Clay Lane Farm

UPDATED January 2024

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

Historic Occupiers (who are not necessarily the owners)=

Description- Half way between Marlow and High Wycombe. 1798= 100 acres with 80 acres of woodland used for timber which seems to have been separately let. 1861=127 acres. 1900=162 acres, mostly growing corn but also had pasture land. 1902 = 162 acres. 1944= 170 acres dairy farm.

1798-1810. Henry Crook. In will written 1800 left Clay Lane and Limmer farms Marlow to his son John and his children. If no child of John survived then Henry's nephews Joseph, William, Charles and James were to share the property. At the time of the will John did have a living son Henry who was under 21. Henry the testator did not die until 1810.

1810-1834 John Crook, son of Henry above. He died that year. His son Henry Junior was involved in the farm by 1831 when he died. Both buried at Little Marlow, see pic of grave below:

John Crook of Clay Lane Farm. Died August 5th 1834 age 53. 

And:

Wife of the above, Martha. Died July 24 1853 age 73

And:

Henry eldest son of the above. Died January 3rd 1831 age 25 [Henry died following a fall from his horse].

And: Martha Elizabeth, youngest daughter of the above. Died --Ju-- 1865. 

The Crooks fell victim more than once to  Webb's gang of marauders. Find out more here

1839-1840 James Crook. I have not yet looked at what relation he was to the previous Clay Lane Farm Crooks. The farm was used to host a ploughing match in 1840. In 1839 Marlow butcher Charles East was sentenced to 14 years transportation for receiving a sheep stolen from James by two Handy Cross (or Booker Common) men. Appeals sent by Marlow citizens, including James Crook, for mercy for Charles on the grounds that he was from a good family and suffered lameness failed. His gaoler reported his character to be bad! The funny thing is he had been the victim of theft from his shop a few years earlier with the thief John Neighbour receiving a sentence of 7 years transportation himself -see here. Note by Kathryn - Charles was transported to Van Diemens Land on the ship Lady Raffles. This departed England on November 30th 1840 and arrived in Van Diemens Land on March 17th 1841. He had the company of other Great Marlow/Bisham men onboard- for details on them see the post here

1841-8 Mr Wane. In 1844 a Mr J Simmonds was also occupying some farm land at Clay Lane- his main crop was corn. Could be a sub tenant.

1848-53 Alfred Keene, farmer [owned by Joseph White]. Alfred farming 127 acres with 5 labourers at Clay Lane Farm on the 1851 census and when he sells up and leaves neighborhood 1853.  Joseph Blackwell also said to be at Clay Lane from 1851 so he must have been farming some of the land, the remaining 60 odd acres, while Alfred Keene was farming the rest and residing at the farm house. Joseph took possession of the whole when Alfred left in 1853. Alfred was at Woolley Farm in 1861. 

1851 (part of), 1853 (the whole) - 1880 Joseph Blackwell. Went bankrupt 1880. Wife Elizabeth. Robert Morcott his employee sentenced to 3 weeks in jail for upping and leaving Joseph's service without notice in 1860. Joseph moved to Hill Farm, Marlow by 1881. See here. For all or part of this time the farm was OWNED by Joseph White.

1881 - Clay Lane Estate up for sale, freehold. Consists of the farm, two model cottages and beech woodlands, in all just over 224 acres. 

1897- farm stock all up for sale. Farm owned by Thomas Phillips?

1899- farm itself up for sale. Charles Stone occupier, probably as bailiff for Wethered family. 1898- 1903 William Hatt lived and worked at the farm as a Carter / labourer. Lived in the farm house with his wife Mary Ann and children.

1903- Thomas Owen Wethered owner, Mr Slocock farm manager. William Hatt, carter as above killed at Marlow Bottom when his horse spooks and runs over him with the cart. Postman Joseph Preston Shipton who was on his round came to his aid but was unable to save him. 

1908- Thomas Owen Wethered selling off stock from the farm.

1909- 1921 Marshall Croxford. Sold up stock and left 1921.

1934- at least 1958 Richard Morris Kimber. Dairy farm but oats also grown. Land Army girls worked on this farm. Mr Kimber was prominent in local farming affairs and often a judge at cattle shows. 

Post written and researched by Charlotte Day with photos by Kathryn Day.

Farm occupancy compiled from adverts, censuses, property records, farming journals, court cases, wills I have transcribed and more. Ongoing research, I hope to fill in the gaps as I sift through further notes.

For other farm occupier listings soon the Specific Shops, Streets Etc option here if you want a Marlow Farm. If you want a Little Marlow or other nearby farm this menu here

For all mentions of any individual the Person Index option on the top drop down menu - new posts and people added daily. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

"That Abominable Den" St Peter's Court

**This post is due for an update. Further, earlier named households in this court are now identified**

St Peter's Court was a small, impoverished court off St Peter's Street, Great Marlow. It was an address with a very bad reputation. 

The first reference to it by name I find is in 1848 but it was clearly not newly laid out at that time. There were in that year 19 homes in the court which between them were home to at least 85 people. A different report gives the numbers of people there as even more - 88 adults and 35 children in the 19 cottages. Cottages as a description is undoubtedly optimistic given that some were later called "hovels" and were likely single room accommodations.

The Court was very close to the river and both sewage from the town was which emptied into the River Thames and the Court's own poorly built cesspool contaminated the wells providing drinking water for the people who lived there. The single privy serving all the homes was persistently overflowing. The whole court was described as "charged with the most offensive effluvia".  At times the resident families literally walked through sewage to get to their tiny homes. Cholera and persistent low fevers plagued them. During the 1849 cholera epidemic in Marlow 3 people in the court died and 8 more became ill. An emergency meeting in the Town Hall saw it organised that the families were removed for the time being to the Old Workhouse in Munday Dean Lane. This had been let to someone who at first refused to allow the parish to take back any of the space but relented. The St Peter's Court houses were to be disinfected. Some may have been demolished as a direct response to the cholera- that plan was mooted at the time and certainly the 19 houses of 1849 had become only 5 in number by 1871. 

In the early 1860s the single cesspit that all the residents shared was replaced by a new one. But still just the one.

In 1867 the Reading Mercury referred to "St Peter's Court" as "that notorious court". The case it was reporting was of James Spark(e)s, convicted of assaulting fellow resident Sarah Stacey. Few other court cases seem to involve the people of the Court. But wretched poverty went hand in hand with a presumption of bad character in the popular imagination of the day.

I found five households in the Court on the 1871 census. There were two households headed by a James Sparks so it isn't possible to be sure which one was the James of the assault case. One James Sparks was a labourer aged 46. He lived with his wife Maria who was a 53 year old laundress and their children George aged 21, James aged 18, Thomas aged 15 and Martha aged 12. Martha was a scholar, her brothers all labourers.

The second head of household James Sparks was aged 60 and a coal porter. He lived with his 50 year old wife Sarah, 21 year old son William a spinner of something I couldn't decipher, 18 year old labouring son Henry, 14 year old labouring son James and 7 year old scholar daughter Mary.

Sarah Stacey was not still in St Peter's Court in 1871 though there was a Stacey family headed by 29 year old bricklayer William and his 24 year old laundress wife Elizabeth (née Sadler, married Marlow 1864). The only named victim of the 1849 cholera epidemic in the Court which I could find was a  Stacey- William aged 40, father to the William above. William senior was described as a person of "most moderate and temperate habits"  and previously in good health. He left a pregnant wife and 6 children, who had no choice but to go to the workhouse. William Stacey the younger could be the one who asked the Board if Guardians for financial help towards the emigration to Canada for himself, his wife and their children in 1873 but was refused. Miss Fowler of Marlow who had helped others migrate was raising money to help the Staceys so it is still possible that they were able to leave England. The cost was estimated at £20.

The other families in the Court in 1871 were the Illsley family headed by James a 57 year old labourer and Elizabeth his 68 year old wife and the Grove family headed by Thomas a 40 year old labourer and Mary his 35 year old wife [Elizabeth Illsley was nee Grove]. On the 1861 census Thomas is more specific and calls himself a wharf labourer. He lived then with Mary in "St Peter's Street". It is possible this was actually St Peter's Court not being given a separate address by the census enumerator. The elder Sparks couple are also censused as living in St Peter's Street 1861. Remember that the Court was already occupied in 1848. Someone had to be living there in 1861.

Thomas Grove was fined for being drunk one evening in St Peter's Street in 1874. He was aghast at the charge insisting he had been more drunk plenty of times when out with "swells" on the river than he had been that evening. This suggests that he was one of the many Marlow men who earned money by taking well-off tourists out on the river and guiding them to the best fishing spots. The fact that his co-accused in the drunkenness incident was William one of the Shaw family, boat proprietors and fishermen, of Marlow supports that. Both men were unusually confident in Court, challenging the witnesses against them when they spoke. Still the charge was a minor one. Nothing to make the Court seem a terrible "den". Thomas had nearly two decades previously spent a month in jail for stealing filbert nuts from a tree belonging to the vicar but this does not relate to his time at St Peter's Court.

James Illsley had a conviction for stealing in his younger days but again not when living at St Peter's Court. His daughter Sarah, a needlewoman, in 1873 and described as of "St Peter's Street" was a witness against Isabella Quelch who had stolen various articles from the well off Morgan family of that street. One of the articles was some calico which Isabella gave to Sarah to work up. For more on this case see this post. There was no blame or suspicion attached to Sarah. 

The poor quality buildings of the Court were seen as an eyesore and embarrassment for the town.

In 1875 it was announced that the Court was to be demolished and more salubrious housing put in place of it. The Bucks Herald reporting this said that everyone would be glad such "an abominable den" would be swept away (the people set to lose the only home which they could afford presumably not included).

The Illsleys moved out to St Peter's Street at first. The cottage they rented there was in 1877 stated as being unfit for human habitation because it was in an insanitary state and in need of substantial repairs. The landlord William Crook blamed the Illsleys for the insanitary condition of the cottage and said he had removed them and was going to do the structural repairs necessary for safety. The Illsleys were camped outside their former home, presumably hoping to be able to go back in once repairs were done or simply having nowhere else to go. It was then in the middle of winter. By 1881 they were in Dean Street where we can only hope they had at last the decent home they deserved. 

The Staceys ended up apparently in Turville (where Elizabeth's family was) and the younger Sparks couple went to Oxford Road. The Groves lived later in Oxford Road too and Station Road, where Mary died in 1892.

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

Related Posts:

Poverty in Victoria and Edwardian Marlow here

Life at Great Marlow Workhouse 1775-1843 here

To find all mentions of your ancestor here, use the A-Z Person index in the top drop down menu. For other posts about general Marlow history including other poverty and medical related posts, see the General Marlow History section also in the top drop down menu.  

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

Census information always  remains Crown Copyright.

Sources:

The Third Report Of The Commisioners Appointed To Inquire Into The Best Means Of Preventing The Pollution Of Rivers [Royal Commission] 1866. Published by G.E Eyre and W Spottiswoode.

Censuses my transcription from microfilm.

Newspapers, available British Library:

Bucks Herald 11 August 1849, 30th October 1875 and 27th January 1877.

Bucks Chronicle 6 Nov 1848

Reading Mercury 22nd June 1867 and 12th September 1857.

Parish registers, my old transcription.

 

Marlow Heroes Arthur Corby and Charles Bonny

I always like to highlight the great things some of your ancestors may have done. Today here's a look at Arthur Harry Corby and Charles Bonny whose determination and quick thinking ensured that a child molester was brought to justice.

The incident occurred in the Spring of 1903. Arthur and Charles were in a relatively new partnership together as coach builders. They were already doing well having supplied the water company and a while later would beat other older firms to win the contract to build a new sewage cart for Marlow too. Their workshop was in Prospect Road a short distance from Arthur's family home in the same street.

Whilst working one afternoon Arthur noticed two children on the nearby footpath on Hanging Hill (alongside the allotments now) collecting flowers. Walking towards them with an umbrella was a man. A horrified Corby saw the man apparently feign the dropping of his umbrella near one of the children Annie Davis, so as to have excuse to pause by her. It then appeared that he "interfered" with her. She struggled from his grip and fled in great distress to Corby and Bonny's workshop. The man adjusted his clothing and continued his way up the path towards Bovingdon Green. Bonny took the girl inside their premises where Corby sought confirmation from her of his suspicions that she had been attacked. While Bonny took Annie home to her mother Corby flew off in pursuit of the offender.

As soon as the child was safe Bonny joined the chase. They caught up with the man, later revealed as a James Pauley, in the stable of the Royal Oak pub at Bovingdon Green. He refused to come with them back to Marlow but strong arm tactics meant he had no chance of escape. They hauled him back to their workshop where they held him while Annie's father went for Sergeant Crook. In the meantime Bonny let him know if it was up to him he would be shot! Pauley tried to feign drunkenness as an excuse for his behaviour. 

The judge was having none of that excuse and a sentence of 9 months hard labour was imposed.

Despite their success the partnership between Corby and Bonny broke up within months. The reason is not known by me. 

Background:

Arthur Harry Corby was born in Marlow in 1873 to Ambrose and Harriet Corby. He grew up in Prospect Place which in it's early days was called Marefield Place. The historic homes there no longer exist. He became a wheelwright as a teenager before starting the coach building business. In 1903 he and his wife Ada and toddler son Frederick lived with his widowed father Ambrose, a bootmaker. He later lived as well as worked in Prospect Road.

In 1912 he was again a witness in a court when he found one of his Prospect Road neighbours dead in bed. Arthur appeared as a witness at the coroner's inquest.

He himself died in 1957.

Charles Bonny spent his childhood in Canada though his parents were of English origin. He returned to England to live with his maternal grandfather Robert Shaw the Marlow boat builder by the time of the 1901 census. They lived down by Marlow Bridge and Charles was listed as a coach builder then. Following the break up of his partnership with Corby he returned to Canada.

Annie Davis was 9 at the time of the attack.  She was the daughter of George and Louisa Davis. She later became a dressmaker. I think she married. George and Louisa suffered another sad event when their disabled young lodger committed suicide - you can read more here

For a post about another local hero, poverty campaigner Andrew Mearns see here

To find every mention of an ancestor on this blog use the Person Index option on the drop down menu. Hundreds of people are mentioned.

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

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes. Please give credit to this blog if quoting from this research and link here so that my sources remain credited for the information they provided.

Sources included:

Canada passenger lists at National Library of Canada.

Canadian census from the LDS family search website accessed August 2020.

Other census returns my transcription from census page images on microfilm.

South Bucks Standard 15th May and 3rd July 1903. Paper at the British Library, via BNA. Accessed August 2020.

Great Marlow Parish Registers. Old transcription of mine.

GRO death index on their website, accessed August 2020