Agent and dressmaker
Browsing the census entries for Great Marlow, you would find James Humphrey Hammerton at The Kentons Glade Rd from 1881 when he's given the occupation of "retired commercial agent" while his daughter Edith is in later life a dressmaker. Both roles sound typical for the generally reasonably well off Glade Road residents at the time and it would be easy to assume there was not much interesting about the pair. But how wrong we would be!
I think James, his second wife Jessy and the aforementioned daughter Edith arrived in Marlow around 1876. For James it was a retirement from a busy life but for Edith it was probably the start of an even busier one.
HMS Victory Souvenirs
James was born 1802 at Newington Butts Surrey. He joined the navy young as a "first class volunteer" and was promoted to Lieutenant. His father, James Hamilton Hammerton was also a naval man and one who was a gunner on HMS Victory under Nelson no less. A looking glass said to have been made from the timbers of the Victory was a treasured family possession and one proudly shown to visitors at Marlow. Naturally with such a family background, James had no shortage of stories of derring do and "breathtaking escapes" from his families naval years. The most famous story of all was that James had - somewhat unwittingly perhaps- saved the life of George IV when the latter slipped when boarding a vessel at Portsmouth. He reached out and grabbed James who managed to steady him and so both were prevented from taking a watery tumble. James was later part of the "Preventative Service" who were on the prowl along the south coast for smugglers. No wonder he was ready to leave the navy in his 20s and settle down to marriage and life in Brixton.
He was seemingly always interested in science and among his roles in life before he arrived in Marlow was as director of The Electric Telegraph Company in the 1840s. He wrote to various scientific and technical journals about the subject of using gutta percha to insulate telegraphic wires, which he hoped could be laid underground in existing gas pipes. Some of the practical experiments James had conducted sounds alarmingly hands on considering they involved sending electrical currant through wires he only hoped were sufficiently insulated. His chief idea to insulate telegraph wires at their point of mounting onto posts, also using gutta percha, does not seem to have been tried in use as it was feared the material was too subject to weathering to be worthwhile. He is said to have later been the superintendent of the telegraph company charged with laying wires between Scotland and England and also to have worked with the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I wonder if he was a friends of Marlow's native born engineering family, the Clarks - specifically Edwin and Latimer. They all had special interests in many areas of science as well as telegraph systems and they also worked with Brunel. Edwin Clark and James were both enthusiastic members of the Marlow Mutual Improvement Society too, which aimed to bring educational lectures in reach of everyone. The Victory looking glass, and the naval swords belonging to both James and his father were on display at some of the Society events. And Edwin and James also shared a passion for photography. How interesting the photo albums of James Hammerton would no doubt be for us today.
Later in life James was a cement and slate etc agent hence his latter description as a "retired commercial agent".
Retirement in Marlow
By the time James came to Marlow with wife Jessy he had retired. They would seem to have had a comfortable life, with a live in servant in their Glade Road home. Jessy died in 1891, after which James was said to have somewhat curtailed his vigorous exercise regime. Perhaps he felt he was finally "getting on" a little. But when he was not physically able to walk too far, was this the end of meeting James around town? Not a bit of it. He had a wheeled chair hired so he could still go out and get his daily dose of fresh air. And when he wasn't doing that, he loved to sit out the front of the house all day to chat to passers by. But even the redoubtable James could not last for ever and he died at home in his 96th year. (1898)
Edith Hammerton is a busy lady
Now we come to Edith Hammerton, daughter of James and Jessy. After her father death she moved to "Holmeleigh" or "Homeleigh" in Beaumont Rise, which leads off Glade Rd. Both Edith and her mother can be found listed as helpers at church events, but it's after her parents death that Edith seems to have come into her own. After this Edith becomes a whirlwind of energy when it comes to helping the community. Whether she favoured long walks herself isn't recorded but she certainly knew her way to All Saints Church. Edith was a Sunday School teacher for a great number of years. She seems to have been a favourite with the children, who remembered her fondly many years later although they also remembered she was a stickler for politeness and decorous conduct. But what else could we expect from a Sunday school teacher. Edith was a frequent donor of goods and money to the Cottage hospital and was one of its lady visitors. These were generally speaking better off ladies who did the rounds of the sick when it was considered necessary, and also visited within the hospital. A different lady from amongst the committee or subscribers would fulfill the role each week, and they often made suggestions as to how improvements could be made to better support the need of the mainly poor patients.
Edith could be found serving at parish teas, fundraising for various events, and hosting stalls at bazaars for every cause imaginable. She was also amongst the ladies who decorated the parish church for the Harvest festival. These decorations sometimes seem bewilderingly complex constructions of corn, bread, flowers and produce completely covering the alter etc. I wonder sometimes how the poor vicar made it through! Works of art they surely were and it's a great shame that images of these ladies amazing creations have not survived.
Her day job was as a dressmaker until she had earned enough to retire on "private means". Dressmaking seems the inevitable occupation in Marlow of better off unmarried woman who still needed an income to some degree. Edith worked from home but she also employed others to assist her.
Edith Hammerton died in 1949 aged 92.
*Did you know that if you go to Marlow Museum you can see a charming miniature kitchen presented by Edith? The accompanying plaque says that it had been in her family since 1796! Please check with the museum that it will be on display before your visit.
Find out more about this lovely object here: Marlow Museum
Written and researched by Kathryn Day.
©Marlow Ancestors.
Related posts:
Early residents of Beaumont Rise - (Edith's neighbours!) here
The mutual improvement society and Marlow Literary and Scientific Institute - both supported by James Hammerton - here
For other posts about Glade Rd or Beaumont Rise residents - see the street index here
Everyday life in the Marlow of Janes and Edith - here
To look for a specific person use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.
Sources:
Marlow Directory and Almanack 1907
Marlow Directory and Tourists Guide, 1903.
Marlow Guide 1907.
Mechanics Magazine, Register and Gazette, 1848 collected edition. Knight and Lacey, 1848.
Mechanics Magazine, Register and Gazette, 1849 collected edition. Knight and Lacey, 1849.
PCC will of James J Hamilton Hammerton "gunner of His Majesty's ship The Victory" proven 1828 PROB 11/1735/190, National Archives, Kew.
Prescott, G. B. (1860). History, Theory, and Practice of the Electric Telegraph. United States: Ticknor and Fields.
Bucks Herald 28th February 1891
Hampshire Telegraph 4th June 1898
Henley and South Oxford Standard - 27th May 1898
South Bucks Standard 29th October 1897, 29th May 1898, 29th September 1899, 24th October 1902, 30th November 1906.
Kelly's Directory Of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxon 1883, 1911, 1920, 1939 by Kelly's Directory Limited.
England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N242-NFM : 14 July 2023), James Hamilton Hammerton, 1799.
England and Wales Census, 1861", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MP-3P3Q : Sat Mar 09 01:12:50 UTC 2024), Entry for Edith Hammerton and Ada Hammerton, 1861.
"England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVHB-K4XV : 4 September 2014),
Census transcripts from originals by Jane Pullinger, 1881 & 1891 with thanks.
Edith E Hammerton, 1949; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.