1700s Spittal Street People

It is very difficult to find home or business addresses for anyone in the 1700s so all references are precious! Look too at my post on 1700s Chapel Street people here as the two roads are a continuation of one another and our Marlow ancestors made no effort to properly distinguish between them. They sometimes used "Chapel Street" or "Chapel End" to refer to the entirety of Spittal Street and Chapel Street and vice versa.

John Carter  - tenant of a cottage 1721-31. A man of this name was sentenced to death for highway robbery in 1730 but a public appeal lead to a reprieve. More on this here.

Anne Garnett - widow tenant of house 1700. This came with a plot of land and barn but she may not have had access to them as the barn at least previously had been separately occupied from the house.

John Gibbons - tenant of a cottage 1721. Gone by 1731.

William Gunnell - owner and occupier of cottage 1710. He also owned the cottage next door occupied by Peter Silver. Wife Mary. I don't seem to have recorded his baptism when I looked at the original parish records but Find My Past has a Bishops Transcript record of a "William Gonnell" baptised 1674 to a William and Elizabeth which MAY be the baptism of this William  him https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBPRS%2FBUCKINGHAMSHIRE%2FBAP%2F000823538. A William Gu(n)nell senior died at Marlow in 1727 and a William junior in 1760. Probable marriage of William of Chapel Street is to Mary Wye 1705 Great Marlow .

Robert Malday - tenant of a house 1761.

John Phillips - tenant of a property 1721.

J Phillips - could be same as above. Paid £4 a year rent in 1731 for his cottage in Spittal Street. Next door to the property John Phillips above was in earlier. A John Phillips lived in a "Chapel Street" property owned by Abel Bird in his 1733 will. This may be the same property due to the perpetual confusion between Spittal Street and Chapel Street in the past. A John Phillips was an innholder in Marlow 1742 but Phillips was a common last name so the two Johns may not be the same man or even closely related.

1710 Peter Silver, gauger. A tenant of a cottage 1710. Next door neighbour of the Gunnells. Probably died this year.

William Weedon tenant of a property 1717. 

Compiled by Charlotte Day. 

To find posts about the 1700s residents of other Marlow streets, a recreated 1700-99 trade directory and other 1700s Marlow material see this index.

Edwardian residents of Spittal Street, household by household Part One and Part Two

All mentions of any person on this blog can be found on the Person Index pages on the left hand menu.

Compiled by Charlotte Day. ©Marlow Ancestors. 

Fullicks Grave and Research, Great Marlow

 

 

Running around the top and sides is the message "In Loving Remembrance For Ever"

Mary Ann Fullicks beloved wife of J R Fullicks d. Mar 29 1878 age 38 years. 

AND ALSO:

James Richard Fullicks d Easter Eve 1899 Aged 75 years

Research By Charlotte:

Mary Anne was nee Bird.

James Richard was the last of the Fullicks family in Marlow. He started his working life at Morgan's the drapers in Market Square. He then worked at other drapers. Later he moved with Mary Ann to Windsor but returned to Marlow as a widower. He died after contracting flu.

The couple had no children, or at least none that survived infancy.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use these images for family and local history purposes if you credit this blog.  

Hawkins Farm Occupiers and Timeline

 Mixed farm on the road to Frieth. 1833= 93 acres. There was a long history of gypsy families pitching their tents on a piece of rough grassland next to the farm and its environs were also a magnet for blackberry pickers coming up from Marlow in the 1800s. Hares were once abundant in this vicinity.

Occupiers of Hawkins Farm (who are not normally the owners) Gaps in dates are gaps in my knowledge. I will endeavour to fill them all in as I wade through my old research notes or do new research=

1574= Farm existed. The name seems to have come from a contemporary owner of part of the land. A Hawkins Lane was then close by, a now vanished address.

1833= RH Russell. Owned by Sir William Robert Clayton of Harleyford. 

1841= Richard Russell (census). His aunt Martha and sister Emma live with him. Note this is clearly the Henry Richard Russell mentioned below going just by "Richard".

1842= Henry Richard Russell. Henry seems to have owned the Coach and Horses pub in Marlow.

1851= Henry R Russell (census). Wife Susannah, aunt Martha Russell, sister Emma Russell and nephew Charles Russell also present and three live in servants.

1854= Henry Russell (Kelly's Directory).

1855-65= Richard Blackwell. Tenant. He may have given up Hawkins following a damaging fire in which two horses burned to death in his stables and buildings were damaged. [Reading Mercury 23rd September 1865, British Library Archives, via the BNA]. Does not appear to have resided in the farmhouse.

1865-77= Thomas Elliot who went bankrupt. Tenant. Wife Mary, who sold eggs from the premises. Thomas grew oats and wheat and raised cattle and pigs. In 1873 Giles Lawrence a long term employee on the farm, William Swadling who had been sacked from there the day before and 2 casual employees of Mr Elliott were accused of stealing oats from the farm. [Bucks Free Press 10th October 1873] In 1875 his 13 year old worker Stephen Higgs was killed by a runaway cart in his charge while gathering hay at the farm. The boy had apparently fallen off it and was then trampled. Strong comments were made at the inquest at the wisdom of leaving such a team under the control of such a young lad. He was tenant to owner Sir William Clayton.

1882-87 William Creswell / Cresswell tenant to owner Mr Crossman. William was a troublesome man himself and it seems that his workers weren't much better= William Swadling his carter was fined for being drunk in the Hand and Flowers (possibly the same man as the alleged oat thief above), Thomas Bird his carter was warned for prolonged blocking of the road with his cart in Marefield and John Jones his general agricultural labourer was fined for working a horse with an open pressure wound under its collar. Full biography of William Cresswell / Creswell here.

1901-02 (probably by 1897). Henry Brown, a cattle dealer. Wife Mabel. They moved to Harleyford Farm by 1911.

1924= Miss Potts?

1929= Mr S Keene.

1933= some of the land sold for building land.

1939= Sidney Keene. 

1944= Mr Keene. 

1954= Mr S Keene.

To find all mentions of any individual on this blog see the A-Z Person Index. Thousands are mentioned. Other Marlow and Little Marlow farm histories and occupier posts on this blog are indexed here.

Census information is my transcription or that of Jane Pullinger from microfilm. Census information remains Crown Copyright.

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

Bird Brooks Research And Graves Great Marlow

 

Above two, James Bird Brooks d. Aug 1896 Age 70

And Rosina - details obscured but see research below.

Above, a different James Bird Brooks grave d. Dec 1st 1852 age 62 years

AND:

Mary, wife of the above Dec 28th 1860 age 74. 

In All Saints Parish Church. 

Research by Charlotte:

The bottom grave is for James Bird Brooks who was baptised at Marlow in 1790 (to William and Mary who was nee Bird) and his wife Mary. The Berkshire Chronicle announcing her death said that she was "much respected" and had died after a lingering illness. 

The top grave is for their son James Bird Brooks (baptised 1825) and his wife Rosina nee Barnes (married Hoxton New Church 1847, both parties of Great Marlow).

James Bird Brooks Senior was a baker and corn dealer, a combination of occupations which was very common at the time. By 1833 if not earlier the bakery was in the Causeway, Marlow. See here for a description of the premises in 1833. It is still a bakery today.

Young George Moody was sentenced to one week's hard labour in 1847 for cheating James Senior out of 10 shillings.

In 1848 James Senior was the executor of the will of Martha Cleobury a gentlewoman of Chapel Street (see here).

When James died he requested that his wife take over his business with their youngest son William to assist her. He was to receive a third of the net profits when he turned 30 provided he continued to assist her and then take over fully once she died.

James Junior was a farmer at Finnemoor Farm at Ackhampstead chapelry just outside Marlow by 1847. The will of James Senior suggests that James Junior was at first running the farm for his father  as the furniture in the farmhouse and the crops growing in the fields belonged to James Senior who was perhaps growing wheat and corn for his business there. James Senior was renting the property back in 1833.

James Junior was one of the overseers of Ackhampstead. Both James Junior and Rosina died at Finnemoor Farm House. Rosina's death was in 1861 when she was 71. Being a little isolated the farm was sometimes targeted by poachers and thieves after hen eggs or the turkeys raised there. Two daughters of James and Rosina died as young adults. Their graves are photographed on the blog here.

Siblings for James Junior were: Amelia (mentioned in the will of Martha Cleobury above), Jane, Sarah (married Marlow stonemason William Clifford, son also William who became a baker too. More on him here), and William who took over the family bakery business. Jane married William Hall the Marlow butcher of whom more here. She and her surviving siblings and their children all received legacies from James Senior in his will proved 1853. James Senior at the time of the will's writing in 1851 had 4 cottages in Woburn Buckinghamshire plus at Marlow his premises, 3 other cottages on the Causeway, 2 other nearby cottages, and cottages on Strong Beer Acre, Marlow (off what we now call Station Road).

The brother of James Senior, Joseph, was a farmer at Blounts with a William who was probably another brother.

More posts related to people of the Causeway, Marlow indexed here

Photos and headstone transcription by Kathryn, research by Charlotte.

References:

Will of James Bird Brooks. P.C.C. Copy held at the National Archives, Kew and transcribed by Charlotte Day.

Post office directory of Berkshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, with Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Huntingdonshire [afterw.] The Post office directory of Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire. (1847). United Kingdom: (n.p.).

Reading Mercury 4th December 1852 and 18th April 1874. British Library Archives, via the BNA.

Bucks Chronicle 5th January 1861. As above.

Windsor and Eton Express. 16th January 1847. As above.

Robson's Commercial Directory 1839.

1833 Parochial Assessment for Great Marlow transcribed from originals in my possession by Charlotte Day.

Great Marlow Parish Registers, transcribed by Jane Pullinger from the originals.

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

1833 Parochial Assessment Lane End Part One

 As Lane End was part of the parish of Great Marlow in Buckinghamshire it is covered by my original 1833 parochial assessment notebooks for that parish, which are held by my family. These were the working notebooks used by the assessors to compile the local tax assessment for 1834. My notebooks also contain additions and corrections for several years afterwards and scrap related correspondence related to the assessment.

©Marlow Ancestors. Freely use quotes from this transcription for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog.

Any notes by me are in square brackets.

Corrections and amendments to the original notes seems to have been done in the notebook up to circa 1839 and will be noted in my transcription too if they occur in these parts of the assessment.

Charles Fletcher

Property occupied:

Crown Inn house, garden, "etc"

Annual value of property: £9 10 shillings

Also occupies:

Shoemaker's shop

£2

Small orchard

£1

Orchard by Marks 

£3

*****

William Jarvis

House and garden

£5

*****

William Collins

Cottage and garden

£4

Meeting House [note added in brackets afterwards "if rated"]

£7

*****

Jeremiah Almond

Cottage

£3

*****

William Catton

Yard, barn, shop, sheds and garden

£6

House and garden

£6

Orchard, stable and shed

£4

Small garden

10 shillings

*****

James Bird

Cottage and garden

£4 10 shillings

*****

Thomas Hackstraw

Cottage and garden [pencil note added later: " part of garden"].

£3 10 Shillings

*****

Thomas Marks

Beer shop house, yard, stable [pencil brackets later put around the word stable] and garden

£7

*****

?Ramsey [no first name, last hard to read could be Ramey, even Rancey. Later the name "Denham" added in pencil without Ramsey name being crossed out]

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Joseph Lovegrove

House, yard, stable, carthouse, sheds and garden

£10

*****

Edward Tundall

House and garden

£5

*****

William Janes

House, yard and garden

£5

*****

William Lee

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Widow Biggs

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Thomas White

Cottage and garden

£4 10 shillings

******

Joseph Dean

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Samuel Harris

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Henry Gray

Cottage, garden and stable

£5

*****

Martha Bateman

Cottage and part of yard

£3

****

To be continued..

Look at Nearby Places on the menu for more Lane End content.

The Person Index lists every mention of any individual on this blog. Find it in the top drop down menu.

1700s West Street Residents

Updated March 2023.

 I glean every possible will and property record to gather the names of those who lived in West Street in the 1700s. The date next to each name is the date I find reference to them there but they may have been present earlier and later. This post is for the OCCUPIERS not owners of property. In most cases in the 1700s the two are not the same thing. The precise buildings cannot usually be identified but I am working on it!

Multiple people in the same family can bear the same name so don't automatically presume that a "John Smith" here is your particular "Joe Smith"!

Alice and Robert Beckford. He was a hoop shaver and owned their West Street home, though they only occupied part of it. This was described in his will written 1730 and proved 1731.

David Beckford 1751. Occupied part of the house formerly occupied by Alice and Robert Beckford above, which had been inherited by the Beckford's daughter.

John Biggs. Tenant of a cottage 1733. This was probably on the North side, close to Potlands.

Abel Bird. "The youngest Abel Bird" Shoemaker resident 1754. There were multiple Abel Birds about, the Bird family owned several West Street properties as well as some elsewhere in Marlow such as in Chapel Street.

William Bradshaw, market gardener, tenant of lands. 1709-26. Now part of Borlase playing fields.

Samuel Bradshaw, market gardener, tenant of lands off West Street South side 1735. 

Thomas Cook. Tenant of house and land 1784-91. This appears to be on the way out of town. Owned by William Bishop who farmed at Winter Hill.

John Cox in 1751 occupied part of the same house (divided into two) that David Beckford also occupied.

J Dalmes Esquire. Tenant of Remnantz 1787.

Elizabeth Davis. Albion House. Running a school 1785. Same property as used by Sophia Tylecote, below.

Ann Gray - occupier 1792. North side. Likely widow of Benjamin Gray, bricklayer, who died 1791.

Thomas Gray - Bricklayer (and possibly carpenter) 1754.

Parmenus Grey. Labourer. Tenant of a North side cottage 1722.

William Glanville. Tenant 1729.

John Goldsmith. Tenant of a cottage West End (so on way out of town) 1767.

Anne and Thomas Handley. 1758. He owned the house that they lived in. He died in 1760 and left this and some land in Oxford Road to Anne for her lifetime.

James Harding. Tenant of a cottage West End (West Street from about Borlase onwards going out of town) 1767.

Mathew Hawes. Surgeon resident 1798.

Ann Hobbs, Mrs. 1774 to death 1787. More on her with a photo of the premises here 

Thomas Hussey, of the Ship Inn. Tenant 1792. All landlords for this pub here

William Johnson. Tenant 1733.

John Lane. 1787+ (probably 1785+) Running an ironmonger's shop. Took over from Ann Hobbs above. More, including a photo of the premises as they are today here

Ann Lockwood, widow. Occupier and owner of a cottage North Side 1726. She had bought the cottage in 1707 from her relatives Richard and Ann Lockwood who lived nearby in West Street but did not immediately occupy it herself.

Richard and Ann Lockwood. Owner occupiers of a North side cottage 1709. Relatives of the Ann Lockwood above, whose home they had also once owned.

Robert Moore. A baker. Owned and lived in a house 1795. Left it to his sister Susan.

Edward Neighbour. Landlord of the Coach and Horses 1783 till death 1787. Wife Lydia who inherited all his liquors and other possessions. Landlord listing for this pub here

Thomas Ollis. Ran the Three Tuns. 1798 to after 1800. Will 1808 summarized here.

William Phillips. Owner and occupier. Will 1749.

Thomas Pither. Occupier cottage North side 1709.

James and Sarah Puddifant. Late 1700s. He was a pawnbroker, biographical post about them here.

George Rackshaw. Tenant of a cottage, South side 1726. Neighbour of John Smith.

Thomas Redding. Tenant of cottage and land 1791. Seems Henley Road end.

Stephen Remnant. Owner and sometimes occupier Remnantz. 1753 -1787. After that owner only. Also later 1700s had some land on the other side of the street. Biography post here

Cornelius Richardson, hatter. Occupier 1754. Unknown if owner.

John Smith. Occupier 1726. South Side. Neighbour of George Rackshaw.

William Smith, cordwainer in West Street 1779-98. North side. The Smiths were still boot making in West Street, albeit on the other side of the road well into the 1800s.

Richard Truss. Tenant 1762. North Side.

Sophia Tylecote. Running school from and living Albion House 1795 to post 1700s. Apparently tenant at first but the house was owned by 1809 by her husband Jeffrey, a banker. Read more here

William White. Occupied part of a house in West Street 1730, owned by Robert Beckford above.

Elizabeth Wright. Landlady Duke's Head pub. 1761.

Related Posts:

To find every mention of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. As of April 2022 there are more than 4,000 individuals listed there. 

For an index of posts related to West Street in general see the listing here

Everyday life in old Great Marlow:

here

Post listing for West Street pubs, ale houses etc here

Recreated 1700s trade directory here

Residents of 1700s Spittal Street here

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

Blounts / Blunts Farm Marlow

Historic occupier list. Occupiers are not necessarily the owner. Dates given are where I find firm evidence of someone being in occupation at the farm, they may have been present earlier or later too. 

Note= the name of the farm may spring from William Blount who was present in Marlow in the early 1400s. Perhaps he or his family owned or rented land that was or would become this farm.

Updated April 2026.

1587 Thomas Ponde sold it to Brinkhurst of Lane End, his relative. The later will of Thomas is on the blog here. 

1640 - John Langley.

1783 & 1788 William Brookes. Tenant to Nathaniel Micklem of Hurley. 

1815-18 Joseph and William Brooks. Probably brothers.

1833-1850 John Gibbons. Tenant to a Mr Micklem in 1833. Blounts then consisted of 173 acres. John also occupied Copy Farm in 1833. He retired from Blounts in 1850. Also at Widmere Farm. See here. At the time of John's retirement, there is a grand sale of stock. The animals on offer include "7 short legged powerful cart-horses", a 4 year old "well bred brown nag" who is a good roadster and hunter, and two handsome heifers. Also available to buy are 4 market waggons, 3 strong dung carts, a market cart, plough and cart harnesses for 8 horses, and the usual selection of ploughs, ladders, troughs, hurdles, turnip and chaff cutters etc. 

1854- Richard Blackwell, bailiff to the non residential owner who I think was still a Micklem.

1857-60 "Messrs Hewett", that is John and William. In 1857 sheep and corn stolen from them in different incidents. In 1859 their ploughman was charged with horse cruelty. William died aged 68 in 1860 on the farm. 

1860-67 John Hewett above. John died age 67 in 1867. Wife Sarah. Their daughter Sarah later married James Curtis of Wood Barn Farm, Little Marlow. Sarah senior died in 1893.

1869-76 William Thomas Bird. In 1871 summoned his carter John Edwards for allegedly stealing a pint of beer from him [Henley Advertiser 8th April 1871]. William moved to Abbey Farm Little Marlow but went bankrupt 1878. Note that earlier occupiers Joseph and William Brooks were related to the Bird family.

1883- Thomas Elliott? Kept sheep on the farm but was he the farmer?

1886- J and E Micklem owners but not living there. Bailiff Richard Sumner.

1888-89 Farm and the stock on it up for sale.

1889- 1899. Dr Francis Laking. Knighted 1893.  Resident only during the summer. Runs very exclusive West End doctors practice, with royal clients. In 1892 bailiff is John Warren. In that year a temporary worker on the farm George Cellam died from his burns after a fire there. George came from a Mr Mitchell of Burnham with a threshing machine hired to thresh barley at Blounts. He and other workers went drinking in the Royal Oak Bovingdon Green in the evening then returned to the farm to sleep the night up against the barley rick. Some of them had pipes and it was thought later that hot ash from one of those must have ignited the rick. That and the threshing machine were destroyed. George was taken to the Royal Oak and from there in a cart to Marlow Cottage hospital but died. [Some details from South Bucks Standard 26th February 1892]. There was no water sufficiently nearby to douse the rick and without that the Fire Brigade could not assist. In 1894 mains water was ran up to the farm for the first time. 

In 1893 Francis hosted a children's athletics sports event, with "useful" prizes such as cruet sets and teapots which perhaps does not strike us as the most exciting gifts for the youngsters. However each also recieved  a silver coin minted that year. Guy Laking is the starter. Over 200 children enter the races. A sumptuous tea is provided thanks to Mr Carter of Marlow and the Town's Drum & Fife band also attend. 

Dr Laking also raised pigs and heifers and grew oats and wheat on the farm. He purchased Clarefield, Maidenhead Thicket, on leaving Blounts. 

Gardener to Dr Laking  - Alan Axten 1894. (Lived Blounts Cottages.)

1899-1926. Walter Wethered. His farm manager and gardener was James Platt from at least 1903. James was still the farm manager in the late 1930s but I am unsure if this was for Walter or someone else.

1940- Mrs Heath. Lives with a butler, cook and other servants so property perhaps more of a home with land now.

Farm occupancies are compiled by me from advertisements, trade journals, censuses, court cases, property records and more. As I sort my research notes mountain I will probably add more information.

To search for other farm posts like this see the Specific Shops Streets Etc option on the top drop down menu. To look for a particular person use the Person Index.

© Marlow Ancestors. If using this research credit this blog and link here but you are welcome to do so. 

Munday Dean Great Marlow History -UPDATED November 2025

 First some photos taken March 2021:

Denelands Farm, above

Munday Dean Farm, above

Munday Dean farm barn, above

Monday Dean Farm, above 

Munday Dean Lane, above, was widened in December 1905. 

Some History:

Richard Corby, yeoman had Munday Dean Farm in 1721. In his will proved the next year he left the farm house with pasture, arable and wooded lands to his son Robert. Possibly the lease only.

In a will written 1788 and proved the next year widow Elizabeth Plumridge widow of William left her messuage (house), cottages, garden, yard and land at Munday Dean, apparently the farm, to trustees for the benefit of Richard Corby of Red Pits near Marlow her "poor kinsman" until Richard's son Thomas was 21 then to Thomas himself. At that time the property was being rented by James Hollworthy. She also Richard and Thomas a cottage with barn, small meadow and garden at Hambledon which a Thomas Stallwood then occupied. Thomas Corby was to pay his brother Ambrose a guinea from the estate. Elizabeth's will was very long and detailed even specifying that the soil in the ground on her land belonged to Richard then Thomas! She didn't bequeath the worms in the earth to them but she probably just forgot about that... 

Elizabeth Corby had married William Plumridge at Hughenden 1757.

A Thomas Corby Senior, probably the same man as in Elizabeth Plumridge's will, still occupied some 67 acres of land at Munday Dean in 1833.

William Webb was a husbandmen also working part of Munday Dean Farm by 1773 until his death in the late 1790s.

Thomas Jonathan Oxlade left in his 1822 will his one third part of Munday Dean Farm with several cottages and woodland amounting to 20 acres. It was then in the tenure of Robert Oxlade and Richard Russell.

In 1829 the farm was in the occupation of Elizabeth Sawyer and Thomas Wyatt.

In 1861 Munday Dean Farm was in the tenure of John Simmonds and amounted to 87 acres. John lived there with his wife Catherine children and 2 young employees- 11 year old shepherd Matthew Bird and 15 year old George Wells who was working as a carter.

In 1883 labourer Henry Beaver was convicted of stealing 14 pieces of wool from the farm, which was then the property of General Owen Williams. The estimated value of the wool was £14 12 shillings 6 pence.

The farm bailiff in 1885 was James Langford.

In 1905 the farm was up for sale and consisted of a 5 bedroom farmhouse, cowhiuse, granary, carthouse, piggery, stable, orchard and 4 cottages. It was then reckoned to be 104 acres.

It was the home of Lady Joan Hartwell in 1930 when she was summoned for driving her motor car without a licence in High Wycombe.

*****

In 1895 further down Munday Dean Lane, nearer to Marlow, Frank Collins was found to be gambling in the highway with a game of chance and summoned to court to be fined. Slightly out of the way country lanes or little frequented town alleys were favourite places for young men to gather together to play illicit games of dice and marbles for money.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day. Photos and additional research by Kathryn Day.

Sources:

Will Richard Corby, PCC. Transcribed by Charlotte. Copies can be obtained from the National Archives.

Bucks Herald, Dec 1883. Copy held at the British Library Archives and accessed via the British Newspaper Archive.

South Bucks Standard July 1895, 2 March 1906. As above.

Will from the National Archives Kew transcribed by Charlotte: Elizabeth Meadows 1857, Elizabeth Plumridge 1789.

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire 1883. Published by Kelly's Directories Limited.

Property records held by my family.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use these research or images for family or local history purposed with credit to this blog and a link here so that the sources listed above do not lose credit for the information which they provided.

 

Lane End Historic Landlords #3 Clayton Arms

Clayton Arms, Lane End>

Compiled from adverts, censuses, court cases, property record etc. 

*UPDATED FEB 2026*

 This pub is not to be confused with a pub of the same name in Marlow. Both were under the jurisdiction of Great Marlow for licensing and census purposes.

The pub was sometimes used for property auctions and coroner's inquests. It was also the site of the Lane End Agricultural Society annual dinner from at least 1838. The pub usually seems to have been let along with nearby meadows. Sir William Clayton used the pub for the resurrected Court Leets for his manor in the 1860s and 1870s. (The one held on 21st June 1866 was the first for 18 years)

Post ©Marlow Ancestors. If using this research content give credit to this blog and link here.

1844 - Charles Fletcher?

1852- David Bigg.

1859- William Savage. Also a farmer. Described as a "working millwright and publican" in 1864. 

1864-67 Jane Savage, widow of above. She died in 1867. Also a farmer. The contents of the pub and farm were sold off by auction following her death. From this we can see that she grew fir trees for wood, raised a crop of wheat and had a few milk cows.

1870- Mrs Hatch, later Samuel Sears.

1870-75 Joshua Seers / Sears. Regarded as a generally "well conducted house" so got away with 50s fine for staying open outside of allowed hours in 1873, and the licence was not endorsed. 

1875-76 Zilpah Sears widow of Joshua Sears above.

1876-85 Charles Bird.

1885-87 Frederick Goodchild. He had transferred from the Osborne Arms Lane End.

1887- 91 Frederick Moss. Also farmed. Sold up and left the village.

1891-92 Albert Hanks.

1892- Mary Lucinda/Lucina  Hanks, widow of Albert above briefly.

1892- William Barley? Most likely Varley. 

1893- Henry Hawes.

1897-1901 Sarah Varley took over from her deceased husband William Varley who had died suddenly at the age of 49. She had found him unconscious in bed. The parish nurse Kate Byrne tried and failed to revive him with application of mustard and water to his throat and legs and by artificial resuscitation. Found to have had an apoplectic fit [South Bucks Standard reporting Feb 5th 1897, British Library Archives].

1907 - Harry Darton. 2. James Henry Coles

1909-15 William Oakley.

1921- Mr Oakley

1939- Jack Oakley

Many more landlords to to come!

 Look at the Pub Related option here for previous posts.

To find every mention of an individual here see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. There's over 6,000 people listed there. 

To see every post relating to Lane End and around see the index here

© Marlow Ancestors

This Way For Healthy Masculine Exercise

 In the 1890's gymnastics was undergoing a period of being strongly in fashion locally. Apparently a town of "any size could boast of a gymnasium" hereabouts, with one glaring exception - Marlow. Reflecting on letters it had recieved on this subject, the South Bucks Standard thought it inconceivable that a town that prided itself so much on sporting success should be so behind the times. The practice of gymnastics was very invigorating they thought. Soon after this a meeting was held, presided over by Mr F O Wethered, in which it was resolved to start a gymnastics club for young men, with Wethered as president.

So in March 1896, membership enrolment began with 100 names submitted. Sergeant Palmer, drill instructor at Borlase and Mr Baxter who was involved with other gym clubs, agreed to offer training. There was no young man for whom a course of properly directed gymnastic training would not be of benefit they thought. It would develop strength and discipline. The Music Room, aka the Lecture Hall (now the Masonic centre, St. Peters Street) was chosen as their meeting place. They met only during the winter season, twice weekly with the two instructors alternating attendance. All of their exercises were performed to piano music. 

They had a practice place, an instructor and eager pupils, but what they lacked at first was any equipment. Neighbouring gymnastics clubs kindly put on fundraising displays solely intended to benefit the new club, with Boyne Hill and Maidenhead at the fore. The latter had a gymnasium in Queen Street, Maidenhead and maintained a long bond with Marlow, the two often putting on joint shows. Maidenhead also had the habit of lending one or two of their experienced performers to assist Marlow in a display. When Instructor Palmer left to take on a position at the Merchant Taylor School, Maidenhead man G W Phelby took over. By November 1898, they had enough apparatus to declare themselves possessors of a gymnasium although this was just the Music Room in another guise, the equipment stashed away between gym sessions. 

Dozens of keen young gymnasts offered a good opportunity for the likes of WB Langston, boot and shoe seller. He had opened a second shop facing his first in Marlow High Street and this would specialise in sporting and leisure shoes including those designed for gymnastic use. 

Each year, the Marlow gymnasts would compete against each other in pursuit of medals, before an audience of ladies and gentlemen. The  overall champion was crowned for getting the highest score across the different disciplines. In 1897 this honour went to J Meakes. As well as this there were regular exhibitions of "strength and agility" presented in the form of a competition. The young men showed off their skills using barbells, Swedish dumbbells, horizontal bars, and a vaulting horse as well as performing jumps and tumbles, all to accompaniment of suitable piano music. To be honest some of these exhibitions sound like a endurance test for the audience, lasting several hours and encompassing comic and musical interludes. The end of season performance in 1900 came to well over 3 hours of "bright tripping music" and gymnastic stunts. No longer just showing off the likes of their barbell and horse skills, the boys included a performance of clowning, sword exercises, military style drill, "comic boxing" , and the formation of human pyramids. The audience showed no signs of fatigue according to reports, which may not be true of the young performers at the end! Relief for the latter came when a more serious boxing match took centre stage - Rippington V Broadbent - two well known local pugilists. After this, the evening came at last to a close.

The club acknowledged that the use of the music room was not an ideal space performance wise, but they were too short of funds to consider hiring bigger facilities. They did manage on one occasion to secure the use of a large temporary gazebo erected for a fundraising ball at the rear of the Institute when the latter had finished with it. But by 1899, the club was already facing a deficit in funds. They were nevertheless determined to continue as the club had been started to give the youth of Marlow an aid to "healthy development" and they still felt the cause was a worthy one. However membership began to decline, with fewer youths willing to commit to the twice weekly practice. This and the chronic lack of funds caused the club to be wound up in 1903. The equipment was sold off at a knock down price to the Boys Life Brigade, who would also use the Music room. Marlow's entertainment scene would never be the same!

Known members:

Alfred Davis Junior

L Smith Junior (treasurer)

J Carter Junior (hon.  secretary)

J Meakes

W B Taylor

A H Harman

Q Bird

A Young

A J Tugwood

L Holland

P Charter (Carter?)

S Arber

G David

Above, a part of the Borlase school gymnasium as it stood in c1905. There had been some argument about the relative access day and boarding boys got to this facility. 

To read a post on the Victorian cyclists of Marlow see here

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SOURCES

South Bucks Standard 20 September 1895, 9 April 1897, November 29 1898, 6 October 1899, 23 March 1900, 24 April 1903 - copies from the British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA.

Maidenhead Advertiser 21 December 1900, as above

Watson, James Madison -Handbook of Callisthenics and Gymnastics - a complete drill guide for schools, families and gymnasiums. (E Steiger, 1889)

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