In 1829 the local papers included a charming description of a "manly game of cricket" in Marlow between the "Knights of the thimble" of Marlow and their fellow tailors of Maidenhead. The latter were seemingly brim full of confidence (or bravado) and marched into town complete with a band playing "See the conquering hero come". They lost and made a somewhat muted departure. This was the earliest match I could find between teams formed of those following a particular occupation, but it would be the first of many. And 1829 was usually given in the Victorian era as the start date for Marlow Cricket Club although it ebbed and flowed and was re-organised several times and finally so in 1854. (I've also seen a mention of a Marlow Cricket Club in 1828 so it may have a few false starts even before 1829.)
The Aldermary
Where did our early teams play? It was said in the 1880s that the Cricket Club had used the Crown Meadow as their first cricket ground (Riley Recreation Ground), and I believe this is correct although many reports do not give a location for their matches and they may have used more than one field at times. However by the 1870s the vast majority of matches I can find location details for describe play at "the Aldermary" or Alder Meadow as it was later known. This is roughly where the Marlow Cricket Club is now but the ground was smaller. Note you can find several examples of the club playing at the Aldermary on occasion from the 1840s and it also hosted casual matches so has a longer heritage as the cricket ground than may be realised.
A Gents Wager
An early descriptions of cricket matches at Marlow refer to games organised by a couple of unnamed gentleman to settle a wager. They may or may not have actually played themselves. The location in 1776 was Alms House Close - probably Crown Meadow again or nearby, as this was adjacent to the original Brinkhurst almshouses.
A popular type of cricket spectacle in the early Victorian era was a one wicket match between two teams gentlemen aside. Sometimes these preceded a team match but a lot of people turned up to watch them anyway. Usually some kind of forfeit was at stake - not including any unofficial wagers. The loser often had to stump up a dinner for the victor and his friends for example, or at very least a round or two. No doubt some of those participating took these matches seriously but generally they seem to have been held in a spirit of fun with some questionable techniques and rule bending hinted at. My favourite one wicket match is one played in 1842 between Messrs Hyatt and Brooks. [Henry Hyatt was the keeper of The Greyhound Inn* and Brooks was the baker occupying the premises now known as Burgers.] Hyatt's puffing and blowing was said to have reminded the spectators of an "old steam engine nearly exhausted". Henry Hyatt's exertion was worth it as he secured victory in 30 minutes flat.
Any Excuse For A Match Will Do
If your ancestor wasn't playing for Marlow Cricket Club, they might well be playing often in one of the huge number of casual games organised, and almost always still hosted at Alder Meadow and Crown Meadow before. Games were arranged between the residents of different streets, workers from one employer versus another, men in the same or different occupations eg waiters v waterman in 1898, the choir and clergy, pupils at rival academies..the list goes on. Sometimes an additional element was added such as players performing in fancy dress, or in old fashioned costumes, or one team may have to play left handed or with some unusual instrument replacing a proper bat. An 1897 match between ladies on one side and men on the other saw the men playing left handed (or right handed if they naturally played left normally) and with a piece of rough hewn wood instead of a bat. (Result was declared a diplomatic draw.)
The bigger private boys schools in the town had their own teams throughout the Victorian era such as Prospect House Academy and Marlow Place School. I should also mention the popular team of the Marlow Institute* who usually used the Crown Meadow for practice and matches - or sometimes the Alder Meadow. Formed 1896, they later amalgamated with Marlow Cricket Club with the members allowed a reduced subscription in return for playing fewer matches as a sort of B team. And lastly the Brewery had a formally organised cricket club from 1895 (but had fielded many teams before that) whose home ground was regarded as Star Meadow.
Cricketing Whites ...Or Purples Or Stripes..
James Cranbourne Strode of Court Garden (then a private house) was a definite cricketing enthusiast. He hosted a match between two invited teams of Marlow boys aged 12-14 at Court Garden in 1828. The sides were distinguished by wearing different colours - purple and orange. Probably these colours were represented by sashes, hat/armbands or belts. Purple were the victors, with a young Strode amongst their members. After much "scientific" play the youngsters retired to a large tea on the grounds. It was the highest praise to have your play described as scientific then..technically skilful and considered rather than successful through brute force or so they thought.
In 1843 the boys of Prospect House Academy* played in nifty blue and white striped shirts with white trousers and a straw hat finished with a blue ribbon.
The Clayton's of Harleyford were another family of gentry who patronised local cricket matches, especially in the mid Victorian era. They were hosting matches within Harleyford Park with the home team usually formed out of Harleyford estate employees/tenants or Marlow tradesmen.
Fear The Men Of Beaconsfield
After an enthusiastic start around 1829, things became a little more complicated for the early members of the Marlow Club. It seems our nemesis was the Beaconsfield club. I can find a few reports of consistent defeats at their hands in 1830 and a little later but at some point prior to 1843 we received such a thrashing by the team that apparently Marlow Cricket Club was entirely broken up in despair. Before then the Club was described as as "good a club as far as funds were concerned as any in the country". I suppose the well off benefactors were not keen to subsidise a team that was getting publicly trounced. Afterwards, according to contemporaries, a few informal games were held a year until 1843 when the club was revived to meet a challenge from the fellows of Waltham. But before long the matches begin to fall off again (although not due to those skillful Beaconsfielders as far as I know) and by 1853 the club was described as fallen into decline. In September 1853 someone decided to organise a match between the residents of Chapel Street and those of West Street. It was hoped this would generate enough popular enthusiasm to encourage the revival of the club. West Street were the happy victors. In April the following year a meeting by the "youthful supporters of athletic sports" saw a resolution to re start Marlow Cricket Club passed. The curate Rev George Taylor was subsequently credited as being one of the main driving forces for getting funds and practical support pledged.
The Married v Single gentleman of the club match was one of the most long standing features of the Victorian club, and so ended the inaugural 1854 season. After a game played with "considerable spirit" the married team were victorious. Dinner at the Crown usually followed - also the location for most early AGMS.
In 1859 a juvenile club was established by William Brooks. It looks as though their first match was against the boys of Marlow Place school who won. All then retired to the National boys schoolroom for ginger beer, as gifted by supporter Peter Borgnis. I can find a few mentions of the juvenile side after this throughout the 1860s.
Who Were The Players?
As regards the Cricket Club, the earliest members listed as playing are familiar names from amongst the better off traders, inn keepers, clergy, school masters and gentry. There was much less of a set regular team than later. Complaints were made in the 1850s and 60s that few of those selected for the team actually lived in the town. The Club replied that while they had many townsman members, few turned up often for practice and so this was why they were not regarded as amongst the best players from which the team would be selected from. To be fair, most of the teams I traced were in fact then present or former Marlow men and most that weren't were not quite from a million miles away - Little Marlow, Bisham etc. The press frequently complained about the selected sides performance in those two decades - for example the "miserable exhibition" versus Maidenhead in the August of 1860. Hard to say if the criticism was fair, as they did notch up a fair few wins too!
As regards other casual teams, the players are more mixed in terms of economic background. And the "Night School and Juvenile Cricket Club" set up in 1861 was mainly formed of lower income youths. (Set up by the vicar and curates of Marlow, the Night School catered for young men and youths mainly from the Dean Street area. Read more here) Later the Great Marlow Working Mans Cricket Club was set up after a meeting in the Crown in 1906. The then Crown landlord offered the use of the rear Crown Meadow (Riley Park) to them for both matches and practice free of charge, and the use of a room in the inn for committee purposes, also free. A local paper hoped this new club would encourage a spirit of friendliness between the "better class working men" in the town.
A Pavillion
By 1873 the Cricket Club was doing well for itself and so of course they needed a pavillion. Local engineer Edwin Clark (see link below for more about him) had promised a £35 donation towards the costs, at least according to some reports. It was resolved to fundraise in order to build a "substantial pavillion" - no mention of whether it needed to be bigger than any Beaconsfield might have! In 1879 it was referred to as "somewhat elaborate" in design. Marlow builder Thomas Corby* won the contract to construct. Costing just over £117, it was newly completed in August that year, topped with a traditional thatched roof. The cost had not been fully paid off the following year as many promised subscriptions were late, although an influx of donations had reduced the deficit to £30 by April 1875. At least they now had somewhere of their own to host an AGM - and to sell luncheons plus wine and beer from. Catering was available when the ground hosted a bigger match at least. The proprietors of the Greyhound and George and Dragon inns would take care of the sales there.
By the mid 1890s the pavillion was described as in a poor state or even "dilapidated" as they put it in 1897. Repairs had been made almost every year but it was now considered beyond remedy. They had started sporadically fundraising for this purpose around 1895/6 but at the time of the 1897 AGM, the work had not started and the scheme doesn't seem to advanced to the stage of anyone drawing up plans for that matter. Hopes that the structure would be imminently ready nevertheless were not realised and in November 1898 the old roof had partially fallen in. It was decided to get the pavillion scheme properly started and an official subscription list was opened. Three members of the Wethered family immediately pledged £70 between them, including the then Club Captain F O Wethered. A committee would decide where the new pavillion should be - as the ground had been enlarged in the years since the first was built it was felt the old position was no longer the best one. Moving it would make available a larger or better area for play. I don't know where the old was in relation to the new though. Initial plans were also to raise enough for the construction of a residence for the caretaker / groundsman but I don't believe this was achieved. By March it was reported work had begun on the new pavillion even though not enough funds had yet been raised to pay for it. (Due to cost about £300, the contractor was local man Thomas Lunnon.) It was ready for the start of the new season that year.
Problems In Play
As mentioned above the Alder Meadow ground was smaller at first and dissected by footpaths, official and otherwise. It sometimes suffered substantial flooding. There were frequent late Victorian complaints about groups of children, mostly little boys, who congregated in a field or two next to the cricket ground and got up to mischief. They had been seen climbing the wooden fence of the Club and it looked as though attempts had been made to wrench out some iron railings adjacent. Obviously the youngsters were feeling strong on that occasion! Police patrols were requested to make extra passes through the area on the evenings. Of course some children hanging about during the daytime just wanted to watch the play, and could not necessarily do so legitimately. It was actually debated whether children should be allowed in the ground at all. In the early years youngsters had been allowed to play on part of the ground, except on match days. After some serious vandalism in 1873 of both the fencing and new pavillion, this permission was withdrawn. But in 1899 they formalised the rules to state that while no perambulators or very young children would ever be permitted entry, well behaved youngsters who had applied in advance for a ticket of admission from Mr Lovell* could pass through the gates on match days. However if any of these lucky youngsters should misbehave they would be banished from the ground for ever! They stood no chance of getting into the pavillion it seems, which was restricted on match days to players and members and their one adult guest each. All had to sign a visitors book.
Money Woes
The Victorian Marlow Cricket Club had to fund all the expenses you'd expect, and a few you perhaps wouldn't such as that of thatching the first pavillion roof. Routine costs include payments to the umpire and boys to "scout" on match and practice days, to a professional bowler for practice purposes (on a regular basis from 1879) and to the groundsman of course. And there was the rent of the cricket field from first the Davenports and Higginsons, and then from the Wethered family too. (The latter remitted the rent during the First World War.) Although the earliest version of the club was said to have a high level of financial support from the local gentry, this was less to be relied upon as time went on. The Wethereds of Remnantz and the Brewery were consistent in their support though and one or other of the family fulfilled the role of club captain from the time of the club's re organisation in 1854 throughout very many years of the Victorian period. Most importantly the family purchased the cricket ground when it was offered for sale as part of the Court Garden estate in the 1890s. It was feared that as the Club could not afford to buy the ground themselves, they would be evicted from their home by a new purchaser perhaps hoping to put up a riverside villa. (Although the ground was described as water logged in winter, it was believed conversion to residential use was likely.)
Frequent appeals were made to pay subscriptions on time, whether you were a playing or general member. Sources of income included selling the grass cut from the field, rights to graze sheep** there when not in use for play, and charging the Lawn Tennis Club for use of part of their ground, at least until the two organisations merged in 1908. They offered a joint membership then for a guinea a year or less if you didn't want to support both sports.
This post would be too long to feature individual players, umpires, score keepers etc especially as many get a post of their own. Search cricket using the blog search to find all mentions, or use the A-Z person index to find a specific individual.
** In 1868 Arthur Brown, Augustus, Sidney and an otherwise unnamed young East were fined 5s each for cruelty to the grazing sheep - they had been seen attempting to ride them like a horse!
Written and researched by Kathryn Day.
©MarlowAncestors
Further information:
All the people and places marked * have more detailed posts of their own eg Henry Hyatt. Find them in the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu.
Other posts related to sporting history :
Athletics meetings at Harleyford 1870s and in Marlow generally here
Biography of Charles Miller Foottit- one of the founders of the Football Club, Rowing Club and Regatta, cricket player etc here
Football Clubs - more than 20 you've probably never heard of dating from Victorian and Edwardian times (with many players mentioned) in a post here. Easter matches of Marlow FC here
Gymnastics in Edwardian and Victorian Marlow - here
Marlow Horse Races- comprehensive history, updated October 2023 here
Nellie Creswell amateur Victorian sportswoman here
Richard Smith, amateur cricketer who played in front of a French prince here
Regattas - here
Skating on the Thames and meadows here
Sporting opportunities in 1700s Marlow here
Victorian Marlow Athletes here
See also the general Great Marlow history index here
Sources include:
Dolby, I E A (ed) - Journal of the Household Brigade - Household Brigade, privately printed, 1875.
Lillywhite, Frederick - Cricket Scores and biographies from 1746 to 1826, Vol 11. (1878)
The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes, Vol 43. (Longmans, Green & Co, 1915)
Kelly's Directory 1883, 1903, 1911 (Kelly's Directory Ltd)
Marlow town guides 1903 & 1905.
Windsor and Eton Express - 2nd August 1828, 3rd October 1829, 4th April 1874 - Slough Borough Libraries.
Berkshire Chronicle, 24th September 1842, 9th September 1843, 15th June 1861 - Archive.org.
South Bucks Standard - 31st Aug 1894, 5th July 1895, 23rd April & 27th August 1897, 27 May & 18 November 1898, 10 March & 2 June 1899, 2oth April 1906 British Library Archive, via the BNA.
Bucks Gazette 26 July 1830, as above.
Bucks Herald 26th April 1873, 16th & 30th August 1873, 3rd May 1879, 20th April 1889 as above
South Bucks Free Press 21st May 1859, 27th August 1859, 18th August 1860 as above
Reading Mercury, 17th July 1776, 24th September 1853, 29th April 1854, 10 May 1873, 24th March 1917 - British Library.
