We have previously covered something of the life of Marlow grocer come auctioneer Walter Lovegrove in a post about the various occupants of his grocers shop. That post explained that Walter Lovegrove sadly committed suicide in 1907 when his financial competence was questioned. I now want to write a post that focuses on the life of Walter to celebrate the many good and kind things he did in his time. He may not have been perfect but I think Walter deserves to be called a hero for his work for the town, and especially for its least fortunate members.
Early years
Walter was born 1848, the son of grocer George Lovegrove. They took over the long running Aveling family business in the High Street, offering "high class provisions". The story of that can be found in our earlier post here. In 1872 he married Harriet Sarah Maddison but less than two years later, Harriet would die age just 27.
On a happier note, Walter was already busy with assisting community groups and we can hope they provided a distraction for him at such a sad time. He was an enthusiastic and regular member of Marlow's Literary and Scientific Institute which at this point had a reading room in the High Street and hosted lectures, readings and debates in various places. At this time it was not doing very well financially and the turn over of members and unpaid organisers was high. When the previous hon secretary resigned in 1875, Walter was elected to replace him. It was one of a large number of similar positions he would hold. There was some debate as to whether the Institute was becoming too recreational rather than educational but Walter supported the controversial idea of allowing games such as dominoes to be played in the reading room. No doubt he spent many happy evening there. He was however a man with some less than modern ideas about how universal education should be. He wondered if the education of the working classes was going too far. To teach a serving girl to play the pianoforte would be useless he said and would prevent her concentrating on her work. Better to teach practical skills relevant to employment he considered.
Walter was not as you might expect, the oldest son taking over the reigns from his parents in their business, but rather the second son. The eldest, Henry would train to be architect. Young Walter was full of ideas at how he could transform the grocers and top of his list was an update to what he considered to be old fashioned and pokey premises. It was apparently his idea to knock the historic building down and replace it with a specially designed purpose built equivalent. You can see the date of this rebuild under the gables of his fancy new premises in the High Street still. The architect was said to be brother Henry, which would certainly make sense.
Stop thief!
In 1876 Walter married again - to Ellen Louise Rogers of Staines. She assisted in the grocers along with paid staff. Walter was not very fortunate in this business it seems. In 1878 he took action against the third employee in a row that had stolen from him. It seems that he'd not pressed charges against the first two. But one of his fellow High Street shop keepers Charles Miller Foottit told him he had reason to suspect the behaviour of not one but two of Walter's staff. When one, Hugh Hatch of Lane End, was found to have stolen 4 oranges from him, he took the case to the court but asked for mercy to be shown to the accused. Hugh was a first time offender, and said he was motivated by hunger as he hadn't had his dinner. He was very lucky to get away with just a day in jail, as he had been detained since the previous week's session. The Lovegrove family were also troubled by shoplifters, such as Charles Allen who in 1891 made off with a quantity of pork, resulting in 2 months hard labour.
When not considering nailing down his stock, Walter did his best to extend the business. He increased the alcohol range offered - he was the sole agent for Whitbread beers and stouts in the town in the early 1890s. You'd be charged extra he said if you failed to return the Whitbread bottles in good condition. Presumably that meant loosing a deposit. Amongst the goodies presented by the Lovegrove family for their 1896 Christmas display were bottled and tinned fruits, fancy boxes of dates, figs and Normandy pippins (apples), candied peel and nuts, Crosse and Blackwell pickles, and the finest teas. Some of this bounty found it's way found it's way to the Cottage hospital which he regularly donated food to. In 1891 amongst his gifts to the sick there were 3 bottles of port wine, which was considered fortifying for the unwell.
A guardian to the poor who really did his job
Throughout the 1880s Walter served various roles with local governing bodies. He was elected to represent Marlow on the Rural Sanitary Authority (and subsequently chaired it) and was a Guardian for the Poor eg sat on the Board of Guardians for the Wycombe Poor Law union. It's in these roles that in our eyes Walter shines. He constantly raises questions as to the treatment of Marlow's poor and it's obvious he is genuinely aware of the practical difficulties they faced. When someone died and had a paupers funeral, their goods could be seized to meet the funeral expenses. Walter pointed out that in many cases this was not done with any kind of compassion. In 1882 he cited a case of two young women who had suffered the loss of both parents suddenly and in quick succession. The younger unmarried girl was told by the Guardian's representative that the board would take "every stick they had". Walter said kindness might have lead to leaving her with a few bits so she could furnish a bare room subsequently offered to her.
Another concern of Walter was the fact the poor who received "parish bread" (poor relief in the form of bread) recieved it only once a week. The bread dished out to them was supposed to last the full 7 days. Walter asked his fellow guardians how many of them had their bread order sent once a week. None did, for the obvious reason that the fresh bread however good, would be hopelessly stale and hard by the end of the week. Walter said it was a "hard and cruel system" that made the poor try to eat such bread as they had no choice. He noted bread deliveries in some parts of the Union were always late and so the poor were forced to wait outside for an hour at a time no matter how cold and wet it was. Others had to walk a couple of miles to the distribution point. He suggested that money could be given out instead so provisions could be bought as needed, but this caused uproar. There was a fear people might spend it on something the Guardians didn't think they should, like beer. He tried to promote a compromise that would see money given out as a trial in some areas where the worst quality bread was reported or the population was more scattered but no one could agree to do this. Nevertheless Walter personally examined all the bread delivered to Marlow and was not going to let anyone get away with delivering poor quality stuff just because it was for the needy. As a Guardian Walter was selected to attend the Poor Law conference at Exeter Hall. He reported back that is was a depressing experience with much harsh and unfeeling attitudes on display by the speakers. He agreed however with one who said it was "absurd" to expect a labouring man to put money away for hard times it old age when he was paid just 13s a week. For such a man to be driven to the workhouse at the end of his life would be cruel indeed said Walter.
Walter helps the workhouse residents
Walter badgered his friends and neighbours for general donations for those unfortunate enough to find themselves a workhouse inmate at Saunderton or Bledlow (the children). This included in 1893 a gift of footballs from Marlow Football Club to the children of the Bledlow workhouse. After someone donated dozens of pairs of reading glasses to the older citizens residing at Saunderton, Walter acted as a collection point for donated material so the little Workhouse library - or rather "capital reading cupboard" would no longer be bare. He appealed particularly for donations of papers that covers the war in the Transvaal as at least 10 workhouse men were ex soldiers and were especially interested in updates.
He constantly asked after of the welfare of the children in the Union workhouse for example if they had much opportunity to play. He was also chosen to distribute Christmas gifts to the needy by wealthy citizens who knew he'd know best where they'd be appreciated.
Many of many parts
Walter's organisational abilities also saw him taking a lead role in organising the Jubilee festivities in town - see below for links to more information on those. He was the executive chair of the 1897 committee for example, and also sat on both the Jubilee dinner and sports committees that year.
Other campaigns of Walters were for better provision of clean drinking water in the town, improved paving (the old paths were "a series of duck ponds" according to Walter) and for a new post office when the old West Street one was considered hopelessly cramped. In support of the first he had the water in the 50ft deep well in his premises chemically tested and the results were as bad as he feared - it was declared unfit for human consumption.
Walter sounds busy enough but he was also a churchwarden and hon sec of the Fire Brigade. In his leisure time, such as what he had, Walter had two passions. One was music, the other poultry! During his grocer years he had advertised eggs for sale from his own farms. He bred his own stock and exhibited his birds far and wide. He even took some to the Crystal Palace poultry show, scooping several rosettes. He continued to do this all his life. He also gave lectures on the finer points of poultry keeping at the Institute and headed up the Wycombe & District fanciers association.
His other love saw him playing with the Marlow orchestral society on his flute. And yes, he managed to be the Hon. Sec of that body too.
Above, advert from 1891 guide to Marlow.
Walter moves on
In 1898 things looked like they were going well for Walter. He was supplying groceries to some of the biggest homes in the neighborhood such as Bisham Abbey. When the latter had a ball to which the tradesman they dealt with were invited, Walter was chosen to give a speech to thank the hosts on behalf of all attendees. A description of the festive sights in Marlow describes Walter's premises as a scene of animation as the staff rushed to fulfil orders. There is no obvious indication of financial difficulties. He had been elected to the Marlow Urban District Council and chaired it by 1896, and was a J.P. Walter seemed to be at the pinnacle of his success.
The next year he decided to give up the grocers and start up as an auctioneer and estate agent, something he'd dabbled in previously. I get the impression that this was a relatively quick decision as he was advertising for a new grocers apprentice less than a year before he sold the shop. (The applicant had to be a respectable person, with a quick head for figures and a good neat hand.) He obviously could not live-in anymore, so he moved at first to Ellerslie in Institute Rd before moving to the newly developed "Cromwell Gardens Estate" then Ennismore, Station Rd.
With no children of his own, he took on as an "auctioneers pupil" his young nephew Oscar, son of brother William.
Constantly innovating, it was at this point Walter became the agent for the South Bucks Standard. If you had an item of news or a report of an event that you wished published, you could take it to Walter's home or Station Rd office and he would arrange for it to be inserted in the paper.
Dark clouds are gathering
The news Walter would read in his copy of the South Bucks Standard was going to become increasingly uncomfortable in the next few years. Walter had been appointed collector of poor rates (a tax) for the Marlow district as well as some other rates. His election to this role makes sense given he had a reputation for being organised and efficient and he frequently handled funds on behalf of charity appeals and various organisations. But things did not go well. Walter's role was a paid one, and when he asked for a raise, it was refused despite several people speaking up about the relatively low level he received for the amount of work he did. By 1906 the overseers of the poor had begun to raise questions about how Walter was doing his job. There was a large amount of arrears owed by various rate payers and they did not think he was doing enough to collect them. Someone suggested that "misplaced kindness" was hindering Walter. The authorities said he had not co operated with them in their investigations. By December that year they wrote to the Marlow Urban District Council to suggest they terminate Walter's services immediately. The council decided to hold a special meeting as soon as possible and offer Walter the chance to resign if he would not follow the Overseers instructions, with the threat of dismissal if he didn't. Walter was furious. He strongly denied that he had refused their requests to bring his books to their meetings for some 9 months. He said they were at his office and open to inspection by anyone at any time, and had been seen on average once a month. He had refused their requests to take the books away as he said that before when they had done so they kept them for days and prevented him getting on with his work.
Walter was required to pay in any collected amounts promptly, not keeping more than £5 in hand. He admitted sometimes being late doing so but not for long. The auditor's had passed his accounts and commented that they felt Walter was simply too busy to give the rate collecting task the attention it needed. They had raised the issue that he was not paying in his money as quickly as possible though, and he was late filling out his receipt book too. Part of the problem was caused by a falling out with assistant over seer Reuben Nereus Smith, who Walter had asked to put all communications with him in writing due to previous misunderstandings of who wanted who to do what when. Several people spoke up for Walter at this special meeting. Walter Porter said Water Lovegrove had worked hard and long and at some cost to himself. He should be given time to catch up with his paperwork he said. Things struggled on with Walter promising to pay in sums collected faster. He asked that the out of pocket expenses owed to him would also be paid promptly in future.
Goodbye Walter.
But by December 1907 the secret troubles that had worried Walter were beginning to overcome him. He had got into personal financial difficulties as his business had struggled and he was on the point of bankruptcy. He was late paying in rate money again, and there were still very many uncollected rates. Walter had to pay a bond when taking on the role of collector which he would loose if he left without the majority of rates bought in. He had repeatedly tried to sell his old grocers premises in the High Street but could find no buyer. He said he felt luck was always against him as he could sell "rotten old shells" of buildings but not his spacious and purpose built grocers. Questions about how he was managing the rates would have been fatal to his personal business. So one sad day, Walter left to attend an auction in Cookham, and never returned. His body was found several days later, by a hay rick. He had shot himself through the heart, leaving a number of letters. He wrote "I have been a good natured fool, and tried to do right, but without good results ....the world has been hard to me. ...Over work and worry have done their work". He begged his wife for forgiveness and said he thought she would soon have found herself a widow anyway as he'd felt unwell. He added he wished she would find "more friends in adversity than she found in life." He also left a note asking that Marlow policeman Sergeant Pearce should be asked to identify his body to save his wife the horrible task. This Pearce did.
A wife left behind
Poor Ellen was left with absolutely nothing. She must have feared the worst when Walter disappeared. On the day he was found, the overseers came and collected the parish books from Walter's home. When asked at his inquest whether it was not true that Walter had been unfortunate in all of his business affairs, she replied simply, yes. She said she knew he had been worried about money matters but the extent of the problems was revealed only after his death. Less than a month after his suicide, the entire household contents of the Lovegrove home was put up for sale, down to the kitchen utensils. The Rev Light, who had gone to Ellen immediately on hearing of Walter's disappearance, repeatedly reminded everyone that she was left "in very straightened circumstances". The previously unsellable shop, then let to grocers Harridge & Dorrell, was also auctioned off and found an immediate buyer this time. Ellen would eventually leave town, and live as a "companion" to a lady in Maidenhead.
At their first meeting after his death, the Board of Guardians in passing a motion of sympathy for Mrs Lovegrove highly praised Walter for his work with them. Fellow board member Rev Light said Walter was "one of most obliging and pleasantest of men and one for whom he had the greatest regard". Walter's accounts with the overseers were eventually settled and the task of chasing the late payers became someone else's responsibility. As there is no evidence Walter had appropriated any funds for his own use, he earns his place as a Marlow hero.
Written & researched by Kathryn Day.
More information:
Previous grocers occupying Walter's premises - here
To find out about other shops or specific premises see the index here
The Jubilee celebrations 1887 and 1897
Marlow Institute here
Index of posts about everyday life in Walter's Marlow - here
Other Marlow Heroes -
Arthur Corby and Charles Bonny - here
- Andrew Means - here
- Nurse Cassidy here
- Matron Mary Ann Cole here
- the Dunbar Dicksons - here
- John Langley here
Sources:
Marlow Directory and Almanack 1907.
Marlow Guide 1903 & 1907.
Marlow Directory and Tourist Guide 1891, South Banks Standard.
Census returns from the transcripts taken from the originals by Jane Pullinger with thanks.
Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News October 26th 1872, August 14th 1886, January 18th 1908
Bucks Herald June 8th 1878, January 3rd 1880, January 18th 1908.
Maidenhead Advertiser November 23rd 1877, February 2nd 1887, December 30th 1891, March 30th 1897, March 18th 1908.
Reading Mercury June 8th 1878.
South Bucks Stands February 27th & December 24th 1891, November 4th 1892, January 6th 1893, January 18th 1895, November 20th & December 18th 1896, February 25th & September 1st 1898, December 8th 1899, July 28th 1905, October 6th & December 7th 1906, December 11th 1907
England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2JXP-4SX : 31 December 2014), Harriet Sarah Lovegrove, 1874; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
© MarlowAncestors.
