Will of Edmund Stone 1709

 Will of Edmund Stone, mercer of Great Marlow. Written 1705 with a codicil 1706. Proved 1709.

A very long and complex will with plentiful crossings out.

Commits soul to God.

Asks to be buried at Cookham with his family.

Appoints for the period of 12 years two of his friends as trustees for property that is to go afterwards to his grandson. Edmund Stone Austin. Friends are Jonathan Hammond of Great Marlow and John Lee of Cookham. If Edmund Stone Austin has no sons then property to his brother Valentine Stone Austin. If Valentine has no sons then property to his brother John Austin. If John has no sons then property to testator's daughter Elizabeth Austin and her heirs male.

Property involved is:

9 acres of meadow in Bray Meade and Wickets Meade in Bray Berkshire.

Close nearest ....Pond called Long Leys.

Messuage or tenement with appurtenances and 2 acres arable Braywick, side nearest Long Lane.

6 messages or tenements and appurtenances in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Messuage or tenement with appurtenances at North Towne with 2 and a half acres lying dispersed in Cookham Field.

My message or farm with all its closes, land, meadow, pasture and woods in Wooburn Buckinghamshire.

All other messuages he may have.

Son Nathaniel Austin owes testator £200 in bonds for which little interest has been paid. In turn testator owes Nathaniel a £500 mortgage on the above property with 2.5 acres in North Towne. This property was bought in the name of the testators daughter because at the time it was a "troublesome" period for Protestant Dissenters. Though in her name the family understood that it was really the testator's property. Nathaniel has various goods at his house which belong to testator. These are to be sold and the money put towards paying off the £500 mortgage. Nathaniel is the preferred chapman to handle the sale. If he wants to buy the goods himself at full value he can. The rent for that property is to be paid to the trustees. They can ask for it to be given over for sale by them at any time.

Out of all the property wife Dorothy gets an annuity of £20 paid in quarterly installments for the 12 years the properties are under the trustees. Rest of income is to be put out in such way as to get interest. Once Dorothy has her annuity, and enough is raised to pay off the £500 mortgage, £100 is to raised from the property so it can be given as a lump sum to Edmund Stone Austin at 21. If he dies before that money descends to Valentine Austin, or if not to John Austin or to the daughters of testator's daughter or to other heirs of daughter Elizabeth herself in that order of precedence. 

Trustees 1 guinea each. They to reimburse themselves the expense of keeping the properties in good repair.

Household goods in my dwelling house to wife Dorothy for life.

All residual property to wife Dorothy who is made executor.

Witnesses John Welles, Mary Welles and Robert Peck.

Codicil 1706:

Jonathon Hammond and John Lee removed as trustees and testator's friend Nathaniel Micklem the elder and his brother in law Richard Gray also of Hurley made trustees instead.

The profits of his property now to go to his wife Dorothy for the first 6 years of the trusteeship.

Grandson Valentine now gets £100 at 21 too. If he dies before that it to go to his brother Edmund or if not to his brother John .

Transcribed and then summarized  from a PCC will held at the National Archives Kew.

All mentions of any individual on this blog can be found on the Person Index. This included over 4,000 people.

Index to other Great and Little Marlow wills here: here

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

Becking Farm / Beacon Farm Marlow Occupiers

Becking Farm later known as Beacon Farm, Great Marlow was near to Booker. The farm was 120 acres in extent in 1709 and 109 acred in 1861. Note this farm is often owned and sold in tandem with Seymour Court, Seymour Court Farm and Tippocks/Triphooks. 

Historic occupiers (who are not usually also the owners):

1709- farm existed. Unknown occupier but Etheridge family look to have owned it. (Etheredge)

1789 - freehold owner or possibly leaseholder (conflicting primary sources) John Johnson Esq of Seymour Court. John died 1821.  

1791-1811 Benjamin Stallwood. Left the farm and moved to Old House Farm, Handy Cross as all the protected game in Sir William Clayton's private game preserve next to Becking Farm kept escaping onto Benjamin's farm and destroying his crops. The damage done was to the tune of £80. Benjamin faced ruin but was mocked by Clayton when he appealed for compensation. His sympathetic landlord John Johnson of Seymour Court Marlow tried to help by advertising for people who knew what they were doing to shoot the straying game and then, when that was insufficient, offering him the rental of Old House Farm instead. Benjamin remained at Old House until 1831. In the years after the game fiasco Benjamin wrote several times to the press to describe the pain he felt at what had happened. His case was also widely used to illustrate the injustice of the Game Laws that allowed rich peoples "sporting" interests to override the basic needs and wellbeing of other country people.  

1814- James (?) Johnson owner as above seems to have been farming it himself.

1822-1830 George Lunn. Wife Mary who died 1822. He died 1830. He also by then farmed at nearby Seymour Court Farm where he actually lived. In his will he left all his farm stock to his nephews Edward and William Poulton. Grew oats, barley and wheat and kept cattle at Becking.

1833- 1838. Richard Lovegrove was the farmer though he lived in Bray, Berkshire. In his 1838 will he left his farm stock on Becking and his leases of both there and Widmere Farm Marlow to his nephew John Lovegrove who was already farming Widmere. Richard was only able to make a mark, not sign his will.

1840 - farm freehold up for sale, by executors of George Rogers Esq. 103 acres and a farmhouse. Note there were two men called George Rogers in Marlow at the same time.

1838-1843 John Lovegrove as above. (Yearly tenant) Also farmed Widmere Farm, where he lived. By 1847 had given up farming and was running the King's Head, High Wycombe. He faced bankruptcy then. 

1848- 1858 James Taylor. Wife Harriet. Raising turkeys was a big part of their trade. Seventeen birds were stolen from the farm in 1857. Also farmed at Prestwood Common. Previously of Little Missenden - he initially remained living there when he took over Beckings. He had been ejected from his last farm after a dispute with his landlord. At that time he'd suffered insolvency but managed to dissolve his debts of £664 in 1851. 

1861- 1865 Stephen Stevenson. Moved from Iver Bucks after January 1859. In 1865 worker on the farm was jailed for 6 weeks with hard labour for stealing a fowl from his employer.

1881-1901. Whoever is farming there does not live in. Carter James North however does live on site on the farm throughout this period. His wife Sarah died there in 1892. In 1889 Beacon and Moor Farms are offered  at auction as a sporting estate in one lot of altogether just over 660 acres. They are described as currently let to a tenant bar 220 odd acres of woodland in hand.  

1928- H Daniel.

Our blog focuses on people in Marlow up to the 1920s so I will leave it there.

Dates next to a person are when I have firm historic evidence of that person farming there. They may have been there earlier or later too. This is ongoing research and I hope that I will be able to fill in any gaps eventually.

Farm occupancies are determined by me from the study of wills I have transcribed, property records, adverts, agricultural journals, censuses, court cases etc.

For other farm related posts see the Specific Shops, Streets Etc option here for Marlow farms or for farms at Little Marlow or other places see the Nearby Places option. Use the Person Index option on the menu to see all mentions of any individual on the blog.  Thousands of people are mentioned.

©Marlow Ancestors. If using this research credit this blog. You are very welcome to do so.

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 Samuel Smith of Great Marlow 1721.

 Will written and proved 1721. Bricklayer. 

Says sick and weak in body but of sound mind and perfect memory, thanks be to God.

Dear and living wife Susannah is the executor. Burial at her discretion.

She also gets all pieces of land he owns in Cookham and Bray. These are in the occupations of William ....ers and William Hatch. Also the house William Hatch dwells in with all outbuildings, yards, orchards and appurtenances. Also any other freehold or leasehold property he has in Cookham and a messuage or cottage with all closes, hereditaments etc that go with it in Wooburn, Bucks. Also the mortgage on the Wooburn property made to the testator by Mr [might possibly read Mrs not Mr] Butterfield.

My sister Parsons £10.

Jointly between my sister Margaret Johnson and her children Dorothy and Jeffrey £10.

Niece Elizabeth ?Boyd £50.

All remaining money after debts paid to wife who also gets all household goods, implements and furniture.

Witnessed by Thomas Bidle, William Parsons, Robert Bidle and ....Tripp.

For more will transcriptions see the Wills option on the menu. All mentions of someone on this blog can be found on the Person Index. Over 2,300 people are mentioned.

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

Almswoman Jane Gibbons

This is the latest of a series of posts featuring the widows elected to the (now demolished) almshouses in Oxford Road, or Oxford Lane as it was then known.

Jane Gibbons

Jane Gibbons appears on the 1881 census of Great Marlow in the Oxford Road almshouses for elderly widows. 

Ten years previously on the 1871 census she was also at the almshouses but just as a visitor to resident Mary Keats. She was then a needlewoman but most of her widowhood she was a resident nurse in boys' boarding schools.

She was born according to her census entries circa 1794 in either Bisham or Sonning Berkshire. Her husband was James Gibbons but sadly I haven't found their marriage so I can't say what Jane's maiden name was. Their early married life was spent first in Cookham and Bray and then Eton. James died while still in his prime in 1846. On the 1851 census Jane was a widow working as a school nurse in Eton Wick. She lived on site at the halls of residence of the private school for boys Eton College. Her children Margaret and Josiah lived in with her. In 1860 Josiah died at the age of 19. Ann had previously suffered the loss of her 4 year old daughter Miriam in 1847. Within a year of Josiah's death Jane moved to Marlow to take up a job as live in nurse at Marlow Place boarding school for boys. I have a post on the history of Marlow Place already up on the blog if you want to read more about this school or see a picture of the premises. Though not of the status of Eton the school was a big fish locally and was sited in an attractive Georgian house. Jane is one of those minority of people who appear on the same census twice in different places. Her son John put her as living in his household off Chesham High Street in 1861 and her employer at Marlow Place also censused her as living on his premises. It may be she had not yet arrived to take up her post but the head teacher thought he ought to include her anyway or perhaps she was on a temporary visit with John. 

Either way by 1871 as already said Jane was working as a needlewoman instead. This was a low paid but common occupation for elderly widows.

By then she had outlived two more of her children as son John passed away aged just 46 in Bow, London while son Leonard died aged 42 also in London.

Jane herself died in 1885.

For other Marlow almswomen see Biographies Of Individuals on the menu. All mentions of someone on this blog can be found on the Person Index.

Post © Marlow Ancestors.

Census information are from my own microfilm transcriptions but remain Crown Copyright. 

Brief Will Summary for John Plumridge [Plomridge] 1630

 I have transcribed to the best of my ability this will which is held at the National Archives Kew and then summarised it briefly here. ©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this summary elsewhere if you give credit to this blog and link here.

JOHN PLUMRIDGE [PLOMRIDGE] 

Commends soul to God- the father, son and Holy Ghost.

Burial in Marlow Church in a Christian manner. On day of burial money to be distributed to the poor people of Great Marlow at executors' discretion.

To well loved wife Margaret the house [in another sentence called a farm house] where they live in Lane End and a four foot by four foot strip of the "backside or yard" that belongs to it. This strip, running from the kitchen door, will give her access to come and go from the house. The rest of that backside goes to nephews John Plumridge son of my brother ?R.... and John Plumridge son of my brother William Plumridge of Bray in the County of Berkshire, tilemaker. These two nephews will inherit the backside strip and the house after Margaret's death.

Margaret also gets the moiety of one half of the household stuff, utensils, furniture in their Lane End home.

A house in Marlow High Street and the edifices, backsides and gardens that go with it which is in the occupation of Thomas Shirley to nephews William Northe son of Henry Northe deceased and of Agnes my sister and Henry Cane son of Mathew Cane and of .... my sister.

To any nieces and nephews not already mentioned who are alive at my death 40 shillings each.

Executors my loving brethren Richard Plumridge and ?Plumridge.  These get all residual goods. Will overseers William Plumridge and Mathew Cane. To each of them as token of love and esteem 5 shillings.

To witness Robert Farmer, William Plumridge, John...

Midwife Sarah Price

If you had an ancestor born in Great Marlow between the late Victorian era (at least) and 1910 you may well have Sarah Ann Price to thank for their safe delivery. She had by 1903 delivered according to her around 900 Marlow babies- and counting. 

Sarah was born in 1836 as Sarah Ann Waters. She was baptised at Iver to Elizabeth and Richard Waters. Dad Richard was a miller, and moved around with his family several times to different mills including to Bray Mills and Temple Mills. The latter are by Marlow.

In 1859 Sarah married Marlow man William Price. I am uncertain at what point she began practising as a midwife but it was well before 1901. Her experience meant that when midwife's came to be registered she was able to continue despite not having medical qualifications.

In 1903 Sarah was a witness at an inquest when a baby which she had delivered died around 12 hours after birth. This was the child of Mr and Mrs North of West Street Marlow. The jury had to consider whether the mother might have accidentally rolled over in bed and suffocated the child, whether foul play may have occurred or if the child had been improperly attended to at birth. It must have been an anxious time for Sarah but the surgeon who had examined the dead child said that she had done a proper job at the birth Mr North who also gave evidence in support of Sarah. Nor were any signs of violence on the child which might have cast suspicion on the North family. A verdict of natural causes due to debility at birth was returned.

It is a sign that Sarah's expertise was highly valued that when the North parent's thought their child to be dying it was to her and not a doctor or surgeon they went to for help to save him.

On the midwives roll of 1905 Sarah is registered as living at number 7 York Road. She was still there in 1910. Earlier in her married life she and her husband had lived in Dean Street.

Sarah died in 1917 and was buried in Marlow Cemetery.

Related Posts:

Biography of Dr John Dunbar Dickson, of Marlow Cottage Hospital and council medical officer: here

Call the Apothecary here

Marlow Hero Nurse Cassidy here

Matron Mary Cole here

Benjamin Atkinson, surgeon here

The first Cottage Hospital and Provident Nursing Club here

More about the Cottage Hospital and the move to Glade Rd site  here 

©Marlow Ancestors.

Sources:

Marriage certificate.

The Midwife Roll, The Wellcome Trust London. Ref b24389596-:377959x. Ancestry. Com Operations Inc Provo, UT. Database online. 

Census Great Marlow 1861-1891. Transcribed by me from microfilm.

Census for Bray and Hurley transcriptions by Jane Pullinger.

GRO Death Registration Index.

South Bucks Standard 10th April 1903. Paper copy held at the British Library. Accessed via the BNA [Inquest].