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

Inventors, Readers and Writers- Cromwell House / Alfred House *updated June 2025*

High Street Marlow. Previously known as Alfred House. One of its late Victorian owners said that part of the back of it, revealed during renovations, had been dated to the 1500s but obviously the frontage is later. A memoir of a former cadet of the Junior Branch of the Royal Military College states that Alfred House was formerly owned by the mistress of Charles II Louise De Kerouaille (Querouaille) Duchess of Portsmouth. However they describe the position of the "mansion" as on the right before you turn into the High Street whereas Alfred House is actually located in the High Street itself and appears to have always fronted that way. It seems perhaps the grown up cadet was confused by a rumour about Marlow Place, which is on the right before turning into the High Street and which was also used by the Royal Military College, the title of Portsmouth also being associated with the Wallop family of there. 

[In 1804-05 the College based in West Street Marlow and High Wycombe had taken on Alfred House for extra space. (Journals of the House of Commons, Volume 61) For more about the sometimes rebellious young "gentleman cadets" see here]

George and Mary Ellison lived at the house by 1816/17. George was a lawyer and solicitor in partnership with John Bloxam of Lincolns Inn. George and Mary's daughter Frances Sarah, by marriage Smedley, gave birth to the author Frank E Smedley in the house the next year.

A love of reading seems to have been genetic. When George wrote his will in 1830 he was particularly keen to share out his books amongst his family. 

His wife Mary received her pick of the books and pictures plus her choice of the household furniture, plate, linens, china etc and all of his wines and liquors. £100 came to her after his death and another £500 annually as long as she lived and was his widow. If she married again the annuity was reduced to £100. Any future husband of hers could not touch this annuity.

Their son George received his share of the law business he ran with Bloxam.

Note: Mary Ellison was the god daughter of Martilla Mayhew of Marlow.

Sir John and Lady Mortlock lived in the house in 1833. The property consisted then of a house, lawn, greenhouse, 2 large gardens, yards, stables, a barn, and coach houses. Sir John was a Commissioner of Excise. 

Lady Mortlock died that year. Her husband had moved away from area by the time of his death in 1845 but he was buried at Little Marlow with her. Their second daughter Agnes lived with the Carsons at Spinfield Lodge after he'd parents death. Agnes held a special place in the hearts of many Marlow residents at this time because of her unstinting kindness to the poor and afflicted. On the occasion of her marriage to Rev William Godfrey, the South Bucks Free Press described Agnes as "most active and generous in her efforts" to alleviate the victims of poverty. The wedding at Marlow was celebrated by the periodic ringing of the church bells throughout the day. The happy couple organised a gift of bread, beef and beer to 70 poor families, in addition to a gift of no less than 650 buns to the youngster attending the parish schools. 

In 1843 Miss Hampden, probably a relative of Renn Hampden the MP, was resident. She also subscribed towards the publication of various books, especially on historical subjects. 

In 1846 widow Elizabeth Glanville who had moved to Marlow from Cornwall was in occupation. Her will was proved that year. Her servant Ellen Stansfield was amongst those asked to verify an alleged list of Elizabeth's possessions which she wanted her daughters to have and which was mentioned in her will as having been written and given to them for safe keeping. The list contents should have been included within the body of the will rather than in a loose, unsigned separate supplement so the probate court needed verification the list as presented to them by the daughters was the indeed the one which Elizabeth had written. Her list contained all the paintings done by "dear Cordelia" her daughter, a rosewood flower stand, and in keeping with the bookish history of the house a book stand and collection of books.

The house was then let unfurnished by its owners, which may or may not have been the Glanvilles. All the household furniture then had to be sold. It included an 8 day clock, three cane settees AND a mahogany sofa (They must have liked lounging!) and a four poster bed with blue damask curtains around it.

William Perkins Esquire died age 84 as a resident of the house in 1867.

Later in the 1800s engineer Edwin Clark [1814 to 1894] made it his home. He bought and "modernised" the building in 1875, shortly before his retirement, but had been a tenant there from at least 1869. Edwin was chiefly a hydraulics engineer and inventor. He designed the Anderton boat lift, a hydraulic lift at the Victoria Docks in London and invented the block system of railway signalling. He was also described as a scientist and had a keen interest in astronomy - he built an observatory behind the house and was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical and Metrological Societies. One of his telescopes was described in 1892 as amongst the most powerful in the kingdom. It was auctioned off by local auctioneers Rolls and Lawrence some time after Edwins death. 

By the time of his residence the house was already called Cromwell House. I am uncertain why the name was changed from Alfred House. Edwin spent two years travelling in South America shortly after he purchased the house, but thereafter it remained his home. 

Edwin would often have been away from home too during his earlier working life as a busy engineer. I see reports of him working in Wales, India, Malta and France as well as across England. His largest foreign project was probably Callao harbour in Peru. Closer to home he had designed and/or constructed numerous bridges, Scarborough Viaduct and as engineer to the Crystal Palace Company, he had completed the re-build of the Palace after the fire there. He was also behind the laying of many telegraph lines and cables, including between Dungeness and Holland and for many of the English railways. 

He was also a J.P for Bucks, one of the leaders of Marlow Orchestral Society and a founder and life member of the Marlow Institute. In giving the Institute's very first lecture in the Town Hall (they had not yet their own premises), Edwin would say that his own thirst for learning and discovery began after going to a public lecture on the wonder of electricity in the very same Town Hall as a boy. He had then gone home and made his own electricity machine, as you do, to show his friends. While Edwin may seem to us to have been an intelligent and industrious young man, it was said his parents despaired of him. He was thought of as ne'er do well who would not settle down to his (parents) intended career for him as a solicitor. He also tried his hand at teaching and as an artist. What Edwin was desperate to do was travel. He had spent three years at a French school in his early teens and was a gifted linguist. He had little money but scraped together £10, slung a bag over his shoulder and departed for the continent, much to his parents dismay. A protracted tour there allowed Edwin to view the scientific collections of Europe and to make numerous studies in meteorology, astronomy, and natural history. Not exactly the hedonistic pursuits his parents were probably fearing! 

His father was the grocer & former lace dealer Josiah Clark whose premises were a little further along the High Street from Cromwell House. Josiah had suffered some financial hardship and this had been the reason Edwin never completed his studies at Cambridge University. Lace dealing was not an industry that at the time was flourishing locally. 

 On the 1841 census young Edwin appears as a 25 year old "mathematician" living at home. He had returned from Europe two years before and taken work as a mathematic master at two London schools. He would soon decide to turn his hand at surveying for the railways, another change of career that must have made his poor parents sigh. However he established himself as a reliable engineer very quickly. A few years later patent iron girders invented by him were used on Marlow Bridge to replace worn out wooden ones. Edwin's working life was not always smooth. A firm he was a partner in, Clark, Punchard & Co, civil engineers, went into liquidation in 1879 with substantial debts. Edwin however soon recovered financially. 

In 1893 Edwin's 66 year old wife Eliza died. Cromwell House was used as the venue for the resulting coroner's inquest. Though Eliza had suffered from occasional pains and shortness of breath for a while her death was  unexpected and sudden - just over five minutes after she collapsed the doctor arrived and found she had already expired. Thus an inquest had to take place. The couple's cook Agnes Wheeler, the doctor William Shone and Edwin himself gave evidence. Edwin had previously rubbed some oil into Eliza's side to help her pains he said. The coroner does not seem to have asked him why Eliza does not appear to have consulted a doctor about her discomfort, nor why he himself did not do so. Money would not be an issue for this couple. Perhaps Eliza didn't like fuss. Shone felt that the symptoms reported by her cook and husband suggested undiagnosed heart disease rather than anything sinister. A death by natural causes, the jury ruled. They donated their attendance fees to the Cottage Hospital at the suggestion of the foreman Walter Lovegrove. He had a shop further up the High Street. Read more about Walter here.

Edwin Clark died of cancer in 1894 after three years of painful bad health and was buried next to his wife in the churchyard. Edwin had been described as a man with a warm and genial nature, and happy disposition. He did not forget the times of poverty he had experienced in his youth and so was kind to the less fortunate in Marlow.  He was no doubt much missed. The house was put up for sale but did not reach the reserve price.

Mr Cripps had the house in 1897 and offered to lease it to the council to use as their offices for £20 a year, including lights, fire and attendance. Quite a bargain. The Post Office relocated there from their cramped West Street premises in the same year.

Cromwell House and it's grounds were sold separately in the Autumn of 1900. The council continued to occupy the premises, as did the Post Office with postmaster John Langdon, his wife Mary and their children living in 3 rooms of the building in 1901. Nashe's Architects also occupied some rooms as offices from 1908.

Photographed November 2020.

More information: 

Edwin Clark's family was of humble origins. See the family of his troublesome uncle Richard Clark here and his inventor/engineer brother Latimer here

To find more posts about the history of specific buildings see the index here

Every mention of a family or individual here can be found in the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu, with over 6,000 individuals listed and counting...

Researched and written by Charlotte Day, with some additional research and writing by Kathryn Day. 

Sources:

Will of Elizabeth Glanvillle. PCC. Transcribed by me from a copy obtained from the National Archives.

Will of George Ellison Esquire. As above.

Reading Mercury 17th July 1848. Copy held at the British Library Archives and accessed by me March 2021 via the BNA.

Maidenhead Advertiser 4th October 1893. As above.

South Bucks Standard 22 July 1892, 16 Apr 1897, as above

Slough, Eton and Windsor Observer July 22 1892 & October 27th 1894 - Slough reference library. 

The Standard, clipping, 

South Bucks Free Press 8th May 1857. 

Wikipedia articles on Frank E Smedley and Edwin Clark. Accessed March 2021.

Journals of the House of Commons, Volume 61.

Property records held by my family [parochial assessments, transcribed by me from original records we have].

The Athenaeum, September 1896, Digitised by Google, and accessed April 2020. 

Report to the Council, Royal Astronomical Society 1894 & 1895. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Hooks Farm Occupiers

Historic Occupiers list:

Note: historically part of Marlow Manor holdings.

1607- Katherine Rance. Occupier.Widow. Jorden family were the owners.

1658 - John Jorden, yeoman. Later in this year owned or leased by John Moore the brewer. Later purchased by the Guise and Etheredge families. 

1687- 1717 (at least) Richard Corby "Corbee" rented arable land at Hooks. Occupied the farm house too by 1689 at which time his holdings at Hooks and nearby amounted to 110 acres.

1783 - stock and implements sold after death of gentleman owner William Clayton of Harleyford. 

1833- John Fenner. Farm owned by the Claytons. 192 acres. John died that year age 87. He seems to have actually lived in Bisham, Berkshire. The Reading Mercury 25th November 1833 [British Library Archives] said John had been "a true specimen of the Old English Farmer, plain in his manners, and dress" not to mention always punctual and honest. John was farming in Marlow in 1821 but I can't say for certain he was at Hooks then. There was a younger John Fenner farmer of Marlow who moved to Stoke Poges and became a beer seller and ultimately went bankrupt in 1853. Presumably a relative.

1843- William and John Hewett or Hewitt. Their lease on Platts Farm Marlow expired late 1839 so they may have come straight to Hooks then.  They were later at Hambledon and at Blounts alias Blunts Farm, Marlow. In 1840 John was considered lucky not to have lost a leg after being run over by a load of hay. In the end he had a toe amputated only. 

1850-60 Thomas Frost. Wife Elizabeth. Thomas sold off his stock and left town 1860. In 1850 Henry Finch was jailed for stealing two bushels of barley from him. [Bucks Chronicle 5th January 1850, British Library Archives].

1861- 81 James Fountain. In 1861 turnips stolen from his field and in 1864 twelve fowls were taken. As was traditional on most farms these were in the care of his wife. Note that their daughter married in a Congregational church so the family as a whole may have been Congregationalists.

1900- Executors of Henry William Cripps who had died the previous year sold off farm stock. He was a lawyer by trade so someone else must have ran the farm for him. Survived by wife Julia.

1901-06 Abraham Newton Pratt. Moved into the farm Autumn 1901 having come from a farm at Swallowfield, Berkshire. Wife Emily. She bred turkeys on the farm, 6 of which were stolen in 1905.

1908 - Francis Warne.

1911- James Fountain mentioned as farming here which is puzzling as Francis Warne seems also to have been there then.

1913- F Warne and Sons

1915 Messrs "Warnes and Sons"

1916- Francis Warne who died suddenly that year. He was originally from Cornwall. See here for his grave and that of other family members and more on them.

* For Hooks farm use during World War 1 see here

To read posts about everyday life in old Marlow, see the post listing here

Farm occupants are found by me by studying property records, censuses, adverts, court cases, letters, trade journals, wills and more.

To seek someone on this blog use the Person Index on the menu. Hundreds of people are referenced on this blog.

To seek other farms use the "Specific Shops, Streets Etc" option on the menu.

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