The Football Loving Vicar

 If you stand at the ropes of the Marlow F.C ground in the 1880s cheering on the team, you have to have your wits about you. If you don't look out you may be mowed down by an energetic gentleman running up and down the lines waving an umbrella about in enthusiastic manner. Don't be tempted to let out an expletive though, because the athletic gent is none other than the vicar of Great Marlow - the Rev Arthur Fearon. 

"Never was there such a football loving vicar" 

So said the Maidenhead Advertiser in 1888. 

Arthur arrived in Marlow in 1881 from Hungerford where he has been curate. At his induction the congregation of All Saints were exhorted to make enough contributions to cover the church expenses and to support their new vicar with "fidelity and zeal". Arthur was quickly showed his own zeal for the football club. He was soon elected one of their many vice presidents. This was almost a given given his position in the town, but the club were fortunate to have gained the support of someone genuinely enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the sport. Arthur was not always able to watch the entirety of a match but he was said to have noticed on a few occasions that his arrival coincided with a flurry of goals. So he did his best to act as a lucky charm and attend the stickier matches both home and away. 

He especially encouraged the young boys of the town to play the game. He was the head of the junior division of the Berk & Bucks FA, and later the senior division too. The former held a Jubilee football competition in Marlow in 1887 with Arthur also on the organising committee. 

He could also be found playing cricket for Marlow, e.g in the fun High Street vs West Street matches that were a favourite of our Victorian residents. Arthur played for the High Street team as the Vicarage was in the Causeway.

A ducking in the river 

Our vicar could also be frequently found on the river, helping to organise the regatta and acting in various roles as regards that. At the 1885 regatta he accidentally fell into the river from his punt. He was attempting to rescue a well lubricated man who'd jumped off the bridge during an event. The jumper was in danger as he was trying to swim amongst the boats and then disappeared under the water. The Rev reached too far forward in an attempt to fetch the man out but another managed to haul the victim up by his hair. 

Up the Matterhorn 

Arthur was also a keen climber with a passion for trips to the Swiss Alps (as was nearby Vicar F T Wethered of Hurley. Both were elected to the Alpine Clubs.) It was proudly reported that he had made the first descent of Mont Blanc of the season in 1884 accompanied by an unnamed Swiss guide. Reports of these expeditions made their way home to Marlow so his parishioners could track his progress. An ascent of the Matterhorn went well but Arthur reported that the descent took 8 hours and he was left with 3 inch icicles hanging from his hat which was tied on by a silk handkerchief. He praised the intelligence and skill of his Swiss guide which meant he arrived back at his accommodation "warm and happy". Later than year the equipment that Arthur used on those climbs was displayed at a fundraiser at the Marlow Institute (now Marlow Library). 

Parish duties 

Arthur was regarded as "in touch" with the working man as he was familiar with socialising with them to some degree at the football ground. This was not at all usual in those days. He was naturally in a fortunate position to enjoy lengthy foreign trips away from his duties but for the majority of his time he seems to have worked hard to look after the less well off. The winter of 1886 was a very harsh and cold one with lingering snows and frost putting many of the labourers entirely out of work at the very time their heating costs were at the highest. The Fearons organised a soup kitchen then to offer a heavily subsidised hot meal to the poor families. The church's heating bill was so high that year that after an appeal for extra donations did not raise enough, it was announced the church would only be heated for Sunday services. Those attending on weekdays would just have to shiver through. 

Arthur also acted as one of Marlow's guardians of the poor for the Wycombe Union until he chose not to seek re-election in 1889. 

Mrs Elizabeth Fearon started a parish sewing class which made articles to sell at events, in aid of their foreign missions. She was called a "model vicar's wife" which was high praise indeed. A frequent donor of cash and goods to the cottage hospital, and a regular visitor to their outpatients it is not surprising that the sick were said to have lost a good friend when she left town. 

Controversy? 

During his time at Marlow Arthur instigated a lot of repairs and improvements to the church. Some of it could not be avoided such as repairs to the north porch where the brickwork was "very unsound" and essential maintenance to the organ. Other work caused a few grumbles that it was generating unnecessary expense which was to be paid for by the congregation - such a new roof for the aisle and nave, and the removal of the high pews, both completed in 1889. Improvements had been ongoing at the parish church for a long time, and many people were simply fed up with it being altered - especially if they had to put their hands in their pockets to finance it. 

 Later that year it was rumoured that Arthur had resigned. The vicar may have been strategic. He said it was true that he was going to leave Marlow but only because he had been offered a new post at Blewbury in Berkshire. He had been in charge 9 years. Reporting on his farewell celebration, the Windsor & Eton Express said that "however opinions may differ about the course Mr Fearon felt it his duty to take, no one can honestly and truthfully charge him with shirking in any way the conscientious  and energetic performance of his duty regardless of the consequences". This suggests that Arthur's removal may have been strategic. Were they referring to the upset caused by the church improvement work in some quarters or something else? His replacement at Marlow the Rev H O Fearnley Whittingstall said in his opening sermon, after referring to the recent cosmetic alteration of the church, that it was now time to concentrate on spiritual matters. 

A subscription was raised to give  Arthur a parting gift of a silver tea pot and salver. Mrs Fearon received a gift from the Sunday school children of a diamond and moonstone studded gold bracelet. 

After they left, news of Arthur continued to feature in the local papers. In 1894 he transferred to Horton in Bucks. When he retired age 65 after 14 years there, the Fearons decided to return to Marlow in their retirement. They took up residence at Caldwell Lodge in Station Road. In 1916 the "lover of manly sport" died at his home. A few months later his widow left the town and she died in Sussex in 1920. She was however buried in Marlow. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day 

Further information: 

To find information about  Marlow's churches and chapels and various minister biographies see the index here

To find all mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z index in the top drop down menu. 

Sources:

Marlow Directory and Almanack 1907 & 1915

Kelly's Directory 1883 & 1911

Census returns from the transcript by Jane Pullinger with thanks. 

Reading Mercury 18th March & 17th June 1916. 

Bucks Free Press 19th July 1920

South Bucks Standard 14th January 1886, 13th June, 5th September & 7th November 1890, 25th November 1909

Maidenhead Advertiser 16th July, 13th August & 12th November 1884, 25th August 1886, 23rd March & 5th October 1887, 19th September 1888

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 23rd April, 9th & 30th July 1881, 12th July 1884

© MarlowAncestors 

Rev S R Wilkinson - The man for treats and trips

 If there was one man in Victorian Marlow who did more than any other to bring a little fun into the lives of it's youngsters, rich and poor, it must be the Rev Sheldon Robert Wilkinson. Rev Wilkinson was the proud possessor of the means to show to the public "dissolving views" by his oxy hydrogen limelight. Before moving pictures, this was the most exciting way to see images. He was able to project the pictures on to a large screen in front of the audience. It involved a flame of a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen being used to heat a block of lime. Operating it was therefore something you had to be careful with as there was the potential for explosions to occur. The slide shows were accompanied by a narration (usually read by someone else, Wilkinson needed to concentrate on the light) and sometimes music. It's hard for us to understand just how popular these shows were, but they were a staple of school treats, lectures, and fundraising efforts for decades in Marlow. 

Son of a surgeon and apothecary 

Sheldon Robert Wilkinson was born in 1844 to surgeon and apothecary (as he was initially styled) Joseph Sheldon Wilkinson who was based in Marlow High Street. Wilkinson senior was originally in partnership with fellow surgeon George Rawden Robson but they parted ways and the latter went bankrupt in 1865. Sheldon spent his early childhood in Marlow before moving away to  boarding school followed by Oxford university. When he was ordained, he had to wait for an appointment as a curate or assistant curate and there was not yet a vacancy at Marlow. It was said in a newspaper article on Sheldon's death that his return to Marlow dated from the death of his father in 1861 but while he may have done so for a while he was serving as a curate at Colnbrook in 1871. In this year his mother Abiah died in Brighton where she had retreated in the vain hope of improving her health.  A few months Sheldon begins to pop up regularly in Marlow records so I think the newspaper obituary previously mentioned may have muddled which parents death precipitated Sheldon's full time return to Marlow. He would serve as assistant curate, then curate at Marlow with stints assisting in neighbouring parishes too including Hambledon and Bisham. He was unusual for being a man of the cloth who was a native of the area he was spiritually serving. 

Fun and games for young and old 

I've mentioned that there was scarcely any celebration in Marlow where you could not find Sheldon wielding his magic lantern. If your ancestor went to the national schools or Sunday schools, they would have probably seen a lot of the man. He seems to have been fond of children as he was constantly organizing entertainments for them for the slimmest of reasons. The young lads who were part of the church choir were probably the most fortunate. While it was common for them to receive an annual treat even before Sheldon arrived back in town, he certainly upped the scale of the entertainments. For example in 1873 he hosted the boys at his own home for tea and supper, interspersed with cricket matches, a show of dissolving views and ending in a pyrotechnic display at which the boys were given squibs and crackers to throw about. The day ended with "bumpers of punch" and three cheers for Rev Wilkinson. Not perhaps something that would pass the health and safety requirements these days! And no this wasn't the only time Sheldon liked to treat the young people to some alcohol - he gave them champagne at the 1875 celebration. All of these treats and many others such as  magicians performance for Sunday school children, were paid for entirely out of his own funds. 

The older residents were treated to Sheldon's images at more serious minded lectures and talks, usually in the music room (now the Masonic centre) or the boys school room (church hall, Causeway). In 1875 for example he illustrated a lecture by T S Cocks on the habits of wild animals by showing images of those captive in Regents Park zoo. This was followed by coloured photos taken by celebrated Paris photographers Messrs Ferrier of European capital cities, then an illustrated whimsical story. This was all to raise funds for the church organ fund. On another occasion he supported Marlow's famous engineer Edwin Clark* by illustrating a lecture on bridges, and on another he provided the images for a 4 part course on botany for the Mutual Improvement Society.  

One place you would not find Sheldon providing entertainment were at any of the many non Church of England Sunday schools in town. He was not a supporter of non conformity but of course many of the events he participated were open to all. He was however friendly with Marlow's Roman Catholic priest Canon Bernard Smith***, to whom he was apparently related. 

Other entertainments paid for by Sheldon include seaside trips (also for the choir) and gifts of buns and oranges for poor children at Christmas. He was also an enthusiastic participant in the "Penny Readings" at Marlow & Bovingdon Green where for a penny you got to hear readings of famous books and poems, often with a song thrown in. Sheldon usually contributed Dickens excerpts. 

Sheldon the bee keeper 

When not showing off his dissolving views, Sheldon could be found in the garden of End House tending his bees. He was passionately interested in the subject as he believed that amongst other things it was a usual appendage to a working man's income - always supposing they could afford to get started if course. In 1879 he offered for sale a hive complete with bees for £3 15s. He was obviously successfully at beekeeping as one of his hives was reported to have produced 100lbs of honey in 1895. Unsurprising he walked away with first prize for honey at the Marlow Horticulture Society show that year. His main rival in the show tent was George Sawyer**, but it was a friendly one as he actually employed George as his gardener in 1897 and eventually as assistant bee keeper. George also kept an eye on other Marlow hives for their owners and actually made them too. 

A Farewell

Rev Sheldon died of flu in Marlow in 1900, one of a number of people to do so. He never married. He left a generous gift of £1000 to Marlow Cottage Hospital which was a very large amount at the time. His obituary of course mentioned his extensive collection of "stethoscopic views" . Only a month before his death he had demonstrated a new and expensive magic lantern to the children of Oxford Road infants school, as part of their Christmas party. His "genial and happy disposition" was also mentioned which seems fitting for a man who made so many others lives more fun..

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

*More about Edwin Clark and his family is available here

** George Sawyer was well known as a member of the Victorian Volunteer Marlow fire brigade. You can read about the brigade here

***A biography of Canon Bernard Smith is available on the blog here

Related information

To search for every mention if any individual on this blog, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

For an index of other posts relating to clergy and churches and chapels of Marlow see here

SOURCES:

Census 1851-1891 from the transcripts of Jane Pullinger, from censuses held at the National Archives.

Marlow Directory and Almanack 1891

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire  etc, Kelly's Directories Limited 1854 & 1883 editions.

Buckinghamshire Express 9th December 1871, via the BNA.

South Bucks Free Press 3rd October 1873. Via the Bucks Free Press Archives.

Bucks Herald 23rd Jan 1875 , 24th Jan 1878, via the BNA.

Reading Mercury 5th April 1879, 29th October 1881. British Library collection.

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 28th May 1883. British Library collection.

South Bucks Standard - October 9th 1891, August 9th 1895, February 17th & December 8th 1899,  February 1st 1901

Globe, London 1 Feb 1901.

© Marlow Ancestors

Marlow - Grouses And Grumbles

 This is a follow up post to Charlotte's earlier post containing more insults flung at historic Marlow here

You can't please all of the people all of the time....

The ale and beer

"Marlow ale has a local celebrity, though to a stranger who may not be exactly accustomed to it's flavour, it possesses a herby taste"  - Belgravia Magazine, Vol 14. Alfred Rimmer 1881

The Suspension Bridge

"Has deducted from the beauty of the landscape" - Belgravia Magazine, Vol 14, Alfred Rimmer 1881

All Saints Parish Church

 On the question on whether further money should be spent on improving the structure: 

"..It is a question whether it would not have been better to have accepted it's ugliness and employed the very large sums which must be expended before the work can be completed to other and more directly useful purposes." - 

The Royal River - The Thames from Source to Sea (Cassell 1885)

"The church is ugly without and bald within" - Dickens Dictionary of the Thames. (1889)

" The church, only about 30 years old, is atrociously ugly" - Temple Bar, a magazine for Town and Country Readers, vol 15 (Ward & Locke 1865)

"It's certainly does not reflect much credit upon the architect nor does it say much for the taste of those who accepted a design so bald, meagre and ugly in every respect" - Bucks Herald 18 September 1875

"Great Marlow comes into sight, the steeple of it's modern church looking far better in the distance than it does close to...the details are poor and weak and all too suggestive of the modern builder".  James John Hissey, A Drive Through England For A Thousand Miles. (Richard Bentley 1885)

"It is no doubt that the materials used in the church are distinctly ugly but the steeple goes some way to redeeming it, and if it can be seen silhouetted so that the materials are lost in dimness, and only the outlines are present, it becomes at once more than passable." Mortimer Menpas &  Geraldine Mitten, The Thames (A&C Black, 1906)

"..it is the kind of building for which one develops an inexplicable affection in spite of it's shortcomings.." - Eric De Mare in "Time On The Thames", Architectural Press, 1952.

The town as a whole

"In the town itself there is little of interest, the quaint old houses have nearly all given place to stark brick or vulgar stucco erections" - Dickens's Dictionary of the Thames (1889 edition)

"A negative sort of place" - Temple Bar magazine, 1865 as above. 

"Notoriously one of the most depraved towns in Bucks" - Daily News 1848. 

"An every day sort of second-rate agricultural town..the countrymen hereabout are not of very mirthful cast and their liveliness is of a very laborious character" James Thorne, Rambles by the River, Vol 2 1847.  (He was however impressed by the range of goods exhibited at the October fair, and the quality of the horses sold there, as well as the riverside scenery!)

Little Marlow

"A place possessing but few claims to notice" - Isaac Slater, Slater's Royal National and Commercial Directory 1852

Bisham

"A quiet place, not especially interesting." - Photo Journal, Vol 7. (1895) 

Bourne End 

"A bungalow town of little interest" - Eric De Mare in "Time On The Thames", Architectural Press, 1952.

Compiled by Kathryn Day and Charlotte Day

Related posts - more Marlow praise and slights here and here

©Marlow Ancestors

The Angry, Roaring, Hissing Mist of 1897

On June 24th 1897, Marlow was planning to continue their celebrations of Queen Victoria's Jubilee. They did not expect to be dodging falling trees or the scattered glass of blown in windows at All Saints. The storm unleashed on our town is chiefly remembered generally for the giant unseasonal hailstones, and locally for the damage done to the steeple of the church. But when reading contemporary eye witness accounts it's hard to disagree with those who consider the storm may in fact have been a minor cyclone.   

There have of course been many gales in Marlow history. In January 1840 for example, the roof of the stabling at Court Garden was damaged by a large ornamental elm tree torn up by it's roots and deposited on the building. It was one of several large trees in the park to suffer the same fate that day, and they were joined by a pair of old poplar trees at Remnantz. In the summer of 1846, Marlow featured in national newspapers after becoming one of several places to suffer a summer storm complete with hailstones "more akin to pebbles."

The 1897 storm hit Marlow at 6pm on a Thursday. The South Bucks Standard said it was one of the most violent on record. Torrential rain and deafening thunder thankfully saw those outside run for shelter before the worst hit. 

The Rev Whittingstall was in All Saints conducting a service. Those in attendance commented on the dark looking sky looming above as they entered. Heavy rain was followed by hail that rattled the windows so much that the poor Reverend could no longer make himself heard. He finally abandoned the service when one of the hailstones broke a window and sent glass showering down onto the book he was reading from. Although national reports say several windows were blown in, the local press say the stained glass ones at least escaped with minor damage only. The windows on the south side were peppered with small holes however. Quite a lot of rain did get in, and the congregation bunched together where they could stay driest. It is a miracle no one was hurt, as the stone pinnacles of the West and East corners of the steeple came crashing down, one falling through the tower, narrowly missing the spot just vacated by the Sexton. The other, falling inwards, came to rest precariously on the tower. Unsurprisingly the cross on top of the steeple was said to be "somewhat displaced". 

Those who saw the storm through a window described in as "an angry, roaring, hissing mist which whirled and swept along carrying all before it." All reports mention the deafening noise, and the fact the "devastation" wreaked was over a relatively narrow path. It is this which we probably have to thank for the fact no one was killed, although injuries to both persons and livestock occured. In Marlow, the storms path seems to have followed the River Thames for a while, more or less. This was obviously unfortunate for the riverside church, but also for those who had gathered on the cricket field off Pound Lane. It is said the field went from a pleasant grassy field to a "roaring field of water" within 2-3 minutes. It was worse on the river itself. The water was seen to rise several feet in height and the lock gates were blown open. A steamer was inside the lock at the time. Although those on board were severely shaken, it was considered incredible the vessel had not been destroyed rather than just badly damaged. Those at the cricket ground were delayed getting home as Pound Lane had been left a maze of branches that temporarily made the way impassable. 

An estimated 18 large elm trees were uprooted, at Court Garden and Remnantz again, amongst other places and there were numerous other smaller trees lost. Fruit crops were also affected. In the county of Essex, which was probably worst hit overall, entire fields of wheat, oats and barley were swept away and crops of vegetables reduced to a pulp. 

The local nature of the damage meant those celebrating the Jubilee with sports at Little Marlow were able to take shelter safely in a very large tent erected for the occasion of a linked communal dinner. They were able to continue their sports a little after, unaware of the damage experienced in Marlow just a few miles away, although the programme was reduced. One end of Glade Road saw the vegetation trashed, the other was unscathed. The allotment gardens around Marefield also escaped untouched. 

The steeple was already damaged prior to the whirlwind, as it was soon described. One of the other pinnacles were said to have already been lost, and the parapet was decayed. A London engineer and expert in  church spire restoration, Mr J S Morris, was called down to make a full assessment of the damage. He was accompanied to the top of the spire by churchwarden and enthusiastic mountaineer Francis O Wethered. Their verdict was not encouraging. An extensive fissure was seen at the top and the whole was considered to be in a very dangerous condition. It was immediately decided that the church bells could not be rung until significant repairs were made in case the vibrations created bought the whole lot down.  So a fund was started to make good the damage and also change the appearance of the steeple to make it more attractive. The progress of this fund was reported in adverts over the next few years, with the names of donors usually attached. There was also a collection box affixed to the church door for those who preferred anonymous donations. The restoration work was completed in the June of 1900. The steeple now had 8 pinnacles at the base. Many considered this a big improvement. So perhaps some good came of this storm.

Related Posts

Marlow floods of the past here

Skating and snowballs - winter in old Marlow here

Other posts about the parish church, the river, other jubilee celebrations and life in old Marlow in general can be found in an index here

 Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

Sources include:

 South Bucks Standard 2 July 1897, 06 January 1899, 24 June 1900 - British Library Archive, accessed via the BNA. 

Information on the hail stones provided by Jane Pullinger with thanks, and on the damage to trees of Remnantz by Alan Day. 

Meteorological Record 1897 -  (The Meteological Office 1897)

©Marlow Ancestors

The Switzerland Of England - Spring Celebrations

In May 1849 the Crown (Crown Hotel / Upper Crown) in Marlow hosted a special Easter Ball. It wasn't the first but was one of the last held for that occasion. The room was decorated with a profusion of flowers, and the ladies attending also wore seasonal blooms. An appreciation of the natural beauty of the spring season is a recurring theme. 

The Switzerland of England

The blooming of the wild primroses was enthusiastically welcomed. The Winchbottom Lane area was one abundant in these pretty flowers and some families made it an annual springtime tradition to picnic there to enjoy them. In town, Holy Trinity Church yard was famously carpeted with flowers. 

The most popular outing was however to the sumptuous cherry orchards of Cookham Dean, which the South Bucks Standard thought was "rightly described as the Switzerland of England in all it's spring tide glory". (1906) It's hard for us to visualise the number of trees, and how resplendent the blossom would have been. But people travelled from all around the region to visit the trees, even coming from London to do so. 

Easter finery

Easter saw the churches decorated, traditionally with predominantly white flowers such as arum lillies. The gardeners at the "big houses" prided themselves in producing a selection of forced flowers for the ladies of the congregation to work their wonders with. Wildflowers were also gathered. At All Saints the font, screen, alter and pulpit were smothered in greenery, and Holy Trinity and St Peters had their own floral displays. The latter was also the scene of Canon Bernard Smith's annual famous donkey ride into the church interior - you can read more about this, and Bernard in a dedicated post here

Easter was also the time of the vestry meeting to choose new churchwardens. And Saturday of Easter week was the deadline for hopeful candidates for entry into the Blue Coat School (Borlase) to have got a "ticket" of application signed by the treasurer and committee members - boys only at this time.

The Primitive Methodist Chapel (now Liston Hall) usually had a Good Friday public tea in the Sunday school room followed by an entertainment with singing and music. The chapel choir provided the former and the chapel's piano and famous harmonium the latter. In 1900 the celebrations included a parade lead by the chapel band. All the proceeds went to the chapel building fund, a very long standing debt the Primitive Methodists suffered under. 

The Salvation Army had outdoor services, and marches including a "monster" (contemporary description) Easter parade in 1895. Other sounds of Easter came courtesy of the Marlow Town band who are mentioned as performing across town at Easter 1884 and the "usual" Easter morning peal of bells from All Saints. 

You could buy hot cross buns from the towns bakers such as West Streets Death and Sons who thought they had the very best in town. Deaths sounds a tasty place to visit in any season with mince pies another speciality. 

Football fun

The Easter Bank Holiday Monday was a traditional time for a football match, with Marlow playing at Crown Meadow, and the more minor teams  fitting in where they could (such as a meadow by the station and Gossmore). In 1896, Marlow saw the final of the Berks and Bucks Cup between Maidenhead and Wolverton on Easter Monday. The roads into town were said to be bustling with supporters making their way into town by horse, bicycle and on foot. Just under 3,500 fans were in attendance, and the club were delighted to collect more than £100 in gate money. 

A match of a different kind was played at Crown Meadow at Easter 1897 before a crowd of 500. A High Street v Rest of Marlow football match with all players playing in fancy dress. At least 3 of the men were dressed as ladies!* Not quite the image we sometimes have of staid Victorians! F W Burton captained the High Street and Geoffrey Hide the rest of Marlow.  The High Street lost 5-3. Costumes included cowboys, butchers, crusaders, and a Turkish soldier.  Funds raised were for the cottage hospital. 

Outside of football supporters, Easter saw a huge influx of visitors, especially by train. In good weather the numbers were reported to be sometimes large enough to cause lengthy delays on the railway because of the extra time taken to get everyone on and off the trains. Great Western Railway offered special cheap third class excursion tickets to Marlow from Paddington over Easter, with services running on Easter Sunday as well. In May 1890, all the hotels, inns and lodging houses in Marlow were said to be full, leading to many people heading back to Bourne End to try and find a room there. The main hotels and inns decorated themselves with flags and bunting to add to the holiday atmosphere - the Fishermen's Retreat, Compleat Angler, Crown Hotel, Greyhound, Two Brewers and the George and Dragon were all mentioned as joining in in 1884. 

May Day Celebrations

We immediately think of May poles when we think of May Day. But the "old tradition" of carrying flower garlands about town seems more long lasting in Marlow. This was the spring equivalent of "penny for the guy" of Guy Fawkes day. By the Victorian era, these garlands were made by children and then paraded around the streets in the hope the charmed adults would recognise the children's efforts with a treat or coin or two. In 1886, the May Garland tradition was mentioned as a lingering tradition in Marlow that had faded more rapidly elsewhere. But the traditional pagan figure of Jack In The Green had not put in an appearance for several years. Canny children knew that visiting Highfields, off Henley Rd, home to Mr Borgnis was essential. He was an enthusiastic supporters of the tradition and it was said no child ever went away empty handed from his property. He certainly had an open purse because several hundred children were said to make a stop at his home. Mr Borgnis chose May Day as the date of his annual "levee" or entertainment for friends, and no doubt the arrival of the flower carrying children provided a pleasant addition to the day. 

The most startling mention of a May Pole is from 1842, when 3 May poles were erected, but not for use by dancers. Instead a figure representing an unnamed person was hung from each then set alight.  (It was believed to represent a politician and/or those responsible for encouraging a prosecution against brewer and ropemaker Richard Gibbons for wilfully giving false evidence to a parlimentary committee investigating electoral fraud in the 1842 election. He was arrested by the Sergeant at Arms and sent to Newgate prison. He was later sent home with a severe reprimand from the Speaker for his "disgraceful conduct". Richard said he had become confused about being asked about both the Povey and Pusey votes and had not deliberately mislead anyone. The town as a whole seems to have believed him. A petition for his release was made by numerous inhabitants stressing his integrity and industry. His nephew Charles Gibbons vote was also contested on suspicion of bribery, but was held to be good in the end. He had voted for Clayton. The result of the Electoral Committee was Clayton's victory was over turned and his seat was given to previous runner up Renn Hampden)

The old May Fair, a partner to the longer lasting October Marlow Fair, had ceased by the Victorian era and the "rustic sports" at Bovingdon Green had lapsed by the end of the 19th century. Another lost tradition was a greasy pole climbling competition in the High Street. 

Spring tonic

If the sight of blossom and flowers was not enough, High Street chemist William Baxter could offer flagging spirits his "health giving saline"  spring tonic. It was aimed at children too, and cost 1/6 a bottle in 1897. 

The changing of the seasons also prompted certain shops to promote their new stock or to suggest you could refresh your wardrobe with the latest Paris or London fashions, if you were lucky enough to be able to afford to do so. James Morgan advertised that Spring 1897 would see every department of his drapers  stocked "replete with the latest novelties". Sounds delightful! 

* The "ladies" were F Langley, F Langley junior (in a bathing costume!) and P Chapman (the last dressed as a lady of fashion with a yellow dress and hat trimmed with an abundance of flowers)

Written by Kathryn Day. 

Related posts:

More about the Povey vote scandal here

Victorian Christmas in Marlow part 1 here and part 2 here

New Year traditions here

Bonfire night in Victorian Marlow here

A listing of other posts about every day life in old Marlow  here

SOURCES

Carlisle, Nicholas, Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales, Volume 1 (Baldwin, Craddock and Joy 1818) Reading Mercury, 10 May 1849, 31 May 1890 From the British Library, access via the BNA. South Bucks Standard 19 April 1895, 16 April 1897, 20 April 1900, 20 April 1902, 20 April 1906, as above Windsor and Eton Express 7 May 1842, as above Bucks Herald 11 April 1896, 08 May 1886,19 Apr 1884.

©Marlow Ancestors

 

Ringing In The New Year, Old Marlow Style

   

I've covered Christmas celebrations in Victorian Marlow. But I realised the town had many New Year traditions too, so this post is dedicated to them. 

In the late Victorian period a New Years Eve ball was a regular feature. The Crown Hotel/Upper Crown had hosted a Christmas ball for many years. The New Year one was usually arranged for others but still hosted by the Crown. For example in 1897, it was a ball for those attending the town hall dance classes. While it was a chance for the adult pupils to dazzle their friends and family with their new skills, anyone could apply for a ticket to attend. Did they stop to mark the transition from one year to the next? Original sources don't tell us! But the balls tended to start at 9 or 10pm and continued until dawn so those attending certainly were awake at the stroke of midnight. Marlow Football Club was another of many organisations that saw their annual ball hosted at the Crown in January. 100 people attended this in 1899. 

Thames Bank house hosted a servants ball for their staff,  friends and neighbours on New Year's Eve 1875. More than 100 guests were present. The evening was organised by housekeeper Mrs Taylor and butler Mr Wilson but everyone in the household was said to have contributed to the "very pretty" decoration efforts. After 2 hours of energetic dancing to the accompaniment of a quadrille band, the dining room was opened up for supper.  The company were said to be "deeply gratified at the richness, variety and profusion with which the tables were temptingly set out". After this rest, it was back to dancing until the early hours! 

Then there was many concerts advertised for the new year although not all took place on December 31st or January 1st. The Primitive Methodist Chapel (now known as Liston Hall) traditionally enjoyed a concert, usually performed by their enthusiastic choir (40 strong) and almost always followed by a public tea in the Sunday school room. The purpose of this was to fundraise for the never quite satisfied building debt fund. If anyone was an enthusiastic giver of teas, it was the Marlow Primitive Methodists. The Prince Of Wales offered frequent concerts for New Years Eve, such as a special smoking concert and supper in 1902. Unfortunately their licence required them to close at 11pm, so they sang Auld Langs Syne just before,  followed by God Save The King of course. 

One of the most touching traditions was the large dinner provided by John Langley at the Verney Arms in Dean Street. Those invited were all men aged over 50 from the Dean Street area, which was one of the poorest neighbourhoods in town. Langley really did invite everyone, with 70-100 men in attendance. This dinner ran for many years in the late Victorian and Edwardian era. "The dinner is looked upon as a sort of reunion and looked forward to by those that take part." The men sat down at 8pm to roast beef, mutton, steak and kidney and veal and ham pies, "xmas" pudding, mince pies, cheese and celery. (1908 menu) It may have occured after Christmas but the festive fare must have been welcomed. 

"Watch Nights" were popular on New Year's Eve in the chapels in town. These were late night religious services and prayer meetings. Although many had a very long heritage in one form or another, they were increasingly suggested as a more responsible and moral alternative to the alcohol based or secular celebrations.  The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists held a joint watch night in 1902, to pray "the old year out and the new one in." The Salvation Army's watch night was sold as a musical evening, with prayers. 

One thing that probably strikes us the most when looking at advertising material from Marlow retailers is how often New Year gifts and New Year greeting cards are specifically advertised in addition to Christmas offerings. Obviously those who could scarcely afford to celebrate Christmas were not going to celebrate in any way again a week later. But so many shops took the trouble to promote their New Year offerings in the late Victorian and Edwardian period that it must have been more common to exchange cards at the time. The gifts tend to be small, with one advert suggesting they were sort of little token gift you might bring when visiting friends or family you didn't have chance to see at Christmas time itself. "This is the month for new year's gifts - you are just in time for the small present you meant to give at Christmas." (Rowe the jewellers, High Street 1908).  The stationers Smith & Co advertised that they had a "large selection of New Year presents to choose from" in 1897, not to mention calenders and diaries of course. Other shops you could browse New Year cards include Charles Page Drye's Marlow Printing Works and W H Smith (stationer not the draper of same name). Smith's also sold every novelty in calenders according to their 1899 boast. Sadly it doesn't seem any have survived so we can't see just what counted as a novel calendar design! The Printing Works was also the place to go in January for your copy of the Marlow Almanac and Directory. This carried useful information such as details of church services and court sittings, and the name, address and occupations of all those involved in trade. A handy way to get the low down on all your neighbours. 

January sales are also nothing new. W H Smith advertised their "traditional annual sale" in January 1905 with bargains in every department. It would continue for most of January. If there was something more common than a January sale, it was one that was extended due to popular demand. 

The last tradition to mention is the bellringers new year eve supper, usually hosted by the Two Brewers. Members of the Bellfry (bellringers) met for the meal which sounds at times to be rather well lubricated. They sang songs and sometimes rang hand bells as well. The ringers would then make their way to All Saints to ring out the old year and ring in the new one. Usually they rang a peal just before midnight and then rang another just after. On other occasions they rang 12 strokes at midnight itself. How many must have waited to hear the sounds of the bells

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

© MarlowAncestors

Related Posts 

Victorian Christmas in Marlow part 1 here and 2 here, Edwardian Christmas here

Skating on the Thames etc here

Bonfire night in Victorian Marlow here

A listing of other posts about every day life in old Marlow  here

Easter and May day here

Sources include:

South Bucks Standard 3 & 31 December 1897, 6 January & 22 December 1899, 3 January 1902, 6 January 1905, British Library Archive. 

Bucks Herald 9 January 1875, 3 January 1908. As above. 

Notes from Elsie Coster. 

©Marlow Ancestors 

 

A Victorian Christmas In Marlow Part One

  

The celebration of Christmas in Victorian Marlow was obviously very different for individual families, depending on their income and how much leisure they could enjoy. Every lavish feast on a well provided for family table existed because a servant or more had spent time on Christmas day working to prepare it. But it was also a time when the better off made particular effort to cheer the homes of their less well off neighbours.

Hot beef and plum pudding

One of the earliest Victorian traditions was for the children of the National Schools to be given a hot beef dinner, complete with plum pudding, on Christmas Day itself. This was paid for by Colonel William Clayton of Harleyford, and James Simpson of Spinfield. The earliest reference I can find for this is in 1833, when it's described as something that happened "as usual." It should be remembered that for much of the Victorian era most people looked forward to a beef dinner at Christmas rather than turkey or goose as is often imagined. Even when these became more common roast beef was usually on the table alongside them. In fact roast beef and plum pudding was the go to celebration meal in Victorian England for ANY occasion at ANY time of the year. Only when topped with holly did the year round party dessert plum pudding become "Christmas" pudding specifically. 

Clayton also made an annual gift of clothing to the poor at Christmas - in 1839 400 individuals received something. Christmas was also the traditional time for distributing annual gifts provided for by various old bequests and charities, not all of them specifically associated with Christmas, but it provided a convenient and easily remembered time for an annual share out. And how well appreciated the gifts must have been in winter in particular with heating costs high and fewer opportunities for casual outdoor employment to supplement the income. Beef and clothing were both popular choices, given for example by the Wethereds of Remnantz for many years, in addition to the bequests by their ancestors. In 1887, 627 poor people received a gift of shoes or clothing from the church wardens acting for the charities they were then in charge of. Marlow had many many families in need of this aid. 

The town centre shops loaded their premises with extra supplies of tempting goods for those with spare cash to hand. Thomas Fullicks, said his currants and raisins were so superior in 1843 that there "were never such Christmas puddings in Marlow as there will be this year." Just under 50 years later Mr Clifton of the High Street (later Grays, on corner with what would become Institute Rd) had decorated his windows with all the "necessaries that go towards making the most toothsome plum pudding."  In 1899 the grocers were "loading their stores with the finest and best of everything for the production of plum puddings, mince pies and almost every dainty for the Christmas dinner table." Hungry yet?  Deaths the West Street bakers were offering a new trend in 1897 - Christmas cakes in all sizes "sugared and ornamented with Christmas mottoes". 

One tradition which has long gone is for grocers, butchers, fruiterers and the like to hold "Christmas Shows." By convention, many were held on the same day by shops of the same type, but not exclusively so, especially later on. This was a day in the week before Christmas when the shopkeeper would put on display their finest produce, hoping to secure the festive trade of as many households as possible. In general the customers were placing their orders to be delivered later. They went to great lengths to decorate their premises and windows for the occasion, and their "Christmas Show day" were advertised in advance. Many of the carcass covered butchers and poulterers that appear in prints were decorated for this occasion, with the images used in advertising thereafter. Some shows lasted a day, others a couple, Death the bakers often went to 3. A while before the butchers had their show, a Christmas fat stock show would take place. This was ostensibly a livestock show, with all the animals entered being offered for sale at the end. The butchers would then compete to secure the prize winning animals, and they would advertise they had bought the best in class exclusively for their customers. The extent that these shop shows were regarded as a big occasion is easy to underestimate. The newspapers sent reporters there and Marlow shops could report hundreds of visitors in one day aside from the everyday shoppers. For example the two day shows of Mr Westbrook and Mr Creswell in Chapel Street, chiefly of beef and mutton, received several hundred visitors each in 1843. Rachel Hall of West Street also exhibited her butchers stock on the Wednesday.  The animal carcasses were described as decorated with holly, ivy and mistletoe in 1897, with other shops making use of streamers and rosettes. In 1874 the journalist reported that "The grocers and confectioners show windows have been more than usually radiant with the good things of Christmas Tide." 

Christmas Balls and Suppers

For the well off, a Christmas ball could be enjoyed, at either the Upper or Lower Crown inns before the Victorian period, moving to the assembly room at the town hall when that opened. The Crown Hotel (Upper Crown) used the latter in connection with their hotel so they were the hosts there. In 1879 hotel proprietor Susan West decorated the ball room to look like a fairy palace. The guests (around 100 of them) arrived at 10pm and only finished dancing to the Burnham Quadrille band just before dawn. With supper also served during the evening, Susan and her staff must have been more than ready for some sleep the next day. 

A tradesman's festive ball is also recorded early on, resurrected briefly in the 1840's and attended by non Marlow tradesman too. In 1844, the tradesman ball was held at the (Upper) Crown and it was noted that "such a ball has not been known for some years." It was actually held in January, given that the tradesman had little rest during the Christmas period itself. Seasonal entertainments of a different kind were the regular festive concerts in the "large room" of the Verney Arms, Dean Street. In 1870, the Verney had attracted a group of vocalists from the Cambridge Music Hall in London no less, who performed to a full house. 

The week or so before Christmas was also the time for the pubs to host their grand share out of the Slate Club funds. These were sort of friendly society where members paid in a fixed weekly amount in exchange for accessing payments from the shared funds in the event of sickness or unemployment. In 1900, 6d was the usual weekly sum. Any funds left over at the end of the year were divided between members who had paid in regularly, and the event was usually marked with a special dinner. A simple but effective savings bank. Most of the pubs hosted one at one time or another, with those at the Clayton Arms, Prince Of Wales (with 70 members in 1900) and the Verney Arms among the most established. Because they were strongly linked to pubs, some of the chapels also started Slate Clubs more suitable for alcohol abstainers. Without the slate clubs it was acknowledged that many a Marlow workman's home would "perhaps otherwise be more or less cold or desperate" at Christmas. 

And of course many larger employers also organised special dinners or suppers such as the Brewery "Christmas Box Feast" at the George and Dragon, and at the Greyhound prior to that. 

The sounds of Christmas

If we think of a Victorian Christmas we quickly think of carol singers. The church choir of All Saints did indeed make a trip around the streets, sometimes accompanied by members of the congregation, and usually on Christmas Eve. Given that they hoped to gather donations, it's no surprise they were usually described as calling at the principle houses and streets in the town. In 1872, Rev George Cree set out with 20 singers from the Church at 9.30pm and arrived back at 1am on Christmas Day, having stopped at Remnantz, the Rookery in Chapel Street, Thames Bank, The Glade (now Cedar House, Glade Road) and Highfields (demolished, off Henley Road.) The singers were traditionally offered refreshments hence the length of the tour. And yes they carried lanterns - they would have needed them especially when heading out of town to Highfield. If you did not live in one of the "principal streets" then the Salvation Army band was likely to provide your doorstep entertainment, in the 1880's onwards. They also performed in the town centre, cheering up the shop workers still working hard on Christmas Eve. And you may well have found them about on Boxing Day too, hoping to catch people in the glow of festive feeling who might drop a coin or two in the collection boxes worn around the neck. Special collections for the poor were made at the Christmas Day services at Holy Trinity and All Saints church too. Marlow's various other bands could also be found performing in the Market Square, or as the Bucks Herald put in in 1882, they made themselves "harmoniously audible."  Given that the Lane End band also made a traditional Boxing Day visit, Marlow must have sounded very lively. Hopefully they all did not perform exactly at the same time as one another! 

The other sounds closely linked to Christmas in Marlow was the traditional "ringing in" of Christmas morning, in the form of a peel of bells performed by the bell ringers of All Saints at midnight Christmas Eve going into Christmas Day. 

More Christmas Shopping

Victorian shop keepers were good at commercialising Christmas in their own way. Shops that did not normally offer toys or novelties  stocked up on them at Christmas. Marlow had it's toy shops but surprisingly perhaps the other main place to buy toys were the drapers, with every one advertising some kind or another at Christmas, such as dolls at Morgans, and clockwork novelties at Hides. The other places to expand their gift  offerings and introduce toys for the season were the printers and stationers. They were also the place to go for your Christmas cards. And yes, they began advertising them long before December! Smith & Co (High Street) offered to show customers a sample book of 345 varied and artistic designs for Christmas and New Year cards, starting at 3s 6d for 25. (1899 price) In 1900 the same shop claimed to have 10,000 Christmas cards in stock, with envelopes provided free of charge. Elsewhere in the High Street Mr Toovey offered cards "at once elegant and cheap." Look where we will "our shops are ablaze with all sorts of novelties to tempt the giver of good things" as the South Bucks Standard put it. 

And if you wanted to buy a festive outfit, Sutton's Emporium in West Street offered the "cheapest,  best and most fashionable clothing for Christmas." 

School treats

In addition to any meals provided for the youngsters attending the schools, little gifts were also often given out. The children of the Parish Church  Sunday Schools were fortunate enough to enjoy a second treat from supporters of the church.  For example, the Oxford Lane infants Sunday school nearly always had a Christmas tree, bedecked with presents provided by sponsors. "Prettily dressed dolls" , mouth organs, spinning tops, and horns were some of the delights presented to the excited children in the late Victorian and early Edwardian period. They almost always got to take home an orange and iced bun too. The children attending the Catholic convent schools had their own treats and celebrations. A magic lantern show in the adjacent Music room (public hall) was a perennial favourite. 

Part two  here deals with Christmas Day itself, more food, the Marlow Common gatherings and Boxing Day. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related posts:

Victorian Christmas in Marlow part 2

 here

Edwardian Christmas in Marlow here

New Year traditions here

Skating on the Thames etc here

Bonfire night in Victorian Marlow here

A listing of other posts about every day life in old Marlow  here

Easter and May day here

 Go to the Specific Shops, Streets etc section  to find out more about historic Marlow shops and what you could buy in them. 

©Marlow Ancestors 

A Pile Of Deformity!!

The proud Marlovian probably doesn't want to continue reading...

Below is a rundown of comments made by those who found Great Marlow a bit less than to their liking.

The Town As A Whole

London Daily News opinion piece 1848 = "One of the most depraved towns in Bucks". It was apparently badly paved, badly drained, on the road to nowhere, those involved in the trade of skewer making* pretty much all criminals, one of the most politically corrupt places around etc. [That last bit was alas 100 per cent truth]. The list of insults goes on a while longer. I've summarized.

Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette 1859 - "It is seldom any change occurs in the dull monotony of Marlow life, it being one unvaried round of work, live, eat, drink, sleep and die".

South Bucks Standard 1860 = says more lectures and adult education classes needed in Marlow to "uplift the minds of the people above the grovelling habits of yore for which they were famous".

"Fanshaw" a visitor from London whose letter was published in the Bucks Free Press 16th June 1866 declared the town's populace to be lethargic and that = "Marlow is polluted with a press-gang of rate makers and collectors the latter continually at the poor man's door regardless of the cries of his hungry children".

Edward James Mortimer Collins 1869 = "rather commonplace and not particularly lively".

Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 1889 = "A Disappointment".

Photography (a journal) 1895= liked the bridge but "There is little of interest in the town itself".

Fishing And Fish Culture Journal 1886 = "In the town there is nothing particularly worthy of note". The fishing was however good and the air healthy, it said.

The Field, August 5th 1916= "A large and somewhat untidy village which luckily is almost hidden [when viewed from] the river".

The Church

The present All Saints church was erected in the 1830s at the cost of the far older church there before it. The claim that that old church was too far decayed and so must be replaced was doubted by many Marlovians at the time and the fact that the builders actually found the old structure hard to knock down suggests that it was not quite that decrepit. The flooding problems that the new church was supposed to avoid persisted after it was built for at least some time. The faux Gothic style of the church was seen as embarrassingly vulgar by more than a few residents. The decades-lasting local tax levied on all households regardless of whether the church was their own place of worship or not in order to pay for the construction of the new church was bitterly resented by many and caused some of the biggest fallings out in Marlow history. So our Marlow ancestors or at least some of them would maybe not have been quite so hurt by the following comments made by visitors about the church, and might instead have been nodding in agreement:

Bucks Gazette 1835 = "An extravagant pile of deformity". So bad it could not even be classed as any form of architecture, apparently.

South Bucks Free Press 1862 said despite large amounts of money spent on the church= "We have not the satisfaction of looking upon it as one of the grand architectural achievements of the age". In a different edition they said that the church was "very widely condemned as being one of the most barren, naked and worst conceptions of church architecture that could have been offered". It went on to describe the pulling down of the old church as a lamentable and costly blunder. A little later in 1875 the paper called the church design "bald, meagre and ugly in every respect". 

"Fanshaw" a holidaymaker from London who wrote to the Bucks Free Press about his impressions of the town in June 1866 called the church = "an unsightly brick building the chancel end of which forms an ugly Dutch gable".

Book The Royal River: The Thames From Source To Sea, 1885 = said that the old church "could hardly have been as ugly as the present building". It suggested viewing the ugly newer one from a safe distance only. Note this was after substantial beautification work which has been done to the church!

Handbook for Travelers In Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 1882=  "An ugly modern structure".

Charles George Harper in Thames Valley Villages, 1910. "A very clumsy take on a Gothic structure.. A fine old Norman structure was destroyed to make way for this.."

Compiled by Charlotte Day.

*To find out more about skewer making in Marlow see our post here.

More posts related to the churches of Marlow and their people see the Church Related option on the menu. For other general posts about everyday life in old Marlow, see the index here

More Marlow quotes and complaints here

Sources:

Article "A Stream of Pleasure" by Joseph and Elizabeth Robins Fennell. 1889. Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine. Volume 38. Via Google Books. Accessed March 2021.

The Daily News 30th November 1848, copy held British Library Archive. Accessed by me March 2021 via the BNA.

Photography [journal], Volume 7 page 399. Digitized by Google. Accessed March 2021.

The Royal River: The Thames From Source To Sea, 1885 by Cassell.

Handbook For Travelers In Berkshire Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire published by John Murray 1882.

South Bucks Free Press March 22nd 1862. Newspaper copy at British Library archives accessed via the BNA March 2021 and September 17th 1875 via the Bucks Free Press Archives.

South Bucks Standard January 21st 1860. As above.

The Ivory Gate Volume One by Edward James Mortimer Collins. Published by Hurst and Blackett. Held at Oxford University Library. Digitized by Google.

Article - The Anglers Map of the Thames by F C Parker, in Fishing, Fish Culture and The Aquarium Journal May 1886, digitized by Google and accessed April 2021. 

Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette, 01 January 1859, as above

Written by Charlotte Day. Researched by Charlotte Day and Kathryn Day.

©Marlow Ancestors. If using this research credit this blog and link here to make sure our sources remain credited for information provided. Thanks!

World War Two In Marlow Part One 1939

Part One- preparing for war and the first few weeks:

October 1938. Workers were constructing first aid stations and an air raid shelter in the cellars of the Council Offices at Court Garden (*1)

1939 A German Jew, a servant at the house called The Heights on the edge of Marlow (Sentry Hill, Red Pits) fined £1 because as an "alien" she had made a journey of more than 5 miles from her registered address. As a German, she had to register. Her journey had been to London to see her fiancee. More on links to the war for Sentry Hill in future. I will add her name when I find it.

April 1939- Marlow Place, Station Road up to let and advertised as suitable for turning into offices for staff fleeing air raids elsewhere. The war was yet to be declared but the government had implemented protocols in 1937 requiring bodies such as local authorities to make contingency plans for a scenario that Britain was attacked by air and they had to move premises.

May 1939 - 

The Marlow company of the Territorials give a display and demonstration in Higginson Park. Visitors can see a Whippet tank, Bren gun and trench mortar. They also witness a display of how infantry can advance under the cover of a smoke screen. Large crowds attend. 

- Council give approval for plans to spend £70 on an electrical 4.h.p siren to warn of "emergencies". It will be erected on the roof of the police station in Trinity Rd. The first test of it later this month is success. It's confirmed it can be heard loud and clear throughout the town and for several miles around!

- an Emergency Committee is formed to make decisions at short notice in the event of any "emergency declarations" being made. It consists of the chairman of the ARP committee (Capt. D S Warren), council chairman (Brigadier M L Wilkinson) and councillor V G Kibblewhite (chair of the Finance Committee.)

June 1939 -  Bucks Herald reports that Marlow had 7 "report staff" as part of their air raid precautions. (2*)

July 1939- Marlow A.R.P Commitee decided to buy a sandbag filler at a cost of 6 guineas. The council agrees to let them the large room above the stables at Court Garden for the storage of equipment such as sandbags, and emergency beds and bedding. 

September 1939- War declared. All Saints evening church services brought forward because they hadn't worked out how to black out the large windows yet.

Above, registration form of Mrs Rolston of Mill Rd for coal supplies, under the Fuel and Lighting Order 1939

First evacuees already in town. A lady who later in the war was evacuated to Marlow from inner London as a small child with her mother and siblings told me how her family adored the clean air and pretty countryside here but were served last no matter where they were in the queue by a couple of different Marlow butchers. She also said evacuee families were routinely given the poorest quality cuts and pieces of meat by these butchers with better pieces put aside and said to be "not available" to them even when they obviously were available. Her mother never recovered from the pain of this treatment, though she told her children they weren't to mind, it was natural to be less welcoming to strangers than to old friends. The majority in Marlow, including other shopkeepers, were nothing but welcoming to the evacuees however, so much so that a number of the evacuee families chose to make Marlow their permanent home after the war. By the end of September 1939 there were in Buckinghamshire 16,000 evacuee children of school age [Bucks Examiner report May 1940]. A social club was quickly set up for evacuee mothers in the Territorials Drill Hall in Institute Road but it was reportedly not much used, at least at first.

   

October 1939-

- Buckinghamshire branch of the Women's Land Army established by October. The Army had been relaunched in June that year as war was expected if not declared. It had previously operated during the Great War. Headquarters this time in the stables of West Wycombe Park. The organization was not wound up nationally until 1950.

- First prosecution for allowing lights to show from your home at night was bought before the Marlow police court. James Perry of 83 Seymour Court Road escaped without a fine however in view of the fact it was a fairly new restriction to deal with and the offence was accidental. He did however have to pay costs. 

- Evacuee Mrs Gregory of Battersea had a frightening experience while staying at a cottage at Westhorpe Farm. An explosion knocked out all of the windows, destroyed the wireless set and inflicted serious damage on the neighbouring unoccupied cottage where the chimney collapsed and fell through the roof and upper floor. The cause turned out to be a lightning strike and not, as initially feared, enemy action! Nobody was hurt, and the family found shelter at Westhorpe Farm. 

Part 2 of World War 2 in Marlow here and Part Three here 

******

Interested in WW1 in Marlow? Kathryn has a detailed year by year series of posts on it 

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918-19

Other war and conflict related posts can be found on the menu under the  General Marlow History option.

Our person index now has thousands of people listed so take a look if you are searching for your Marlow ancestors!

*****

Further Sources for this post:

*1 Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. Saturday 29th October 1938. British Library Archives via the BNA. 

*2 10th June 1939 as above.

Thanks to Peggy for sharing her family's experience, and to Pam, Bob, Alan, and Barbra for their memories. 

Thanks to Jane Pullinger for additional research and material.

©Marlow Ancestors. .

George Alexander Gratton "the Spotted Boy"

 

 George Alexander Gratton as he was later known was born to two enslaved parents on the island of St Vincent in the Caribbean in July 1808. He had a condition that meant much of his body was white skinned with only some black patches while his face and hair were mostly dark with lighter patches. 

Presumably through sale, George came into the possession of a ship's* captain who brought him to England. According to some reports he was at that point an orphan, and had already been exhibited in his nations capital. It was also claimed the little boys life was in danger due to the "superstitious prejudices" of the locals, although how far this was true or a later attempt to justify his removal is unclear. At Bristol the captain sold him to travelling showman John Richardson for a reported 1000 guineas. If true that was equivalent to the cost of buying multiple houses but John was a highly successful showmen already and could afford it. He was known to be a big spender. George was then between 14 months and 19 months old depending on which report you believe. It appears the Captain had sought out Richardson as a buyer rather than the other way round. 

John Richardson had been born in Marlow Workhouse. Again, according to which story you believe he either ran away from the workhouse or from a job he had been found at the age of 14 and went to London. There he became involved in running a pub and organising travelling theatricals. These seem to have been largely comic. He was not a "freak show" proprietor as such. 

For many years a Bible passed down through the Wildego family of Great Marlow which was said to have been gifted by Richardson to one of their female forebears. This was in recognition of her role in feeding and clothing the young runaway when he had no one else to turn to. Once he had made a success of himself, Richardson remembered her kindness and rewarded her with the Bible and a miniature chalk portrait of the Spotted Boy. The Bible was still in the family hands when the recipient's granddaughter Hannah Wildego died in 1883. 

George was exhibited as a toddler for several months in the Summer and Autumn of 1810. He was at St Bartholomew's Fair in London, at Sadler's Wells and at Croydon as well as at Marlow. I have not myself found any mention of his appearing anywhere after 1810 (though there were imitators who did).

The sideshow was called The Beautiful Spotted Boy and was billed as a chance to see the wonder of God's creation. The Star newspaper said George was the "without exception the greatest beauty and most interesting curiosity ever seen" while another dubbed him a "lovely infant". At Sadler's Wells in September 1810 the Spotted Boy was well down the list of attractions but by October his appearance was one of the most highlighted attractions.

Those he appeared on the bill with in September included Grimaldi the clown, the Sampford Ghost, Lambert the Fatman, Sadler's Baboon and The Yorkshire Giant. These did not work for Richardson, they just appeared as part of the same shows.

The comedy performer Charles Edwards must also have worked on the same bill as George at one point as his wife Anne in writing her biography of Charles said that he met the child and developed "a great attachment to him". He visited George regularly. Ann recalled that "the child loved him very much and they played together by the hour". The same affection was said to exist between George and John Richardson. Robert Chambers in his book The Book of Days for instance called George "a child of amiable manners much attached to Richardson". As well he might be, as John's affection aside, who else did he have in the world?

John had George formally baptised when they were together in Surrey. I believe the Gratton name had been given to him by the ship's captain -  it was supposedly the name of the overseer of the plantation on which George was born. ("Mr Alexander's", that is the Colonarie Vale sugar plantation of William Alexander which had around 300 slaves working there.) I do not think that it is possible to discover his birth name or those of his parents. 

In 1811 John commissioned an artist to paint the boy. In the painting George is posing with a bow and arrow which may reflect how he was taught to pose at the fairs. Typically those with unusual skin or body appearances either sat while people filed past them or stood on a stage and struck a series of poses to allow their appearance to be fully demonstrated. Later John began to educate George, who was said to have a "quick and penetrating mind." But the child is thought to have had tuberculosis and died in February 1813, just short of the age of 5 or 6. (A swelling of the jaw was mentioned as the first symptom, and a fever.)

Above, Alexander as depicted in the painting hung in the church. 

He was buried in John's native Marlow in a brick vault within the churchyard. Apparently the showman feared the boy's remains would be stolen and so had chosen not to bury him for 3 months. I have not been able to ascertain whether this rumour was true. When John himself died in 1837 he asked to be buried next to him, which is what happened. Their graves can still be seen in All Saints churchyard. In the parish church is the portrait of little George**

The popularity of George as an attraction led to many "spotted boys" popping up at fairs for decades after George's death. To see one (real or subject to some body painting) in a sideshow became as commonplace as seeing a bearded lady or a strong man. I also found one case of a painted statue purporting to be a likeness of George being used as an attraction in the 1830s, after John Richardson's death.

An additional memorial is now in the churchyard for George, alongside his grave. This notes that George is the first known person from St Vincent's to have come to Great Britain.

You may be interested in this post on the blog which is about an African boy who lived in Marlow for a while also in the 1800s. And see this post about Marlow's links to slavery and its abolition.

Life at Great Marlow Workhouse 1775-1843 - here and later at the Wycombe Union workhouse at Saunderton here

All mentions of an individual on this blog can be found under the Person Index on the top drop down menu. More posts dedicated to one person can be found under the Biographies Of Individuals menu option.

*Possibly aboard The Friends of Emma, arriving September 1809.

** Another portrait from life was made by Mr D Orme. It shows George sitting on a turtle or tortoise with a Dalmatian dog at his side. 

© MarlowAncestors.  Written by Charlotte Day and researched by Charlotte Day and Kathryn Day. 

Sources:

Memories of Charles Mathews Volume 4 by Mrs Anne Mathews. 1839. Copy in the British Library, digitized by Google.

The Book Of Days or A Miscellany Of Popular Antiquities by Robert Chambers 1864. Published by W and R Chambers.

The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham by George Lipscombe. 1847. Digitized by Google.

The Morning Advertiser, 29th September 1810 and 10th October 1810. Copy held in the British Library archives and accessed via the BNA.

The Star (London) 10th October 1810. As above.

The Morning Post 7th April 1810. As above.

Graves Great Marlow.

Literary Journal and Miscellany of  Science, Art, History and Politics Vol 2, 1819. 

 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146636936

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News, 12 May 1883. 

Bringing The Harvest Home - Harvest Festival In Marlow

Any one who has ever browsed a Marlow census return will be aware that huge numbers of people in Marlow worked at some point as an agricultural labourer or "ag lab". You will also notice from other records that many people rented land who did not define themselves as farmers primarily. The gathering of the harvest was something that therefore involved a lot of our Marlow ancestors. 

First a quick word about these agricultural labourers. The census forms had limited space to record someone's occupation. Many people had several jobs at once but not all will be recorded. If you find reference to someone describing their work in another context, where they are a witness in a criminal trial perhaps, at an inquest or if their life is described later, your "ag lab" often turns out to have other simultaneous roles. Some had skilled specialities but were lumped together under the general labourer heading on a census.  Others worked in agriculture seasonally or casually but were not necessarily doing so at the time of the census. Whatever they did, their work was absolutely essential to the wellbeing of everyone in the town. It was also often extremely hard and required strength and deftness. There's no such thing as "just" an agricultural labourer. 

The Georgian harvest suppers and harvest home celebrations seem to have had a bit of a raucous reputation. The early Victorians were at pains to mention how much more civilised their occasions were compared to what came before, mainly in the terms of levels of alcohol consumed. These were usually held mid September, sometimes a bit later, to celebrate the harvest successfully coming in. The records of what small scale farmers did to celebrate in Marlow specifically are mostly lacking but one man who was an enthusiastic host of Harvest Home celebrations was Benjamin Atkinson, of the Rookery, Chapel Street. 

Benjamin was a doctor who also owned farm land and buildings at various places in the Marlow area. This included land off Wycombe Road, (aka Town End Farm), Marlow Bottom Farm, and land towards Handy Cross. (You can read more about him here ) 

His Harvest Home celebrations were a significant event in the town and were "joyously anticipated" not just by his farm workers but by a "large circle of gentry" who were also invited. Everyone invited proceeded to the Rookery itself where the gardeners had spent hours preparing for the event. The grass was cut fine to allow for dancing late into the night, lanterns were hung from every tree and two large marquees were erected. In 1855, 40 people sat down to dinner before 150 more arrived at 5.30pm along with a brass band. There was dancing and feasting until Mr and Mrs Atkinson gathered everyone into the largest tent for speeches. On this occasion, Benjamin said he had bought the company together to honour his work people whom he regarded as friends, and he trusted that he had always treated them as such. This was met with cries of "You have! You have!" You suspect these sentiments were sincere on both sides, as Benjamin and Eliza were well known for their benevolence. As a doctor, Benjamin saw many poor patients for free for example. 

Benjamin also visited the workers in the fields as the reaping was coming to an end, having organised the delivery of an alcoholic treat. He gave a speech there too. In the summer of 1856, a large group of his labourers followed up Benjamin's refreshment with a trip to a public house. An unfortunate consequence of this was a family squabble, fuelled by alcohol, that started in the pub and continued at home before the police broke it up. Richard Martin ended up with a broken leg, his wife some broken ribs, and son William with various injuries. Benjamin recieved some criticism for his habit of treating workers in the fields after this. 

As time passed, this harvest celebration gets rarer. By the 1890's most events seem to have been organised by the biggest landowners and estates only. ( Mr Ellames continued to hold Harvest Homes at Wood Barn Farm, Little Marlow at this time for both the estate workers and their wives, providing "old English fare" and free tobacco. As did the Kearleys of States, Medmenham who decorated the great barn with Union Jack's, flowers, corn and evergreens ahead of a colossal supper and dance.) The local papers reflecting on this lack thought it a shame the bonds between land owner and land worker might be weakened as a result. Others thought landowners could no longer afford to host anything on a large scale like this anyway. 

Church services to specifically celebrate the harvest became more popular in the second half of the 19th century in Marlow. You can be sure that whatever church or chapel your ancestor attended here then, that it would have been a magnificent sight come harvest festival time. The level of decoration is sometimes extraordinary, and it's usually the woman of the congregation who took charge of this. 

In 1877, 250 people sat down to a harvest tea in the school room in the Causeway. This was followed by a concert in the evening. All Saints was decorated with wreathes of cornflowers and evergreens, along with sheaves of corn which sounds very pretty. In 1883, a miniature hay rick was on display beneath the pulpit. But in 1891 the ladies of All Saints really out did themselves. They covered each window ledge with moss and garlands of autumn coloured creepers. The pedestal of the font also became a mossy bank, "planted" with primulas and every type of fern that could be found. The pulpit was hidden beneath an abundance of fruit and flowers while the front of the choir stalls displayed small bunches of corn. Fruit and flowers from the Marlow and Bisham harvest festivals often found their way to Marlow Cottage Hospital afterwards. 

The ladies of the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Chapel Street (now Liston Hall) were equally creative. In 1896 they lined the skirtings of the building with garlands of ivy and placed flowers on every available surface from the gasoliers down. 

Similar efforts to decorate Little Marlow church were made, enjoyed by a packed congregation year on year. In 1864 the Reading Mercury complained that the "ugly" high backed pews made it impossible for many to see the beautiful displays to their best advantage. You can't please everyone! 

Of course for every year there was a successful "incoming" of crops, there were others where the harvest was a disaster. Badly timed spells of wet weather could ruin months of incessant labour. In 1873 persistent rain delayed the harvest and left some farmers facing huge losses. The grain sprouted, because of the wet weather, a situation which reduced the yield, quality and storage capability of the crop. A harvest gathering that went well really was a cause of celebration. 

Related Posts:

To find the histories of different farms in Marlow and Little Marlow  see the "Specific Shops, Streets, Etc" option on the menu. 

Every mention of a person can be found under the Person Index. Other general posts related to agriculture in Marlow will be listed under the general history option here

 Index of posts related to everyday life in old Marlow: here

SOURCES: 

Harvest Home. Anon. (J Evans & Sons, 1810)

Harvest Home (Penny Publications 1873)

South Bucks Free Press September 3 1859, copy from the British Library Archive, accessed via the BNA September 2020.  

Reading Mercury 10 September 1864, 13 September 1873, as above

Bucks Herald 6 October 1873, as above 

South Bucks Standard 9 October 1891, 22 September 1893, 11 October 1895 as above

Oxford Gazette 17 October 1885, as above

https://www.bcg.org.au/pre-harvest-sprouting-in-wheat-and-barley/&ved=2ahUKEwjTtK3c17rwAhUXVRUIHWbvDB04ChAWMAN6BAgDEAI&usg=AOvVaw2-x5d-YBOzqdSZRG10Y5KV

And thanks to Archibald Godfrey for his information. 

©Marlow Ancestors.

Lovegrove Grave

 

All Saints churchyard Marlow. Photographed April 2021.

George and Emily Lovegrove, husband and wife.

George, formerly churchwarden of this parish who died aged 69 in 1887.

Emily died aged 65 in 1885.

Note: George was a grocer with a shop on the High Street.

Post by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this content for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and where possible a link here. Thanks.