The Men Who Built Marlow #4 - Frederick Plumridge

This is the forth in our series about the men and families who quite literally built the town of Great Marlow. No series could be complete without a mention of the ancient Marlow family of Plumridge (Plumeridge, Plomidge) who probably have the longest unbroken connection to the building trade of any of our featured families. Plumridges have been involved in the brick and tile making and bricklaying trades throughout the 1700 and 1800s into the 20th century. The numbers of Plumridge men who appear on census returns as a brick layer is astonishing. But this is not the full story. Firstly because the term was used in the early Victorian period for people who we would more generally call builders today and because other sources give more specific descriptions of their roles which sometimes included stonemasonry, tile making and brick making for example. The other trade very strongly associated with the Plumridges in the Georgian and Victorian period was beer selling, usually pursued by the same individuals who were otherwise builders etc. It is sometimes a surprise for families to find that an individual who only had room to put what they regarded as their principal occupation on a census return were actually also the official licence holder for a beer or ale house. The reason they could pursue two occupations was the help of wives and adult children who actually did most of the bar work, as well of course of paid employees. To find all of the beer houses and pubs connected to the Plumridge family, see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu or search for their connection to a particular pub using the index here. (They definitely built the Wheatsheaf and Duke of Cambridge and very possibly the Prince of Wales.)

BACKGROUND 

If you had walked around the Victorian Queens Road, Eton Place and the Cambridge Road / Place area you would have found a good number of houses both occupied by and built by a Plumridge. Most have unfortunately now been demolished. However the surviving Duke Of Cambridge pub was certainly originally built by William Plumridge as a beer-house in approximately 1865. Cambridge House is also believed to have been originally built by the Plumridges. The family were at the helm of the Duke for the best part of a century, and were naturally  its first ever proprietors. 

ENTER FREDERICK

Today's specific subject is Frederick Plumridge b1858 to builder William and wife Emma nee Judge. His grandfather was also a bricklayer and publican. William was the landlord of the Duke of Cambridge as mentioned above, a role that Frederick's older brother William Henry would also take on. (There are several Frederick Plumridges connected to Marlow who were born at around the same time.) Mum Mary's family also included members who followed the bricklaying trade such as brother George. 

Young Frederick was working in the family bricklaying business from at least the age of 14. This was the normal age for a young man to begin his trade. He could have no better people to learn from than his very experienced family. He grew up at the Duke in Queens Road, an area that was much developed as time went on. But the Duke still backed onto market gardens and farm fields. (The pub itself  had a large field that was hired out for events. It was used for events like the cricket match between employees of the Plumridges and that of fellow builder Carter in 1866. The Plumridges won). The Plumridges owned several cottages and a shop in the area, including a set of 4 almost opposite the Duke which no longer exist. Numerous Plumridge young men worked as bricklayers for the Corby building family too. (The Corby builders are covered here)

In 1877, Frederick married Emily Langley of Marlow. They subsequently moved just around the corner from Queens Rd into the populous Dean Street. By 1881 Frederick was already the foreman in the family building business. Late in that year he moved into the bigger Hawthorn Villa in Cambridge Road, which was owned by his father (and another home possibly built by him or another Plumridge). This had a garden at the front and rear, with a greenhouse which indicates another Plumridge talent - gardening! Many of the Victorian Plumridge men of Marlow can be found enthusiastically entering the local flower shows while William at the Duke maintained many fruit trees which he manipulated to produce crops regarded as freakishly large and abundant. 

At some point Frederick set up in business alone. Later he would move to Oxford Road and York Road. 

ON THE ROAD WITH FREDERICK

In 1883, Frederick was voted into the role of parish surveyor of the highways. This was a hugely important and responsible job, and one that would prove to be remarkably stressful for poor Frederick. He was required to view the condition of the highways continually and to organise for the repair and maintenance of the roads. He had a horse and pony at his disposable at first which his contractor could use to fetch the gravel and flints needed to repair potholes and the like. He had to make sure the roads were kept clear, something that proved mostly impossible in the time of the annual fair which was held in the main streets of Marlow. He did manage to bring some prosecutions when travelling salesman set up booths in the middle of the Market Square or the Causeway at other times though. He had a difficult time in 1884 dealing with serial offender farmer William Creswell who had a penchant for ploughing up and diverting inconvenient footpaths and incorporating bits of land along the highways into his land. You can read more about that and miser William here .

But by far the most difficult part of his job was organising the collection of the highway rate or tax. Frederick was supposed to collect it, and he had to make good any arrears not collected out of a deposit he had to pay each year. This was to ensure he worked hard to collect everything due to the parish. The trouble for Frederick was that he inherited a number of carried forward uncollected dues, after the death of the previous surveyor Robert Carter. The parish books he was supposed to use to judge who should pay what sound like they were in something of a muddle.  Frederick received conflicting advice as to whether he should collect dues from the owners or occupiers of the liable properties. Neither side generally wanted to pay. He said he had considerable difficulty in collecting anything and that too much of the population was actually too poor. Those owing overdue amounts often said that his predecessor had not collected money from them, so if they hadn't paid Carter, they wouldn't pay him either. He was able to summon non payers to court and did so to some degree but the magistrates did not always force the defendants to make good all the amount. He could also decide that some households were exempt from paying, mostly due to the small size of their home. But when he went to the court to ask for their official exemption, he was told that every one of the several dozen people he wished to exempt had to appear individually. None of them turned up the next day. Frederick decided not to pursue these households for the rates anyway and marked them down as exempt regardless. This would come back to haunt him. 

I think the truth is that Frederick Plumridge had to square a financial duty to collect rates, a pragmatic nature and awareness of the reality of the real poverty faced by some in Marlow. He had down well for himself but he had also grown up close to the poorest part of town. When he became aware that the wife of George Allen who he had summoned for non payment of rates had sold her little children's shoes in an attempt to make up the sum, he paid the owed amount himself in full. It was a kind act, and Frederick said this was just one example of "great poverty" that he encountered. He was voted back into the role annually until 1891 when I am not sure he actually stood for election. In any case, two years later his final accounts had not been signed off. The auditor decided that Frederick had not tried hard enough to collect some of the outstanding sums. A resulting public enquiry was held at the Institute (now the library) and Frederick appeared to defend himself. He was fighting an attempt to make him personally liable for £54 worth of unpaid rates. He was unfortunately unsuccessful. 

On one occasion in 1891 Frederick was called home from the magistrates court by wife Emily (then living in Oxford Rd) as a matter of urgency. She was experiencing the most sickening odour coming from a neighbour's overflowing cess pit, made worse by some building or decorating work going on there. He found the source of the stench and offered materials to help suppress the smell but when this was refused, he had to call in a fellow parish inspector, the surveyor for nuisances. 

OTHER PROJECTS FOR FREDERICK

Frederick Plumridge was responsible for building the new rifle range used by the local Rifle Volunteers, of whom he was a member. The newly laid out Quarry Wood Road to Cookham Dean in 1890 meant the old range needed to be moved and the contract to take it down and build the new was won by Frederick. The "District Inspector of Musketry" inspected the butts and declared them excellent.  

Other areas that we can be sure Frederick worked on to build or extend homes were Station Road in 1891 and York Road.  

SPORTING HERO

Those who might not have relished Frederick knocking on their door with a rates demand in hand, were nevertheless very pleased to see him on the football field. He was a very successful goalkeeper for Marlow Football Club when they were at the height of their fame. He played for them for 4 seasons in the 1880s and in 3 out 4 of those, Marlow conceded only 1 game. A very safe pair of hands Fred must have been! He had gone to Borlase school and sometimes joined "Old Borlasian" teams too. 

And Frederick also helped to grow the next crop of Marlow footballers as he set up the Marlow Antelopes* youth team and acted as their secretary for several years. His son, also Frederick, was one of those who played for the Antelopes. Frederick junior was also a talented ice skater on the frozen meadows of Marlow, winning a number of informal races in the 1890s.

Like many young Marlow men, our Frederick was a keen rower and a lifetimes worth of practice saw him represent Marlow rowing club successfully, for example at the Henley Regatta. He served on the rowing club committee too. Despite all this he also found time to be a member of the Volunteer Fire Brigade in Marlow. 

GOODBYE FREDERICK

At some point in the late 1890s Frederick gave up his own business but continued to work for others in the building trade. But eventually he decided to take a turn at that other very Plumridge occupation, beer selling. In late 1908 he moved to Windsor with wife Emily and his children in order to run the Clayton Arms in Market Street there. But poor Frederick was already ill. His condition suddenly and seriously deteriorated within a few months of his assuming the licence. He was taken to the St Thomas Hospital in London but died shortly afterwards. He was just 51 years old. Poor widow Emily would eventually take on the licence herself, after son Albert did so for a short time. His funeral took place at Holy Trinity church in Marlow with "many manifestations of esteem and respect". 

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Building families (Men who Built Marlow) Lovell here Bond here Corby here

Duke of Cambridge Queens Road:

Historic landlord listing here

*More about the Antelopes football team here

To find more about specific streets that Frederick and Emily lived in see the index here

Sources:

Census 1841-1891 - transcription from original microfiche by Jane Pullinger, with thanks. 

1833 Parish Assessment, as held by my family. 

1851 Tithe Map, courtesy of Jane Pullinger. 

Kelly's Directory for Buckinghamshire 1847. 

Dutton Allen & Co Directory 1863. 

Bucks Herald 21 April 1877, and 31 March 1883. 

Reading Mercury  19 May 1883. 

South Bucks Standard 30 May 1890, 9th Jan 1891,  22 September 1893. 

Windsor & Eton Express 5 August 1911. 

Maidenhead Advertiser 1903

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

© MarlowAncestors 

War Dead Congregational Church

The Imperial War Museum has transcribed the memorial to the members of the Congregational Church (as it was then called) in Quoiting Square Marlow who fought in the First World War.  The transcribed names are listed below and I have added some research into those young men.

Bartlett, Gilbert

Batting, Horace

Grove, William B

Keates, Ronald

Loaring, William J

Peddle, Alfred 

Plumridge, Albert E

Robinson, William

Smith, Henry J

Research:

Gilbert Bartlett. Son of Mrs and Noah Bartlett. Born 1891. His dad ran a grocer's shop in West Street overlooking Quoiting Square. I believe Gilbert is also memorialised in the WW 1 memorial in Sir William Borlase School, which he certainly attended. He had emigrated to South Africa by the time the war started and was thus serving in the South African infantry when he died in 1916. More about his parents in this post where you can find a picture of their premises as they are today.

Horace Batting. Born Horace John Batting 1897 to Charlotte and John Batting. Dad was a gardener. He himself was a grocer's assistant. Lived York Road as a small child. As a 13 year old Herbert was soloist in the Congregational Church's choir. Lance Corporal in the Royal Fusiliers. Died 29th April 1917. On the war memorial at Arras. Parents had previously suffered the loss of their 3 year old daughter Gertrude.

William B Grove. Born 1897 to George and Emma Grove. Lived 1901 Cambridge Place, Cambridge Road. Died 1915. Kings Royal Rife Corps. Featured on the Menin Gate memorial. Dad George worked on the river as a boat building labourer, waterman and a steam launch driver as well as being an amateur rower.

Ronald Keates. In full Ronald Sidney Keates. Born 1895 to Anne and James. Grew up West Street Marlow. Age 10 won a prize in Marlow Horticultural Show 1905 for a bunch of wildflowers he had picked. I know it is a minor thing to mention but the image of the child Ronald wandering peacefully in the fields enjoying the flowers struck a chord with me when I read it considering what he would later live through. Private in the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry. Before the war he was a clerk. His father James was a builder's foreman, elected parish constable and town councillor.

William J Loaring. Private in the Royal Fusiliers 13th Battalion. Killed 4th August 1917 by a sniper. Included on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres. Employed at Morgan's the drapers in the High Street before the war. The Morgans were also Congregational Church members. To see an historic photo of the premises where William worked or to read more about the Morgan family see my post here

Alfred Peddle. Born 1894 to Alfred and Helen Peddle.

Above, grave of Alfred Harry Peddle. Killed In Action in France March 2nd 1917 age 22. Of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.  Grave is in Marlow Cemetery. He is buried with his parents who lived in York Road at the time of his death. He was a plumber.

Albert E Plumridge. Albert Ernest. Born 1881 in Bisham. Did not die until some years after the war. It may have been considered that his military service caused his death nevertheless. He was badly gassed in 1917 and was sent home to hospital in Stourbridge England. Albert was a worker at Temple Mills before becoming a motor launch driver on the river. He lived at Bisham with his wife Edith (née Finch) at first before moving to West End Gardens Marlow. These houses still exist but are not now known under that name. They are in Henley Road Marlow. Albert had been a regular player for Bisham football team as a teen / young adult, sometimes serving as the Vice Captain. I think he may also have been a rower.

William Robinson. Possibly born 1885 to Alice and William Robinson.

Henry J Smith. The town's main war memorial gives the name H.W Smith which was Henry William, who may be a relative. Henry J was a Private in the Buck's Battalion.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

For detailed posts on Marlow in WW1 see Kathryn's Posts 1914  1915  1916  1917  1918 and 1919

For more church related content see the Church Related option on the menu. There are also A-Z Person Indexes, Graves  and Wills options on the menu.

Sources Include:

Transcription of the memorial is ©WMR-8379. Imperial War Museum. Available on a Creative Commons BY-NC licence. 

Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Details of memorials on the continent and dates of death.

Bucks Herald 25th August 1917. Copy held at the British Library archives. Accessed March 2021 via the BNA.

South Bucks Standard 23rd December 1910. As above.

Reading Mercury 25th August 1917.

1891 and 1901 Census transcribed from microfilm images by me.

World War One Service Records 1914-20 database online. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVBG-1V55 WO 363. National Archives, Kew.

War Memorial All Saints Church, Marlow (commemorates all denominations).

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse our research if you link here so that the sources listed above remain credited for the information they provided.

Mysterious Disappearances And Suffragettes- Early Residents Of Victoria Road Marlow

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

A couple of cottages named Victoria Cottages erected in 1872 were likely the first homes built in Victoria Road. They still exist today.

The first resident of Victoria Road Marlow who can be definitely named is a Mr E Savage who in May 1880 wrote a letter to the maker of a "Pectoral Syrup" extolling it's virtues as a cure for asthma, whooping cough and similar conditions. The writer was also impressed by soothing powders for children sold by the same maker. As a stated father of 8 children you could see how he might appreciate such powders! We can only hope all those children were not squeezed into his Victoria Road cottage as it would have been a small one. Perhaps some had, thanks to all that soothing medical attention, grown to adolescence or adulthood and moved out by the time their parents moved to Victoria Road!

On the subject of moving into or out of the street, the South Bucks Standard of 8th July 1892 contained an advert for a house contents sale at number 1 Victoria Road*, the resident William Ashby having "moved away" from the area. Behind this simple advert there was an alarming truth- William, a three weeks married insurance agent, had vanished into thin air shortly before the sale. He said goodbye to his wife one morning having told her that he was going to meet his Prudential Assurance Company boss in High Wycombe but was never seen again by neither her nor anyone else in the area. He did not turn up to the work meeting. No one could fathom why he would wish to leave his home, job and bride, nor did they think that he had any personal worries. The fact that she put the furniture up for sale almost immediately suggests that the new Mrs Ashby (Florence Ann nee Faulkner) gave up on her husband quickly. Financial distress may have been involved, though William was said to have been highly successful at selling insurance in the past two or three years. The items for sale suggest a comfortable income: a velvet covered drawing room set, tapestry carpets and a marble topped wash stand etc.

As a teenager in his native Northamptonshire William had worked as an under gardener so becoming an insurance agent was a step up for him. Prior to his marriage he lodged with the Everest family in nearby Glade Road, Marlow.

So where did William disappear to? The answer intriguingly was apparently Ireland. He married, despite already being married, a Bridget Kelly in Dublin in 1899 before returning to England with her to raise a family. The couple lived first in Yorkshire and then in Westmoreland and Lancashire with William reverting to his original occupation as a gardener. Florence herself as "Florence Ann Ashby or Faulkner" remarried in 1900 a shoemaker John Gibbard. This was back in Northamptonshire. Did she believe William dead? Perhaps the first marriage was annulled. William could be declared legally dead after 7 years of being missing. I only hope poor Florence found happiness after her distressing and humiliating desertion. The quick sale of the furniture may hint that Florence did in fact receive some communication from her husband saying he intended never to return even if she did not wish to make it public at the time.

Victoria Road is a few minutes walk from the River Thames. Today you would be surprised to hear that it had flooded but in 1903 overspilling river water reached the residents there. Mr T Coster an engineer who rented a Victoria Road cottage in the early 1900s specialised in building for customers in Marlow and elsewhere their own docks and boathouses to help them enjoy the river. He also serviced ornamental waterworks. 

Coster's business would not have caused much nuisance in Victoria Road itself but the residents did have some other commercial occupiers to put up with, most notably the steam powered chair making premises of the Buckinghamshire Chair Factory. A full post about that business by Kathryn is available here. Their premises included a saw mill. The working conditions were pretty awful, with improper sanitation, no ventilation for those working with the wood and flimsy buildings . Kathryn's post will tell you more. The company went out of business in 1912 but the Greenwich Sawmill Company took over from them and annoyed the residents of nearby Dedmere Road with the amount of sawdust which blew into their homes and gardens. The Mathew Couchman who in 1903 was a timber merchant and engineer with a saw mill in Victoria Road had a side line in milling barley or any other meal required by customers. 

Disturbance could come from other sources too- the artist's studio in Duchess Place in Victoria Road (near the corner with Dedmere Road, no longer used as a separate address) was used by the Women's Freedom League for a Suffragettes' meeting in 1912. Mrs Mary Sargant Florence chaired the event. 

Her studio was used in another radical way too- as the base for a Girls' Club. Not much radical in that you may think. But you could count on your hand the number of such organisations for girls as opposed to boys at that time. That young females should spend leisure time outside of their own home (as their brothers routinely did) and away from their families was hardly ever considered important. The club was aimed at working class girls and acted as an educational as well as social venue. The education of working class girls was one of the lowest priorities for society as a whole in that era. A more detailed post about the Girls Club will be published by Kathryn on this blog in the future.

*House numbers have been altered since. This number one is not the number one seen today.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors.  You are welcome to use my research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

Sources:

Bucks Herald. 9th May 1885. South Bucks Standard 8th July 1892. British Library Archives via the BNA. 

Berkshire Chronicle 1st August 1903. As above.

"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2DZ3-RL9 : 13 December 2014), William Lerson Ashby, 1892; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1892, quarter 2, vol. 3B, p. 166, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. 

The Bell Ringing Beer Selling Bargeman

 Today's subject is the multi talented George Creswell (Cresswell), an imposing figure who could be found striding the streets of the town in the regency and Victorian period. If you wandered into the beautifully thatched Swan Inn in the Causeway, you may have heard licenced victualler George bending the ear of his drinkers on the subject of how the river and barging industry had changed. Going to the river itself, you may have seen George accompanying some eager anglers out on the water or perhaps you would spot him and brother William with their barge, also known as the Swan, starting out for London. Or perhaps you can see an particularly tall and well built parish constable guiding a miscreant to the parish lock up? That's George too.  Hear church bells ringing? George again. He's one of the ringers. You get the idea. 

There are many George Creswells to be found in the pages of Marlow history but our subject is the one born in 1808 to William and Ann of the riverside Complete Angler inn as we call it. His parents turned the somewhat ramshackle cottage conversion into an inn with a far ranging reputation for hospitality and fishing facilities. As such it attracted gentleman visitors from London, willing to rough it a little, and business boomed. The couple have their own dedicated entry here. 

Suffice to say George and his siblings grew up on the banks of the river. As a young man he worked as a fisherman, which in Thames terms of the time, meant someone who guided anglers out to find the best hunting grounds. The most sought after fisherman had their services in such high demand by visitors that their services were hard to acquire. George had the advantage of a steady stream of customers from the family inn. The two brothers would eventually lease extensive fishing rights between Bisham and Cookham Bridge. His father also maintained an interest in timber and coal dealing, and running the barges that carried goods up and down the river. George would also take up this role. 

At some point, he and brother William began to run the Swan barge on the river. Those described as "running a barge" sometimes owned it, often leased it, and sometimes were those captaining it up the river themselves. George and William seem to have combined the latter two roles at the beginning. As time went on, they did less work on the barges themselves, and more was left to employees. Although George was ultimately very successful in the barge industry, he certainly suffered some setbacks. Both his father and brother William were generally regarded as very shrewd businessman and definite misers. (You can read more about that infamous brother William, scourge of all in authority, here ) George it would seem was less one to frantically count his pennies, or perhaps he was unlucky. For in 1829, he found himself banged up in the notorious Whitecross Street debtors prison in London...

Debtors Prison 

Whitecross Street was used solely for the reception of debtors and it had arguably a worse reputation than the others so used. Sarcastically known as the "Cripplegate Coffee-House", it was often described as over crowded. The debtor's were housed in wards rather than individual rooms, men and woman apart. He is described as a fisherman formerly of Marlow at the time of his incarceration - "formerly" does not mean he had moved to London however. He is imprisoned at Whitecross because the action was taken relating to debts owed to someone operating in London or Middlesex who took a civil action against him there. I can't be sure how much he owed, but if a creditor insisted on it even someone owing a relatively small amount could find themselves behind bars at this time. And they were liable to stay there until the debt was paid, which may of course mean an indefinite stay. George's time however does not seem to have been long..perhaps his family stepped in and helped straighten his affairs. 

Happily, 1829 was not an entirely bad year for our subject. The Berkshire Chronicle of April announced the marriage of George Cresswell of Great Marlow to "Miss Bowles" of the same place. (Elizabeth). The Bowles were a very old and widespread Marlow family, one of the few to be present continuously from the Tudor period onwards and very likely before that too. The Bowles and Cresswell families were in charge of a large number of Victorian inns and beer houses at different times. 

By 1833 George and Elizabeth were living in the High Street. Their home was assessed at £10 for tax purposes so it was a reasonable size. Around now, George was one of the bell ringers at the old parish church*. In fact when that building was demolished, and replaced with a new one, George was one of the "first ringers". That is he was one of those who rang the bells for the first time in the new church in February 1835, a little time after it was completed. On the 60th anniversary of that occasion, the bells were rung again in honour of these early ringers all of whom had since passed away.  

The Swan Inn

Sometime between 1834 and 1839, George became the proprietor of the Swan Inn. Now demolished, this was a very old thatched building standing where the vicarage is now. It's proximity to the river means it's presumed to have had many bargeman amongst it's clientele although there were several beer houses on the river front itself around Church Passage and St Peters Street. And bargeman could be found drinking in any of Marlow's very very many houses of refreshment! However despite barge men having a somewhat fearsome reputation (often embellished later it must be said) events at the Swan rarely generated the sort of traffic to the Petty Sessions that many other licenced premises did. Was there a sort of self policing going on? Maybe, but George was regarded as running a respectable establishment in general. He in fact took a turn as parish constable on more than one occasion. Someone associated with crime would not get voted to this role. (You can find more about how parish constables worked in Marlow here) 

George's address in the 1840s is several times given as Sundial Cottage. It was the neighbouring property to the Swan, famed for the historic sun dial on an adjacent outer wall. Licenced victuallers were required to live in their premises but it seems George was also using the cottage and this was regarded as sufficiently the same. 

In 1845 wife Elizabeth died with such swiftness that expressions of sympathy were forthcoming from all quarters. She was "hale and hearty" one morning but was taken ill in the night. Surgeon Wilkinson attended but declared her life must be despaired of and she never recovered. Inflammation of the throat was considered the cause of death. George, with a young family,  would go on to marry a second time, to widow Charlotte of Bisham. 

George was the last landlord of The Swan. I'm not sure exactly when he chose to leave it but it was sometime between summer 1861 and December 1863 when the premises is described as uninhabited.  The site was ear marked for a new rectory by the Rev Milman who had many church improvement plans in mind. The Rev left the parish before most were realised but he did see the completion of his new home the year before his departure.  So The Swan and all its history was demolished in the 1860s. George and family moved just a short distance away to Brook(s) Street (now Station Rd). 

Farmer George, Timber Merchant

George primarily used his barge for transporting wood as time passed, as he was increasingly focusing on his timber dealing business. This developed into a substantial affair and by 1851 he employed 9 men. Timber lying at a wharf or in a yard was a frequent subject of thefts locally as it was relatively valuable. For example in 1856 20 year old John Stacey was sentenced to 3 months in jail for stealing some wood from George. He plead guilty and a previous conviction for theft increased his sentence. George also owned timber wagons which made the journey between Marlow and High Wycombe, centre of the chair making industry. 

In 1875 a man working for George was drowned in the Thames. James Rockell** had had charge of the horses towing the barge. When it stopped for the night in Staines, the crew went for food and drink in the town. A rowing boat was used to reach the spot where the barge was moored. James returned separately from the others but sadly his rowing boat was over turned in the dark. His fellow crew had already retired for the night and knew nothing of the tragedy. His body was found the following day. At least that is one version of events. Another later story says that the other crew had deliberately set a wonky gang plank up as a practical joke knowing James would use it last. He did and fell to his death. George had ceased to travel on the barge himself in those days. But he must have trusted James a good deal as the latter had worked for him since the age of 15, over 30 years it was said. 

 George knew all about his dangerous the river could be. He served on coroner's juries for the drowned and personally recovered at least one body from the water at Marlow. This was the badly decomposed remains of 73 year old George Joell, a Berkshire farm labourer of "unsound mind" who had been missing for 6 weeks. George collected a 20 shilling reward which had been posted for news of his whereabouts.

 He continued also to work as a coal merchant. He had however always had a farming interest. Even in the 1830s he was leasing farm land at Red Pits. Subsequently he would add to this holding with land at Lower Field farm (formerly part of the Great Marlow Common Fields, some of it purchased freehold by George in 1849 but still subject to common rights), "Merefield Common" (Marefield common field) and at Hill Farm amongst others. The Creswell Row cottages off Queens Road were built on his land. They were known as Cresswell's Cottages at first, although the family later owned many in the nearby area to which this term can also apply.

Goodbye George

George died aged 71 in 1879. He was still working as a farmer and timber merchant to the end. His beloved Swan Inn was fast becoming just a memory and many of the riverside properties around it were also demolished. The working river was increasingly making money out of tourists and houseboats rather than barges transporting goods. His death must have felt like the end of an era to many. 

The second Mrs Creswell, Charlotte lived to the age of 91, dying at the home of her daughter in law in 1898, Swilley Cottage, Little Marlow Road. She was said to have been as "sharp as a tack" in her old age. Her last illness was brief. She suddenly became blind 3 days before her death. She nevertheless apparently retained a healthy appetite to the end and died peacefully at the last. Of the couple's 4 children, only eldest son farmer and dairyman Augustus was still alive. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

**Sadly the widow of James Rockell would loose her second husband to drowning too - George Picton whose boat overturned while he was working for the Thames Conservancy in the 1890s. Two of the crew members of James' barge both drowned in separate incidents in the months after his death. You can read more about the rest of Mrs Rockell/Picton's sad life in a post here

More information:

Read about George's run in with a character known as Buffer the Hatch  - here

List of publicans at The Swan: here

A tribute to our bargeman - challenging the stereotypes here

Pub index: here

To find every mention of a person or family here use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. You'll find over 6,000 people listed there.  

Posts about everyday life for your ancestor in old Great Marlow: here

Sources include:

1833 Parish Assessment, transcribed by me from the original held by my family 

Undated letters and workings related to the above c 1834. 

Robson's Directory 1839

Slater's Commercial Directory 1852

Kelly's Directory 1847 & 1869

Dutton's Directory 1863

Bicester Herald 7 March 1879.

Berkshire Chronicle 4 April 1829, May 3 1845. 

Reading Mercury 29 March 1829, 26 May 1855.

Bucks Herald 15 May 1875, 12 Jan 1879. 

Bucks Advertiser 03 March 1849 & 25 January 1879

South Bucks Standard - January 14 1898. 

Great Marlow census returns as transcribed from microfilm by Jane Pullinger. 

Creswell family research by Charlotte. 

© MarlowAncestors. 

Wellingrove, Station Road

Wellingrove is a house in Station Road Marlow, originally called Wellingrove Villa. (Sometimes rendered as Welling Grove)

The first mentions of anyone residing there I have found were of Lawrence and Mrs Smith who lived at Wellingrove in 1869, who will feature in a separate post on the blog in the future, and of Mrs Jane Townsend who died at Wellingrove in September 1874. She was described as the elderly widow of Joseph Townsend J.P. The couple had married in Hackney in 1827* and initially lived in London where Joseph worked as a land agent and surveyor. In around 1831 they moved to Wood End House at Medmenham near Marlow, the Townsend family estate. After around 20 years the couple decided to rent out Wood End and live in Marlow. This was initially in the High Street. (A post on Joseph Townsend will follow.)

After Jane's death the contents of Wellingrove, down to a library of some 500 books, 35 paintings and a  good stock of wine, was sold across a two day auction held at at the house.

The next known occupiers after Jane Townsend were Charles and Mary Jubber who had moved to the area from London. They were in residence by 1876. Charles previously ran Long's Hotel in New Bond Street London with his brother Henry. This they had taken over from their deceased father. They also had a business as spirit and wine merchants together but dissolved all of their business partnerships in 1873. Long's Hotel was a high class hotel that nevertheless had rooms set aside on the ground floor away from other guests for the use of raucous men who wanted to sit together drinking and gambling after their Gentleman's clubs shut down for the night.

Charles threw himself into life in his new riverside home town. He kept a luxury steam launch called The Plover which he lent to the Oxford University rowing crew's training staff when the crew practiced in Marlow or nearby for the traditional Oxford and Cambridge boat race. The launch was also made available to officials at the Marlow Regatta. Charles was one of those behind the setting up of the modern incarnation of the regatta. He was also a keen fisherman and a fellow of the Royal Zoological Society. Unfortunately of Mary little can be discovered except that she was a Sussex lady by birth. The couple lived quite modestly in Marlow with just one live in servant but they had plenty of money as besides their expensive steam launch they had enough to buy several acres of land near the new railway station. Charles advertised for builders to erect him two semi detached villas on some of the land. 

Charles and Mary left the town for Richmond in Surrey in 1886.

By 1912 Wellingrove is described as a "High School". A northern German governess known as Erna Warnemunde posts adverts in regional press seeking an holiday position in that year. She tells us that she speaks fluent German, French and Italian. The teaching of foreign languages by conversation was a speciality of the establishment. The principals of the school were the Misses Cooper and Farmer. It was a boarding school for young ladies and advertised itself as "eminently suited to girls requiring pure and bracing air". The principals promised to take special care with the girls physical health by means of "nourishing food" and outdoor games and walks. Florence Farmer had earlier coached young boys for entry into Borlase School and both her and Violet Cooper were among the specially invited guests to the opening of new school rooms at Borlase in 1910. 

Undated advertisement from Paton's School Guide, courtesy of Michael Eagleton. 

A later resident of Wellingrove in 1915 was Mrs W Cousin. She was a member of the British Science Guild and the Eugenics Education Society. The latter was later renamed the Eugenics Society and followed a now discredited science. Eugenics could be "positive", that was encouraging those seen as desirable to have as many offspring as possible to improve the future of the society and race which they belonged to, or "negative" which was focused on promoting the allegedly scientifically proven benefits of encouraging or preventing "undesirable" people from reproducing.  Undesirables might include the less intelligent, those with disabilities, non-white people, criminals or the poor. In England the most serious concern was usually that the poor working classes would keep having children! At the time being poor and being a potential criminal was usually seen as the same thing. Whether Mrs Cousin leaned towards so called "positive", or "negative" eugenics can't be ascertained by me. She may have been a teacher in the school. 

By the later 1920s members of the Townsend family again lived at Wellingrove. A Miss F Townsend was one of the same new breed of unashamedly intellectual women as Mrs Cousin but in a uncontroversial way -she was a member of the Classical Association, the Women's Farm and Garden Association, and the South Eastern Union of Scientific Societies.

This blog focuses on the pre 1930s period so I'll leave it there. I will fill in more information about any other historic residents of the house as I find them.

To find more posts related to Station Road or any other Marlow address see the Street index here. Thousands of people are mentioned on this blog. All mentions of each individual can be found on the A-Z  Person Indexes.

*Jane was nee Henderson.

Sources included:

Annual Report of the Eugenics Society, 1936-7. 

J. G. Harrod's &Co Royal County Directory of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. United Kingdom, J.G. Harrod & Company, 1876.

The Pall Mall Budget: Being a Weekly Collection of Articles Printed in the Pall Mall Gazette from Day to Day, with a Summary of News. United Kingdom, n.p, 1874.

1891 England and Wales Census for Richmond, Surrey, Rootspoint.Com. Crown Copyright.

Lloyds List, 1st March 1873.

England and Wales Census for Great Marlow 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 my translation from microfilm. Crown Copyright.

Kelly's Post Office Directory for Buckinghamshire etc 1883 published by Kelly's Directories Limited.

Sun, London. 17th May 1832. Bucks Herald 17th October 1874. Bedfordshire Mercury 19th September 1874. All British Library Archives.

Hornsey Journal,  April 5th 1912 as above. 

Paton's List of Schools.