Wood Barn Farm Little Marlow /Woodbarn Farm

Compiled and written by Charlotte Day.

Spelling of farm is haphazard.

Historic occupiers (who are not usually the landowners).

Note: this was part of the Westhorpe estate. A mixed farm historically. 1.5 miles from Great Marlow.

Gaps in dates represent gaps in our knowledge. We have a lot of old notes to wade through. No doubt more gaps will be filled in the future!

HISTORY TIME LINE

1825 - Mr Cozens left the farm selling off all stock and the contents of his house. Grain and sheep were raised there.

1835 - 47 John Stone Miller was the occupier, possibly earlier. In 1835 two men who had had words with him set fire to a clover rick on the farm in revenge. The rick was entirely destroyed.

In 1841 Mrs Clark, wife of one of the farm workers resident at the farm left her toddler child in the care of another worker's wife who lived nearby. The latter got distracted and the child wandered out of the cottage. Searches could not find the child anywhere that day or night. The next morning the little thing was found curled up under a hay rick where it had crawled for warmth. Despite this effort the child had died of exposure during the night. The discovery caused devastation in Little Marlow. Mrs Clark was probably the wife of John "Clarke" mentioned below.

Also in 1841 John was given notice to quit by landlord George Nugent in order to pressure him into voting for Nugent's preferred candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election. All Nugent's tenants were so treated. Marlow elections were very dirty- we were famous for the fact. If the tenant voted the right way the eviction would be rescinded. John simply didn't vote at all, a brave decision but not one that would necessarily have guaranteed he could stay on his land. On the day of the election he was shot at by his farm door by drunken supporters of Nugent's preferred candidate. John refused to alter his decision not to vote for anyone if he couldn't vote freely. He was unhurt in the shooting but perhaps only because the gunmen were too drunk to shoot straight. The frame of the doorway he was standing in was hit. John's eviction was not proceeded with, probably because the shooting incident had already been too embarrassing for the Nugent camp and they needed the matter swept under the carpet as quickly as possible. There is no suggestion anyone from on high ordered or encouraged the attack but they had set a tone of intimidation in the election campaign and the consequences of that were probably more than they had bargained for.

John was assaulted by two men in 1844 resulting in a dislocated arm and also that year suffered six break ins in the space of as many weeks. It cannot be ruled out that these were further acts of political intimidation. Such things happened in Marlow. This decade was a time of violence and tension in both the Marlows, for many reasons however, not only political ones. Little Marlow and the nearby Handy Cross area suffered from a lot of theft. No wonder John probably got sick of the place. He left the farm in 1847 and his remaining crops were sold off at once - oats, wheat, hay and "spring tares". He had also been sheep farming there. John still retained some land in Marlow as two years later the Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News reported that beech fagots from "Monk Wood" in Marlow property of John had been stolen. John caught the men red handed and they were traced thanks to their identification by John Clarke, Miller's long term farm assistant. Attempts to have the men arrested caused civil disturbance in the town but eventually succeeded. 

1847-52 Thomas Parrott occupied the farm. After suffering from repeated thefts of barley from one of his barns he hid his ink stand deep in the barley. When police searched for further stolen barley he told them they'd know the thief because embedded in their booty would be his inkstand. Thanks to this ingenuity the thief, a farm worker for Thomas, was caught.  Thomas died in 1852 but in 1854 a Mr Parrott was still the occupier, obviously a relative.

1859-63 William Banwell has the farm. It was mostly a poultry and arable farm under him. He paid £400 a year rent. In 1859 he was robbed of turnip greens. The theft of these from fields occurred multiple times over the years from the farm as well as others around Little Marlow. Most thieves were impoverished women trying to feed their families, or children sent out by them to gather greens. Farmers often tolerated this to a certain degree with prosecutions coming because of the observations from police officers on patrol rather than complaints from the farmers. Turnips and swedes were largely grown for animal feed not human food at this period but some of the growing tops would be picked off and cooked like spinach and were available at local greengrocers. William Banwell left in 1863.

1860 - Westhorpe estate sale includes Wood Barn Farm consisting of 335 acres of farmland plus 20 acres wood. John P Ellames became the owner until his death. He later swapped his  Westhorpe estate for Little Marlow manor but retained Wood Barn. 

1863-72 occupied by William Curtis. He also had Seymour Court Farm though lived at Wood Barn. In 1868 extreme heat caused Thomas Clark working at Wood Barn Farm reaping wheat for William Curtis to die of heat stroke in a scorching July. He was one of two farm workers to die in similar circumstances across the two Marlows, and two more became seriously ill. 

The next year a 12 year old boy Edmund Clark who worked at the farm, presumably a relative of Clark above, set fire to a hayrick at the farm "for mischief".

William Curtis himself died suddenly of a fit of apoplexy while out in his fields in 1872. His son James Curtis took over.

1872-78 James Curtis (the son). He decided to give up in 1878 when his lease expired and all the farm stock was sold off. The Ellames then kept the farm for their own use with the bailiff James Brock in day to day charge of things. The Ellames main function of the farm became the supply of dairy produce to the Manor House and grain for feeding the game birds used for "sport" by Manor guests. Sheep, turkeys and other poultry were also raised commercially at the farm.

1878 + James Brock as above in charge of the farm. He lives on it too.

1899 - John P Ellames had died so farm stock and implements sold off.

1900 Mr W Wooldridge had taken over the farm but had already decided to leave and was selling up stock= 19 dairy cows, cattle, poultry, a few pigs. Farm had been let to someone else.

1901- Benjamin Hornby was now the farmer.

1904 - Benjamin Hornby prosecuted for cruelty by shooting a stray dog in the eyes and leaving it to die in agony. The full details caused widespread revulsion and are too distressing to repeat here.

1907 Benjamin's widow sold up her stock and left including a herd of  29 dairy cows and 9 cart horses. An Ernest Hornsby was mentioned at the farm also in this year.

1912 - 25 George Field kept the farm as well as Cressex Farm where he actually lived. In 1915 George was fined for the stomach churning condition of the room he placed uncovered pails of milk in prior to them being put into churns. This room was a sheep slaughtering room too and the pails were placed on the bloody floor. Animal matter was found by an inspector on the pails and animal hairs in the milk. Hungry anyone? It must be said George was not personally on the premises supervising at the time of the observed hygiene offences.

George died aged 71 in 1925.

1917 Farm for sale again. Now said to be of 314 acres and with four worker cottages not mentioned in previous sales.

1939 - Field Bros ran the farm. Henry Field lived in the farm house. A Mr C Field was also a farmer here.  Only one worker's cottage now obviously connected to the farm but 3 are in the sake a year later so 2 were probably just being rented out to non employees for a while. 

1940 for sale again 214 acres and 3 cottages plus farm house. Arable and pasture.

1943 -53  (at least) Mr Robert Barnes and Mrs Barnes. Robert had bought the farm and at least one  farm cottage. In 1944 in the Bucks Free Press Mrs Barnes advertised for a lady companion for an elderly lady at the farm (perhaps a live in relative unless Mrs Barnes herself was not young) and home help. She assured the applicants that she had a modern farm house with an aga.

1956 R Barnes and Son.

FURTHER INFORMATION 

For other posts on Little Marlow & nearby see the index here

Information on other specific farms can be found in the index here

To look for an individual on the blog (there's now info on 7,200 individuals here) use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. 

Compiled by Charlotte Day.

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

Selected References=

Oxford Herald and University Press 17th November 1835. Reading Mercury 25th July 1868. British Library Archives via the British Newspaper Archive.

Maidenhead Advertiser 3rd Oct 1900, Baylis Media Archive.

Kelly's Post Office Directory of Buckinghamshire etc, Kelly's Directories Limited.

Census of England and Wales 1841-1901, transcribed by me National Archives. 

Solicitors Journal and Reporter, July 1860, Law Newspaper Co, 1860.

Private letters.

Leighton House, Glade Road, Marlow

The former Leighton House school, Great Marlow.  

In 1891 this is described as a boarding school for boys aged 10-16 years. It had 9 boarding pupils, though the school took day pupils too. On census night, mathematics teacher Mr M Jefferies was present along with a housekeeper and servant. The school was run by the Misses Curtis, sisters Martha and Alice, whose school started in a Marlow Bottom farmhouse before moving to Cambridge House, Cambridge Road and finally to Leighton House late in 1883 following the death of the elderly previous occupier Ellen Bennett. Alice Curtis died at Leighton House in 1893 but Maria  remained running the school until at least 1898. The Curtises offered a classical education but cricket and (unusually) football were available too. The older boys played in local amateur cups alongside adults and older youth teams. Their home ground was the meadow by the Railway Station, now built over, which was just a stone's throw from the school and used by many sporting teams. It was presumably the case that male teachers were also part of the team outside of junior competition as the school had a total of 15 pupils only in 1897 and some of these would have been too young to play against teens and adults.

 The school advertised in press** aimed at British subjects living overseas locations such as South Africa.  It was suggested that those who wished to provide an English education for their offspring would find that special care and attention was given to them at Marlow. 

The school was a successful one both academically and financially for the sisters. Maria Curtis often donated money from her profits to the local cottage hospital and to Holy Trinity Church in Marlow.

The goal of the boy pupils' academic studies was to prepare them for entry into the public schools and thus to university and the professions. In 1897 the South Bucks Standard reported that the local vicar had organised an essay writing competition for the boys on the subject of the "life of Queen Victoria"* The winner was Charles Smith of Rose Villa, Great Marlow. Charles was the son of Lawrence Smith and grandson of Reuben and Mary Smith all of whom there is a full post about here

In 1889 two less fortunate boys from the town, 11 year old Joseph James and 12 year old Henry Wheeler, were accused of stealing two pairs of boots from the school premises (Bucks Herald 23rd February 1889, British Library Archives). Henry Wheeler had the charges against him dismissed for want of evidence. But Joseph was given 4 lashes from a birch rod and labelled in court a "bad, artful boy". He was the son of James and Charlotte James. He appears with them on the 1881 census in Queens Road.

Sometimes during the Summer holidays the house was let to tourists. Many other Glade Road homes were put to the same use at that time.

By 1900 Leighton House was a fully residential property occupied by George Tweedie. In 1904 it was Marlow bank manager Percy Quayles in residence, though he left that year to manage a Hampshire branch.

In 1910 Ernest and Mrs Williams lived it seems not altogether happily in the house. He was arrested for being roaring drunk in Beaumont Rise after his wife refused him entry into their home. A few weeks later the contents of the house were forcibly put up for sale in distress of rent - polished brass bedsteads and fine carpets included -  which doesn't seem to bode well for the continued state of their marriage either. It took multiple sales to clear things.  

Between at least 1915 and 1938 Leighton House was home, let's hope more happily, to solicitor Leonard Nash, his wife Julia and their family who had moved there from "Westwood" in Institute Road. Leonard and Julia (nee Syrett) had married Loudwater, Bucks in 1905.

Being close to the railway station made Glade Road good for holiday rentals as said above but it also made the residents the first victims of travelling salesman who arrived in town that way. Leonard Nash sued a travelling china repairer in 1915 for doing more harm than good to a vase Leonard entrusted to him!

In 1925 Leonard bought for £1300 some 29 acres of land off Newtown Road, a canny piece of work as this was an area of Marlow where houses were being rapidly thrown up. He also is likely the L.R Nash who bought the house Effra in Beaumont Rise in the 1920s.

Related posts:

To find out more about the historic residents of other Glade Road properties in Marlow see this index.

Listing of 72 plus Marlow schools of yesteryear here

Education related posts and everyday life in old Great Marlow here

To find every mention of an individual here use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down. 

 

Photo by Kathryn Day. Post researched and written by Charlotte Day.

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

*edition 24th December. Copy at the British Library. Accessed via the British Newspaper Archive.

**For examples of the schools advertising at expatriates see for example The African Critic 30th November 1895. 

.

Monkton Farm Little Marlow

Description 1860= 240 acres 1875= mixed farm including fruit orchards. One reference I found of the farm, in the 1600s, called it "Monken" Farm. The farm house is in part very old. The farm is thought to represent the site of the medieval Monkton Manor.

Historic Occupiers:

Note that these are rarely the same as the owners of a property in the past.

1561 - John Borlace / Borlase  (even Burlas)

1698 - "Moncken farm" Thomas Harding. 

1781 - John Simons who had come from Great Missenden.

1784- William Curtis. Came from Oxfordshire to farm here.

1846 - William Simmonds senior, assisted by Aaron/Aron Simmonds. Charles Frith sentenced to 7 years transportation for stealing a sheep from the farm, his second such offence. A full biography of Charles will follow soon. 

1851 - William Simmonds. Born circa 1785. Wife Mary. 

1860- Mary Simmonds. Widow of William above.

1861 - Young farmer William Simmonds age 28 on census. Child of William and Mary above. His cousin Aaron Simmonds had Wymers Farm. For more on Aaron and Wymers see here.

1875 - Sale of stock and machinery (including animals and crops of wheat, barley, vetches, oats and peas over 130 acres) following death of tenant Mr Rickett.

1880 - 1882 John Pennington. Insolvent 1882.

1883 - 1887 William Collins. Summoned twice for not paying his poor rates.

1899 - 1901 William Stallwood born circa 1867. As was traditional on farms his wife Ella kept and managed the poultry side of the business.

1920 - John Seymour

1929 J Seymour

1939 - E J Miller. Escart Miller? Mixed farm . He was assisted by his sister's Minnie and Gladys once war broke out if not before. Also at this point if not before the farm had a worker's cottage as well as the farm house.

For more farm occupier posts for Little Marlow and Great Marlow see the Specific Shops, Streets Etc option on the menu. You will also see an A-Z Person Index option on the menu to help you find every mention of a person on this blog. For more Little Marlow content in general see here

Researched and compiled by Charlotte Day.

Farm occupancies calculated from wills, adverts, trade journals, censuses, property records, court cases etc.  I hope to fill in the gaps in dates as I wade through my Everest sized mountain of research notes. 

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

Blounts / Blunts Farm Marlow

Historic occupier list. Occupiers are not necessarily the owner. Dates given are where I find firm evidence of someone being in occupation at the farm, they may have been present earlier or later too. 

Note= the name of the farm may spring from William Blount who was present in Marlow in the early 1400s. Perhaps he or his family owned or rented land that was or would become this farm.

Updated April 2026.

1587 Thomas Ponde sold it to Brinkhurst of Lane End, his relative. The later will of Thomas is on the blog here. 

1640 - John Langley.

1783 & 1788 William Brookes. Tenant to Nathaniel Micklem of Hurley. 

1815-18 Joseph and William Brooks. Probably brothers.

1833-1850 John Gibbons. Tenant to a Mr Micklem in 1833. Blounts then consisted of 173 acres. John also occupied Copy Farm in 1833. He retired from Blounts in 1850. Also at Widmere Farm. See here. At the time of John's retirement, there is a grand sale of stock. The animals on offer include "7 short legged powerful cart-horses", a 4 year old "well bred brown nag" who is a good roadster and hunter, and two handsome heifers. Also available to buy are 4 market waggons, 3 strong dung carts, a market cart, plough and cart harnesses for 8 horses, and the usual selection of ploughs, ladders, troughs, hurdles, turnip and chaff cutters etc. 

1854- Richard Blackwell, bailiff to the non residential owner who I think was still a Micklem.

1857-60 "Messrs Hewett", that is John and William. In 1857 sheep and corn stolen from them in different incidents. In 1859 their ploughman was charged with horse cruelty. William died aged 68 in 1860 on the farm. 

1860-67 John Hewett above. John died age 67 in 1867. Wife Sarah. Their daughter Sarah later married James Curtis of Wood Barn Farm, Little Marlow. Sarah senior died in 1893.

1869-76 William Thomas Bird. In 1871 summoned his carter John Edwards for allegedly stealing a pint of beer from him [Henley Advertiser 8th April 1871]. William moved to Abbey Farm Little Marlow but went bankrupt 1878. Note that earlier occupiers Joseph and William Brooks were related to the Bird family.

1883- Thomas Elliott? Kept sheep on the farm but was he the farmer?

1886- J and E Micklem owners but not living there. Bailiff Richard Sumner.

1888-89 Farm and the stock on it up for sale.

1889- 1899. Dr Francis Laking. Knighted 1893.  Resident only during the summer. Runs very exclusive West End doctors practice, with royal clients. In 1892 bailiff is John Warren. In that year a temporary worker on the farm George Cellam died from his burns after a fire there. George came from a Mr Mitchell of Burnham with a threshing machine hired to thresh barley at Blounts. He and other workers went drinking in the Royal Oak Bovingdon Green in the evening then returned to the farm to sleep the night up against the barley rick. Some of them had pipes and it was thought later that hot ash from one of those must have ignited the rick. That and the threshing machine were destroyed. George was taken to the Royal Oak and from there in a cart to Marlow Cottage hospital but died. [Some details from South Bucks Standard 26th February 1892]. There was no water sufficiently nearby to douse the rick and without that the Fire Brigade could not assist. In 1894 mains water was ran up to the farm for the first time. 

In 1893 Francis hosted a children's athletics sports event, with "useful" prizes such as cruet sets and teapots which perhaps does not strike us as the most exciting gifts for the youngsters. However each also recieved  a silver coin minted that year. Guy Laking is the starter. Over 200 children enter the races. A sumptuous tea is provided thanks to Mr Carter of Marlow and the Town's Drum & Fife band also attend. 

Dr Laking also raised pigs and heifers and grew oats and wheat on the farm. He purchased Clarefield, Maidenhead Thicket, on leaving Blounts. 

Gardener to Dr Laking  - Alan Axten 1894. (Lived Blounts Cottages.)

1899-1926. Walter Wethered. His farm manager and gardener was James Platt from at least 1903. James was still the farm manager in the late 1930s but I am unsure if this was for Walter or someone else.

1940- Mrs Heath. Lives with a butler, cook and other servants so property perhaps more of a home with land now.

Farm occupancies are compiled by me from advertisements, trade journals, censuses, court cases, property records and more. As I sort my research notes mountain I will probably add more information.

To search for other farm posts like this see the Specific Shops Streets Etc option on the top drop down menu. To look for a particular person use the Person Index.

© Marlow Ancestors. If using this research credit this blog and link here but you are welcome to do so. 

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.

To look for other people on the blog use the Person Index option on the top drop down menu.

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.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this original research content for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog. Census information though my own transcription from microfilm always remains Crown Copyright.