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 Rd, 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 b 1858 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.
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 Rd and York Rd.
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 recieved 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 Rd in 1891 and York Rd.
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
