Patients Treated At The First Marlow Cottage Hospital

  We have completed several posts about the original Marlow Cottage Hospital in Cambridge Road (1889 -1915), which you can find linked to below.  This one focuses on some of the patients treated there. The hospital was intended to serve Great Marlow, Little Marlow and Bisham but on average a third of patients came from places such as Lane End and Wooburn. Over half were children. The number of inpatients is hugely dwarfed by the outpatients who attended the hospital for more minor care, and also those in ill health that the nurses visited in their homes. 

Operations were performed at the hospital which had it's own operating theatre. The visiting surgeons (Dr John Dunbar Dickson and Dr Robert Culhane) were responsible for these but the day to day care was down to the Matrons - Nurse Mary Ann Cassidy in the first year, and Mary Anne Cole thereafter, sometimes assisted by a second paid nurse, probationer or servant. The most common operations were relatively simple - the removal of tonsils and adenoids in children for example. But some were more complicated. I've chosen to feature the unsuccessful 1894 operation on William Soley because the inquest gave really interesting details of the attempts made to revive him. Most operations did not end so badly however! 

William was a journeyman baker working for Mrs Spindlo in Chapel Street. He had a tumour in his groin and it was decided it must be removed quickly. He was reluctant to be operated on but was persuaded by the doctors that it was really necessary. As a working man he naturally had to consider carefully before committing to anything that would result in an unpaid period of time off work. Mrs Spindlo provided her cart to carry him to the hospital. He had previously undergone several examinations and it was determined that his heart and lungs were healthy enough to endure the operation. This was due to take place the following day. It would be performed by Dr Culhane, assisted by Dr Dickson, and attended by Matron Mary Cole. Chloroform was the anaesthetic available to them. Unfortunately within two minutes of it being administered and before any cuts were made, William stopped breathing and suffered a cardiac arrest. To revive him they tried not only artificial respiration, but also hitting William with wet towels, putting mustard on his chest, applying ammonia to his nostrils and cold water to his face. Sadly nothing worked. William died on the operating table. It was decided he had suffered an unpredictable reaction to the chloroform, which caused or accelerated a heart problem. The coroner's jury donated their fees to poor widow Eliza. 

Most of the adult male patients seem to have suffered work based injuries.  I will give two examples. 

Ellis Harvey, aged 56, was working on Dial Cottage in 1890. He was a bricklayer and was engaged on doing some exterior repairs. He fell from 18-20ft high scaffolding and suffered serious spinal injuries. A cart was requisitioned to take him straight to the Cottage Hospital. His injuries were beyond the repair of the doctors, and Nurse Cole could only do her best to make him more comfortable in the last days of his life. He died less than two weeks later. As before, the jury at the inquest into his death gave up their fees, this time donating them to the Hospital itself. It was believed he had suffered from a giddy spell, as the scaffolding was examined and was considered safe. (He was working for Mr Pierce of High Wycombe)

The second case is that of Amos Newell age 25. In 1893 he was working for his uncle Emmanuel Plumridge, who leased part of Star Meadow (off Wycombe Rd) from Mrs Atkinson of The Rookery. What Emmanuel was interested in was the large walnut trees there. They were the sort of crop that has bought a surprisingly large number of Marlow men and women to grief. More valuable relatively than now, a large number of people had convictions for stealing walnuts from Marlow trees, and those in Star Meadow were a hot target. (Trees at Little Marlow were also plagued by nut rustlers!) Emmanuel had been given the right to also collect the nuts when he hired the field. So his nephew Amos and another man were sent to harvest the crop. Amos did not work exclusively for his uncle whose main job was as a  highways and cartage contractor.  Amos is described as a farm labourer at his death. In the effort to reach more nuts, Amos clambered up the tree as he always did. He would stand on a bough and shake the branches with the other man remaining below. Unfortunately Amos misjudged his foothold and the bough he stood on broke off, and he plummeted to the ground. He was taken immediately to the hospital but died shortly afterwards. Another case involving a walnut tree was that of William Beaver, hawker, of Primrose Lea. If it was hazardous to knock the nuts down sober it was much worse to attempt it while "in drink" and unfortunately that's what William did in 1899. He fell 40ft from the tree, at Frieth. At first it seemed a miraculous escape from serious injury. His fall had been broken by lower branches to some degree and he had no broken bones but he did have 2 cuts on his head. He was taken by cart back to Marlow to have his wounds seen to at the Cottage Hospital. On the way there his wife Martha*, from who he was seperated, was informed of the accident and saw him briefly. She said she remarked it was not wise to pick walnuts when the worse for drink and sent the cart on it's way, not thinking him seriously injured. Dr John Dunbar Dickson saw to his head and sent William home. But the "friends" that he lived with would not recieve him and so he was returned to the hospital and admitted. He complained of a headache after 2 days, but his condition took a sudden dramatic turn for the worse on the forth day. He had became agitated and violent towards the nurse the night before, and the doctor said he was forced to put William in a straightjacket to protect the staff. Dr Dickson said William had begun to suffer from severe delirum tremens which had been aggrivated by his fall, and sadly William died "raving mad" a few hours later. 

 

Alcohol also played a part in the horrifying accident suffered by Lower Assendon bricklayer Phillip Joseph Joiner, who was working at Bourne End. Phillip was "worse for wear" and waiting to cross at the level crossing near Bourne End station. But a goods train was pulled up there and rather than wait for it pass, Phillip decided to crawl under the train through to the other side. Another man waiting at the crossing warned him to wait, but Phillip was determined. Sadly the train moved while he was on his way underneath and his legs were severely injured. He was taken to the Cottage Hospital quickly and both legs were amputated. He did not survive. He was 29.  

These cases might be depressing, so I'll end with an example of one that seemed very serious but had a happy ending. A "Master White" aged between 10-12 years old, fell out of a moving train between Bourne End and Marlow in 1892. He was travelling back to Marlow alone. It seems he had been leaning out of the window, when his cap fell off. In trying to make a snatch for it, he over reached and fell from the train. This is partial guess work from those at the the time as no one travelling on the train saw exactly what happened. Very luckily for the boy, someone in the fields adjacent to the rail line did see him fall. They ran to the spot and initially feared the worst as the boy was unresponsive and covered in blood due to some nasty head wounds. But he came round, and was carried to the Hospital. He was found to have a lot of cuts, and was naturally badly shaken. But under Nurse Cole's expert care, he was expected to make a full recovery. 

The times the staff could not save their patients always makes more of a ripple than those occasions where the sick make a quick recovery. The staff there saved hundreds of lives and lots of Marlow people would not be alive today if their ancestors had not spent time at the Marlow Cottage Hospital. 

*Martha Beaver had successfully applied for a seperation order from her husband in 1898 after he had assaulted her with a penknife while drunk. He was sentenced to 2 months in prison with hard labour and on release was made to pay a weekly sum for the maintenance of his wife and the three youngest of their six children then living at home. 

For more about the hospital see the following posts:

Matron Mary Ann Cole here

Matron Mary Ann Cassidy and the setting up of the forerunners to the Hospital here

Apothecaries and patent medicine sellers here

List of medical related posts here

The Romantic troubles of Dr Culhane here

Death by fire here

More on the Spindlo's here

Others are on the General History option in the top drop down menu. 

To find every mention of your ancestor here use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. 

See:

South Bucks Standard 16 September 1892, 03 August 1894. 

©Marlow Ancestors

 

Yet More Where in Marlow Was? Part 4

A list of difficult or vanished addresses for modern researchers. If you can't find the address you are looking for, check parts 1-3 available here, here, and here and part five is here

  Check out the Specific Shops, Streets etc option on the top drop down menu for more detailed posts about premises or streets. Note location is as given in contemporary sources with notes on modern interpretation of these where possible. Addresses given in historic sources as Glade Road, Cromwell Garden(s) estate (from 1898), or New Town are also very possibly in adjacent roads in our eyes. Thames Bank can refer to Mill Road as a street address, not necessarily to the house of that name. Many houses change name several times and there can be more than one house bearing the same moniker - including at the same time! Many larger Marlow houses were let as apartments or for the summer or "river season". 

Addington Cottage -  

Cambridge Road.

Albert House= Chapel Street. May have been on site of the earlier Prince Albert beer house.

Anchor Brewery=Spittal Street. The Methodist school room was built on this site.

Apiary, The - house, Station Road

Beaumont Villa= house Beaumont Rise

Bovingdon - Claremont Gardens, not in Bovingdon Green. 

Branksome - The Pathway, off Station Road. 

Cecelia House= High Street.

Christina Cottages= Berwick Road. Still there and labelled. Named after the little daughter of Marlow builder George Smith, as was the adjacent Revina Cottages. 

Claremont Gardens Estate - properties built on the gardens and meadow formerly belonging to Cromwell House. The House ceased to be a private residence and had converted to use as post office. Cromwell Road was the first road laid down (1898 by Lovell's the builders. 23 building plots over the estate in general were offered at auction a couple of months later), followed by Claremont Rd. However for some years those living in properties in this area often gave their address as Claremont Garden Estate rather than a specific street name, and some also added Glade Rd or just used that. Glade Rd was a well established address so perhaps they felt it safer to use that than the names of roads that took time to be officially adopted into use. 

Cobham Cottage - New Town

Courtview - Small group of houses within Claremont Gardens. New Court is the Court referred to, probably optimistically. 

Elsinore= house in Station Rise

Fletcher's Buildings= Spittal Street. Boots side. 

Gouter's Tenements= West Street.

Handforth - New Town, believe to be misspelling of below -  New Town includes Holland Road. 

Handpath - Holland Road

Haven, The - Claremont Rd

Hayes Cottages= Not the same as Hayes Place or The Hayes, though close. In Quoiting Square on census. Cottages each very small. Old cottages next to Platts Garage, near Congregational church, now demolished. 

Kenilworth - New Town Road

Kenmore - Little Marlow Road

Lilliebrook - Station Road. 

London House - High Street, premises of chemist Footitt/Baxter/Snow.

Maisemore - Institute Road

Merlindale - Beaumont Rise, still carries original name. 

Mowcap - Claremont Gardens

Moyleen - West Street house.

Mozart Villas - New Town Road

Munday Bottom -  seen in the 1700s for Munday Dean AKA Munday Dean Bottom.

Nadia - Oak Tree Road house

Norfolk Cottages - Station Road. Apparently at least 4 cottages.

Park Villas - 1. Portland Gardens (pair of cottages). Note on many occasions Park and Portland Villas names were (incorrectly) used interchangeably in historic sources, they were adjacent.  2. Wycombe Rd (several cottages) 

Platt's Villas - aka Platt's Row, or Cannons Row, part of Mill Rd/Lane. Named for Platt's Farm, owned at one point by George Cannon who built the cottages.  

Recreation Road - Gossmore Lane.. Mostly used 1920s. 

Revina Cottages Berwick Road. Still there with original name attached. Named after Revina Smith (born 1893) daughter of Marlow builder George Smith. Adjacent Christina Cottage remembers another of his little girls b 1904. 

Roslie - Station Road 

Sawmill Cottage - Station Road (Was sawmill near junction Victoria Road, Duchess Place. )

Seeburn House - Station Road Alt: Seaburn.  The premises of Horace Lacey, haulage contractor

Shanklin Cottage - Dedmere Road

Strathray- New Town, house.

Temple View - house, Station Road. 

Trinity Street - alternative name for Trinity Rd, previously known as Gun Lane, used occasionally and mostly in the 1880s/early 1890s. 

Upper Station Rise - a name with somewhat confusing history. Originally what we call Station Rise and Beaufort Gardens were usually referred to as Upper  and Lower Station Rise. However at times Junction Road and Institute Rise were thrown into the mix (but Junction Rd was also provisionally used for other roads in Marlow!) In 1934 the  Marlow council said they had been approached by certain residents who wished the names to be changed. It was proposed to give the two the official names  of Institute Rise and Claremont Rise. This did not happen however as just two months later all of the residents there wrote to the council and said they did not in fact wish there to be any change after all.. In 1953 Upper Station Rise was formerly adopted as a name but in 1967 that title was officially changed to that which it still holds - Beaufort Gardens. In reality many people used Station Rise for both roads throughout, with no upper or lower attached. 

Wellington Cottages/Villas - York Rd. 

Wroxton Lodge - Institute Road

The Case Of Mary Ann Burt Great Marlow

Child criminals could be treated harshly in Marlow's past so when I found a case of a ten year old girl being accused of theft I wanted to find out what happened to her if she was found guilty. I'd just read about a ten year old boy in Victorian Marlow being whipped for stealing a pig's trotter so I feared the worse for jewellery thief Mary Ann Burt.

Her case dates from 1891. Mary Ann had been born in Fingest to an unmarried servant girl Emma Burt. When she was very little her mother married Henry Harris. By 1890 they lived in Marlow at Cambridge Road.

Mary Ann was apparently a regular visitor to the household of Edwin and Lydia Clark at Westhorpe Lodge Little Marlow and given free range of their house. Why I cannot say.

One day Lydia noticed that a pair of silver earrings, 2 black jet bracelets, 2 silver brooches and 2 black crosses were missing from her home along with a child's toy of an India rubber ball. Later that day Mary Ann's grandmother [not named] took back the bracelets, earrings and ball having found Mary Ann in possession of them.

Later a pupil teacher at Mary Ann's school (presumably at St Peter's Street Girls' School) Agnes Scown, confiscated a brooch Mary Ann had been playing with. This was then handed to Mary Ann's mother Emma Harris to take away.

There is no mention what happened to other items like the crosses.

A constable summoned by the Clark's found Mary Ann ready to admit the theft.

After her first court appearance she was allowed bail, amount not specified, before returning a week later.

Despite my fears, the judge then showed leniency to the first time offender. Mary Ann was set free under her mother's watch on the condition that if she misbehaved again in the next six months she'd have to return to court to be punished for both offences. 

I am pleased to say the little girl was a commended scholar at school the next year. By then her family- mum, step dad Henry and her half siblings-had moved to Trinity Road.

Mary Ann was at home and a servant on the 1901 census. Later the family moved away to Langley Marish in Bucks.

What of the victims Edwin and Lydia?

Well Edwin was certainly no angel himself having been previously summoned for failing to maintain his three children by an earlier wife and later for using indecent language. 

Though Lydia had quite a bit of basic jewellery as evidenced from this case the couple were not rich. Edwin is described at different times as a railway labourer, hawker, woodman, general labourer and gamekeeper, none of which occupations left you rolling in money. The jet pieces stolen were probably mourning items.

Sources:

Census information my transcription from microfilm.

South Bucks Standard 19th September 1890. British Library Archives.

Bucks Herald  July 1891 as above.

Don't Light a Candle Mr Smith!

In 1894, Mr L J Smith of Smith and Co Booksellers in Marlow High Street needed to fetch some things from the shop cellar. It was unlit down there so Mr Smith did what he had always done and lit a candle. He went down the steps but no sooner had he reached the cellar itself, a loud explosion occured and he was thrown bodily across the room. The sound drew an immediate concerned and curious crowd. They were thankfully able to take advantage of a ready supply of water to put out a fire in the cellar. Miraculously, Mr Smith survived the experience although no doubt he felt more than a little bruised. The cause of the explosion was a leaking gas pipe coming from the main into the man's shop. This was not the only gas related explosion in Marlow! So this is a potted history of some of the incidents relating to the problem of heating and lighting Marlow by gas in Victorian and Edwardian times. 

Smith & co, 1903. 

I'm not going to give a detailed history of the Marlow Gas and Coke Company as it was called at first, for example the issuing of shares and so on, as relatively few Marlow residents were involved in this. So here's a quick summary. The company is listed as fully registered on Aug 4 1848, and it held it's first AGM at the Crown Hotel in April 1849. The gas works were constructed by Mr Atkins of Oxford, off Dean Street, between Cambridge Rd and the area beyond where Oram Court is now. The manager usually lived on site and the stokers nearby. The works were leased out for much of the Victorian period,  first to Mr Hastings from 1870, then for a long time to Charles Carter. The company was liquidated then reformed as a new one when Carter's lease expired in 1895. The works continued to operate until 1951, and all of it has now been demolished. 

The first works gasometer had a 30ft diameter and was 7ft deep. It could hold 6,000ft of gas. This was replaced in 1860 with a 9000ft capacity one. The first foreman was Mr W Gardiner of Ashby de la Zouch. 

A steady beginning

The High Street and a number of private houses were first lit by gas in late October and early November 1848, replacing oil mostly. The number of people hooked up to the gas network, and the number of streets lit by gas gradually expanded. 

All Saints was illuminated by gas for the first time in early September 1850, and the Salem Chapel (Christchurch URC, Oxford Road) followed in December 1859. The Marlow train station building and signals did not follow until 1874. Complaints were made periodically about the quality of the street lamps and there was also a regular problem with the lamps being broken by stone throwing miscreants, only some of them children. But visitors to the town seem generally impressed by the early lighting efforts. An 1866 guide said that while the town was "irregularly built" it was at least "well paved and lighted." 

All kinds of abominations after dark

There were always spots that someone thought should be better provided for light wise however. In 1881, the entrance to Church Passage gained it's first lamp post to deter the "all kinds of abomination" committed there after dark. Those upset by the passages less savoury reputation thought that no respectable person would dream of being seen there. If seeing anyone was possible in such lighting! The location of the passage near the Causeway boys school was considered to make the case more urgent, even though the school itself obviously did not open late in the evenings. Those worried about the dark streets would not have been happy by the money saving measures later adopted by the council which meant that street lamps were turned off on clear moonlit nights at 6-7pm from 1903. At least the clock on the Crown was illuminated by gas at night, by 1915. 

All the atmosphere aflame

Things did not always go smoothly as you can tell from the first paragraph in this post. In December 1872, all the shops and homes lit by gas were plunged into darkness following an unpleasant gale. Eventually the supply was restored to a limited degree. The reason for the loss of power was no mystery to the residents of the streets surrounding the Marlow Gas Works. One of the gasometers had been overturned by the wind, causing a tremendous release of gas into the air. Unfortunately this became ignited in unclear circumstances and a terrifying explosion resulted. The flames were seen to shoot high into the air and the force of the blast rattled the windows of homes over some distance. "The whole atmosphere appeared to be on fire." Resident rushed from their homes and so many hands were available to prevent the flames reaching the all too near houses. These survived with minor damage - charred woodwork and door frames mostly - but the gas works itself obviously needed some repair. Two stokers recieved numerous burns each, but the avoidance of any fatalities must have seemed miraculous. It's speculated a nearby lamp was the source of ignition.

Compared to this, complaints made periodically about a "stench" coming from the Works seems quite tame, even if it could be detected in West Street. 

Marlow leads the way

Given this experience, I wonder how the residents of "Gas Alley" and neighbouring houses would have felt if they knew about the work conducted by Mr Charles Hastings, gas works engineer and manager, the following year. He had been approached by Mr J Kromschroeder, who wanted to conduct experiments in producing gas by a cheaper method. This meant using petroleum instead of coal. This was understood to be more volatile and there was a question as to whether it would travel well through piping over a longer distance. Hastings agreed to let Kromschroeder build his apparatus in a shed at the works. After several months, the experiment was declared a success. It was announced that for a while Marlow had been the first town to be lit by non coal gas as the petrol based version had done the job. The novelty of that was reported far and wide. Kromschroeder announced his process would be ideal for use in small towns or private estates. But after this, things went quiet, and the process does not seem to have been adopted at more than one or two gas works, and certainly not at Marlow. Kromschroeder sold his patent to the Eupion Gas Company, who seem to have chosen not to develop it. 

The gas explosion, and a "coal famine" caused by flooding and prolonged frosts that made "the transit of coal impossible" shortly afterwards saw Mr Hastings facing steep rise in costs,  and this lead to his financial ruin. He had leased more than one gas works but experience could not help in such circumstances. He had signed a 28 year lease in 1870. His superintendent Charles Carter took on a new 21 year lease in 1873.  

Another fire

The last potentially serious - if it had not been averted - incident at the Gas Works occured in 1900. There was a fire at a hay rick and a large barn used by Augustus Creswell near the gas works. This spread to two cottages but the quick action of the gas works employees lead by acting manager George Wood Jnr saved the day and the homes. (See note 1 below) They had broken down the doors of the cottages and removed the furniture in an effort to limit damage if the buildings themselves could not be saved. How grateful the occupiers would have been not to have lost all their possessions had the fire indeed done it's worst. (It was believed to be an act of arson on investigation.)

Put a penny in the slot

To encourage people to install gas, a series of exhibitions and gas cooking lectures were held, over several days at a time, usually in the Music Room of St Peter's Street (now the Masonic centre). In 1895 the Great Marlow Gas co offered to fit up houses with a rental value of less than 10s a week, for free. They would provide a gas stove, 2 brackets for lighting, and a gas pendant into which various gas powered appliances could be plugged in. Most importantly, they also provided a penny slot gas meter. You paid for what you used, and if you didn't have a penny for the meter, you recieved no gas. In exchange the company got to charge those with meters more per unit of gas used compared to those who paid for the appliances outright. These penny powered gas meters were not infrequently raided during burglaries. 

The Gas Co estimated that there had been perhaps 5 gas stoves in all of Marlow in 1890. Five years later, after their exhibition, they had orders for 25 stoves in hand. They would also rent you a stove if you needed a little more persuasion on the benefits of cooking by gas. Miss Stanfield of the Sheffield school of cookery had travelled down to give cookery demonstrations using gas for the 1895 exhibition. It can't have been easy to perform in such an improvised kitchen. These events continued into the Edwardian times, when you could also take advantage of a stroll around Mr Eddowes gas showroom at his Spittal Street ironmongers. (Formerly Meakes ironmongers, now M&S Simply Food.) Eddowes was also a gas fitter. 

Eddowes ironmongers and gas fitters, 1905. 

On the subject of gas stoves, Marlow ironmonger John Gardiner of the High Street and brewer William Watkin Wynne took out a patent application for an improved gas stove in 1853 but it was declared void when they let the application lapse. John left the town in 1855.

Gas works improvements

The gas works site expanded in 1895 and 1898. The local paper thought these works would solve the cause of many complaints about the quality, quantity and cost of Marlow's Gas supply. The 1895 improvements saw a 50ft wide gasometer with a 40,000 ft of gas capacity arrive plus a tank capable of holding many thousand gallons of tar. A few years later the company bought additional land at the rear of the premises to safeguard their ability to expand in the future. 

Further improvements were made in 1906 when the Gas Co gave up some of their site in order that Cambridge Road could be widened. The old workshops and managers office came down, to be replaced by commodius new premises. These would include a showroom with office adjacent and stores above. They would also gain a weighbridge in the yard to measure the coal coming in and the coke going out - this was sold by the half ton or ton to the public. (You could also buy tar from them.)

Electric lights anyone? 

In 1901 the Marlow Urban District Council recieved a letter from the board of the Provincial Electric Supply Co who said they had applied to the Board of Trade for the right to supply electric light to the town. But it was not to be. Some of the council were shareholders in the Gas Co, and perhaps they thought the provision of gas lighting would be uneconomical with such competition. They did not act to encourage the company or any other and so Marlow did not gain general access to the electric network until the 1930's. A few of the larger private houses did however have their own electrical generators long before then including Three Gables and Highfields. 

Oram Court, Dean Street. One part of the old gas works site. 

Notes:

1 George was acting manager as the previous one, John Howse died on 12th August that year. Howse had lived on site like most of the managers did, and died at his residence there. Some sources say he had taken part in the construction of the original works when the Gas Co was formed.  He became the engineer and manager circa 1875. He was taken ill suddenly a week before his death. Howse was a member of Marlow Fire Brigade as engineer and also a member of the Loyal Orphans Hope Lodge of the Odd Fellows - a sort of friendly society with a masonic love of ritual. His membership of this meant a second funeral service using the Odd Fellows own burial service. Members wore a sprig of thyme on their mourning attire and threw more thyme on the coffin as it was rested in the grave. The funeral took place at Holy Trinity Church, Marlow on 16 August. 

An advert for the replacement for Howse stated the position was for a "working manager" who would be expected to be capable of doing small repairs on site, reading meters etc. Wages £2 a week including a house and an allowance of coal and gas. (1900)

For more on problems at the Works with lighting in the First World War, see this post: here

SOURCES

J R McCulloch, A Dictionary Geographical Statistical and Historical of Various Countries, Places and Principal Natural Objects Vol 3 (Longman, green and Co 1866)

The Gas and Water Co's Directory 1883. 

Ure, Andrew, Ures Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and mines (Longman, Green & Co, 1875)

Parliamentary Papers Vol 50, (Report by registrar of Joint Stock Companies) HMSO 1849

Gas World Journal, May 26 1894 (Ben Bros. 1894) 

Marlow Guide 1905

South Bucks Standard 12 January 1894, 12 May 1895, 23 October 1896, 17 August & 7 September 1900, 5 July 1901, 9 January 1903 British Library Archive, accessed via the BNA. 

 Bucks Herald 14 September 1850, 16 July 1887, 06 February 1915 as above. 

South Bucks Free Press 10 December 1859. As above. 

Reading Mercury, 21 & 28 December 1872, 21 November 1874. As above.

Scientific American, 26 July 1873, via the InternetArchive.  (Vol 29, issue 4) 

Journal of Gas Supply, Water Supply and Sanitary Improvement, Aug 1900. (Vol.76)

The Engineer (1875 collected edition) Vol 40. 

Don't Mess With Matron Part 1

 This is a follow on post to one about the founding of Marlow's first cottage hospital in Cambridge Rd and the organisations that came before it to care for the sick. I recommend you read that first - you can find it here   and a detailed entry about long standing Matron  - Nurse Mary Anne Cole here. Nurse Cassidy was the first Matron in charge of Marlow, but she was succeeded by Cole in 1890. 

This one focuses on life at the Cambridge Road hospital. Part two deals with the trouble surrounding the move to the Glade Road site later. 

Shaking tins, raising funds. 

The Cambridge Road hospital was opened in August 1889 in a converted house and former pub. It was ready just a few months after the decision was made to go ahead with the Cottage Hospital. It would be paid for by subscribers, fund raising and by charging those patients who could afford it a portion of the cost of their treatment and care. Those who could pay nothing were still treated. Given the speed the hospital was opened, and the fact it wasn't a purpose built building, it's no surprise structural alterations and improvements became necessary over time. This was not cheap or taken lightly as work usually involved closing the entire building to patients - for example for 3 months in 1894! So fundraising was continuous. All kinds of occasional events were held in aid of the hospital from musical evenings to "rummage sales" in the Music Room (contemporary description, jumble sales in other words). A number of showman attending Marlow Fair also donated the takings from certain performances or evening shows to the hospital - more on this in the Marlow Fair posts. 

Collection boxes were dotted across town, at big employers and at pubs including the Bucks Chair Factory, Greyhound Inn, the Crown Hotel and the Duke of Cambridge. Regular collections also took place at the Lock until 1908 as the number of charity collectors there was regarded to be becoming a nuisance and the hospital wanted to distance itself from that. 

Donations were very frequently given in kind too. Sometimes Sister Cole put out requests for paticular items she needed. Donations of food and old linen were always welcomed. For a while from 1908 onwards "Pound Days" were held which encouraged everyone to give a pound in weight of food such as butter, cheese or jam, or a pound in money if you could stretch that far. Initially this did well and resulted in a well stocked pantry but it gradually fizzled out.

Rev Light came up with idea of a Hospital Sunday including a parade to raise funds and this was a big feature of Edwardian Marlow. (Initiated 1904) Collections were made in the churches and chapels, and the towns Friendly Societies and Slate Clubs took part in the parade. The Fire Brigade and Salvation Army were amongst those making street collections on the day on behalf of the hospital committee. The parade formed at Star Meadow off Wycombe Road, and went along Chapel Street, Spittal Street, Dean Street, Queens Road, Quoiting Square, West Street, High Street, Institute Road, Claremont Road, Beaumont Rise, Glade Road, and Station Road to All Saints. 

The most generous donors of all

 The donations of food often came from the kitchen gardens of the larger houses in town. But as it was put in 1904, the arrival of donated groceries given by the very poor was "most gratifying and touching." It was also noted that the patients themselves and their friends were despite their poverty responsible for all the donations put in the collection box at the hospital itself. (£2 4s and 8d in 1904.)

Special collection boxes were made for children, available  from the hospital itself. 13 children, all from working class families and mostly relatives of those who had been treated there, collected these and returned them full of ill afforded coins. 

The Matron exhausts all comers

A special pull for subscribers was made at the time of the 1897 Jubilee, as a way to mark the event. Unfortunately most committed to subscribing for 3-5 years only, and when that time expired, most did not sign up again. The initial increase in funds had paid for a probationer to share the load of Sister Cole but she did not last, a frequent problem. The probationer that followed her in 1904 lasted only 4 months. It was suggested the volume of work and long hours needed, outside contracted ones did not help. Cole, and Matron Cassidy before her, were relentless workers, and probably were demanding of their staff to keep up. While the subscribers committee were constant in their praise of the matrons incredible dedication, they were not so good at expressing their gratitude in ways that lightened their workload. 

Nurse Cole was given a fully trained nurse as assistant for a brief while, before the committee decided they were not justified in paying for this. This is despite saying few outsiders realised "the strain, mental and physical involved in such close attention to duty with rare opportunities for relaxation." ( The committee did usually vote for a payment of a £10 annual bonus to Cole in acknowledgement of her work.)

Instead they suggested hiring the cheaper probationers but we know how that worked out. After loosing the two probationers, Cole decided to employ an untrained assistant instead, to work only under her direct supervision. This lady also lasted 4 months and several months later the post had not been filled. It was said the small size of Marlow hospital put off some probationers from coming as they prefered to finish their training in a larger place with more facilities. 

It was suggested that more fundraising should be encouraged in areas outside of Marlow such as Wooburn, Turville and Lane End, as they were providing a third of patients in 1902/3. 

A Provident Nursing Club association was set up by others in 1908. This aimed to provide home nursing to the poor and "aged". The matron at the Cottage Hospital also did home visits, but there was a huge demand. The PNC nurse was Nurse Andrews and in the first eight months she had made 546 casual and 2,240 medical visits to 101 patients.  The Cottage Hospital matron had visited 125 patients at home, completing 1,300 visits and attending to hundreds of outpatient who came to the hospital to have wounds attended to and dressings changed. Free beef tea, meat jellies (considered nourishing and easy to digest) and other foods were provided free to outpatients.  The establishment of the PNC caused some tension as it coincided with a substantial  drop in the number of subscribers to the hospital. It was suggested hospital donors had switched to supporting the PNC. The latter under their president Selina Winters wrote to the hospital subscribers expressing their sorrow at the hospital's loss of funds but affirming they wished to compliment the hospital work not compete with them. They offered to write to any lost hospital subscribers and explain but the hospital did not take up the offer. 

In 1906 it was finally decided to recruit another fully trained nurse to assist Nurse Cole. An outbreak of scarlet fever had affected hospital life severely as it was necessary to close the wards to new patients for 2 months. All the patients were children and it had been necessary to destroy the books and toys at the hospital for infection control purposes. (Nurse Cole may have a fearsome reputation but she had bought many of the toys out of her own funds. She organised Christmas treats and specifically said she would welcome "young visitors who will interest themselves in the little patients", outside of infectious disease outbreaks naturally. ) Nurse McKenzie lasted longer than 4 months but was gone by 1908. 

Never ending need for funds..

The staff and subscribers committee didn't just have the everyday running costs and improvements to make. They initially rented the hospital building, eventually managing to raise enough to purchase it in the hope of saving money long term. The building was finally conveyed in a deed of trust to the hospital in March 1894, with an endowment for its maintenance following the next year, courtesy of Owen Peel Wethered. There was also the cost of the annual fee paid to Reading Hospital (Royal Berks) for the loan of the matron and other nursing staff when they were employed. This was standard practice and on top of the wages paid directly to the women. 

Part two deals with problems at the hospital, a medical staff rebellion and the move to Glade Road. 

Above, the grave in Marlow Cottage Hospital of Mary Cole, Matron at Marlow Cottage Hospital for 25 years. It reads that she was "a friend to the poor". No truer words can be said. 

Other related posts:

Biography of hospital doctor Dr John Dunbar Dickson here

See the general history index for other medical related content. 

©Marlow Ancestors

All Hail Nurse Cassidy - Marlow Hero No 4

 Before Marlow had it's current Cottage Hospital in Glade Road, it had one at Cambridge House, Cambridge Road. This post is about how this first hospital came about.    

The former Cottage Hospital, Cambridge Road. Now a house again. 

What we had before the first Cottage Hospital. 

In the years before the hospital arrived in Cambridge Road, if you required admission to a hospital, it was to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading you would be sent. This was clearly a significant journey for someone in Marlow to make when seriously unwell. The authorities in Marlow bought a certain number of "tickets of admission" to the Berks hospital each year. These would be issued to the sick if it was considered they would benefit from a stay there. In 1877 £21 worth of tickets were bought, paid for partly by donations made at a collection after the Harvest Thanksgiving service in the parish church, and at the end of service the Sunday after.  The idea of Marlow gaining its own hospital was raised at regular intervals. In 1877 it was said an unnamed gentleman was willing to start a subscription fund with a 100 guinea donation if Great Marlow would combine with Henley, Bisham, Little Marlow, Fingest and Turville to support a hospital between them. Nothing came of this, possibly because Maidenhead had just began fund raising for their Cottage Hospital in earnest, with the foundation stone laid in April 1879. Some of those in the above places supported that instead. 

In 1888, the medical provision in Marlow improved significantly thanks to a group of determined ladies. A number of subscribers to the St Johns Ambulance association decided to set up a "Sick Aid Depot" here. They quickly bought this into existence, using a small room in Mrs Lunnon's home in Chapel Street. It opened May 1888. Mrs Lunnon also acted as caretaker. This was a significant help to a vast number of poor families who could not afford professional nursing care or equipment. The depot lent items such as crutches or nursing supplies to those who had suffered accident or illness. There was once a sort of precursor to this which loaned "child bed linens" to expectant mothers a generation before, but to qualify for that you had to be married and respectable, and able to apply personally to one of those who subscribed to the child bed fund. Unmarried mothers, and non church goers were turned away. The Sick Aid Depot was less strict and looked instead at how to extend their services rather than restrict them. They also offered bed linen, so sheets could be washed in homes without spare sets. 

Enter Nurse Cassidy

In 1888 the Sick Aid depot distributed a circular declaring that the want of a "parish nurse" for the depot was keenly felt. "The urgent want of such a nurse has been bought home to us very emphatically within the last few months by the many cases of serious sickness in our town". 

A nursing fund was started, and within 6 months, Nurse Mary Ann Cassidy (sometimes given as Cassaidy) arrived in Marlow. She began work in January 1889. This energetic and dedicated lady is largely forgotten now but it was her who would later be the first Matron at the Cambridge Road Cottage Hospital. Nurse Cassidy lodged with Mrs Lunnon, and made home visits to the ill. She dressed wounds, changed bandages and provided practical help and advice amongst other things. Cassidy was officially on long term loan from the Reading Hospital, the Sick Aid Depot paying a sum for the privilege, on top of the wage paid directly to the Nurse. She took over running the depot too. Although the contract Cassidy worked under did not require night work, she stayed up with the sick on countless occasions, which must have been a priceless comfort to the worried families. This started the pattern of Cassidy constantly going above and beyond in her work. 

The ladies aren't satisfied 

The Sick Aid Depot and Nursing fund was amalgamated. At the very first AGM, held 9 months after the Depot had started, it was decided to be even more ambitious. What Marlow needed was a Cottage Hospital, and a committee of ladies was formed to get the process started. The Sick Aid Depot and Nursing fund committee was amalgamated with this goal in mind. The speed they organised this third extension to their health care provision is extraordinary. The meeting that set a resolution to have a Cottage Hospital was in June 1889, at the end of July the committee's were amalgamated and on the 1st August 1889 the new Cottage Hospital opened in a house secured by Colonel Wethered. This was initially rented, with the aim of buying the building when funds allowed. Nurse Cassidy moved in several months before the official hospital opening to save on the cost of renting separate accommodation for her. Cambridge House had been built as a pub, and had spent a few years as a boys school under the Misses Curtis but was used as a house for some time prior to it's conversion to a hospital. The work of lending equipment and home visits continued too. In the first 9 months the cottage hospital helped 5 accident victims and 20 others. 

Much of the physical work in getting the house clean and ready was done by Nurse Cassidy herself. She paid for, out of her own wages, various items to make the wards "bear a cheerful aspect." These included bed tables and pictures.  The subscribers declared that she deserved the highest praise for working day and night to make the hospital a success. 

When Edward Riley complained that there were too many women on the committee for building the second cottage hospital many years later, it's not hard to see why the complaint was dismissed! (Membership of the general organising committee of the hospital was restricted to men, of who there were 9. Six from Marlow and one each from Bisham, Medmenham and Little Marlow.) 

Cassidy left Marlow in 1890, when she was succeeded in her role at the Cottage Hospital by another Marlow hero, Mary Anne Cole also supplied by the Reading Hospital. A post about Mary Anne Cole is already on the blog here I believe Nurse Cassaidy might have been suffering from ill health as she had spent some time absent from duty in 1889, her position covered by Miss Ford of Loudwater. 

More posts on life at the Cottage Hospital or the medical history of Marlow are available:

The first Cottage Hospital and Provident Nursing Club here

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

Biography of hospital doctor Dr John Dunbar Dickson here

Matron Mary Ann Cole here

Apothecaries and patent medicine sellers here

List of medical related posts here

The Romantic troubles of Dr Culhane here

Death by fire here

Marlow's early district nurses here

©Marlow Ancestors .

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Marlow Hero No 3 Matron Mary Cole

 

 Marlow Cottage Hospital was originally in Cambridge Road. In 1890 the nurse matron was Mary Anne Cole, born in London 1857-61 depending on which census you believe. Her gravestone however says she was 83 on her death in 1937! The nurse most involved with setting up the hospital in the first place was Nurse Cassidy, (Cassaidy) very much a Marlow Hero in her own right and subject of a later biography on this blog. (Find it here) She had also come from Reading Hospital, like Mary. 

The Marlow hospital generally had between 2 and 6 patients staying there at any one time (with children much over represented). Mary had a live in maidservant to help with domestic tasks like preparing the patient's food and a visiting charwoman. On the 1901 census there was another nurse too but later records show none, at least not as a round the clock presence. In 1904 the assistant nurse was a probationer and only went out on visits if with Mary. Trained assistants came and went, but Mary stayed put. 

Half a dozen patients may not seem like much trouble for an experienced nurse but Mary's job was much more onerous that it seems. As well as inpatients there was day patients who came to have wounds dressed and as many as 100 outpatients with ongoing cases at any one time which Mary was expected to visit at home.

Each week one of the local surgeons was the duty doctor (surgeons being the main doctors the public consulted even if they were not a surgical case. Standard physicians were not that common) but though they attended the patients as needed they were not actually physically on the premises most of the time. 

When surgery was necessary, Mary assisted in the preparations for it. In 1894 a young man, William Soley, had what appeared to be a reaction to anaesthetic during an operation for testicular cancer and died. Mary gave evidence in the subsequent inquest which found the surgeons were not to blame.

Each week one of the local wealthy ladies was the official hospital visitor who would come to talk to and distract the patients. The same sort of women were frequent donors of food and necessaries for those patients. Mary put out appeals in the local press and grapevine when a patient would benefit from a particular food or item. She organised Christmas presents for all the children in the hospital and often a Christmas tree too. 

Money was always an issue for a subscriber funded hospital. There were collection boxes at the hospital but as most of the patients were poor there was not necessarily much in them.

Only through the extraordinary efforts of Mary above all, but also the other staff  performing individually the jobs of several people, did the hospital manage (usually) to stay out of debt and in operation.

In 1913, as a thank you for her efforts and the much greater sum she had  saved them, the subscribers voted to give Nurse Cole a honorarium of £10 on top of her usual salary. This gift was often repeated. 

Back in 1909 subscribers had already  acknowledged that she was risking her own health by continual overwork. Several probationer nurses employed at different times to assist her quit in a matter of months, partially due to the stress and burden of their much easier roles.  

One of the key problems for Mary was that the hospital building had such steep stairs to run up and down all day.

The laundry and food preparation areas were not fit for purpose either, and there was only one bed that could be used as an isolation bed for those with a contagious disease.

The popularity of holding events in nearby Crown Meadow caused unwelcome noise disturbance for patients whose lives hung in jeopardy, medical staff said.

If you are wondering why anyone would build so unsuitable a hospital the answer is that they didn't. It was built as a pub and was in use as a domestic dwelling before the hospital took over occupation. At the time the hospital was started, that property was what was on offer. You take what you can get sometimes!

The 1895 extension of an operating theatre and additional ward had improved patient experience but done little to improve the difficult working conditions for the staff as described above.

The hospital's subscribers must have known how lucky they were to have such a dedicated woman as Mary in charge.

Nevertheless things couldn't continue as they were. It was understood a new more spacious, better designed and better staffed hospital was needed. Unfortunately like most Marlow building projects it was not straightforward and beset by disagreements. After a site was found hopes were high but delays set in and it was thought unlikely there would be a new hospital after all. The medical staff had had enough. No new hospital, they said, then no medical staff for your old one because we can't do it any more.

The new hospital went ahead.

Mary deservedly retired in 1915, hopefully feeling that the hospital patients were going to be in safe hands. She may have been suffering from ill health already however. The reports from the hospital's AGMs in the succeeding years several times included a recording of sympathy for Nurse Cole in a period of ill health. In 1925 the hospital committee voted that in view of her "present circumstances and bad health", an allowance of up to 5s a week should be made to their devoted ex employee. They also decided to defray the cost of any dressings or "medical comforts" that Mary may need. See below for Mary's grave. 

 You can read about the forerunners to the hospital and the first Matron Mary Ann Cassidy here

  And a detailed post about life in the hospital under Matron Cole  here and some of the patients treated there here

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

Biography of hospital doctor Dr John Dunbar Dickson here

Other medical related posts:

Call the Apothecary here

Benjamin Atkinson, surgeon here

Midwife Sarah Price here

Mary's grave in Marlow Cemetery. She died December 25th 1937 age 83. 

Look at Biographies Of Individuals on the menu for more posts like this.

See:

South Bucks Standard 9th June 1913, 25th June 1909. Copies at the British Library, accessible via the BNA. Accessed August 2020.

Bucks Free Press 27th March 1925 

Marlow Cottage Hospital annual reports from 1900-25. 

Census 1901 FamilySearch International, Intellectual Reserve, from the LDS. Accessed July 2019.

******

Thanks to Jane Pullinger for additional information from her family and for census transcripts 1881 & 91. 

******

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Edward Hatton, Town Crier, Beer Seller and More - updated December 2024

Updated July 2023

Edward was born 1832 in Marlow to William and Mary Hatton and grew up in Dean Street (then usually going by it's original name Well End, not to be confused with the hamlet of Well End near Little Marlow/Bourne End). His father was an agricultural labourer, his mother a housewife.

He appeared on the 1851 census as an apprentice shoemaker lodging with widow Mary Perry and her children, one of whom was also an apprentice shoemaker. Edward must have been nearly finished with his apprenticeship as he was married the next year to Sarah Blewett and apprentices were not allowed to marry.

Sarah was a satin stitch worker like so many Marlow women at that time. She grew up in Gun Lane, just off Dean Street. Gun Lane is now known as Trinity Road.

On the 1861 census Edward, Sarah and 5 children lived in Cambridge Place (no longer exists, was off Cambridge Road). By the next year they had moved to West Street (Henley Road end) where Edward ran the Volunteer beer house. This doubled as a lodging house. It was located very close to the Hand and Flowers. Shoemaking was a competitive and very poorly paid trade so having a try at another occupation was very tempting. Edward knew more than most the precariousness of the shoemaking trade as his uncle also called Edward Hatton had gone bankrupt while following the trade in 1856.

In 1862 Edward was fined a shilling for using a short measure in the pub. (Plus 12s 6d costs!)

In 1867 one of his lodgers, 23 year old William Stacey and another young man John Howard stole a lamb from a field and killed it for food. They hid the remains in his garden. A third of the lamb was given to Edward to cook. He was thus charged with knowingly receiving stolen goods but was found not guilty. Several respectable citizens of the town signed a statement in support of Edward. They said he was of good character, and he also bought some character witnesses to the trial. Stacey and Howard both recieved 6 months with hard labour for their efforts. (Stacey had turned kings evidence but no reduced sentence for him as he was regarded as the instigator of the deed.)

Several tradesman wrote to the court to testify to his good character, and two more appeared personally to do the same- William East a market gardener and Owen Wright a baker.

By 1871 Edward, Sarah and 8 children were back in Cambridge Place with Edward shoemaking once more.

On the 1881 and 1891 census they lived again in West Street in the first cottage after Potlands Alley, effectively next door to the Red Lion Pub. Their little 4 room home no longer exists. It has been replaced by a car park but there are photos of the Red Lion on the SWOP site which allow you to catch a glimpse of the Hatton's home. Life was not altogether happy here for the Hattons. Sarah was suffering from ill health and in 1898 was described as in a weak and "nervous condition". The poor woman found herself in court when her 23 year old son Ernest hit her on the arm with a poker. Furious father Edward took out a warrant for Ernest's apprehension as he'd left hurriedly afterwards. Eliza made a sad figure in court, sobbing and begging the authorities not to press the charges as she was had not been much hurt. Her husband did not agree, and nor did her other son Walter who had "knocked about" Ernest on discovering the offence. Edward said this was not the first occasion on which Ernest had behaved shamefully to his mother and he had already decided to ask the courts for an order of "ejectment" to be made to remove him from their family home. Ernest admitted hitting his mother but without the intention of hurting her.  Magistrate General George Higginson did not take kindly to Ernest's self pitying defence or complaints relating to the punishment already inflicted by his brother. Higginson said that Ernest had appeared to loose "all sense of what is right" and would be sentenced to 6 weeks in prison with hard labour after which he'd be bound over to keep the peace. On hearing this Ernest burst into tears, but Higginson he could not be moved to pity because "a man who strikes his own mother is unworthy of consideration". He added that brother Walter had acted quite naturally in punching Ernest on discovering his actions towards their mother. On a more positive note Ernest was a one time player for Marlow Football club, as well as some of Marlow's less well known teams.  

Difficulty with his son was not the only of Edwards woes. It's not often remembered that if an elderly person unable to provide for themselves was admitted to the Union workhouse in Saunderton had adult children earning their own living, the children were expected to contribute to the maintenance of their family member. The amount depended on the children's income and dependents. In 1886 Edward found himself in court because he had failed to make the required payments in respect to his father. The court had previously considered his circumstances when deciding the sum to be contributed but Edward thought the claim unreasonable. He said he had 6 children at home age 7-19, only two of whom were working and two others had had been sick for a number of months. The paper said Edward's defence was "rambling" and whether it was or not, did him no good as he was ordered again to pay up. Edward told the magistrates the decision was "unchristian" and threatened to go to gaol rather than pay but I think he did not carry out this threat. 

In 1901 Edward was listed as a bill poster. This was an official job which involved pasting up official parish notices, like that of an upcoming election. It often in Marlow went hand in hand with the role of Town Crier and this was also the case with Edward. It looks like he took on both roles in 1894.

Edward's other role in the town was as an active Wesleyan preacher on the local circuit, from 1876-1904. 

He died in 1913, Sarah in 1911.

To find all mentions of a person on this blog use the Person Index on the top drop down menu. To find all pub and beershop related posts see the Pub related option in the same menu. For a full list of old Marlow beer shops see the list  here

©Marlow Ancestors. 

References:

Bucks Herald 13th April 1867. Copy held at the British Library. Accessed by me online via the British Newspaper Archive October 2020.

Reading Mercury 28th June 1862, as above.

GRO index of marriages, and of deaths online. 

Census my transcript from microfilm.

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.

To find every mention of a person on this blog use the person Index option on the drop down menu.

© Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here so that my sources remain credited for the information they provided.

So far this blog contains mention of

174

people from or associated with Marlow.