If you read many old local papers relating to Marlow, you cannot fail to come up with the name W T Porter throughout the Victorian and Edwardian period and beyond.
William Thomas was on the surface a coal merchant, cartage contractor, railway agent and later farmer. But this only brushes the surface of the many roles this very busy man fulfilled. Porter's are of course long associated with the coal trade in Marlow. Many people recall buying coal from them at their yard adjacent to Marlow Station well into the 20th century. It was William's father Walter** that started this. Walter came to Marlow to fulfill the role as the very first station master at Marlow railway station in 1873. Prior to this he had the same position at Marlow Road Station (or Bourne End as it was subsequently known). Within a couple of months he'd also started business as a coal merchant, and if that wasn't enough, he was the licensee of the newly built Railway Hotel at the same time (now known as the Marlow Donkey). It was here the Porter family lived at first, and William's mother Sarah Ann was the one actively managing that side of the business. The coal yard was adjacent to the station and Walter also leased a "wharf" with additional coal storage - this was not a wharf on the riverside but an area mainly used a loading and unloading. (The wharf was where the extra goods siding of Marlow station was put in in 1902, so William had to move both that and his railway agents booking office then. The new office was built immediately opposite the station booking office which was considered a better site anyway.) You could place an order with Walter's manager at either of those two places.
William was born in 1861 before the family moved to Marlow, in Appleford, Berkshire. He was about 16 when his father Walter died aged just 40 in 1877 at the Railway Hotel. It was presumably quite a sudden death as only a few months before Walter was considered well enough to be considered for election for overseer of the poor for the Parish Council. The license for the Hotel was immediately officially transferred to widow Sarah Ann, who as mentioned above had always effectively been the one in charge there. The family continued the coal merchant business, with William T assuming the management of that by the time he was 20.
Sarah Ann narrowly escaped the serious attention of the 1880 election rioters in Marlow. A detailed post about that is available here. Suffice to say, Sarah had been seen to allegedly sport the colours of the winners of that election, the Tories, on her carriage. The rioters were supporters of the losers and wreaked wide scale destruction in the centre of Marlow. They set out to smash the windows of the hotel but were stopped from forcing their way inside when one of the rioters pleaded Sarah's case. She was a widow with no vote herself he said. This largely worked and no significant damage was done. William's older sister Elizabeth was at this point assisting her mother at the hotel and it must have been an anxious time.
On a happier note W T was involved in the Marlow Regatta from the 1870s - at first as a successful competitor, later as Captain of the Rowing Club as well as a committee member for its organisation. Not all of the races William took part in were absolutely serious - he had good form in the aquatic tug of war for example. One definitely serious role he often fulfilled was a judge at the Regatta once his own competing days were over. He contributed financially to the events organising funds and was indeed a Vice President on the organising committee. The position of Judge was not perhaps the most glamorous one at times, as bad weather seems to have been attracted to the Regatta in many of the years William was doing this job. In 1912 William was applauded for stoically staying out in the elements all day despite torrential rain descending upon him. Everyone else had tried to shelter under the bridge they say, although "everyone" must have been quite a small number given the space available!
William and wife Minnie lived for very many years at Woodlea / Wood Lea in Station Rd. This is almost opposite the Railway Hotel and is a good size house that reflects the business success that William and his family had enjoyed. They employed a servant, and after Minnie's death a live in housekeeper. From the 1890s if not before, William had been involved in buying and selling land and property speculation. Many houses and pieces of land in the area of Station Rd and Dedmere Rd in particular passed through his hands at some point. In 1895 we are told a brace of pretty villas are in the course of construction for William, "almost opposite the station", and he's often seen bidding for property all over Marlow. For example he owned the strip of cottages in Little Marlow Rd next to The Plough. His role as landlord and land owner is interesting as he was a fiercely critical of those in a similar position who did not maintain their poorer tenants premises. As a member of the Marlow Urban District Council he frequently asked awkward questions that shows he had no truck with those making excuses while the tenants lived in conditions of misery. In the early 1900s he constantly campaigned for improvement to areas such as Hatches Row and Primrose Lea in particular, where residents suffered atrocious sanitation and water supply issues. In 1905 William said he was strongly in favour of drastic measures being taken to force house owners in the area of Dean Street to update their properties. He was one of the few other than Dr Dickson who remembered to put the needs of the poor tenants at the forefront of decisions. When a few years later someone complained about a paperwork delay that has slowed down the delivery of enforcement notices on the owners of defective properties, William firmly said the owners themselves were the one who were a "disgrace". He said they should be able to see with their own eyes that they were forcing their tenants to live in a shameful state.
William's position increasingly meant he was voted into all kinds of committees in Marlow. The 1897 Jubilee dinner and tea committee was one of the bigger projects. (You can read more about that here.) The large "vans" and other vehicles used by the Porters were in demand for many Marlow parades and processions. The most touching is probably the impromptu torch lit procession organised within hours of the end of the South African wars being confirmed in 1902. William's vehicle, laden with patriotic emblems and flags was one of the highlights. Just before the First World War William was part of the Marlow Improvement Committee - this was not related to housing conditions this time but was a sort of early tourist attraction group. They decided to advertise Marlow's charms in various newspapers. They also produced an illustrated guide to the town that was sent to 50 leading London hotels in order to tempt the wealthy guests to take the train to Marlow.
William had a celebration of his own at Woodlea in 1910, or rather it was held to celebrate his son William Arthur reaching his majority. A marquee decorated with fairy lamps was put up on the lawn and some 30 employees of the Porters and their friends were invited. No band was needed as Mr Porter possessed a modern gramophone to entertain the guests with a "choice selection" of tasteful music. The speeches were fulsome and even the vicar joined in, praising William Juniors sporting talents in particular. He'd succeeded his father to membership of the rowing club amongst other pursuits. George North, representing the Porter's staff, presented young William with a gold tie pin to mark the occasion. You can imagine the horror that must have been felt in 1917 when William Junior of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry was reported missing in action in France. It took time for any further news to reach home, but thankfully when it did come, it showed that William was still alive, albeit injured. He survived the war and assisted his father in the coal business.
At some point William had added the role of cartage contractor and railway goods agent to his business. In 1900 he opened a parcel office in Marlow High Street so customers did not need to even go to the station itself in order to place an order for any branch of his business.
"Mr Porters meadow" off Dedmere Rd features in local Victorian newspaper reports almost as often as the man himself. He actually owned several meadows about there. It was used sometimes for rides and sideshows of the Edwardian Marlow Fair after it had been evicted from its position in the streets of the town. (The Star and Crown Meadows were more often used). Then there were many football matches played by one of the bewildering number of football teams and youth sides Marlow once supported. * The most exciting event was probably the arrival of a army biplane in 1914. It was seen flying over the town before it made a controlled landing in order to make some repairs. The pilot was entertained by Dr Dickson at his home in nearby Institute Rd until they were ready to depart.
William was also a supporter who contributed to the building of the current Marlow Library, then the Literary and Scientific Institute headquarters. He was also a Freemason. He defined himself as a farmer on the 1911 census, in addition to running the coal business. This was mainly at Town Farm in Bisham.
As Sarah Ann Porter, William's widowed mother got older, she retired from the active management of the Railway Hotel (in 1901). However she continued to live there, as it was taken over by her younger son Charles Henry Porter who also worked as a coal merchant both with and independently of brother William. Her grave at Marlow Cemetery can be viewed on the blog here (Died 1923). Charles turned the livery and fly hire side of the business into a huge success and as he wished to expand this further in 1902, Messrs Porter as coal merchants and railway agents had to remove from the Railway Hotel to new stables and coal wharf constructed for them "near the railway."
Post written and researched by Kathryn Day.
* A list of Victorian and Edwardian football teams in Marlow is available here
** There was another Walter Porter resident in Marlow, a watch and clock maker. This other Walter, husband to Ellen, died suddenly on Christmas Day 1862 leaving numerous little children. A public fundraising appeal was launched out of pity for the widow's terrible loss.
To find all mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.
Landlord listing for the Railway Hotel: here
© Marlow Ancestors.
Sources:
Marlow Guides 1903&1905
Cairns, Jock - The Book of Marlow (Barracuda Books 1976)
Dickens, Charles - Dickens Dictionary of the Thames (1886 edition)
Kelly's Directories for Buckinghamshire 1886, 1889, 1911, 1915, 1920,1939. (Kelly's Directory Ltd)
Census data, transcribed from the originals by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger.
Bucks Herald July 12th & 13 December 1873, 25 August 1888, 7 July 1917 (British Library Archive)
South Bucks Standard 29 November 1895, 9th March 1900, 24 October 1902, 8 December 1905, 8 March 1907, 28 February 1908, 29 July 1910, 15 August 1912 as above
Maidenhead Advertiser 6 June 1900, 1 July 1903 - as above
Reading Mercury - 28 December 1918 as above.
