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
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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.
© MarlowAncestors