Moor End Murder

 28th March 1891. 

Charlotte Cooper, an unmarried woman in her early 40s, left her little cottage at Moor End near Marlow to go on a trip to High Wycombe. She shared her home with her parents Henry and Jane. 

Henry was aged 67 and still working as an agricultural labourer. Though he had been born in nearby High Wycombe he had for some years lived in Bourton On The Water in Gloucestershire and as such was known as "Gloucester Cooper" in the hamlet. He worked at Moor End Farm, probably specifically as a cowman. Seven or eight years previously he, while suffering from sunstroke, had fallen off a hayrick. Since then he had suffered from bouts of dizziness and a "bad head". His wife Jane, in her seventies, suffered from an illness that rendered her paralysed and confined to her bed. She could speak but could only eat with a spoon. On the day in question she was in her bed, while Henry sat smoking his pipe downstairs. He had been able to lead the cows out that morning but his "bad head" was troubling him he told his daughter.

Charlotte was not overly concerned however and left for High Wycombe. Charlotte would say later that Henry was a patient and uncomplaining carer for her mother despite Jane accusing him of not doing anything for her and not really liking her. It seems these feelings were caused by her illness rather than reality.

When she returned, not receiving a reply from her father and puzzled as to why she found his boots set aside and hat on a chair if he was not in, she went upstairs to find him in the bed slightly conscious and covered in blood and her mother lying dead beside him. Henry had cut her throat with his razor, and then stabbed himself in the abdomen and throat in an attempt to commit suicide. She ran to a near neighbour Mrs Grimsdale, landlady of the Black Boy pub, who went to fetch the police while Mrs Grimsdale's daughter remained with Charlotte, comforting her. Dr Francis Culhane came up from Marlow to attend the scene.

Barely alive, Henry was taken to the Marlow Cottage Hospital. Dr Culhane said that Henry became very violent there and it was considered necessary to use the straight jacket in order to attempt care of his injuries. 

The inquest into her death was held at the Moor End farmhouse. The jury reached a verdict of willful murder against her husband. A few days later he died and another inquest was held for him this time at the Cottage Hospital.

Charlotte Cooper was the main witness in both enquiries.

That madness tended to run in families was a strong belief in later Victorian Britain so inevitability the mental health of the wider Cooper family was inquired into. Charlotte could not tell the court much about her father's side of the family but she admitted that she had a brother who had died in an insane asylum (perhaps her brother Thomas, she had half brothers too from either an earlier marriage or earlier relationship of Jane Coopers).

Her near neighbour Sarah Humphries testified to hearing Charlotte scream and run out of the house after she came home. She also saw her leave in the morning, helping to prove Charlotte could not have killed her parents herself as did the testimony of William Plumridge junior who delivered bread to the house while Charlotte was out. He spoke to Henry, making him likely the last person to see him alive. Henry looked "strange" he said and in answer to enquiries about his wife said that he feared that she would never be well again. Dr Deane of Hambledon who had visited the Cooper's earlier in the year said Henry had become "weak in the head". 

Some of the inquest jury members donated their fees for serving to the Cottage Hospital.

Related information: 

Biography of Dr Francis Culhane: 

here

Other posts relating to the Moor End/ Lane End area of Great Marlow Parish here

Index of crime related posts: here

All mentions of a person or family here can be found in the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

Sources:

South Bucks Standard 3rd April and 10th April 1891. Buckinghamshire Examiner 8th April 1891. Bucks Herald 11th April 1891. All British Library Archives via the BNA.

"England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SG27-CXN : 9 November 2019), Charlotte Cooper in household of Henry Cooper, Bourton On The Water, Gloucestershire, England; citing Bourton On The Water, Gloucestershire, England, p. 49, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

"England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7GZ-TCT : 3 March 2021), Henry Cooper, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

Slough, Eton and Windsor Observer, April 11 1891,/Slough reference library. 

Patients Treated At The First Marlow Cottage Hospital

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

For more about the hospital see the following posts:

Matron Mary Ann Cole here

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

Apothecaries and patent medicine sellers here

List of medical related posts here

The Romantic troubles of Dr Culhane here

Death by fire here

More on the Spindlo's here

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

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

See:

South Bucks Standard 16 September 1892, 03 August 1894. 

©Marlow Ancestors

 

Clifton Villa, Glade Road and the Wells Family

The Wells family were one of the first to settle in Glade Road Marlow, arriving in Clifton Villa by 1881.

Mark the father was a corn merchant and baker, retiring shortly after the family went into residence there. He seems to have maintained ownership of his old premises and the house that went with them though he did not run the business there. He would not have had a lot of rest in retirement. Mark was one of the Overseers of the poor and a director of both the Marlow Gas Company and the Buckinghamshire Chair Company. He was also a shareholder in the Great Marlow Railway Company and an active fundraiser for Marlow Hospital. Mark died in 1909 in his 79th year.

The mother in the family Sarah Elizabeth also raised money for the hospital and gifted the patients books in 1911 (Bucks Herald 29th April 1911, British Library Archive accessed November 2020). As a widow she attended meetings of the National Service League in Marlow an organization campaigning for the introduction for men of compulsory National Service in the army so Britain would not be left vulnerable to attack. This organisation was more than usually popular in Marlow (See for instance South Bucks Standard 15th April 1911, British Library Archives). The Wikipedia article on it says that it was largely supported by right wingers. This is interesting as Mark Wells was a Liberal. Perhaps there were a few heated conversations over the breakfast table while Mark was still alive! Sarah died in 1918.

The couples three daughters Marion and Emily, who did not marry, and Harriet (who married James Luck of Leighton Buzzard) all lived at Clifton Villa as adults with their parents for at least a while.

Marion died in 1924.

More families of Glade Road can be found under the "Specific Shops, Streets ...etc" option on the menu. All mentions of someone on the blog can be found on the Person Index.

In my research I also used census data transcribed by me from microfilm. Also of use to me was the GRO death registration index on the GRO website, accessed November 2020.

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

A Victorian Christmas In Marlow Part 2

  

This is part two of a Victorian Christmas in Marlow. Part one deals with the Christmas ball, slate clubs, carol singing, shop displays and festive shopping...

Christmas Day at last

We think of snow bound Victorian Christmas Card scenes, but alas snow could not be guaranteed. A warm and muggy Christmas Day in 1885 saw one local journalist comment on how unlike the "old fashioned Christmas with snow covered ground and ice bound streams" it was, so the nostalgia for a white Christmas is an old one. From various reports we can gather an idea of how some of our ancestors spent their day. Church services obviously featured heavily for many, and work crept in for others. There are many reports of the town being busy with walkers on December 25th. A sweet account by the Marlow correspondent of the Maidenhead Advertiser in 1885, who was seemingly short of actual news, describes how the folk around him had spent Christmas Eve enjoying the traditional children's games beneath the branches of a Christmas tree groaning with gifts and "gaily dressed dolls, money boxes, flags, artificial fowls and bonbons". That certainly would make an interesting tree. Gifts were often hung directly on the branches if small, and some families invited guests to take a present off as they left. The games enjoyed by the youngsters in their "jolly juvenile Christmas Party" include Snap Dragon, and bran bag dips. (Small gifts hidden in sack of bran to be found by feel by a blindfolded child, a variation of a bran tub party game). Others played these kind of games on the 25th. The adults were said to have amused themselves with card games such as whist and nap as well as toasting the season. 

Of course not all children received much in the way of gifts, let alone a tree drooping under the weight of them. It's heartening to hear how many of Marlow's little ones did receive something courtesy of a benefactor, often via a Sunday school. The little patients of the Cottage Hospital always received a small gift and the hospital in general saw lots of donations of food around this time of year for example some turkey and vegetables from Lady Clayton in 1897. 

What's for dinner?

Beef was such a popular gift for the poorer folk from the various charities and well off givers that we know several hundred families in Marlow would have ate that for their Christmas meal. As for the others, it can be hard to pin down what they ate but we can at least know what was available to buy from Marlow shops. Smoked gammon was obviously popular as many sellers made a point of stressing how superior their offering was to all the others. In 1893, Clifton's provisioners in the High Street had 150 prime smoked gammon available. Geese do of course get mentioned, but turkeys are too. Mr Cripps of Highfields bred turkeys and poulterer Mr Wood was proud to advertise that he stocked them, along with turkeys from other local suppliers such as Finnemore and Wood End Farms. Mr Wood is often singled out as a man that made a particularly spectacular Christmas Show at his premises. In 1893, he also displayed ducks, pheasants and hares. In the same year, W H Clark advertised that they had a "lordly ox" on show, which had come from Winslow. Adverts do not often mention geese specifically because it was a given that they would be easily available. But turkeys were worth promoting. So we know that Mr Woods had competition from Mr Maddison in the High Street and Mrs Maskell in  Market Square on the turkey selling front. 

As a vegetarian, I think the display at bakers Messrs Death and Son, of West Street and later of the High Street is more appealing although lard probably featured in a good few recipes! Deaths were renowned for the fancy cakes they could make in almost any design.  So it's not surprising that their extensive Christmas exhibition was said to be a remarkable collection of the finest mince pies "and dainties in pastry of all descriptions."

Alternative Christmas traditions

 Prior to around the 1880's and stretching back decades, was a tradition Christmas Day gathering on Marlow Common with the main aim of catching rabbits and pheasants. Several hundred people are said to have turned up at times. Some were clearly there just to socialise but others came with dogs and guns. The authorities stamped this out as the land surrounding the common was in private ownership and the landowners said dogs and hunters strayed on their land and so were effectively poaching. A sweep in 1878 saw several arrests. 

Goodwill to all men? 

The Christmas period was a busy one for our police constables. Drunkenness and family squabbles feature strongly in petty session records of the time. In 1870, husband and wife Jacob and Julia Martin were charged with abusing each over loudly in Gun Lane (now Trinity Road) on the evening of Christmas day while under the influence of alcohol. They received a 16s fine. That is one example of many. Other seasonal misdemeanours include the frequent apprehension of those pilfering holly and mistletoe from private land in the hope of selling it on. Henry Beaver is one such Marlow man caught making away with part of a farmers holly tree in Hambledon in 1872. There also tends to be an increase in arrests for begging in the run up to Christmas, especially on Christmas Eve itself. But there are two ways of looking at this. There may have been more beggars congregating in town in the hope that the season would encourage generosity and the police might then act to deal with a nuisance. But many of those arrested were homeless tramps and it was a tradition in some places for them to be "round up" and arrested in order that they could be hosted in the relative warmth of the police station cells over Christmas. 

Boxing Day

On Boxing Day some may have been nursing sore heads and fraught domestic relations, but at least an increasing number of workers could enjoy Boxing Day off from their labours. In 1872, the Reading Mercury journalists praised the Marlow traders closed on the 26th, as "by this thoughtful act of employers many of their assistants were able to visit their friends at a distance." However 3 years later, they noted that the grocers and some other traders in Marlow had not closed on Boxing Day.  By 1900 it was announced that the drapers of Marlow, who traditionally took the lead in such things, would be closing for 3- 4 days over Christmas and other traders would likely follow their lead. However, it was possible that a knock at the door of a "closed" establishment would still be answered in an "emergency". George Hide the West Street draper advertised that his side door would be answered should there be any "special enquiries" requiring immediate attention over the Christmas closure. 

It was a tradition to drink the health of friends on Boxing day so pubs did a roaring trade. Those unfortunate to have many friends whose health they cared for might find themselves before a not too understanding magistrate if they ignored the soft warning to go home quietly usually issued by our local police. 

And of course Boxing Day was a traditional time for football matches, played at that time on Crown Meadow or Riley Recreation Ground as we call it now with the minor teams playing at Star Meadow or Gossmore or the station ground.  

The Salvation Army often hosted many of the towns poorest citizens on the 26th instead of or in addition to pre Christmas feasts. On Boxing Day 1892 100 of the needy sat down to a "meat tea."  

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related posts:

Victorian Christmas in Marlow part 1 here 

Edwardian Christmas in Marlow here

New Year traditions here

Skating on the Thames etc here

Bonfire night in Victorian Marlow here

A listing of other posts about every day life in old Marlow  here

Easter and May day here

©Marlow Ancestors

Edward Riley - The Man Behind The Recreation Ground

Marlow has been fortunate to attract many benefactors and philanthropists over time some of whom have been largely forgotten and who we hope to resurrect in this blog. But one man who is thankfully well remembered for his generosity is Edward Riley R.I.C, largely because his name is attached to Riley Recreation Ground. Edward was an analytical chemist and metallurgist who co founded and acted as director of two steel companies. He was born in London and much of his professional life was based there, as well as in Leeds and at the Dowlais iron works in South Wales. I am not going to focus on his work, as this was mostly carried on away from Marlow, but instead I want to flesh out the man who spent the last couple of decades of his life here, or more specifically at his home "Bohemia" on the riverbank in Bisham. But I will just mention that Edward pioneered new developments in steel manufacture and won awards for doing so. His chemical analysis work was quoted by researchers for decades after he completed it, and he travelled to America at one point to advise miners and manufacturers there. Mrs Riley was interested in music and a published collection of songs were dedicated to her. 

At his death in 1914, Edward was said to have lived at "Marlow" (really Bisham) for 26-27 years. Bohemia was built for him in 1886 at a cost of £2436, not including the land itself. The builder was Marlow's Young Lovell and his team. For the first few years, he and wife Mary were generally listed as summer visitors at Bohemia. Even later they spent regular time abroad, on the continent and in 1894 they passed the winter in Egypt. These travels would provide material for Edward's lectures at the Marlow Institute. 

Edward and Mary quickly became involved in all kinds of initiatives that involved a committee. Marlow Rowing Club and Regatta, the Institute, Cottage Hospital, Provident Nursing Association, Anglers Association and more all saw their attention. He was vice president at the Institute for a number of years. And it was Edward that donated the use of his land for the erection of a landing stage and large hired marquee for the young Marlow Rowing Club as yet without a boathouse of their own. 

Edward was a subscriber to Marlow's original cottage hospital in Cambridge House, Cambridge Road. Mary was among the "lady visitors" who took turns to adopt the hospital for a week and make visits to cheer and comfort the patients. Those inside were not forgotten on other weeks however as the couple sent donations of things such as cake, fruit and vegetables on a regular basis. As the hospital was entirely funded by donations and what payments the patients could afford, these kind of gifts were frequently asked for and earnestly welcomed. 

Given this involvement with the hospital, it is perhaps surprising that Edward did not support the development of a new more spacious and convenient cottage hospital in Marlow. As a frequent attendee at the subscribers meetings, he could not help but be aware that the staff of the original cottage hospital worked liked Trojans and found their work made more laborious by the inconvenience of a relatively cramped building with steep stairs and inadequate plumbing. The whole staff in 1913 had in fact threatened to sever all ties with the hospital if no advancement was made in oft voiced plans to build a better one. But Edward thought the town could not afford to build or support a bigger hospital funded by donations, even though the building site had been donated for free. He feared that if funding should fail the cost of maintaining the hospital would be put on the rates (local tax) and that the local tradespeople and businessmen could not afford this as trade in town had been "ruined" by the advent of the motor car. Instead he thought perhaps the town could invest in a motor ambulance that would take patients to the well equipped hospitals in Maidenhead or High Wycombe, if they could amalgamate with one of those institutions. He thought getting enough donations to keep things going would be a continual struggle. Edward's concerns were not without foundation. The cottage hospital had trouble attracting subscribers at times, and the Charity Commission would only give permission for plans for a slightly smaller hospital than the committee originally planned, on affordability grounds. Edward obviously felt strongly about this because when his name was wrongly included in a list of donors to the building fund of new hospital, he wrote to the newspaper to correct the entry publicly. When the Charity Commission said the revised plans were affordable, the hon. secretary of the Marlow Cottage Hospital Committee, Mrs Dickson, wrote to Edward asking for his support. Instead he published his replies to her letters in the local press and it's fair to say they have something of a patronising tone. He said anyone who had read the Commissioners report would agree with him that a new hospital was unaffordable and that friends of his involved in raising subscriptions at other hospitals also supported his view. He must have forgotten that in writing to Mrs Dickson he was communicating with someone who had been directly involved in raising such subscriptions for many years herself and who through her husband Dr Dunbar Dickson, was very well acquainted with the costs and practical considerations involved in running such a place. Edward had objected to the number of women on the organising committee - a complaint which was ignored, unsurprisingly given that it was the ladies who had suggested the need for a new hospital in the first place and it was a ladies committee that organised the fundraising that allowed the first cottage hospital to open. In one letter Edward suggests that the new hospital was advocated for mainly by the doctors and for their own interests regardless of the welfare of the town! It's hard to agree with him given the number of people that donated to a scheme that apparently no one wanted. The hospital was built anyway and it must be said that Edward was no slacker at parting with his own cash when it came to helping the sick in ways he did support - he funded a home for the district nurses, aka the Riley Nurses' Home and clinic which remained in use for decades after his death. He offered the finances to do this as an alternative to his supporting the new hospital but initially the money was not linked to a specific purpose. He said that if a hospital scheme that he personally approved of was bought forward the money could go to that instead. It should also be mentioned that Mrs Riley attended many meetings of the hospital subscribers with her husband, and was for a time on the Ladies Commitee. (Posts about the struggle for the hospital can be found here and here) 

Edward subscribed to the Institute and freely gave his time to lecture there. Subjects included the process of providing good drinking water, mineral extraction, and a pet subject, the wonders of electricity with practical demonstrations included. The Rileys had the use of electricity at Bohemia even though Bisham and Marlow were not yet connected to the supply network. They used this to illuminate the outside of their riverside home during the Regatta, and the display is frequently described as the most beautiful along the river side. They included "coloured fires" and lanterns with coloured glass panel surroundings to create the illusion of multi coloured lights. The Regatta traditionally ended with a Venetian fete which was chiefly a procession of decorated and illuminated boats along the river. Of course Edward used electric lights on his entry and he was not an infrequent winner of the most handsomely dressed boat award. At the time of the coronation of Edward VII in 1902, Edward set up lights in the form of a giant E.R and displayed them on the front of ivy clad Bohemia. 

The couple owned a house boat also called Bohemia. This they took to Henley Regatta when they were in residence. They also bought a new type of  electric launch which they christened "Champion". A trial run out with friends on the Thames was said to be a success but the boat is not often mentioned thereafter so perhaps it had some shortcomings not immediately apparent! Edward also had a couple of punts. One was also decorated and entered into competitions, with an arch of bullrushes and mountain ash berries and rows of sunflower heads mentioned as one medal winning design. The other had a more conventional existence as a fishing punt. Edward Riley was a keen angler and sometimes reports of a good catch reach the press, caught with the assistance of fisherman James Cox. He put up cash prizes for occasional fishing competitions too. With his love of all things a river side town could offer, it's easy understand why Bisham became his residence. Or Marlow, as he referred to as his address in every source I've seen that he wrote himself. Of course a river side address did have it's downsides, and Bohemia was flooded downstairs during the severe 1894 Thames flood. 

The gardens of Bohemia were enthusiastically maintained and famously lush and colourful. The Riley's gardener Mr J Jordan  grew a huge range of fruit, vegetables and flowers and won many prizes in local shows. He provided plants and flowers that were donated to decorate the stage of plays and concerts held at venues like the music room, with some palms used to create an "exotic" atmosphere to one amateur production. 

Edward funded three scholarships to Borlase along with his half sister Miss Mary Mitchell Wilson who is often uncredited for her contribution. Edward also announced a £1,000 gift towards the greater cost of setting up a new school chapel there but when he died it was announced by his executors that they would actually pay for the whole along with his sister. 

Edward spoke at a debate at the Institute in favour of Sunday opening of parks, public gardens, and museums. He took the issue of public access to recreation facilities seriously, in particular in regards that children should have somewhere safe to play off the streets. With this in mind, when in Edward Riley bought the Crown Hotel and the accompanying Crown Meadow when it came up for sale in 1914. He gave the field  for the use of the town as a recreation ground under the care of a group of trustees including himself. He gave a sum of money for it's maintenance and envisaged the hotel should continue with the profits invested in the Trust. Crucially he allowed the Trustees to make what changes to the hotel as they saw fit in pursuance of this goal. Proper funding provision was of course important to Edward as we know. The park had not opened when Edward died at Bohemia in September 1914 aged 83. It was decided to sell the Crown Hotel but delays in achieving this and the First World War meant the new Riley Recreation Ground was not formally opened until 1921. This long delay caused frustration locally. In 1919 a public meeting was called in Market Square to protest at the lack of a safe place for children to play  - Higginson park was not yet open of course. Those attending expressed frustration at the fact children were still actively barred from accessing the future Riley Park. The quickly elected chair Mr James proposed a resolution in favour of the provision of a proper recreation ground being provided somewhere. It seems they felt Riley Park would never fully open. The resolution was seconded by Mr E Harvey and passed by the crowd.

Their fears were of course unfounded. The grounds were not laid out as intended but remain charmingly open and surrounded by trees. I'm sure Edward and Mary, who died in 1923, would love to see them now. Both are buried at Bisham Church. 

Related Posts

To find out about the many former uses of Riley Recreation Ground/Crown Meadow see the post here

The Dunbar Dicksons here

History of Institute "Books, Billiards, and ..beer?" here

All mentions of someone on the blog can be found under the Person Index. To cut straight to a list of posts, each  dedicated to a particular Marlow individual see "Biographies Of Individuals" on the menu. There is also a "Biographies Of Families" option there. 

Sources:

Local newspapers held at the British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA. 

The Engineer, 18 September 1914. 

The Engineer, collected edition. vol 76, 1893. (Morgan Grampian 1893) 

Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute Vol 47, (SPON  1895)

Engineering and Mining Journal Vol 49, American Institute of Mining and Engineering (McGraw Hill 1890)

©Marlow Ancestors

Revd Frederick Tavender - tax rebel and education campaigner

 

Revd Frederick Tavender became minister of the Congregational Church in Quoiting Square in 1892. He was from Devon, his wife Annie from Wiveliscombe in Somerset.

Frederick was raised C of E but decided to follow Congregationalism and went to study at Western College, Plymouth with that in mind. He was ordained at Wiveliscombe on the 2nd September 1886 and became minister there.

At Wiveliscombe Frederick increased the number of Sunday school pupils from 186 to 420. He also lead the charge in establishing Congregational places of worship and Sunday schools for the first time in numerous surrounding villages. He was considered one of the best ministers around for gaining new worshippers. Marlow was lucky to be able to obtain his services.

Frederick wasted no time when he arrived in town joining the Marlow branch of The British And Foreign Bible Society, becoming a prominent member of the Marlow Institute and founding the Marlow Total Abstinence Society of which he was President before the year 1892 was out. He also played cricket for Marlow in various competitions such as the traditional Married v Single Gentleman match that started the cricketing season. 

The Marlow Institute was a place for lecture, entertainments, classes and debates. Frederick was a success there and in other nearby towns with his talk and "oxy hydrogen" lantern projecting images from his Continental holiday in 1891 encompassing "a trip to Lucerne and the Italian lakes, the Apennines, Florence etc". During this trip he took part in some mountaineering.  Six years later Frederick was off again, this time to the USA to attend the Congregational Council in Boston. Marlow was treated to a lecture on what he had seen there upon his return. Unsurprisingly given the rarity of travel abroad in those days the lecture room was packed with those eager to hear about his trip. It was a lengthy trip for him and Mrs Tavender. The sea voyage took 9 days each way. Then after attending the Council he explored both the USA and Canada seeing Niagara Falls, New York, Chicago, Washington, Omaha, Toronto and Montreal.

On a more serious note Frederick took part in debates at the Institute such as one on whether parks and museums should be allowed to open on Sundays (he thought not). He also helped set up technical education classes there and in other locations in the area. 

Education was a passion of his. He tried long and hard and ultimately unsuccessfully to get a school board established in Marlow. These were non denominational boards which organised schools in an area and had power to impose a local rate tax to fund them. He argued that the existing school buildings were sub standard and the education given to the children unacceptably poor due to a lack of money. Existing schools survived largely by fund raising. The prospect of paying more tax wasn't popular and Revd Tavender found himself much in the minority in desiring a school board in the town. He pulled no punches when it came to describing how bad the schools were in his eyes, which offended some. Inspectors' reports generally considered them adequate educationally but did agree that building conditions and overcrowding were major problems.  Revd Tavender would argue that the inspector's standards weren't very high so if they said education was adequate that wasn't necessarily a great compliment. Supporters of the existing system admitted poor educational achievement in some pupils but said that this was down to: a bout of teacher illness causing long absences, whole school closures due to efforts to stem disease outbreaks in the children, and the natural incurable stupidity of some of the pupils!!

His trip to the USA and Canada in 1899 had been used also as a fact finding trip into how they organised their schools. He sought out many senior education officials on his travels and visited as many schools as possible. He thought their teaching methods far superior to what was being used in England.

In 1904 Frederick was one of a host of Marlow nonconformists who refused to pay their rates as a form of passive resistance to the Education Act of 1902. This saw nonconformists have to pay taxes to support Church of England schools even though they disagreed with what was being taught religiously to the children in those schools. That these publicly funded schools were to have no public scrutiny into how they were run or how they allowed C of E aligned teachers to present nonconformist viewpoints was especially upsetting. A nationwide passive resistance campaign grew up.

As a result of his refusal to pay the portion of the rates for education, goods to the value of the amount owed were seized from him and other protesters and auctioned off from a table outside the police court in Trinity Road by auctioneer Walter Lovegrove (of whom more in future).

The ever kind Doctor Dickson of Marlow made the only bid for all the seized items of Marlow men and women. He bid the exact amount needed plus the exact costs to the court. He returned all items to the homes of their owners.

The Conservative government lost the next election but still dominated the Lords and thus attempts to overturn their Act failed. Resistance faded in the face of the seeming impossibility of overcoming the Lords hurdle.

Frederick's had other social concerns too- he chaired the Marlow Institute's committee set up to think of ways to help the local unemployed during the hard years of the early 1900s and promoted and fund-raised for the Cottage Hospital.

He also set up "Pleasant Sunday Afternoons" in Marlow to attract those men who shied away from traditional church services. This was part of a nationwide movement. Lighter hymns were sung, music perfumed and Bible study offered as well as prayers. Frederick allowed secular music and songs to be performed at his Marlow events, which was quite unusual, but he said all music came from God and the afternoons had an overall strong Christian flavour. He drew the line however at allowing clapping. That he said was too much like behaviour at a leisure concert. He offered prizes for those Sunday afternooners who did well at their Bible study. There was in addition Pleasant Tuesday Afternoons. 

Like many of the Marlow Congregational worshippers Frederick was a supporter of Liberal political candidates in local elections.

As if he did not have enough to do, Frederick offered tuition to those young men seeking to do well in university entrance exams, as well as lessons in French, mathematics, Latin and English to pupils of all ages. Adult learners who lived some distance away could receive lessons from Frederick via correspondence. 

Mrs Tavender helped man the stalls at church fundraising bazaars. She was also an active member of the Wycombe Branch of the Women's Total Abstinence Society, eventual President of the Marlow branch of the same and a member of the South Bucks and East Berks Band Of Hope Union.

The Tavender family left Marlow so Frederick could take up a position as minister in Exmouth, Devon in 1908. At his farewell celebrations tribute was paid to his work for the benefit of Marlow's people especially the aged, sick and unemployed. It was noted that he had broken down many sectarian barriers, and encouraged co - operation with other Marlow churches and chapels. The couple went away laden with parting gifts, including a study chair (from the Marlow Free Church council), purse of gold (that is £20 from the congregation), an eiderdown quilt (Pleasant Tuesday Afternoon group), several illuminated addresses, a book, fountain pen and an inscribed gold brooch for Mrs Tavender from the Woman's Total Abstinence Society Marlow branch. 

Related posts:

For more church related content see the Church Related option on the menu. To find every mention of an individual on the blog use the Person Index Option on the top drop down menu. Fellow campaigning Minister Andrew Mearns (poverty campaigner) features in a post here while tax rebel Revd James Mountain can be found here

A post about the entertaining attempts to bring temperance to Marlow is available here

Poverty in Victorian Marlow here

 

Christchurch URC have scans of  interesting booklets about their history available on their website (under the Magazines and Resources tab) link

**DO YOU HAVE AN ANCESTRAL CONNECTION TO THIS CHURCH? IF SO, YOU MAY LIKE TO COMMEMORATE YOUR ANCESTOR BY SUPPORTING CHRIST CHURCH PATH OF LIGHT FUNDRAISING EFFORTS - SEE   Here FOR MORE INFORMATION**

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

For more see:

1901 census Great Marlow.

South Bucks Standard 29th April 1904 and 24th January 1908.

Don't Mess With Matron Part Two

           The Glade Road site.

This post is a continuation of a history of the first Cottage Hospital. Part one here.

 Problems mount at the hospital 

The site at Cambridge House was considered likely to be a quiet one when the hospital first opened. It was not quite to be. Some open ground to the rear of the hospital was used frequently as a place for children to play football but this was preferable to it's use by "delinquents" who adopted the site in the mid 1890's. They were said to throw stones and break windows although the hospital itself escaped their specific attention. Police began to keep a close eye on the area and a number of boys were rounded up and sent before the magistrates mostly to receive small fines and vigorous telling offs. Three boys playing football in Eton Place in 1895 were especially censured because their actions could have caused "considerable discomfort" to patients in the nearby hospital. Richard Engelfield, Arthur Rockett (Rockell?) and James Dormer recieved 1s fines each. To be fair to the boys, neither Riley Recreation ground or Higginson Park were yet open to the public. Then there was the fair and also steam organs, travelling theatres and roundabouts that turned up in what is now Riley Recreation Ground at other times. 

Give us space! 

The improvements in 1894/5 cost £200 and added a new operating room, a new ward and two W.C's. The narrowness of the stairs, passage and landing had been partially eased by widening all 3. But the stairs were still steep and added much to the exhausting  nature of the work. This was not just true for the Matron Mary Cole, but the mostly unnamed servant and charwoman who toiled up and down dozens of times a day.  The wages for the general servant were described as good for a "really trustworthy person" in 1894, but the frequency of adverts appearing for this role suggests it was hard even by the standards of domestic service, good pay or no. 

The last years

In 1908, Nurse Cole was again working alone. Another probationer had come and gone. It was said the assistant nurses did not get enough free time, to which the hospital replied that Cole sacrificed her own days off so often that she could scarcely give any more time to allow the nurses more leisure. They praised Cole's strict economy that saved every possible penny. She could do no more. 

The hospital felt cramped, the stairs were steep and Dr Dunbar Dickson, one of the hospital surgeons in regular attendance, thought the sanitary arrangements totally inadequate. So in 1911 a committee was formed to consider potential sites for a brand new more commodius building. An area of Glade Road let as allotments and belonging to John Langley chairman of the Marlow Urban District Council was considered the most suitable spot. Mr Langley offered to sell the land at a favourable price, but later offered the site entirely for free, providing building work was started within a year. Alternatively he would offer a £250 donation if they prefered another site. 

Architect Mr G Berkeley Willis A R.I.B.A, a local man, was asked to draw up plans which were approved. Estimated cost £2,400. But the Charity Commission needed to investigate the plans for affordability and because of the deed of trust giving the Cambridge Road building to the hospital specified it had to be used for that purpose. The charity investigation took some time and I will spare you the details! The upshot is the plans were approved, but with 8 beds, revised down from 12. 

The Charity Commission had visited the old hospital and didn't consider it practical to make any further improvements or extensions there. The road outside was considered busy (and noisy), and the arrangement of wards over two floors inconvenient. Mr F.O Wethered who had initially supported the hospital move, changed his mind. He commissioned an architect to draw up plans to adapt the existing site, at the cost of £600-700, supported by some of the other subscribers. This would provide a new staircase, and put all the wards on the same floor. He also thought if the hospital would amalgamate with the Provident Nursing Association, more home visits would be possible, reducing the number of those who needed admitting to hospital in the first place. But those in favour of the move said the new site would be much more versatile as it allowed for expansion as well as being quieter and healthier. And they had also raised a lot of funds. With arguements going back and forth, the staff of the old  hospital had had enough and issued an ultimatum. They gave notice that should the plans come to nothing, they would "with deep regret, be obliged to sever their connection with the hospital". Finally the hospital went ahead. 

A last rush of fundraising saw a wide range of events including the popular hospital parades by the local Friendly Societies joined by the Marlow Town and Salvation Army bands. The 1912 one saw 1,000 people attend the open air service at Court Garden at the conclusion of the march. (The parade started at Star Meadow off Wycombe Road at 2pm and went along Chapel Street, Dean Street, Cambridge Rd, Oxford Rd, Quoiting Square, High Street and Glade Rd. A star attraction was a Wethered brewery vehicle converted into a hospital scene with master F Nicholls as the patient.)

The new hospital would have two wards, one male and female, each with 3 beds. The other 2 beds were to be in single person wards, to allow for isolation of the infectious. And of course there would be an operating theatre and an outpatient department. It was opened by General Higginson in August 1915. As this was obviously war time, the trustees  were empowered to place the building at the disposal of the army authorities should the need arrive. Cambridge House was also placed at the authorities disposal. After the War it was noted that the new buildings design had allowed the hospital to run at full capacity during the war, managed by just the Matron and a probationer with the able assistance of  a cook and servant. Of course this is the staff levels that tended to run the old hospital at full capacity too, but with fewer stairs and corners to clean we can hope it was a less exhausting business! 

Matron Mary Cole would not make the journey to the new site. Once the hospital had secured it's future, she resigned, her health having suffered due to the burden of her workload. She had given 25 years unrelenting dedication to her work in Marlow. 

The work of Nurse Cole or Sister Cole (either title of which was used at the time to refer to her) must have saved dozens of lives, alongside the surgeons, servants and nurses working with her. And by helping the injured breadwinner avoid permanent disability they helped still more families avoid destitution. 

Related Posts

Biography of Edward Riley here

Biography of hospital surgeon Dr John Dunbar Dickson here

Call the Apothecary here

Marlow Hero Nurse Cassidy here

Matron Mary Cole here

Benjamin Atkinson, surgeon here

Midwife Sarah Price here

Some of the patients treated at the hospital here

A full list of medical related posts can be found under the general history option on the top drop down menu. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors.

Don't Mess With Matron Part 1

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

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

Shaking tins, raising funds. 

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

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

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

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

The most generous donors of all

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

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

The Matron exhausts all comers

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

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

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

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

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

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

Never ending need for funds..

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

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

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

Other related posts:

Biography of hospital doctor Dr John Dunbar Dickson here

See the general history index for other medical related content. 

©Marlow Ancestors

Marlow Hero No 3 Matron Mary Cole

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The new hospital went ahead.

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

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

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

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

Biography of hospital doctor Dr John Dunbar Dickson here

Other medical related posts:

Call the Apothecary here

Benjamin Atkinson, surgeon here

Midwife Sarah Price here

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

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

See:

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

Bucks Free Press 27th March 1925 

Marlow Cottage Hospital annual reports from 1900-25. 

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

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

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©Marlow Ancestors. 

Cupper Family of Fair View Glade Road

 

Updated June 2025

I have always thought Fair View House in Glade Road Marlow to be so lovely with all the decorative metalwork so I decided to look into some of the house's former occupiers.

My attention was caught by the Cupper  family so here's a little portrait of them:

Arthur and Eliza Cupper moved to Marlow circa 1890. They were in Glade Road on the 1891 census and in the 1891 Marlow Directory and Almanack though not in Fair View. Arthur was a domestic coachman, just as he had been for years in London before that on the census but when the Directory was published he was listed as a boarding house keeper.

He and his wife married at St Margaret's Westminster in 1869. Arthur was originally from Bramfield, Suffolk [born 1840 to William and Harriet] while Eliza was a London born girl from a family of Sussex origin [nee Hoadley born circa 1850 St George Hanover Square Parish, London to parents John and Mary Ann]. Eliza's father was a footman which made me wonder if he and Eliza's future husband had worked together in a large house.

All the couple's children except their youngest Maud, seem to have been born in Paddington or Marylebone in London. Maud was Marlow born.

By 1895 Eliza was managing Rye Peck House by the river as a private residential hotel (short term apartments with luncheon and tea included). It had been recently converted from a house. The South Bucks Standard was very impressed by the conversion saying that Rye Peck deserved to "become immediately popular amongst those who in search of relaxation and health, estimate cleanliness and comfort at their true value. The house which is excellently fitted up is cosy and well furnished and admirably suited to its purpose" .

Nevertheless this private hotel didn't seem to last long and Eliza turned to running a domestic service registry, that is an employment agency for servants, from the High Street where the family also lived for a time. Business must have gone well or Eliza was simply generous of nature as she was a frequent donor of funds to Marlow Cottage Hospital.

Arthur died in 1907 and by the early 1910s Eliza had moved the family back to Glade Road and into Fair View* and was running her agency from there. She supplied cooks, parlour maids, nurse maids, whatever you needed short or long term.

Her sons Edgar and Henry both attended Borlase grammar school in West Street. Henry was admitted on a scholarship in 1909, I am unsure about Edgar. Both played football for the school as Old Borlasians. Both were also competitive rowers in local competitions. Their sister Maud herself was a medal winning rower as an 18 year old at Marlow Regatta in 1913.

Henry and Edgar both served in World War One. Henry was mentioned in despatches in 1916 as a second Lieutenant in the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry. As a civilian he worked in the USA and Canada as an executive of an automobile company and married an American woman. He returned to England by 1921 with his family and settled in Glade Road, but not in Fair View.

Edgar suffered a twice fractured leg from a German grenade thrown into his trench during his military service. He was then in the 7th battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. It is said on a number of websites that while he was away fighting Edgar's wife bigamously married someone else and that he himself also committed bigamy. These websites are sites concerned with filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock as Edgar's wife's second marriage was to a man who wrote screenplays for Hitchcock. I have not researched this issue myself at all. His marriages were not to local women. 

By the way there was by sheer coincidence a man in Victorian Marlow named Alfred Hitchcock but he was a gardener!

*A previous resident at Fair View /Fairview was the elderly and very religious Caroline Patrickson, a lady of private means. She moved to Effra in Beaumont Rise sometime between 1904 and 1907 and had also lived elsewhere in Glade Road. While at Fair View Caroline lived with a paid companion and a maid. She died in 1924 aged 88. I'm her will she left bequests to the two servants she had then (different from her ones who served her at Fair View), Ms Wilmott her companion and Jane Day her maidservant.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

Several other houses in Glade Road have histories on this blog describing who lived there. To find them see this index

Sources:

1907 and 1915 editions of the Marlow Directory and Almanack.

GRO Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes online.

Census 1841, 51, 61,71, 81,91 transcribed by me from microfilm.

1911 census via Find My Past.

Bramfield, Suffolk and St Margaret's Westminster parish registers. Thanks to Jane Pullinger for accessing the latter in person for me.

South Bucks Standard 21st August 1913. Copy held at the British Library Archives and accessed by me March 2021 via the BNA.

Bucks Herald 25th December 1915, as above.

South Bucks Standard 5 November 1909, as above.

Reading Mercury 15th January 1916, as above.

Bucks Free Press March 21st 1924. Bucks Free Press Archives.

Photo by Kathryn. Taken March 2021.

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

Atkinsons of The Rookery Marlow *Updated Jan 2024*

Above pic: Rookery Lodge. The main house has been demolished. 

Benjamin Atkinson inherited freehold and copyhold land in Marlow from his cousin William James Atkinson* after William died in 1849. William was a barrister though he also got some income from owning land in Marlow, Marlow Bottom and Handy Cross in Buckinghamshire as well as in Kent. Despite his farming interests he only defined himself as a barrister in every record I have found. He also served as a J.P. 

William split his time between his house in Chapel Street Marlow and one in London. Without children himself he decided to make Benjamin his heir, and made it a condition of the inheritance that if Benjamin had no children the son of Benjamin's sister Mary Ann would inherit.

William's maternal grandfather owned a reasonable amount of Marlow property. Some of this provided an income to William's mother and I think that William may have inherited some of the property, including some in the vicinity of the Rookery from him however I am only about a third of the way through the man's GARGANTUAN and complex will, so it'll be a while before I can judge that. It is without doubt the longest will I have ever transcribed, and believe me I've battled through plenty! The Kentish property of William James did definitely come via that grandfather. 

As well as the site of the Rookery and farm lands Benjamin inherited 7 cottages in Chapel Street from William James.

In 1833 William's Rookery was described as a house with lawns, flower garden, yard, walks, kitchen garden, stables, coach yard and house, sheds, orchard and "a garden opposite".

On the 1841 census William has 3 live in servants to look after the house.

According to Victorian visitors, it was only during Benjamin's time that The Rookery became known as such (because rooks nested in the trees there). Interestingly a Joseph Heath, gentleman farmer, had a house in Marlow called the Rookery back in 1813, and later references to the Heath family's Rookery do not seek to clarify that it was a different house to the Atkinson's Rookery. That being said I believe that the Heath home was along the river near Mill End rather than in Chapel Street.

By the way the Heath family of Marlow, West Wycombe, Mill End and Ewelme, were very interesting. Well worth a delve into the archives!

 It was the understanding of Victorian visitors to the Rookery that Benjamin's house had been originally created out of an ancient hermitage which in between times had been a farmhouse. Hermitage or not they said it was certainly an 11th century building at its core but with a more "modern" outer appearance, by far the oldest building in Marlow. It will be interesting if archaeological digs on site can expand on this further. To date remains from that period haven't been uncovered on the Rookery site by modern archaeologists. However, 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. 

So what of the man himself?

Benjamin was born in London in 1803 the son of a wealthy apothecary and surgeon Benjamin senior, who had previously owned property in Marlow himself, and  Judith (née Norman). Benjamin junior became a surgeon and apothecary in partnership with his father. Originally practising in Lombard Street, but residing in Nicholas Street London, sometime after 1824 Benjamin Senior moved to King William Street there. At number 12 the two Benjamin's would carry on their business until Benjamin Senior's retirement in 1837. After that his son practised with the help of a hired assistant. Benjamin junior concentrated on the surgery side of things though.  Officially he remained an apothecary as well. He also received income as medical adviser to a life assurance company.

Benjamin Senior died in 1840, with his son his heir. Judith had predeceased him. 

In 1849 Benjamin junior married Eliza Griffin, a woman significantly younger than him. 

At some point in the 1850s -on or after 1854- they made the Rookery their main home.

Benjamin also owned Town End (adjacent to the Rookery and sometimes called Rookery Farm, not to be confused with Town Farm, West Street) and Marlow Bottom Farms, as well as fields scattered about and although he employed people to actually run the farms for him on a day to day basis he was actively involved in them. At Marlow Bottom there was corn, wheat, barley, poultry and a big income from timber plantations - elm, beech, oak and ash.

Above, 1839 map of an estate sale, showing also a small selection of Atkinson held land in Marlow Fields. 

Benjamin's warm mutual relationship with his employees was well known in the town as were the Harvest Home celebrations he treated them to. He was revolutionary in his outspoken belief that your employees should be treated as your friends. To read about the famous Harvest Home celebrations held in the Rookery see here. No doubt he had heard tales of the time in 1830 when his uncle William had received one of the infamous "Swing letters" during the machine breaking riots. You can read about the events in Marlow here

Overall I'd say he was probably a nice man. One day a week he saw local poor people for free at the Rookery for surgical consults. The South Bucks Free Press reported in 1859 a queue of 50 for his free services.  

He comes across as a more compassionate J.P than the 1800s norm too when sitting at the Marlow police court. He criticised prosecutors for shouting at witnesses and showed compassion several times in his sentencing.

On numerous occasions he himself became a victim of crime. Using land at Marlow Bottom was never a good idea for anyone wanting to hold onto their crops or livestock -it was Marlow's rural crime hot spot in the 1800s! The worst theft suffered by him was that of a horse. However, for once, that event was not at Marlow Bottom. Cousin William had suffered at least two thefts himself. On another occasion he and his steward found a poor, apparently Scandinavian, tramp who had hung himself from a tree on William's land.

Benjamin died at the Rookery in 1867 leaving Eliza to a long widowhood. They had no children so as per William James Atkinson's instructions the Rookery descended to Benjamin's nephew Henry James Norman Layton (who bought New Court in Marlow in 1880 but lived usually in London). Eliza was allowed to live at the Rookery until her death. She was one of the more prominent people in later Victorian Marlow. Medical affairs were clearly important to her as she was on the committee of the St John's Ambulance and an official Lady Visitor to the cottage hospital of which she was one of the most dedicated financial supporters. To add to that she was a champion of the local fire brigade, numerous flower shows, the church choir and the foundation of a water works for Marlow. In her younger days she was one of the official Lady Patronesses of the balls held in the Town Hall. An interest in gardening especially in the cultivation of apples and pears also kept her busy.

It seems she was going to give up the house in 1880, but in the end did not. The same year her husband's heir bought New Court in the town as I have already said. Perhaps he had decided he wanted to own a house he could personally occupy in Marlow, and Eliza agreed to give up occupation of his inheritance but this became unnecessary when he found out New Court was for sale?

Eliza died in 1900 while on a visit to Folkestone taken for the hopeful benefit of healthy sea air. She had been suffering from failing health and eyesight for some years, and never fully recovered the effects of  an otherwise successful cataract operation. Eliza was bought back to Marlow for burial beside her husband at All Saints. 

The Rookery house is long gone but part of the garden is now a park (Wrightlands) to the rear of existing buildings in Chapel Street, and a stable block and lodge still stand.

*William donated a stained glass window to the then newly (re) built parish church in 1834. 

Researched and written by Charlotte Day. Additional research Kathryn Day (1877 finds update)

To find all mentions of ancestors on the blog choose the Person Index option on the top drop down menu.

More Chapel Street content can be found under the "Specific Shops, Streets etc" option on the menu.

Other medical related posts (selected)- find others listed on the General Marlow History option on the menu.

Call the Apothecary here

Marlow (Forgotten) Hero Nurse Cassidy here

Matron Mary Cole here

Marlow Heroes John and Emily Dunbar Dickson here

Midwife Sarah Price here

A full list can be found under the General Marlow History option on the top drop down menu.

© Marlow Ancestors. Please give credit and a link here if using this research (so that the source citations are not lost from the information) but you are free to do so for any family and local history research purposes.

Research sources:

Copies of original wills obtained from the Nation Archives, Kew and transcribed by me.

Property deeds at Somerset Heritage Centre 

1833 Parochial Assessment, original record held by my family and transcribed by me.

Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the late John Coakley by Thomas Joseph Pettigrew (1817).

1841, 1851, 1871 and 1881 censuses from my transcription of images on LDS family centre microfilm back from when that was how you viewed such things!

1861 census info transcribed from page image from Ancestry UK accessed May 2016. 

Parish registers at London Metropolitan Archives.

Death and marriage certificates from the GRO. 

Bucks Herald 23rd Feb 1884 [Eliza's connection to the water works] copy held at the British Library via the BNA. Accessed January 2020.

Bucks Herald 29th July 1865 [Benjamin's horse stolen] via the BNA. Accessed January 2020. 6th Jan 1877. 

South Bucks Free Press 3rd September 1859. As above. [Queue for free care]

Oxford University and City Journal.