1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow St Peter's Street

 

I am gradually transcribing the original 1833 handwritten parochial assessment working notebooks of the assessors which my family own along with related correspondence. The purpose of the assessment was to calculate local taxes for 1834. The books were updated with additions and corrections up to circa 1839. Any such updates are highlighted in my transcription.

Format of my transcription:

Name

Property occupied

Annual value of each property

Any comments or research by me in square brackets

By Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors. Use this information if you wish but please credit this blog.

Duck Lane [Also called St Peter's Street which is it's modern name, sometimes in the past called Old Bridge Street too. The name St Peter's does NOT derive from the church as this was not built until the 1840s. The name St Peter's Street was used alongside Duck Lane much earlier]

Thomas Clinkenbury 

House and garden

£5

*****

Timothy Chance [two men of this name headed households in this street. The other in a smaller cottage was a bargeman.]

House and garden

£5

*****

Richard Oxlade

The Blue Banner house [Pub, premises there till at least 1862 before becoming a house. This was very close to the River Thames and the water's edge. There was another pub of this name in Marlow in Henley Road later in the 1800s] and yard.

£8

*****

Christopher Copas

House and Garden

£5

*****

Aaron Oxlade [shopkeeper aged about 67. In St Peter's Street by 1830 when Pigotts Directory lists him. He had married Mary Truss at High Wycombe in 1800. She took over the shop after his death. She was specifically a grocer, Aaron just "shopkeeper". The shop was later licensed to sell beer as well. The Richard of the Blue Banner above was their son]

House and garden

£6

*****

Samuel Barnes [He owned this and other property in the street which was all sold 1850 after his death. His friend Richard Gibbons below was one of his will executors].

House, yard, garden, stable and lofts

£20

Malthouse

£15

*****

Thomas Gibbons [he was a coal merchant. Brother of Richard below]

House, yard, garden, stable and chaise house

£20

Orchard

£5

Wharf at Bankside

£15

*****

Richard Bye [Had recently moved from Abbey Farm Little Marlow. He moved again by 1841. He married the year of the assessment Mary Hewett, by her first marriage Mary Hawkins, some years his junior but she left him two years later. More on this couple in a post here. Mary's first husband had also run the Two Brewers in his time].

Two Brewers house [pub], yard, stables and garden

£12

*****

Samuel Carter

House yard and garden 

£9

******

John Shanks [journeyman blacksmith. In 1833 a court case to get back his alleged ancestral property Finnemoor, a farm near Marlow from Joseph Townsend failed. 1841 blacksmith Church Passage. 1851 blacksmith St Peter's street, 1861 St Peter's Street Blue Banner]

Cottage and garden

£3 10 shillings

*****

George Easley

Cottage and garden

£2 10 shillings

*****

John ?Fusten

House ["and garden" crossed out and "woodhouse" added later]

£6

*****

Thomas Gardener [a market gardener]

Cottage [the words "and garden" later crossed out]

£5

Garden [not attached to his cottage, further down the assessment]

£4

*****

George Newbery [Tailor. Still in street 1841 when aged about 75]

Cottage

£4

*****

William Coleshill [died prematurely in 1837. Widow Martha continued to live in St Peter's Street]

Cottage and garden

£4 10 shillings

*****

Richard Heath [labourer, in street since at least 1823]

Cottage and garden

£4 10 shillings

*****

Richard Gibbons [had a small brewery and also made rope. Sent to Newgate Prison in 1842 after giving false evidence to an inquiry into one of Marlow's many dodgy parliamentary elections. Brother of Thomas above. The property occupied here was inherited from their dad. Richard later rented Samuel Barnes' malthouse listed above as well. Richard was a friend of Samuel's and one of the executors of his will].

House, garden, mill house, counting house, yard, stables, lofts, store rooms, large yard, store house, brewhouse with malt lofts etc

£35

*****

The following people occupied cottages with an annual value of £3 each:

James Downing [labourer. Still in street in same cottage 1841]

John White [bargeman, see below for another John White]

Timothy Chance [2nd person of that name in Street. This one was a bargeman, wife Ann who continued to live in the Street in the 1840s]

Widow Neighbour

Widow Moore [Jane Moore widow of John Moore bargeman who died 1814]

Robert Corby [painter?]

William Lewington [on 1841 census he was said to live in "Mill Yard"]

George Hawes [labourer]

Joseph Gimmet

James Harding

Henry Clark

*****

Occupying cottages each with an annual value of £2 10 shillings:

George Collins

John Hawes

*****

Each occupying a cottage and garden with an annual value of £4:

Widow Butler x2 [could be an accidental repetition of an entry or two Widows Butler occupying identically valued property]

*****

Each occupying a cottage with an annual value of £4:

Henry Clark

Robert Oxlade [probably the shoemaker of this name]

*****

Each occupying a house and garden with £5 annual value:

William Croxen [usually spelt Croxon]

John White [seems to have started as a bargeman but became a beerseller here by 1838 until at least 1852. Wife Eliza. Cottage no longer exists. Name of his beer house is currently unknown. Note that there was a different John White, also a bargeman in St Peter's Street at the same time, see above].

Elizabeth White [the first name originally left blank, name Elizabeth added later in pencil]

*****

Occupying cottage and garden with an annual value of £4 10 shillings:

Samuel Hobbs [Later at the two Brewers]

*****

Cottage with annual value of £1 10 shillings [an exceptionally small value. This must have been a one room hovel]:

Ann Clark [lacemaker]

*****

Robert Gudgeon [also occurs as Gudgin. He worked in the paper mills. His wife Charlotte's grave is here. In 1843 he lived in St Peter's Street in a rented "newly built" stone house erected a few months earlier so he had moved within St Peter's Street]

House and garden

£5

*****

Late Bradshaw [no first name]

House, lawn, stables, yard, coach house, large garden and orchard

£25 [In 1837 a Mr Bradshaw a poor man of Duck Lane, that being an alternative name for St Peters Street, suffered a terrible fire at his cottage that left it completely destroyed. He was much burned when rescuing his children from the blaze. The family lost all their possessions. Two neighbouring cottages were badly damaged. This must be a different Bradshaw as the man called Bradshaw in the assessment above is far from poor if in a £25 house. This earlier Bradshaw he has either died or moved from St Peters Street in 1833, 4 years before the fire, as his recorded occupation is as "late Bradshaw", though the two Bradshaw men may be related] 

*****

John Morgan [draper, premises High Street. More here]

House, yard, offices

£10

*****

Ann Bond [widow. For more on her, her husband and an odd burglary Ann suffered in this house see here]

House, yard, garden

£25

Coach house belonging to Badger

10 shillings

*****

Martha Badger [likely widow of William]

Cottage and large garden

£5 10 shillings

*****

John Badger

House and garden

£4

*****

James Brown

Cottage and garden

£6

*****

Brown [no first name]

House and garden

£7 10 shillings

*****

Robert Jonathan Oxlade [in 1813 a man of this name was a shoemaker. Son of Robert Jonathan Oxlade senior who sold up his business -of an unknown nature but he owned a malthouse- and left Marlow in 1787. Obviously Robert junior had decided to return to the town]

House and two gardens

£9

*****

William Davis [could be the man of this name who was a Marlow beer seller in 1831, though presumably now of different trade as his premises are not noted as a beer shop or inn]

Cottage and garden

£4

*****

George Davis

Cottage and garden

£5

*****

John Collins

Cottage and garden

£5

*****

Thomas Frith

Cottage and garden

£4 10 shillings

*****

Transcribed and researched by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors.

The People Of The Saddlers Arms /Sadlers Arms

 

The Sad(d)lers Arms, former premises as it appears at the time of first writing.

Post updated October 2023

The Saddler's Arms / Sadler's Arms seems to have began when saddler James Allum took on an alcohol licence for the premises at some point circa 1852-53

It was only a little beer house in West Street at first. It had to hold its own between the large tavern the Three Tuns slightly further along West Street and the substantial Crown Inn just around the corner in Market Square. It was nearly opposite two more pubs in the Coach and Horses and the Ship too.

James Allum and his wife Ann were in the premises by 1854. James continued to work as a saddler so it is likely that it was Ann who did much of the bar work during the daytime. She was née Smith.

They also had at least one room to let to visitors.

James was the son of tailor also called James Allum whose premises had been a short distance from the pub his son would go on to run. Ann was also a West Street girl from childhood.

Frank Hudson took over the Saddler's Arms in 1876, following James's death. He was married to an Elizabeth. Frank continued to work as a butcher whilst running the pub. He had a meat stall at Marlow's covered market.

George Coleshill was there in 1883 but in 1884 it was a Frederick Coleshill who as landlord was summoned on a charge of allowing gambling on his premises. He was found not guilty as the court reluctantly accepted he had been unaware of what his patrons were up to. (The gambling consisted of a game of tiddlywinks! Two men were playing it using pennies, with a nail fixed into the table surface as a target. They said they played merely for amusement and the coins were acting as their counters.) It continued under the Coleshill family for several years. 

William Root was the new publican 1904. Two years later he prosecuted a customer for using bad language at him. He said the customer was not drunk at the time as he had only drank mineral water. Interesting to see that William served this as well as alcohol.

William could get into trouble himself, being charged in 1908 with driving a horse and trap while very drunk and then hitting a constable who tried to stop him in the face with a whip. He was fined £2 with the threat of jail if he didn't pay up.

The pub was forced to close in 1909 during a cut down of the number of licensed premises allowed in the town. The landlord had been doing little trade anyway and was in financial difficulty. He was paid £30 compensation by the court as licensee for the loss of his business. The police had observed that most of the customers were boys and youths. A sweet shop next door was thought to attract them to the spot. This counted against the pub's chances of license renewal.

Related posts: 

For more posts like this see Pub Related index here. For more West Street related see the "Specific Shops, Streets... Etc" index here.

All mentions of someone on this blog can be found under the A-Z  Person Index in the top drop down menu - at the time of writing it includes thousands of historic  Marlow born or based individuals. 

Sadlers Arms complete landlords listing including more people than we were aware of when writing this post here

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

Sources include:

My own census transcription from microfilm except 1901 which was from 1901CensusOnline [defunct].

1833 Parochial assessment, transcribed by me from original handwritten records held by my family.

SWOP photo sharing website for Wycombe District. There are several pictures of the pub on this site.

Great Marlow Parish registers. My old transcription.

Bucks Herald 8th March 1854 [Coleshill gambling case]. South Bucks Standard 13th March 1908 [closure proposed] and 24th July 1908 [Root charged with dangerous driving], Buckingham Advertiser 9th January 1909 [Compensation for closure]. Copies from the British Library collection, accessed November 2020 by me via online the BNA.

Research of Jane Pullinger [Root's swearing customer].

Jolly Cricketers Bovingdon Green

UPDATED BY CHARLOTTE May 2026

Historic list of landlords for the Jolly Cricketers AKA the Cricketer's Arms Bovingdon Green near Great Marlow.

Gathered from adverts, censuses, wills, court cases etc.

For more on this pub and it's people see my post Bovingdon Green in the 1800s here.

Other Bovingdon Green linked posts are indexed here

1843-44 James Jones.

1853-55 William Davis. Possibly already there 1851. There was a man in Marlow of this name who was a beer seller in 1831. Could be the same man in different premises. William must have died sometime between 1855-61.

1861-83 Hannah Davis, widow of the above. Read about William & Hannah's son in law here.

1883-88 George Robinson.

1888- 1901 Frederick Coleshill, who had moved from the Sadler's Arms, West Street Marlow. Wife Lottie also served behind the bar. In 1900 Frederick donated 2s to the Marlow Transvaal Relief Fund which was organised in conjunction with the Red Cross amongst others. The fund helped the families of soldiers fighting in South Africa, and injured soldiers.

1902 briefly widow Lottie Coleshill as above then Thomas Willis.

1905-16 Francis William Styles. In 1905 Francis was assaulted by two troublesome customers who entered the pub without his permission and then refused to leave. Francis was one of those who gave evidence when the nearby landlord of the Royal Oak killed his brother in a fight. For this case see here. In 1915 Francis was fined £5 because he served convalescing soldiers with alcohol. These men were on an outing from a military hospital to nearby Hooks Farm where they were watching athletic sports and a pony gymkhana. As military patients they were dressed in distinct blue uniforms that Francis was supposed to recognise. Notices of this has been sent to all local pubs and he admitted that he had had one.

1916-33 Walter Simmons. Walter and his wife had moved from Spinfield Lane Marlow.  Their son rifleman W.H Simmonds of the Hampshire Regiment (Isle Of Wight Rifles) was listed as presumed dead in 1918, having been previously listed as missing.

1933-34 Richard Arthur Milliard.

1934 pub force to close by local authorities who were trying to dramatically cut the number of licensed premises. A protest petition by a large number of Bovingdon Green residents demanding the pub be spared was ignored. Landlord Richard Millard had hoped to live out his days there. He said the pub might not do a huge amount of trade (this was the key excuse officials made to shut down a pub) but it was enough for him so why did they have to interfere? Remember he would be losing his home and his business in one go. He would receive compensation but not a huge amount. At this point it was a Wethered's Pub.

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

Hard To Find Farm, Little Marlow

Updated December 2024

Farm existed by 1752 Closer to High Wycombe than anywhere but was officially in Little Marlow parish. Description: 1873= 240 acres sheep farm (but was clearly also arable at that point).

Historic Occupiers:

Note that for farms these were rarely the same as the owners of the property in the past.

1752 - Robert Kitson of Hard to Find Farm buried.

1784 -88 at least. William Curtis (from Oxfordshire). 

1853 - farm to let. Possibly was in use by  William Wethered just before this date but he was a non-residential farmer there if so.

1860 - circa 1868 Thomas Dorrell. Wife Ann as below. Brother Abel a partner in the business. They farmed together at Coleshill 1849-1853 (at least). Not to be confused with Thomas Dorrell farmer of Bockmer End near Medmenham.

1869 - Ann Dorrell, widow of Thomas above. Her employee William Burt was in 1869 convicted of stealing eggs from her but she told the court she would take the young man back if he promised to be good in future. He received a formal reprimand but no further punishment.

Ann was in a less forgiving mood two years later when her 16 year old shepherd George Burt / Birt, probably a relative of the William above, was convicted of embezzlement after he failed to hand over the true amount of money paid to him by a fellmonger for sheep skins from Mrs Dorrell's farm. George was sentenced to 2 weeks in jail. He had spent the money on beer. By this time William Burt was not still working on the farm. The Dorrells left the farm in 1873. 

1893 -1911 John Stallwood. Moved to Hard To Find from a farm in Totteridge Bucks 1893. Had a farm Bradenham in 1887. Census says born 1856 Bledlow Ridge. Wife Ann born Downley 1854. Kids at home 1871= Albert, Annie, Frederick, George, Harry, James, Lily, Rolphe, William. Employee George Thorne convicted of beating Thomas's horse with an iron bar in 1893. In 1902 John's father William who ran the Beech Tree beer house in Littleworth Common, Bucks went for the day to Hard To Find to help his son on the farm. Later that evening he took a wrong turn in his horse and cart which plunged into the Thames killing him. It was thought by some that tiredness from his farm work earlier in the day (William was 71) may have been partly to blame. In the same year Emma Beaver of Great Marlow fined for taking turnip tops from the fields of Hard To Find. This was a common offence for poor women to be convicted of. They cooked the turnip greens as vegetables.

In 1905 John was summoned for employing his underage son Harry on the farm. Did not appear and was fined in his absence. Another fine came his way for "furiously driving" his horse and trap as a danger to others in 1906 and 1910. The term "furiously" refers to high reckless speed and is nothing to do with him being in a temper!

John went bankrupt in 1911. He was a litigious man in money matters both suing and being sued numerous times over business deals gone sour.

1912 Harold Secker. Describes his business then as a dairy and poultry farm when advertises for a live in farm boy.

1920 - H F Secker. Must be mistake for H.G Secker.

1932 - Farm used for military training exercises by the Bucks Battalion. Machine gun companies and others simulated an attack on the farm. I hope someone told the sheep it was only a drill.

1933 - H Gordon "Seeker" 

1939 - Henry (Harry) Gordon Secker. This year he advertised for a carter who could also milk. Cottage provided.  Wife Florence. Teenage son Frederick assisted his father on the farm. The family also took in lodgers.

For more farm occupier posts for Little Marlow and Great Marlow see the Specific Shops, Streets Etc option on the menu. You will also see a Person Index option on the menu to help you find every mention of a person on this blog. For more Little Marlow content in general see Other Places on the menu.

Farm occupancies calculated from wills, adverts, trade journals, censuses, property records, court cases etc.

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

My census transcriptions from microfilm. Census information remains Crown Copyright.

See:

Reading Mercury 24th April 1869, Windsor and Eton Express 11th March 1826 and Bucks Herald 22nd February 1873. British Library Archives.

Child Paper Makers Of Marlow

In 1842 a commission was set up by parliament to enquire into child labour in mine and manufacturing settings. As part of their evidence gathering they visited Wrights paper mill in Marlow and interviewed some of the young workers there. The way the process was conducted was not up to standards we would have today- the children were asked if their health was affected by their work as if they would be qualified to answer that question. Nevertheless these and similar enquiries gradually lead to limits on the working hours of children and the numbers of them which could be employed. The Marlow mills did not significantly employ children compared to other industries.

Edwin Anstead

Had worked as a rag cutter since the age of 12 and was then 17. His working hours were 8am to 5pm, with later hours overtime. One hour was granted to him for lunch which he brought from home. He was expected to cut 120 pounds in weight of rags a day for which he was paid 14 pence a day. Of all the young people interviewed at Marlow he was the only one able to both read and write. He signed his evidence.

Edwin can be found on the 1841 census living at Burroughs Grove just outside Marlow so he had a fair walk to work each day. Family relationships are not recorded on the 1841 census, and ages of adults are rounded. The Nathaniel and Sarah Anstead he lived with might have been his grandparents rather than parents  their recorded ages of 70 and 65. 

Hannah Coleshill

Started at 16 and was then 18. She smoothed paper. She said that her job sometimes made her tired but she preferred it to her previous job of sewing in a Marlow baby linen factory. In fact she liked her job very much. She worked from 9 to either 5pm or 6pm and earned 6 shillings a week.

Hannah was born in 1824 to William and Martha.

John Hawes

The 13 year old had just started at the mills but said his health was already being affected. He had developed chilblains on his legs which he put down to having to stand nearly all day. He also felt tired by his job which was to watch the reams of paper being produced to see none was torn and to try to fix the problem causing the tear or call someone else to do it if he could not fix it. No wonder John felt tired- he worked 5am to 6pm with frequent overtime all the way up to 9pm. He received an hour lunch break and a further 30 minute break in addition. John's father George was an engineer at the mill and also gave (somewhat defensive) evidence to the enquiry. He said the boy's work was not physically demanding (standing for most of a potential 16 hour working day?!?!?) and he would not let a child of his work there if he thought it unsuitable for his age.

John lived with George and his mother Miriam in Oxford Road in 1841. By 1851 the family had moved to Wooburn. Dad George was still a paper maker there but John was just described just as a "labourer"

Henry Tavage (perhaps should be Savage)

Henry had started at the mill when he was just 9 and was then 14. He worked 5am to 6pm with some hours overtime also worked. Despite his long hours he was not allowed any lunch break and had to eat as and when he could whilst working. He told the commissioners he might get some bacon with his bread lunch but generally he did not often eat meat as they were too poor.

He may be the Henry Savage who lives in St Peter Street with his parents on the 1841 census.

Eliza White

Aged 13. She worked smoothing paper at the mill from 8.30 am to either 5 or 6pm. In the last week before the interview with her she had earned 3 shillings 3 and a half pence. This was much less than Hannah Coleshill above who did the same task for similar hours which probably reflects her younger age and less experience. It was common in the Victorian world of work for lower wages to be paid to the youngest workers even if they were successfully doing the same job as older workers. Eliza was fortunate in that she, like Hannah, was able to sit down during her work. She had 30 minutes as a lunch break and ate on the premises. She told the commissioners that she liked her job.

I found her baptism in 1828 to John and Eliza. She was one of 8 children living with her parents in St Peter's Street Marlow at the time of the 1841 census. Her father was a clerk.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day

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

Bovingdon Green In The 1800s

The 1833 parochial assessment notebooks which my family has records only 6 households in the village of Bovingdon Green plus another 11 at Marlow Common and more at Forty Green. During the day the population swelled however as workers from Marlow walked up to Bovingdon Green and near it for their work.

By 1851 the population was around 65.

Many of the male residents were agricultural labourers or workers in gravel pits or brick kiln. 

These thirsty workers were served by the pubs the Royal Oak and the Jolly Cricketers. The latter was sometimes referred to as the Cricketer's Arms. There was also a newly built beer sellers called the Coach and Horses in 1836 which does not seem to have lasted long unless it eventually morphed into the Jolly Cricketers which did not yet exist in the mid 1830s. The Coach and Horses was said to enjoy a good trade and had the advantage of a garden well laid out with fruit and nut trees. 

Inevitably with drinking came some trouble. Convictions for being drunk and disorderly on the green happened frequently. More seriously, in 1843 two men who had been drinking in the Royal Oak fell out and went out onto the green to settle their differences. As an added incentive the men put down several shillings between them as a prize for the victor. William Wakefield died after nearly 20 rounds and two hours of fighting. Investigations found that he had suffered a brain hemorrhage. His opponent James Davis was tried for manslaughter but found not guilty. Marlow surgeon Robert Colbourne said that William's alcohol intake that evening could have caused his final fall to the ground and that fall itself could have caused him to hit his head on the ground and hemorrhage [as his energy flagged in the fight he had been plied with brandy to revive his spirits]. While this was only a possibility the suggestion was enough to raise reasonable doubt as to James' responsibility for the death.

In 1894 Frederick Coleshill landlord of the Cricketer's Arms was assaulted when he went for a drink at the rival Royal Oak. The assailant was customer George Todd who accused Frederick of informing the police that his brother had stolen moss and rabbits. Poaching was endemic in the area and the Todd family of Marlow and Bovingdon Green was amongst the most involved families in that. If Frederick had snitched on one of the Todds it was a bit rich of him as he was a poacher himself!

Two years earlier Frederick's wife Lottie was summoned for assaulting fellow Bovingdon Green resident Sarah Sawyer after a falling out between them. She was found not guilty. The magistrate said that he was fed up with the women of the village airing their "dirty laundry" in public and Marlow's courts having to deal with it!

The village did have a rough reputation for much of the 1800s and the Royal Oak tended to be the epicentre of much of that trouble.

It had respectable functions too being sometimes used to hold auctions and often for coroner's inquests concerning village residents. The saddest inquests I have seen were those of toddler Esther Swadling who burned to death when her clothes caught fire in 1830, and of the unnamed newborn baby girl whose body was found wrapped up in a parcel in a field near the village in 1878. An open verdict was returned on the baby. 

The Royal Oak was unusual in having a Sick and Dividends Club just for women. It was established 1898/99. Later there would also be a traditional Slate Club based at the pub.

Bovingdon Green had a small school from the 1860s onwards. It suffered at times from lack of money. This combined with the necessity of teaching children of too wide a span of ages all together at once meant that the level of education was sometimes inadequate through no real fault of the teachers. Sir George Higginson of Marlow helped by paying for an extra classroom in 1892 in memory of his mother Frances. By 1894 the school could accommodate over 100 pupils, though the average attendance was a little over half that. Greater funding came from the authorities in the early Edwardian era. These factors led to inspectors' reports praising the school's much risen standards. The great affection felt for Bovingdon Green by Sir George Higginson and his wife meant that the pupils of the school had, courtesy of them, more than the usual number of organised treats. From a child's perspective I'm sure that it was THE local school to go to. On New Years Eve 1885 General Higginson himself waited on the children of the school who were enjoying a special tea with cake, and a magic lantern show thereafter. His wife and daughter also helped serve the tea. 

By 1888 there was also a Sunday School in the village.

Residents of all ages benefited from the kindness of the Higginsons. During a severe winter in 1895 much agricultural work and general labour ground to a halt for weeks. Families in Bovingdon Green faced destitution. Lady Higginson distributed coal and money to the worst affected families and organised with Marlow's vicar for local children to have a free breakfast every day. 

Others also came to the aid of struggling villagers, organising extra work at Mrs Allam's gravel pits or by providing jobs helping to widen the road near Seymour Court.

The men and youths of the village had fun by playing cricket on the green. The spot had long been a place for it, hence the name Cricketer's Arms / Jolly Cricketers for one of the pubs. Illegal playing of games of coin tossing and dice for money took place on the green and in the lanes nearby too- before the constables chased everyone off each time.

Those constables did not often have burglaries to deal with in the village but both pubs suffered break ins.  The Royal Oak landlord was relieved of a gun, bread, cheese and bacon in 1841 while two years later the family at the Jolly Cricketers lost a pair of shoes, some drinking glasses and bacon in a raid on their premises.

Bovingdon Green traditionally held May Day sports and in the 1840's it had its own fair (June) - nothing like as big as that at Marlow of course but animals were sold, and sports were again a big feature. Chief among these was donkey racing. This was taken seriously - a large number of locals kept donkeys in this era, especially those engaged in the skewer trade. In fact the sight of a cavalcade of donkeys leaving Marlow early in the morning was considered a feature of the neighborhood.  

For more on Bovingdon Green look at the Nearby Places option on the top drop down menu.

A list of the landlords of the Royal Oak can be found in our post here and of the Jolly Cricketers here.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this content for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here so that the sources listed below also retain credit for contributing information.

Some sources:

Report of the committee of Council on Education, HMSO 1894, UNI of Illinois. 

1833 parochial assessment working notebooks of the assessors owned by my family, transcribed by me.

Newspapers:

Reading Gazette and Oxford Journal 19th November 1843. Bucks Herald 11th November 1843. Windsor and Eton Express 23rd October 1841. South Bucks Standard 8th January 1892.

All copies held in the British Library and accessed through their partnership with the BNA.

1851 census Great Marlow, my transcription from microfilm.

 

The Horns, Chapel Street

 THE HORNS - UPDATED BY CHARLOTTE March 2026.

No longer exists as a business or building.

1805 - Francis Parker

1823 - Thomas Wyatt. More on the interesting Wyatt family including Thomas here. Thomas was definitely a licensed victualler by 1815 in Marlow. He may therefore have already been at the Horns then.

1828 - Thomas Wyatt - "ale house"

1830 - Thomas Wyatt

1833 - John Bryant 

1838 - Thomas Wyatt

1839 - Thomas Wyatt. Died that year. In his will he said that he owned a cottage in Gun Lane (now called Trinity Road) and two at Bovingdon Green, Marlow. Thomas mentioned his living sons George and Charles, his deceased children Thomas Wyatt and Harriet Sawyer and a son in law Francis Carter.

1839 - John Goddard holds briefly. 

 

1841- George Wyatt. Also a carrier. Son of Thomas above.

1844 - George Wyatt. In 1849 all of George's fowls are stolen from out back, in one of Marlow's frequent poultry stealing epidemics! 

1852 - George Wyatt

1853 - George Wyatt (also a carrier)

1854 - George Wyatt (also a farmer). Fined for having earthenware pots for sale of beer that were short measures (Reading Mercury 26th August, British Library Archives).

1859 - Geo Wyatt

1861  - John Coleshill, age 44 on census.  His wife Charlotte equally ran the pub and daughter Sarah was noted in 1874 as being a barmaid there too.

1869 -  J. Coleshill  but Edward Tracey Wyatt AKA Tracey Wyatt continues his family carrier's business from Horns Inn Yard, running goods to the New Inn, Old Bailey via Piccadilly twice a week. He kept at least one van and three horses at the Horns.

1872 - John Coleshill.

1874 - John Coleshill was fined but his licence not endorsed for having drinkers in his pub after hours. One of them was Edward Tracey Wyatt above who said he only came in to the Horns to tend his sick horse in the stables there. He had to access the stable through the pub building as the front gate was locked when he arrived. He then saw another man there whom he'd carried a parcel for and they got talking he said, forgetting the time ticking on.

1880 - John Coleshill aka Jack. Premises attacked by the election rioters this year, with 17 panes of glass broken. See here for more information. 

1887 - Mrs Elizabeth Coleshill. ? May be error for Charlotte Coleshill, widow of John above. 

1888 - 1. Charlotte Coleshill   2. William A. Coleshill

1891 - Augustus Coleshill, son of John Coleshill (Brief holdover granted to Harry Roberts)

1903 - new entrance constructed.

1907 - Augustus Coleshill

1909 - 1.Augustus Coleshill 2. Charles O'Brien. 

1911 - Charles O'Brien

1912 - James Thomas Cotton 

1913 - from James Thomas Cotton to Henry John Pardey (holdover)

1915 - M S Weir 

1920,21 - Charles Bye Tillion. Moved from The Mint, Dean Street as it had been forcibly closed by the authorities 1919 in an attempt to limit the number of licensed premises in a given area. Had earlier been a poulterer and tripe dresser in Spittal Square. Charles died in 1924. Son George was the well known haulage contractor. 

1939 - Charles Clement Chapman "Horns Hotel" 

1962,63-  "The Horns Inn" Jack and Joan Clements

.

1966 J.J Clements 

NOTES:

This post is updated as new information emerges. All listings are as noted in original sources, including alternative spellings. 

For similar posts see Pub Related on the menu. More Chapel Street posts can be found listed here

©Marlow Ancestors. 

SOURCES

1853 Mussons and Cravens Commercial Directory

1864, 1903,1907,1911- Kellys Post Office Directory

1833 Parish Assessment, transcribed from assessors working notebooks which we own, by Charlotte Day.

Pigots Directory 1823,1830,1844

Slaters Commercial Directory 1852

Census 1861,1871,1881,1891 transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte Day or Jane Pullinger.

Bucks Free Press 30th October 1874, Bucks Free Press Archives.

Dutton, Allen and Co Directory and Gazetteer, 1869.

Morning Chronicle, July 1828, accessed via the BNA

Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, 17 July 1828, as above 

Bucks Epiphany Sessions, 1805, Bucks Archives. 

Much advertising material from leaflets, programmes, etc.