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.