Grave and Research For Eliza Holford and Thomas Holford Great Marlow

 In loving memory of Eliza the dearly beloved wife of Thomas Holford died Dec 21st 1885.

Also Thomas Holford husband of the above died Jan 1902*

*The body of Thomas was found floating in the Thames at Marlow Weir some time after he was last seen alive. It appeared the body had been in the water for a length of time. Thomas had left his home in Crown Lane one evening on the express mission to consult a doctor. He walked through the town before entering Marlow bridge which puzzled a watching relative as it took him away from the direction of any doctors. Thomas was not seen alive again. His cap was found a few days later in a meadow near Marlow Lock.  Robbery was ruled out as his pockets contained money and his watch. The coroner's verdict was "found drowned". The grave gives no exact date of death for Thomas as it was not known exactly when he entered the water.

He worked for more than 20 years at Wethered's brewery as spirit taster or cellar foreman. He was "much respected" by employees and colleagues alike. The inquest was held at The Two Brewers, in St Peters Street. 

Thomas was married twice, and came to Marlow from Oxford according to his obituary. 

Grave is in Holy Trinity churchyard Marlow. Photographed February 2020.

Researched by Kathryn and Charlotte, and photographed by Charlotte Day.

*RELATED POSTS:

Graves index (Marlow, Little Marlow, Hurley, Bisham) here

Other residents of Crown Lane and images of it feature in this post here

© Marlow Ancestors. Reproduction welcome with credit to this blog.

Sources included:

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer,  Feb 1st 1902. (Copy from Slough reference library) 

Obituary newspaper clipping 1902 (possibly the Maidenhead Advertiser?)

Latimer Clark

 Josiah Latimer Clark, or Latimer as he preferred to be known, was a famous Victorian civil, electrical and telegraphic engineer born in Marlow. I must admit I found the information relating to Latimer's achievements came as quite dry reading for those not particularly interested in the more technical aspects of the history of engineering. For this reason, and because we prefer to feature those whose history isn't told elsewhere such as on Wikipedia, I nearly decided not to gather our research on Latimer. But I realised that he was actually a more entertaining individual (as well as a fiercely intelligent and creative one) than any list of his inventions and academic papers can show. 

Early Life And Some Narrow Escapes

Latimer was born in Marlow 1822, the son of "Dr" Josiah Clark, High Street lace dealer and grocer. (The Dr title was a nickname only! He was the 7th son of a 7th son, and tradition was such a person had healing powers.) Latimer's brother was the fellow engineer and mathematician Edwin Clark, who features in a post here. Lace dealing was not a flourishing industry any more and the Clarks suffered times of (relative) financial hardship. As such they were probably disappointed that the eldest son Edwin took a considerable time to settle down and make a success of himself. Was Latimer jealous of the opportunities that may have been given to his brother that the family could not afford to give to their other sons? We will never know. He was clearly always an intelligent and thoughtful boy. He attended the private school for young "gentleman" known as Faulkner's school in Marlow where the pupils were generally trained for commercial and clerical pursuits. He was one of the head boys and was remembered as studious, unassuming, and good humoured. After this, he was apparently trained as a chemist, partly in Dublin where he eventually managed a "scientific and manufacturing" chemist business. However he then moved into railway engineering, along with brother Edwin now settled to the career in which he too would excell. Edwin often had the lead role in these years, but he was quick to appoint Latimer to positions within the companies he worked for. When Edwin blagged his way into a job with THE Robert Stephenson, he would appoint Latimer as the assistant engineer supervising the construction of the Brittannia bridge over the Menai Straits. Latimer would subsequently contribute to a short book written by Edwin about their experiences in this sometimes very hair raising construction project. Both brothers nearly lost their lives in an accident there. Latimer had the narrowest of escapes, when some tonnes of equipment fell within inches of him. It was said he survived as he was pushed into a crevice but that some metal buttons on his clothes were flattened to the consistency of gold leaf. Whether he was wearing the buttoned item I'm not sure. If so he must surely have had an escape every bit as miraculous as reported. Either way, Latimer showed the squashed buttons off in the years to come. Later both Edwin and Latimer were poached by the Electric Telegraph co, and when Edwin subsequently resigned as their head engineer, Latimer took up that role, staying there until 1861 (although he remained a consultant afterwards). He then went into partnership with Sir Charles Bright and the two won substantial contracts for laying submarine and land based telegraph cables throughout the then Empire. Latimer thought that "ocean telegraphy was calculated to do universal good, not only pecuniarily but morally". 

 He spent most of his life now in London but of course he was frequently called abroad, more of which below. 

Latimer Has A Good Idea 

As Latimer's work in the field of electricity is deservedly well known (he first proposed adopting the terms ohm, volt etc and suggested the adoption of fixed standards for their measure for example) I'm going to concentrate on a few other of the very very many patents and inventions that the busy Latimer created. He really kept the patents department extremely busy, sometimes submitting a plan alone, sometimes jointly with various other scientists and engineers. My favourite is his method for taking stereoscopic photographs using a single rather than two cameras. He was apparently very interested in photography and I wonder what happened to the many experimental pictures he took? Latimer's method was adapted and developed by others but was generally regarded as "ingenious".  One reviewer did note that it required any subject to remain still for a long time even by the standards of the time. This the reviewer thought would try the patience of a portrait sitter rather too much so he personally  recommended reverting to a two camera method at such times. One obituary of Latimer records the fact he was first person to produce the type image later known as a vignette (or image with a dark edge/border). Its generally reported to be a French innovation but perhaps Latimer is a forgotten pioneer in this regard too. 

My second favourite patent taken out by Latimer, was one for "an improved patent for hanging window sashes and blinds especially useful for railway carriages", submitted along with Edward Jacob Hill. This would stay exactly at what position you rolled it down to however much the train jolted apparently. I do not know if Latimer found a commercial partner for developing this particular idea. I think it's amusing that as well as solving the great engineering problems of the day, he still found time to deal with the petty annoyances of the Victorian railway traveller. I've also seen a patent lodged under Latimer's name for a method for passengers to communicate with the guard and driver of a train while travelling (1868)

Pneumatic Dispatch Company 

Latimer was one of two chief engineers at the Pneumatic Dispatch Company, (1857) which used a method of Latimer's design, to send documents flying securely through vacuum tubes from one office or nearby building to another. (AKA the Pneumatic Cylinder Dispatch method.) This was a pretty ingenious yet simple system that was reckoned quicker than sending a telegraph message between premises close together. It replaced simply sending a messenger boy with the papers and it was considered more private and confidential. It seems Latimer designed Pneumatic Dispatch to solve a particular problem and that he did not publicly exhibit the idea. But when some French and German engineers exhibited similar systems a few years later, it was indignantly remembered that Latimer had got there first. Latimer first set up a tubeway between the Electrical Company "station" and the Stock Exchange in 1853, which worked via a steam engine powered vacuum only as the messages were required to travel just in one direction. When it proved successful the system was extended and altered to utilise air pressure to make it a two way system. With his co engineer, Latimer's main Pneumatic project was a tube laid between and under Euston Rd and St Martin's Le Grand. It seems to have satisfied it's users but the PDC decided there wasn't much profit to be made in the system overall so they sold it to the Post Office who continued to make use of it for many years. 

His best known inventions were in the field of telegraphy, including a method for protecting underwater cables from rusting or otherwise deteriorating. Clarks Compound as it was known extended the life of cables from 5 to 20 years or more. This made a huge reduction in the cost of maintaining such communication lines (1858). When a far flung Marlovian living in a distant part of the empire was able to receive news of England a short time after it happened, you can guarantee it was at least partially due to the efforts of townsman Latimer. 

Shipwrecks And Mud Baths

Bright & Clark won contracts to lay cables in the Persian Gulf in 1862, and when Latimer left the Bright partnership in 1866 he continued to specialise in grand scale submarine telegraph operations. (Also as part of Clark & Ford / Warden, Muirhead  & Clark / Latimer, Muirhead & Co,  and Clark, Staples & Clark engineers to name but a few of his business concerns) It's his work repairing and laying cables in and around the Red Sea later in the 1860s that I've been able to find the most information about in terms of what the experience was actually like for Latimer himself. In no way was he behind a desk in an office supervising things from afar. It was a difficult job and they obviously needed a civil engineer on site to make immediate decisions and adaptions in difficult conditions. The original cable had been partially ripped to shreds by coral in the Red Sea so while Latimer was in charge of repairing what he could, it was also his role to find an alternate overland route to replace as much underwater sections as possible.  Poor Latimer was ship wrecked on the way to India for this project, and was severely injured with a broken collarbone and numerous other wounds. He narrowly escaped with his life and was carried ashore unconscious, remaining insensible for several hours. All the equipment on board the ship, and Latimer's workings and documents were lost. Worse still a vessel bringing 273 miles of the necessary  cable also floundered on the way to join Latimer and it's Captain and 30 crew members lost their lives. 70 miles of the cable were put over the side in the attempt to stop the ship sinking. Miraculously, most of this was subsequently recovered and sent on it's way in the original and hastily repaired ship with only a minor delay. This was by no means the only hiccup. Latimer also had a vessel stranded on a mud bank in the Red Sea. He recalled that they needed to get the cable onboard to the shore a frustrating distance away. Those who first left the ship sunk to their waists in the mud. Latimer said they had to slide across on all fours "like a turtle" and emerged on the bank coated with mud from head to toe. The scene reminded him of a sketch in Punch and at least he found it amusing in retrospect! Another job was to personally engage with the Sheikhs of Egypt where the new cables would pass through their tribal lands. He secured agreements that the telegraphic workers would not be molested and that the tribes would guard the cables against harm in return for being paid to do so. The first part of the agreement was not always entirely respected shall we say! 

Torpedoes And Bullets

Less well known now perhaps, is that Latimer's business was also later known as a manufacturer of torpedoes for which they were contactors for the War Department. In 1887 they were awarded the contract to supply 500,000 cartridges for the Army Ordinance Dept which caused some bemusement. Why was a company listed as a electrical and telegraphic engineering one the winner of a contract to provide bullets? The answer was that Latimer and his partners had bought the patent from Herr Lorenz of Germany for a means of manufacturing the bullets to Army specifications. The required equipment was being installed at their London works. It was a trial contract the War department said, and if Clark, Muirhead & Co fulfilled it well, they would be allowed to bid for larger ones. 

Elsewhere we find Latimer perfecting floating docks (to allow easier repair of ships in particular where a "proper" dock was not readily available). He built some for amongst others, the Russian Navy. The British Navy were also much impressed by Latimer's work, which they said had contributed to national security by speeding repairs and cutting costs. The there was his eye catching electric fired 8 day  time guns for large scale works, his methods of marking cables with different ridges and lines to allow them to be easily differentiated from one another, and countless other clever ideas and improvements. (He took out at least 150 patents) He was a fellow of The Royal Geographic Society, the Royal Astronomical Society and the Physical Society, President of the Society of Telegraphic Engineers and an associate of the the Institute of Civil Engineers to name just a few. 

Closer to home, Latimer's company bid for contracts to supply electric lighting to various towns. This often seems to have been a fraught process with nervous councils reluctant to commit to all of Latimer's suggestions on cost grounds. 

In Marlow

How often did the genial Latimer return from London to visit his home town of Marlow and brother Edwin of Cromwell House? It's hard to know but he did give at least a few lectures to the Literary and Scientific Institute and the Mural Improvement Society here in the 1880s at least. As someone who addressed groups of the foremost experts in numerous engineering and scientific fields, securing Latimer to speak to a group of interested amateurs was obviously a coup. His subject? Botany and astronomy. Was there any field Latimer didn't know about I wonder?! At this period he maintained a chiefly summer residence in Maidenhead. Both Latimer and brother Edwin were tremendous bibliophiles and I'm sure they liked to compare notes on this. Latimer was especially interested in just about any publication related to electricity. He is said to have enjoyed spending his last years rearranging and cataloguing his collection which contained at least 6,500 volumes. At least some of this library was presented to the Institute of Electrical Engineers. 

Timekeeping

One last of Latimer's developments should be mentioned. This was his  "transit instrument for the determination of time". This looks like a small telescope on a stand, and it was used with a guide and annually printed charts to check that your clock or watch was keeping the correct time to within four tenths of a second, as determined by Greenwich Mean Time. It was regarded as invaluable to country clock and watchmakers, and fairly inexpensive at £10. Apparently even a child of "ordinary intelligence" could set up the transit instrument but having read the instructions, this may be a little optimistic I feel. 

Farewell

In 1898, Latimer woke suffering from an apparent bout of indigestion. He was at home in London at the time. He took some whisky and after a restless night, got up and seemed a little better. However he then went back to bed and died immediately, age 75. He was survived by his second wife Maria and sons Lyonel and Hugh. His grave is in Kensington Cemetery. 

If you wish to consult Latimer's most famous work out of curiousity - "On Electrical Tables and Formulae", produced in partnership with Mr Sabine, it is readily available online. It was a reference work in use for decades. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Further Information:

To find all mentions of an individual or family here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

SOURCES

Field, C. W. . Europe and America: Report of the Proceedings at an Inauguration Banquet, Given by Mr. Cyrus W. Field, of New York, at the Palace Hotel, Buckingham Gate, on Friday, the 15th April, 1864 : in Commemoration of the Renewal by the Atlantic Telegraph Company ... of Their Efforts to Unite Ireland & Newfoundland, by Means of a Submarine Electric Telegraph Cable. (1864) United Kingdom: W. Brown."

Hansard, T. C. Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. (1887) T.C. Hansard.

Hardwich, T. F., Hadow, E., Dawson, G. A Manual of Photographic Chemistry: Including the Practice of the Collodion Process. (1864) J. Churchill. 

Munro, J. Heroes of the Telegraph (1891) Religious Tract Society.

Plarr, Victor Gustave - Men and Women of the Time; a dictionary of contemporaries. (14th Revised Edition 1895), G Routledge & Co. 

 Woodcroft, B. Alphabetical index of patentees and applicants for patents of invention, (1869) (n.p.).

The Directory of Directors. (1883). Thomas Skinner Directories.

English Patents of Inventions, Specifications: 1853, 1857 & 58, 1868. United Kingdom: H.M. Stationery Office.

The Horological Journal: The Special Organ of the British Horological Institute. (1883). United Kingdom: Published and printed for the Institute by Kent & Company.

Mr. Latimer Clark, F.R.S. Nature 59, 38 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/059038a0

The Mechanics' Magazine and Journal of Engineering, Agricultural Machinery, Manufactures and Shipbuilding. (1862). Robertson, Brooman, & Company.

Photographic Notes. (1856). Sampson Low, Son & Company.

Specifications of Letters Patent for Inventions and Provisional Specifications: 1878. (1879). United Kingdom: Published and sold at the Commissioners of Patents Sale Department.

South Bucks Standard, 4th & 11th November 1898. British Library Archive. 

The Truth, July 21 1881 - digitised by Google. 

Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects. (1879). Institution of Naval Architects

The Electrical Journal. (1885). United Kingdom: D. B. Adams

© MarlowAncestors 

Victorian Ladies of Business - the Misses Barton

 The Misses Barton were formerly large scale employers in a characteristic Marlow industry for upwards of half a century. Yet hardly anyone remembers them now. As female business owners and ones employing an entirely female workforce, our story of Marlow's Victorian women of business wouldn't be complete without them. Their industry was the manufacturer of embroidered clothing, in particular baby clothes. Marlow used to be famous for this, and if you have a young female ancestor* who gave their occupation as satin stitch worker or embroiderer in a census, it's very likely they were working in this industry. There were several large employers in Marlow in this field, including the Washbournes, Flints, and Bartons, occupying several hundred women and girls between them. Fashion's came and went, and all the families manufacturing in this are had their financial ups and downs as we shall see, but they nevertheless lasted most of the 19th century and some beyond. 

Susan (b.1820), Rosa (b 1830, Ada (b.1826) and Amy (b.1832) never married. Their sibling Charlotte (b.1813) did but was soon widowed and returned to Marlow to live with her sisters. (It's surprisingly common for local woman who had their own means of making a comfortable income to remain single we've noticed. Money bought choices unavailable to the poor.) They had at least one brother with them for a while at Marlow -  Frederick. He will be researched more later but today's subject is the Barton woman. 

Background 

The girl's parents William and Charlotte were not of local birth and seem to have moved here from London in the late 1830s. William was a baby linen manufacturer at this time. They had certainly arrived by early 1840, when they were living in West Street in a house valued at £17, let from Sir William Clayton. A near neighbour was the Flint family of fellow embroiders/cap makers. At this time, it was estimated 2,000 women and girls were employed to produce satin stitch work for these kind of employers in the neighborhood of Marlow. The relationship between these two big rival concerns is an interesting one. I believe they became acquainted when both were in London. But by this point, their relations were anything but cordial. In 1841 William Barton acted as an "informer" as it was referred to at the time.  He reported that old family friend John Tarrand Flint was engaging in the "truck system" at Marlow. This means he was accused of paying some of his female workers in the form of groceries rather than ready money. This practice had now been made illegal for most manufacturers to do. William said this was not fair on the workers  and had a disastrous affect on local shop keepers if allowed to go on. (And of course might have reduced Flints costs in a competitive market, especially as the goods supplied were supposed to be tea and coffee supplied by one of his sons then working for a tea dealer.) Barton sent to the Aylesbury assizes to lay his information. This was not well received in Marlow where the Flints were well regarded, especially as it was said to be an act of ingratitude by the Bartons who apparently had been assisted by the Flints when in "abject need". Furthermore John Flint had taught the baby linen business to the Bartons in the first place they said. The Flints denied they paid anyone other than in coin, and the justices declined to take the case further. William Barton tried again at the local magistrates court but they said that the women's work didn't count as manufacture as defined in the Act that banned the Truck System. William then presented a letter from an MP who had first proposed the bill. The latter said it was his intention that the law should apply to all wages but the JPs said intention was all well and good, but the letter of the law as passed was their business. William thought the Flints should have to pay a heavy financial penalty, but they always denied having begun the truck system. So no more came of the matter directly. It seems that the Barton's son Frederick was involved in an altercation with Flint's son Charles the year before, which saw the former convicted of assault and fined £5. Sympathy was expressed at the levying of what was the maximum penalty, considering all that seems to have been involved was the shaking of a fist in a face, and maybe a little shove. It was assault considered that the magistrates should have taken into account that young Frederick Barton claimed to have been much provoked by Charles Flint blackening his character to his unnamed employer with the supposed intent of stealing his position! Reports in different papers come down either very harshly on the Bartons or quite the opposite, and partly this is because the papers were very politically partisan and the Barton family were associated with the Clayton political cause. When William's outbuilding in West Street was the victim of arson in 1843, the Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury news thought "It is to be regretted that any one could be found base enough to attempt to do an injury to one so universally respected and who from his kindness it was thought impossible to have an enemy". Short memories there.  As both parties were generally known for generosity and good employee relations, let's hope the squabbles worked themselves out and the two could live happily in the same town over the next few decades! 

Housing trouble

But back to the sisters. The time after their arrival in Marlow was obviously rocky. Although their house in West Street sounds a good size and had a pleasant garden stocked with fruit trees and flowers, it was also described as in quite a state of disrepair. It's hard to know how far in the past the Barton's financial difficulty was. A nice looking residence in a respectable street quietly falling apart behind the scenes suggests perhaps they needed to be cautious with their funds. They moved out to another house in West Street in the summer of 1840. I do not know if the girls themselves had any embroidery training beyond what all young ladies were expected to have, but their mother Charlotte was certainly an accomplished needlewoman. She was still had the eyesight and dexterity to execute complicated sewing projects in her senior years, including an embroidered family portrait completed when she was age 80. This was put on display in Marlow on a few occasions as part of fundraising events. 

Elections in Marlow were usually fraught, sometimes violent and always accompanied by accusations of fraud and bribery on both sides. William Barton's vote was struck off as invalid in the 1842 election as he had voted (for the Claytons) on the strength of occupying the first West Street house mentioned above. But he'd actually moved out before the election and you had to be actually be in occupation in your registered property in order for your vote to count. (And for a minimum time before the voting day.) No action was generally taken against those voting when not entitled to, and in William's case it was probably an innocent error, as the house he moved into would also have qualified him to vote had he registered on the strength of occupying it - although he might have fallen slightly short of the minimum residency. Those who wanted his vote discounted said the disputed  house was empty with a "for rent" sign up in the window.  Several workman employed to do it up then said there was no furniture there. But as what counted as "occupation" was not always simple, it was attempted to show that as the Barton girls and their mother had visited the old house and picked the fruit from the garden, it was still occupied. They had gone in as they had not got to the end of their notice period the family said, and Clayton had commenced household repairs in the hope of finding another tenant sooner. If he could, he'd let them off the rest of the notice. The court was not convinced especially as the Barton's had all the furniture in the new house, and so the vote was thrown out. 

A Comfortable Life

By 1851, the family had moved to what was then known as Mill Lane or Thames Bank, now Mill Rd. (Thames Bank was also the name of a substantial house, but the Barton were not in occupation there.) Later they would occupy the beautiful property known as Thames Lawn. Now this is NOT the house now known as Thames Lawn (which was previously known as Thames Bank House and Goodyers) but an earlier version that stood nearer the lock which burned down in 1897. It was rebuilt in a different style and much enlarged but within a few years the name had changed and Thames Lawn was adopted as a moniker for the house that currently bears the name. 10 years later we are told the Barton's employ 80 hands. By this time Rosa had sadly passed away.  The remaining Barton sisters were aged between their late 20s through to their 40s, and it's difficult for us to know how involved at this point they were in the business. Their parents were elderly though, and it's hard to imagine they wouldn't have welcomed some assistance. They clearly knew enough to practically take over things when their father died in 1872. 

At an uncertain point probably some time before Williams death, the others moved out of Thames Lawn which was then in the occupation of William Rose, a solicitor. The 1872 household furniture sale which occured on the death of Rose gives us a glimpse into what must have been a comfortable home, as well as a prettily placed one. Among the objects sold by Roses estate were a library of 900 (yes 900) books, a nearly new oak punt, a "very fine" dining suite, old Wedgwood, Chelsea and oriental china, a phaeton, bronze figures and some oil paintings. [It was common to sell up possessions when moving, even if not after a death, necessity was not necessarily involved and was not in Roses case.] The Bartons remained in Marlow - I'm uncertain as the address the immediately moved to but in the 1890s onwards they were living at Wood View. 

The Ladies Lend A Hand

It's from the 1870s on that we see the sisters start to be listed much more often at events, as subscribers, at meetings etc in their own right. I think this was a new chapter in their lives, independence in financial and social matters going together. It's a shame that so often they are listed just as "the misses Barton" as it's difficult to get an idea of the individual interests and character of the women. It does seem that all had a hand in the business though, as variously each are described as a baby linen manufacturer at times. Susan died in 1878 though. 

They always appeared amongst those ladies manning stalls and tea tables at parish events, such as the annual parish tea and harvest festival. They were especially active in supporting the cottage hospital. Not only did they subscribe to it (to provide for its maintenance), but they also organised collections to make sure everyone else contributed too! And they made very frequent donations of practical items from newspapers for the patients to read to things like butter, eggs and old linen which was recycled into cleaning materials etc. 

It seems the sisters maintained an interest in history, in particular that of their craft. They owned lots of items of antique linen and clothing which they lent to various local exhibitions and fundraisers. In 1891 they displayed some of these plus a handsomely embroidered muslin dress at a display of local craft and industry held at the Music Room in St Peter's Street (now the Masonic centre). But the exhibition I'd most like to have seen was what they contributed in 1884 to what was known as a "Conversazione" at Marlow Place. This was a fundraising event for the Literary Institute and was a  sort of display of curiosities with an supposedly intellectual bent. The Misses Barton lent the embroidered family portrait of the family completed by their mother mentioned above, as well as artwork, a piece of lace made out of the pith of an Indian tree, a silver snuff box, an Egyptian water bottle and a portrait of the former Russian Czar, as removed from a cottage at Sebastopol by a former Marlow resident. An interesting collection! 

I haven't traced the death of Amy but the last of the other sisters, Ada Sarah occured in 1906. There wasn't much of a baby linen or large scale embroidery trade left in Marlow although there were still plenty of woman earning a living as dressmakers, seamstresses and the like. Considering the work produced here was once considered amongst the best in the country, according to William Barton, it's a shame it's not a trade better remembered. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day 

* Not all of the women working in this industry were young. In 1891 it was noted that Samuel Flint (son of Charles) had a number of elderly women working for him, including some aged 80. 

Related posts:

This deals with the sudden death of one of the Barton's servants: here

The Flints, embroiders of Marlow: here

All mentions of an individual or family here can be found in the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

Index of posts related to other Marlow industries and employers etc here

Sources include:

Report into the controverted Elections at Great Marlow (1843 Anon)

Journals of the House of Commons February 3-December 13, 1842: Vol 9 Publication date February 3-December 13, 1842. HMSO

Census transcript from the originals, by Jane Pullinger and Charlotte Day. 

England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJVS-1NY : 13 March 2020), Charlotte Benton Barton in entry for Thomas Hamer, 1837.

Kelly's Directory of Bucks 1899 (Kelly's Directory Ltd)

Dutton's Commercial Directory 1863. (Dutton & Co 1863)

Windsor & Eton Express 17th March 1842, Slough Borough Libraries

South Bucks Standard 13 November 1891,  29th November 1895, British Library Archive

Bucks Herald 8 November 1884, 29th Jan & 6th October 1906, as above

Bucks Gazette 28th March 1840 & 27th February 1841, as above 

Bucks Examiner, 27th February 1891 as above. 

Bucks Advertiser And Aylesbury News 22 April 1843, as above

Thames Bank/Lawn research by Kathryn. 

Yew Tree Frieth Historic Occupiers / Timeline

Sometimes referred to as the "Yew Tree Inn" other times just as the "Yew Tree". The name came from an old yew tree in the garden. Still in business at the time of writing. Came under Marlow for licensing purposes hence our interest.

Building said to date from the 1600s or 1500s depending on source. Age of building isn't necessarily the same as the age of the pub housed in it. Landlords we have for it are:

From at least 1851- 85. John and Elizabeth Turner. In the 1850s it was a grocers and bakery with a license to sell beer on the premises and had its own orchard. John was also a farmer on a very small scale. In 1885- customer Richard Butler of Frieth prosecuted for refusing to leave the pub when John Turner the landlord asked him to, assaulting John and breaking windows at the pub.

1891- Elizabeth Turner transferred pub to Frederick Turner her son. Presumably her husband had died some point 1885-91.

1892- Fred Turner to Owen Sears.

1894- Transferred from Owen Sears to James Leaver.

1894- at least 1920 James Leaver as above. In 1896 following a draught James asked his brewery, the Wethereds of Marlow to hire a Welsh water diviner to try to find water a water supply for the pub following a long draught that caused great difficulties for all of the people of Frieth. Two spots in a meadow were indicated by the diviner's rod but water was not found in either. There had been hopes a well could be dug. I am not sure if any further attempts were made. In 1897 James started a slate club at the pub, an essential institution for working class families - to find out more about them see the post here. The Yew Tree was slightly unusual in having their annual Slate Club supper just after Christmas rather than before. With around 80 members on average, it was one of the larger affairs in the area. In 1903 James and his wife suffered the death of their little daughter to whose funeral a large number of people attended. On a happier note, James helped organise a village fete to celebrate the Coronation in 1902. In 1910 he used the pub as a site of auction when he wished to sell a cottage and two pieces of land.

1930s and 1940s- The Yew Tree is a very popular stopping off place for cycling club tours.

1939 to at least 1949-. Emma Keep landlady. Also seems to be a shop. Mrs Keep uses the Yew Tree weekday evenings 6pm till 8.30 pm to sign up volunteers to the local Civil Defence Corps in 1949.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. This post will be updated as new information emerges.

Sources:

Kelly's Directory for Buckinghamshire etc 1911, 1915, 1920 and also 1939 by Kelly's Directories Limited.

South Bucks Standard, 30th September 1892, October 9th 1896 and 22nd July 1910. British Library Archives via the BNA.

Reading Mercury 21st April 1855. Cutting.

An Aquatic Event of Distinction - Marlow Regatta

 While quite a few former residents have taken their turn in organising the various regattas at Marlow, and a good number of our ancestors have rowed in one, this post is dedicated to what Regatta time was like for everyone living in Great Marlow in the Victorian and Edwardian era. So I am not going to list things like regatta officials or organising committees here, or the various name changes and programme alterations. Just remember there was more than one "Marlow Regatta" a year - see below. 

Early Regattas

The first regatta I can trace was held in 1853. I know this as a report on the 1854 event said it was a grand improvement on the previous years efforts. There were more people attending, and bigger prizes on offer. It's noted that people of "all classes" were to be seen promenading in the meadows along the Thames between the races. At this point Higginson Park was of course still the gardens of a private residence, with a fence between the tow path/river and the gardens. So the meadows referred to are not the park, as convenient as that would have been. With most of the riverside area in private hands, the best viewing point was undoubtedly the bridge and the locals took full advantage of it. At one point the bridge was so covered with carriages it sounds like crossing it would have been somewhat impossible. 

These early regattas were held on week days, so whether your ancestors got to attend would largely depend on their employer. As most labourers, shop workers and tradesman  worked 6 days a week anyway and Sundays were required for church going (at least in theory) it would not have made much difference to the majority. However it sounds as though many employers did allow a half days holiday for their workers especially when the event took off and attracted larger fields and top class rowing. (This was certainly true by 1872.)

In 1855 the damning verdict on the general amusements available in Marlow concluded that there were no proper public amusements held during the year so the town was in need of a regular regatta to occupy the residents. It seems as though they did not feel confident that the regattas would definitely become an annual feature. It's fair to say there seems a certain chaotic element in the early events. The finish line was not always properly marked, and one competitor stopped rowing short of it as he'd heard gunfire and thought it signalled the finish. Alas he was mistaken and the only other competitor in the race glided past to victory. In another event a competitors boat was accidentally rammed by a spectators one. In a third, one rower conceded defeat immediately after he started as his oar became impossibly tangled in the weeds. Entry numbers were low. This was true for both the events rowed for by amateurs and by professional waterman of which there were many in Marlow, Bisham and Little Marlow. So some events were row overs but the crowds seen to have enjoyed themselves with a band on hand to amuse them between heats. 

A meeting was held in 1865 to "consider the proprietary of establishing a regatta at Marlow" but it seems to have taken a few years to really get going, as a joint event then with Maidenhead.  The 1865 event was initially to be held on 12th July after some gentleman of the neighborhood agreed to "contribute liberally in its support."  However this doesn't seem to have come about hence the meeting just mentioned. The course in 1870 was from 3 punts moored near Bisham Abbey to a point just above Marlow Bridge. The following year Marlow Rowing Club was established but there was yet no boat house for them and Stoneyware had yet to be built. The Compleat Angler was very much in existence though and parties gathered on their lawn to enjoy the view. On the Berks bank we are told the gentry gathered with the majority of the population fitting in where they could. A band was stationed on the magnificent and incredibly grand Star of the Thames, built by a local man in his High Street back garden and launched in a day of incredible celebration in the town. You can read about that here

Trouble In The Crowd

While everything sounds quite civilized, where crowds gathered in Marlow there was always a little trouble to be found. In 1872 some squabbles broke out near the grandstand by the bridge and a policeman narrowly escaped being thrown bodily into the water. The day ended more happily with a fireworks display organised by Mr Brooks of Crystal Palace. These events may have been more interesting than the actual racing judging by a description of the 1875 regatta which condemned it as a failure and uninteresting with too many fouls, row overs and a general lack of competition. It ends by adding that the "rustics mustered in great number and seemed satisfied." Ouch. But rustics or no, the event kept growing with water polo (played in canoes) added to the programme, a long standing and very popular event. There were races just for the Marlow Rifle Volunteers in 1878 too. Carriages still lined the bridge, despite attempts of the police to keep things moving along. Trying to get a glimpse of the river between them were the pedestrians eager to catch a sight of the Prince and Princess of Wales who were expected to pass through in 1878 on regatta day. They recieved a royal salute as they did so  and a hearty cheer as well. 

The Crowds Form

When the regatta consisted of a relatively small number of mainly local people taking part in not so many races, there probably weren't too many tourists making their way to town to enjoy the event. But that had certainly changed by the 1880s and 90s when special cheap return tickets were available from Paddington as well as stations like Maidenhead to attend the main regatta. In 1883 two large London firms picked regatta day deliberately for their annual outings and this became a trend. Special long trains too long for the Marlow platform caused some amusement in 1898 as the "fair sex" had a little difficulty getting in and out but it was said the situation was dealt with with good humour. Longer and more frequent trains or not, they were generally described as extremely crowded with some young men traveling in the guards van through want of other room. The last trains were run later than usual so people could enjoy the fireworks. 

Shooting Causes Alarm

The fair attended, pitching up in the Causeway, and Institute/Station Rds much to the annoyance of the residents and delight of the children. Many of the same stalls and rides who were part of the October street fair made a return at regatta time. James Flood of the Causeway wrote to the local press to complain of how noisy the fair was. He says he had been woken at 4.30am by the hubbub of the swings, roundabout and coconut stalls in front of his home - presumably they were setting up for the day ahead at that time in the morning! The George & Dragon said they were almost completely blocked in in 1897 and a stray bullet from a shooting gallery broke one of their windows that year, resulting in a permanent ban for them there. (You will see some images tagged as depicting the October Marlow Fair which actually depict the stalls and booths at Regatta time - take a look at the people's clothing and you will see they are in summer outfits with straw boaters etc.) Otherwise you can find plenty of reports of drunkenness and pick pocketing involving those who had attended the regatta, and the odd minor brawl."Regatta Sharps" mostly from London were caught selling postcards and programmes without hawkers licences. These postcards were obviously of the previous years event (at best) and help explain the vast number of regatta postcards in existence. A nice souvenir of a day by the river. 

Moneymaking Opportunity 

Enterprising locals noted that copies of the newspapers sold out by 9am on the July regatta day, despite plentiful extra copies being ordered, thanks to the large influx of visitors. So they sold their copies in the streets for many times the face value apparently, with some regatta programmes following the same fate. Police were not so much concerned with this than those perhaps involved in a little gambling in the streets, something that occured during the October fair too. In 1884 William Johnson narrowly escaped a fine for just this after being caught with a wooden "Knock 'em down" set up in the Causeway. Perhaps not the best place to pick for such an activity given the number of police attempting to keep an eye on the crowds on the bridge. William argued it was a game of skill not a game of chance. So it could not count as a game of unlawful gambling legally speaking. The magistrates agreed. (It's the game where a ball is thrown at two "pins". You paid a penny a throw and if you knocked both pins down at once you received 3d back. Or you could be bold and stake 2d in order to get 6d back if successful with your throw.) Two Londoners were caught and fined for playing the same game on the towpath two years later though, and you have to congratulate them on finding room! 

Roving musicians and singers in hired craft, often dressed as minstrels, proceeded up and down the line of moored spectators boats and house boats. They were busking so to speak, and reports say they did quite well with copper coins tossed into the performers boats. Whether they were payments of appreciation or encouragements to move on sharpish we cannot say! 

How Deep Are Your Pockets? 

One poor lady had an alarming experience at the 1887 event when a cannon was let off near her without warning. She thought she was shot and another feinted. The organisers promised to move it away from the spectators in the future! If she needed some refreshment after that there was a tent providing just that in the subscribers enclosure, usually run by one of the local pubs or bakers such as Deaths. Those not fortunate enough to be in there could enjoy the services of ice cream sellers plying the crowd. The stalls in the streets around offered sausages and whelks with vinegar as hot snacks amongst other things. Less enjoyable perhaps were the sellers of "horrible squeaking things" or toys and novelties who also hoped to tempt those in holiday mood. Toy stalls presented "penny squeakers", tin whistles, trumpets, and rattles to their eager young customers. 

The events at the various incarnations of the regatta vary from time to time, with debates on how much of the programme to devote to serious rowing and how much to novelty races and tug of war competitions. (The various regattas might be referred to as the Marlow & Maidenhead regatta, town regatta, local regatta, amateur regatta, rag regatta etc and for many years there were three a year, including the Waterman's one. The Marlow and Maidenhead regatta and it's successors were held June/July and attracted crews and spectators from a large area. From 1878 there was what was generally referred to as the town or local regatta in August, with locals the entrants. This might also be referred to as the "rowing club regatta" although they were involved in both events. ) Duck hunts were abandoned after intervention from the RSPCA in 1910. The biggest change though was probably the inclusion of more female competitors in the late Victorian regattas. 

The prizes were sometimes money on the early races, as well as the usual cups and trophies. Rowe the jewellers provided the vast majority of prizes, often incorporating his famous and ever present trade marked Marlow designs teaspoons, toast racks and the like. In 1894 Mr Rowe won one of his own prizes back for having the best decorated boat. 

Venetian Fete

In the 1880s the tradition of finishing the regatta with an evening parade of illuminated boats or "Venetian Fete" was started with prizes for the best dressed launch and punt respectively. The idea was that of Charles Miller Foottit and it soon caught on with regattas up and down the Thames.  The bridge was decorated with colour lamps and often motifs such as stars and crowns, with cheerful abandon of fears of the bridges strength or safety concerns for the milling crowds. The households along the river got into the spirit as did the Complete Angler and the Rowing Club HQ when that arrived. Japanese lanterns were made full use of as were fireworks at the end of the evening. Descriptions of the decorated boats make you wish some photos have survived of their amazing creations. Among my favourite are a punt with a iceberg and polar bear, a pagoda with attendants in Japanese attire and a fire breathing dragon. Some of those in the Thames procession also let off fireworks from their vessels, as did some the riverside residents. It sounds like a recipe for disaster but there never seems to have been any injuries from so many fireworks whizzing about at once. The official fireworks display was the last event and the highlight was always the spelling out of some slogan such as "Success to Marlow Regatta" and the most used of all -  "Good Old Marlow". 

Ungentlemanly Behaviour 

Racing over, the crowds did not necessarily go quietly home. In 1888 a letter writer write to the local press in exasperation at those who could behave with decorum during the racing, but as soon as it over for the day engaged in heavy drinking and riotous behaviour. This complaint was very much directed specifically at the racing crews. He claimed the young men had tried to drunkenly drive vehicles, force their way into private homes and that they had insulted females. Such behaviour he thought might be to some minds "amusing but certainly not gentlemanly or sportsmanlike." Quite so. 

Confetti Battles

When the regatta was over there was some cleaning up to do. The houseboats bought to Marlow for the event (or very often hired locally) were said to leave the river in a "disgrace" after their departure. No less annoying was the copious confetti which was thrown about the crowds, as bought from itinerant confetti sellers in an 1890s craze. At least one confetti battle is mentioned which continued on the train from Marlow and resulted in an arrest for the high jinks. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day

Other posts about general life in old Marlow are available in the index here

If you want to search for an individual or family, see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. There are over 7,000 people listed there. 

Sources include:

Our River - John Dunlop Leslie,  (Bradbury, Agnew and Co, 1881)

Dickens Dictionary of the Thames, various editions. 

Berkshire Chronicle 26 August 1854

Reading Mercury 18 August 1855, 30 June 1872, 9 October 1915

Berkshire County Paper 22  July 1865 

Information from Anthony Wethered. 

The Truth, 22 August 1895,  digitised by Google. 

Petty Session Records, Great Marlow 1850-1899  by Jane Pullinger, 1975 with thanks to Jane.  

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 18 June, 2 July 1870, 31 July 1875

South Bucks Free Press, 30 June 1865, 30 May 1879

Bucks Herald 17 July 1880, 7 August 1887, 14 July 1888

London Evening Standard 13 March 1885

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer 17 Jul 1886, 30 Jul 1887

Maidenhead Advertiser 9th July 1884, 13 July 1887, 15 August 1900

South Bucks Standard 24 August 1894, 19 August 1898. 

Vintage regatta programmes lent by many with thanks. 

 

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