Will James Harman 1759

James Harman of Great Marlow. Written 1758. Proven 1759.

Bequeathed soul to God.

Requests private burial.

To dear and well beloved wife Elizabeth £50 a year for her life. To divided into four payments and be paid quarterly on Lady Day, Midsummers Day, Michaelmas Day and Christmas Day by Jane's heir and executor. Also to her all household goods.

To only daughter Mary wife of Richard Ray of Cookham Berkshire £1000 over the marriage portion she has already had.

Only son James and his heirs gets all rest of testator's personal estate. He is also appointed the will's executor.

Witnessed by James Crockett, John Snelling and William Allen.

I transcribed and then summarized this P.C.C will from a copy held at the National Archives, Kew.

James MAY be the man of this name who was the secretary of the failing Borlase charity school trust in 1721. That James who at first refused to give up any documents and papers to examiners sent to sort the trust out. When pressed further he gave up keys to a chest in the church where he said relevant papers could be found but when opened it was found to be empty.

Ref Borlase 1624-57, 3rd ed, J c Davies.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my will summary with credit to this blog.

Will of John Toombes of Medmenham 1756

 John Toombes, victualer of Medmenham. Will written 1753 and proved 1756.

Says he in good health and of sound mind and memory but because of the uncertainty of this life he is making his will.

Entrusts soul to God. To be buried at the discretion of his executor.

All goods, chattels and personal property (no individual items or property listed) to his wife Jane and her heirs. She is made executor.

John signed with a mark.

Witnesses= T Allen and Wm Allen both of Great Marlow.

This will summary was created from Charlotte Day's transcription of the original P.C.C will held at the National Archives Kew.

We focus on Marlow but try to include some surrounding area content. Over 100 will summaries are available on this blog. See the Will Transcriptions Index. More Medmenham related posts are indexed here.

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

Will of Ambrose Cane Of Great Marlow 1762

Says he indisposed of body but of sound mind and memory. The uncertainty of life prompts him to make his will.

Commits his soul to God.

To grandson Ambrose R...ing £20 at the age of 25 or sooner if the will executors think proper.

All of the rest of his estate (not itemized) to be equally divided between his two sons Thomas Cane and Robert Cane and their heirs. They are to provide testator's wife for the rest of her life with sufficient meat, drink, lodgings and all other necessities for her to be comfortable. They also to pay out of his estate all his debts and funeral expenses. 

Thomas and Robert are the will's executors.

Will written 20th September 1762.

Witnessed by James Blake and William Allen.

This PCC will was transcribed and summarized here by me Charlotte Day from a copy obtained from the National Archives.

There are 106 other Marlow wills in this blog (so far!) see here for an Index to them. To find every mention of any individual on the blog please use the A-Z Person Index. 

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

Prospect Road, Marlow

Above a decaying street sign for the road. Its very first sign was put up on a Mr Taylor's house in 1899. This will be a later replacement presumably.

 Originally called Marefield Place then Prospect Place and then finally the modern Prospect Road. The first six homes there had an additional collective name Prospect Row but be warned cottages in Wycombe Road near Prospect House were also referred to as Prospect Row (not to mention there being elsewhere Prospect Cottages and Prospect Villas- in case you haven't already noticed it Marlow people were very careless when inventing house names and haphazard at rendering addresses).

The road was built up from circa the 1850s but it was never fully developed, with market gardens and allotments rather than homes taking up most of the space down one side. A carriage building premises was the only commercial property firmly within Prospect Road. More on that in the post "A heroic former resident" linked below. There was also by the early 20th century a shop on the corner of Prospect Road and Queens Road but the entrance was in the latter.

In 1891 4 brick cottages within the road each consisting of 5 rooms and having a garden and outhouse were put up for sale "with good tenants" in place. The character of the street was what Victorians would have classed as "respectable working class" but there were several "rough" streets in the immediate vicinity and conditions weren't physically great in Prospect Road either. The road was taken over by the council in 1892 because its private owner had left the road surface in a "disgraceful state".

In 1894 Dr Dickson complained that a well used for drinking water by 6 of the cottages was at high risk of contamination due to it having been dug only a few feet from a privy and scarcely any further from a cess pit. He finally managed to get the well closed off six years later. 

You have to wonder if gas was not laid on until late in the street for in 1905 some wind blew over the lighted candle that George Sadler was using to light his room, nearly burning the house down. Thankfully both he and his neighbours were on the ball and sprang into action swiftly both to fight the fire and summon further help. It is possible George did have a partial gas supply as in this period some people did not fit gas lighting upstairs even if they did below. There was a fear of dying in your sleep from a gas leak if gas lights were used upstairs.

Prospect Road residents didn't cause much trouble compared to their nearby neighbours elsewhere in the Marefield area or Dean Street but there were a few incidents of fallings out that came before the courts. Eliza Allen newly arrived in 1901 from the virtual shanty town outside Marlow known as "Cape Town" soon fell out with her neighbours Nellie Harvey and Edith Howse. She was fined 5 shillings for assaulting each with the threat of a week in jail per fine if she didn't pay them. She hadn't turned up to court. Her husband William, who worked at the paper mills and as a bootmaker, had previously spent a month in jail for stealing a barrel when they lived at Cape Town. Eliza sometimes worked as a needlewoman. There's a post all about Cape Town on the blog here.

William and Elizabeth Todd, residents of Prospect Road, lost two sons during the First World War - William and Augustus. William had just married while Augustus died in Turkish custody in 1917 after months as a prisoner of war.

The road today, above, shows no historic buildings. The first homes there were all on the left side of the street with market gardens and allotments on the other side and at the end.

More related posts:

Grave of one time resident John Lunnon Taylor here.

An heroic historic resident here

Grave photo and info about former resident Alfred Peddle here

Sources Included:

Maidenhead Advertiser 22nd July 1891. South Bucks Standard 10th November 1899 and 8th September 1905. British Newspaper Archive.

England censuses, my transcription from microfilm.

Private correspondence.

Marlow Celebrates Victoria's Diamond Jubilee

This post covers some of the ways our Marlow predecessors celebrated the Diamond jubilee in 1897. A post on the charming celebrations in nearby Hurley is linked to below. 

Marlow was made up of individuals with all kinds of opinions regarding the Queen and criticism had been made in the past about the lack lustre nature of some local acknowledgement of royal events. But the 1887 Jubilee involved many people and had been regarded as a big success. It was used as a blue print for the Diamond Jubilee. You can read about the 1887 event  in an earlier post linked below.

The celebrations were held in late June in somewhat mixed weather conditions. The "terrible roaring hissing mist" of the dramatic summer storm of that year threatened chaos on the evening of the 25th and saw celebrants at the Little Marlow sports and tea run for cover. See the link below! Thankfully much of Marlow's events had already taken place, although rain had put in an appearance then too. 

A meeting was held in May to thrash out a plan for the main day. Three elements were pretty much guaranteed to form a part of any Marlow high day and holiday - a free dinner for the "aged", a free tea for the children, and sporting events for all. All three were present and correct. The aged in this occasion were those over 60. The children were to be aged 5-14. All of these were paid for by donations from the better off citizens, and it was also suggested that an endowment fund would be set up to pay for a nurse at the Cottage Hospital. The hospital was at this point still in Cambridge Road and acutely understaffed. They had great trouble retaining the nurses they did manage to recruit due not least because of the exhausting workload and difficult working conditions in an building not ideal for their purpose. I can not see evidence in the annual reports of the hospital that a nurse was paid for specifically from a Jubilee endowment fund, however a number of subscribers were recruited to give a annual subscription for terms of 3-5 years in honour of the event and an overall donation of £300 was made to the hospital by the Jubilee organisers. The fact that many of these did not renew their regular donations once the terms were over caused the hospital some difficulty. See links below for more. 

The Wethereds at Remnantz in West Street offered the use of their meadow for the sports. Two refreshment tents would be set up and a band was in attendance. A large number of children were apparently expected to attend, freed from the afternoon schooling. 

On the Sunday before the jubilee, special services of Thanksgiving for the Queen's reign were held at both All Saints and the Catholic church. To the latter the congregations of the non conforming chapels in town were invited, although they naturally also wanted to host their own services. Some members of the chapel choirs joined the Parish church choir which must have made for a delightful performance. A Church parade was also organised on this day, that is a parade to the Church, by both the Bucks Volunteers and the volunteer fire brigade, both of whom had some reserved seats in the full to capacity All Saints. The Bucks Volunteers marched from the Armoury in Institute Rd, and were joined by a few members of the Royal Bucks Hussars in uniform. 

On the 22nd June, Remnantz opened her gates. Most likely the direct entrance to the meadow from West Street, the large green gates closest to Borlase School, were the ones used. Those entering that way would have passed the dairy and chicken runs, and wondering through a little cluster of trees out into the meadow, formerly used as the parade ground for the Royal Military College cadets. It was not an unfamiliar sight for fun loving Marlovians as the meadow often housed events at this time from church fetes to agricultural shows. The children's sports events, with no entry fee, started at 1.30pm for under 14's. The children competed for a mixture of practical and cash prizes. Another race for boys only was planned for the High St  with a 2s 6d prize for the winner and 1s 6d for the runner up but I'm not sure this actually came off. 

 One event that certainly did was a donkey race down Chapel Street, round a post set near the Junction of Glade Road and back. No sticks or whips allowed. Donkeys have a long if forgotten association with Marlow, in particular the traders and residents of the Dean Street and Marefield areas who used them as an affordable transport option for businesses both legal and shady. See linked posts below. This was also a race with a cash prize for those coming first and second. Another donkey race was held as part of the  sports at Remnantz. (Winner there was John Bowles on Victoria, the donkey that is! And George Bowles triumphed in the Chapel Street race) A cycle race was also held in Chapel Street, under starter Mr Barnard's watchful eyes. 

Those aged residents had sat down for dinner at noon, in the oft used celebration spot of "the music room" (now the Masonic Centre, St Peter's Street) and the adjoining girls school. In the previous Jubilee the wall between the two had been knocked down to allow more room but nothing so dramatic had  been thought necessary this time around! Around 200 residents were in attendance then, out of 300 that had applied for a free ticket to attend. The event includes loyal toasts to her Majesty and the National Anthem, as well as music by the Reading Excelsior band who had paraded up the High Street earlier. The catering for this tremendous dinner was left to the very able hands of the Marlow Volunteers who used some military ovens at their disposal to roast 336lbs of meat! Full credit to the cooks Corporal S East and Private W Hardwood - let's hope they were remembered when the "flagons of strong ale" donated by Wethered's brewery were handed round! All those attending left with a small gift of tea or tobacco. 

At 4.30 pm some 1,000 children were expected to take part in a parade from Remnantz, up the High Street to the Music room and school where they would be treated to a tea, served in sittings. The mammoth organisation of this fell to a committee mostly of local ladies who also inveigled donations in money or tasty treats for the young marchers. All the youngsters recieved a mug bearing a portrait of the Queen Victoria on her succession to the throne in 1837 as well as a current image of her majesty. Catering was by Death & Sons, the Marlow bakers who had been working flat out to provide more than 1,400 buns and 900 rock cakes, not to mention ordinary loaves. 

The day was not yet done, for those who were neither old or young were invited to Remnantz at 5.30pm to enjoy a summer evening of sports.  That is mostly light-hearted races such as the needle and thread and egg and spoon races for both men and women run for money. These were run in heats accorded to age and gender e.g 60+ but officials were instructed not to "enquire too closely" into the stated ages of the ladies taking part!! The band was back and the marquees humming with thirsty runners and their families. 

A traditional end to many Marlow celebrations was some kind of river based event from water dramas to flotillas. Chosen on this occasion was an evening "river fete" starting at 8.45pm ending a little later with fireworks. This means a parade of patriotically decorated and brightly lit boats and that the riverside properties were also adorned with lights, flags and bunting. And music came from bands on their lawns and aboard. 

The individual shop keepers in the main streets competed to offer the best window displays, with lots of VR banners and motifs in evidence. The South Bucks Standard reported the church tower, Marlow bridge, the station, the gas works and the Enclosure were all specially decorated too. (The Enclosure is the area of grass in the Causeway where the War Memorial and flagpole  would later stand. It was indeed originally enclosed by fencing.) It was noticed that bunting, flags and the like had long sold out from the town's ships and even some of the very poorest homes were seen to be decorated. An unusual display was given by baker John Birdseye who exhibited some bread and cakes which he had made for the 1887 Jubilee, still in very good condition. 

 Outside of the immediate High Street area, there was a fire set up in Spittal Square in order to roast two sheep which were given away along with a vast quantity of boiled beef for free a little after midday. This was a considerate option to provide a celebration meal to the poorer adults in Marlow who did not qualify as aged and so who were not part of the main dinner. (The idea of butcher Mr Copcott who did the roasting)  If on the other hand, a leg of mutton was what a Marlow man  had set their heart on, they could compete in the afternoon greasy pole contest in the same location where it was the prize. A tall and sturdy pole was set up in the middle of the square, which must have made any horse traffic impossible given the numbers if bystanders gathered about it. The pole was spread with grease and the mutton was set on the top. Contestants would then attempt to climb to the top - the first to do so and seize the leg of mutton could keep it. I believe I have the record of the winner somewhere and I will update the post if I find it! 

Some of the pubs held their own celebratory dinner of which the most remembered is that provided by William Rose of the Wheelwrights Arms, Spittal Street. ("The Wheelers" in popular Marlow speak.) He entertained 50 grateful men and women to a "cold ham and roast beef dinner" complete with a champagne finish. 

Above I mentioned the terrible storm that would affect Marlow shortly after the main Jubilee celebrations. Little Marlow was less fortunate in their timing and so some of the planned  sporting races had to be cancelled. There there had been a special church service offering thanks for the queen's long reign (as there had been at the Parish church in Marlow, and at the Congregational church in Quoiting Square). After this a procession headed to the Ferns, its use donated by Mr Roberts for the villagers games and feasting. The kitchens of Westhorpe had been bought into service to roast 20 joints of meat and some plum puddings. Other householders volunteered their kitchens to cover the production of yet more plum puddings - used as part of many many Victorian celebrations, outside of the Christmas season. First off was a cricket match, then an amazing 500 people sat down inside two terrific tents to enjoy the hot dinner. The logistics of organising this is mind boggling. The meal fine shed with the singing of the National Anthem, music and dancing. A beautiful baby competition was won by the unnamed 4 month old son of "Mrs Harris" with the runner up the little 6 month old Miss Allen. At 4pm it was the children's turn to enjoy the tea, after which they received a medal to mark the occasion, provide by the Mrs Ellames of Little Marlow Manor who had also donated substantially to make the events possible. A little later events were disrupted by the torrential rain and high winds but eventually the villagers ventured back out from the tents to at least enjoy a few sports - the tug of war and yet another greasy pole competition, with a leg of mutton at stake. 

 Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

RELATED POSTS:

To find all mentions of an individual here use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu or the biographies of individuals section there...

Biographies of families index - here

1887 Jubilee in Marlow - Here

Hurley village Jubilee celebrations for 1887 and 97. here

Roaring hissing mist, the 1897 storm - here

1902 Coronation celebrations in Marlow - here

The Other Royal Celebrations in Marlow (Victoria's Coronation, marriage etc) - here

Other posts about Little Marlow here

Other posts about everyday life in Victorian Great Marlow  - here

© Marlow Ancestors. 

SOURCES INCLUDE: 

South Bucks Standard 4& 18 June, 2 July 1897. 

Queen Victoria  - Diamond Jubilee, Stokes & Co 1898. 

 

The Terrible Youth Of Today - 1896 style

 

For the little children of old Marlow, playing in the streets was a common occurrence. Of course with children expected to start work sooner, and many families unable to afford bought toys, not all children had the same experiences. 

With some of the streets busy with horse drawn traffic, many of the children's games were not looked on indulgently when they interfered with the business of their elders. In the early Victorian era, "sliding" in the streets was the game of choice for many, and a perpetual cause of complaint from the adults. This was easier to do on the pre tarmac road surfaces. In the 1840 the son of draper Mr Morgan of the High Street was injured when he collided with a cart carrying manure while intent on sliding. He was not seriously hurt. 

In the 1840's complaints of children driving iron hoops along the streets became frequent. The press expressed some sympathy for the young miscreants while recognising that their play was dangerous and sometimes illegal. The children had no other place to amuse themselves in save the streets they reasoned, making their games "in some measure excusable". The Enclosure acts formalised the use of Gossmore as a recreation ground later but there was as yet no Higginson Park or Riley or Seymour recreation grounds.  

The other dangerous if common childhood amusement was to try and catch a ride on the back of passing carts and waggons, and later steam traction engines and the like. In 1903, there was a tragic accident involving this practice, the victim 7 year old Percy William Allen. Little Percy had just left school in the Causeway and was walking home, with his brother James. A lorry driven by William Skipton, in the employ of Mr Porter of Station Road, turned into the High Street. A number of little boys ran after it to try and gain a ride by clinging to the back or sides. As James and Percy reached Timberlake's Cycle and Phonograph depot, Percy ran off towards the lorry and managed to jump on to the back and hold on for a ride. The driver could not see him there but he had noticed several boys hanging onto the sides. He was heard to call to them 3-4 times to get off. Sadly Percy lost his grip and fell under the vehicle. The lorry was carrying 2 tonnes of flour so with a wheel going over the little one's head and leg, he stood no chance whatsoever. The driver heard a bump and stopped instantly. He was horrified by what had happened. It was immediately apparent the boy was beyond surgical aid. Dr Nicholson was in attendance immediately and arranged for the poor parents to be called. The kind Mrs Mundy, whose shop the accident had occured more or less outside of, would not allow the little lad to lay in the street and picked his body up and carried him into her shop. The inquest was held at the Verney Arms in Dean Street, with the jury donating their appearance fees to the family.  Mr Porter paid for the funeral - the boy was buried at Holy Trinity but the marker can no longer be seen. There was "an extraordinary amount of people in attendance to show sympathy for the bereaved parents". 

Another gripe was the frequency with which children played football in the road. Three boys, Phillip White, Benjamin Mundy, and Arthur Stroud, were fined 6d for using the highway near All Saints for a game in 1896 for example. 

A letter writer (anonymous) to the local press in 1896 thought the youth of the day were a badly behaved lot, causing "pandemonium" in the High Street during their 2 hour lunch break - and after the school finished at 4. (Long lunch was a feature of Victorian schools because many children went home to eat, and some went quite far.) And what were the young miscreants up to other than making a great deal of noise? They incessantly rang door bells, stripped fruit and flowers from gardens, played ball in the road, sat on peoples doorsteps, wrote "filthy words" on any surface their pencils would work on and in the summer bathed nude in the river. Or so the writer said. 

 

Some of those getting into trouble for "play" in the streets or on the highway were adults. Playing marbles and pitch and toss was not the preserve of just the young. The adults were suspected of gambling on the result, hence why it was frowned upon beyond logistical reasons.  The quieter lanes were favourite spots for this - with cases noted in particular in Munday Dean Lane, around Bovingdon Green and Frieth, and on Gossmore. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related Posts: 

Avert your eyes...bathers about! here

Posts about everyday life in old Marlow for young and old can be found here: here

To find all mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu, where at the time of writing you will find mentions of 3,045 old Marlow residents. New people added daily. 

©Marlow Ancestors

Will Summary Joan Robinson of Great Marlow 1753

 I obtained a copy of this PCC will from the National Archives, Kew and transcribed it. This is a summary.

JOAN ROBINSON WIDOW LATE OF BRAY BERKSHIRE BUT NOW OF GREAT MARLOW. WILL PROVED 1753.

Commends soul to God. Burial at executor's discretion.

Puts £50 in to custody of Charles Jones of Cookham yeoman and Charles Robinson her "son in law"* of .... Bucks bargeowner. This £50 is in trust for the benefit of testator's kinsman Thomas and William Hunt sons of William of Upton. These boys will receive the interest of the money until they 21 then they will receive half of the £50 each. If either dies before the other then the survivor gets their share.

Son in law Charles Robinson £100 for himself

Sister in law Mary Hunt of Maidenhead £20 and half share of all testator's wearing apparel and household linens and woolens. Other half to the wife of testator's son in law John Robinson of Great Marlow, waggoner. 

Grandson Edward White £5. If he dies the money to testator's sister Mary Hunt. Similarly if she dies before receiving her financial legacy as above then Edward is to receive it.

That John Robinson gets all residual money, household goods, plate etc and is made executor.

Witnesses William Willis and William Allen.

©Marlow Ancestors. Reproduction freely  permitted for family or local history purposes with credit.

To find all mentions of an individual or family here, look at the A-Z person index in the top drop down index. 

Will Summary Thomas Langley Of Great Marlow

Will proved 1726

A sawyer now living at Chapel End, Great Marlow [Chapel Street]

Of sound and perfect memory.

Commends soul to God.

Asks to be decently buried.

After debts and funeral expenses paid: The house he now lives in to Martha ?Nagers of Great Marlow for life then to her son George and his heirs.

Said Martha the executor of the will with Mary .... widow.

He makes his mark rather than signs 

Witnesses: Ann ....land, Elizabeth Davis, William Allen.

Will summarized from a transcription I made of a will at the National Archives, Kew. 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this transcription for family and local history purposes, with credit to this blog.

Historic Grocery Business -Aveling/Lovegrove *Updated Nov 2024*

 

Above is shown the  site of Richard Aveling junior's grocery shop from at least 1824. His father Richard senior had been a grocer in Marlow by the 1790s. He may well have had this shop too

In 1833 the property consisted of a house, yard, shed, barn, garden and stables as well as an orchard and was worth an estimated £20 a year rateable value.

Richard junior died in 1844 and his widow Martha took over the business for a short while before handing it over to George Lovegrove. She died in 1853. The grave of Richard & Martha at All Saints can be seen here.

I have a copy of her will and will transcribe it on the blog in the future.

As you can see from the words on the front of the building it was rebuilt in the 1870s. It also says on the front that it was established in 1661. You have to be careful with such things as these dates often refer to a business per se not necessarily a particular family's involvement with that business let alone in any particular premises. What I mean is if a business was established in 1600 by one family another one taking it over would still say "established 1600" even if they subsequently moved premises. There are examples of this in Marlow. The sign would suggest however at the minimum that Richard Aveling senior had ran a grocery business that had existed in some hands or another in Marlow for a very long time. If you are lucky enough to have the Book Of Marlow by Jock Cairns (not in print) the back inside cover has a drawing of Marlow High Street which shows the premises in the time of George Lovegrove.

Richard with his three siblings were equal owners of the premises having inherited them from their father Richard senior.

These newly built premises were in the occupation of grocer Walter Lovegrove  the son of the George Lovegrove above by 1879. It was apparently Walter whose idea it was to knock the old fashioned existing building down and erect a purpose built and spacious premises in its place. The design is believed to have been by his brother Henry who was a successful architect. It was later said that the Aveling's had sternly resisted any pretence of modern innovation when it came either to the shop or their way of doing business. 

Walter was assisted by his wife Ellen whom he married in her native Staines in 1876. She was née Rogers. Both Walter and Ellen helped to raise money for the town's 1887 Queen's Jubilee celebrations (more on that here). They were both amongst the organisers of events too. The same year Walter was elected churchwarden for I think the third time at the recommendation of the vicar who praised his past diligence in the role.

In 1899 he switched to being an estate agent and auctioneer not to mention an insurance agent. His grocery business was bought by Walter Baker from Ashford Kent but his enterprise didn't last long it seems as Albert Howard had the premises in 1901.

Upon Walter Lovegrove's retirement from the grocery business the South Bucks Standard praised the way he had whilst busy with that business nevertheless devoted a considerable amount of time to public service" doing much excellent work and doing it well". The paper expressed a desire that he would enjoy a long rest and retirement with Mrs Lovegrove. They obviously didn't realise Walter was switching trades not retiring.

Sadly a restful retirement was never to come for Walter. In 1907 he committed suicide by shooting himself through the heart. His body was found by the side of a hay rick near Cookham. He was then very depressed and under a cloud of accusations as to his poor management of finances for the parish in relation to his role as parish poor rate collector. He was accused of failing to collect the poor rates from some people in due time. I think it unlikely that he was guilty of criminal intent as opposed to being simply overwhelmed and treated with impatience by colleagues. Letters about the matter were found on his person. Previous collectors had all had trouble getting poor rates from everyone. Some 30 years previously Walter been one of those criticizing the then parish surveyor who had the responsibility for the rates collection for doing the job in an inefficient and unfair manner. That collector, James Allen, had himself committed suicide following the criticism he publicly received. James shot himself near High Rews Farm in Marlow. 

Walter was described in the South Bucks Standard after his death as "a man much respected." 

After his death, the premises was auctioned off. It was then described as a double fronted shop. Behind this was a sitting room, kitchen and scullery, and there was a cellar below. On the upper floor there were 4 bedrooms, with a bathroom, lavatory, and linen cupboard. At the rear could be found various outbuildings, a two storey store house with cellars, a two stall stable with forage room above, a carriage house and well stocked garden. At this point it was leased to grocers Harridge & Dorrell. 

A full biography of the life of Walter is Now_available_here

Researched and written by Charlotte Day. Photo by Kathryn Day.

Related posts:

To find all mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu - there is over 4,000 Marlow  individuals listed there. New posts added daily.  

To find information about other shops use the Specific Streets, Shops etc option on the same menu. 

Sources:

*South Bucks Standard 2st September 1899 and 6th December 1907. Copies held at the British Library archives. Accessed by me via the BNA.

Will Richard Aveling senior. PCC. obtained from National Archives and transcribed by me.

Will of Martha Aveling as above.

Maidenhead Advertiser 2nd  June 1886 [James Allen suicide], 18th March 1908 as above.

Property records held by my family and transcribed by me.

Censuses transcribed by me from microfilm.

Gravestones.

Great Marlow Parish registers, transcribed by me.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse image and text for family or local history purposes if with credit to this blog and a link here.

Property occupation gathered by me analysing and cross referencing multiple sources.

Building photographed November 2020.

Pigeon House Farm Little Marlow

Historic Occupiers and history.

Description:  1784=194 acres. 1872=180 acres, arable.

Occupiers is as in those who farm there. They were not usually the same as the owners of a farm in those days, but may be:

1784= Thomas Allen. Probably the same man who had leased Handy Cross farm in 1780. 

1829= unknown farmer suffered a fire which damaged a barn and some peas and barley. Thought to have been started by thieves trying to get in. Farm also used to raise pigs and chickens then.

1841-1854= William Wethered. In 1842 constables tracked the footprints of a man who had stolen a sheep from the farm in order to arrest him. Also had Northern Woods Farm Little Marlow in 1846 when it suffered a massive fire destroying two barns, stables, a wood house and cart house as well as stored crops [Windsor and Eton Express 17th February] The horses were sadly killed in their stable. His executors sold stock and equipment off in 1854, including 7 cart horses, 2 wagons, a dog cart, 2 winnowing machines etc. Wife Ann predeceased him. Their son William junior died in 1842. 

1858-61- Joseph Carey. Wife Jane. He quit 1861 & sold off his equipment such as a hand operated threshing machine and a turnip cutter then. Joseph was a Catholic and in 1858 was prosecuted for refusing to pay his Church Rates which helped with the upkeep of the Church Of England parish church.

1864- 1869 John Baylis. Also had a farm Hurley. Kept Sheep. He had a farm bailiff called Alfred Kebble 1863-1865 and Mr E Moss in 1867.

1869- Mrs Baylis

1871- For Sale. Presumably with sitting tenant.

1872- Mr Baylis Junior at the farm then. Fined for assaulting Marlow baker Mark Wells during a fractious corn dealing transaction.

1880-1884 James Fryer who did not usually live on the site. Four sacks of barley stolen from him by his two carters William Aldridge and George Southby in 1882.  A crime for which the two men recieved 6 months in jail. Two ricks caught fire one evening in 1884. Marlow and Maidenhead Fire Brigades both went to put the fire out, pumping the farm pond dry in the process. The fire could be seen for miles. [Buckingham Express 4th October 1884].

James Fryer was also at Well End Farm, where he lived. In 1881 agricultural labourer William Ridgeley and his wife Charlotte lived on site at Pigeon House Farm with their son William and a couple of other workers. 

James grew wheat and raised sheep on the farm.

1889- farm for sale as was Well End Farm.

1891- 1895 William Rolphe who also had Well End Farm, near Little Marlow. Wife Janet. 16 year old live in employee on farm 1892 George Goddard.

1901- no farmer in actual residence. But the farm's carter Hezekiah Bowler, his wife Rose and children lived on site.

1912. D smith.

1939- Percy Smith.

Farm occupants are found by me by studying property records, censuses, adverts, court cases, letters, trade journals, wills and more.

To seek someone on this blog use the Person Index on the menu. Over 1200 people are referenced on this blog with more added daily.

To seek other farms use the "Specific Shops, Streets...Etc" option on the menu.

More Little Marlow and Well End content can be found on the menu under the Nearby Places option.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here. Thanks. 

Picnics And Punts - Victorian Summer time in Marlow

  

This post is about summer in late Victorian and pre First World War Marlow. The season obviously meant different things to different people. For some it was a period of hot intense labour in the fields. For others it was time to leave Marlow altogether and holiday elsewhere. A surprising large number of Marlow houses were let out for the "river season", and then there were the houseboats that arrived, some staying for weeks. In good weather, the hotels and lodging houses were full, and visitors could find themselves staying in more unconventional places such as above shops (Or more pleasantly perhaps, they could cadge a room at Hambledon Lock). The arrival of tourists affected even those not in position to enjoy much leisure time themselves. It meant busier streets at the very least. And there may be an annual Sunday School treat or Slate Club or works outing to look forward to. 

Enthralling Beauty

The beauty of nearby Quarry Woods was known far and wide.

It was a popular spot for campers, if sometimes a crowded one. The fact that some set up camp wherever they decided to stop for the night caused tension with riverside home owners who complained of opening their shutters to find campers on their lawns! Most kept to more secluded spots - though some were still technically trespassing on the larger estates when they did so. The stretch of river between Marlow and Henley was also celebrated, and there was a standing joke that you could always find at least a couple of artists set up opposite Bisham church trying to capture the scene. This part of the river was described by John Greville Fennell in his 1867 Thames guide as one that brought a "constant succession of scenes of sylvan beauty" that struck the gazer and left him or her marvelling with "enthralled imagination" at the loveliness of the scene. And that was not the most fulsome of descriptions by any means! 

Official picnic parties apply here

Day trippers from London at least didn't need to find somewhere to stay. These '"Harrys" as they were often dismissively known, were usually the ones blamed for any sort of misbehaviour. Cheap day excursion tickets were available to Marlow from London stations  - valid for travel on certain trains only from 1st May - 31st October. In 1880, one of these excursion tickets, third class, from Paddington to Marlow would cost you 3s 6d.  If you could demonstrate you were a "genuine" picnic or other pleasure party, of at least 10 persons, (6 if all travelling first class) you could also get lower train fares. Perhaps you had to let the station master examine your picnic hamper! These lower fares were no good for a spontaneous large family outing as you needed to apply for them in advance and in writing. 

For most the river was the focus of their trip so luckily Great Western Railways would transport your boat for you should you be fortunate enough to own one. This was at an added cost of course. If your craft was small enough to fit in the guards van or if it could be strapped to the top of an ordinary passenger carriage, it would cost you 2d a mile with a minimum charge of 5s and reductions were possible if at least 4 crew were traveling on the same train. Larger boats had to travel in expensive coaches of their own. For most, hiring a boat was much more practical. The boat houses such as Haynes, Shaws, and Meakes and Redknapp offered all kinds of river craft from punts and canoes to steam launches. Alternatively many inns and hotels could provide you with the smaller vessels (sometimes by partnering with one of the same boathouses).

 Advertising the fact that you could provide facilities for boating parties and fisherman was a way for hotels and inns to cash in on these tourists who may have just wanted somewhere to eat or someone to provide them with a picnic. If you were on a big group outing or a "beanfeast" , perhaps organised by a workplace, then some establishments turned their nose up at serving you. They did not want the reputation of somewhere where guests looking for a little genteel rest would be disturbed by a large noisy group. So at times the Fishermen's Retreat and the Crown Hotel advertised they did not accept "beanfeasts" but on the other hand, the Railway Hotel (later the Marlow Donkey) welcomed them. For longer stays, Dickens's Dictionary of the Thames (1889 edition) said the numerous hotels and accomodation providers in town catered for "tourists of all classes". 

Some of our visitors came some way to enjoy the riverside. In 1899 Great Western formed an alliance with Great Central Train company to bring visitors in from the Midlands area. The first train was an excursion one from Leicester which arrived in early July, bringing a large party for a day on the river. Or whatever part of the day was left after the time taken to travel here.

The boating parties were described as frequently "noisy and half drunken" and their habit of landing at the parish churchyard and "tramping over the graves" lead to many complaints. 

Fishing with Mr Shaw

Marlow was known as a paradise for anglers, and the premier place to stay was the Compleat Angler, more commonly known as "The Anglers" or Anglers Inn. It started life as a couple of cottages knocked together and then rebuilt, and gradually extended and improved. But even in it's more humble looking state it was far from an obscure little inn. It recieved visitors from London, including well off ones, and it was consistently mentioned and recommended in national guidebooks. The 1832 fire there made the London papers because it was already a celebrated destination - "the great resort of fishing parties". When the Angler was improved, some visitors felt nostalgic for the old days but even they admitted it was now easier to actually get to stay there in the first place as there were more beds on offer. Guidebooks of 1877 and 1889 still warned would be visitors that they would need to give "considerable notice" if they entertained any hope of securing a bed at The Anglers. Members of recognised angling clubs could also get reduced price third class train fairs from Paddington, if they had a member's card to flash. (Full history of the Angler in the 1900's can be found here)

A number of Marlow men made their living as fishermen, that is fishing guides who would supply bait and take you in a punt to the best spots to catch whatever your quarry was. The Rockell and Shaw families were two that performed this role over a long period. (White, Rose, Creswell and Rosewell are other associated surnames.) Robert Shaw should get special mention as he features in very many books about the Thames written for contemporary visitors. He was clearly someone that many people felt a lot of affection and respect for. In his role as Water Bailiff for the local Anglers Preservation society, he had a role to play in seeing off illegal fisherman and poachers and so no doubt he had his enemies. But to others he was the good looking Bob Shaw, always polite, "intelligent and reliable" and a highly skilled boatsmen. 

Tumbling for tourists

Marlow Lock naturally saw many visitors, not all of them passing through in a boat or watching those that were. The boaters waiting to pass in or put of the Lock were something of a captive audience for the Victorian equivalent of the "chugger" and chancer. Some of the activity sounds mostly charming in our eyes. Children sometimes performed tricks and tumbles on the towpath, hoping to get a few coins for entertaining the passers by. The authorities regarded this as begging, and children caught in the act could find themselves up before the magistrates. In June 1906  four "small boys" were charged with begging on the tow path around Marlow Mills and Lock. The boys had stood on their heads to amuse the passers by. They were Amos Moody, Henry Turner, Leonard Carter and Henry Allen. Those travelling on steam launches and larger vessels were nevertheless in the habit of responding to the children's gambols by throwing coins onto the bank. This lead to tragedy in 1914 when a little girl aged about 4 is believed to have drowned trying to retrieve coins tossed from a passing launch ("The child of  Carter", of South Place).

Marlow Lock as it is now  - the Lock keepers house is not the Victorian one. 

Charity collections at the Lock were also a regular feature. But when the more persistent adult beggars and sellers of knick knacks began to congregate there in greater numbers, some causes such as the Marlow Cottage Hospital decided not to collect funds at the Lock in case they became associated with a common nuisance. Touts are also mentioned as a regular annoyance, offering to help with boats, or with finding accomodation or punts for hire.

The more widespread issue of begging from visitors to the town, whether they arrived by boat or train, was discussed several times at Marlow council meetings in the early Edwardian period in paticular. They requested the police keep a close eye on things, with varying degrees of success it seems!

As those passing through the Lock had to pay a fee, unless they had a sort of season ticket or annual pass, the numbers using it were recorded. The fee depended on the size of the boat, with steam launches up to 35ft long paying 9d for example, or  house boat's 2s6d. Over the August Bank Holiday of 1893, which was regarded as a little less busy than usual, 1,200 small boats passed through over Saturday to Monday and 120 steam launches. This won't be the absolute number of boats about Marlow as it was possible to bypass the Lock. Some of those using the small boats pulled their craft out of the water just before the Marlow Mills and either enjoyed Gossmore or carried their canoes etc past the Lock on land. They could also land at the Compleat Angler by approaching via the backwater behind the weir and using steps to get up on land, according to contemporary guidebooks. For comparison, over the same 3 day period in 1893, 1,500 visitors arrived by train, mostly from London, with 1,300 returning home on the evening of the Monday. 

The pound lock itself was regarded as both attractive and dangerous by some. George Dunlop Leslie -  mentioned above - definitely thought it was the latter as it was an "old" lock with "many jagged piles and broken woodwork about it's sides". 

Marlow Toast rack sir?

Visitors could return home laden with souvenirs, thanks to the likes of energetic advertiser Rowes the jewellers. They made all kinds of Marlow keepsakes such as brooches and swan shaped toast racks. There were no shortage of places offering postcards but perhaps stationer and book seller William Aviss in the High Street with his "photographic depot of neighbourhood views" offered the most. Those wanting to take their own photographs could get tailored local advice from photographic journals on where and how to take the most attractive and becoming pictures, as so many had made the Marlow journey before. Those at the Lock should wait for a steam launch to arrive in the foreground of their shot, for example. This "greatly improves the composition" providing it was not too near, advised a 1901 photographers guide. 

Regatta time

Those visiting during the annual regatta could also buy a memento from the "card men" or roving postcard sellers, although they actually offered views of previous events of course. Some of these sellers had the reputation for being "sharps" or not entirely honest in their dealings. Better check your change!

Marlow has had more than one Regatta and they've gone by various names  - the Marlow and Maidenhead Regatta, Town Regatta, Rag Regatta, Marlow Rowing Club Regatta, Amateur Regatta etc. The event most relevant to those who worked professionally on the water was the Waterman and Fishermens Regatta which attracted fewer crowds but plenty of entries. For the other events, even those not watching or competing in the rowing, found the town transformed. The bridge was crowded with spectators, sitting or leaning on every available surface including the chains and railings. Complaints were sometimes made that the parked carriages completely blocked the way across the bridge. Those who got through to Marlow then had to dodge the rides, stalls and visitors of the fair that set up on the Causeway. Many of these were the same proprietors who visited Marlow during Marlow Fair although there was fewer of them. They did manage to spread down Station Rd and Institute Rd at times though, and others set up in Crown Meadow. 

The evening of the regatta usually saw a procession of boats decorated with lanterns, or a "Venetian fete" or "Water carnival". The best decorated boat won a prize. They must have made a beautiful sight to behold, especially as many riverside properties were also decorated with lights for the occasion. 

Sunday School fun

Sunday school outings were part of the summer for many youngsters. Burnham Beeches seems to have been the number one destination, but sometimes the little ones just enjoyed a high day closer to home. In 1877 for example, "legions" of them enjoy a tea in Remnantz meadow as part of a summer festival. 

Watercress gathering

Watercress was a summer harvest that would have occupied a fair number of locals at times. The majority of the beds were at Little Marlow as tended by Timotheus Brown early on. George Dunlop Leslie, describing a trip to the "charming village" around 1881, said the watercress beds were "very picturesque with their islands, footbridges and summer houses". He added that the beds were fed from a spring with slightly warm water which meant they never froze in the winter. This made them especially productive. Watercress was also grown in the meadows around Red Pits hill running towards the river and near to Medmenham. 

End of the summer

Swimming in the river (clothes optional) and the harvest home and harvest festivals that marked the transition to autumn feature in posts of their own. 

Marlow must have seemed a little quieter when all the visitors had departed, although some better off Marlow residents also found their way home after enjoying the season elsewhere. Some people might be pleased the "Harry's" had left but as the South Bucks Standard said in 1901 "the trade and prosperity of our town of our town depend for the most part on visitors who came for pleasure and recreation". 

The train service was reduced outside of the summer period, but Marlow was not quite ready to hibernate. There was Marlow Fair to stir the town up in October, and winter was the season of lectures and entertainments at the Town Hall, Music Room and the Institute. 

1905. 

Meakes and Redknapp Boathouse, Berkshire side. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

To read other posts about everyday life in old Marlow, see a list here

SOURCES

Fennell, John Grenville - The Rail and The Road or Tourist Anglers Guide to Waters and Quarters - (H. Cox 1867)

Hall, Samuel and Mrs - The Book Of The Thames From It's Rise To It's Fall (Virtue, 1877 2nd Edition)

Leslie, George Dunlop - Our River (Bradbury, Agnew & Co 1881)

Taunt, Henry - A New Map of the River Thames From Oxford to London, (Taunt, 1872).

Parliamentary Papers vol 16, Great Britain House of Commons, (1884 HMSO) 

Dickens Dictionary of The Thames from Oxford to the Nore 1880 Issue 2 (Dickens, 1880) and 1889 edition issue 1. 

 

A yearbook of Photography and Amateurs Guide - 1901. Author unknown. 

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

The Art Journal Vol 45 (Virtue and Company 1883)

The Marlow Guide, 1905. 

Diss Examiner, 28 August 1899. Copy from British Library, accessed via the BNA, August 2020. 

Bucks Herald, September 27 

1873, July 18 1914 as above

South Bucks Standard - 25th September 1891, 14 October 1892, 11th August 1893, 13 April 1894, 14th July 1899, 22 June 1900, 5 July 1901, 10 June 1904, 6 July 1906 as above

Bucks Gazette - 3 November 1832, as above

 London Courier and Evening Gazette 8 November 1832, as above

©Marlow Ancestors

The Brooks of the Crown and Cushion, Dean Street.

 The Crown and Cushion was a small beer house.

Frederick Brooks / Brookes took over the licence in 1873. With him was wife Harriet. The couple had married in Bisham Berkshire back in 1855. By then Harriet was a widow in her forty forth year, and the couple do not appear to have had any children. Harriet was baptised in Rickmansworth Hertfordshire, Frederick in Bisham. Both worked as paper makers prior to their marriage.

After their marriage Frederick became an agricultural labourer. He and Harriet lived on the 1861 census in Bisham but were away in Ealing 1871.

Why they decided to move to Marlow and become publicans is unknown.

Like many of the other Dean Street beershops the Brooks' premises also functioned as a cheap lodging house. It had what what was described as a "tramp ward" or dormitory as part of the premises. This attracted the poorer and most desperate of Marlow's visitors. 

In 1881 George Allen, a man who had slept the night there, left in the morning with the sheet and blanket from his bed. He received a sentence of 1 month's hard labour for the theft. Four men in total were lodging with Frederick and Harriet at the time of the census that year.

Frederick himself faced court in 1876 for allegedly serving an already drunk man. This would be a potential breach of his license. He was given the benefit of the doubt but in 1883 he was found guilty and fined for the same offence, and again for serving beer outside of permitted hours when 3 women were found incapable from drink in the "tramp ward" part of the guest lodgings. Another lucky escape followed the same year when police called and found two men and a woman passed out drunk on the premises. Frederick said he couldn't help their state as they were his lodgers, and had come in already drunk. The police found jugs and mugs of half drunk beer along side the inebriates and so viewed this excuse with some scepticism. They said the premises was "often filled with persons who were in the habit of fighting, swearing and creating a great noise." The court however said it could not be proved that the alcohol hadn't been purchased elsewhere so didn't endorse the licence but slapped on another fine. It was agreed that the Crown & Cushion was better conducted after this, at least as far as the law was concerned! 

 Frederick died in 1886 and Harriet took over the license. She held it for five years before her own death. The 1891 census taken just before she died, shows Harriet had expanded her lodger numbers to eight. It must have been crowded! 

James Edwards was the next landlord of the Crown and Cushion.

The pub closed as such in 1909 after breweries were forced to cut the number of local premises they ran. It was still operating as a lodging house though at least two years after that.

Related Posts:

Posts about life in Dean Street and neighbouring streets here

More beer sellers than bakers -Temperance in Marlow here

Lists of posts about everyday life in old Great Marlow here

To find all pub related content see the Pub option in the top drop down menu and the A-Z person listing for every mention of your ancestor no matter how small. 

See:

Censuses England and Wales 1851, 71, 81, 91 from Familysearch website ran by the LDS church. Accessed October 2020.

Bisham Parish Registers.

Great Marlow Parish Registers

Bucks Herald newspaper 12th November 1881 [theft by lodger] Copy held by the British Library, accessed via the BNA October 2020. Also Bucks Herald 1st December 1883, accessed as previous.

Maidenhead Advertiser 20 June 1883, Slough Libraries. 

1700s Quoiting Square People

The following occupied property in Quoiting Square, or Quoiting Place as it was then known, during the 1700s. Dates next to each persons entry are for when I know they were in Quoiting Square. Most of those listed did not own the properties they occupied. I have noted owners here only when they have a family link to the occupier. In some cases who owned the property is unknown to me. It is usually impossible to know exactly which property is being referred to- but I am working on it! Finding names of 1700s residents anywhere is very difficult. The fact I have any at all for any street in Marlow is down only to years of research. I'll never be able to find everyone but along with Kathryn I'll give it my best shot!

1700s residents of Chapel Street are available here and Dean Street here.

Mrs? Allen renting house and garden 1797.

James Biggs- 1717 occupier of a property.

John Butler. Part occupier of a cottage 1729. Robert Johnson occupied the other part. The cottage was owned by John's relative Robert Gray the Elder.

Richard Bye. Tenant of a property 1792.

Charles Carter. Occupier of a property but not it's owner 1729.

Sarah Davis. Tenant of a property 1792.

Thomas Gray. Occupier of a property 1729. Property owned by his father Robert.

Thomas Harmon, bargemaster. Owner and occupier of a house 1717 to death 1721.

Samuel Harmon. Resident of house adjoining the Salem Chapel 1796.

Roger Howard. Tenant 1717.

Robert Johnson part occupier of a cottage along with John Butler 1729. 

John Lattemore, brewer. Rented part of "the great cellar near Quoiting Place" 1739. This "Great Cellar" intrigues me but sources are thin. It had an ownership which was hazy and which caused legal dispute at least once. It seems anyone who could get down to it might use a corner! I think it was on the North side of West Street and was under multiple properties.

John Phillips occupied a cottage 1717.

George Rackstraw tenant of a two bedroom cottage and yard 1785.

Mary Stiles, widow. In 1717 occupied a home owned by her brother Thomas Harmon. He left this property to her in his will which was proved 1721. After her life it was to go to her son Richard Stiles. This may be the Quoiting Square property a John Stiles left in his will written 1751 to his relative Richard Smith.

James Toppall occupier of a property 1717.

John Topp. Tenant 1717.

The majority of this information comes either from wills I have ordered from the National Archives and transcribed, has been extracted from scouring property related documents from the Centre For Buckinghamshire Studies or has been extracted from auction reports, court cases or personal letters variously held. It is likely I have more people to add as my research notes are still largely unsorted.

1700s street listings for elsewhere in Marlow will be provided when time permits.

To search for people of interest on the blog use the Person Index option on the drop down menu. For more Quoiting Square content try the Specific Shops, Streets Etc menu option.  

For landlord listings for historic Quoiting Square premises see here 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this original research for family or local history purpose with credit to this blog and a link here.

Early Residents of Berwick Road Marlow *updated June 2025*

Berwick Road is not one of the older streets in Marlow in terms of being a residential address. But it did exist as a lane to the workhouse and to farm lands before any private homes were built there.

This post tells the story of some of the earlier residents of the road.

In 1909 scandal hit when Nellie Harvey, a married woman, was accused of "immoral conduct" with an unknown young man on Marlow Common. On the day in question she had claimed a sick headache and sent her children out to play while her husband was out at work.

James Belcher, landlord of the Chair Makers Arms pub in Dean Street Marlow spotted her, he claimed, "misbehaving" with a man who wasn't her husband. This he told her husband John at his place of work in the hearing of multiple work colleagues, not to mention the customers in both his pub and the Carpenter's Arms, and other people he happened to meet in Market Square. 

A furious Nellie sued him for substantial damages on a charge of slander for spreading these rumours.

This charge could only stick if the allegation wasn't true. Unfortunately for Nellie multiple witnesses disproved her statement that she had only gone out once for 5 minutes so couldn't possibly have gone off with any man as it was alleged that she had done. One of her neighbours in Berwick Road Thomas Patterson, an insurance agent, was amongst those who saw her meet and go off with a young man who had arrived in the road by bicycle. Laura Allen of nearby Workhouse Lane (now Munday Dean Lane) was another witness whose testimony went against Nellie. Laura said that the man walked with an arm around Nellie's waist. The rogue!

Nellie's sons Henry and Francis gave evidence on the other hand in support for Nellie's statement that she had felt unwell and had not gone off away from home at all. Though out at play with their sister they said they did look in at home several times during the afternoon in question and believed her to be at home every time.

The jury (obviously with the judge's approval) found for James Belcher. He was awarded costs. The unfortunate Harveys moved away from Marlow. In 1921 they were in Maidenhead when the magistrates ruled that John had deserted is wife and 4 children and made an order that he should pay towards their maintenance. 

Witness Thomas Patterson's wife later had her own day in court as a witness. She was amongst a number of Marlow housewives defrauded by a dishonest employee working at the Marlow Branch of the Co-Op in 1912. Money they paid off their grocery accounts was embezzled rather than credited to them.

The residents above were amongst the relatively few in Berwick Road in the Edwardian era. The area, historically known as The Berwicks, was largely agricultural and horticultural with meadows, small holdings and the town's parish allotments (established in 1886) predominant in the immediate vicinity. There were no houses in Seymour Court Road then. Another feature of the road in these early days was that a large number of the houses were given female names, such as Ruby Villas. In 1903 builder George Smith named Christina and Revina Cottages after his infant daughters, continuing this trend. These still bear the name of his little girls but the other homes in the road have generally lost their original monikers. The homes George Smith built were not perhaps as pleasant as their name suggested when they first went up. George was told off for allowing them to be occupied by the first residents before he had supplied them with adequate sanitation!  

It was some years before the street received any lighting.

Adding to the Berwick Road agricultural feel was James Price's horse dealership, a long term fixture there. In 1910 James was accused of allowing a work horse of his to be ill treated by an employee. He was acquitted.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

Related Posts:

Early history of nearby Seymour Court Road here

Chairmakers Arms list of landlords / history timeline here

Index to posts about other places in Marlow including Dean Street and the Workhouse in Munday Dean Lane here

To search for ancestors on the blog please use the Person Index option on the drop down menu. As of June 2022 over 6,000 people are mentioned.

See:

Buckinghamshire Examiner February 22nd 1909 copy at the British Library retrieved via the BNA. Accessed August 2020. [Harvey case]

South Bucks Free Press 19th Jan 1923 [Harvey aftermath]

Census my microfilm transcription.

Judicial research Jane Pullinger.

Marlow Almanack and Directory 1891. 

Marlow Guide & Directory, 1907. 

The Sad Case of Harriet Boddy

It is a cold but fair February afternoon in Great Marlow 1903. Hannah Allen, of Hatches Row by Dean Street is about her housework when her teenage granddaughter Eliza runs in. The girl tells her that there's a baby lying on the ground outside. A boy from the Holloway family she says, saw it first and asked her to look. Hannah glances out of her kitchen window. In the grass next to the rubbish pit known as Langley's Pit, used by the local council she can see certainly something, and she goes to investigate. 

Lying face down at the edge of the pit, is a naked, bloody newborn. Hannah remains calm. Though the child is not moving she knows that does not mean it is hopeless. She places her hand upon the little girl but finds her stone cold. Hannah removes her apron to give the girl a decent covering and sends Eliza for a constable.

The constable notes blood on the grass and a gooseberry bush by the pit. Possibly also in a privy by it which upon inquiry he finds is used by the Boddy family headed by John and Sophia of Marefield Passage. (Aka Maresfield)  Harriet Boddy, the 24 year old eldest daughter of the house is known to be expecting. 

Theirs is not a happy home. John and Sophia are by their own admission living separate lives under the same roof. They no longer share a room. The fact that Harriet has for the second time become pregnant by an unknown father is causing financial worry and resentment from the main breadwinner, dad John. With only a labourer's wage he is already a man who leaves for work at 5am at the very latest, often at 4am. He has said the child might have to go to the workhouse. His wife and daughters are no longer talking to him as a result.

Under the cover of Hannah's apron the infant is carried to the Verney Arms pub in Dean Street to await examination by a surgeon.

In the meantime the constable seeks Harriet. She is not at home but her sister directs him to their grandmother's house. There he finds her sitting with her three year old son Albert playing on her lap. She denies having given birth but agrees that a doctor can examine her.

Her grandmother takes her upstairs to await Doctor Culhane. His examination when he arrives is brief. The constable waits outside the bedroom door. Doctor Culhane tells him that there is no question about it-  Hannah has just given birth.

The constable takes her and her grandmother back to to Harriet's house in Marefield Passage. A trail of blood drips runs from the back door, up the stairs and to Harriet's bedroom. Someone has tried to wipe up a large puddle of blood on the floor beside her bed. The blanket is bloodstained.....

So began a case that horrified Marlow though it would not have surprised them. I have found multiple examples in Marlow history of dead babies being discovered in fields and ditches. Usually no parent was identified for them. The suspicion was always that the child was an illegitimate one stillborn or the victim of infanticide. At least one other case was in the immediate vicinity of Marefield.

The coroner's inquest on baby Boddy returned a verdict of wilful murder and a warrant was issued for Harriet's arrest. 

Her initial appearance in a court of law was at a special hearing at the magistrate's court where it would be decided whether or not to send the case to the Assizes. Harriet had spent the time since her arrest in jail without access to any legal advice.

Such cases were always extremely difficult. It seems that the blood on the child probably came from the birth process and a bleeding umbilical cord. There were no obvious injuries to the body. Neither were there signs of disease or malformation in the child's internal organs. Cause of death was in other words "unascertainable" using only the scientific evaluation available in the early 1900s. If the mother claimed that the child was born dead it was hard to prove otherwise. This was exactly what Harriet claimed. She said that she had not realised that she was so close to term. Her mother Sophia had intended not to leave her side close to her time. As it happened Harriet found herself alone at home when she felt labour pains. Within an hour, she said she had given birth to a stillborn child. She admitting taking the body out to the rubbish pit. Of very low intelligence according to most people who knew her, she had no real explanation for doing this. Possibly the trauma of it all. Any jury at the Assizes would have to consider whether Hannah was telling the truth or had as the prosecution argued killed her daughter by leaving her to die of exposure and bleeding by the rubbish pit.

John Boddy, Harriet's father gave evidence that suggested that the child was in fact born between 4 and 5 in the morning, hours before Harriet claimed. He said that he had heard an odd sound outside which he later took to be a newborn cry as he laced his boots before work. He also heard Harriet come in the back door just afterwards. If this was the case the entire family was at home at the time. Sophia Boddy and two other daughters would even have been sleeping in the same bedroom as Harriet. No one else in the family agreed with this version of events. Perhaps Harriet was moving about because of early labour pains, whether she was able to recognise them or not. The sound may have been her not a baby.  Why she would deny this can't be told. One thing is sure- her father's evidence was dangerous if excepted by a jury as it would destroy her claim that the child was born dead, never having drawn a breath or making a sound. It could seem to imply complicity in the concealment of birth, or worse, on the part of his wife and daughters who surely could not have failed to notice someone giving birth inches from where they slept. 

The case was sent to the Assizes. John Boddy's evidence either mistaken or even malicious was not given much weight. There a jury decided that a murder charge was not appropriate without evidence of any premeditation leaving the possible charges of manslaughter and concealing a birth still on the table. 

At this point Harriet did have a defence lawyer. She plead guilty to the concealment of birth charge only. This matched the jury's opinion by the time they heard all evidence. Her lawyer hoped she could escape without penalty given that by then she had spent 4 months in jail, was mentally incapable of proper judgement and had suffered enough already by losing the child she had been looking forward to having. In concealing the birth there could have been no premeditation. Harriet had not sought to hide her pregnancy from anyone. Nor had there actually been any real attempt to conceal the body. It was plainly visible where she had laid it. Her 3 year old Albert was not neglected. In fact he seemed a happy boy loved by his mother.

The judge was more hard-line than the lawyer or jury and said in his opinion the case bordered on manslaughter. He clearly had doubts that the child was really born dead. He imposed a sentence of 3 months hard labour.

Within a few years of the case Harriet's father died leaving Sophia and Harriet to support the family as charwomen. I do not believe Harriet ever married.

BACKGROUND:

Maresfield Passage- AKA Gas Alley in the case notes- no longer exists, neither does Hatches Row. The Boddy household had lived at Maresfield passage for many years.

There were other Boddy households in Marlow at the time. While many of those other Boddy individuals were related to one another their tie if any to John Boddy was not obvious to me upon very superficial research. John lived in Lane End before moving to Marlow. Sophia was née Collins. They married 1877.

Eliza Allen lived in Cambridge Road. She was 15 years old. She had Holloway cousins which probably included the boy who first saw the body.

Research sources:

Marriage, death and birth certificates from the GRO.

1881 and 1891 censuses transcribed by me from microfilm census page images held at a LDS family history centre., London. These would now be available online.

1901 census from Find My Past UK accessed March 2018.

Newspapers at the BNA accessed March 2018 / June 2020: South Bucks Standard 13th February 1903, Reading Mercury 27th June 1903, Bucks Herald 20th June 1903.

Great Marlow parish registers, old transcriptions by me.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

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So far this blog contains mention of

174

people from or associated with Marlow.