High Rews Farm /High Ruse Farm Marlow

A small farm.

List of the historic farm occupiers and history timeline.

Gaps in dates represent gaps in our knowledge. Gaps we will endeavour to fill!

1794 - the freehold farm was advertised in the Reading Mercury 10th March 1794 as up "very pleasantly situated on an eminence". It included then a farm house, yard, barn and 55 acres of arable land. James Webb leased the farm then though his term was up that Michaelmas. Many Webbs farmed in Marlow in the 1700s and 1800s. Search the A-Z Person Index to see all mentions of Webbs on this blog. 

1838-51 Henry Webb the sub-tenant of here (actual tenant was James Deane of The Deanery Marlow and Tunbridge Wells Kent). Henry also leased Wymers Farm and perhaps was also the Henry Webb who was renting Triphooks Farm near Ragman's Castle just outside Marlow as a yearly tenant in 1840. Henry actually lived at Wymers most of the time though both other farms had farmhouses. Wymers and High Rews farms were put up for sale by auction in 1844. Henry left High Rews and eventually the town following his bankruptcy in 1851. There is more on him in my Wymers Farm post here. 

1853-unknown end date Henry Mickling. This name also occurs as Micklem and Micklem. There were a lot of them in the Henley/ Hurley area for centuries. Henry was himself of Henley, and a non residential farmer. He also held Copy Farm in Marlow at this time. During the 1860s and 1870s and quite possibly in the 1880s too there continued to be no residential farmer at High Rews though some of farm's carter's and agricultural labourers and their families lived in two dwellings there. It is hard to be certain whether one of these was the actual farm house. During this time the woods near the farm were sometimes the site of poaching and wood stealing activities.

1893 William Creswell. The farm once again has a residential farmer. William died at the farm in 1901 aged 60. There is already  biographical post about him on the blog here. His brother's widow Jane continued to live at High Rews after his death and was then the farmer in her own right. In 1903 Jane's son Alfred Cresswell aged 11 was severely injured when his brother in playing with a gun accidentally shot him in the arm. This family had astonishingly bad luck when it came to accidents as is detailed in this post, which also gives more family background for them.

1901- at least 1911 Jane Creswell. From late 1907 George Eaton, originally from the West Country was also farming at High Rews. Whether this was in partnership with Jane, or whether he had taken over part of the land is uncertain. By 1911 Jane's twenty year old son Cyril also calls himself a farmer there. He lived with his mother in the farmhouse. There was a small fire at the farm in 1906. 

1907-1918  George Eaton as above. His wife was Agnes nee Young also of West country origin. Their marriage record is available free on Familysearch- Link. George was at the time of his marriage a gardener though Agnes as the daughter of a farmer must have had plenty of useful knowledge as to all things agricultural. The Eatons arrived in Marlow with several of their children. One of those Private Ernest Eaton died of wounds received in war service and is buried in Marlow Cemetery. At the time of his death he was a married man aged 33. At the time of his enlistment he had been living in Tring. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission record for him says that his parents lived in Queens Road Marlow at the time of their son's burial. This must have been a recent move as they were not present in that street in 1915. His father was still farming at High Rews after this date. It would have been a walkable journey to work for George from Queens Road to High Rews. Link to CWGC record for Ernest here. When George decided to leave in 1918 all his farming stock was auctioned off.

1920- Phillip Morris and George Tylor both farming at High Rews. In 1923 a Captain George Tylor was at High Rews raising turkeys.  In 1925 the farm was up for sale now only listed as 40 acres not 55 as it had been in the late 1700s. There seems to have been some division of the property either before or after this sale. Phillip Morris continued until at least 1939 to be listed as the farmer (dairy and arable) at High Rews Farm while George Tylor was now referred to as farming at "End Farm" next to it. Tylor's wife was Lorna, while Morris was married to Harriett.

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

Some Sources:

The Agricultural Gazette and Modern Farming. United Kingdom, n.p, 1923

Kelly's Directory 1883, 1903, 1907, 1911, 1915, 1920 and 1939. By Kelly's Directories.

Mussons and Craven's Commercial Directory Of Buckinghamshire and Windsor 1853.

South Bucks Standard April 17th 1903, British Library Archives. 

Reading Mercury 21st September 1918. British Library Archives. Bucks Herald 25th July 1925.  These editions accessed by me via the BNA.

Personal interview.

The Ruddles Of The Hare And Hounds.

Richard Ruddle was the landlord of the Hare and Hounds, Red Pits, by 1833. He had married Martha Deane at Marlow in 1819. Richard was already a publican in 1829, we just can't be sure that it was at the Hare and Hounds. The pub itself dated from at least the 1760s.

In 1833 the pub came with a yard and garden and was with them assessed as being worth £12 a year. Richard also rented an additional piece of garden recently converted out of waste ground which was assessed as worth £1 a year.

He may have had farming interests as in 1841 he was selling a Guernsey bull lately owned by Sir John Sebright [Windsor and Eton Express 17th April 1841]. He had to have kept the bull somewhere before sale, presumably not in the garden!

A story was told that during Richard's tenure, two rather well dressed guests arrived at his door, with requests to be provided with a finer meal than Richard was used to offering. He was happy to cater for all and so sent into Marlow for supplies. This done he prepared a feast and his satisfied customers devoured all. Then the time came to pay up and our two gentlemen began to argue over who should pay what. One suggested the matter should be settled by a running race, the loser to foot the entire bill. Richard would act as starter and referree. The two men lined up and on orders tore off down the road towards Marlow. You can probably guess the ending. No sight of the cunning pair was seen again and Richard was left considerably out of pocket! 

Richard died in 1841 and Martha Ruddle became the official landlady of the Hare and Hounds.

Martha was around 45 years old at the death of her husband and the mother of 4 surviving daughters living at home- from 12 year old Martha junior down to 4 year old Eliza. In between there was Elizabeth and Emma.

Like most Victorian parents Martha and Richard had suffered the loss of multiple children. Sons Richard, Thomas and John all died before the age of 5.

Martha herself died in 1851 though she is still listed in Musson and Craven's Directory 1852/3. It is common for these directories to contain information 1-3 years out of date as they took a long time to compile.

Her daughter Elizabeth took over the Hare and Hounds following her death. She was only young - 19 - something which the licensing authorities would not favour so this was likely allowed only so she could sort things out in the aftermath of her mother's death. Two of her sisters, Eliza and Emma, still lived with her. She had also a lodger 35 year old Benjamin Soames who was a gardener.

Elizabeth married wheelwright George Cox in 1852 and within a couple of years a new landlord was in place at the Hare and Hounds. Elizabeth and George moved away from the area.

 

By 1851 Martha junior, daughter of Richard and Martha, was a servant for Joseph and Martha Rolls a Marlow couple who had moved to London because of Joseph's job in the Customs service. Martha Ruddle junior later lived with her aunt Mary Blakey in Hertford.

The daughter Eliza remained unmarried and worked as a servant but following the premature death of her sister Elizabeth she lived as housekeeper to Elizabeth's family for some years.

Emma Ruddle married James Neighbour in 1854.

Related Posts:

For a listing of other Hare and Hounds historic landlords and a history timeline see here

For similar posts on pub landlords of Great Marlow, Little Marlow, Medmenham, Lane End and Hurley see here

All mentions of any individual on this blog can be found on the Person Index.

Marlow's 100+ pubs, ale houses etc here

Sources used for this post included:

Pigot's Directory 1844.

Great Marlow Parish Registers.

Censuses my transcription from microfilm. Census information always remains Crown Copyright.

Numerous licence hearings etc. 

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

Will of Joan Howell or Howll of Great Marlow 1736

 Transcribed by Charlotte Day from a copy of the National Archives and then summarised here.

Widow. Will written 1735. Proved 1736.

Says she sick and weak in body but of sound mind and memory.

Commends soul to God.

3 freehold cottages in St Cuthbert, Chetford Norfolk given to her by her husband John to her brother Thomas East of Land End, Great Marlow, butcher and his heirs. He to give half the sum of £5 worth of bread to the poor of St Cuthbert and the other half of the sum of £5 to testator's kinsman John Sharp son of testator's brother in law Robert Sharp. Money to be given to John at age 14 for his apprenticeship if he goes into one, or at age 21 if he does not.

Sister Sarah Hubbard gets testator's biggest gold ring.

Sister Jane Eardly other gold ring.

All rest goods chattels and personal property after debts and funeral expenses paid to brother Thomas East who is appointed sole executor.

Witnessed by Richard Oxlaide [Oxlade], John Deane, Richard Walker.

Will index here

©Marlow Ancestors.

Hush Money and Wildcats - Pets In Marlow History

As in the modern day keeping pets was popular in Marlow's past. Dogs were the most popular though a good many kept were used primarily as guard dogs, sporting animals or working dogs first and companion animals (if at all) second.

Sale adverts, court cases, recorded memories and dog show results tell us that Victorian Marlovians kept toy dogs, fox terriers, bulldogs, bull terriers, lurchers, greyhounds, cocker and other spaniels, retrievers, fox terriers, collies and Newfoundlands amongst other breeds.

Lurchers were primarily used for blood sports and poaching purposes.

In 1878 a spaniel puppy advertised in the Reading Mercury would set you back 10 shillings sixpence.

A Dog Tax applied 1796 to 1882. This was in addition to the cost of a dog licence for each animal kept except sheepdogs, imposed from 1867 onwards. I have found no local prosecutions for avoiding dog tax but those for failing to have a dog licence were two a penny. It has been estimated that nationally the compliance rate for having a licence in Victorian England was only around 50 per cent. Marlow's constables however were zealous in seeking out dog owners without licences, securing fines from them. In 1878 each licence cost 7 shillings sixpence, an eye watering amount for poor families and the obvious reason why virtually all prosecutions for not having a licence were of the poor. They often used their dogs for the night time poaching of rabbits, hares and pheasants. Ferrets were also used for rabbiting but the low number of Marlow prosecutions for that suggest that it was not as common.

Taking a dog out in the countryside could be risky. William Clayton Esquire had iron dog spikes all around his game preserve near Moor Common in the 1810s. A dog belonging to a Mr Deane [probably John Deane] accidentally entered this land when chasing a hare and was impaled. The poor animal died as soon as he was freed from the spike. It was the fifth dog to have so died in the space of a few years and Mr Deane took Clayton to court.

The estate staff of Clayton were evasive when questioned about how the spikes came to be present. The defence implied that they were intended only to kill foxes imported from aboard and let loose locally. Who was thought to be releasing such foxes does not seem to have been said. Though bringing in foxes to replace those slaughtered by the hunt did occur in this period releases would be into the protected and contained estates of hunt supporters not just into the countryside at random and I find no reference anywhere to the importation of animals from abroad for this purpose.

In any event the judge refused to except any version of events other than that Clayton had ordered the spikes put up in order to kill dogs. He savaged Clayton for this illegal practice and said a woman or child who mistook their way could just have easily been spiked. £15 in damages were awarded to Mr Deane.

Dogs themselves could be a danger of course. In 1882 three dogs at Bisham Abbey were attacked by an aggressive roaming dog, one receiving injuries so severe that it had to be put down. The same aggressive dog later gave a nasty bite to 13 year old village girl Annie May. The local constable found the animal and shot it. 

That dog was fortunately not infected with rabies but the disease was a real problem for our ancestors. Rumours of sightings of mad dogs anywhere locally struck fear into the town. Searchers went out to try to find such dogs and shoot them before they could spread the disease to other animals or people. Outbreaks of rabies nevertheless occurred in Marlow and Turville in the summer of 1896 and in Marlow again in 1925. During such times the movement of dogs to other areas was banned and all dogs had to be muzzled in public. The requirement to have your dog muzzled was also enforced at other times, seemingly haphazardly.

In 1896 Edward Suthall a farmer of Handy Cross was jailed for refusing to pay a fine for having a dangerous unmuzzled dog which had repeatedly attacked the Marlow constable PC Tapping when he was on patrol up there. The judge did not believe the defendant's claim that the dog did not belong to him.

On a happier note dog owners could win prizes by entering them into local events such as the dog show held in the grounds of Spinfield House Marlow in 1883. Both men and women were prizewinners. Successful dogs included some wonderfully named individuals- Pork Pie, Rags and Tatters, Lord Edward, Hush Money, Naphill Scamp, Hughenden Daisy and Comet to name but a few. Spinfield was also the venue for a "pet party" -  that is a fun pet show, in 1912. It was to raise funds to build the new church school (Holy Trinity) and included prizes for both the prettiest and ugliest animal contestants! Entered pets included toads, tortoises, ants and silkworms. (There was also a prize for human babies..)

While eating scraps from the family meal along with what additional meat could be afforded by their owners was normal for most dogs commercial dog biscuits could be bought in Marlow by the early 1890s. There were no pet shops then. Dog food was bought from ironmongers or agricultural suppliers. These businesses would also sell you worming and flea solutions and food for your poultry and pet birds.

The keeping of cage birds, canaries and linnets especially, as pets was popular with women. Virtually all agricultural shows had classes for them. Walter Lovegrove grocer of Marlow High Street was a frequent judge of pet bird and poultry classes throughout the area in the late 1800s. More about the tragic Walter here

No Marlow show in the 1800s had a cat class that I can discover though they were found in other Bucks shows as were classes for pet rabbits (as opposed to rabbits raised for meat) and even pet mice.

Guinea pigs were found as pets in Britain by the 1890s but don't feature in any local shows I can see.

There were plenty of feral cats in the town. Mr Cocks bred actual wildcats at his home near the river. His near neighbour Captain Marshall didn't stop there having a whole menagerie of exotic animals such as elephants and lions. Kathryn has written a whole post on that subject if you are interested here. 

Richard Blake of West Street trained an "enormous" cat to turn tricks. More on him here.

In 1889 Colonel Wethered donated a female  monkey to the Royal Zoological Society- perhaps a pet or why else did he have one?? (This monkey had been brought over from the Congo 3 years before the gift.)  Mrs Coppinger of Thames Lawn certainly owned a "riotsome" monkey in 1890 and liked to take it out on her steam launch Eunice, to the amusement of passers by on the riverbank. Mrs Crashaw was rather astonishingly reunited in Marlow with a monkey she had lost some time before while living in Kent. Known as Jacko, it had apparently found its way into the hands of a pair of Italian youths who had come to Marlow coincidentally with it as a performing animal. Mrs Crawshay saw it in the street, recognised some markings it had and found the animal remembered the tricks she had taught him. Arrangements were eventually made for Jacko to be returned to its former owner. The youths were compensated for the 30s they had paid for the monkey. The seller had been a stranger whom they had met in Portsmouth, or so they said. 

Sources:

Bazaar Exchange and Mart and Journal of the Household. Volume 47. 1892.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_licence

The Shooters Guide, Ninth Edition. By B Thomas.

Maidenhead Advertiser 1st February 1882 and Bucks Herald 8th February 1896 British Library via the BNA.

The Zoologist, A monthly journal of Natural History by Newman West 1881.

Slough, Eton and Windsor Observer September 3 1887, 26 July 1912. Slough Library. 

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London - W H Fowler 1893. 

©Marlow Ancestors. If using this research please credit this blog and link here (but you are welcome to use it). Thanks.

Women Of Oxford Road Almshouses

The almshouses for widows which stood in Oxford Road had been a gift of John Brinkhurst in the early 1600s.

Here's something about a few of their Victorian residents who received entry into them by being voted for in a meeting of the trustees. Voting took place upon the death of an occupant. As well as their home the widows received a small weekly income from the charity. In 1893 this was 5 shillings. The minimum age for entry was 60. Residents could come from Bisham or Marlow.

Elizabeth Keen

Born Elizabeth Windsor circa 1818 to parents Thomas, a postman, and Mary. She worked as a satin stitch worker as a young woman like so many other Marlow women, including her sisters Fanny and Eliza.

Elizabeth was elected into her charity house in 1893 and continued as resident until her death in 1901 following a short illness. Her young granddaughter Mary Deane lived with her then. At the time of her election to the Almshouses Elizabeth was around 75 years of age and living in Eton Place, Marlow. Two years earlier in 1891 at the time of the census she was a widowed needlewoman living in Dukes Place with her daughter Louisa born 1847. Both Louisa and Elizabeth's son Edwin (1839) and other daughter Sarah (1835) had been born illegitimately to Elizabeth prior to her marriage in 1857 to John Keen / Keene. Sadly Louisa was an inmate of St John's Hospital in Stone, Buckinghamshire, an asylum for "pauper lunatics" by 1901.

Emma Boddy

Emma received the happy news that she had won a place at the Almshouses in 1903. She was circa 70 years old and the widow of brewery labourer George Boddy who died between the 1871 and 1881 censuses.

Emma herself had worked as a needlewoman during her marriage and as a charwoman as a widow. At the time of her winning an Almshouse she lived at Cromwell Cottage which I think was the old gardener's cottage for Cromwell House. At the time Cromwell House was no longer in domestic use. The garden cottage was behind the High Street*. 

The first home she lived in with George was perhaps in South Place where she appears on the 1861 census.

In 1870 they lived in Gun Lane (now called Trinity Road). Here Emma was assaulted during a heated argument with her neighbour Julia Martin. Emma took Julia to court where the guilty party was fined 5 shillings.

Charlotte Kilham

Admitted Autumn 1900. There until her death in 1910.

She was born as Charlotte Frith circa 1833 in Great Marlow according to the census. She may have been an inmate in the Bledlow children's workhouse as a child, otherwise her early youth is hard to trace.

In 1871 she was the unmarried housekeeper or perhaps "housekeeper" of Henry Kilham a widowed bricklayer in Little Marlow. She and he had a baby daughter Clara that year. The next year they married but Henry, who was 65 years old (26 years older than Charlotte) died within weeks of the ceremony.

Charlotte moved to Marlow and supported herself as a needlewoman. Before entering the Almshouse she lived in Trinity Road Marlow with Clara who was also a needlewoman.

More widows of these houses in this post. To find every mention on this blog of a person of interest to you choose the Person Index option on the drop down menu.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

* A description of a  "Cromwell House Cottage" in 1898 refers to a bigger premises however as it had a coach-house and three horse stable in addition to a small garden. (South Buck Standard 6 May 1898)

© Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this material for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here so that my sources also remain credited.

Sources Included:

GRO Marriage and Death Registration Indexes. 

Census Great Marlow 1861, 71, 81, 91 my transcription from microfilm. National Archives, Kew.

1901 England and Wales Census Database Louisa Windsor in Stone record from https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9Y1-G5C. National Archives.

Little Marlow 1871 census Charlotte Firth [Frith] from England and Wales Census Database, Familysearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXS5-262 National Archives Kew.

Newspapers in British Library Archives, via the BNA:

South Bucks Standard 26th October 1900 and 20th December 1901.