Life In 1930s Marlow Part Two Sport, Leisure, Transport

 Part One dealt with homes, shopping and employment. See here. A further part covering childhood and religion will become available next year.

Sport

The Regatta attracted a world record (for an Amateur event) 107 entries in 1930 and continued to thrive during the thirties. It wasn't only local teams competing- in 1936 a team from the Tokyo Imperial University stormed to victory in the Grand Challenge Cup with their ultra light cedarwood boat and what was described as an unorthodox even eccentric rowing style. Sadly in just what eccentric way that they were rowing has been lost to history. The crew also raced at Henley Regatta that year, long a magnet for foreign teams, before flying off from Croydon Airport to the Berlin Olympics. Despite the hype around the team before the event no Japanese rower actually medalled at Berlin.

Spectators at each Regatta crowded onto the bridge despite dire warnings that their combined weight exceeded the 5 ton safety limit for this old structure.

Winners at the Regatta carried of solid silver prizes supplied as they had been for decades by Rowe's jewellers in the High Street.

Marlow also had a Rowing Club Regatta until the number of members on anti aircraft duty or military service forced the temporary cancellation of the event in 1939. The Rowing Club wasn't popular with everyone - Marlow's vicar successfully asked for Sunday morning rowing practice to be removed from the club's normal schedule as it coincided with his services.  The strength of the "nothing but church on a Sunday" brigade at the time cannot be underestimated. Some wanted the swings taken out of the playground in Higginson Park on a Sunday!

A 1931 promotional advert from a campaign suggesting Marlow was just the place for sports loving tourists to come for their holidays. 
 

The Regatta was part of  a week of linked events which also typically involved tennis tournaments as well as sometimes bowls and putting ones not to mention fireworks and fun fairs.

In Higginson Park there were then two putting greens. As well as the Regatta week tournaments they hosted a separate annual one. Normal putting cost 6d a round in 1931 including the use of the putter, a score card and the ball. A Putting Club existed in the park and organized it's own small weekly competition for members. Mr R Young in 1932 broke their course record by getting two holes in one!

Elsewhere in the Court Garden complex were three hard tennis courts which could be hired at a cost of 2 shillings an hour. Thirsty sports people obtained refreshment from the park pavilion.

Due to a legal tangle part of Higginson Park was run at the time by the Higginson Park Society, and part by the council. Members of the society were asked to pay a minimum subscription of 5 shillings a year early in the decade. They had their own tennis group which organised an annual "American Tennis" tournament, whatever that was.

The Football Club reached the dizzying heights of the Premier Division of the Spartan League in 1938. It's Supporter's Club was newly formed at the beginning of the decade. At the same time a second adult team Marlow Wednesday was formed. They won the Windsor and District Wednesday League in their first season.

Marlow Working Men's Cricket Club meanwhile played in the Wycombe and District League and operated from Higginson Park, a near neighbour to the Bowling Club whose new 6 rink Court Garden premises opened in 1931. Marlow's other cricket team the Marlow Cricket Club of Pound Lane was defunct by this time but later revived and still exists in this second incarnation today.

The nearby village of Little Marlow had its own Cricket Club and team  in combination with Bourne End of which the residents were very proud. Little Marlow could also boast a football team.

Billiards and snooker tournaments were regularly held at the Institute billiards room in Institute Road. In fact the fees generated from entries into billiards events and for other use of the billiards table did much to keep the institution going. This building is now Marlow Library.

At Borlase school the boys could make use of a fives court as well as the more conventional tennis courts, running tracks, football pitch and cricket field.

Hockey had been played informally in Marlow since the mid 1800s and the Hockey Club had its inaugural meeting in 1909. Both men's, women's and mixed teams competed for the town in the 1930s and both received coverage in the local press near equal to that of the football team which reflects the enhanced popularity of hockey as a spectator sport at that time. The Hockey Club ground from 1921 was either a field near the railway station or the grounds of Spinfield depending on availability, with the Gossmore recreation ground also being used at times during the 1930s. The men's team at times struggled to find enough sufficiently skilled players to compete so in some seasons only Marlow's women were able to regularly represent the town.

Hockey and tennis were the main but not only sporting opportunities for female residents in the town. Some of the annual Regatta events were for women as were some  swimming competitions in the River Thames and the Badminton Club was unisex. Female Marlovians were often mentioned as spectators at Marlow's home football matches. They had been attending regularly since at least the late 1800s. However while Marlow F.C had had a female President in the 1920s, Lady Vera Terrington of Spinfield, there was not apparently any ladies team playing for them.

Darts tournaments in pubs were popular for men but women were also casual players and informal competitors. A Pub Darts League, probably for male players only, was started in Marlow in 1935 involving teams from the Duke of Cambridge, Railway Hotel, Horns,  Carpenter's Arms, Ship, Royal Oak at Bovingdon Green, Carrier's arms, Three Tuns, Red lion, Hare and Hounds, Two Brewers, Wheatsheaf and Nag's Head. This replaced an earlier league which was not restricted to pub teams, and which the Bank of England pub team dominated.

The Bucks Amateur Athletic Association formed just before the 1930s and held some events in Marlow. Ladies events began in 1932. More informally athletic sports organized by the short-lived Marlow Bottom Residents Association took place at Bencombe Farm at least a couple of times during the decade. The bar may not have been set too high at the latter. As mentioned in a previous posts one of the competitions was "cigarette lighting".

Leisure swimmers could enjoy the official bathing place in the Thames at Marlow and another at Hurley both with their own attendants. The Marlow one was in the Berkshire side of the river and consisted if a chained off area of water. Anyone who dared to arrive for a swim in an "insufficient" costume could expect to be handed a "sober" cotton alternative to put on. In 1930 spectators at the Swimming Sports enjoyed a display of diving off Marlow Bridge (in one case with both hands and feet tied!) by members of the Maidenhead Swimming Club. Council hopes to go one better than a swimming place and build a lido in Higginson Park where the football pitch is now were dashed when the Ministry of Health refused the necessary funding.

Those who wanted to learn to ride were fortunate in having a riding school at Field House Farm on the edge of town complete with a show jumping arena. Occasional gymkhanas took place at the farm. These were quite informal- with events such as "mop polo" where instead of the usual stick the ball was hit with mops. 

Special coach services were laid on so equine loving Marlovians could attend Newbury horse races and during Ascot week a roaring trade in hire cars was done thanks to all the Marlovians who wanted to go there.

Greyhound racing at an amateur level took place at meets in nearby Booker and Cressex. Coach trips were organized every year from Marlow to greyhound tracks in London and elsewhere. Pigeon racing was popular and the town had its own pigeon racing club for those involved.

Boxing took place regularly at Wycombe Town Hall, sometimes including fighters from Marlow.

The worldwide political situation inevitably meant that some leisure hours were spent not in relaxing but in urgent political discussion. Marlow had a branch of the League of Nations Union a pacifist organisation which held that disarmament of all countries and membership of the League of Nations was the only way forward for the world. Captain Liston of New Court was one of the members of the Marlow Branch. As it became apparent to many that a second war with Germany was inevitable nationwide membership of this organization dwindled. Those Marlovians who did not hold with the notion of pacifism urgently encouraged the participation of the town's adolescent and young adult males in leisure activities which would see them transform themselves into better soldiers when their time came. Gymnastics was promoted because it fostered strength and self discipline, while shooting at targets was encouraged for obvious reasons.

Other Leisure

Higginson Park Social Club by 1938 which met in a room at Court Garden. Their activities included dances (they had their own swing band), darts competitions and whist drives. Whist drives in general were extremely common as fundraising events in 1930s Marlow.

Marlovians could enjoy films (the new County Cinema opened in Station Road in 1938, replacing the Spittal Square St George's / former County cinema premises). Or perhaps they preferred to sit back at home and listen to the radio or gramophone. Both Platts in Quoiting Square and Compton's Cycle Agents in West Street functioned as radio dealerships alongside their other trades. Mr Platt proudly advertised that he was the sole agent of both Murphy and Bush radios in the town. A Murphy radio would set you back a minimum of £6 10 shillings. Sounds cheap doesn't it? Consider this- a plot of land on Marlow on which to build a bungalow cost from £15-16 in the same era.  A parlour maid would need to use more than a month's wages to buy such a wireless. Leo Ryan and J.G Mackey both in the High Street were two other men who sold radios. J.G  Mackey was the Philco brand stockist. This company also made early televisions but it is not known if Mackey in Marlow sold those too. Listening to the wireless required a licence, with government detector vans stalking the streets to catch any householder who forgot to buy one.

Photographer Norman Greville in the High Street offered the Patheoscope for viewing short reels at home, a device which doesn't seem to have caught on.

The Masonic hall in St Peter Street, as the Public Hall until 1933 and the Masonic centre thereafter, was sometimes used for dances in the 1930s and the George and Dragon in the High Street held them fortnightly from 8pm til midnight- tickets 2s or 3s 6d for a couple. Bargain hunters with their own transport could find cheaper dances held every so often in local village halls. At Lane End in 1937 entry cost just 1s 6d for one person. Frieth village hall was cheaper still at a round shilling. In many of these dances spot prizes were given to those whom the judges deemed to be the best dancing couples. These prizes might be in cash so that a talented pair could hope to win back their cost of entry and even make a profit from their night out.

Hilda Bailey of High Street Marlow taught dancing in the town as well as in High Wycombe and Beaconsfield. She could teach you ballroom and ballet as well as a bizarre array of fancy moves -"Comic dancing", "Character dancing", "Greek Operatic Dancing" and "Acrobatic Dancing". I think we'd all like to have been a fly on the wall during those classes. At her Wycombe dance studio Hilda offered "tap dance and limbering" classes for "business girls"on a Tuesday. The late 1920s saw a craze in England for folk dancing. The girls in the Church of England school took part as did the ladies of Bovingdon Green.

Hilda Bailey also held a general non-dance ladies fitness class every week. Other keep fit classes, for both men and women, were held at the Domestic Science Centre rooms off Wethered Road. 

In Marlow Bottom a "Witches Barn" Club is listed in Kelly's Directory 1939 edition. On their website the current Barn Club date their existence only from 1948 so the nature of this earlier club is unknown to me. A few years before this 1939 mention there was in existence a Witches Barn Tea Garden And Motor Service in Marlow Bottom. The barn used for this was originally at White Hill outside Marlow, but was taken apart bit by bit and re-erected in Marlow Bottom.

Another initially unexplained aspect of Marlow in the 1930s was what exactly the "Marlow Players" were doing when they competed in "Drama League" competitions. Competitive acting?!? Upon research I find that yes that really was a thing in this period. In each area of Britain local teams of amateur actors took to the stage one after the other and their performances were ranked by an adjudicator who then gave prizes to those in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The Marlow Players formed in 1937 and were competing in the League from the next year. They weren't the first amateur team from Marlow to be involved however, one called the "St Martins" team were competing from 1936. Bovingdon Green had it's own amateur dramatic group, the Bovingdon Green Players.

As well as in the Institute, readers could, by the end of the decade, enjoy a part time library and newspaper reading room in a portion of what is now Liston Hall thanks to the generosity of Nesta Liston who helped the town to buy this former chapel. A small library of around 100 books was also kept at Bovingdon Green village hall.

Marlow had a small museum which opened in the former billiards room of Court Garden House in 1934. The exhibits included a mammoth tusk and skull bone found there at the Folley Brothers pit at Well End, Little Marlow and examples of stuffed birds.

Transport

Car ownership was increasing significantly in the 1930s. By 1939 there were 3 million motor cars in Great Britain. Marlow had at least four motor garages by the end of the decade - two in the High Street, one in Station Road and Platts in Quoiting Square. A sparkling new Austin Ten Four family saloon automobile with Dunlop tyres from Currall's garage in the High Street would set you back £168 in 1932. Secondhand cars, vans and trucks could be bought from Mr Gibbon's dealership at no. 19 York Road while cars could be hired from the Three Tuns in West Street, a business in Little Marlow Road and the above mentioned Witches Barn Motor business at Marlow Bottom. Pubs such as the Two Brewer's and Compleat Angler were quick to advertise the fact that they had safe lock up garages available for guests. 

Houses with their own garage were still relatively unusual but Suffolk Lodge off Station Road had one, The Sycamores had two and Quarry Wood Hall boasted four! Marlow got it's first, long-promised, public carpark in Pound Lane early in the decade. 

Prosecutions for speeding were less common than they had been in the 1920s but both Marlow residents and visitors were caught with expired licences every month and slapped with a fine. Prosecutions for having overly noisy cars, trucks or vans also occurred not infrequently. 

Despite the growth of motoring the majority of local travel was still done on foot, by bicycle (single or tandem), by bus or by train. Buses to High Wycombe took 25 minutes from Marlow and left every half hour in 1930. Residents of Bovingdon Green won a regular bus service into Marlow in the same year. Buses from Marlow also served Maidenhead via Bisham and Reading via Henley. The Maidenhead service went over Marlow Bridge despite the fact that this caused the structure to wobble! And that was with the passengers getting off and walking across separately. Plans to knock down and replace the bridge with a new one in 1930 were abandoned due to the expense involved. Thank goodness- the replacement was to be of utilitarian concrete! Similar plans re-emerged a few years later but were again felled by financial concerns 

Some of the bus services were run by the Marlow and District Motor Company, others by Booker Bus Services and still more by Thames Valley Traction Company. The Marlow company and Thames Valley Traction both offered special excursion trips to the seaside, Newbury Races, Whipsnade Zoo and elsewhere. Tickets for those trips as well as season tickets for the everyday routes could be bought from the company's town centre office. The other Marlow bus service, at least in the early 1930s. If you wanted to hire your own charabanc for a work's or club outing you could visit Reginald Batting in Market Square. Wycombe Charabanc Company ran a charabanc from Marlow to Bournemouth every Sunday in the summer - 10 shillings day return, 15 shillings open ended return.

In an extraordinary case at the start of the decade Marlow bus conductor Mr Stacey (Thomas?) was fined for, as a joke, letting off a firework in a bus owned by the  Marlow and District Motor Company. The vehicle was then on a journey from Wargrave to Henley (and presumably then on to Marlow) on Guy Fawkes Day 1930. The firework startled the driver who swerved, drove into a ditch and then overturned. One of the passengers was killed. Others received injuries. The police deemed driver Walter Newell ultimately responsible for what happened on his bus and as well as charging the conductor they charged him with failing to prevent the discharge of fireworks on a public vehicle.  Charges against Walter were dismissed in court. If he was keeping his eye on the road he couldn't really be watching his conductor's every move and it is reasonable to assume that the conductor throwing a firework en route wasn't high on Walter's list of probable events he might experience that day! The firework landed by the driver's seat, fizzed, but I think did not fully explode. Stacey did not give evidence in court so that we can't know his take on the events. The cab window was open at the time which may indicate that he intended to throw the firework past the driver and out through it. Hardly less risky though! 

Greenline Coaches started a regular express coach service to London. A similar service could be caught from Maidenhead. So Marlow was actually better connected to the capital than it is today!

Road traffic accidents were frequent on the streets of Marlow despite low vehicular speeds. Motor bikes were seen as glamorous but dangerous and mishaps involving them appeared  particularly regularly in the local press. Most accidents were not fatal but in 1930 Alice Budd of Chapel Street, a pillion passenger on her boyfriend's motorbike, was killed in a smash. In the same year pillion passenger Arthur Lee of Dean Street suffered fatal head injuries in an accident in West Street. Lionel Evans of York Road suffered two broken legs and a fractured skull in a motorcycle accident in 1939. 

Both motorcycles for the glamorous and cycles for everyday transport could be bought from Comptons and Baileys, both in West Street. Even more glamorous was of course air travel. In 1934 during the Whitsun holiday an aircraft owner offered short flying trips from a field in Wycombe Road, Marlow. Understandably there was a long queue of Marlovians who wanted to take to the air for the very first time. Similar trips had been offered over the previous few years in Wycombe itself. At one such event the pilot would do a loop the loop with you strapped into the passenger seat if you paid 15 shillings. No thanks!

However you zoomed about the streets back down on terra firma you had some very patchy road surfaces to deal with. Some of our urban roads were gravel, a small but increasing number tarmacked, with others topped with more experimental surfaces that never took off in the long term. Long roads may have been surfaced with different materials in different places causing a somewhat uneven journey down them. Glade Road for instance. The installation of mains sewage to the town caused huge disruption to roads and pavements in the early 1930s as did the laying of underground electricity cables at around the same time. A lack of surface drainage caused significant difficulties when it rained heavily. The residents of Marlow Bottom suffered 6-8 inch deep mud that persisted for weeks at a time on the roadway into the village and made it impassable to motor traffic. A report by the RAC on current local main road conditions appeared in the Bucks Free Press every week. 

Leisure trips on the River Thames were available for those that wished to visit Windsor Castle or cruise past Quarry Woods. Boats could also be hired at Marlow riverside. Heaven help anyone who wanted to go through Marlow Lock while scantily clad however. In 1934 a bye law to prevent anyone passing through wearing less than "full rowing costume" or "full university bathing costume" was proposed due to complaints that that wasn't always the case. Was rowing in your undergarments a thing in the 1930s?!?

A more unusual form of water transport from the usual rowing boats, punts and steam launches was owned by Mr Vivian Simon of Stoneyware, Bisham- an electric canoe!

For all that electric modernity, Marlow was still a place where horse drawn transport certainly wasn't over with and the council used a horse drawn cart for the town's rubbish collection. At least one of the town milk floats continued to be pulled by horse in 1934. The Pinches at Field House Farm still did a ready trade in farm and other cart horses.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my research with credit to this blog.

Selected Sources=

Marlow Town Guide 1931/32

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire etc 1939, Kelly's Directories.

Bucks Herald Feb 20th 1931 (Marlow regatta record breaking), 8th April 1932 (defunct cricket club). Both British Library Archives.

Reading Mercury 26th Aug 1939 and Saturday 25 November 1939 British Library Archives in this case via the BNA.

Sheffield Independent 6th and 26th November 1930. British Library Archives via the BNA.

Bucks Free Press June 27th 1930, August 17th 1934, March 10th 1933 and 19th August 1932. Bucks Free Press archives.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations_Union

Regatta Programmes

Crown Hotel Marlow guide. 1930s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_at_the_1936_Summer_Olympics

Historic advertising literature, personal interviews.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Theatre_Association

Two Dedicated Victorian School Mistresses

This post is dedicated to two Victorian ladies who devoted themselves to the children of Marlow, working in sometimes difficult conditions, only stopping when their health failed. Both were the head mistresses of the National schools in St Peter Street in the late Victorian period. 

First we have Harriet Thimblethorp(e). Harriet was in charge of the girls school. She arrived in 1881 to a school building less than 20 years old. It was not however in good condition, and regular reports were made of a  leaking roof and smelling toilets. The school was also crowded by modern standards, with about 50-60 girls per class. Average attendance for the school was about 143 pupils a day, which was actually as few less than the buildings were designed to deal with however. 

Image courtesy of ©Colin Groves

 Harriet also suffered the closure of her school on a number of occasions because of outbreaks of disease. Scarlet fever and measles reared their ugly heads sometimes, and a nasty outbreak of small pox in 1893 caused a break in lessons of several weeks. As a result when the school inspector came round that year, he was willing to make some allowances for a lack of progress in the young girls education. The inspector concluded however that the main reason for unimpressive attainment in the children was that the particular intake of children it had lacked natural intelligence! He did mention their nice sewing and singing at least. 

Singing was an favourite activity of Harriet's. It is nice to think of those walking down St Peters Street in the Victorian period catching the happy sound of the girls' singing through the open windows of the school. She may have been described as naturally reserved but she was able to show affection and kindness to her girls and it seems to have been reciprocated. She was also described as absolutely devoted to her charges and always just in dealing with them.

By 1898, Harriet was not well. She refused to give up her work, though that was the advice she received. Sadly her condition deteriorated and it was clear she was suffering badly. She received news that her condition was now deemed incurable but it seems she wished to carry on at work as long as possible. In June 1898 however she was so ill that she had to give in and resign. She left Marlow for the sort of places people went in the hope of improving their health, or delaying it's decline. But a little over 2 months later, she died at Brighton. During the time of her funeral, the children sang her favourite hymn at the school. It's hard to imagine she would have preferred any other farewell. 

Our second devoted teacher is Elizabeth Harriet Hunt (AKA Lizzie) who was born in London in 1847. She was the head teacher at St Peter's Street School infant's department by 1876. She had accommodation provided for her in St Peter's Street, along with Harriet and the mistresses of both schools. 

The South Bucks Standard in 1893 said she deserved "the highest praise" for her work at the school. Her assistants then were Miss Evans and Miss [Florence] Nicholls. Between them they educated an average of 131 children each day. There would have been pupil monitors too.

Ill health forced Elizabeth to teach her last lesson on Tuesday 27th July 1909. That evening in the schoolroom local dignitaries and school teachers gathered to thank her for her years of service. She was praised for the "love she displayed for her work and for her children". A purse of £35 was presented to her by way of thanks.

Elizabeth went to live with her brother in London where she died in 1917. Thankfully she got to enjoy something of the retirement that Harriet never did. 

To find all mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. For other posts about St Peters Street use the Specific shops, streets etc option there. For a list of 75+ historic schools in Marlow see the post here. A fuller list of Victorian/Edwardian teachers for the national schools will follow. 

Sources

GRO Birth and Death Registration Indexes by the General Registry Office.

National Union of Teachers report 1888, 1893. 

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1883 (Kelly's Post Office Directories Ltd)

South Bucks Standard 3rd March & 12 December 1893,1 September 1899, and 30th July 1909. Copies held in the British Library archives. Accessed via the BNA March 2021.

Harris Royal Country Directory 1876.

"England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9YB-P1F : 20 May 2019), Elizabeth H Hunt, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

Researched jointly by Charlotte (Elizabeth) and Kathryn Day (Harriet)

©Marlow Ancestors. 

The Sorrow of Mary English

Mary English was nee Sneath, the third daughter of prominent Marlow surgeon and apothecary William Sneath and his wife Elizabeth. Her father was in partnership with George Trash for some time, the two working out of William's home. After William's death, George continued the practice, eventually moving it to his own home. Mary was therefore a member of a respected and comfortably off family. But even so, her life was touched by much sorrow. 

William Sneath would have had a room at home set up as a surgery in the most literal sense, and reports suggest that a room also functioned as the apothecary shop. Surgeon and apothecary was the usual pairing of roles in the Georgian era - for more how this worked in practice see our post Call the Apothecary here.  Her mother ran a boarding school for young ladies from their home too, a common "respectable" occupation for genteel ladies to take up for extra income. Some of these schools took just a handful of pupils - most in Marlow were of this type. 

Young Mary was bought up to attend the parish church, but later became a non conformist. Religion featured heavily in her life, and was it seems both the cause and solace of many of her sorrows. As a young girl, she is said to have been affected by the death of a sister who on her death bed exhorted Mary to be mindful of the scriptures. This sister cautioned 12 year old Mary against novel reading in particular. This may seem an innocent occupation to warn against, but it was not uncommon for it to be considered "unsafe" for young women who it was feared could get "ideas" or become over excited. Others approached novel reading as just an indulgence and waste of time that could be better spent on more improving pursuits such as Bible reading. Still others thought it would make girls look less attractive (hunched shoulders!) or would hurt their eyesight. There were a number of booksellers in Marlow High Street that the Sneath girls could be tempted by. These operated as circulating libraries too, and were open for borrowing by members who paid a subscription. One advertised that all the books he offered had been personally approved as suitable for young women by the vicar! This attitude lingered a long time, and was one of the reasons that when Marlow got its first literary Institute with library, so few of those who borrowed books were female. It does not seem little Mary needed much warning however. A later "memoir" written about Mary described her as a child with "uncorrupted morals" and a mild character. 

Later curiosity led Mary to attend the services of some evangelical and independent ministers, principally Rowland Hill who was visiting Wooburn in 1774. Rowland is an interesting man in his own right, a famous preacher in his day. He was an advocate for the smallpox vaccine amongst other things  His arrival was likely to have attracted lots of those wanting to see a well known speaker in person but in Mary's case, his words were said to have struck a chord. He remained in contact with her ever after. It is likely that Mary attended Marlow's own Salem Chapel at this time. In any case she came in contact with non conformists and Quakers, and through the former she met her future husband pastor Thomas English. 

Thomas was born in 1751 in Oxford, to a family of worshippers at the established church. He also counted his transference to the non conformist community to the experience of hearing a preacher who struck a spiritual cord with him. In his case he was just 14, and sent to live in London to learn a trade. It was later said the young Thomas had experienced physical, emotional and verbal abuse from the family he lodged with at this time. They found his new found piety a source of amusement and an excuse to ridicule him. But he succeeded in becoming ordained in 1775, the same year he married his first wife Susannah Evans. After serving in a number of locations, Thomas & Susannah moved from Gosport in Hampshire to Wooburn. But within weeks tragedy struck, and Susannah died. 

Thomas would go on to marry our Mary Sneath in 1779. Of the couple's 5 children, only two Eliza/Elizabeth and Thomas, survived their mother. Two of the lost children died within days of each other, one while the funeral of the first was ongoing. This terrible loss was difficult for Mary to recover from. "Her countenance very strongly depicted the most affecting expressions of grief." The children had suffered painful lingering deaths, and Mary's faith was tested. She began to question if she had missed something in their care that may have made the difference between life and death. There was nothing any could do, but the poor mother could not rest. It was said that she couldn't stay quiet for long before breaking out in fresh remembrance of the children's suffering. The force of her "accumulated distress" was causing a nervous collapse as they termed it. It seems that Mary's voicing of her anger at God and fear that she was being punished for some unknown sin, was believed by some to be the voice of the devil speaking through her. And Mary began to believe the same. She is said to believe the devil had bargained for her soul, and that God was too disappointed in her to claim it back. It sounds as though she suffered a total mental collapse. Afraid to receive sacrament in case it prompted a "satanic assault", Mary must have been terrified. Poor Thomas did what he could for her, and she also befriended a group of Quakers in Maidenhead who were said to give her some comfort. At last Mary regained enough strength to travel to Brighton to take the sea air and waters. It was a fashionable place for invalids to go although the future city was nothing like the size it is now. The sea cure certainly worked its charm on Mary, and after some time she was able to return home. Of course, such grief as she had experienced as well as her spiritual trauma, could not really disappear overnight, and she continued to suffer some episodes of acute mental distress. But at least she enjoyed one period of "sweet serenity of mind". 

Mary died on the 2nd October 1794. She caught a cold (as they thought it) during a visit to Bristol with her husband. This affected her severely and she scarcely made it home. She never recovered, suffering a broken blood vessel and then a painful final illness. Thomas was said to leave her side as little as possible and he was there, along with her sister, when she finally went to her rest.

***

Her mother Elizabeth's will was published on this blog here. Elizabeth was nee Webb - more about her family here.

Mary's sister Sarah's will is on the blog here

To find all mention of your ancestors here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

More Marlow church, chapel religious history content can be found on the menu under Church Related.

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors.

Sources include: 

The Evangelical Magazine, May 1795. 

Christian Herald, June 19 1815 - digitised by Google. 

Memoir of Rev Thomas English, digitised by Google. 

The Annual Register (Longman, Green 1801)

 

Proverbial For It's Wickedness

Side of the chapel building. Photo taken October 2020.

POST UPDATED NOVEMBER 2024.

The Primitive Methodists were a group who aspired to follow a pure, close to the original form of Methodism. They arrived in Marlow before 1831, the date given by James Joseph Sheahan in his History and Topography of Buckinghamshire, for the erection of their first place of worship. Many of the early Primitive Methodist services were held outside, and they were not necessarily well received locally. The early preachers had to be brave men at times, undergoing both physical and verbal abuse. 

An example of this is the hair raising experience preacher George Griggs underwent while staying at Marlow in 1838. On his way here, he stopped to lead an open air Sunday afternoon service at Bisham, accompanied by a few friends. They began by singing hymns, their usual way of gaining attention. Unfortunately, they also gained the interest of a few inebriated men who made a raucous audience. The local clergyman came up and ordered Griggs out of the village, on the pretext they were causing a disturbance. A spirited exchange followed, and the clergyman departed, whether in defeat or to gather reinforcements isn't known. Griggs made a speech to anyone left sober enough to listen then retreated to Marlow. The following day he had in his sights a place apparently "proverbial for it's wickedness" - the village of Cookham Dean. Here he gathered a large audience, but again it was dominated by hecklers. Things got heated and poor George was thrown down to the ground twice, and attempts were made to tear off his coat. Two passing men apparently intervened at this point and George's coat was saved. One report even mentions the firing of guns, into the air we hope. Was he deterred? Not at all. The next week he was back in sinful Cookham Dean. Unfortunately so were the hecklers who this time formed a parade, lead by the unnamed daughter of a beer seller. They banged kettles and pans, sang "lewd songs" and generally tried to blot out George's words. One member of this raucous band is nevertheless said to have heard enough to inspire him to fall to his knees and weep for his sins. Or so it was later reported. However when George asked the audience to step forward and give their name and address if they wished to form a local group, no one moved. Not surprising given the reception George had recieved! But as he walked away, he was followed by a few individuals who did want to do just as he asked, now they were out of sight of their disapproving neighbours. The first meeting of this little group was said to have been made in a quarry, and was used later as an example of how unpromising beginnings could sometimes lead to success. Back in Marlow, George had a sleepless night, worried about the folk of Cookham. On waking he was filled with determination that they should have a meeting place at Cookham Dean, and so they did. Hiring a room at first, they got a chapel in 1842. 

 

Humble beginnings

I am not sure of the location of Marlow's 1831 Primitive Methodist Chapel but a new chapel was built near Dean street in 1841. It was located in Marefield Passage, which ran off Cambridge Road - the garages that stand between Creswell Row and Marefield Rd are it's approximate location today.  Later described as poor and small, the chapel was nevertheless big enough to accommodate a gallery extension in 1846 that increased capacity by 70 persons. In 1851, the average attendance was given as 200 persons for evening services, and 100 each at the morning and afternoon ones. There were then an average of 50 children attending the morning and afternoon Sunday Schools. 

Preacher James Hatch, born in Cookham Dean was a Primitive Methodist convert as a young man. He later moved to Marlow, working in his day job as a fisherman.  While he still attended the Cookham Dean Chapel at first, he later became one of the primary movers to build his fellow worshippers a more spacious place of worship in Marlow. So the building we now know as Liston Hall came into being. 

Handsome and commodious

It was not an easy undergoing for a relatively small congregation. It cost £1,920 pounds including the large Sunday school room, the purchase of land* (and the purchase of a neighbouring cottage according to some). Of this huge sum, only £700 had been raised before building began. It was completed and ready for use in 1875. James Hatch was then the treasurer and worked with "courage and self denying perseverance" to reduce the debt. He was able to make some dent in the amount, and prevented the high annual running costs from adding to what was owed. Known to carry his "collecting book" wherever he travelled, he is said never have lost the opportunity to solicit donations. But sadly he died suddenly aged 59 in 1882, by which time the building account was still not settled. (See notes below) A mention of a concerted drive to free the chapel of the hampering effect of lingering debt as late as 1907 suggests their funds were never very healthy. Unfortunately their membership had also declined at this point. 

Time capsules set in place

But back to the optimistic opening of the new chapel. Some of the funds for the Sunday school room in particular had been raised by the children attending it. In honour of their contribution, the boy and girl who raised the most were invited to take part in the ceremony to lay the foundation stones of the new schoolroom in 1874. Walter Lunnon and Lucy Smith were the lucky two youngsters allowed to lay bricks. Under the very first brick of this part, laid by Mr Simpson Carson, was a bottle come time capsule containing a newspaper and statistics, carefully placed in a cavity beneath by Mrs James Hatch. (A foundation stone bearing the name of J Hatch and family was also put in place.)

The laying of foundation stones for the main chapel part took place separately and attracted an audience of 250. The very first stone was laid by donor Mrs Davis and there is mention of a bottle time capsule placed under one of the corner stones on this occasion too. It contained newspapers and coins. Altogether 13 engraved cornerstones were placed around the building in honour of those who helped bring it about, although not all are easily visible now.

The Chapel in everyday life

The chapel may not have had an organ but it did have an harmonium and a small but enthusiastic choir so they must have livened up Chapel Street for passers by. They were blessed with a magic lantern bought especially for the pleasure of the Sunday School children and used on all kinds of treat days for them. They could also count on an annual school trip, with the beautiful Burnham Beeches a popular choice.  The children's library maintained by the Sunday School must have been invaluable to the poorer children in particular. In 1884 it had 133 volumes, paid for by voluntary contributions by the 10 teachers as well as the young pupils themselves. Those youngsters who attended Sunday School on a regular basis could also earn themselves a prize. 

Throughout the year the Chapel hosted various public teas, Band of Hope meetings, occasional moral lectures, and watch night celebrations on New Years Eve. The harvest festival was an especially beautiful time to visit, with every corner of the Chapel decorated. Fund raising bazaars were also a regular feature, usually offering produce, fancy goods made by the ladies of the congregation and in 1885 an intriguing sounding "curiosity show" of old artwork organised by Mrs Young. 

The Chapel was on the Maidenhead circuit of preachers and sometimes received visits from those based further away. Of course some Marlow men also went out to preach in the surrounding areas. Special mention must go to William Evans, affectionately known as Father Evans. He was born in Marlow, near the Swan Inn and later lived in Victoria Road. In 1888 he received a public tea and presentation in his honour thanks to his 50 years of service to Primitive Methodism. He continued to preach in the neighbourhood after this, walking 10 miles or more on a Sunday because he refused to travel by train on the Sabbath. Eventually he was forced to retire, not least because he became deaf, but he still attended services at the Marlow Chapel even so. He died age 84 in 1899, both of his wives having predeceased him. 

The Primitive Methodists joined the Wesleyan Methodists of Spittal Street in 1932, and the Chapel was put up for sale. It was bought for the town by Nesta Liston and then used for various purposes including a library.  It now hosts the Marlow Community Association. 

Mrs J Jones made a donation towards building the chapel hence this stone

Original front of building partially obscured by a later extension. There was a door below this window, with a small patch of grass and a gravel path in front. The date of 1874 indicates when the building work began - the foundation stones were laid in October of that year. It was ready for full use in 1875. 

Stone for the Rev'ds C Smith and C Spooner (of Windsor), ministers

 J Watson [Superintendent of  the Sunday School]

Mr R Wellicome [Richard] His design was used for the building according to contemporary reports. Although one also credits builder/architect Charles Carter with the design and builder Corby with the construction. Richard certainly designed the Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Spittal Street. 

? J S Carson [Capt. J Simpson Carson, who laid the first stone of the school room and received a silver trowel as a keepsake]

M.S Carson Esq [Marriott Simpson Carson, who laid the second stone of the Sunday school room, and received a bound copy of a history of Primitive Methodism as a memento. His wife also laid a stone but received no prize! ]

Mr H Roberts. Other stones commemorate Charles Carter, and supporters W Sellman and family, T Wheeler, W Neville, Miss J Jones and Miss Marks. 

* The land the chapel was built on included the former site of the boys day school run by Methodist George Cole. As Sergeant Cole he was formerly  employed the junior branch of the Royal Military Academy at Remnantz. He is credited with bringing the first organised Wesleyan Methodist meetings to the town, and driving the erection of their 1810 chapel.  See the grave of George in a post here

Researched and written by Kathryn Day with updates by Charlotte Day. Photos by Kathryn. 

NOTES

James Hatch was buried at the Cookham Dean Primitive Methodist Chapel, in a spot he had chosen years before when he was one of the people responsible for beautifying and properly enclosing the burial ground. The funeral was said to have been attended by many Marlow tradesman. There was no burial ground at the Marlow premises. Cookham chapel was rebuilt 1858. 

2. Within the larger Great Marlow  area, there was also a small Primitive Methodist Chapel at Lane End, erected 1861. 

Related posts: 

The Wesleyans at Marlow: 

here

Index of posts related to places of worship: here

Index of posts related to specific streets, business or buildings  see here

To find all mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

SOURCES

The History of the Primitive Methodism Connection.  Petty, John. (R Davies, 1864)

Primitive Methodist Magazine, 1847 and 1884. (Thomas Holliday, 1847,1884) 

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1853, 1869, 1939, Kelly's Directories Ltd. 

History and Topography of Buckinghamshire. Sheahan, James Joseph. (Longman, Green, Longman & Roberts, 1862)

1861 Census, transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte Day 

Maidenhead Advertiser, 7 November 1888 and 20 September 1889, from British Library Archive, and accessed via the BNA August 2020. 

Reading Observer, 17 October 1874, as above. 

South Bucks Standard 13 April 1894, 20 September 1907, as above. 

Buckinghamshire Returns of the census of religious worship 1851, Bucks Record Office. 

Slough, Windsor and Eton Observer October 17 1885 -Slough Library. 

©Marlow Ancestor

Sarah Evans Of Oxford Road Almshouses

Sarah Evans

An 81 year old lace worker Sarah, a widow, lived at the Almshouses in Oxford Road Marlow at the time of the 1871 census. Elizabeth Dempster who was a 62 year old retired lace worker was visiting her at the time. 

Sarah had been living in Oxford Road since at least 1840, before she became a widow and thus qualified for an Almshouse. Her husband was David Evans, a chimney sweep originally from Wales. He employed at least two men as well as sweeping himself so was doing well for himself.

Sarah was born Sarah Howard and married David in Marlow in 1811. In 1840 their Oxford Road cottage was a thatched one. There was at least a couple of thatched cottages in Oxford Road then as well as at least one in Chapel Street, unfortunately all lost now.

Sarah's daughter "Mrs Bowles" [Sarah, wife of James Bowles] sadly seems to have been a problem drinker, the police often having been called to the Evans home because Mrs Bowles was there drunk and causing disruption. On one occasion when she broke plates belonging to David and Sarah she was taken to court by them but Sarah had a change of heart and asked for her daughter not to be prosecuted [some details from Berkshire Chronicle 20th June 1846].

Sarah herself was in trouble in 1857 for allegedly spitting at and hitting in the face her tenant Jane Blake. Sarah had gone to remind her about some nearly due rent. Mrs Blake did not take kindly to this and a verbal confrontation followed. It was said that Sarah then launched her attack and challenged her to come out and gight.The judge said that if she paid all the costs of the case for both sides the charge could be withdrawn (presumably with Mrs Blake's agreement). This decision isn't explained in any surviving record I have found but Sarah went with it. It implies that she was the guilty party as she had to pay both side's costs but that she was not thought likely to repeat the offence and thus need any further deterrent to be applied to her.

The tenant in question was Rebecca Blake the photographer who lived in West Street with her husband. A biographical post on her is on the blog here. In that post you will see that Rebecca herself was also an Almshouse resident as a widow. 

So for a chimney sweep David Evans wasn't doing too badly if he owned or leased a property he could rent out. He had at least two adult employees so perhaps he was more the business owner than anything else.

He died in 1864, Sarah in 1878 [GRO Death Index].

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

Census information is my own transcription from microfilm readers. The original censuses remain Crown Copyright.

Related posts

Other occupants of Oxford Road Almshouses see this post, this one and here

For all mentions of someone on this blog try the Person Index.

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

What Did Platts Use To Be?

 

The site of a farmhouse throughout the 1600s to at least the earlier 1700s this building was used for a grocery shop come cheesemongers in the 1840s and early 1850s by Thomas Butler who later went on to be the postmaster in the West Street Post Office. 

The building then became the premises of Robert Graham the pawnbroker who was probably a Scot by origin. Robert's apprentice Joseph Evans took over the business in 1861 or 62 in partnership with Alfred Edward Batting but they dissolved their business relationship in 1864 and Alfred continued alone.

In 1860 Joseph Evans was one of the witnesses to give evidence against Mary Hill a needlewoman living with the Frith family also of Quoiting Square who stole towels and ribbons from the Frith's and tried to pawn them in Robert Graham's shop. I think she needed to make a bit more of a getaway first! The house the Frith's occupied no longer stands but it was about 30 seconds walk from the pawnbrokers, if that.

Joseph Evans and Alfred Batting together and then Alfred Batting alone also operated as furniture brokers and secondhand clothes dealers.

Alfred ended up moving premises into nearby Market Square leaving his Quoiting Square shop to be taken over by furniture dealer Alfred East circa 1880. Mr East was eventually able to live off site, the big dream of all Victorian and Edwardian shopkeepers. Being able to separate business and home life was the sign that you'd made it. His home Myneholme was in Institute Road.

More Quoiting Square shopkeepers will feature in future posts. List of 1700s occupiers of property in the Square here. More Quoiting Square related posts are listed here. Use the Person Index to find all mentions of someone on this blog.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors. Please feel free to use my research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here. You are also free to use my photo here.