Sellman & Morton Graves, Marlow Cemetery

In loving memory Louisa Sellman who passed away December 6th 1928 age 77 years.  "Dutiful wife and loving mother" 

AND OF

William Sellman, beloved husband of the above who passed away January 25th 1937 age 85. "Always in our thoughts" 

AND OF 

Their daughter Gertrude Emma Morton. 

 Around the grave edge is the following: Pte Sydney Edward Percy Morton RAOC? Killed in Egypt June 21st 1942

NOTE - William founded the Marlow builders W&T Sellman along with brothers Thomas who died the following year and Charles who also died 1937. After his wife died, Gertrude moved in with her father to support him. The couple had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. In his youth William was a tremendous athlete and also played as one of the original members of Marlow F.C. Louisa was nee Drye, of the coachbuilding and motor car garage family. The two families business premises were on the same side of Marlow High Street but the couple later lived at Glade Rd.

 Pte Sydney Morton was age 25 when he was killed. He was previously a motor mechanic at Currall's garage, Marlow High Street. A keen rower and member of Marlow Rowing Club. 

To look for information about any particular person on this blog use the A-z person index on the top drop down menu. 

For other grave images see the index 

here

Index of posts about general Marlow history here

© MarlowAncestors 

The surprising early history of the Masonic Centre, Marlow part 2

 This is the second part of the story of the curious building currently known as the Masonic Centre in St Peter Street Marlow. As mentioned in part one here , it was originally built and licensed as a place of worship for a break away group of worshippers from the Salem Chapel. We've passed through its history as a lecture hall, girls school, Music Room and cinema and now we are resuming the story in the time of the First World War. It was then usually known as the Public Hall and it's owned by a small company of Marlovians. 

Jerome K Jerome treads the boards 

As previously mentioned the building had a stage at one end right from the start. While that may have been intended as a platform for speakers and preachers, for the last half century at least it had been more commonly used by musicians, artistes and actors. One such was the author and playwright Jerome K Jerome who lived at Marlow Common. In 1914 he put on his play "Robina in search of a husband" at the Public Hall. Jerome filled one part while his daughter Rowena reprised the lead role that she had previously performed at London theatres. Other cast members were mostly local amateurs. The performance was a great success and raised funds for the Marlow Cottage Hospital and the Marlow cricket and lawn tennis clubs. 

At this point retiring rooms for both ladies and gentlemen and lavatories had been added to the hall facilities. 

During the First World War 

During the war, the hall put on a number of entertainments by troops stationed at the Bovingdon Green and Marlow Common area camps - sometimes in aid of their YMCA tent, sometimes to benefit local causes or military charities.* Most of the soldiers housed locally would have been familiar with the hall partly for this reason. But it was also used by locals as a space to show their gratitude for the men passing through. At Christmas 1916 local fundraisers organised two free smoking concerts in the hall. Some 90% of the men in camp at Marlow would get no festive home leave that year. All those attending were given some cigarettes and the hosts even managed to rustle up some Christmas puddings to share. Let's hope it provided some happy memories in the dark days ahead. 

Between the wars 

Although these events stopped the hall falling into disuse, the number of regular bookings dwindled to a trickle. Too many men were absent to keep up the kind of clubs and societies that used to fill the hall with their concerts and shows. As a result when the war was over the directors and shareholders of the Marlow Public Hall Co found their finances in dire straights. They decided to put the freehold up for auction in 1919 but unfortunately there were zero bids. So the directors decided to carry on but there were frequent reports that the company would be happy to receive offers for the same. In 1922 they approached the urban district council to see if they'd like to buy the freehold. They said no, the town coffers could not afford such a scheme. 

In 1935 the hall was opened for use by the Marlow lodge of the Freemasons. They had been present in Marlow for some time before this - for many years their lodge room was upstairs at the Institute, now Marlow library. Local groups such as the St Martin's Players felt the loss of the only public building with a proper stage and dressing rooms. They were forced to use the much more cramped facilities of the Church Hall in the Causeway - until what is now Liston Hall was secured and later adapted for plays. (In 1935 the future Liston hall was about to be adapted for use as the library and labour exchange. It had recently housed the Salvation Army while their new citadel was being built.) 

In World War Two 

During the war the Freemasons made their hall readily available to help various groups in the town connected to the war effort. 

At first it's main use was as a recieving centre for evacuees and as emergency accomodation, under the supervision of Chief Billeting Officer and boys school head Victor G Kibblewhite. Some of those arriving with their families were voluntary evacuees, eg those not arriving under a government scheme. Victor had a difficult job in finding accommodation for all and although he was required to provide for them for only two days, many were forced to stay in the hall longer. 

The hall also housed the Infant Welfare Centre but this was forced out when it was decided to start a Bucks County Council "War Nursery" there in 1941. Operating from 7.30am to 6.30pm six days a week the nursery catered for about 25 children of women who were engaged in war work. Or who would be prevented from "doing their bit" by child care difficulties. The youngsters were provided with their own little overalls to wear and were given three meals a day plus a simple cot to sleep in.

Written by Kathryn Day 

Related Posts:

Life for the soldiers at Bovingdon Green Camp in World War One here

Will of George Gordon 1825

 George Gordon of Beech Lodge Great Marlow, written 1814 proved 1825 by which time he had moved to Great Milton Oxfordshire.

A very long will which is summarized here.

All debts, funeral and probate expenses to be paid.

Appoints trustees his dear brother James Gordon paymaster of His Majesty's 2nd regiment of foot, John Elmslie Esquire senior of B...Street, Oxford Street, Middlesex [London] and Charles Forbes Esquire of Fitzroy Square Middlesex [London]. They are to sell his house at Red Pits Marlow [Beech Lodge] and the land and appurtenances belonging to it by private sale or public auction for the best possible price, separately or in one lot.

They also get in trust all his moneys (including the house sale profits), debts, securities for money, stocks and funds and any residual property of his not left to  anyone elsewhere in the will. This is also all to be sold for profit. All monies realized from this lot to be invested and the profits to go to his dear wife Jane while she remains unmarried for the maintenance and education of his children while they are under 21 [who are not individually named]. If she remarries and has not previously appointed someone to receive these profits in her place for the children or if she dies without leaving a will or other instructions as to the same then the trustees take over this aspect [e.g they keep the money and use it themselves for the children's care]. When the children reach 21 or earlier if they marry they themselves get equal shares of the money.

Jane gets £200 for her own immediate needs as soon as possible after her husband's death. She also gets all the household goods and implements, furniture, plate [silverware], trinkets, wearing apparel, pictures, china,glass, wine, liquors,and linen in his house at his death except his watch which is to go to his eldest son (not named).

Executors of the will his wife while she remains unmarried and the trustees. She is guardian to the children while married, otherwise the trustees.

Witnessed by Roland (Wimburn?) of Chancery Lane, George Spence his clerk, and John James Webb.

Codicil written 1814=  trustee John Elmslie has died so in his place James Elmslie of [place left blank] is appointed in his place. Also specifies that his wife I'd to get the investment profits in quarterly payments. The executors are each to receive £20 for a ring. Testator signed but had no witnesses.

Second Codicil 1824= testator is now of New Milton Oxfordshire. If the investment profits amount to more than £1000 a year the excess is to be divided between his children. Once again there were no witnesses to this codicil.

At a probate hearing Roland Wimburn? and Adam Wallace Elmslie appeared to swear to the authenticity of the handwriting and signature of the deceased in the submitted will and codicils. They say that they went to the house of .... Cruickshank after the death of the testator with testator's daughter Jane Gordon and retrieved the submitted will and codicils from a portmanteau. It is not explained why these papers were in Cruickshank's possession.

Transcribed and then summarised from a will at the National Archives, Kew by me Charlotte Day.

Note:

George Gordon was originally of Banffshire Scotland.

Jane his widow died in London in 1867, aged 83, never having remarried. She was the daughter of John Elmslie Esquire, probably the deceased trustee mentioned in the will. George and Jane's daughter Jane married John Wallace Harris and died of scarlet fever in 1842. On the same day her daughter Charlotte succumbed to the same disease, as did days later her son Harry. Source= The Patriot, 10th October 1842, British Library Archives accessed via the BNA.

Beech Lodge was already let to others by 1819 and it looks like the then tenants went on to buy it after George Gordon's death.

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Andrewes Grave Marlow Cemetery

In Marlow cemetery - Walter Ford Andrewes - born in Reading March 12th 1854, died in London May 24th 1923. 

"Two things stand like stone, kindness in another's trouble, courage in your own" 

ALSO OF:

Francis Mary Louise, his dear wife. Died June 20th 1950 age 79

Note Walter was living at Beech House, Station Road when he died, and formerly was of Cromwell Cottage, Cromwell Gardens. He was a retired director of Consolidated Goldfields of South Africa. 

 To look for information about any particular person on this blog use the A-z person index on the top drop down menu. 

For other grave images see the index 

here

Index of posts about general Marlow history here

© MarlowAncestors 

The surprising past of the Masonic Centre in Marlow

 Many people have been puzzled or intrigued by the chapel like appearance of the current Masonic centre in St Peter Street Marlow. It's location opposite the Catholic church of St Peter's has often led to the assumption it was built as a kind of parish hall for them. The clue to the true history lies in the family actually responsible for putting it up - the Morgans. They were prominent members of the Salem Chapel as it was then known (Aka Congregational church, now the U.R.C Quoiting Square) and it was for a break away group of worshippers that the building was established as a place of worship. 

The Music Room, above. Image ©Colin Groves and used with permission. 

A severe break at the Salem Chapel

The story of why there was a significant sundering of the congregation at the Salem Chapel has partly been told already by us in Charlotte's biography of the Rev Thomas Styles (and can be read in more detail here). To sum up, Rev Styles expressed in 1854 a wish to marry a lady that some members of the congregation regarded as an unsuitable choice for a minister. In addition, some thought he shouldn't marry at all as the living they could provide would not be sufficient for a married man. If he did, then resignation should follow they reasoned. Thomas disagreed and married Eliza anyway. You may think that would have been more or less the end of the matter. Not so - a significant number of worshippers lead by Mr Morgan "broke away" from the main congregation and remained so estranged for nearly 10 years. At first they met in the Albion rooms West Street, but in 1855 the breakaway group were planning a purpose built building that would double as a lecture hall for hire. This was not completed until 1861 in St Peter Street and is what we call the Masonic Centre. It was licenced for worship and used as such until 1863. 

The press and town as a whole were very much on the side of the Rev Styles. The loss of half his congregation severely dented his income.  The deficiency was made up by voluntary donations made by those of all denominations. The South Bucks Free Press thought the dispute was really about internal power struggles within the church and many criticized those who presumed to tell their "respected" minister what to do. 

The lecture room opens

In July of 1861 "the lecture room" (and it was then just a single room) opened. Big enough to hold 300 people, it was provided with a stage and state of the art harmonium at one end as well as gas lighting and a hot water heating system. The lighting was a constant source of complaint later but at the time of opening this was a facility with all modern conveniences. The building was designed by Marlow architect Charles Carter and it was completed by our builder Thomas Corby. The first lecture was on "the existing barriers [to the] social, moral, and religious elevation of the people". Temperance lectures were a big feature of the early days too, especially by the Great Marlow Temperance Society. 

It was of course also used for worship. The Rev Mitchel was engaged as a probationary minister there and Sunday congregations were regarded as well attended. 

Peacemaking? 

 In 1863 the Rev Styles had finally had enough. He had continued to offer an olive branch to those who had left his church and many had indeed returned to him.  Thomas now said he was ready to retire altogether. The breakaway group felt this was an opportunity to reconcile. The question then was of the pension to be offered. Thomas had been living on an income of £30-40 a year which was found to be less than half of what any incoming minister would accept to replace him. But there was those (especially in the breakaway group) who thought the pension of the same amount would have to do. It was felt that as this group had caused the Rev Styles to have to live on such a small sum and were generally the better off, that they should contribute to his pension fund. They initially refused and were accused of trying  "to crush  and sweep away" Thomas with "a system that shames them". It was noted this was not the first time a such a system of "persecution" had been used to shed a minister. Strong language was used on both sides  - one member of the main congregation referred to the breakaways as "illiterate nonentities" for example!  In the end Thomas was given the right to live in the Manse for life as well as  £40 a year. 

A month after Thomas preached his last sermon, a "re-union" meeting was held in the lecture room, presided over by church member Joseph Wright of Marlow Mills. He said they were gathered to "give assistance and counsel to the little cause in Marlow now making an attempt to recover it's position once enjoyed".  A visiting preacher pleaded for all to forgive and be forbearing. 

Lectures? No thanks! 

With the lecture hall no longer needed for purposes of worship, it was kept open for the secondary role as a sort of public hall. Unfortunately as such it was initially a failure. The main users were groups who would otherwise have used the Salem Chapel schoolrooms and when the rift was healed, they generally did so. The Mutual Improvement Society did hire it for educational talks but these were poorly attended. In 1864 the lecture room was declared a failure.  The Rev Millman of All Saints (Anglican) then took a lease of the premises for 5 years for use as the National Girls School. (They got their own premises in 1870.) In 1867 Owen Peel Wethered of Marlow's well known brewing family bought the freehold. He intended to use it as a public hall for hire. It would soon generally be known as the Music Room as it was often used for concerts and choral union meetings. 

The Music Room - respectable audience only please

In the 1870s the shift from educational and temperance related  offerings to more general entertainment was complete. Both the Literary and Scientific Institute and Mutual Improvement Society still used the facilities on occasion but attendance was usually reported as poor. The emphasis was on respectable entertainment - for example when Mrs Howard Paul visited in 1877 to offer songs and impressions we are reassured that there was "an utter absence of anything coarse or objectional"..

Other best selling Victorian events included an exposure of the sleight of hand used by spiritualist mediums, a recreated Japanese village as part of an exhibition of their craft, displays of photographs, Pepper's Ghost, and magic lantern exhibitions. My favourite event though was a show in 1883 of curiosities and artefacts collected by local people. A polariscope, stuffed skunk, photographs of microscopic algae from the USA, a portion of the wrecked HMS Eurydice, a calculating machine and a display of ferns were amongst the eclectic items on display. 

In 1888 the Music Room was licenced for dramatic performances and these would be a big feature going forward. In the 1880s the room had been used more by travelling troupes or showman.  As these were sometimes regarded as a little noisy and not educational enough, a decision was made by the Wethereds in 1894 that the music room would no longer be available to showman or groups not resident in Marlow (unless taking part in a Marlow organised fundraising event such as for the cottage hospital.) 

As gymnasium and cinema 

In the 1890s the music room became home to the Marlow Gymnastic club - you can read more on those energetic fellows here 

It's other significant use was as Marlow's first regular cinema from 1911-1913 - again the full story has been told in a post - here

As the Public Hall

In 1906, the Wethered family sold the freehold of the music room to a small limited company of Marlow men including prominent Congregationalists William J Morgan and Joseph Dorsett. The new owners say it will be now known as the Public Hall - although the Music Room name stuck for a long time! They made some additions to the building and improvements to the lighting. 

In the Edwardian era it saw meetings of the Woman's Freedom League and Suffragette groups - usually interrupted by belligerent young men armed with whistles, cow bells and mouth organs. 

Afterwards 

The story of the buildings use in the First and Second World Wars is covered in another post here. The Freemasons bought the freehold in 1934. 

NB. The Rev Alexander Henderson also resigned as the Congregational minister specifically in order to get married - after the congregation voiced "doubts" about whether he should. (1883) A biography of that minister is available here

Post written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related posts:

Index of church and chapel related posts (all denominations):here

For other posts about St Peter's Street or other specific buildings see here

Votes for women? Marlow discussions on the issue here

Sources include : 

Charlotte's research on Rev Thomas Styles

Marlow Directory 1891 

Kelly's Directory 1889

Marlow Almanack and Directory 1903, 1907, 1915. 

South Bucks Free Press 13th December 1857, 8th August 1860, 26th July 1861 2nd February, 27th March, 19th June,  4th July & 28th August 1863, 23rd January 1864, 27th September 1867, 26th October 1883, 30th November 1888, 15th May 1908

Reading Mercury 3rd August 1861, 17th Jan 1863, 24th February 1877, 12th September 1885

Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News 29th August 1863 

Bucks Herald 127th October 1877

Maidenhead Advertiser 14th February 1894

South Bucks Standard 6th July & 26th October 1906

Information on the Congregational Church as was from Martin Ashford with thanks. 

© MarlowAncestors 

Life in 1950s Marlow Part Three Transport and Childhood

Part One covered sport and leisure, Part two dealt with homes and employment.

Post by Charlotte

Transport 

Car ownership while not uncommon was far from universal in the 1950s so bus services and trains as well as cycling were important to local people trying to get from A to B. Currall's Garage in the High Street offered repairs and sales for those lucky enough to have their own car and of course there was Platts garage too. Platts was a Morris and M.G dealer. The Maple Garage in Little Marlow Road was an Esso and Ford dealership. Unusually for the times it opened for the sale of petrol on a Sunday.  Petrol rationing continued into the 1950s meaning careful thought needed to be made about whether any journey was necessary. A couple of  petrol pumps stood ready outside Comptons cycle shop in West Street for any motorists who pulled up kerbside. Marlow Bottom wasn't to be left out, Witches Barn Garage still operated in the village.

A Mr or Mrs Cook of Marlow had a red upholstered 1953 second hand Austin A30 for sale as advertised in the Reading Mercury 1958 for a bargain £415.

See a pic of the A30 on Wikipedia here.

Daniel Gibbons of 19 York Road had previously operated as a secondhand car and other vehicle dealer but I haven't found any reference to him still doing that in the 1950s. He was definitely still operating as a rag and bone man however, which was previously his sideline.

George Bason of 18 Wycombe Road sold secondhand motorbikes and offered repairs.

Mr Sylvester of 41 West Street was a driving instructor, possibly the only one in town at first. 

Driving could have its hazards then as now. Heavy snows of February and early March 1958 saw buses unable to reach High Wycombe and the roads out of town to Henley and Stokenchurch were blocked for all traffic.

More bizarrely the road at the foot of Bisham Hill was covered in jam for hours following a collision involving a truck carrying several tons of the sweet stuff in 1958. What a sticky situation.

Concerns about the weight of the traffic crossing Marlow Bridge have dogged the structure since the 1800s. Increased weight restrictions on vehicles using the bridge and emergency structural repairs to it were both needed in the 1950s. Thames Valley services from Maidenhead stopped crossing the bridge in 1958 because of new weight restrictions. Instead passengers got on and off in Quarry Wood Road.

Other bus services connected Marlovians to Reading and High Wycombe. The Marlow-Little Marlow-Bourne End service however came to an end in the 1950s because too few people were using it at a time when petrol rationing meant bus companies had to ensure every bus they sent out on a journey had earned it's share of the limited petrol supplies available.

Bicycles were available to buy from C. A Boddy in the High Street. Like quite a few other cycle suppliers in this time period he also supplied prams. Well, they both have wheels, I suppose. The Boddys also sold toys. Another cycle agent was Comptons in West Street, also a motorcycle seller and as mentioned above a petrol supplier 

Marlow still had a full sized railway station in the 1950s.

Childhood 

Schools

The 1958 Marlow Town Guide lists the Girls' school as being in Oxford Road and the Boys' one in Wethered Road as well as Sir William Borlase School (then just for boys and both a boarding and day school) in West Street. They obviously hadn't updated themselves from their previous edition as the schools had in fact been totally reorganised in 1954. A good lesson in treating all historical sources even very official seeming ones with caution. Back to school for the guide authors we say! The boys' school had been transformed into a unisex secondary school known as All Saints Secondary School. The future site of Great Marlow School was purchased by the council in 1957 though it would not be developed into a secondary school for several more years. Bigger premises were sorely needed as All Saints Secondary School was bursting at the seams. Until further schools opened in Stokenchurch and High Wycombe children from Lane End and Cadmore End had to attend the Marlow school. Overcrowding meant that the school was not able to offer the G.C.E exam, as extra classes for the pupils who wished to study for it could not be physically accommodated. Any children who wanted to pursue post 15 education elsewhere would be helped to find avenues to it where possible however. 

Reach for the stars, kids

As well as not having to take exams the pupils of All Saints weren't required to do homework - until the teachers got the unwelcome idea to try it in 1955. At first only some classes fell victim but from September 1956 the whole school was told to expect compulsory homework unless they had a parental letter of exemption. Such exemptions might be because the child helped in the family business, looked after younger siblings or simply because the family did not believe that school work should be allowed to encroach in family together time (this latter was a common sentiment). 

At their speech day in 1956 the speaker was an Air Vice marshall who told the children that they were lucky to be growing up in the Atomic Age as there would be lots of exiting opportunities for them. He predicted interplanetary travel might be an established fact by the late 1980s or early 90s.

In 1958 at the Borlase School speech day the guest speaker was t.v personality and criminologist John Watson who told the boys that in order to be happy men they would need two things- the right job and right wife. He warned them that a "safety first" attitude in life would be dangerous to them (not necessarily in reference to choosing a wife). 

Borlase converted part of the original school building into a flat for the caretaker and a recreation room for the school masters during the 1950s. Mr Hazelton, the Head in 1957 said that in the next year there would be around 350 pupils at his school including 80-90 boys in the Sixth Form. This he felt represented a school that had grown too fast to keep up with itself.

The 1958 Town Guide  also makes no mention of Foxes Piece School which was built between 1954-56, initially just as an infant's school with only three classrooms. The rest of the grounds were used as sports fields for other Marlow schools. Foxes Piece was only meant to be a temporary school at first. However it was extended and became a full junior school for 5-12 year olds in the 1960s. More on the early days of this school and the history of the Foxes Piece area is available in my post here.  

Another point upon which the Town Guide was well out of date on was the fact that the Oxford Road school was then functioning as another infant school. A premises in St Peters Street (which had also previously functioned as the Girls' School) was in 1954 turned into a mixed junior school (middle school). There was a mixed Catholic school in St Peter Street too. At Medmenham children attended the village school. Danesfield was of course yet to exist.

Dial Close, a private school for girls operated from the Causeway.  Another private girls school Wycombe Court was located at Lane End but put on buses to bring in Marlow pupils. It had a unisex kindergarten.

When they weren't being drilled in the three Rs or receiving questionable life advice from a criminologist, there were numerous leisure opportunities for our younger Marlovians.

Hobbies, toys and clubs 

Owning a television was becoming increasingly common in the town. British children with a set might already be watching 2 hours of television every day according to research quoted in the book A Century of Childhood. A t.v show detailing the adventures of American Davy Crockett led to a mass childhood craze of wearing a Davy Crocket style mock fur hat. I haven't been able to find evidence of these on sale in Marlow but Bonners Superstore in High Wycombe certainly offered them and was only a bus ride away.

Model airplanes and games could be bought from Moretons (primarily a bee keeping supplies shop!) in West Street. The children of the secondary school and if the former boys' school kept bees on the premises and produced their own honey so they may actually have enjoyed browsing the bee keeping supplies while they were there. Toys were also available from the Woolworths in Market Square, from the Boddy's BTC toy shop in the High Street and from Jane Ann's in West Street which offered Meccano, Dinky, Triang and Hornby ranges amongst others. The small department store W.J Daniels in Market Square had an upstairs toy department.

The Marlow Sea Cadets , just for boys, formed in 1956 though they did not yet have their own premises and met initially at All Saints Secondary School. A Boys Club, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides already existed. The latter met in a hut in Quarry Wood Road. 

Higginson Park, Riley Park (usually then called Riley Recreation Ground), Gossmore and Seymour Park were all open spaces available to play in while a children's paddling place was set up in an enclosed section of the River Thames in 1958. This was in addition to the official Bathing Place Marlow then had in the Thames at Quarry Woods for both adults and children.

Not all the outdoor activities of 1950s Marlow children would meet our approval today. Butterfly and bird egg collecting were still quite widely practiced by some children, mostly little boys. I used to have a 1950s children's butterfly book previously owned by a local boy in which the young reader is given detailed instructions as to how to use poison to suffocate a trapped butterfly and warned that sniffing or accidentally consuming the recommended poisons might kill him too. A repurposed soft drinks bottle was recommended as a carrying vessel for such poisons. Fail! Though Mr Watson the safety-last criminologist probably approved.

For sources for this series of posts see Part One. Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

Culture, Honour and Virtue - A history of the early Catholic schools in Marlow

St Peter Street in Marlow may be a place of quiet calm and gentility now but if you were to walk it in the early and mid Victorian era, a much more noisy and boisterous atmosphere would have prevailed. There were many reasons for this - more inns and beer-houses, the bustling Limbrook wharf, Gibbon's brewery and later the Buckinghamshire Chair Factory¹. 

One of the characteristic sounds of the street would also have been the sound of children playing. In the 1860s St Peter Street was home to 5 schools - the Catholic charity/infants school, the small Convent School, the National girls, the National infants,  and the private boarding schools for young gentlemen run from the Deanery². And then there was of course another "classic and commercial" boarding school at Marlow Place³ just a stone throw away. Our focus today is on the three Catholic schools. 

Undated and sadly very faded image of a group of pupils, identified by Michael Eagleton as coming from the Catholic infants school. Image used with thanks. 

NB. Most older historic references to the St Peter's school refer not as we would expect to the Catholic school whose modern successor goes by that name but to the two National schools in the road. The others were usually referred to just as the Catholic schools or the Convent schools. 

A start in West Street

The oldest of the two Catholic establishments was the infants charity school, as established by Charles Robert Scott Murray of Danesfield and Medmenham Abbey. Scott Murray was a wealthy and prominent Catholic convert and the person who paid for the building of St Peter's Church in Marlow⁴. The first version of the school was actually located at the Albion Rooms West Street, part of Albion House - a building which has a long connection to schooling⁵. It was established there by 1850. Initially it was ran by a couple of lay ladies and was definitely on the small side - about 20-25 pupils. It is curious that the property was let to the school managers by the Clayton family of Harleyford Manor as Sir William Clayton was outspokenly anti Catholic in the years leading up to the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829. (A speech he gave in 1827 at the Town Hall in Marlow equated Catholicism with evil, tyranny and "intellectual degradation". And that was just the warm up!) This illustrates the prejudice Scott Murray faced when securing space for this purpose. 

Help for the poor

In late 1852 Scott Murray had organised for the Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle based at Banbury to start a small convent at Marlow. They were also to take over the running of the charity school. In 1853 they moved into their new premises adjacent to the Catholic church in St Peter Street. Scott Murray would pay for the day to day running costs of the school such as the heating and lighting, and the provision of books and writing materials. At a time when education was not generally free, the charity school became increasingly popular as it charged a lower fee than the other schools in town. It was not restricted to Catholic families - indeed for some time in this era the majority of pupils were technically protestant. It had only become legal for non Catholic children to attend Catholic schools in 1846. This legal change may well have been what precipitated the foundation of the school. The Catholic population of the town would probably have been too small to sustain an establishment by itself.  Prior to 1791, it was not legal to run a Catholic school - and up to 1778 the punishment for so doing was life imprisonment.

A price to pay?

 The demographic was unquestionably from the poor at this period. The families must have been grateful for the opportunity to educate their youngsters at an affordable price - but the decision to send them to a Catholic school was not without controversy in the town. Protestant families whose children did not attend the church supported schools felt they were under pressure to withdraw them from the alternative.  Some also believed that when their children got into minor trouble with the police they were more harshly dealt with that would be the case of they had not attended a Catholic run school. Nevertheless by 1860 there was around 60 - 70 children in regular attendance at the infants school. 

Treats and trips for the scholars

One advantage of having a wealthy patron who took a close interest in the school was that the little pupils were not forgotten on the occasion of any kind of celebration in Marlow. Scott Murray inevitably provided the youngsters with a Christmas dinner served in their school rooms. Roast beef and plum pudding all round. Royal celebrations were another common excuse to have a break from routine. When the then Prince of Wales married in 1863 Scott Murray provided the youngsters with all kinds of goodies from lemonade to sweets and oranges. Other treats including river boat trips to Danesfield - where sports and games were provided, and a special tea provided by Canon Bernard Smith⁶ to mark a 25th anniversary of his service at Marlow. (1878)

Life at the infant school had its difficult aspects though - the school inspectors inevitably noted that the two classrooms were far too cramped and that the toilet provision was abysmal! (In this they had something in common with the two National schools over the road.) The school was also, like others in the town, subject to periodic closures due to outbreaks of the likes of small pox and scarlet fever. 

Culture, honour and virtue - the Convent Upper School 

Right from the start, the Sisters of Charity were permitted to take in a handful of private pupils who would  be educated seperately from those attending the charity school. The fees charged to these weekly or monthly boarders (who tended to be fairly well off) could be retained by the Sisters. The proviso was that the education of the poor children had to come first - if the Sisters wished to increase the numbers of other pupils they had to provide another Sister to ensure this.

At a meeting of mainly non conformists to discuss the re-establishment of a British school in Marlow, a (concerned) comment was made that Scott Murray was going to expand the provision for middle class children at his Catholic schools. If accurate this seems to have been the start of the expansion of the private convent school to take in more day pupils. 

In 1885, a dispute of uncertain nature with the school managers caused the Sisters to withdraw from both the Marlow schools and their branch at Danesfield (also established by Scott Murray). They finally left in 1886, although Scott Murray begged them to stay. The schools were undoubtedly a success and had just been extended. A Miss Grace Crowther was then recruited to head both the infants school and what was then generally known as the Convent Upper School, which was mixed and took pupils up to around age 14. To quote a source from 1894, this upper school was where "the children of the wealthy and well to do are carefully trained by fully trained and efficient instructors to occupy their positions in the higher ranks of society with culture, honour and virtue."

The young people attending this second school followed a broader curriculum including subjects such as Latin and more in depth musical study. The two establishments remained closely linked however and shared a prize giving day and entertainments. Mrs Scott Murray usually presided over the former and ensured all those attending on a more or less regular basis came away with some prize. The younger and  poorer pupils recieved individual practical items such as clothing and the older pupils more decorative ones such as copies of old master paintings to hang on their wall. 

In 1891 it was decided that Miss Crowther's residence could be altered to allow her to take in paying guests during the lucrative river season. This was to permit her to increase her income. A straightforward pay rise was seemingly out of the question. This is the why the oft published Marlow summer visitors lists includes so many names for people staying at the Convent school.  Miss Crowther certainly earned her keep - she had some 90 children of the infants school in her care and only one assistant mistress beside pupil teachers. 

The 1890s and beyond 

By this time the schools founder Charles Robert Scott Murray had died, and although the wider Scott Murray family did not forget their school at Marlow they had a less immediate every day relationship with it. Many of the treats and trips now provided to the pupils were by well off Catholics who took homes at Marlow for the river season year on year. This is especially true of Eugene Kelly and his family who regularly took up summer residence at Temple House. Eugene had also personally defrayed most of the cost of an assistant priest to help the ailing Canon Bernard Smith in the last two years of his life. The Scott Murrays still could be depended on to provide a Christmas surprise for the children though. Mrs Charles Aloysius Scott Murray managed to find a Christmas tree that would reach the ceiling of the Music Room (now the Masonic centre, hired for the purpose) in 1899 and she festooned it with gifts for all.

Since the 1870s the infants school had been under government control. This meant they could access grants rather than rely solely on their benefactor,  but in return they had to submit to school inspections and payment was by results. It also meant a "conscience clause" was now formally in operation. So the religious education was to taken at the beginning or end of the day to allow those children not participating to more easily absent themselves. 

In the late Victorian period the school inspectors still lamented the state of the toilets, the rough stoney playground and the general state of the school buildings but praised the teaching at least. Grace Crowther remained in charge until just after the First World War which brings us up to the end of the period we deal with. But to answer the oft asked question of when the modern St Peter's school moved to Prospect Rd, it was 1974. The land was actually released for school use by the Ministry of Agriculture from allotment use in 1965! 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Links to related subjects referred to above:

1 - The Bucks chair co of St. Peter Street - here

2. The Deanery school - here

3. Marlow place schools here

4. Early history of St Peter's Church here

5. The Albion rooms as a British School here

6. Biography Canon Bernard Smith, 50 years at St Peter's and a Marlow Hero here

To find other school related posts search by school name here

For other church related content see here - all denominations

Sources include: 

Information from Sister Anne, archivist to the Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle with many thanks. This included information from the undated draft of the foundation agreement for the school and convent. 

Slaters commercial directory 1850. 

Musson & Craven's commercial directory 1853. 

Kelly's Directory Bucks 1863

The Catholic Directory 1853 

Marlow Town Guide and Directory 1891

Marlow Almanack qv 1907 & 1915

South Bucks Free Press 2nd Jan 1857, 14 Jan 1860, 19th Jan 1861, 15 March 1863, 13 May 1868, 7th Oct 1870, 28 June 1878, 7 June 1888, 3 February 1889, 4 March 1910

Maidenhead Advertiser 2 July 1879, 29th September 1886

Bucks Herald 17 April 1886

The Tablet April 16 1887 Vol 69 p 630

Buckinghamshire Examiner 2  December 1891

South Bucks Standard 21st April &  22nd December 1893, 8th June 1894, 21st July 1894, 22 December 1899, 5th September 1902, 14 January 1910

Bucks Free Press 19 July 1919

© MarlowAncestors 

Will of Thomas Bowles 1819

 Thomas Bowles of Great Marlow. Will written 1814, proved 1819. An awkwardly expressed will in the beginning.

Says that he is sick and weak but of sound mind and memory.

To loving wife Elizabeth and her assigns all the houses he is possessed of with their appurtenances and all other of his personal property until the children reach 21. Certain of the properties go to various of the children as they each reach the 21 milestone, as described below. She can still have the house he lives in and any residual property for the term of her natural life unless she remarries. When she dies or remarries son William to have it.

Daughter Sarah at age 21 to receive the house next door with appurtenances and the long back house adjoining it.

Son Thomas at age 21 the house with appurtenances in testator's own occupation [so he is using a second house too as the one he lives in was previously mentioned in the will. The second house may have been a place of business or storage] next door to Manus Gray [probably meant to be Parmenus Gray who witnessed the will. The testator was likely using a friendly short form of the name when he gave it as Menas. The name Parmenas /Parmenus in various forms was traditional in the Gray / Grey  family of Marlow].

Son James at age 21 house with appurtenances in the occupation of John Harding.

The child that the testator's wife is pregnant with will receive £50 over and above it's share of his residual estate as described below.

All household goods and furniture to his wife for life. All residual estate to be invested and wife Elizabeth to receive the income from that in her lifetime. Afterwards the principle sum to be divided equally between his children.

Executors his wife and his brother James Bowles.

Testator signed only with a mark.

Witnessed by John Allnutt, Jno. Mossenton and Parmenus Gray.

Will was proved by the brother James Gray with power to administer also reserved to the other executor Elizabeth.

NOTES=

"Jno" (a common way of rendering both John and Jonathan on paper) Mossenton was probably the cordwainer of Chapel Street John Mossenton.

Will transcribed and summarised by me Charlotte Day from an original at the National Archives, Kew. Notes also by Charlotte.

Well over 100 wills of Marlow people are on this blog. See the wills index here

For every mention of any individual on this blog please see the A-Z Person Index. There are lots of Bowles!

©Marlow Ancestors. Reuse for family or local history purposes freely permitted with credit to this blog.

Hughes Grave, Marlow Cemetery

 

In loving memory of Mum and Dad. Rose Naomi Hughes died 15th April 1941

AND 

Edward Joseph Hughes Died January 27th 1951

To look for information about any particular person on this blog use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. 

For other grave images see the index 

here

Index of posts about general Marlow history here

© Marlow Ancestors 

Finnamore Wood Camp before the Borstal

 When most long term Marlow residents hear the words Finnamore* Wood their thoughts tend to bring up images of the borstal or young offenders institution that occupied the site between 1960 -1996. This is a post about its happier predecessor - Finnamore Wood Camp. This was in operation by the National Camps Corporation during the second world war and just after for evacuated and then war damaged children. 

National Camps Corporation Ltd. 

The Camps Act 1939 allowed for the setting up of rural camps with permanent facilities for use by schools in urban areas to give their youngsters a health boosting break in the countryside. The National Camps Corporation was a largely government funded not for profit group that would run the sites. With the threat of war looming, the possibility of using the camps for evacuation purposes in war time was also considered. A report from 1939 relating to the first camp completed mentioned it had no dedicated class rooms as such although there was a hall that could be put to this purpose "if necessary".  This suggests the focus was then still more on short term holiday use but it's not true that eventual use for evacuation was an afterthought. Very soon the designs reflected the need for proper educational facilities and all round the year accomodation. The site at Finnamore Wood was one of the first decided upon for a camp. In July 1939 it was confirmed that the site would be used for evacuation in war time as well as peacetime use. 

The corporation bought the site when the council agreed to divert a footpath that ran across the would be camp to Chisbridge Cross. 

The Girls Arrive

It's said the camps generally took three months to be made ready. This includes the construction. Standardized designs and parts were used for efficiency. So all of the camps would have looked fairly similar, with cedar wood buildings on concrete foundations with shingle roofing. Although it's said there was a standard provision of buildings such as about 4 classrooms, 5 dorms etc, descriptions of facilities at different sites show they were not quite as uniform as the bare records suggest. Of course some of this reflect different uses put to the same building on different sites. 

In the spring of 1940, Finnamore Wood Camp saw the arrival of the female high school age pupils of Beal Modern School in Ilford - an area regarded as "sensitive" or especially at risk of enemy action. Accompanying them was headmistress Miss Shepherd. The boys of the school went to a different camp at Kennylands, Sonning. Marlow has a great number of young evacuees and accommodating them all classrooms was often a juggling act. So the authorities must have been pleased to have a school arrive in their midst who would be self sufficient as regards facilities. 

The schools were expected to provide their own school room furniture as well as things such as books and stationary. The camps corporation took care of the domestic arrangements and provided the food. A weekly charge was made by the corporation per pupil for the board and lodgings and towards the cost of maintaining the facilities.  This was paid by the education authority in Ilford but they were able to claim it back from the department of health as an evacuation expense. 

Roughing It In Camp?

While the young ladies were obviously very far from the comforts of home and family, the word "camp" shouldn't make us visualize them huddling in draughty tents! The facilities were provided with central heating which it was painted out few children would have experienced at home. There was a classroom devoted to domestic science and the girls were taught cooking, clothes mending, gardening and crafts such as knitting and quilting. There was a games room, laboratory and rest rooms as well as the necessary kitchen, bathing and washing facilities. The girls slept in metal bunk beds in dormitories. If any hoped to get in any mischief after lights out, they would have been disappointed to find there was also a bedroom for a teacher at one end. Outside there was room for organized games and  allotment gardens - dig for victory! Some of the senior girls also helped with crop harvesting in the locality - digging potatoes, gathering oats, and collecting acorns for pigs. They were not the only young helpers doing such important work - the senior boys at Borlase in Marlow itself  participated in farm camps over several summers and many older Marlow people remember gathering berries for the jam factories  and rosehips for syrup etc. 

A Royal Visit 

In 1940 the King and Queen visited the camps occupied by both the boys and girls of Beal Modern School. The royal visitors spent a considerable time touring the facilities and seeing examples of the pupils work. At Finnamore, the Queen said she thought the girls would be just as capable of spending a winter in the country as their male fellows. Both remarked on how the children seemed to settle quickly into their new situation and that they looked "healthy and happy". The following year a reporter who watched the girls perform a nativity play at Holly Trinity Church in Marlow noted that it was very clear the girls "have benefitted from so considerably from the wonderful health given properties of the Buckinghamshire air".  Against this we must submit an epidemic of diarrhoea that occured in December 1943 which was serious enough to be feared the start of a diphtheria outbreak. There was thankfully a small hospital and a permanent nurse on the staff. 

During the 4 years the pupils were at Finnamore they involved themselves in many of the charity appeals of the villages and towns around them. For example they performed plays, songs and dances in costume as part of Marlow's Wings for Victory Week, at the band hall in town. They helped decorate Hambledon church for it's harvest festival and performed another nativity play for charity at Frieth church. It was noted that there was some difficulty in transporting the girls from their fairly isolated camp spot into places such as Marlow because of petrol and vehicle shortages but camp manager Will Berry performed his miracles and they "got about" more than expected. 

Post War Use 

After the war, the National Camps Corporation retained ownership of Finnamore Wood Camp. It was used memorably to provide much needed respite to French, Belgian, Polish and Czech children whose childhood had been cut short by the time spent living in war zones. The first  party seems to be a group of 8-14 year old French boys and girls who came in April 1943 under a scheme organized by the British Emergency Council For Help to France and the Committee for Young People in Occupied Countries. All of the arrivals had either been bombed out or were children of arrested, killed or still missing parents. They arrived at Northolt aerodrome after what must have been an exciting flight for many.  They spent several weeks in the camp and this was followed up by stays in Marlow homes. It was hoped that after the soup destroying experiences the poor little ones had passed through, the stay here would give them "a fresh outlook on life" as well as boost their physical health.  This group was followed by many many more in the 1940s. The local youth groups such as the scouts took a big role in helping entertain the visitors both by going to the camp to organize activities and by hosting them at events in Marlow. Miss Jackson of the WVS collected books, footballs, tennis rackets and games for the camp - one of hundreds of practical things this hardworking woman woman did to make other lives better both during the war and after it. 

In 1948 the American, Argentinian and Brazilian rowing teams competing in the Olympics were hosted at the camp. Apparently there were some complaints about its "out of the way" location but they were to compete at Henley so they were really quite conveniently placed as regards location if not transport links. 

A VILLAGE FOR CHILDREN

Although the National Camps Corporation retained ownership of the site throughout the 50s they were generally winding down as an organization. Many other camp sites around the country had already passed into other hands. In 1956 the Pestalozzi Village children's organization were considering buying Finnamore Wood Camp. They submitted outline plans to accommodate initially 50 children from 4 countries in their "village". The aim was to provide "strong citizens" through an international residential education programme for "needy but intelligent" children from European and Commonwealth countries. They would be accommodated in houses with other children of the same nationality. Although the Wycombe Rural District council gave tacit approval to the idea, it was subject to certain restrictions such as a cap on overall numbers of people to live there. Whether these restrictions were too off-putting or there was another reason, the Pestalozzi group did not take on the site. The camp equipment was sold off and the spot came under notice of the Home Office. In 1958 the rumours it would be used as a borstal for those in the last stages of the sentence was proved well founded and it opened in 1960. 

*Although we seemed to have settled on the "Finnamore with a middle A" spelling as the standard one these days, Finnemore with a middle E has proven to be overall the most common in historic records. But fancy spelling it Finnemoor, Finnamoor or the 17th c favourite Fennymoor?  You would have plenty of people in the past who would have agreed all were right! With the habit of old Bucks dialect speakers to swallow the middle letter in any word, they would have sounded the same anyhow. 

Related Posts:

Other posts about life in Marlow area in the second world war and immediate aftermath can be found in the index here

Index for posts about places near to Marlow (our focus) including the Finnamore area can be found here

General posts about Marlow history here

Post written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Sources include: 

The Journal of Education. November 1939, W. Stewart & Company  

On national Camps - Miscellaneous Publications. Ministry of information (1946). United Kingdom: HMSO

Sessional Papers. (1959). United Kingdom: H.M. Stationery Office.

Bucks Free Press  - 14th July 1939, 16th February & 4th October 1940, 19th Dec 1941,  27th Feb 1942, 28th May 1943, 19 April, 5 & 19 Jul 1946, 23rd Jul 1948, 16th Nov 1956, 4th Jan 1957,  6th June 1958 

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1939. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Burton Grave, Marlow Cemetery

This grave is subsiding heavily and this leaning to one side. Hence the wonky image! 

In loving memory Elizabeth Burton who passed away July 27th 1936 age 77. 

Also of: Mary Alice Burton, sister of the above. Died August 28th 1937 age 75. 

"Life's victory won, now cometh peace" 

 To look for information about any particular person on this blog use the A-Z Person Index on the top drop down menu. 

For other grave images see the index 

here

Index of posts about general Marlow history here

© MarlowAncestors 

Life in 1950s Marlow Part Two Employment and Homes

Employment 

Major employer Wethered Brewery off the High Street, celebrated a bicentenary in 1958 with two garden parties for employees. Other larger employers in the town were the local council, Poppets Beads and the building trade in general. 

Poppets beads were plastic costume jewelry items. The company moved into the former cinema in Spittal Square in 1953. The old projectionist's room was used as the manager's office and the old seating area for production. Many of those employed by the company actually worked from home, only visiting the factory to collect the beads which they then strung into necklaces and other pieces. Both men and women were involved in the bead making. The same company also made aircraft parts as a sideline! In 1955 this division moved into its own Chapel Street premises with only a tiny bit of work still taking place amongst the bead making in the old cinema. Soon the cinema was deemed too small also and Poppets left to take over a nearby disused lamp shade factory. The former cinema was eventually acquired by the local council who intended to demolish it and use the site for housing, though this did not end up happening.

On a smaller scale in terms of employment there was Sunnydene and Quarry laundries, the newer cinema in Station Road, Toy Works Limited a toys, games and sporting goods factory in Court Garden (established 1943), the Victoria Engineering Company in Victoria Road, the Greenwich Saw Mill, the Marlow Coach Building Works in Newtown Road (which mainly built caravans such as the Marlow Tudor), C.C.K Limited at 53 High Street which produced women's scarves etc, Dairymaid Ice Cream Supplies in Crown Lane (commercial supplier, run by S.A Hawken), Mines and Putnam high class furniture makers in Station Road, Arnold's factory in Marlow Bottom which made wooden needlework boxes and automatic bottle wash machines plus possibly furniture, the Westhorpe sand /gravel pits and the various local schools, shops, pubs, cafes / tearooms, hauliers, and farms.

Toy Works as mentioned above proudly stated that though a few parts had to be imported from France or Germany most of their products were made with local labour only. Many of their toys were traditional wooden ones like bagatelle boards. The packers were usually female.

C.C.K Limited had moved to Mill Road Marlow from London because of the Blitz and chose never to return to the city after the war ended. Their products were made of plain or printed silk, rayon and wool. As well as fashion scarves they manufactured practical aprons in plastic or woven materials. I haven't been able to find out if their products were actually stocked by any shop in Marlow itself or whether they were all sent elsewhere.

I am aware that a Louisa Dereford and George Dereford ran "Marlow Mosaics" in this era but whether this was their own artistic enterprise solely or whether it was a business that employed additional mosaic artists I am unable to say at this point.

Employment opportunities in the 1950s could still be much constrained by the gender of the job seeker. It worked both ways of course- no one would employ a male nanny or maid but women had especial difficulties. The local press routinely carried job adverts that specified the gender that the successful candidate would have to be, and for the majority males were what was being sought. Some roles you might not predict did go to women more than men however. The traditional assigning of poultry on farms to the care of women for instance is reflected in the desire expressed by the owners of Bencombe Farm at Marlow Bottom in an advert for a female employee to run the poultry and turkey deep litter system there.

It was not uncommon for it to be specified that a prospective female employee who directly engaged with the public would need to be good looking as well as professionally competent. For example when Mac Fisheries in Marlow High Street wanted a female shop assistant in 1955 their advert in the Bucks Advertiser said that she must have a "good appearance and attractive personality". They do however get marks for specifying that the delivery van driver that they also found wanted at the same time could be male or female. That would have been quite unusual.

Marlow's first female police officer, W.P.C Ellington, arrived in 1954 after she transferred from High Wycombe.

Female workers doing exactly the same job as men were paid less than them. It was reasoned men had families to support so needed more money however this reasoning was of course nonsensical as thanks to the recent war the number of households with a female breadwinner had probably never been higher. Pay rates for those doing the same job also varied by age in many industries. Younger workers on farms, in most shops or in certain Post Office roles for instance whether male of female were paid less than those of the same gender over 21 or over 32 depending on the job. 

Get the right position and you never knew where it might take you. The Reading Mercury of 16th August 1958 reported that  Angela Chalk of Marlow and another former stable girl at Pinches stables in Field House Farm had the previous year won jobs working in the stables of a wealthy countess in France.

Those seeking a new situation either locally or further afield could make use of the I.H.B employment agency at 92 High Street Marlow or the government labour exchange. Under the Notification of Vacancies Order 1952 employers in most categories had to recruit only through scheduled employment agencies or the labour exchange. This was intended to mean the government could prioritize filling jobs in critical industries ahead of any others. Understandably, it was not popular with those employers who were de-prioritized. They could advertise a position in the newspaper but applicants had to go through official channels to make any application and stood a chance of being refused permission to contact the advertiser if it was thought they could be of better use to an essential industry or service. Men over 64 and women over 59 could apply for jobs without restriction as presumably they were considered too "old" for the essential industries. The order was rescinded in 1956.

Though the farming industry was less of an employer than it had been previously, it was still an important part of the national economy. A Young Farmer's Club had been formed in Marlow by 1954. Farm hands worked from 7.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday and half days on Saturdays. Increasingly other workers were getting their Saturdays off and a couple of weeks of paid holidays a year too. This coupled with the low agricultural industry pay and the long daily hours involved meant the abandoning of land based jobs by country people. Between 1948 and 1954 the number of female farm workers in the Marlow District fell by three quarters and that of males by over half. Mechanisation could only make up for these losses to a certain degree.

General labour shortages generally meant employers had to think of other ways to attract staff. Fines and Putnam the furniture makers of Station Road advertised that their employees could enjoy music while they worked as well as a canteen. Those wanting domestic staff in Marlow often reassured prospective candidates that they would be included in fun outings as part of their job.

Homes

The 1950s was still a notable era for the building of social housing. The council put out tenders for the building of 14 new council houses at Westhorpe Road for instance in 1954. In 1959 the last 38 older houses remaining in Dean Street were ordered to be demolished as the long standing Marlow slum clearance schemes first stage finally drew to a close. Multiple homes in Queens Road were similarly declared unfit for human habitation and compulsorily purchased for future demolition at around the same time. By the end of the decade the council was the biggest landlord in the town. 

The former Carriers Arms in Wycombe Road (now demolished) was used by the council as a hostel for those who had nowhere else to go in the early and mid 1950s. They took over the premises from the Ministry Of Housing. It is possible that originally evacuees or refugees had been put in the building. There was a critical shortage of even this temporary type of accommodation. There were still families living in metal shacks early in the decade at Beechwoods and in converted wooden sheds at Marlow Bottom (as owners and as tenants). The Marlow Bottom situation incensed Wycombe Rural District Councillor Mrs McKelvie who lambasted her colleagues for dragging their feet on providing new homes, rental or to buy, for those living in such structures. The situation was more complicated than it seems. Planning restrictions from on high meant people who had bought land in the village and had put up a temporary home on it while they raised funds for a more substantial structure were prevented from completing their dream despite having sufficient money to do so. In other words it wasn't only poverty (though it certainly could be) that forced people into living in such structures. Home owners could be ready, willing and able to make their shack a comfortable home but were told such work would contravene new planning regulations curtailing fringe developments. In a hope of exceptions or a governmental change of heart people clung on in their shacks or tried to sneakily extend or improve them without being noticed.

For private buyers in Marlow two estate agencies come auctioneers were available in the shared premises of no 37 High Street, Simmons with Gray and co, at no 84 there was George Kendall estate agent, valuer and auctioneer and at no 3 auctioneer and estate agents Lawrence and Laird. New homes were being thrown up everywhere possible in the Marlow urban area during the 1950s once materials and labour shortages caused by the war had eased, including the Wycombe Road and Oak Tree Road area, at Highfields, Lock Road, Chiltern Road, Riverside Drive, Gypsy Lane and Spinfield Park. While shortages of materials did remain private homes could only be built with a (hard to come by) licence from the council, Under rules set down by the Ministry of Housing priority was to be given to social housing on all potential urban development land.  

Bungalows remained highly desirable homes. A small 4 room bungalow in Wethered Road with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room could be bought in 1954 for £1750. Most homes were in the £2,000 - £4,500 bracket however.

Not every home yet had electricity in the 50s. Some of the older pre-war council houses for instance received electric lights and sockets in 1957 but others remained without it. Certain Chapel Street homes would not install electricity until the 1970s. The Electrics Company (Marlow) Limited in Market Square despite its name sold many calor gas appliances. These were not only stoves but lighting apparatus, gas powered fridges and gas fueled irons too. Many people kept oil lamps in case of winter power failures. Where electricity was present it was not necessarily installed in every room of a house. In any case in the early 1950s winter electricity demand often outstripped supply and Marlow users could expect one, even two, scheduled days a week when their supply would be turned off. These were notified of in advance as colder days drew near. The southern Electricity Board had an office and showroom in the High Street.

Coal and coke for fires were supplied by amongst others G.E Stevens of West Street and George Deane and Co (who had taken over the business and name of old Marlow company W.T Porter). Deanes were also one of the town's removal companies so very useful to have around! Early in the decade coke and coal supplies were not sufficient for the town needs due to nationwide problems. This left families having to severely ration their use of hot water at times.

By no means all Marlow homes had a bathroom in the 1950s, or even an indoor loo. Indeed there were houses without bathrooms in Wycombe Road in the mid 1960s, and in South Place even later, in the 1970s.

Antique furnishings were clearly popular amongst 1950s Marlovians. Bishop Limited in West Street specialised in antique silver, Sheffield plate and fine porcelain and there were at least two further antique shops on the town. There was also Walker's Antiques in the High Street. Secondhand but not antique furniture was sold by Taplins in Oxford Road. Buying secondhand furniture was seen by many as preferable as pre-war items were regarded as better quality. 

New furniture, carpets and other home furnishings could be bought from Norman Heals at 44 High Street as did Alan Hunt's Market Square shop. Mr Hunt's wares could be bought by way of a hire purchase scheme with payments spread over a period of up to two years. He also sold bedding from his second premises in Spittal Street. Hines and Putnam of Station Road were high quality upholsterers early in the decade who proudly made and marketed the "Marlow Suite" of sofa and armchairs. They moved from Marlow later in the decade but seem to have continued to make the Marlow suite. 

Washing machines could be purchased from Platts radio and television shop but there was still laundry services in the town -Quarry Laundry offered a free sock darning service to their customers - and hand washing in tubs wasn't yet quite redundant. Older people thought it superior! 

Pretty much every little usual item for DIY or home maintenance could be bought from the packed Chalk's ironmongers in the High Street, which under different but related families had a long heritage in Marlow. See my post here for the history of this building.

Not every home had a telephone by any means in the 1950s but the public call box provision in the town was expanding. The hamlet of Munday Dean got its first box during the 1950s.

For sources for this series of posts see Part One.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

Wyatt Graves, All Saints, Great Marlow

Above, James Wyatt, d. July 3 1857 age (28?) years

"A kind and loving husband and father dear"

 Above, Mary, wife of George Wyatt d. 16th Jan 1816 age 48.

Above, Maria wife of Thomas Wyatt died 26 Feb 1827 age 57

ALSO OF 

Thomas Wyatt husband of the above. Sept 18 18(3?)9

Age 68. 

Will of Charles Lovejoy 1648

 CHARLES LOVEJOY SHOEMAKER OF GREAT MARLOW. 

Will both written and proved in 1648.

Says he weak and ill in body but of sound mind and in good and perfect memory.

Commends soul to God. Body to be returned to the earth from whence it came.

Loving wife Abigail gets his messuage with appurtenances in Marlow. At some convenient time she is to sell it and pay his debts from the resulting money. The rest of the sale money to go to wife Abigail and dear daughter Elizabeth for their maintenance and livelihood.

All other goods, chattels and household goods after debts and funeral expenses paid to wife Abigail who is named sole executor.

Will witnessed by William FF..r (Farmer?), Robert Young, Robert Bennett.

Transcribed and then summarised here by Charlotte Day from a copy of the original P.C.C will held at the National Archives, Kew.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this summary for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

Charlie Wonder

Before Marlow opened it's own railway station passengers for the town travelled as far as Bourne End or "Marlow Road Station" as it was known and then waited for a connecting horse-drawn omnibus. The driver of this unwieldy contraption was the much loved Charles Burns or "Charlie Wonder" as he was affectionately known as the Omnibus was called the Wonder. It dropped it's passengers three times a day outside the Crown Hotel in Market Square. The roads weren't brilliant and the omnibus rather old so the journey progressed at a pace best described as stately. A few grumpy travellers complained about that but most relished every minute as Charlie regaled them with his stories from a long career as a stagecoach and omnibus driver. Charlie you see was a precious relic of the days of stage coaches and he had seen it all. He clearly had the gift of the gab and as his omnibus passed you on the Marlow road you often heard his passengers roaring with laughter. He treated everyone the same, rich or poor.

At a time when formality in social interaction was the norm everyone nevertheless called him "Charles" or "Charlie". Not only did he get you home but while waiting at the station for the morning train he would help baffled travellers make sense of the railway timetables, which were continually changing and (I've seen them) not exactly user friendly. Grateful for such help, Lavinia Lovelace wrote to the Bucks Free Press in 1864 to praise him while another, Mary Carnegie, said he was not only "sagacious" but had a voice "so mellow and sweet". Mary was less impressed by the management at the Crown saying they failed to notify passengers of changes to their omnibus departure times. She believed this was probably a deliberate ploy to stop passengers from catching the train they didn't want to become a success. This wouldn't make a lot of sense as the train was the main way guests came up from London to the Crown and then from again.

The sweetly voiced, helpful and friendly Charlie was not a Marlow man by birth, but was baptised at Wraysbury, Buckinghamshire in 1811. On one census he indicates a birth in Birmingham (or whoever filled in the census form for that household that night believed him to have been born there) but generally he indicated Wraysbury. 

Charlie's first wife and the mother of his sons George and Owen was Anne (nee Tyler, possibly widow Powell when she married Charlie) as per their birth registrations. The family lived in Cookham. The occupation of Charlie in the 1841 census looks like "house keeper" which seems improbable unless he meant it in the sense of watchman or guardian but perhaps that might be "horse keeper"? Again that's not usual vocabulary. In 1847 Ann passed away.

Charlie first appears on the census in Marlow as a 39 year old widowed stagecoach man with two young sons in Strong Beer Acre, which was off the future Station Road. With the family was a widowed housekeeper Elizabeth Bearfoot or Barefoot. Within a few months Charlie and Elizabeth would marry. The stagecoach Charlie drove was most likely the Lovegrove and Co coach from Marlow to Maidenhead .

By the time of the next census in 1861  Bourne End Station as "Marlow Road" and Charlie had switched to become an omnibus driver as stagecoaches had been rendered obsolete. He lived then with Elizabeth at South Place. In 1871 they were entered on the census at Wycombe Road. 

In 1872 the omnibus overturned after a wheel detached. Charlie was thrown off as was the box passenger but nobody was seriously hurt. 

As well as people Charlie would carry parcels and packages and in one memorable instance a cargo of live swans (strapped on to the top of the omnibus). The swans were being relocated from Marlow where they were thought to be too numerous and a nuisance to anglers there to Bourne End.

The opening of the Marlow station meant that the end of the Bourne End to Marlow omnibus and Charlie's job driving it. The people of Marlow contributed to a fund to help him set himself up with a new living. The idea to buy him a new omnibus and horse which he could use to pick people up from Marlow Station and bring them and their luggage into the town centre (short distance though that was) was reckoned to be the best one. Contributions could be given to, amongst others, Mr Porter the Bourne End station master and Charles Carter the West Street architect and surveyor. Some £90 was collected which would have paid rent on an average house for several years to give you some idea of that sum's value at the time. It was decided to simply hand the cash to Charlie to do with what he will. He took out an ad in the Bucks Free Press to express his thanks to his friends for their kindness.

The owners of the Crown were already planning to run a coach from their hotel to the station so suggested Charlie should drive this, rather than set up another service. This meant that the money raised by Charlie's well-wishers could go directly to him. He welcomed the job but a journey time of less than 5 minutes didn't allow him much opportunity to spin his tales of yesteryear, and it was widely observed that the spark had gone out of him. Within a year he became seriously ill and had to be admitted to Reading Hospital. His faithful passengers again collected money for his aid but sadly on the 11th of June 1874 Charlie died aged of 62.  His estate was wound up by his son Owen who gave a correspondence address of 5 Park Villas, Wycombe Road, Marlow. This may in fact be his father's address as Owen was a live-in servant at Bisham Abbey across the river. He is later specifically described as a "valet de chambre". Now that's posh! His brother George became a steward and then a clerk in London. Elizabeth, the second Mrs Burns, seems to have died in 1880.

Written and research by Charlotte Day.

Much more about the history of stagecoaches in Marlow here and here

©Marlow Ancestors.

England and Wales census 1851, 1861 and 1871 transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte Day. Census information remains Crown copyright.

"England and Wales, Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2D3R-57B : 13 December 2014), Charles Burn, 1851; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1851, quarter 3, vol. 6, p. 407, Windsor, Berkshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.

https://www.rootspoint.com/record/1841-UK-Census/Chas-Burn-1811-Out-Of-County/f1697020-e502-4f2f-8e40-55b11793859a/

Bucks Free Press 21st May 1864, 25th April 1873 and 19th June 1874. Bucks Free Press Archives.