big event at the time, with the numbers attending reminding us of just how many local families continue to be involved in agriculture. (More than 100 attendees in 1905) And for every farmer and landowner attending their dinner, there are many farm employees both casual and full time. The prizes from the show are distributed at the event. Afterwards there is music from a band performing in the minstrels gallery, and dancing. Here's a sample menu from 1903 - roast turkey, roast beef, boiled mutton, ham, boiled cod (yes, boiled), cauliflower, boiled turnip tops (greens), three types of potatoes (roast, boiled and baked), soup, Christmas pudding, mince pies, apple tart, cheese and celery. But no sprouts.

Many families would have dreamed of such a spread. The Salvation Army** did not forget the less well off. They hosted special Christmas teas and entertainments for the youngsters belonging to the large number of poorer families in town. In 1903 they hosted 200 of the poorest children for tea followed by an entertainment for 400 youngsters. Each child left with a bag of cake and an orange. The SA congregation was relatively small and the amount of fundraising they must have done to cater for such numbers is large, even if some goods were donated by kind hearted shopkeepers. In addition Sister Cole at the Cottage Hospital in Cambridge Road organised a Christmas tree for the patients there. In 1909 she was also organising a little party not just for any young patients spending Christmas there, but former ones who had been discharged as well as the children of current patients. All this with the help of Emily Dickson the untiring fundraiser and wife of Dr Dickson. 

All of the churches were decorated in their own ways, with evergreens, and if they were lucky, with the flowers forced in the hothouses of the larger gardens. Little Marlow Church used bunches of white chrysanthemums. In 1908, the Catholic Church of St Peter's was garnished with holly, ivy, and other evergreens as well as a host of blooms. Midnight mass was a full house so many could enjoy the display. Five years later, the children attending the Catholic day schools had a particularly fun treat. Not all of the young scholars were Catholic incidentally. The children had a Christmas tea with lots of cake, followed by dancing. The more eagle eyed of the guests may have noticed a large "curtain" partitioning a certain portion of one end of the room. After the dance, this curtain was whisked aside to reveal a tree with a branch bending under the weight of little gifts. There was "an elaborate collection of toys of every description." Once these were distributed the fun was not yet over. Father Arthur gave a show as an illusionist and then the children were lined up to receive yet another gift - a bags of nuts, sweets and oranges. 

 Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related Posts:

Victorian Christmas in Marlow part 1 here and 2 here

New Year traditions here

Skating on the Thames etc here

Bonfire night in Victorian Marlow here

A listing of other posts about every day life in old Marlow  here

Easter and May day here

*More about William Langston's boot stores here

**The Salvation Army in Marlow here

©Marlow Ancestors