Coster family of Marlow

 There were historically many Costers in Marlow. We will feature as many as we can on this blog in the future but for this post I will deal with the children and descendants of a particular couple- Edward Joseph Coster and his wife Elizabeth nee Fleming. 

Edward was almost always known by his middle name Joseph. He even married Elizabeth under that name in 1843! He was then 21 years old. Edward was the keeper of Marlow's lock for many years from 1848 onwards. This was not a particularly well paid job (though you did get a house with it) and he also worked as a cordwainer until at least 1863 to supplement the family income. In 1854 it was decided by the powers that be that many Thames lock keepers were to lose their wages entirely, including Edward whose £3 a month was cut off. In return for keeping their homes and the tolls given by pleasure craft he was to work for free! Bear in mind that the pleasure craft traffic could be very low outside of the holiday season. Fortunately several of his daughters remained at home as adults and brought in an income from their "fancy" needlework. 

Elizabeth's origins are unclear. On the census she usually says that she was born in Shoreditch London. She might be a relative of the Flemings who had Marlow Place as their country home though there would be a great gulf between that family and that of her future husband in terms of wealth. There was a Fleming connection to the Wyatt family of Marlow not obviously anything to do with the Flemings of Marlow Place and possibly another Fleming family group too so that needs to be born in mind.

Edward grew up in a long gone cottage by the also lost "Tithe Barn" near Marlow Bridge. 

Lock keeping was well established in the Coster family. Edward's dad Richard* spent much of his working days as a foreman carpenter and boat repairer at Marlow Wharf for the Thames Commissioners as well as boatbuilding on his own account, but later in life became the lock keeper at Boveney, Bucks. Richard's brother Thomas was the lock keeper at Temple, the next lock along the river from Marlow. Thomas retired in 1883 because of ill health.

Edward and Elizabeth had eleven or twelve children. They raised their family as Congregationalists, attending the church in Quoiting Square. Edward had not been raised that way himself but Elizabeth may have been. 

One of their children, 7 year old Willie drowned at the lock in 1868 after apparently falling into the water unseen by any adult. Children of lock keepers were quite frequently lost in this way in the 1800s. The Thames was a generally dangerous place in Victorian times. Few years went by without a drowning, or several, in the vicinity of Marlow. In his position of lock keeper Edward more than once had to assist in the recovery of the bodies. Still, apparently, his job didn't merit any pay!

Another child of Edward and Elizabeth, Edwin also died as a child, though not as a result of an accident. Another son Charles was probably also a child death.

Edward's son Edmund became a prominent Marlow grocer at no 20 High Street (old numbering. In later numbering was no 50, also eventually Edmund was at no 52 as well). It is possible that when he appeared in the 1881 census as a grocer's assistant it was for Noah Bartlett of West Street who married Edmund's sister Ellen, though he also had a relative Richard Coster who had a grocery shop in West Street (that Richard suffered bankruptcy in 1888 and disappeared, his family apparently never seeing him again). Noah Bartlett was also a congregational man. Sadly Ellen died less than a year into her marriage. More about Noah in this post here. The post contains a link to an image of Ellen's grave and a picture of Noah's premises in the modern day.

Above, high class provisions available from Coster & Son.. 1931. 

Edmund eventually expanded into a second premises in West Street. This sold grocery and later some hardware. Like most Marlow grocers of Victorian and Edwardian times Edmund suffered multiple thefts from his premises. The lists of items stolen from him give as a flavour of his stock- packets of tea, pots of jam, bottles of sauce, canned fruit and packs of candles. He died in 1930, his wife Mary (nee Carter) in 1933. By 1920 their son Sydney was a partner in the business. After Edmund's death the High Street shop was taken over by their son Sydney who used no 50 for groceries and no 52 as a tobacconist with some lines of "fancy goods" too. Adverts from his early years in charge show that he specialized in the grocery side in Empire butter and bacon. A 1933 advert says an A Coster was also running the shop. Poor Sydney died suddenly when just 54 while acting as goalkeeper for the mens' hockey team. He had played for Marlow for years and was the Captain of the Bucks Hockey Association. I think that he was one of the special constables of Marlow. By 1948 only the tobacconist and fancy goods side of the business at 52 was still running but it was still "Costers" for years to come.

Emily, sister to Edmund, Willie and Ellen married Marlow  High Street architect Richard Wellicome of Marlow in 1878 at the Congregational Church. Her sister Alice married West Street grocer Albert G Fleet there 7 years later. Albert both ran his own shop and assisted Edmund Coster in Edmund's secondary West Street premises. When their church needed to raise £300 for renovations in 1889 Alice was amongst the stall holders at the fundraising bazaar (running a Japanese theme stall). Alice also trained the children of the non-conformist teetotal Excelsior Band Of Hope (which was based in the Congregational church) singing and elocution.

Emily Coster as Emily Wellicome operated as a milliner and fancy draper from no 5 High Street (old numbering), eventually assisted by her daughter Florence. Astonishingly, just like Richard Coster, Richard Wellicome disappeared in the midst of a financial cloud. Wellicome had been the parish surveyor and rate collector and a warrant was issued for his arrest in 1907 for falsifying his accounts. The case drew national press attention and the unfortunate Emily was pressed for interview by journalists. She spoke of her distress. A cryptic postcard was sent by him from Gloucester to their 14 year old daughter Mabel saying "We are just off, feeling better, best love to all". A Marlow woman thought she had seen him on a London omnibus with a "wild" look on his face. Some of his account books were discovered abandoned in a bag at a Liverpool quayside but of the man himself neither police nor his family could find any trace then or ever. Later that year Emily's brother Edmund the grocer, who held the mortgage for Richard and Emily's home put a lien on the property so the absent Richard could not sell the property without satisfying the debt. All credit to Emily for picking herself up and carrying on. Mind you, with several young children at home what else could she do? By 1920 Emily had retired from her business. Initially she lived in Claremont Gardens but when she died in 1929 she was of 10 Glade Road.

Another sister Anne "Annie" Coster did not marry and worked as a fancy needlewoman. She also helped out in Congregational fundraising events and was, like her dad and brother in law Noah Bartlett, a long standing Sunday School teacher. After the death of her parents she kept her own household in her parents' old Station Road home, no longer needing to work presumably because of parental inheritance. Her also unmarried sister Julia (another former needlewoman) lived with her as did their uncle William Coster. Another fancy needlewoman their sister Lucy died at the age of 32.

Alfred Coster the eldest son of Edward the lock keeper moved to Devon where he worked as a draper. He married Mary Ann Wish in Newton Abbott.

A Mrs Coster, who could be Edmund's wife, was one of the women who stitched the banners used in the town as part of the one thousand strong children's parade which formed part of the 1887 Queen Victoria's  Jubilee celebrations.

Edward Joseph the lock keeper lost his wife Elizabeth aged 63 in 1886 and shortly afterwards decided to retire on the small pension granted to lock keepers. Well-wishers collected £70 to give him as a leaving present. In 1898 he died at the home in Station Road which he shared with several of his unmarried daughters and was buried with Elizabeth in the churchyard of the Congregational Church. The South Bucks Standard in reporting his death said that Edmund was a lifelong teetotaller (he was on the committee of the Marlow Total Abstinence Society when it formed) who never used "improper words" and had performed his duties "quietly, honestly and industriously". They also said that he was a man known for his kindness to children. Things were probably quite rosy for his 25 grandchildren then! He was also a cricket fan and keen walker.

*his mother was Elizabeth nee Windsor, who lived long enough to celebrate her hundredth birthday in 1889. By this time she lived in Bray. Her brother William Windsor the town postman was said to be a renowned Marlow eccentric. 

Post written and researched by Charlotte Day.

Related posts: 

Other posts related to those who made their living on or around the river (including other lock keepers, barge men etc) at Marlow can be found in the index here

To look for mentions of a particular person or family see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

To find information about particular shops, businesses or homes see the index here

Some Sources=

GRO marriage index, GRO online.

England and Wales censuses 1841-81, transcribed from microfilm by me. Census information remains Crown Copyright.

"England and Wales, Census, 1901", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSWG-5KC : Thu Feb 13 06:58:01 UTC 2025), Entry for Alfred Coster and Mary A Coster, 31 Mar 1901.

England and Wales census 1891

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4GGN-LPZ?lang=en

Baptisms of Edward Coster, Richard Coster, Thomas Coster- Great Marlow Bishops Transcripts, Find My Past.

Pigots Directory 1842, Slaters Directory 1852. Kelly's Directory 1899 and 1920 by Kelly's Directories Limited.

Marlow Directory and Almanack 1907, Marlow Printing Company.

Guide to the Crown Hotel Marlow, circle 1934.

Maidenhead Advertiser November 13th 1889, Baylis Media Archives.

South Bucks Standard July 1st 1898

Bucks Free Press. June 1887. Bucks Free Press Archives.

Newspapers from the British Library Archives and accessed via the BNA: Reading Mercury 12th September 1868 and 9th October 1886, South Bucks Standard 12th April 1907, Daily News 11th April 1907.

More Historic Shopkeepers of Quoiting Square Marlow.

A grocer's shop formerly operated from where the children's shoe shop is today in Quoiting Square.

Aaron Maskell originally from the Cookham area (born 1814) ran the business in these specific premises by 1861 (seemingly from 1854). In 1862 he was summoned to court after inspectors found his weighing scales were not properly maintained and thus not weighing true. He said this was just an oversight and the court believed him -it was a common problem. He was allowed to pay only the court costs rather than a fine plus costs.

Aaron hired a shed further up Oxford Road in which he kept ducks and geese. In the 1800 grocers did not usually sell any fresh birds so this looks to have been a different side line business for Aaron. Some of these birds were stolen and slaughtered before they could be recovered in 1865. He is also listed as a bacon curer in 1854. Many grocery shops produced and sold their own bacon in this era with curing taking place on the premises.

Aaron died suddenly in 1873. He had been suffering from chest problems for four years and had been previously diagnosed with heart disease but had not had any recent medical attendance. On the day of his death he woke up with pains in the chest and arm. Today we would understand these as symptoms of a potential heart attack and an emergency situation but Aaron had to be persuaded to even go back to bed to rest let alone seek medical attendance. Eliza Mann* who lived with the Maskells gave him some ginger water (which would have been seen as invigorating) and then called for a doctor. Sadly his condition deteriorated and his life could not be saved.

Aaron's wife Anna (née Hemmens, stated as of Alton in Middlesex when they married in Heigham Norfolk 1837) then took over the helm of the shop. In 1878 her niece in law Emily Hemmens (widow of Charles) who had been assisting the couple for some years became the manager. These proprietor's all had spirit licences too and sold beer, including that of Marlow's Wethered Brewery. 

Emily died in 1884 and her assistant George Henry Britnell ran the business himself. George was from Little Marlow originally and married his wife Jane Larkin in Kensington Middlesex in 1885.

In 1890 George's shop assistant Ellen Harris was a witness when a boy stole from the till of a shop in nearby West Street. She gave evidence in court for the prosecution. Theft from shops was very common in Victorian Marlow but it was most often of goods hanging outside or displayed in the window rather than of money.

In the early 1900s George retired in favour of Edward Albert Piercey who moved from Lane End where he had been a licensed victualler. By this time the shop was mostly operating as what we would now call an off licence with groceries of secondary importance. Edward only stayed a few years, transferring the business and its alcohol license over to Edward Neighbour in 1906. Edward kept the store equally as a grocery shop, provisions merchant and off licence. Below is an ad from 1915.

When I was a very little girl I had an elderly friend Elsie Coster who lived as a child in Oxford Road near this shop. Her brother Albert worked running errands for the business as a teenager in the early 1920s and I believe Elsie herself worked there as a shop assistant for a brief period.

Edward's father has a biography post on the blog here. Edward's maternal grandparents feature in this post, while this one features both his aunt and maternal grandma.

The business continued as "E Neighbours" until at least 1933. The business is not in the 1939 Kelly's Directory. Bertram Scammell general shopkeeper was probably in the premises then.

Elsewhere in the Square William Bowles ran a fruiterer's shop from at least 1873 to at least 1897. He survived bankruptcy in 1886. He had a fruit store up Oxford Road and also occupied Oakengrove / Oaken Grove Farm. An old building in Oxford Road he no longer needed was the first home of Marlow's Salvation Army members. This made him somewhat unpopular and he eventually evicted them on the grounds their band practices and meetings were too noisy. You have to remember that the Army apart from promoting teetotalism which was seen as threatening in a brewery town was perceived as radical even dangerously subversive religiously and socially for many other reasons in it's early days. William was not as far as can be seen a member himself.

The shop where William lived and worked no longer exists, neither do his fruit store or the first Salvation Army building. More about the controversial (and violent!) early days of the Salvation Army in Marlow here.

*Eliza Mann married James Meakes of Marlow and the couple kept the Plough pub. More here.

See also previous post on "What did Platts used to be?" for shops that used to be on that Quoiting Square spot here.

See also here for my previous post on Elizabeth Tyler/ Lee whose husband just might have been in the Maskell/ Britnell/ Neighbour etc grocery store in earlier times.

For some history and the historic landlords of the pub next door to the grocery shop mentioned above (the Clayton Arms) see here

Sources:

Historic advertising material.

Bucks Examiner 17th December 1890. Copy held at the British Library Archives. Viewed by me via the British Newspaper Archive March 2021.

Reading Mercury 28th June 1862, accessed as above.

UK Census images my transcription from microfilm, National Archives. Census information remains Crown Copyright.

Heigham Parish Registers

Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, Bucks and Oxon 1854, 1883, 1911, 1915, 1920, 1939 by Kelly's Directories Limited. 

Marlow Town Guide 1891.

Marlow Directory and Almanack 1907, 1915. Marlow Printing Company.

Duttons Directory of Buckinghamshire by Dutton, Allen and Co 1863.

GRO Death Index online

Kensington marriage from Jane Pullinger.

Property records.

Recreated 1920s High Street Trade Directory Part Two.

Part two= Even number businesses. Part One dealt with the odd numbers.

Compiled from adverts, street directories, property records, letters, news stories etc.

Some properties in the High Street were still residential at this period and so not included here.

Property numbers in the 1920s were not the same as those for the same properties in the 1800s due to significant renumbering. They also do not always match those of modern properties in the same spot. Additionally bear in mind that in the 20th century it became increasingly common for the name of a shop to remain unchanged even after the business was sold out of the family so that a person's name remained connected to a business long after their actual involvement or even lifetime. In this post unless stated all people mentioned were actually running the premises bearing their name.

Looking for more historic occupiers of the High Street or any other Marlow street? See our Street Index for a list of posts about the historic people and businesses of each. For the High Street this includes 1700s and the year 1833 occupier listings. There is also on the blog Marlow wide trader compilations for the 1700s, and 1800-19. Many people mentioned in this post have mentions in multiple other posts on this blog too. To find every mention of anyone please consult the A-Z Person Index on the drop down menu.

*Updated September 2025*

4. National Deposit Friendly Society. 

6-10  James Morgan and Son / J Morgan and Son Ltd drapers, mens' and womens' outfitters, milliner's, mourning clothes supplier and house furnishers. An old Marlow business. My detailed post about this business and the Morgans here. They did not live on the premises however various of their staff were given accommodation there in this period.

14 International Stores. Opened 1901 in a building that had been converted from a house and at the time had also recently been used to accommodate boarders attending Borlase school. Modern Superdrug.

16 L.H Snow (Leonard Hardy Snow) chemists. He lived on the premises with his family. This was a chemist premises for decades. Leonard was there by 1907. Also like most chemists of the day a seller of photography supplies. The shop fittings and stock were damaged in a fire in 1933. Leonard died in 1946 aged 72 in Hastings Sussex. 

The infamous Snow's Bronchial Balsam advertised in 1927. 

18 Thomas Nichols outfitter, also given as Nicholls In 1920 but he moved to 46a High Street by 1921. Thomas was born 1876. In business in the High Street by 1907. Still going in the 30s at the second address. He lived in Claremont Road.

20 George Bailey tobacconist, newsagent, stationer. In business by 1911. Born c. 1867. George also had a bicycle shop and motor garage at no 5 West Street in the 20's managed by his son Robert. The High Street business was still going in 1942 and still described as a tobacconist, stationer and newsagent.

1929 ad

22 Sayer brothers 1920-21 / Barksfield Brothers both grocers and wine merchants. In 1920 and 1921 Sayer brothers are listed at no 22 but in 1923 the Barksfield Brothers shop was there. I am not certain who was personally managing this shop, probably Joseph Barksfield. In 1942 the Barksfield Brothers also operated from number 17 High Street. They were still at number 22 in the early 1950s. Prior to the 1920s this was Bidmead's stores.

24 Clark's butchers. William Robert Clark 1920, Lizzie Clark widow 1921+ . Her son Frank was the shop manager. Long standing family business.

26 Freeman Hardy and Willis. Boots / shoes. First opened in Marlow 1901 on the opposite side of the High Street. Moved to no 26 after 1907.

28 Newman and Chalk ironmongers. My post about the history of this business (unusually for an ironmongers managed by females for many years) is here. 

30 & 32 Frederick William Rowe jeweller, silversmith & watchmaker. Made many of the trophies awarded in local events including for the regatta. He also produced a range of exclusive Marlow souvenirs. The ironmongers next door were sub contracted to repair metal items for Rowe's customers. Frederick and his family did not live on the premises in this era. They bought the shop premises in 1905 having previously rented it. Rowe retired 1946 and the premises became F Hinds, jeweller

36 R Toomer and co coal, coke and peat merchants 1920. Here by 1910. They had moved offices to Station Approach by 1927, where their yard was. They also had a coal business at Bourne End Station and were "by appointment to H.M the King" no less. Toomer had bought the coal business of Thomas Bilson Butler in 1893. This property was later used as part of number 38.

38 Henry Bolton 1920 / Albert Charles Page 1921+ both hairdressers. Albert was also a perfumer and photo dealer. He was already a hairdresser in the High Street in 1910 when he came to Marlow from his previous premises in Cambridge. Initially he was at a different premises. Albert was born c.1890. Son of West Street greengrocer and florist Hiram Page. Albert emigrated to Canada. Neither of the 1920s proprietors of no.38 lived on the premises. 

40 William Henry Goodchild grocer and tobacconist 1920. He later in the decade worked for a grocer in Maidenhead so must have given up his own shop. He lived in Little Marlow Road Marlow.

42 Wallin's dairy (and their home). By 1932 called "Harleyford Dairy".  Sold dairy, eggs, ice cream. Listed as operated by a Thomas Wallin 1915, a William Wallin 1920 and 1921 (who lived in Station Road), a Thomas Wallin 1939 and "T Wallin" in 1942. 

44 later Leo Ryan electrician, but he was still on the other side of the street in the 1920s.

46 Martin's Chemists. Edward George Martin. -In business by 1907, when it was located on the opposite side of the High Street where Harrington's hairdressers is now. By 1938 Martin's had been taken over by Mr H.C Haley but still traded as Martin's. It was still there as such in 1942. Later the name was changed to Haley's Chemists. Looks to have incorporated the property that was technically number 48 too.

46a Thomas Nichols men's outfitter, who moved from number 18 (q.v).

50 Edmund Coster grocer (born 1856, son of Edward Joseph Coster AKA Joseph the Marlow Lockeeper). Raised a congregationalist. As a young man was a grocer's assistant. He had two family members whom he may have assisted in this respect, both in West Street. Grocer Noah Bartlett married Edmund's older sister Ellen, and Edmund also had a grocer relative called Richard Coster. More on Noah here, that post also contains a link to an image of Ellen's grave. By the 1920s Edmund also had hardware shop West Street. In business here by late 1880s. In 1911 both premises were grocers ran by Edmund. Wife Mary (nee Carter). In the 1930s the Coster's expanded into number 52 next door as well. Edmund died in 1930. By 1942 and until at least the 1950s his former High Street premises were occupied by R Brown and Son grocers. 

52 Percy James Rowe office of this architect and surveyor. Surveyor for the brewery but also worked independently. In the 1930s and for a long time thereafter these premises were Coster's tobacconist. Percy lived at the house Daintree, Claremont Gardens.

54 Misses Guttridge and Udy millinery in 1920. Miss Udy was probably Florence Udy who had earlier worked as a draper's assistant. If so she lived with her parents at Woodview, Station Road. This business not listed 1915. Later it operated solely as the business of Miss Guttridge who was styled as a costumier. Florence Udy later traded independently from 17 West Street Marlow before moving to Sussex. Some residential rooms above the premises seem to have been let separately.

58 bank 

60 W.H Smith and co bookseller, stationer.

62 Reginald Higgins 1920 / Theodore Harold Greville from late 1920 or early 1921 / Norman Greville who took over in 1929 all photographers.  Before this period was Scott and Smith photographers. Norman Greville was the younger brother of Theodore and had been running a photography shop in Maidenhead. This business was also continued and sold art supplies too. Theodore also at one point looks to have operated from no 7 High Street Maidenhead. Though raised in Britain, and with an English mother, the men had a German father Adolphus / Adulfus Julius Schwanke. You can imagine that having a German last name in England during the 1st world must have been very difficult for the family. Though Adolphus had been naturalized back in 1899 he was still an object of suspicion for many. In 1918 when the family lived in a farm near Warwick 16 year old Norman (already a photographer's assistant) was fined £5 for falsifying his endorsement signature in a French "alien's" identity book. Norman altered his last name to Swunke in an attempt to seem more English. He had been told that only natural born British householders could endorse with a signature the Frenchman's identity documentation. Norman lived at home with his family so wasn't a "householder" though he may not have understood that. His friend knew him to be a British citizen and foresaw no problems with him doing a signature. Young Norman however was obviously nervous of signing with a Germanic name, so he altered his. A suspicious police officer detected a "particularly foreign" note to the name "Swunke" nevertheless and Norman was first questioned and then arrested. During the proceedings against Norman it was realized by the court that his father was a householder as he had the vote. This they found "undesirable" in a German and it was decided that they should try to disenfranchise him. Norman and all of his siblings legally changed their name from Schwanke to Greville in 1920. Norman was already living at 62 High Street then, as was his brother Theodore, two more brothers Herbert Reginald and Cecil plus a sister Dorothy as well as their parents (who did not change their names). In 1937 Norman exhibited a selection of his own educational talking films to the Rover Scouts in Beaconsfield. He helped the Allies in WW2 by performing aerial reconnaissance photography. This meant that his wife Alice (nee Hickman, m 1929) was often managing the shop. During this period they also offered picture framing. Theodore and Herbert Reginald went on to manage, one after the other, a photography shop in Watford. Cecil became a photographer in Slough. Theodore was also a miniature painter while Norman was friends with the local artist Stanley Spencer so an artistic streak ran through the family in more ways than just photography.

64 Arthur Edward Davis dairy. He was born c.1871. "Marlow Creameries". He and family lived there too at this time. Still there in 1942. A fondly remembered business. 

1929 ad

66 William B Langston boot and shoes.  Full biography of William and historic pic of premises here. Currently The Ivy restaurant. 

84 George Kendall estate agent (established 1897), auctioneer, insurance agent, newspaper correspondent, deputy registrar, secretary to the Marlow Freemasons, collector of rates. He did not live on the premises in the 1920s. By 1942 the estate agent was being ran by Mr H Clanchy though still under the name of George Kendall. The estate agency business in name at least was later located in West Street. 

90 William Henry Badger confectioner. William was also the Parish Clerk and a music tutor. A long standing confectionery business. Biography of his father who was in the same premises before him here

92-94 Catherine Sanson / Samson (Mrs) draper. Lived on premises. Born c.1878. Husband Henry was a travelling salesman for a wholesale clothing company. Moved from Essex though Catherine was a Lincolnshire girl by birth.

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

Selected sources (too many to list!):

Stock Exchange Year-book. Jamaica, n.p, 1933.

Marlow Parish Magazine 1942.

Kelly's Post Office Directory of Buckingamshire etc by Kelly's and Co Limited 1911, 1915, 1920, and 1939 editions.

Programme with adverts for King George's Cinema Marlow 1927 published by S Presbury and co.

Pharmaceutical Journal: A Weekly Record of Pharmacy and Allied Sciences. United Kingdom, J. Churchill, 1930.

 Chemist and Druggist: The News Weekly for Pharmacy. United Kingdom, Benn Brothers., 1933.

The Electrical Journal. United Kingdom, D. B. Adams., 1929.

The Book of Bungalows. United Kingdom, published by Country Life, 1926.

Auto Motor Journal. United Kingdom, Pictorial Press, 1920.

Salter, John Henry, and Salter, J. A.. Salter's Guide to the Thames. United Kingdom, Alden & Company, Limited, 1921.

Holiday Haunts in England Wales and Channel Islands, 1927, Great Western Railway.

The Bankers', Insurance Managers', and Agents' Magazine. United Kingdom, Waterlow & Sons Limited., 1922.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/3100345/leo-redver-ryan/

1929 Marlow Parish Magazine.

South Bucks standard clippings from Aug 10th 1900,  Jan 20th 1910 and Jan 11th 1912.

Bucks Advertiser 13th Jan 1922. This edition from the British Library Archives via the BNA. As was The Hastings and St Leonard's Observer 1st Feb 1947 and the Leamington Star Courier 23rd August 1918.

Watford Advertiser, online edition, 7th January 2010.

"England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVH8-TCVC : 2 November 2021), Edmund Coster, 1930.

1901 and 1911 England and Wales Census. Crown Copyright.

Kelly's Directory of Chemists and Druggists ...: In England & Scotland & Wales, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. United Kingdom, n.p, 1921.

London Gazette 26th October 1920.

Mysterious Disappearances And Suffragettes- Early Residents Of Victoria Road Marlow

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

A couple of cottages named Victoria Cottages erected in 1872 were likely the first homes built in Victoria Road. They still exist today.

The first resident of Victoria Road Marlow who can be definitely named is a Mr E Savage who in May 1880 wrote a letter to the maker of a "Pectoral Syrup" extolling it's virtues as a cure for asthma, whooping cough and similar conditions. The writer was also impressed by soothing powders for children sold by the same maker. As a stated father of 8 children you could see how he might appreciate such powders! We can only hope all those children were not squeezed into his Victoria Road cottage as it would have been a small one. Perhaps some had, thanks to all that soothing medical attention, grown to adolescence or adulthood and moved out by the time their parents moved to Victoria Road!

On the subject of moving into or out of the street, the South Bucks Standard of 8th July 1892 contained an advert for a house contents sale at number 1 Victoria Road*, the resident William Ashby having "moved away" from the area. Behind this simple advert there was an alarming truth- William, a three weeks married insurance agent, had vanished into thin air shortly before the sale. He said goodbye to his wife one morning having told her that he was going to meet his Prudential Assurance Company boss in High Wycombe but was never seen again by neither her nor anyone else in the area. He did not turn up to the work meeting. No one could fathom why he would wish to leave his home, job and bride, nor did they think that he had any personal worries. The fact that she put the furniture up for sale almost immediately suggests that the new Mrs Ashby (Florence Ann nee Faulkner) gave up on her husband quickly. Financial distress may have been involved, though William was said to have been highly successful at selling insurance in the past two or three years. The items for sale suggest a comfortable income: a velvet covered drawing room set, tapestry carpets and a marble topped wash stand etc.

As a teenager in his native Northamptonshire William had worked as an under gardener so becoming an insurance agent was a step up for him. Prior to his marriage he lodged with the Everest family in nearby Glade Road, Marlow.

So where did William disappear to? The answer intriguingly was apparently Ireland. He married, despite already being married, a Bridget Kelly in Dublin in 1899 before returning to England with her to raise a family. The couple lived first in Yorkshire and then in Westmoreland and Lancashire with William reverting to his original occupation as a gardener. Florence herself as "Florence Ann Ashby or Faulkner" remarried in 1900 a shoemaker John Gibbard. This was back in Northamptonshire. Did she believe William dead? Perhaps the first marriage was annulled. William could be declared legally dead after 7 years of being missing. I only hope poor Florence found happiness after her distressing and humiliating desertion. The quick sale of the furniture may hint that Florence did in fact receive some communication from her husband saying he intended never to return even if she did not wish to make it public at the time.

Victoria Road is a few minutes walk from the River Thames. Today you would be surprised to hear that it had flooded but in 1903 overspilling river water reached the residents there. Mr T Coster an engineer who rented a Victoria Road cottage in the early 1900s specialised in building for customers in Marlow and elsewhere their own docks and boathouses to help them enjoy the river. He also serviced ornamental waterworks. 

Coster's business would not have caused much nuisance in Victoria Road itself but the residents did have some other commercial occupiers to put up with, most notably the steam powered chair making premises of the Buckinghamshire Chair Factory. A full post about that business by Kathryn is available here. Their premises included a saw mill. The working conditions were pretty awful, with improper sanitation, no ventilation for those working with the wood and flimsy buildings. Kathryn's post will tell you more. The company went out of business in 1912 but a sawmill company took over from them and annoyed the residents of nearby Dedmere Road with the amount of sawdust which blew into their homes and gardens. The Mathew Couchman who in 1903 was a timber merchant and engineer with a saw mill in Victoria Road had a side line in milling barley or any other meal required by customers. 

Disturbance could come from other sources too- the artist's studio in Duchess Place in Victoria Road (near the corner with Dedmere Road, no longer used as a separate address) was used by the Women's Freedom League for a Suffragettes' meeting in 1912. Mrs Mary Sargant Florence chaired the event. 

Her studio was used in another radical way too- as the base for a Girls' Club. Not much radical in that you may think. But you could count on your hand the number of such organisations for girls as opposed to boys at that time. That young females should spend leisure time outside of their own home (as their brothers routinely did) and away from their families was hardly ever considered important. The club was aimed at working class girls and acted as an educational as well as social venue. The education of working class girls was one of the lowest priorities for society as a whole in that era. A more detailed post about the Girls Club will be published by Kathryn on this blog in the future.

*House numbers have been altered since. This number one is not the number one seen today.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

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

Sources:

Bucks Herald. 9th May 1885. South Bucks Standard 8th July 1892. British Library Archives via the BNA. 

Berkshire Chronicle 1st August 1903. As above.

"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2DZ3-RL9 : 13 December 2014), William Lerson Ashby, 1892; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1892, quarter 2, vol. 3B, p. 166, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. 

Fleeing Debtors and Man Midwives

 

I have been cross referencing wills, photos, property surveys, censuses, sale adverts and more in order to identify Victorian occupiers for many a property in West Street. In some cases occupancy further back in time can be ascertained too. It is an ongoing project of mine. I'll be uploading more as and when I have time. There are other posts already on the blog in this line. Search "West Street". 

This building was the home of Surgeon William Hickman from at least 1832 to his death in 1850 aged 93. William was originally from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire but was in Marlow by 1782 when he married Ann Wethered. It is possible he was already in these premises back then but I cannot yet be certain. 

In 1791 William was listed as a surgeon apothecary and "man midwife". In most later references he is styled simply "surgeon". 

Either he or his son of the same name was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Royal Military College further down West Street in 1810. This is now the house Remnantz. At least four of William and Ann's sons became surgeons! William the father had had a violent confrontation with some of the teenage cadets a few years earlier which makes the appointment something surprising. More on this confrontation here

The Hickmans sold a variety of patent medicines to their patients. For example, in 1831 they are listed as a supplier for Shepherds Camphor Lozenges. These were just the thing for "putrid throats"  and for refreshing flagging spirits after attending a fashionable assemblage or rout - or so they said. A few years later Hickman and Brinsden could supply Schweppes "celebrated soda water" for digestive purposes. (Thomas Evans Brinsden)

Ann died in 1809 so that was a very long time as a widower for him. 

In his will written 1848, he asked to be buried beside Ann and other members of his family in Marlow churchyard. He made an "earnest request" to be buried in the same [quiet] manner as his son Francis who had died in his parent's house in 1831. Both Francis and one of William's other sons died when only in their 30s, their mother was only 50 at her own death. 

Above, the grave of William and Ann Hickman, their son Francis mentioned above and others. At All Saints, Marlow. 

William's will left a silver quart tankard to his son George (a surgeon of the High Street)  and to Owen Wethered a pint silver drinking vessel that had belonged to an Ann Wethered.

This Owen also received a History Of England in 2 volumes. William certainly liked a good read. When his household effects were sold off at auction in 1851 the sales listing mentions 500 volumes including "valuable works on medicine, surgery, physiology, chemistry and miscellaneous literature". He also had mahogany furniture, "fine old china", mahogany four post beds, engravings and paintings. It was a plush life for him in West Street! But he deserved it as he was definitely still actively working as a surgeon in 1845 at the age of 88. He may well actually have worked until his death. No wonder an obituary called him "universally respected". The same obituary in the Medical Directory of Scotland called him a pupil of " the immortal Hunter". Presumably this was the famous Scottish surgeon John Hunter, one of the most eminent of his day. Hunter worked with Edward Jenner the smallpox vaccine pioneer among others. 

Williams's long life lead him to be considered an authority on the Marlow of days gone by. So when journalists and writers researching the life of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wished to know about the celebrity's short time in Marlow, it was often to Hickman they were directed. He told one that while he remembered Shelley, and indeed had treated him for an unspecified ailment, he found the poet unsociable as he did not keep company with the townspeople in general.  

I am not sure who was in these exact premises immediately after William died. From 1877 ( at the latest) until his bankruptcy and disappearance in 1888, Richard Coster the grocer, provision merchant, rent collector and land agent was based here however.

Richard ran away from his financial troubles, being seen once in Chester in a distressed state then apparently no more. His concerned near neighbour in West Street James Roberts the draper was one of those who tried unsuccessfully to find him again. Richard was a widower without children. Described as "timid" he seems to have been well liked. Some twelve years later a man was found lying unconscious in the road at Hungerford. He was taken to the workhouse there, and it was then established that he was the long missing Richard Coster of Marlow. Richard expressed a wish to go to Saunderton Workhouse which was the one responsible for the Marlow area. I suppose it was the closest he'd thought he'd make to going home. He was bought there but died a few days later. 

From at least 1891 Albert Fleet operated here as a grocer first then as Colonial Meat Stores with a grocery sideline (from circa 1892+). A Colonial Meat Stores was also in Spittal Street under different proprietors 1891-99. Both businesses specialised as the name suggests in foreign meat. Albert remained in these premises until at least 1919. A Mr Turnham was managing the West Street shop in 1912, whether this was for Albert or on his own account I am unsure.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day with additional research by Kathryn Day. Photographed 2020.

Sources:

1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow. Original handwritten copy held by my family and transcribed by me.

1791 & 1794  Universal British Directory.

Will of William Hickman. Copy obtained from the National Archives and transcribed by me.

London Gazette Part One, 1810. Digitized by Google. Accessed March 2021.

The Medical Directory of Scotland, 1852 by John Churchill. As above.

1841, 81 and 91 censuses transcribed from microfilm by Jane Pullinger.

Great Marlow church registers.

Bucks Herald 18th January 1851 and 28th April 1888, Bucks Gazette 9th April 1831, Banff Journal 23rd March 1847.  Copies held in the British Library Archives and accessed by me via the BNA March 2021.

A list of persons who have obtained certificates of their fitness and qualification to practice as apothecaries, from 1815 to 1840 ; Royal College of Physicians London (Gilbert and Rivington 1840)

Robson's Commercial Directory 1839. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Picnics And Punts - Victorian Summer time in Marlow

  

This post is about summer in late Victorian and pre First World War Marlow. The season obviously meant different things to different people. For some it was a period of hot intense labour in the fields. For others it was time to leave Marlow altogether and holiday elsewhere. A surprising large number of Marlow houses were let out for the "river season", and then there were the houseboats that arrived, some staying for weeks. In good weather, the hotels and lodging houses were full, and visitors could find themselves staying in more unconventional places such as above shops (Or more pleasantly perhaps, they could cadge a room at Hambledon Lock). The arrival of tourists affected even those not in position to enjoy much leisure time themselves. It meant busier streets at the very least. And there may be an annual Sunday School treat or Slate Club or works outing to look forward to. 

Enthralling Beauty

The beauty of nearby Quarry Woods was known far and wide.

It was a popular spot for campers, if sometimes a crowded one. The fact that some set up camp wherever they decided to stop for the night caused tension with riverside home owners who complained of opening their shutters to find campers on their lawns! Most kept to more secluded spots - though some were still technically trespassing on the larger estates when they did so. The stretch of river between Marlow and Henley was also celebrated, and there was a standing joke that you could always find at least a couple of artists set up opposite Bisham church trying to capture the scene. This part of the river was described by John Greville Fennell in his 1867 Thames guide as one that brought a "constant succession of scenes of sylvan beauty" that struck the gazer and left him or her marvelling with "enthralled imagination" at the loveliness of the scene. And that was not the most fulsome of descriptions by any means! 

Official picnic parties apply here

Day trippers from London at least didn't need to find somewhere to stay. These '"Harrys" as they were often dismissively known, were usually the ones blamed for any sort of misbehaviour. Cheap day excursion tickets were available to Marlow from London stations  - valid for travel on certain trains only from 1st May - 31st October. In 1880, one of these excursion tickets, third class, from Paddington to Marlow would cost you 3s 6d.  If you could demonstrate you were a "genuine" picnic or other pleasure party, of at least 10 persons, (6 if all travelling first class) you could also get lower train fares. Perhaps you had to let the station master examine your picnic hamper! These lower fares were no good for a spontaneous large family outing as you needed to apply for them in advance and in writing. 

For most the river was the focus of their trip so luckily Great Western Railways would transport your boat for you should you be fortunate enough to own one. This was at an added cost of course. If your craft was small enough to fit in the guards van or if it could be strapped to the top of an ordinary passenger carriage, it would cost you 2d a mile with a minimum charge of 5s and reductions were possible if at least 4 crew were traveling on the same train. Larger boats had to travel in expensive coaches of their own. For most, hiring a boat was much more practical. The boat houses such as Haynes, Shaws, and Meakes and Redknapp offered all kinds of river craft from punts and canoes to steam launches. Alternatively many inns and hotels could provide you with the smaller vessels (sometimes by partnering with one of the same boathouses).

 Advertising the fact that you could provide facilities for boating parties and fisherman was a way for hotels and inns to cash in on these tourists who may have just wanted somewhere to eat or someone to provide them with a picnic. If you were on a big group outing or a "beanfeast" , perhaps organised by a workplace, then some establishments turned their nose up at serving you. They did not want the reputation of somewhere where guests looking for a little genteel rest would be disturbed by a large noisy group. So at times the Fishermen's Retreat and the Crown Hotel advertised they did not accept "beanfeasts" but on the other hand, the Railway Hotel (later the Marlow Donkey) welcomed them. For longer stays, Dickens's Dictionary of the Thames (1889 edition) said the numerous hotels and accomodation providers in town catered for "tourists of all classes". 

Some of our visitors came some way to enjoy the riverside. In 1899 Great Western formed an alliance with Great Central Train company to bring visitors in from the Midlands area. The first train was an excursion one from Leicester which arrived in early July, bringing a large party for a day on the river. Or whatever part of the day was left after the time taken to travel here.

The boating parties were described as frequently "noisy and half drunken" and their habit of landing at the parish churchyard and "tramping over the graves" lead to many complaints. 

Fishing with Mr Shaw

Marlow was known as a paradise for anglers, and the premier place to stay was the Compleat Angler, more commonly known as "The Anglers" or Anglers Inn. It started life as a couple of cottages knocked together and then rebuilt, and gradually extended and improved. But even in it's more humble looking state it was far from an obscure little inn. It recieved visitors from London, including well off ones, and it was consistently mentioned and recommended in national guidebooks. The 1832 fire there made the London papers because it was already a celebrated destination - "the great resort of fishing parties". When the Angler was improved, some visitors felt nostalgic for the old days but even they admitted it was now easier to actually get to stay there in the first place as there were more beds on offer. Guidebooks of 1877 and 1889 still warned would be visitors that they would need to give "considerable notice" if they entertained any hope of securing a bed at The Anglers. Members of recognised angling clubs could also get reduced price third class train fairs from Paddington, if they had a member's card to flash. (Full history of the Angler in the 1900's can be found here)

A number of Marlow men made their living as fishermen, that is fishing guides who would supply bait and take you in a punt to the best spots to catch whatever your quarry was. The Rockell and Shaw families were two that performed this role over a long period. (White, Rose, Creswell and Rosewell are other associated surnames.) Robert Shaw should get special mention as he features in very many books about the Thames written for contemporary visitors. He was clearly someone that many people felt a lot of affection and respect for. In his role as Water Bailiff for the local Anglers Preservation society, he had a role to play in seeing off illegal fisherman and poachers and so no doubt he had his enemies. But to others he was the good looking Bob Shaw, always polite, "intelligent and reliable" and a highly skilled boatsmen. 

Tumbling for tourists

Marlow Lock naturally saw many visitors, not all of them passing through in a boat or watching those that were. The boaters waiting to pass in or put of the Lock were something of a captive audience for the Victorian equivalent of the "chugger" and chancer. Some of the activity sounds mostly charming in our eyes. Children sometimes performed tricks and tumbles on the towpath, hoping to get a few coins for entertaining the passers by. The authorities regarded this as begging, and children caught in the act could find themselves up before the magistrates. In June 1906  four "small boys" were charged with begging on the tow path around Marlow Mills and Lock. The boys had stood on their heads to amuse the passers by. They were Amos Moody, Henry Turner, Leonard Carter and Henry Allen. Those travelling on steam launches and larger vessels were nevertheless in the habit of responding to the children's gambols by throwing coins onto the bank. This lead to tragedy in 1914 when a little girl aged about 4 is believed to have drowned trying to retrieve coins tossed from a passing launch ("The child of  Carter", of South Place).

Marlow Lock as it is now  - the Lock keepers house is not the Victorian one. 

Charity collections at the Lock were also a regular feature. But when the more persistent adult beggars and sellers of knick knacks began to congregate there in greater numbers, some causes such as the Marlow Cottage Hospital decided not to collect funds at the Lock in case they became associated with a common nuisance. Touts are also mentioned as a regular annoyance, offering to help with boats, or with finding accomodation or punts for hire.

The more widespread issue of begging from visitors to the town, whether they arrived by boat or train, was discussed several times at Marlow council meetings in the early Edwardian period in paticular. They requested the police keep a close eye on things, with varying degrees of success it seems!

As those passing through the Lock had to pay a fee, unless they had a sort of season ticket or annual pass, the numbers using it were recorded. The fee depended on the size of the boat, with steam launches up to 35ft long paying 9d for example, or  house boat's 2s6d. Over the August Bank Holiday of 1893, which was regarded as a little less busy than usual, 1,200 small boats passed through over Saturday to Monday and 120 steam launches. This won't be the absolute number of boats about Marlow as it was possible to bypass the Lock. Some of those using the small boats pulled their craft out of the water just before the Marlow Mills and either enjoyed Gossmore or carried their canoes etc past the Lock on land. They could also land at the Compleat Angler by approaching via the backwater behind the weir and using steps to get up on land, according to contemporary guidebooks. For comparison, over the same 3 day period in 1893, 1,500 visitors arrived by train, mostly from London, with 1,300 returning home on the evening of the Monday. 

The pound lock itself was regarded as both attractive and dangerous by some. George Dunlop Leslie -  mentioned above - definitely thought it was the latter as it was an "old" lock with "many jagged piles and broken woodwork about it's sides". 

Marlow Toast rack sir?

Visitors could return home laden with souvenirs, thanks to the likes of energetic advertiser Rowes the jewellers. They made all kinds of Marlow keepsakes such as brooches and swan shaped toast racks. There were no shortage of places offering postcards but perhaps stationer and book seller William Aviss in the High Street with his "photographic depot of neighbourhood views" offered the most. Those wanting to take their own photographs could get tailored local advice from photographic journals on where and how to take the most attractive and becoming pictures, as so many had made the Marlow journey before. Those at the Lock should wait for a steam launch to arrive in the foreground of their shot, for example. This "greatly improves the composition" providing it was not too near, advised a 1901 photographers guide. 

Regatta time

Those visiting during the annual regatta could also buy a memento from the "card men" or roving postcard sellers, although they actually offered views of previous events of course. Some of these sellers had the reputation for being "sharps" or not entirely honest in their dealings. Better check your change!

Marlow has had more than one Regatta and they've gone by various names  - the Marlow and Maidenhead Regatta, Town Regatta, Rag Regatta, Marlow Rowing Club Regatta, Amateur Regatta etc. The event most relevant to those who worked professionally on the water was the Waterman and Fishermens Regatta which attracted fewer crowds but plenty of entries. For the other events, even those not watching or competing in the rowing, found the town transformed. The bridge was crowded with spectators, sitting or leaning on every available surface including the chains and railings. Complaints were sometimes made that the parked carriages completely blocked the way across the bridge. Those who got through to Marlow then had to dodge the rides, stalls and visitors of the fair that set up on the Causeway. Many of these were the same proprietors who visited Marlow during Marlow Fair although there was fewer of them. They did manage to spread down Station Rd and Institute Rd at times though, and others set up in Crown Meadow. 

The evening of the regatta usually saw a procession of boats decorated with lanterns, or a "Venetian fete" or "Water carnival". The best decorated boat won a prize. They must have made a beautiful sight to behold, especially as many riverside properties were also decorated with lights for the occasion. 

Sunday School fun

Sunday school outings were part of the summer for many youngsters. Burnham Beeches seems to have been the number one destination, but sometimes the little ones just enjoyed a high day closer to home. In 1877 for example, "legions" of them enjoy a tea in Remnantz meadow as part of a summer festival. 

Watercress gathering

Watercress was a summer harvest that would have occupied a fair number of locals at times. The majority of the beds were at Little Marlow as tended by Timotheus Brown early on. George Dunlop Leslie, describing a trip to the "charming village" around 1881, said the watercress beds were "very picturesque with their islands, footbridges and summer houses". He added that the beds were fed from a spring with slightly warm water which meant they never froze in the winter. This made them especially productive. Watercress was also grown in the meadows around Red Pits hill running towards the river and near to Medmenham. 

End of the summer

Swimming in the river (clothes optional) and the harvest home and harvest festivals that marked the transition to autumn feature in posts of their own. 

Marlow must have seemed a little quieter when all the visitors had departed, although some better off Marlow residents also found their way home after enjoying the season elsewhere. Some people might be pleased the "Harry's" had left but as the South Bucks Standard said in 1901 "the trade and prosperity of our town of our town depend for the most part on visitors who came for pleasure and recreation". 

The train service was reduced outside of the summer period, but Marlow was not quite ready to hibernate. There was Marlow Fair to stir the town up in October, and winter was the season of lectures and entertainments at the Town Hall, Music Room and the Institute. 

1905. 

Meakes and Redknapp Boathouse, Berkshire side. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

To read other posts about everyday life in old Marlow, see a list here

SOURCES

Fennell, John Grenville - The Rail and The Road or Tourist Anglers Guide to Waters and Quarters - (H. Cox 1867)

Hall, Samuel and Mrs - The Book Of The Thames From It's Rise To It's Fall (Virtue, 1877 2nd Edition)

Leslie, George Dunlop - Our River (Bradbury, Agnew & Co 1881)

Taunt, Henry - A New Map of the River Thames From Oxford to London, (Taunt, 1872).

Parliamentary Papers vol 16, Great Britain House of Commons, (1884 HMSO) 

Dickens Dictionary of The Thames from Oxford to the Nore 1880 Issue 2 (Dickens, 1880) and 1889 edition issue 1. 

 

A yearbook of Photography and Amateurs Guide - 1901. Author unknown. 

The Royal River - The Thames from Source to Sea (Cassell, 1885)

The Art Journal Vol 45 (Virtue and Company 1883)

The Marlow Guide, 1905. 

Diss Examiner, 28 August 1899. Copy from British Library, accessed via the BNA, August 2020. 

Bucks Herald, September 27 

1873, July 18 1914 as above

South Bucks Standard - 25th September 1891, 14 October 1892, 11th August 1893, 13 April 1894, 14th July 1899, 22 June 1900, 5 July 1901, 10 June 1904, 6 July 1906 as above

Bucks Gazette - 3 November 1832, as above

 London Courier and Evening Gazette 8 November 1832, as above

©Marlow Ancestors

Men Who Built Marlow Part 3

Young Lovell

Young James Lovell (yes his first name was Young) was born at Sydling St Nicholas in Dorset in 1842 to Mary and James Lovell. His father was a carpenter. James followed him into this trade. Far more of the major builders that I find began their working life as carpenters than bricklayers or masons. Young married his wife Charlotte Winifred Cresswell of Marlow at Marylebone in London in 1873 and moved to Marlow by July 1874.

He was at first the manager of the building business ran by the Corbys. They lived in the building which is now WH Smith in the High Street, Marlow and had additional now demolished workshops and a yard a little further along the High Street. In late 1876 following the retirement from illness of Thomas Corby junior, Young Lovell took over the business for himself. His office was at number 35 High Street the former premises of another Marlow builder William Bond. William is the subject of my post Men Who Built Marlow Part One here, while the Corbys are in Part Two here. 

Young carried on the tradition started by Corby, of having an annual Bricklayers v Carpenters Cricket match each September, all players being those who worked for his own company. The bricklayers seem to hold the overall record but matches were tight! 

In 1878 Young's apprentice James Howard was cautioned in court for leaving his apprenticeship with Young and ordered to return to him. 

Young's foreman in 1883 was Henry Young and in 1891 Edmund Coster.

His company in Marlow were responsible for (a small selection!):

1877-78 Demolition of the house Beechwood and rebuilding of it. He had to take legal action to get paid for this job. During the rebuilding bricklayer's labourer William East jumped from some brickwork onto some scaffolding in order to fetch something, causing a section of scaffolding to give way. William fell nearly 30 feet to the ground, dying of his injuries a few days later. Builders probably jumped about the scaffolding in those days a fair bit. The scaffolding was not found to be obviously faulty. 

1881- building of two new almshouses in Oxford Road.

1882- alterations to All Saints, the Parish church including a new roof and vestry. He was a church warden to the church.

1886- House Bohemia on the Bisham side of the river. £2436 paid.

1889-90 Marlow Institute, Institute Road (this is now the Library).

1893- Wooden isolation hospital at Marlow Common. Put up in just 6 days.

1893/4  Building of what is now the NatWest Bank building in the High Street. 

1895- new churchyard wall, All Saints.

1895- significant alterations and extensions to the George and Dragon, Causeway. Paid £114 10 shillings for this.

1895- 2 villas Institute Road.

1896- smaller alterations to the interior of the above church including adding a new door.

1897- adapted part of Cromwell House in the High Street into a Post Office.

Repairs to the Obelisk in Market Square.

Outside of Marlow:

1877- enlargement and improvement of Bisham Church.

1905-06 Built Windsor Police and Fire Stations.

While the day to day labour on the building sites would have been done by others, Young himself like many carpenters made coffins for local people. For perhaps no more reason than this quite a few of local families had him organise entire funerals for their loved ones. Many modern funeral directors have their roots as builders/carpenters long ago. 

He was also a Director of the Marlow Water Company and one of the organisers of the 1887 Jubilee celebrations in Marlow.

Young relaxed by playing the violin including in local concerts including at the Marlow Institute where he was Treasurer, entering shows with his vegetables and flowers, fishing, taking part in and organising billiards tournaments and by playing cricket for Marlow.

1905 advert.

He died in 1911. By then he and Charlotte lived in Beaumont Rise though the High Street premises were still used by the company. Their son Harry attended the Royal Engineering College before going to India as a civil engineer. When home he played football for Marlow. He was also a tennis player. As well as Harry there was a daughter Winifred, and two further sons Clifford Percy and Arthur Young. Little Arthur died as a baby. Clifford went off to be a builder in Gerrard's Cross and was the carrier of the family firm after Young's death.

Charlotte Winifred Lovell seems to have been a quiet person appearing in only a few social or charitable event lists with her husband or by herself. One event she did attend was a lavish Christmas party given in the Music Room, St Peter's Street for the children of the Catholic Church in 1899. Her daughter Winifred helped to serve food at the party. The family were not themselves Catholic (unless Charlotte and Winifred had converted at some point as some members of the wider Cresswell family had done). Young was a C of E churchwarden remember and he married Charlotte in a C of E church. The connection seems to be that Young was appointed by the Urban Council as the manager of the Catholic School. Presumably being a Catholic was not necessary for that. It was not the same role as head teacher - it seems to be concerned with financial and maintenance matters.

Charlotte also went to some scientific lectures at the Institute with her husband.

In 1902 the couple had an accident in Oxford Road Marlow when their pony and trap overturned. Young's shoulder was dislocated and Charlotte had cuts and bruises.

The firm Y.J Lovell founded by Young continued into the 2000s when it was renamed.

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Other posts related to building families: 

 (Men who Built Marlow) 

Bond here   

 Corby here 

Frederick Plumridge here

To find all mention of a family of individual here use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

Sources:

London Metropolitan Archives, parish records.

Great Marlow census from microfilm transcribed by me. Census information always remains Crown Copyright.

GRO Death Index.

Reading Mercury 10th August 1878 (James Howard case).

Bucks Herald 11th June 1887 (jubilee)

SBS 30th June 1893 (isolation hospital) and 26th December 1902 (carriage accident).

Newspapers British Library Archives via their collaboration with the BNA.

The Loss Of Old Marlow Church *UPDATED*

 

The chancel date of 1875 commemorated. 

If a visitor was to stand and look at our current delightful All Saints Church, it's hard to imagine that many would describe it as "a pile of deformity", hideously ugly or unfit for viewing up close. But these are all descriptions chosen by contemporary visitors in the years after the new church opened in 1835. The building as it stood then did however look very different to the current one! A lot of work has gone into changing it's appearance. This post is about some of the reasons why and is also a tribute to the old church it replaced. 

The old Marlow church. 

The "ancient" structure our current church replaced was regarded by many as handsome, and full of historic memorials. In 1801 it's interior was described as "plain and decent" with an ancient stone screen , handsome carved oak altar and a large hand organ in the front gallery dating from 1775.  But those who had to work within it felt the building was showing it's age, with a leaky roof, damp and frequent inundations by flood water making the situation worse. In 1730 the church is described as a long low building consisting of the tower, 3 aisles, two chancels and "on the south west part was a chantry chapel in honour of St Mary". (The chantry was dissolved in 1547 and was still standing in 1730 according to some but then used as a "timber warehouse". More on that will follow.) 

 The wooden spire dating from 1627 needed periodic repainting - it was white in colour - and suffered weather damage fairly often. A workman, 20 year old carpenter William Gray of Cookham Dean, was engaged in doing some of this repainting of the spire in 1791. The pulley he was standing on gave way taking some scaffolding with it and causing him to fall 75ft. He escaped with relatively minor injuries, and no broken bones. This story got embellished a little in later retelling, with some saying he did not receive any injury at all. But poor William did suffer severe bruising of his back and loins and a lacerated right hand and it was originally thought he might have suffered an internal rupture. But 8 days later he was able to walk home from Marlow to Cookham Dean. A black line was painted on the steeple to show the place William fell from and to commemorate his death defying plunge. He was lucky enough to receive an allowance of 7s a week from Lady Le Despencer until such time as he could resume his work.  Another feature of the steeple was the new weather cock erected in 1745. 

Various dates have been given for the steeple and parts of the tower below collapsing, but on going back to the original sources it's clear the two incidents happened separately. The tower had "for some time past been dismantled of its curious steeple" in September 1829, according to a press article complaining about the very slow progress being made with a projected repair (after weather damage). This date is seconded by a separate newspaper which bemoaned the fact the tower had been without it's steeple for 2 weeks in August 1829. The tower had also been "despoiled of its coating" and looked like an emblem of "majesty in distress". Not much progress had been made in December so the church wardens promised to do something to protect the bells over winter. The Reading Mercury thought the tower had been ruined by bad building work and thought it would take an architect of "superior intellect" to sort it all out. A separate storm did more damage in 1830. A cap was put on the tower which was dismissively described as looking like a cucumber frame but yet more poor weather bought this crashing to the ground along with parts of the tower, and the last remains of the steeple framework, in December 1831. Some graves were broken by this fall. 

In decay

In 1826 the church was described as in a state of general decay. The rector and the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester was supposed to maintain the chancel of the church, but they leased out the right to collect the grand tithes and with it the responsibility of doing the repairs. And so little funds were actually given to the church to do any maintenance with. Repairing the church became an election issue with various candidates promising to fix it along with the bridge but no progress was made. 

In 1829, not only was the steeple down, but work was ongoing to build the new Marlow Bridge adjacent. This was a difficult project for all kinds of reasons, which has been covered by a different post which you can read  here.  As part of the work to provide foundations for the bridge, a "chasm" had been opened up beneath the church tower and poor weather saw it fill with water. Some speculated that this pit was damaging the foundations of the church tower. There were sarcastic comments about how much deeper the pit would be made, and the great expense that seemed to be involved in digging it. 

A decision was made that it would be better value for money to knock down all of the old church and build a fine new one that would make a fine companion to the new suspension bridge. There were a lot of arguements about how the new build was to be paid for. Some individuals did make donations towards it's cost and a loan of £7,000 was to be secured on the church rates. But in the end an extra church rate was going to be levied for the next 40 years payable by those also liable for the poor rate whether they attended the church or not. This caused outrage in some quarters. Why couldn't the Dean and Chapter dip into their own coffers for once it was asked. 

Foundations probed

A church committee selected Charles Frederick Inwood as the architect for their new building. A vote was held to consider whether to position it on exactly the same site of the old, or whether to move it a (very) little closer to the High Street. The new site was selected on a 6-5 majority, with the latter option winning. This was not without controversy as it was considered to add needlessly to the cost by some. A couple of thatched "wretched looking hovels" which were located  "in the churchyard"  and a small beer house nearby had to be removed but the Act allowing for the rebuilding of the church had not made provision for the compulsory purchase of these. So the owner held out for a good price. Some asked whether it would be (or should be) lawful for a beer house to be so close to a church. It does seem they were eventually cleared away though. The new site also meant some graves had to be carefully moved, which upset others. 

In October 1831 the site was more or less fixed and tenders were sought for it's construction. William Bond of Marlow won. Later in the month the workmen were probing for a good foundation and in November they began to demolish the old place. The congregation could not continue to worship in a church due for demolition so they met instead at the former workshop of Washbourne's satin stitch manufactory off Quoiting Square/Oxford Road, a place later used for the first Salvation Army Headquarters in the town. They would stay there until June 1835. 

Marlow church is falling down..or is it? 

The problem the old church had with flooding was definite, and a new slightly higher site did improve things even if it was not the means to totally avoid such problems. 

As for the other issues, the demolition of the old church gave plenty of food for thought for those who believed that the church authorities had much exaggerated the supposed dilapidated state of the old building. They were amused by the difficulties involved in demolishing a church that was supposed to be just about ready to fall down of it's own accord. The old "clunch" (hard chalk) building blocks proved hard work to break apart - "it appeared strange that so much apprehension of it's security had been excited". [A group of Marlow residents had petitioned Parliament not to pass the act allowing demolition of the church, at least not until they had closely looked into the buildings reported bad condition and the causes of it - "examine into the Condition of the Said Church, which the petitioners conceive to have been unnecessarily pulled to pieces" It was unsuccessful.] Later rumours were that those involved in the demolition had resorted to the use of gunpowder to complete the work! 

If the church was not so fragile the critics said, there was no reason to begin the building work before funds had been raised to pay for it without resorting to a church rate. But it was too late to complain. Demolition completed, the first stone of the new church was laid by parish clerk Samuel Barnes of St Peter's Street in January 1833. 

As the building progressed, some began to question it's appearance. Architect Inwood had exhibited his plans for the new church at the Royal Academy in 1832 and obviously those originally commissioning the building were happy with them. But it was said that "officious simpletons"  had made adjustments to the original design that ruined it's original beauty. This opinion was given by the Bucks Gazette -  who was very against the Church of England not funding church building from it's own funds. However others stated that Inwood had altered his plans in order to reduce the building cost, which no doubt would have won the approval of many. 

Upset of another kind was caused when the "tackling" used to haul a 15cwt piece of iron to the top of the steeple gave way and the entire load plummeted to the ground, making a hole 6 foot deep in the earth below. It narrowly missed two workman which must have seemed a miracle indeed. The scaffold recieved a good shaking but no injuries resulted. 

The vibrating steeple

Shortly after the church was finished it was noted that the steeple vibrated a great deal "especially when the bells were rung". (See note below.) It was considered that removing the weather vane on top at least temporarily would improve things. So a steeple jack was sent up to remove it watched by a vast crowd. In 1891 it was still noted that the cross on top could be "distinctly seen to rock" when the bells were rung. 

This was only one of many problems recorded. Twelve years after it's construction two glaring issues were raised in the Ecclesiologist magazine. First there was no chancel, despite provision in the Act of Parliament for building the church that it should be maintained at the expense of the rector as before. The other problem was the font was apparently hidden away in a side room in an "unconsecrated" part of the church. They complained the font was not visible from anywhere inside during a service as the door to the room was kept always shut. 

In 1862 more improvements were planned despite the fact the building was only 30 or so years old. It was said that the interior design was full of blunders that made the everyday life of the church difficult. The choir had made frequent complaints that the site allocated to them was not right and hampered how they sounded. So that would be moved and more space would be allowed.  The organ was in the wrong place too and would be put now in the former baptistry. With the pulpit also planned to shift position, it's hard to think of an interior part of the church that everyone was happy with.  

A pile of deformity

But it was the overall appearance of the church that upset many. There were some who were ready to praise it's modern look, even while others decried it's "weak imitation" of 15thc style.  But for the majority of guidebooks and surviving descriptions, the church was ugly, bald of ornament and/or had ruined the once pretty view. Temple Bar magazine, called it "atrociously ugly" in 1862 for example. And those who were responsible for taking down the old church were labelled "ruthless destroyers" by the Bucks Herald. 

One little part of the old church fabric was left in 1862. A hefty stone window was said to be on display in builder Thomas Corby's High Street premises. It's possible some of the other less obviously ecclesiastical materials were recycled and incorporated into other buildings where they may be sitting anonymously today. Alfred Heneage Cocks (the Victorian Marlow gentleman historian, menagerie keeper and bell ringer) was also reported to possess some of the remains of a window.  He had in addition one of two models of the old Church known to exist at that time. Cocks himself reported to the Bucks Archaeological Society of whom he was an active member, that he had recovered numerous bits of moulded stone and marble from the old church. He had them at Thames Bank during his residence there, and on leaving it for Poynetts in 1899, he offered the remains to the churchwardens. This was on condition they were incorporated into the interior of the west end of the church. The churchwardens declined this offer, so Cocks gave them to his aunt Charlotte Cocks who was living at The Glade. He said they were used as a part of a fernery there. Whether they survived is hard to say. There had been complaints that the process of disposing of the old church materials had not been at all transparent with materials sold at low prices to a selected few. 

The church is dilapidated - again

In 1872, the building cost was paid off at last. The Reverend Snaith had bad news to deliver though. He said the church had been neglected for generations (surely a slight exaggeration given it was 40 years old) and now it was in a "dreadful state of dilapidation". The state of the walls and windows was "ruinous" he said. When it rained, the roof leaked so badly that the clergy had to dodge about in order not to get soaked. He said the issues must be dealt with soon and that doing patchwork repairs and improvements would involve much more expense in the end. So a committee was started to raise subscriptions. As well as repairs, a new chancel was at last planned, and much later the wide nave would be divided with arches into 2 aisles. On the 9th September 1875 the foundation stone was laid for the chancel and it was opened on 1 September 1876, with the work costing £1924 and completed by Thomas Corby to the design of John Oldred Scott. 

Other works carried on at various times include bricking up the door that formerly faced the High Street, removing the galleries and box pews, adding new stained glass windows and replacing the flat roof with a pitched design of hand made tiles of "special tint".  And then there was the damage done by the terrible storm of 1897 - a separate post on this is here. Selling off the old pews and gas fittings in 1890 raised £7 for church funds. Even in 1889, when the church was opened after works that included the new roof and new flooring, the bitterness relating to the old church's demise could still be felt. The Bishop of Oxford, preaching on the occasion of this re opening, probably unwittingly touched a still raw nerve in his sermon. He referred to how the old church at Marlow was probably a "strong, large and ancient building which if the possessors of it had taken care in time, would have lasted until now." He added it must therefore have been demolished as it had fallen behind the times as regards convenience. 

The money spent on putting the church right was a large sum and whether it was worth it divided opinion. The book The Royal River in 1885 thought no. Despite Rev Snaith's description of the ruinous state of the church the author thought the apparent sturdy state of the fabric of the building  meant that as no emergency repairs were needed, no further funds should be wasted on it. "It is a question whether it would not have been better to have accepted its ugliness and employed the very large sums which must be expended before the work can be completed to other and more directly useful purposes." Ouch. On the other hand, the South Bucks Standard in 1900 thought that while the church of 1835 had originally been both costly and ugly, the work spent on putting it right was well spent even if had cost a very large amount in it's own right. In 1889 the paper had thought that with the new roof and old pews gone, all the church needed now was to have all of its windows replaced "in a more suitable style", the outer walls refaced in stone and flint, and the west front and steeple recast. Not much work then! 

All Saints is a beautiful church to our modern eyes, both inside and out so if you have not yet visited it, it will repay your time! 

Notes:

 The new bells were rung in the new church in February 1835, some months after the church had re opened. These first bell ringers were honoured on the 60th anniversary of the occasion with a special bell peel in their honour. The ringers were William Truss (later landlord of the Two Brewers), William Smith (tailor of the High Street),  town crier Jeffrey Truss, John Smith (cabinet maker of High Street), Thomas Coster (carpenter and lock keeper), Thomas Rosewell, (fisherman), George Creswell, (Swan landlord, farmer, timber merchant and barge owner)  and Richard Davis (pork butcher and parish constable). 

The Chapel that gave Chapel Street it's name is of uncertain location.  But a possible discovery of part of it was at least previously visible under a house in Spittal Street in the first half of the 20thc. A mention is made of a "crypt" with vaulted ceiling under this house but much pre-dating it, in a passing comment by former Marlow antique dealer Jane Toller in her book "Discovering Antiques". Jane and husband Charles lived at the Old Vicarage in the High Street in the 1930s. The "crypt" was under a front room of the Spittal Street property. It may be (if from the right period at all) associated with the hospital of St Thomas that gave Spittal Street it's name. Another even more likely hint of the chapel remains were seen at the Rookery. It was here in 1877 it was reported that workman digging foundations for the new range of stables had discovered numerous interesting items which were believed to have come from the Hermitage / Chapel. These included some 11th century silver coins, a silver seal, a stone "mantelpiece" and parts of several stone columns.

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related posts: 

The Angry roaring mist of 1897 here

List of grave images at All Saints and other Marlow area sites here

For more posts like this see Church Related on the menu here

General posts about everyday life in old Marlow here

To find all mentions of an individual here use the A-Z person index in the top drop down. (There are 4,300 people listed there as of July 2022 and new posts are added daily)

SOURCES

Britton, John; Brayley, Edward Westlake et al - Beauties Of England and Wales or, Delineations topographical, historical and descriptive, of each county - (1801)

Cook, William Bernard -  The Thames or graphic illustrations of seats, villas, public institutions" Vol 1. (1827)

Cox, A H - The Church Bells of Buckinghamshire (Jarrold, 1897)

Dugdale, Thomas - Curiosities of Great Britain, England and Wales Delineated (1854)

Hogg, Alexander. The New Ladies Magazine 1791 vol 6. 

Langley, Thomas - The History and Antiquities of the Hundred of Desborough ( Faulkner ? & B&J Clark. 1797)

Rimmer, Alfred Belgravia Magazine, Vol 14, 1881

Sheahan, James Joseph - A History of Buckinghamshire, 1862. 

Guide to Marlow 1891 - South Bucks Standard - with thanks to Michael Eagleton. 

Willis, Browne Notitia Parliamentaria or a history of the counties, cities and borough of England and Wales. Vol 1. (Robert Gosling. 1730)

1833 Parish Assessment, transcribed  by Charlotte from the original notebook owned by our family 

The Royal River - The Thames from Source to Sea (Cassell 1885)

Law Journal 1832 (E B Ince 1837)

The Ecclesiologist Vol 6 (1847)

Temple Bar Magazine For Town and Country Readers Vol 15 Ward & Locke 1865. 

South Bucks Standard 12 June 1895, 2 July 1897 

Reading Mercury 21 September & 7 December 1829, 8 October 1832

Northampton Mercury 13 August 1791 via the BNA

The Building News and Engineers Journal,  17 February 1882

Notes on the old Parish Church at Great Marlow, by Alfred Heneage Cocks, 1900 as read to the Bucks Archaeological Society on their annual outing. [Undated typed report, and as per Records of Buckinghamshire - Bucks Archaeological Society, 1905 digitised by Google and supplied by InternetArchive.org ]

'House of Lords Journal Volume 63: 28 March 1831', in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 63, 1830-1831 (London, [n.d.]), pp. 383-390. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol63/pp383-390 [accessed 7 February 2020]

The Builder September 25th 1875. Vol 33. 

Windsor and Eton Express, 01 November 1834. 

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