John Plater Will 1738

 John Plater yeoman of Great Marlow. Will written 1737. Proved 1738.

Says he sick and weak in body but of perfect mind and memory.

Places his soul in the hands of Almighty God.

Beloved wife Mary gets:

Message of tenement in Great Marlow with its garden orchard and wood yard which he bought ten years since from John Collett.

£100 to be paid out to her from his estate called Booker in the parish of West Wycombe and his little estate in Great Marlow called Square Close and out of his stock and implements of husbandry.

Household goods and furniture in the parlour and the chamber he lays in, his linen, the dresser with drawers in the hall, a dozen of his best pewter dishes, a dozen of his best pewter plates, his largest kettle, 2 porridge pots and any other household goods she wishes.

Rest of his estate to his beloved brother in law Ambrose Smith of Lane End in the parish of Great Marlow who is appointed executor.

[The will of a different Ambrose Smith proved 1726 is available on the blog here]

Witnessed by Robert Donham, Katherine Law and Sylvester Law. [Landlord of Upper Crown Inn]

This PCC will was transcribed and then summarized by me from a will held at the National Archives, Kew.

All mentions of someone on the blog can be found under the Person Index on the top drop down menu and more wills are under the Will Transcriptions index here

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this will summary for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog 

Homers Farm Marlow

Updated September 2023.

Although historically within Great Marlow Parish Homers Farm was about 3 miles from it, closest in fact to Booker. It was about half a mile from the turnpike road between Marlow and High Wycombe.

Description 1834= 123 acres 1910= arable and pasture farm.

Historic occupiers (these are not normally the same as owners and history timeline:

1742 Samuel Wellesley. 

1823= up for sale. It's proximity to the turnpike road between Marlow and Hug Wycombe is considered a distinct advantage. 122 acres of enclosed arable and meadow land and orchard, plus farm house, barns, etc. It's in "the highest state of cultivation, lying extremely compact, divided by quick hedges, in well proportioned fields in a ring fence completely surrounding the homestead." Has been occupied by the same (unnamed) family for 40 years who also have the freehold. (Windsor & Eton Express, 10 May 1823)

1833= Edmund Collins. Owned by Mrs Rose.

1840- George Hunt occupier leaving and selling off his farm stock including a crop of oats, 28 "meaty ewes", 8 horses or volts, some pigs, a barren cow, 70 fowl and bits of household furniture [Auction notice Bucks Advertiser 24th July 1840] .

1841- 1862 Thomas Greenslade. One of the Guardians of Great Marlow. In 1851 he has 120 acres employing 5 labourers. In 1861 92 acres being farmed (so some of farm may be let to others or sub let) and Thomas is employing 3 men 2 boys. Two geese stolen from him 1859.

1869- Richard Child. 

1870 - Freehold up for sale, tenant Richard Smith to quit at Michaelmas. The owner William Rose had recently died and his executors are to sell up. Includes residence, barns etc plus a "well sheltered farm yard" and a pair of workers cottages. 123 acres. Shooting in the estate was let separately to Lord Carrington whose land also adjoined the farm. 

1876-83 John Campbell. Wife Elizabeth. Both originally from Scotland. He was farming 123 acres 1881 and employing 2 men and 2 boys. 

1888- duck and drake stolen from farm.

1891-1901 John Campbell. Son of John and Elizabeth above. Sister Marion lived with him. Raised pigs and crops. Worker James Goodall who lives at the farmed fined 1893 for not sending 3 children to school. They may have been helping on the farm.

1903-1916 Miss Marian Campbell. Daughter of John and Elizabeth above. Born 1851. Her premises were very close to the Booker isolation hospital and Marian herself took in some residential patients for "open air treatment" as well as supplying produce to the hospital. In 1904 Marian gave evidence in the trial of a nurse at the hospital accused of burning it down out of anger for not being promoted to matron there. Marian had been told by the accused that she felt like setting fire to the bushes outside it but replied that it was a foolish idea and would set the whole place on fire. As it was two blocks went up in flames simultaneously which immediately made police suspect arson rather than accident. However nurse Isabel Livingston who was so hysterical in the dock the trial proceeded only with great difficulty was found not guilty of arson. See the South Bucks Standard 10th June 1904 for much more on this case.

Marian died at the farm 1916. Buried High Wycombe. Worshipper at Handy Cross church which no longer exists.

For more farm occupier posts Great Marlow see the Specific Shops, Streets Etc option on the menu here. For Little Marlow use the Nearby Places option here. You will also see a Person Index option on the menu to help you find every mention of a person on this blog. The General Marlow History option here contains other posts which may be of interest to you such as information on local harvest home celebrations or historic agricultural wages in Marlow. 

Farm occupancies identified from wills, adverts, trade journals, censuses, property records, court cases etc. I hope to fill in the gaps in dates as I wade through my Everest sized mountain of research notes.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

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

Crooked Billet Sheepridge Little Marlow

Sheepridge is a tiny hamlet -it consisted of 13 homes in 1902- by Little Marlow.

Historical Landlord listings for the Crooket Billet:

1858- 1876 Maria Smith. In 1862 she was fined for using two jugs of deficient measure in her pub. She died in 1876. She was the widow of John Smith. The two lived at Sheepridge from at least the time of the 1841 census.

1876-1877 John Smith briefly as Maria's executor.

1877-1881 James Carpenter. Wife Rosannah also worked behind the bar. She was punched in the face by a belligerent customer Henry Beaver of Marlow for refusing to serve him and his friends another pot of beer after they ran out of money to pay for it. As a serial offender Henry was sentenced to 6 weeks in prison with hard  labour. Bucks Herald 22 Feb 1879.

1881- 1882 William Lovegrove. Some references put him there 1883/4 but licence transferred 1882 to Moses Tranter. 

1882-91 Moses Tranter. A shepherd before he had a pub. Moses gave evidence against some poachers he had spotted near the pub in 1882. He had been summoned for poaching himself as a teen. In 1891 moved to the Queen's Head Little Marlow and was later at the Live And Let Live beerhouse in Booker. Moses died in 1896 after falling suddenly ill while gathering hay in a field at Boulter End. He was a only 47. Left Widow Hannah and children. See below.

1891- 1896 Thomas Twitchen

1896-1899 Joseph Pope.

1899- J W Tranter briefly.

1899- 1902 Hannah Tranter. Widow of Moses Tranter above. Hannah was née Bryant. She moved from the Live And Let Live in Booker which she had taken over from her dead husband.

1902-  Hannah Tranter, James Jennings

1903- Hugh Hames

1903- T Jennings (very briefly)

1903- 1906 William Quelch. In 1906 accused of opening his pub illegally on a Sunday, and the previous year 8 men were found drinking there after hours. 

1910- Harry Sarney.

1910- 1911 Charles Barnes.

1912- Arthur Bristow. 

Our listings focus on pre WW1 or 1920's publicans. 

Pub occupancies are determined by me from wills, censuses, court cases, adverts, property records etc. Dates next to a landlord are for when I have firm historic evidence of their occupancy. They may have been there earlier or later too. Ongoing research- I will fill gaps as I sift through my research notes.

To find other Pub landlord listings or histories see the Pub Related option on the menu. For other Little Marlow content choose the Nearby Places menu option. All mentions of an individual here can be found in the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.  

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