Life of a Dean Street Man - George Langley

 In our search to make this story of Marlow and it's people as representative as possible, we like to randomly pick a few people to research and feature and hence todays post about Victorian Dean Street resident George Langley. In fact George was the brother of John Langley who along with his son of the same name is one of our Marlow Heroes because of their practical help of the poor. You can read their rag to riches story here. George's story is in many ways the story of that area, although he did also spend periods living elsewhere in the town. 

Young skewer maker 

George was born at Well End, Great Marlow or Dean Street as we'd call it today - not to be confused with Well End, Little Marlow c 1830 to Thomas and Elizabeth Langley. His parents could not have more stereotypical Marlow occupations in his youth - they were working as a skewer maker and lacemaker. Skewer making had a somewhat shady reputation, not always fairly, because most of the "prick wood" needed to make the butchers meat skewers belonged to a wealthy land owner or another. The latter were not too keen to find men and women taking apart their hedges and plantations in search of materials. A few skewer makers were employed by the owners of the woods to make the skewers, but most had to negotiate the rights to search for materials in a particular spot. And the majority of "skewerters" could not not afford to pay much if anything for their wood.  Some didn't see why they should pay at all as they regarded the right to collect it as a customary if not legal right. You can read more about Marlow's skewer industry, in which our subject George also worked here. It's worth noting that skewer making was largely seasonal and many of those defining themselves as such in early census returns must therefore have had other occupations at least part of the time. Those who looked back to the skewer making hey day associated it especially with something labouring men did at the end of their already long work days, assisted by the women and children of the family. 

By his 30s George was working as a fruiterer's labourer  - almost certainly for his brother John who employed a vast number of Dean Street area residents in this way. By the 1860s Dean Street was associated with this industry, not least because of the Langley family. The fruiterers here were wholesalers, mostly buying the rights to harvest and sell the produce of fields and orchards in the district which generally went to London for sale. George would have travelled far and wide to help with these harvests - the fruiterers can be found sending out teams throughout Oxfordshire and Berkshire as well as all parts of Buckinghamshire. 

Cricket Man 

In his 20s and 30s George was a regular addition to Marlow's cricket team, along with brother John. As such he was also called upon to take his part in the many fun cricket matches that Marlow liked to organise at the drop of a hat. Married v Single, residents of one street v those of another, those who lived one side of a road v those living on the other..any excuse to form two teams for a match would do. George was regarded as a talented individual and so in the 1870s when he was no longer part of the regular team, he was employed at the cricket club as it's groundsman and as a professional bowler. The last means he had to attend the practices to put the players through their paces. And there was no better person to look after the grounds than someone who knew what a great playing surface should be. The premises suffered some problems with vandalism in those years.  The fencing was repeatedly damaged for example so it wasn't always the idyllic stress free job it would seem to be for a cricket fanatic. 

Sad times

In 1870 when the Thames was largely frozen over, George's beloved daughter Sarah age 14 was killed when she fell through the ice. Sarah stopped on her way home from school to play with other children sliding on ice adjacent to the river. They then began to dare each other to retrieve a stick throw ever further onto the ice on the river itself. She was teasing the boys who did not want to go out so far, and decided to show them how it was done. She made her way onto the ice several times, but eventually the surface gave way and frantic efforts to retrieve Sarah were unsuccessful. Her body was not found for some time. The inquest was held at the Two Brewers Inn in St Peters Street. Later it was said George never recovered from this tragedy and went down hill physically and mentally after this time. 

Certainly by the time of his early death age 49 in 1879, it was regarded that Sarah's death "cast a shadow over his life and probably accelerated his departure". He had apparently been suffering ill health for some time so he had to give up his role as bowler at the Cricket Club although he continued as groundsman for a while longer. On George's death his affability and genial nature was praised - he was called a general favourite of all the club members. They ended a tribute with the melancholy thought that George was better off dead given his health and the sadness he carried. Not the happiest reading for his poor wife Ellen and surviving children. 

A brief look at the Dean Street Depot 

I'm going to give a quick mention to George's son Henry George Langley, who as the foreman of the Marlow Urban District Council's depot was in charge of a long forgotten but distinctive feature of the street in days gone by. There were several small long vanished and emptied out gravel pits off Dean Street in the early Victorian period. One was just past the entrance to Cambridge Rd, if you are heading up the street out of town. It had deteriorated into a rubbish dump in the 1890s, and often became a pond in wet weather. It was decided this was an eyesore and health hazard and should be filled in. The council shortlisted it as a potential site for a depot for their supplies. After protracted negotiations over price - optimistic on behalf of the seller architect and surveyor Thomas Thurlow you'd think - the site was purchased. Stabling for the council's horse was put up plus tool stores, sheds to house the likes of the street watering and sewage collection carts and a cottage for the depot foreman. (Plans to improve the existing cottage seem to have been abandoned.) This foreman in the Edwardian era was Henry George Langley. All the rubbish formerly there was buried far underground and would no doubt make a fascinating archaeological dig had the site not been covered in housing. A channel was also dug to deal with the torrents of water that came down Seymour Court Hill filling the old pit site during prolonged periods of rain. Henry kept an eye on the site and the council stores of things like sand and gravel used for road repairs - although this wasn't easy as several items were made off with, and the councils own surveyor of the highways was accused of appropriating some of the material. 

Related posts: 

To find all mentions of a person or family here, use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. 

History of George's beloved cricket club - here

Frozen Thames and ice skating in Victorian and Edwardian Marlow - here

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

© MarlowAncestors 

A Manly And Scientific Pursuit - History of Cricket In Great Marlow

In 1829 the local papers included a charming description of a "manly game of cricket" in Marlow between the "Knights of the thimble" of Marlow and their fellow tailors of Maidenhead. The latter were seemingly brim full of confidence (or bravado) and marched into town complete with a band playing "See the conquering hero come". They lost and made a somewhat muted departure. This was the earliest match I could find between teams formed of those following a particular occupation, but it would be the first of many. And 1829 was usually given in the Victorian era as the start date for Marlow Cricket Club although it ebbed and flowed and was re-organised several times and finally so in 1854. (I've also seen a mention of a Marlow Cricket Club in 1828 so it may have a few false starts even before 1829.)

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Above programme for a fundraising dramatic and musical performance by the Marlow Popular Promenade Pierrot Party in November 1907. Profits were shared with the Institute. Expect banjo performances, comic songs and dramatic sketches and humourous "absurdity in one act". 

The Aldermary

Where did our early teams play?  It was said in the 1880s that the Cricket Club had used the Crown Meadow as their first cricket ground (Riley Recreation Ground), and I believe this is correct although many reports do not give a location for their matches and they may have used more than one field at times. However by the 1870s the vast majority of matches I can find location details for describe play at "the Aldermary" or Alder Meadow as it was later known. This is roughly where the Marlow Cricket Club is now but the ground was smaller.  Note you can find several examples of the club playing at the Aldermary on occasion from the 1840s and it also hosted casual matches so has a longer heritage as the cricket ground than may be realised. 

A Gents Wager

An early descriptions of cricket matches at Marlow refer to games organised by a couple of unnamed gentleman to settle a wager. They may or may not have actually played themselves. The location in 1776 was Alms House Close - probably Crown Meadow again or nearby, as this was adjacent to the original Brinkhurst almshouses. 

A popular type of cricket spectacle in the early Victorian era was a one wicket match between two teams  gentlemen aside. Sometimes these preceded a team match but a lot of people turned up to watch them anyway. Usually some kind of forfeit was at stake - not including any unofficial wagers. The loser often had to stump up a dinner for the victor and his friends for example, or at very least a round or two. No doubt some of those participating took these matches seriously but generally they seem to have been held in a spirit of fun with some questionable techniques and rule bending hinted at. My favourite one wicket match is one played in 1842 between Messrs Hyatt and Brooks. [Henry Hyatt was the keeper of The Greyhound Inn* and Brooks was the baker occupying the premises now known as Burgers.] Hyatt's puffing and blowing was said to have reminded the spectators of an "old steam engine nearly exhausted". Henry Hyatt's exertion was worth it as he secured victory in 30 minutes flat. 

Any Excuse For A Match Will Do 

If your ancestor wasn't playing for Marlow Cricket Club, they might well be playing often in one of the huge number of  casual games organised, and almost always still hosted at Alder Meadow and Crown Meadow before. Games were arranged between the residents of different streets, workers from one employer versus another, men in the same or different occupations eg waiters v waterman in 1898, the choir and clergy, pupils at rival academies..the list goes on. Sometimes an additional element was added such as players performing in fancy dress, or in old fashioned costumes, or one team may have to play left handed or with some unusual instrument replacing a proper bat. An 1897 match between ladies on one side and men on the other saw the men playing left handed (or right handed if they naturally played left normally) and with a piece of  rough hewn wood instead of a bat. (Result was declared a diplomatic draw.)

The bigger private boys schools in the town had their own teams throughout the Victorian era such as Prospect House Academy and Marlow Place School. I should also mention the popular team of the Marlow Institute* who usually used the Crown Meadow for practice and matches - or sometimes the Alder Meadow. Formed 1896, they later amalgamated with Marlow Cricket Club with the members allowed a reduced subscription in return for playing fewer matches as a sort of B team. And lastly the Brewery had a formally organised cricket club from 1895 (but had fielded many teams before that) whose home ground was regarded as Star Meadow. 

Cricketing Whites ...Or Purples Or Stripes..

James Cranbourne Strode of Court Garden (then a private house) was a definite cricketing enthusiast.  He hosted a match between two invited teams of  Marlow boys aged 12-14 at Court Garden in 1828. The sides were distinguished by wearing different colours - purple and orange. Probably these colours were represented by sashes, hat/armbands or belts. Purple were the victors, with a young Strode amongst their members. After much "scientific" play the youngsters retired to a large tea on the grounds. It was the highest praise to have your play described as scientific then..technically skilful and considered rather than successful through brute force or so they thought. 

In 1843 the boys of Prospect House Academy* played in nifty blue and white striped shirts with white trousers and a straw hat finished with a blue ribbon. 

The Clayton's of Harleyford were another family of gentry who patronised local cricket matches, especially in the mid Victorian  era. They were hosting matches within Harleyford Park with the home team usually formed out of Harleyford estate employees/tenants or Marlow tradesmen. 

Fear The Men Of Beaconsfield 

 After an enthusiastic start around 1829, things became a little more complicated for the early members of the Marlow Club. It seems our nemesis was the Beaconsfield club. I can find a few reports of consistent defeats at their hands in 1830 and a little later but at some point prior to 1843 we received such a thrashing by the team that apparently Marlow Cricket Club was entirely broken up in despair. Before then the Club was described as as "good a club as far as funds were concerned as any in the country".  I suppose the well off benefactors were not keen to subsidise a team that was getting publicly trounced. Afterwards, according to contemporaries, a few informal games were held a year until 1843 when the club was revived to meet a challenge from the fellows of Waltham. But before long the matches begin to fall off again (although not due to those skillful Beaconsfielders as far as I know)  and by 1853 the club was described as fallen into decline. In September 1853 someone decided to organise a match between the residents of Chapel Street and those of West Street. It was hoped this would generate enough popular enthusiasm to encourage the revival of the club. West Street were the happy victors. In April the following year a meeting by the "youthful supporters of athletic sports" saw a resolution to re start Marlow Cricket Club passed. The curate Rev George Taylor was subsequently credited as being one of the main driving forces for getting funds and practical support pledged. 

The Married v Single gentleman of the club match was one of the most long standing features of the Victorian club, and so ended the inaugural 1854 season. After a game played with "considerable spirit" the  married team were victorious. Dinner at the Crown usually  followed - also the location for most early AGMS. 

In 1859 a juvenile club was established by William Brooks. It looks as though their first match was against the boys of Marlow Place school who won. All then retired to the National boys schoolroom for ginger beer, as gifted by supporter Peter Borgnis. I can find a few mentions of the juvenile side after this throughout the 1860s. 

Who Were The Players? 

As regards the Cricket Club, the earliest members listed as playing are familiar names from amongst the better off traders, inn keepers, clergy, school masters and gentry. There was much less of a set regular team than later. Complaints were made in the 1850s and 60s that few of those selected for the team actually lived in the town. The Club replied that while they had many townsman members, few turned up often for practice and so this was why they were not regarded as amongst the best players  from which the team would be selected from. To be fair, most of the teams I traced were in fact then present or former Marlow men and most that weren't were not quite from a million miles away - Little Marlow, Bisham etc. The press frequently complained about the selected sides performance in those two decades - for example the "miserable exhibition" versus Maidenhead in the August of 1860. Hard to say if the criticism was fair, as they did notch up a fair few wins too! 

As regards other casual teams, the players are more mixed in terms of economic background. And the "Night School and Juvenile Cricket Club" set up in 1861 was mainly formed of lower income youths. (Set up by the vicar and curates of Marlow, the Night School catered for young men and youths mainly from the Dean Street area. Read more here) Later the Great Marlow Working Mans Cricket Club was set up after a meeting in the Crown in 1906. The then Crown landlord offered the use of the rear Crown Meadow (Riley Park) to them for both matches and practice free of charge, and the use of a room in the inn for committee purposes, also free. A local paper hoped this new club would encourage a spirit of friendliness between the "better class working men" in the town. They subsequently played at the Star Meadow, Porter's Meadow and Marlow Football Club before arriving at Higginson Park and changing their name to the Marlow Park Cricket Club. 

A Pavillion 

By 1873 the Cricket Club was doing well for itself and so of course they needed a pavillion. Local engineer Edwin Clark (see link below for more about him) had promised a £35 donation towards the costs, at least according to some reports. It was resolved to fundraise in order to build a "substantial pavillion"  - no mention of whether it needed to be bigger than any Beaconsfield might have! In 1879 it was referred to as "somewhat elaborate" in design. Marlow builder Thomas Corby* won the contract to construct. Costing just over £117, it was newly completed in August that year, topped with a traditional thatched roof. The cost had not been fully paid off the following year as many promised subscriptions were late, although an influx of donations had reduced the deficit to £30 by April 1875. At least they now had somewhere of their own to host an AGM - and to sell luncheons plus wine and beer from. Catering was available when the ground hosted a bigger match at least. The proprietors of the Greyhound and George and Dragon inns would take care of the sales there. 

By the mid 1890s the pavillion was described as in a poor state or even "dilapidated" as they put it in 1897. Repairs had been made almost every year but it was now considered beyond remedy. They had started sporadically fundraising for this purpose around 1895/6 but at the time of the 1897 AGM, the work had not started and the scheme doesn't seem to advanced to the stage of anyone drawing up plans for that matter. Hopes that the structure would be imminently ready nevertheless were not realised and in November 1898 the old roof had partially fallen in. It was decided to get the pavillion scheme properly started and an official subscription list was opened. Three members of the Wethered family immediately pledged £70 between them, including the then Club Captain F O Wethered.  A committee would decide where the new pavillion should be - as the ground had been enlarged in the years since the first was built it was felt the old position was no longer the best one. Moving it would make available a larger or better area for play. I don't know where the old was in relation to the new though. Initial plans were also to raise enough for the construction of a residence for the caretaker / groundsman but I don't believe this was achieved. By March it was reported work had begun on the new pavillion even though not enough funds had yet been raised to pay for it. (Due to cost about £300, the contractor was local man Thomas Lunnon.) It was ready for the start of the new season that year. 

Problems In Play

As mentioned above the Alder Meadow ground was smaller at first and dissected by footpaths, official and otherwise. It sometimes suffered substantial flooding. There were frequent late Victorian complaints about groups of children, mostly little boys, who congregated in a field or two next to the cricket ground and got up to mischief. They had been seen climbing the wooden fence of the Club and it looked as though attempts had been made to wrench out some iron railings adjacent. Obviously the youngsters were feeling strong on that occasion! Police patrols were requested to make extra passes through the area on the evenings. Of course some children hanging about during the daytime just wanted to watch the play, and could not necessarily do so legitimately. It was actually debated whether children should be allowed in the ground at all. In the early years youngsters had been allowed to play on part of the ground, except on match days. After some serious vandalism in 1873 of both the fencing and new pavillion, this permission was withdrawn. But in 1899 they formalised the rules to state that while no perambulators or very young children would ever be permitted entry, well behaved youngsters who had applied in advance for a ticket of admission from Mr Lovell* could pass through the gates on match days. However if any of these lucky youngsters should misbehave they would be banished from the ground for ever! They stood no chance of getting into the pavillion it seems, which was restricted on match days to players and members and their one adult guest each. All had to sign a visitors book. 

Money Woes

The Victorian Marlow Cricket Club had to fund all the expenses you'd expect, and a few you perhaps wouldn't such as that of thatching the first pavillion roof. Routine costs include payments to the umpire and boys to "scout" on match and practice days, to a professional bowler for practice purposes (on a regular basis from 1879) and to the groundsman of course. And there was the rent of the cricket field from first the Davenports and Higginsons, and then from the Wethered family too. (The latter remitted the rent during the First World War.) Although the earliest version of the club was said to have a high level of financial support from the local gentry, this was less to be relied upon as time went on. The Wethereds of Remnantz and the Brewery were consistent in their support though and one or other of the family fulfilled the role of club captain from the time of the club's re organisation in 1854 throughout very many years of the Victorian period. Most importantly the family purchased the cricket ground when it was offered for sale as part of the Court Garden estate in the 1890s. It was feared that as the Club could not afford to buy the ground themselves, they would be evicted from their home by a new purchaser perhaps hoping to put up a riverside villa. (Although the ground was described as water logged in winter, it was believed conversion to residential use was likely.)

Frequent appeals were made to pay subscriptions on time, whether you were a playing or general member.  Sources of income included selling the grass cut from the field, rights to graze sheep** there when not in use for play,  and charging the Lawn Tennis Club for use of part of their ground, at least until the two organisations merged in 1908. They offered a joint membership then for a guinea a year or less if you didn't want to support both sports. 

The Wethered brewery bought the cricket field in 1920 for the sum of £1200 as the Marlow Cricket Club had sadly not re started after the war. It was to be used rent free by the Brewery Employees' Recreation Club for leisure purposes. So while Marlow has one of the oldest established cricket clubs, it does not have a continuous history.  

This post would be too long to feature individual players, umpires, score keepers etc especially as many get a post of their own. Search cricket using the blog search to find all mentions, or use the A-Z person index to find a specific individual. 

** In 1868 Arthur Brown, Augustus, Sidney and an otherwise unnamed young East were fined 5s each for cruelty to the grazing sheep - they had been seen attempting to ride them like a horse! 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

©MarlowAncestors

Further information:

All the people and places marked * have more detailed posts of their own eg Henry Hyatt. Find them in the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. 

Other posts related to sporting history :

Athletics meetings at Harleyford 1870s and in Marlow generally here

Biography of Charles Miller Foottit- one of the founders of the Football Club, Rowing Club and Regatta, cricket player etc here

Football Clubs - more than 20 you've probably never heard of dating from Victorian and Edwardian times (with many players mentioned) in a post here. Easter matches of Marlow FC here

Gymnastics in Edwardian and Victorian Marlow - here

Marlow Horse Races- comprehensive history, updated October 2023 here

Nellie Creswell amateur Victorian sportswoman here

Richard Smith, amateur cricketer who played in front of a French prince here

Regattas  - here

Skating on the Thames and meadows here

Sporting opportunities in 1700s Marlow here

Victorian Marlow Athletes here

See also the general Great Marlow history index here

Sources include:

Dolby, I E A (ed) - Journal of the Household Brigade - Household Brigade, privately printed,  1875. 

Lillywhite, Frederick - Cricket Scores and biographies from 1746 to 1826, Vol 11. (1878)

The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes, Vol 43. (Longmans, Green & Co, 1915)

Kelly's Directory 1883, 1903, 1911 (Kelly's Directory Ltd)

Marlow town guides 1903 & 1905. 

Windsor and Eton Express - 2nd August 1828,  3rd October 1829, 4th April 1874 -  Slough Borough Libraries. 

Berkshire Chronicle, 24th September 1842, 9th September  1843, 15th June 1861 - Archive.org. 

South Bucks Standard - 31st Aug 1894, 5th July 1895, 23rd April & 27th August 1897, 27 May & 18 November 1898, 10 March & 2 June 1899, 2oth April 1906 British Library Archive, via the BNA. 

Bucks Gazette 26 July 1830, as above. 

Bucks Herald 26th April 1873, 16th & 30th August 1873, 3rd May 1879, 20th April 1889 as above

South Bucks Free Press 21st May 1859, 27th August 1859, 18th August 1860 as above. And South Bucks Free Press 6th August 1920, Wycombe library. 

Reading Mercury, 17th July 1776, 24th September 1853, 29th April 1854, 10 May 1873, 24th March 1917    - British Library. 

Sport in 1700s Marlow

 Here's a list of sporting opportunities in 1700s Marlow, just in case you have a time machine being assembled in your shed and wind up there.

*See how many heads you can crack with a big stick. No go on - you might win 3 shillings. Backswords, that is trying to hit as many opponents over the head with a cudgel as possible, is taking place at the Upper Crown in 1787. You may only use the cudgel as a weapon. Your free hand will be tied to your leg and your legs may not move. If at the end of the day you have made the most cracks in heads you get the prize. Oh and by the way blood must run down the face of your opponent to count, no little taps on the skull please.

*Widow Aycott / Eycott will be having a cock fight at the Three Tuns in the 1750s. William Darke at the Lower Crown is another person to offer a "cock match" in that period. William hosts matches during the Marlow Races, taking advantage of the increased crowds in town. These are in theory between the men of Marlow and Berkshire and those of High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire. Presumably Marlow twins with Berks as it allows those from Bisham on the other side of the bridge to join the grisly team.  Doubtless other establishments can also satisfy a similar bloodlust at other times. If that's not enough for you hare coursing takes place around the town, especially at Little Marlow, plus of course the "sports" of fox and stag hunting.

*Head to Almshouse Close (seems to be off Oxford Road where the Almshouses are) in July 1786 to see the first known public cricket match played in Marlow. Two teams put together by unnamed gentlemen will play each other with a "considerable sum" at stake on the result.

*Or Head down to meadows by the riverside to enjoy Marlow's very own annual race meeting. It takes place from at least 1725 onwards on a one mile circular course. I published a long post on the history of these races in 2020. See here

*Don't forget quoits in Quoiting Place off Oxford Road. But don't be tempted to wager on the outcome of a game or you will be arrested.

Related Posts:

Avery your eyes - bathers about! Swimming in the Thames at Marlow here

List of other sports and pastime related posts for Great Marlow and Little Marlow here, plus posts about general Marlow history. 

* Charlotte Day with additional research by Kathryn Day. Will be updated on ongoing basis. 

Some sources:

Reading Mercury 17th July 1786. Copy held by the British Library archives, accessed by me via the BNA March 2021.

Oxford Journal 28th September 1787. As above.

Whitehall Evening Post 16th September 1755 (digitised by Google) 

See also my history of the Crown Inns and Marlow Races posts for more references relevant to those.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here so that the sources listed above keep credit for heir contributions. Thanks.

Marlow Place History

 Marlow Place is often said to have been built 1720 or 1721 for the future George 2nd when he was still the Prince of Wales. It was said to used by his son Frederick as a residence as well.  However Country Life Magazine in 1921 reported a date of 1727 visible on the roof and it is said that a brick contains a scratched on 1731 date. These may be dates of modifications to the property though they seem to be occuring rather soon after the initial build.  These later dates though do tie in better with architectural analysis by various historic visitors to the house who said 1720 is too early stylistically to be a probable date for the house and something in the later 1720s -1730 is instead indicated. 

A different edition of Country Life from 1913 mentions only a date of 1731 scratched in an apparently contemporary hand into the brickwork of the outer wall. 

A description of a brick built mansion "on the right before you turn into the High Street" [as Marlow Place would have been when you entered Marlow by crossing the river at the old St Peter Street bridge point] by someone recalling their time at the juvenile branch of the Royal Military Academy tells us it was once owned by the mistress of Charles II, Louise De Kerouaille Duchess of Portsmouth. However it calls the house Alfred House, a smaller property which is within the High Street rather than located before you reach it. Alfred House in the High Street was also used by the Academy. So which property did the writer really mean? The source he had for his information is not stated. 

I can find no evidence beyond local tradition that the house was definitely built for, rather than simply used by, the then Prince of Wales. All evidence seems to point to the house being built either for John Wallop Esq or most likely his mother Alicia. Certainly it was Alicia Wallop who lived in Marlow Place by 1739 to at least 1742. Her garden adjoined the back of High Street businesses including a soap boiler which from its use of animal carcasses would be a smelly (and fire hazardous) neighbour to have, plus at least two blacksmith premises which would have been noisy. A good reminder that even the most privileged in society in the 1700s struggled to escape the noise and mess inherent to everyday life.

Alicia is likely the Mrs Wallop who donated to the church bells in Marlow church in 1720.

Edwardian occupier of the house the keen amateur historian William Niven noted that some of the oak panelling of the house was certainly older than the house. It is possible that this came from an earlier house on the land which was owned by Alicia's ancestors.

Admiral John Forbes had recently left the property in 1772. He was "removing to Essex" (apparently  to Old Mill Green House Ingatestone) The Marlow Place household goods were therefore auctioned off and the "large and exceedingly good house" is to let. It was available with or without accompanying pasture and meadow land. The garden itself was well stocked with the choicest fruit trees, so they said. There were apparently no immediate takers and the house seems to have been empty of tenants for at least a year. In 1773 adverts offering the property decide to include more elaborate descriptions of the house to drum up interest. Amongst other benefits, we are told the town has 3 stagecoaches to London a week in the summer and two in the winter. And water carriage could be had "almost to the door". Marlow Place is not of course an immediately riverside property but is within a couple of minutes walk of the Thames. 

The resident in 1780 looks to have been Edward Valentine Stead Esq. He left the house circa 1789 and died aged just 35 in 1790. Owen Williams M P succeeded him in residence. 

The Royal Military College used the premises to provide extra accommodation in the early 1800s. Out the back the cadets had a rifle practice range. The construction of this apparently ruined the original landscaping of the gardens.

In 1833 the occupier had recently been "Edmund Flemming" (correctly Edmond Fleming). The property was then valued as being worth £110 per year. It was the most valuable house in town by some way. Edmond had  lived in the house since at very least early 1829 as a David Alexander Fleming, a silversmith, aged 44 and late of Whitechapel died at "his father's house" Marlow Place that year. His will shows that he was the son of Edmund and had no children so that his brothers, sisters, parents and employees benefitted from his will.  You couldn't get a more Scottish name than David Alexander Fleming so there's a possible clue to Edmond's furthest ancestral origins there! Edmond was already in his early 80s when his son died, and his definitely Scottish born wife Isabella was a similar age. It is likely that they wanted to downsize a bit! Or not spread themselves so thinly as Marlow Place was only their country home. Edmond was still working in Newgate Street in when he wrote his will.  His son David's will written in 1823 was witnessed by a Henry Hammond of Great Marlow which tells us that the Flemings were already connected to Marlow back then.

Nevertheless by 1836 Edmund and Isabella had moved to live with their son at Cookham Grove, Cookham as Edmond died there then and Isabella continued to live there until her own death a decade later. 

Edmond Fleming was a jeweller, silversmith and pawnbroker who operated from Newgate Street London. Cookham Grove was the country seat of his London pawnbroker son William. The son had owned that property by 1834 but seems to have let it out to others until 1836. Not only his parents but various other unmarried adult siblings made it their home or country retreat as they saw fit.

In Newgate Street Edmund occupied two premises next door to each other, a jewellers and silversmiths at 89 and a pawnbrokers at 90. Recent (September 2025) research into Edmund, Isabella, William and the rest of the Flemings has brought up so much material that we think they will be best served with their own separate post which is available now on the blog here.

In 1834 Marlow Place was advertised to let once again in the local press. [Berkshire Chronicle 26th July 1834, accessed by me online March 2021 via the BNA]. The house was then described as consisting of ten bedrooms, a library, entrance hall, dining room, breakfast room, drawing room with detached offices [they meant rooms for domestic management like laundry rooms and stores not somewhere to do your paperwork], a double coach house and stabling for ten horses. There were also lawns, greenhouses and gardens listed as part of the property in the 1833 assessment. Later reports mention meadows and those fruit trees again.

 

These premises made an impressive boy's boarding school between 1857 and 1877. Thomas Mathews was the first master to run the school there, alongside his wife. He found the building in a most dilapidated state at the start of his tenancy and spent considerable time and effort in restoring the house. He was very keen on cricket and the school had a cricket ground in a meadow by what later became the railway station. Boys needed to bring with them to school 3 suits of clothes, 6 shirts, 3 nightshirts, 6 pairs of stockings, 3 pairs shoes, a pair of slippers, 6 towels and a bible.

Music and book keeping lessons were included within the standard school curriculum as was, unusually, Hebrew if desired. For an extra fee French or swimming lessons could be obtained or the boys prepped for the Civil Service entrance exam.

When Reverend Thomas Gwynne used the premises as a school in the 1870s he could take 26 pupils. Their minimum age was 8. Gwynne had previously ran a private school from Candover Park in Hampshire. He was known as "Old Tom" to his young charges, although not to his face of course! He was a much liked man by the adults in Marlow - but not by the pupils whom he taught. More on him in a separate post in the future.

The Mathews had taken children from age 6, with the younger boys under Mrs Mathew's care. 

These various school proprietors all rented the property rather than owned it.

Marlow Place was owned by the Williams family from at least 1795 - Colonel Thomas Peers Williams was born at the house then. Owen Williams is listed in parliamentary papers as resident there 1809 to 1817. The Williams family eventually sold it to long term tenant and architect William Niven, who wrote a couple of articles about the house for magazines such as Country Life. His grave is on the blog here.

In 1877 the last incarnation of the school closed and the house was due to be refurbished and converted back into a family home. During this work, labourer Timothy Young was killed in the grounds when engaged in demolishing a 10 ft high garden wall made partly of brick and partly of flint. Timothy was buried alive when the wall suddenly collapsed before the workers were ready for it. Some of the others engaged in the task were also injured by falling bricks but Timothy was worst affected as he was hemmed in by nearby shrubs and could not make any escape. He was dug out by his colleagues but died from multiple severe injuries a little over an hour later.

Lady Marie Alice Rushout - tenant there -died in 1882. She was the widow of baronet Sir Charles Rushout and had moved to Marlow from Gloucestershire. The following year the house contents were up for sale by a Lady Northwick perhaps a relative as the contents included little miniatures of "the Misses Rushout" by Andrew Plimer. Known as "The Three Graces" they were the daughters of Sir Thomas Rushout. These miniatures were regarded as particularly fine and beautiful works of art. 

In 1885 the new occupant of Marlow Place was widow Jane Haig who moved there from Bray Court, Maidenhead. A few days after she moved in, Jane's upper housemaid Alice Anthony AKA Kate or Katie Anthony was caught with a large amount of stolen goods hidden in her bedroom. Sacked, Alice was supposed to be escorted to the 4.10 train out of town by the butler but for unspecified reasons she ended up sleeping the night at Marlow Place instead. At six the next morning she did a flit with her mistress's portmanteau and another stolen bag stuffed with an astonishing amount of loot.

Unfortunately her knowledge of Marlow train times was sketchy and she ended up waiting longer than she had expected for her getaway train. Jane's coachman John Gale* was on her trail. Confronted by him, she ran off without the portmanteau but John and a summoned constable cornered her near Little Marlow. She still had other stolen articles on her person. In court they struggled to find room to display everything she had carried off.

I won't list it all but to give you a flavour of the items here's some of them:

A gold ring

A pair of lady's drawers

2 corsets

Some sheets of papers

3 pairs of scissors

A music book

3 table cloths

12 handkerchiefs

Curling tongs for the hair

Buttons

2 tooth brushes

2 gold pins

5 pairs of shoes

Measuring tape

An umbrella

Envelopes

12 photographs (no mention of their frames)

Opera glasses

2 pairs spectacles

Elastic

Button hook.

Left behind in her room were articles stolen from Jane's housekeeping stores such as soap, furniture polish, candles and matches. I suppose Alice ran out of room in her two bags to take it all with her!

Unsurprisingly she was jailed. The maximum sentence possible -six months - with solitary confinement an added punishment. Alice screamed and collapsed in the dock upon hearing the sentence.

A crowd of around 100, all from the poorest parts of town, gathered at Marlow station to see Alice and accompanying officers of the law leave by train for the jail in Aylesbury after her conviction. It is hard to judge whether this was in support or disapproval of Alice or just from curiosity. Alice was said to have previously lived in Marlow and may have had family here.

Jane Haig continued to live at the house until at least 1888 when her married daughter Helen Frances Warner drowned while swimming with family at Temple.

William Powley once Vice Principal of Durham University lived at Marlow Place until his premature death aged 56 in 1895.

Next came Colonel Clarence Granville Sinclair a young widower who himself died aged just 37 in 1897.

He was followed in residence at Marlow Place by William Niven. Mr Niven was able to buy the house from the Williams family rather than just rent it in 1921. See a photo of his grave here. We will have more on him in the future.

* John Gale retired to Victoria Road Marlow.

Main post researched and written by Charlotte Day. Photos and information about Thomas Young and Admiral Forbes provided by Kathryn. 

Related Posts:

Biography of Alicia Wallop here

Biography of three Victorian Trinidadian pupils at Marlow Place School: here

Additional sources I found useful:

Reading Mercury 29th March 1773 & 12th October 1792, Windsor and Eton Express 31st January 1829, South Bucks Standard 27th November 1896 , Maidenhead Advertiser 14 April 1877, Oxford Journal 11 July 1772, held at the British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA.

Parochial assessment notebooks 1830s, owned by my family. These are being transcribed gradually onto this blog.

1871 census. Transcribed by me. Census information always remains Crown Copyright. 

GRO death index.

Armorial Families. A Directory of Coat Armour, by Arthur Charles Fox Davies published 1910 by T.C and E.C Jack.

Saturday Review of Politics, Literature Science and Art volumes 28-29 published by John W Parker 1870. Accessed via Google Books March 2021.

History of Newbury and Its Environs by Edward William Gray, published by Hall and Marsh 1839.

Country Life volume 49 page 353. And Volume 33 issue 836. 

Dutton and Allen Commercial Directory 1867.

Bentley's Miscellany, Volume 20 : "Shots from an Old Six Pounder". [Richard Bentley 1846]

English Country Houses: Baroque - James Lee-Milnes (Country Life Books, 1960)

 Andrew and Nathaniel Plimer - George Charles Williamson, (G Bells & Son 1903.)

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/029d5a54-d882-43b0-ae1d-9399f135df68

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to reuse this research for family and local history purposes with credit to this blog.

Who Lived Here In West Street?

For many years in the Victorian era Richard Smith Senior boot and shoe maker (baptised Marlow 1786) had his premises here. Wife Ann. Their son Richard Junior (baptised 1815 Marlow) was also a boot and shoe maker in the same premises and has the distinction of playing cricket at Harleyford House in 1846 for the entertainment of Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. The prince was a guest of William Clayton at the house during the week of Marlow horse races. For the history of Marlow Races see my blog post here.

Richard Senior died in 1856.

Richard Junior's 1895 obituary in the local press says that he was also a regular Marlow cricketer. Amongst the regular umpires listed was Thomas Bowen. This was Richard's very near neighbour in West Street Thomas Bowen of the Red Lion. 

One of Richard's matches was played just down the road in West Street in the meadow then behind Remnantz. He was on a team representing West Street who had challenged a Chapel Street team to a match.

Richard Junior's wife Jane appears on the census as being born in Mountfield Sussex which is quite a way away. I hope one day to discover how she winded up in Marlow. Sadly she died aged only 49 in 1878. She and her husband had suffered the loss of their five year old daughter Harriet in 1861 and only one of the twin daughters born to them in 1867- Gertrude- seems to have survived her earliest infancy.

Photographed November 2020. Post researched and written by Charlotte Day with some additional research by Kathryn Day.

To find historic occupiers of other West Street buildings see "Specific Shops, Streets...Etc" on the menu. All mentions of any individual on this blog can be found on the Person Index. Over 1200 people are listed so far. More individuals with sporting links can be identified by choosing General Marlow History on the menu and then the sub category Sports Related.

Sources:

1841-91 censuses. [I used census information transcribed from microfilm by myself or Jane Pullinger]

South Bucks Standard July 5th 1895 [obituary]. Copy held at the British Library archives and accessed by me March 2021 via the BNA.

Parish registers and GRO death registrations.

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

I have identified historic occupancy of buildings in some Marlow roads by cross referencing wills, photographs, property transactions, property surveys, censuses (which often do not give properties in actual order unfortunately), court cases and more.

It is a major task and a long term project, being uploaded here gradually. Occupancy of some properties can be traced to the 1700s.

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.

Bovingdon Green In The 1800s

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

By 1851 the population was around 65.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some sources:

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

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

Newspapers:

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

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

1851 census Great Marlow, my transcription from microfilm.

 

Occupants From 1702 - Corner House, Marlow

 Updated July 2023

The oldest references to this house usually call it The Corner House but it doesn't seem to have gone by that name for a while. It is on the corner of West Street, in Market Square / High Street. Not to be confused with a later property known as the Corner House on the corner of Institute Road and the High Street. ( For more on that building see the post here ). The property had three rooms per floor in its early days.

In 1702 until at least 1705 the property pictured was occupied by chapman Richard Greydon.

In 1719 Richard Langley made the place his home. He may just have used it as an alehouse.

Joseph Webb, butcher, along with his wife Ann bought the premises in 1743 from the heirs of Thomas Constable, a merchant linen draper from Reading who had owned the property for some years. The grand asking price? £40! At that time a Thomas Wright was the tenant. However Joseph himself occupied the house at the time of his death in 1756. He left the premises to his wife Ann but two years later upon the death she asked her son in law William Sneath the Marlow surgeon to organise the sale of them on her behalf. The property was supposed to belong to Ann only for her lifetime and then descend to her and Joseph's son John and his heirs but she had the consent of her son to sell it (or she would have been illegally selling entailed property)!

The premises were auctioned off at the nearby Crown inn to the highest bidder.

Ann's sole heir was her daughter Elizabeth Sneath which suggests that her son John was dead by then. The will of Elizabeth Sneath herself can be read here. There was an unmarried daughter Mary in Joseph's will too. She, Elizabeth and John were that will's joint executors.

By 1833 Henry Menday / Mendy (born circa 1795) had a bakery in the Corner House. The premises then comprised a garden and yard as well as the main building. The annual value of the property was assessed at £12 then. Henry also occupied a garden and yard opposite with an annual value of £2. His shop was only two doors down from Sawyer's bakery- more about that business here.

Henry continued in the Corner House for some years before he retired in middle age and went to live further along West Street with his wife Mary. He died in 1869.

Owen Wright the baker was in Menday's old premises by 1853 until at least 1884 when there was a failed attempt to break into the shop. Marlow was enduring a little crime wave at the time.

In 1879 when Owen heard that fellow shopkeeper Ann Badger had had a pair of boots stolen from her business he went off in hot pursuit of the suspect, retrieved the boots and handed the man over to the police. Playing cricket probably helped keep him fit!

Owen was no stranger to appearing in court. He twice had to sue men who owed him money. John Jones hadn't paid for £1 worth of bread in 1855, while "MacMillan" owed a whole 4p for flour in 1865. Most Marlow bakers in the 1800s also acted as flour dealers.

In 1879 during a routine inspection Owen was found to have be selling bread at less than the advertised weight, though only marginally so. Near neighbour and fellow baker Charlotte Sawyer was similarly guilty along with a host of other retailers whose scales were found to be in less than perfect working order. You typically were fined for this.

Owen died at home on the premises in 1884 aged just 54. He and his family were worshippers at the Salem Chapel, Quoiting Square which is now called Christ Church. 

The Corner House premises were used for most of the late Victorian period and earlier 20th century as a refreshment rooms or cafe. George Fryer decided on the slightly posher "refreshments caterer" for his occupation when filling out the 1891 census. He listed himself as having a coffee house in the Kelly's 1903 and 1911 trade directories. George was the subject of a number of thefts from his premises, usually of food. One of the most ambitious was the theft of a four and a half pound portion of a German sausage taken from the window in 1887. That was some sausage! The guilty party, a tramp from Aldershot, was seen to put it under his coat and was caught with it still there a little later. His snatch cost him 14 days jail time. 

George and his wife Sarah suffered the death of their eldest child Florence aged 13 in 1893 and insolvency the next year. I'm not sure who occupied the premises immediately afterwards but it was still an eatery.

This blog focuses predominantly on pre 1920s Marlow so we'll leave it there!

To find other High Street / West Street content please see the "Specific, Shops, Streets Etc" index here. All mentions of an individual can be found under the A-Z Person Index options on the menu. Thousands of Marlow people are listed.

Sources:

Will of Joseph Webb 1756, PCC. Copy from National Archives, Kew. Also Ann Webb 1771 and Thomas Constable 1729 as above. All transcribed by me.

Commercial Gazette 15th August 1894. British Library Archives.

1833 parochial assessment original handwritten notebooks, held by my family and transcribed by me.

1841-1891 censuses reels, transcribed by me. 

Property deeds Buckinghamshire Archives.

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire 1883, 1903 and 1911 by Kelly's Directories Limited. Via the University of Leicester.

GRO death index online.

Ipswich Journal 7th January 1758. Bucks Herald 18th October 1879 and 14th April 1855. Copies held at the British Library Archive and accessed by me via the BNA March 2021.

Buckingham Express 2nd August 1884. As above.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this research or the image for the purposes of family or local history research if you credit this blog and provide a link here.

Low Grounds Farm [Pound Farm] Historic Occupiers

 Updated January 2026

Historic list of occupiers. These are not necessarily owners of course.

Description: Near Temple Lock. Harleyford Lane. On the site of Neolithic and Bronze Age activity. Very close to the Thames, and on the historic flood plain. Also called Pound Farm in some early 1800s records (because of its proximity to the pound lock at Temple). Between 200 and 300 acres. Seems to have been long part of the Court Garden estate, or more accurately owned and leased alongside it.

1771- Richard Allaway??

1776- Land at Low Grounds leased at the time of his death 1776 by Dr William Battie of Court Garden House Marlow and London (where he kept a madhouse). Whether he had the whole farm or not I can't yet say. A biography of Dr Battie is available here

1806- Land at Low Ground let to Richard Webb but again it is not clear if this is the whole farm. Owned by surgeon William Cleobury of Marlow.

1815- Thomas Taylor. Died at the farm that year aged 75. A memorial to him was erected inside Marlow church. Wife Francis had predeceased him and he married her sister Sarah Palmer. Marrying your dead wife's sister was illegal at the time as he obviously knew from the contents and wording of his will. Though elderly himself, Sarah must have been much younger as Thomas thought it possible that he and she could still have children together. In his will he left his farm stock and implements and other property to trustees including Sarah for the benefit of any children born to them as a couple. In 1830 farm employee Thomas Cull is killed at the farm. He is out shooting rooks with his master when one of the birds is killed up a tree and gets lodged there. Thomas climbs up to collect the carcass but slips and falls. He is killed instantly. 

1833-35. James Franklyn / Franklin. In 1834 he started selling off his farm stock as he was moving into the Crown Inn, Market Square Marlow as the new publican. His lease was going to be up in 1835 anyway. Lists of sale items included a lot of brewing utensils so he was obviously already interested in that area. Otherwise his was a mixed farm with a dairy herd, beef cows, sheep and crops of hay, wheat and oats. For more on James and the Crown generally see post here. The farm was owned by Davis Davenport Esquire at this time and was 218 acres of land.

1837-68. Mr John Curtis. Born around 1805. Wife Jane whom he married in 1841 (née Simmonds). This may have been a second marriage for him. In 1837 his shepherd was killed after falling from a tree he had climbed in order to get a good position from which to shoot "pest" rooks. In 1862 a  field on the farm used for a cricket match by Marlow Cricket Club. In 1865 cattle plague broke out on the farm, which would have been a serious worry for the Curtis family. It was one of the greatest fears of Victorian farmers. Many cows died at Low Grounds in quick succession and John felt the need to write to the South Bucks Free Press to defend himself as "much has been said" about the case. He assured the community that it wasn't dilapidated buildings on the farm or the unhealthy riverside situation of them that had caused the plague outbreak. Rather it was an infected calf brought from London. He said local vet Mr Meakes had managed to cure 2 animals and others were under similar treatment with hope of success [Reading Mercury 19th August 1865, South Bucks Free Press 15th September 1865. Via the British Library/ BNA]. At the parish church, the Rev Milman leads prayers on the appointed day to plead for divine assistance in dealing with the outbreak. He says every such affliction sent by God was a "memento of sin and a summons to repentance." The farm was owned by George Davenport until William Clayton bought it in 1857. This obviously did not affect  the tenancy of John Curtis.

1868- John Curtis, above died there age 63.

1869-81 Jane Curtis widow of above assisted by her son John (born 1844). In 1881 she is listed as a farmer of 329 acres employing 3 men and 2 boys. That year wasn't a great one for Jane and John- there was a fire at the farm and they had peas, oats and chaff stolen from them.

1891- by this date John was also called a farmer on the census no longer just "farmer's son". His mother was around 71 or 72 so no surprise there. It looks like the day to day running of the farm was the care of John by the mid 1870s but mum obviously considered herself in charge for a long time afterwards! John also acted as a poor law Guardian for Marlow.

1901-15 (at least) John Curtis. Though Jane was still given as head of the household on the 1901 census she was no longer calling herself a farmer. She died at the farm aged around 87 in 1906.

1932-54 Esther and Garnet White, who moved to the farm from their native Wales. Esther was flying the flag for women farmers, just as Jane Curtis had done. She had a degree in Agriculture and was a professional dairy instructor before her 1923 marriage. In 1954 the couple retired to Croft Farm on the Henley road and their son David took over at Low Grounds.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

Farm occupier listings are compiled by me from property records, ads, trade journals, censuses, wills, court cases and more.

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Lots more farm occupier lists to come on the blog for both Great Marlow and Little Marlow. Come back later to see what we have. Use the menu here  to find other farm posts.

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