Life for the men of Bovingdon Green camp in WW1

 As many people whose ancestors passed through the First World War troop camps at Bovingdon Green have contacted us to find out what life for their relatives was like there, here's a post to give some more information. The camps may also be described as Marlow Common  - they did not as you may think only occupy the actual green at Bovingdon. When you realise the camp sometimes accommodated as many as 2000 men plus hospital tents, messes, etc you will see how they could not all squeeze onto that patch of land. They occupied farm fields around the area and did their training activities over a wider area still. 

For the detailed timeline of who was occupying the camps and when please see the timelines linked below. 

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918-19. 

Familiar spot for some

Troops came from various parts of  southern and eastern England. Some stayed weeks, others months. For many it was their last taste of sleeping in England before being sent to the front. The Bovingdon Green camp and land around Marlow and Temple had been used before the war for training camps by both the regular and territorial armies. So some of those attending may well have already been familiar with the area. And of course not all those in the camps or stationed at Marlow were non locals - the Bankers Battalion in particular recruited a number of Marlow area residents. 

Arrival

The men almost always arrived by train at Marlow station. This left them with a march through the town, up Oxford Rd to the small village of Bovingdon Green. Every single train bringing in troops was well known about in advance - and so the arrival was never allowed to pass unmarked. People gathered at the station even when technically they were forbidden to get in the way. Residents stopped what they were doing to watch the men pass. Most were proceeded by a band, or at least a drummer. Photographers captured many of these arrivals and turned them into postcards which were sold to the troops in camp as well as in local shops. 

The territorials had arrived for a regular training camp at Bovingdon Green just before the declaration of war in 1914. Their camp therefore broke up after less than 24 hours. The message bringing news of their mobilisation for war arrived at Marlow station. Station master Morgan was frantic as of course the moment the message came was exactly when all of his messengers were already out on errands. He saw Marlow man Vincent Timberlake who he knows has access to a car and asked him to take this "most urgent" message to the camp. Vincent's driving licence had just expired and so he initially said he could not go, but when told it was a subject of national interest he did. His reward was to be very unluckily stopped and arrested for driving without a licence! However the charges against him were dismissed when the nature of his errand was revealed. After the territorials aborted visit, Marlow was left without any troops billeted there for some time - much to their disgust. Some felt it was an actual insult for Marlow not to have received any - other local towns with less history of hosting had got them, so why not us they said. Marlow's General Sir George Higginson was asked to use his personal influence and connections to do something to remedy the situation. He said there was little he could do, but it was generally considered he was responsible for those first that did arrive - of the Grenadier Guards in May (advance party to erect camp) and June 1915. The result is that the troops that came appear to have been very much wanted and welcomed by the majority of residents. 

The area around the camp is rich with beech woodland, above. 

Camp facilities - post office and all

The majority of the men slept under canvas, with the officers mostly occupying other premises. Some of the officers temporarily rented a house in Marlow and bought their wives and children along. Others were sharing accomodation. 

As soon as the first men arrived at Bovingdon Green, a YMCA tent was erected. This was initially under the charge of vicars daughter Miss Audrey Light, who later was working as a nurse in military hospitals.  She lent on locals to furnish it with everything from trestle tables for the serving of refreshments to a meat safe, gramophone and a piano. The tent hosted concerts, lectures and sometimes religious services. Performances were not just by local enthusiasts but stars of the London music halls came down to offer entertainment. Another distinguished visitor was the Prince of Wales who motored over from Windsor in August 1915. And camp residents also put on their own performances in the YMCA tent - often for local Marlow charity appeals. 

Newspapers and magazines were gathered to provide the men with a "reading room" and there were also writing tables with free supplies of paper, envelopes and ink. Three thousand sheets of writing paper were given out every day at it's height! The makeshift post office even dealt with parcels. 

The local ladies at the YMCA tent helped the men organise transport when they were on leave and mended, washed and altered clothing free of charge. A fruit stall offered food at prices to suit soldiers meagre pockets - produce was donated by local farmers and greengrocers and sold at a loss. 

All members at the camp in 1915 were enrolled as free honorary members of Marlow Institute (now the town library in Institute rd). This provided access to a comfortable reading room, library and the ever popular billiards table. 

Officers outside their lodgings at The Old House, West Street. Image courtesy of Michael Eagleton. 

Obviously the majority of the men were there to finalise their training before leaving for the front, but time was still found for more fun activities that were also considered good for morale and skill building. Our visiting troops were very fond of water sports days and regattas and with the River Thames close at hand who can blame them? Marlow's own regatta was cancelled for the duration of the war so there was a ready audience to watch them. The officers were frequently seen on the river at weekends, enjoying the free use of rowing boats and punts that many offer them. The Marlow bathing place (a roped off part of the river backwater accessed from Quarry Wood Rd on the Bisham side of the Thames) was offered free of charge for soldiers use - outside of the time it was reserved for the ladies naturally. 

There are many reports of football and cricket matches played at the camp in the summer evenings. They also played in what is now Riley Recreation Ground againgst other military sides. 

When the Grenadier Guards were in camp their band visited about weekly, and the public were invited to attend. It was noted that the ladies of Marlow bought flowers for the visiting Guard musicians to take back to London with them. The performances were a very popular attraction. In fact the public were constantly joining events there. A grand 4,000 people attended the Grenadier Guard sports at Bovingdon Green in August 1915! Such sports days were a regular feature throughout the camps life. Events ranged from more serious sports to the definitely more fun - mounted wrestling matches, running races in fancy dress etc. In fact events involving dressing as a woman were perennial favourites! 

Once the Grenadier Guards left, Marlow's music lovers must have been disappointed but the Bankers Battalion did start a brass band when they were in camp in 1915. 

Above, The Royal Oak, one of then two pubs at Bovingdon Green.. unfortunately for the men both were periodically made out of bounds to them - but this was widely ignored. Marlow was a 10-15 minute walk down a footpath bordering Hanging Hill. 

News from the front

If you are used to reading heavily censored letters and materials from the second world war it can seem jarring to read the honesty of some of the republished letters from the front that appeared in local press in WW1. Copies of these papers were taken up to the camp and would have made sober reading for those waiting for their own turn at the front. Right from the start you can read descriptions of horrific mud, of men walking through woods with no room to place their feet except upon dead bodies, of men openly expressing the wish to be bought away injured in the face of such huge numbers of dead. Of course there was also very patriotic and jingoistic sentiments revealed too. As the war went on it's obvious that men are writing with the knowledge their thoughts and news would find its way into print, even if they recorded them in letters ostensibly to their parents.

The local papers also continued to report news about any groups of  soldiers that been billeted at Marlow after they left. It was definitely not the case that they were out of sight and out of mind once they had moved away even if they were not primarily local men. 

Training 

Shortly after their arrival in 1915 the Grenadier Guards were reported to have got stuck in to trench digging and field exercises in the woods to the North of Marlow. Some of the practice trenches dug during the war at Marlow common can still be seen today although they have become less defined and much shallower even in my lifetime. It is not certain whether those remaining were those dug by the Guards or were made by the Royal Engineers who followed them into camp. I think it's been the assumption that the latter were responsible as to quote many a local "digging trenches is what they do".  I think this is also partly because it was not realised that the Guards had definitely engaged in this activity at Marlow - and got there first. 

The sight of soldiers marching from camp through the town to the territorials long established shooting ranges under Quarry Woods was a familiar one. They often paused in Quoiting Square on their way in and out. There were complaints of the men using it as an outdoor urinal - and so Marlow's first so called "public" convenience arrived at a spot opposite the waterworks in Chalk Pit Lane. It was put up primarily for the troops but it seems anyone male could use it. This was the only real complaint I've ever seen about the soldiers behaviour in Marlow. 

Events of November 1915 and after

A gale in the above month and year flattened most of the sleeping tents at Bovingdon Green - and actually just about all the others such as the officers and sergeants mess tents. Only the beloved YMCA one plus a RAMC orderly tent and a couple used for storage in the ordnance depot were left standing - just about. The men did their best to shelter in what was left - and not for the first time. It was decided to secure accomodation in the various empty buildings in the town instead initially as a temporary measure. But in the end the majority of the men never went back there to live. They remained lodged in what must have been much more comfortable quarters in Marlow! However usage of the camp site was not immediately abandoned. It was decided to keep the ordnance compound tents, at least for a few weeks. And of course they could not be left unguarded so a few unfortunate guards were left camping there. 

The YMCA relocated to an empty shop in the High Street. 

When the Royal Engineers arrived later in 1915 they went into billets in the town too, and although they were also expected to re locate back to the Bovingdon Green camp after the winter, they did not. 

Some of the properties used for lodging for troops at some point include: 

Spinfield

Hillside (off Seymour Court Rd) 

Quarry Wood House (at junction Dedmere Rd and Victoria Rd)

The Old House, West Street 

Upstairs at The Institute 

The Public Hall (now the Masonic Centre, St Peters Street) 

The old boys school (aka the Church Hall, the Causeway)

Sunnybank (Riverside) 

The original cottage hospital (Cambridge House, Cambridge Rd) 

and many other homes, hotels, and former business premises. 

A certificate from The Overseas Club 1915 stating that a young Marlovian had contributed towards Christmas gifts to "our brave sailors and  soldiers who are fighting for honour, freedom & justice". 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related posts: 

See links at top for info about Marlow in WW1 in general and info about troops billeted in Marlow after the camps break up. 

If you are interested in Bovingdon Green and Marlow Common in general see the post index here

© Marlow Ancestors.

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.

War Dead Congregational Church

The Imperial War Museum has transcribed the memorial to the members of the Congregational Church (as it was then called) in Quoiting Square Marlow who fought in the First World War.  The transcribed names are listed below and I have added some research into those young men.

Bartlett, Gilbert

Batting, Horace

Grove, William B

Keates, Ronald

Loaring, William J

Peddle, Alfred 

Plumridge, Albert E

Robinson, William

Smith, Henry J

Research:

Gilbert Bartlett. Son of Mrs and Noah Bartlett. Born 1891. His dad ran a grocer's shop in West Street overlooking Quoiting Square. I believe Gilbert is also memorialised in the WW 1 memorial in Sir William Borlase School, which he certainly attended. He had emigrated to South Africa by the time the war started and was thus serving in the South African infantry when he died in 1916. More about his parents in this post where you can find a picture of their premises as they are today.

Horace Batting. Born Horace John Batting 1897 to Charlotte and John Batting. Dad was a gardener. He himself was a grocer's assistant. Lived York Road as a small child. As a 13 year old Herbert was soloist in the Congregational Church's choir. Lance Corporal in the Royal Fusiliers. Died 29th April 1917. On the war memorial at Arras. Parents had previously suffered the loss of their 3 year old daughter Gertrude.

William B Grove. Born 1897 to George and Emma Grove. Lived 1901 Cambridge Place, Cambridge Road. Died 1915. Kings Royal Rife Corps. Featured on the Menin Gate memorial. Dad George worked on the river as a boat building labourer, waterman and a steam launch driver as well as being an amateur rower.

Ronald Keates. In full Ronald Sidney Keates. Born 1895 to Anne and James. Grew up West Street Marlow. Age 10 won a prize in Marlow Horticultural Show 1905 for a bunch of wildflowers he had picked. I know it is a minor thing to mention but the image of the child Ronald wandering peacefully in the fields enjoying the flowers struck a chord with me when I read it considering what he would later live through. Private in the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry. Before the war he was a clerk. His father James was a builder's foreman, elected parish constable and town councillor.

William J Loaring. Private in the Royal Fusiliers 13th Battalion. Killed 4th August 1917 by a sniper. Included on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres. Employed at Morgan's the drapers in the High Street before the war. The Morgans were also Congregational Church members. To see an historic photo of the premises where William worked or to read more about the Morgan family see my post here

Alfred Peddle. Born 1894 to Alfred and Helen Peddle.

Above, grave of Alfred Harry Peddle. Killed In Action in France March 2nd 1917 age 22. Of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.  Grave is in Marlow Cemetery. He is buried with his parents who lived in York Road at the time of his death. He was a plumber.

Albert E Plumridge. Albert Ernest. Born 1881 in Bisham. Did not die until some years after the war. It may have been considered that his military service caused his death nevertheless. He was badly gassed in 1917 and was sent home to hospital in Stourbridge England. Albert was a worker at Temple Mills before becoming a motor launch driver on the river. He lived at Bisham with his wife Edith (née Finch) at first before moving to West End Gardens Marlow. These houses still exist but are not now known under that name. They are in Henley Road Marlow. Albert had been a regular player for Bisham football team as a teen / young adult, sometimes serving as the Vice Captain. I think he may also have been a rower.

William Robinson. Possibly born 1885 to Alice and William Robinson.

Henry J Smith. The town's main war memorial gives the name H.W Smith which was Henry William, who may be a relative. Henry J was a Private in the Buck's Battalion.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

For detailed posts on Marlow in WW1 see Kathryn's Posts 1914  1915  1916  1917  1918 and 1919

For more church related content see the Church Related option on the menu. There are also A-Z Person Indexes, Graves  and Wills options on the menu.

Sources Include:

Transcription of the memorial is ©WMR-8379. Imperial War Museum. Available on a Creative Commons BY-NC licence. 

Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Details of memorials on the continent and dates of death.

Bucks Herald 25th August 1917. Copy held at the British Library archives. Accessed March 2021 via the BNA.

South Bucks Standard 23rd December 1910. As above.

Reading Mercury 25th August 1917.

1891 and 1901 Census transcribed from microfilm images by me.

World War One Service Records 1914-20 database online. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVBG-1V55 WO 363. National Archives, Kew.

War Memorial All Saints Church, Marlow (commemorates all denominations).

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse our research if you link here so that the sources listed above remain credited for the information they provided.

Grave of Sergt Ernest Henry Wye Clark, Holy Trinity Marlow

 

"In loving and honoured memory of Sergt Ernest Henry Wye Clark 2nd Rifle Brigade. The beloved and only son of George and Sarah Clark who fell at Passchendaele August 16 1917; aged 26 years. 

To memory ever dear. 

This memorial is placed here by his loving mother" 

Notes= his parents, who lived in Queens Road, suffered the agony of not knowing what had happened to their son after he was reported missing for almost a year. Ernest was an under gardener at Medmenham Abbey before volunteering to fight.

Grave Index here

© Marlow Ancestors. If using content credit this blog and link here.

Maldah, Institute Road

 

Above is a photo of the house Maldah in Institute Road Marlow. Maldah is a place in Bengal India. It isn't yet clear to me why the house was named after it. Quite a few properties in old Marlow had names reflecting places in the British Empire. We are hoping to write posts on their history to go along with this one.

The first resident I can definitely identify at Maldah was living there in 1898- William Popham, an electrical engineer at a time when electrical engineering was still very new, exciting and marvellous in the eyes of the average person. Though English William was an associate member of the American Institute Of Electrical Engineers (founded by Thomas Edison and Nicholas Tesla amongst others). This organisation had international links and an international outlook. William was connected to and may have worked directly for electrical engineer R.H Barnett of Newcastle, England. In 1899 at the age of about 30 he married at St Margaret's Westminster Rose Hervey. She then lived with her parents in Powys Square London but had been born and raised in colonial India (so perhaps suggested the name Maldah?). The couple split their time between London and Maldah, Marlow. I feel that the latter was perhaps mostly their summertime or weekend residence. It does not appear that they had any children.

Rose Popham was clearly a great admirer of the British Empire. She gave many public speeches in London urging English women to go to South Africa so that British men could find brides there after the South African Wars and was Secretary of the British Women's Emigration Association. She also helped English schools to find schools in the colonies to exchange letters with so that the children could learn about each other's different lives. Whether the foreign schools approached were those catering for European emigrant children or local ones or a mixture of both isn't clear. Rose offered help to any British teachers that were working in Colonial schools who wanted to return to Britain for rest or medical treatment but could not afford to do so.

When he wasn't working William was reading up on the latest research into the Vikings for whom he had a great passion. He was a member of and for while the Honorary Auditor of, the national Viking Club group of enthusiasts.

The couple kept Maldah until 1904 when the house and some of its furniture were put up for sale. After they left Marlow William became a stockbroker. In 1914 he volunteered for service in the Air Force. He survived World War One, not dying until the 1940s.

By 1914 the occupiers of Maldah were Beryl and William Onslow Secker who moved there from Wood End House near Marlow. Beryl had attended a meeting at Danesfield, Medmenham in 1912 of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. This was an organisation opposed to violent methods of gaining emancipation for women. More on suffragettes in Marlow and opposition to their cause see Kathryn's post here.

In 1916 the couple were paying £80 a year rent on the property. That year the freehold was put up for sale with them as sitting tenants but failed to attract sufficient bidding for a sale to go through. 

William was a soldier who had become a successful tea planter at Kandy Sri Lanka before returning to England in 1906 -07 with enough money to need no further employment. The First World War however disturbed the peace of rich and poor alike and William volunteered to rejoin the Army.

In 1918 William successfully sued for slander former Marlow police constable Edward Trim who had, whilst home on leave from military service during the war, spread about the completely false rumour that poor William was a German spy who had been paid hundreds of pounds through secret channels to betray his country. Trim bragged that he had played a major role in identifying and arresting William as a spy. William was he insisted languishing in the Tower of London as a result. Actually William was serving in the army as a loyal soldier. When he got wind of the slander he obtained leave to go home and launch legal action against Trim. The judge in the case said that he felt that Trim had lied because he had wanted to make himself seem important to those he spoke to in the Crown public house and an unnamed Marlow stationery shop. The slander against William was not merely untrue it was highly dangerous. Given the intensity of feeling such allegations would have aroused William's life and even that of his wife, not to mention the security of their home would have been at risk from angry mobs. 

William survived the war. He and Mrs Secker was still resident at Maldah in 1939 when she exhibited a tapestry of nearby Bisham Abbey. Their son Gerald left Marlow and became a rubber planter in Sri Lanka in 1920. 

The Seckers may have been related to the local Wethered family as Alice Wethered, elderly widow of Owen Peel Wethered of Tenerife died at Maldah in 1918.

Our blog focuses on the period up to the 1930's so I'll leave it there! 

All mentions of any person on this blog can be found by consulting the A-Z Person Index -there is a Harry Secker on there for instance who may be of interest. Thousands of people are listed on the index. More posts related to Institute Road or surrounding streets can be found on this index 

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. Photo by Kathryn Day.

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

Sources

Country-side: Monthly Journal of the B.E.N.A. (British Empire Naturalists' Association).. United Kingdom, n.p, 1908.

"England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW2N-XRK : 16 May 2019), W Vyvyan M Popham, Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

J.A. Berly's Universal Electrical Directory and Advertiser. United Kingdom, Wm. Dawson & Sons, 1900.

Saga-book of the Viking Club. (1980). United Kingdom: Viking Club.

The Electrician Electrical Trades Directory and Handbook. United Kingdom, Benn Brothers., 1893.

Bucks Herald 11th June 1894. Reading Mercury 8th July 1916. Reading Mercury February 11th 1939. Evening Herald (Dublin) 20th February 1918 British Library Archives.

South Bucks Standard. 18th January 1912. British Library Archives, via the BNA.

Proceedings of the Planters' Association of Ceylon. Sri Lanka, The Association, 1907.

"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:26M8-K64 : 13 December 2014), Beryl Brunton, 1897; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1897, quarter 3, vol. 1A, p. 1005, St. George Hanover Square, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. 

Prospect Road, Marlow

Above a decaying street sign for the road. Its very first sign was put up on a Mr Taylor's house in 1899. This will be a later replacement presumably.

 Originally called Marefield Place then Prospect Place and then finally the modern Prospect Road. The first six homes there had an additional collective name Prospect Row but be warned cottages in Wycombe Road near Prospect House were also referred to as Prospect Row (not to mention there being elsewhere Prospect Cottages and Prospect Villas- in case you haven't already noticed it Marlow people were very careless when inventing house names and haphazard at rendering addresses).

The road was built up from circa the 1850s but it was never fully developed, with market gardens and allotments rather than homes taking up most of the space down one side. A carriage building premises was the only commercial property firmly within Prospect Road. More on that in the post "A heroic former resident" linked below. There was also by the early 20th century a shop on the corner of Prospect Road and Queens Road but the entrance was in the latter.

In 1891 4 brick cottages within the road each consisting of 5 rooms and having a garden and outhouse were put up for sale "with good tenants" in place. The character of the street was what Victorians would have classed as "respectable working class" but there were several "rough" streets in the immediate vicinity and conditions weren't physically great in Prospect Road either. The road was taken over by the council in 1892 because its private owner had left the road surface in a "disgraceful state".

In 1894 Dr Dickson complained that a well used for drinking water by 6 of the cottages was at high risk of contamination due to it having been dug only a few feet from a privy and scarcely any further from a cess pit. He finally managed to get the well closed off six years later. 

You have to wonder if gas was not laid on until late in the street for in 1905 some wind blew over the lighted candle that George Sadler was using to light his room, nearly burning the house down. Thankfully both he and his neighbours were on the ball and sprang into action swiftly both to fight the fire and summon further help. It is possible George did have a partial gas supply as in this period some people did not fit gas lighting upstairs even if they did below. There was a fear of dying in your sleep from a gas leak if gas lights were used upstairs.

Prospect Road residents didn't cause much trouble compared to their nearby neighbours elsewhere in the Marefield area or Dean Street but there were a few incidents of fallings out that came before the courts. Eliza Allen newly arrived in 1901 from the virtual shanty town outside Marlow known as "Cape Town" soon fell out with her neighbours Nellie Harvey and Edith Howse. She was fined 5 shillings for assaulting each with the threat of a week in jail per fine if she didn't pay them. She hadn't turned up to court. Her husband William, who worked at the paper mills and as a bootmaker, had previously spent a month in jail for stealing a barrel when they lived at Cape Town. Eliza sometimes worked as a needlewoman. There's a post all about Cape Town on the blog here.

William and Elizabeth Todd, residents of Prospect Road, lost two sons during the First World War - William and Augustus. William had just married while Augustus died in Turkish custody in 1917 after months as a prisoner of war.

The road today, above, shows no historic buildings. The first homes there were all on the left side of the street with market gardens and allotments on the other side and at the end.

More related posts:

Grave of one time resident John Lunnon Taylor here.

An heroic historic resident here

Grave photo and info about former resident Alfred Peddle here

Sources Included:

Maidenhead Advertiser 22nd July 1891. South Bucks Standard 10th November 1899 and 8th September 1905. British Newspaper Archive.

England censuses, my transcription from microfilm.

Private correspondence.

Dunham Grave, Marlow

 

This grave inscription is sunk in to the grass so apologies not much of an image can be made! 

Thomas Augustus Dunham, died June 13 1919, age 54. 

AND 

Alice his wife, died August 25 1941 age 82

It is located at Marlow Cemetery. 

Thomas was the relieving and vaccination officer and the registrar of births and deaths. He also served on the Marlow Tribunal during the First World War and as school attendance officer. 

Thomas was one of those in charge of  fundraising to provide the South African Wars memorial plaque in Institute Road - see it here

He was also a sporting man, connected to the Rowing Club and one to tinkle the ivories at some of their events. 

He organised the 1911 census in Marlow. 

See the General History Posts menu here to find all posts relating to that period and the tribunals work. One of the Dunham's addresses in Marlow was Carlton Villa, Station Road.

©Marlow Ancestors

Clanchy Family Grave And Info Great Marlow "Died for King and Country"

 

This grave in Holy Trinity churchyard is quite faded and contains a large crack across the centre. Photo from September 2020.

Grave is for Edith Ellen Clanchy who died March 12th 1909 age 54, and her husband James who died July 14 1920 age 64 along with their two sons who died in the Great War / WW1 Sherry and James.

Sherry died May 14 191(5?)

age 26, 

James died November 20 1918 age 32. 

"Died for King and Country" 

Rest of inscription reads - "Until the day breaks, when shadows flee" 

Edith and James Senior moved to Marlow from their native Hampshire. 

 Sherry was a gardener while James junior became a printer. James Senior was a gas fitter.

1901 census entry from Family search International ran by the LDS. Accessed online September 2020.

© Marlow Ancestors.  You are welcome to reproduce the image of the grave with credit to this blog. If copying the text of this post you must link here so that any sources used by me remain credited for the information they provided.

Little Marlow WW1 Memorial

 

© Marlow Ancestors. Photographed August 2020. Image may be copied without permission.

Early History of York Road, Marlow *updated*

 Updated by Charlotte October 2024.

York Road was officially adopted as a name for this new road in December 1884. There were a few houses already there which went by the name of  York Villas so the new name made sense. York Road was one of the earliest streets in the town laid out with all properties having running water available.

Despite this foresight the street was not favoured with universally high standards of building. Serious concerns about the structural integrity of some of the houses (which ones not specified) soon occurred. Their owners  on pain of the houses being condemned to demolition otherwise were forced by local authorities to carry out remedial work. Jerry building was very common in late Victorian times in the rush to build enough new homes. Properties in nearby Eton Place and Queens Road built around the same time were also problematic with some being pulled down scarcely a generation after being put up due to low quality workmanship. The remedial builders in York Road thankfully did an excellent job and we still have this attractive street in the town today.

Most of the early development seems to have been on the Dean Street side. The land in both sides had previously been in agricultural use. Though mostly residential there was also space in York Road for some businesses. Thomas Lomax ran a flour, coal and petrol dealership there in the late 1880s and there were two marine store dealers too. These had nothing to do with marine occupations despite the name. They were second hand sellers which dealt with goods primarily of interest to trade and business buyers- old pipes, nails, rope, agricultural implements, hand tools, barrels, timber etc. Some marine store dealers had shops but many like the York Road ones traded simply out of sheds and open yards. Daniel Clark's premises seem to have been at the Queen's Road end on the Oxford Road side. Though marine store keepers had to be licensed it was seen as a low class and slightly suspicious occupation. Many operated close to the edges of the law or beyond them. Daniel Clark, in York Road by 1891 and for many years later, was certainly a ne'er do well, pulling dodgy deals and, much worse, ill using both his horse and his wife Annie. She successfully applied for a separation order from him in 1908 after years of cruelty, seemingly fueled by alcohol. She later returned to him.

His proper name was Cooper Daniel Clark.

In 1917 Daniel and Annie, given as residing at number 19 York Road, received news that their two sons, previously listed as missing after "the fight for Kut" in January were now regarded as both presumed killed in action. These were Private S and Private Harold Clark, 4th Hampshire Regiment [Sidney born 1892 and Harold 1895]*

The couple's daughter Lydia was a cook but also helped her father out in his business, sometimes driving his "van" (horse drawn) though not without some brushes with the law as a result. 

In 1920 Daniel's marine stores were said to be at no 21 and his home at no 19. By 1927 the business is listed as A Clark. It has by then something of a flavour of a rag and bone business too by then. See the ad below.

The other late Victorian marine store dealer of York Road was the apparently respectable Mr Simmonds. He dealt hay and straw from the address too but while he had his sheds in the road he himself lived in nearby Dean Street.

What about other occupations?

In the male residents there was a noticeable number of gardeners mentioned in various records, mostly domestic but there were commercial market gardens off nearby Queen's Road that also would have potentially employed some of them.

Charles Sellman was an Edwardian and 1920s painter and decorator resident at no 20. 

Also in the 1920s I find adverts for the dairy of F.E Phillips who was based at no 52 York Road. The below ad dates from 1927.

As for the women, Gertrude Sherwin was a dressmaker there in 1915. The same occupation  was followed by Florence Sellman, daughter of Charles above. To read more about midwife Sarah Ann Price of number 7 York Road in the early 1900s see this post dedicated to her.

As you can see most of the first residents of York Road were working class but there were a few with more money to burn. When resident of Merton Cottage York Road Mary Plaistowe died in 1892 the contents of her home were auctioned off giving us via a report of this in the South Bucks Standard of 19th February 1892 [via the BNA / British Library Collaboration] a glimpse into her comfortable home. Mary could boast a marble topped wash stand, multiple pieces of mahogany furniture, a good pianoforte and a harmonium. She must have enjoyed games as she had a loo table (for the card game loo) and a bagatelle board too. She was probably the only York Road resident with buffalo horns on the wall but there were possibly others displaying that staple of Victorian interior design - a case of stuffed birds.  

Mary was the widow of Richard and had moved to the town from Great Missenden.

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

To find posts dedicated to other specific streets or houses in Marlow see on the menu under "Specific Shops, Streets...Etc". All mentions of an individual on the blog can be found listed on the Person Index.

*posts on Marlow in World War One

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918-19

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

Other Sources included:

Census, Charlotte's transcription from microfilm.

Marlow Almanack and Directory 1907 by Marlow Printing Company.

Kellys Directories of Bucks etc  published by Kelly's Directories Limited 1911, 1915.

Maidenhead Advertiser 24th December 1884, held at the British Library and accessed via the BNA, October 2020. 

Thanks to Jane Pullinger for access to private family material.

Brewery First World War memorial tablet

 

Placed on the courtyard wall, on the right if you enter from the High Street, it's quite high up. 

It reads :

"In  honoured memory of the four employees of the Wethered Brewery who were killed in action during the First World War. 

Private Robert Crew 

Private James Frith

Private Joseph Gilmore

Sergeant Henry Haddon

80 men and women served on the western front, in the Balkans and in the Middle East. Their names are recorded on the Wethered Brewery roll of honour"

Related posts:

World War 1 in Marlow year by year (detailed). See also graves listings for some of the war dead, these are being uploaded gradually.

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918-19

Hurley War Memorial

 

Harris Research and Graves, All Saints and Marlow Cemetery, Great Marlow

 

Above, Grave of Amelia, wife of Ralph Harris d. Aug 2nd 1852 aged 56

ALSO OF:

Ralph Harris husband of the above - d. Feb 24th 1872. Age 82 years. 

Research: Ralph was a cabinet maker with premises High Street Maidenhead from 1822 to 1835 when he sold off all his stock in trade. Probably because his lease was going to be up the next year. He and Amelia lived West Street Marlow by 1851. Ralph was retired by then. He lived on in West Street / West End Gardens after Amelia's death. The couple married at Cookham in 1818. She was née Humphreys.

Above, John Harris Oct 9th 1890 aged 70

Also of :

Margaret Harris d. May 14th 1920 age 85 wife of the above.

Notes:

John may be the son of Ralph and Amelia above, though there is another John Harris the same age as him in Marlow at the same time.

All of the above are located in All Saints. 

Above, grave in Marlow Cemetery. Edith Caroline Harris - June 27 1920 age 33. "Beloved wife and find mother"

NOTE - We try to group graves belonging to individuals of the same surname onto the same page where possible but it does not mean everyone here is related. If graves are adjacent, we will say so. More will be added on a regular basis. We will do our best to upload all readable graves in Marlow that date prior to 1929. 

Use the Graves option on the menu to find more. Some come with research notes on the person buried.

We also are uploading graves from Little Marlow and Hurley gradually plus a few from Bisham.

All mentions of a person on this blog can be found by looking at the Person Index. We are uploading several posts a week so more individuals are listed all the time.

©Marlow Ancestors. Use of these grave images or research is freely allowed for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here. 

Cupper Family of Fair View Glade Road

 

Updated June 2025

I have always thought Fair View House in Glade Road Marlow to be so lovely with all the decorative metalwork so I decided to look into some of the house's former occupiers.

My attention was caught by the Cupper  family so here's a little portrait of them:

Arthur and Eliza Cupper moved to Marlow circa 1890. They were in Glade Road on the 1891 census and in the 1891 Marlow Directory and Almanack though not in Fair View. Arthur was a domestic coachman, just as he had been for years in London before that on the census but when the Directory was published he was listed as a boarding house keeper.

He and his wife married at St Margaret's Westminster in 1869. Arthur was originally from Bramfield, Suffolk [born 1840 to William and Harriet] while Eliza was a London born girl from a family of Sussex origin [nee Hoadley born circa 1850 St George Hanover Square Parish, London to parents John and Mary Ann]. Eliza's father was a footman which made me wonder if he and Eliza's future husband had worked together in a large house.

All the couple's children except their youngest Maud, seem to have been born in Paddington or Marylebone in London. Maud was Marlow born.

By 1895 Eliza was managing Rye Peck House by the river as a private residential hotel (short term apartments with luncheon and tea included). It had been recently converted from a house. The South Bucks Standard was very impressed by the conversion saying that Rye Peck deserved to "become immediately popular amongst those who in search of relaxation and health, estimate cleanliness and comfort at their true value. The house which is excellently fitted up is cosy and well furnished and admirably suited to its purpose" .

Nevertheless this private hotel didn't seem to last long and Eliza turned to running a domestic service registry, that is an employment agency for servants, from the High Street where the family also lived for a time. Business must have gone well or Eliza was simply generous of nature as she was a frequent donor of funds to Marlow Cottage Hospital.

Arthur died in 1907 and by the early 1910s Eliza had moved the family back to Glade Road and into Fair View* and was running her agency from there. She supplied cooks, parlour maids, nurse maids, whatever you needed short or long term.

Her sons Edgar and Henry both attended Borlase grammar school in West Street. Henry was admitted on a scholarship in 1909, I am unsure about Edgar. Both played football for the school as Old Borlasians. Both were also competitive rowers in local competitions. Their sister Maud herself was a medal winning rower as an 18 year old at Marlow Regatta in 1913.

Henry and Edgar both served in World War One. Henry was mentioned in despatches in 1916 as a second Lieutenant in the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry. As a civilian he worked in the USA and Canada as an executive of an automobile company and married an American woman. He returned to England by 1921 with his family and settled in Glade Road, but not in Fair View.

Edgar suffered a twice fractured leg from a German grenade thrown into his trench during his military service. He was then in the 7th battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. It is said on a number of websites that while he was away fighting Edgar's wife bigamously married someone else and that he himself also committed bigamy. These websites are sites concerned with filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock as Edgar's wife's second marriage was to a man who wrote screenplays for Hitchcock. I have not researched this issue myself at all. His marriages were not to local women. 

By the way there was by sheer coincidence a man in Victorian Marlow named Alfred Hitchcock but he was a gardener!

*A previous resident at Fair View /Fairview was the elderly and very religious Caroline Patrickson, a lady of private means. She moved to Effra in Beaumont Rise sometime between 1904 and 1907 and had also lived elsewhere in Glade Road. While at Fair View Caroline lived with a paid companion and a maid. She died in 1924 aged 88. I'm her will she left bequests to the two servants she had then (different from her ones who served her at Fair View), Ms Wilmott her companion and Jane Day her maidservant.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

Several other houses in Glade Road have histories on this blog describing who lived there. To find them see this index

Sources:

1907 and 1915 editions of the Marlow Directory and Almanack.

GRO Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes online.

Census 1841, 51, 61,71, 81,91 transcribed by me from microfilm.

1911 census via Find My Past.

Bramfield, Suffolk and St Margaret's Westminster parish registers. Thanks to Jane Pullinger for accessing the latter in person for me.

South Bucks Standard 21st August 1913. Copy held at the British Library Archives and accessed by me March 2021 via the BNA.

Bucks Herald 25th December 1915, as above.

South Bucks Standard 5 November 1909, as above.

Reading Mercury 15th January 1916, as above.

Bucks Free Press March 21st 1924. Bucks Free Press Archives.

Photo by Kathryn. Taken March 2021.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research or image for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here so that the sources listed above remain credited for the information they provided.

Marlow Cinemas From The Silent Era

 The first building to be called "The Cinema" at Marlow is an unexpected one. It was neither purpose built nor devoted just to the showing of "moving pictures". I wondered why I kept coming across references to a "cinema" in Marlow before the first "proper" one opened in Spittal Street in 1913. I then managed to find the forerunners address, and it was none other than the Public Hall in St Peters Street, now the Masonic Centre and previously known as the Music Room or Lecture Hall. The term cinema was used to refer to other part time "picture palaces" locally, so it was obviously more loosely applied than now. 

The first showings I can find evidence of at this first part time cinema were made in November 1911 but this doesn't mean there were not earlier shows. They were courtesy of the Marlow Animated Picture Syndicate, later just called the Marlow Pictures Syndicate. The manager was Mr H Lacey of Station Rd, Marlow. I believe this is Horace Lacey, more familiar in his day job as a haulage contractor and removals man. The Syndicate promised the latest pictures both dramatic and comedic. They screened films or "Cinematograph entertainments" every Friday and Saturday evening at 8, with a 2.30pm Saturday Matinee aimed specifically at children. 

The Music Room, above. Image ©Colin Groves and used with permission. 

Some of the film's shown in 1912/13 were "The Awakening of Jones" (a comedy that apparently kept the audience laughing continuously) and dramas "The Moonshiner's Daughter" and "The Cylinders Secret"  - a melodrama about a man wrongfully accused of murder who is saved from the gallows by a phonograph recording, the cylinder of the title. One of the best recieved shows was "The Relief of Lucknow" which was praised for it's dramatic battle scenes involving large numbers of real soldiers and it's "faithfully reproduced" version of events. These were of course silent films so the action was accompanied by a pianist in the hall, Miss A Hutt doing the honours on more than one occasion. In 1915 a young lady pianist of Maisonette, New Town, Marlow posted an advertisement in a film industry newspaper seeking a place in a "small picture hall" as the musical accompanist. She would take a small wage in exchange for the opportunity to gain experience. Let's hope she found a good position. 

They changed the programme mid week, mostly offering 2 comedies and one drama. The film's were showing to packed audiences, with patrons sometimes turned away from the full to bursting venue. The Syndicate also ran the Beaconsfield Cinema (actually the town hall in this instance) on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. 

The Cinema was refered to as Marlow's permanent place of "kinema" amusement so it seems the optimistic Syndicate members hoped to be hosting entertainments there for many years to come. Unfortunately for them, others had the idea of providing for Marlow's love of moving pictures at a different venue. The Public Hall cinema was still in use the following year but then...

The Marlow Picture Palace Co Ltd Arrives

The Bucks Herald sent a reporter to the Marlow Public Hall cinema in March 1913 after hearing glowing accounts of the picture shows there. He described the hall as packed with youngsters "bent upon getting full value for their penny." The evening show was similarly full. The films showed extremely pretty and life like scenes he thought. But given this obvious success of film shows in Marlow it could only be a matter of time before a rival venture came along. He reported rumours that a cinema was to open in the High Street if a suitable place could be found. In the end a different location won. 

On the 25th June 1913 The Marlow Picture Palace Company was registered. They were going to carry on the business of "an electric picture palace and kinematograph entertainment" under a board of 3-5 directors.  As we don't know the names of all those involved in the Syndicate, it is therefore possible that some may have been involved in the new venture, however the latter were not Marlow men and the Syndicate feels more local. It had £3,000 capital in £1 shares. They opened the Marlow Picture Palace in a purpose built mock Tudor building just past where the Arlo and Jacob furniture store is now in Spittal Street. It is believed the first films were shown there by the end of 1913, although it may have been early 1914 if the Kinematograph Weekly, reporting on the progress of this and other new cinemas is correct as it says negotiations are still ongoing to erect a building in December 1913. 

The first few years of the Marlow Picture Palaces life was fraught with squabbles between the various directors and shareholders, which resulted in court cases, injunctions, claims and counter claims. The first two directors announced were John Black of the Tavistock Hotel, Covent Garden, and Mr Clark of Dorset. They were shortly afterwards joined by Mr Tinker of Maidenhead. Some of the arguements seem to be about money owed for land purchased (not necessarily at Marlow). John Black was taken to Chancery by the other directors who accused him of paying into his own bank account the takings of the Picture Palace instead of placing them into the business account. They also claimed he had taken away the Picture Palace Company books, accounts and paperwork and refused to hand them back. John did not appear at this hearing so we don't hear his defence. It seems he may have been witholding what money he considered rightly or wrongly to be owed to him. He was ordered to return the cash and all the paperwork. John subsequently took out an injunction to prevent two new directors acting in this role. The disputes seem to rumble on but as the company continued, they were presumably able to make some practical arrangements in terms of funding. They certainly took out more than one mortgage on the Picture Palace, including two within 6 months of each other. 

Whatever problems there were behind the scenes, the Picture Palace was a big success. Poor Mr Lacey could not compete with the more spacious purpose built cinema with the facilities to screen the latest films, and so in November 1913 we find him offering his complete Bioscope and other film showing equipment up for sale. This does not mean the Picture Palace was luxurious. The first screen was apparently painted onto a wall. 

Just how many film goers could squeeze into the Marlow Picture Palace is uncertain. Before the cinema opened, the film trade press said that it would cater for 500 or 550  patrons. In June 1914, the directors announced a plan to double the size of the venue with rear extensions. They aimed to cater for 1000 film goers and have room for a newly erected "stage capable of being used for dramatic plays and musical comedy". This seems an awful lot of people to fit in, considering that by the time the cinema was converted to being capable of showing "talkies" (by 1930) it was said consistently to have seating for 324 persons. The Picture Palace did offer boxes as well as bench style seating, the latter of which probably did allow for quite a few people to fit in a small space. In 1916 the manager stated in a letter to a trade newspaper that he could accommodate 500 persons. Ticket prices started at 3d in 1921. Sometimes someone sponsored a free showing for children - for example John Langley of Bridge House paid for 374 children to attend the Picture Palace as a treat in November 1914. 

The Marlow Picture Palace became the King George Cinema in 1926, after closing for a few weeks for modernisation works. (These included a new screen and "proper" seating. The first film screened under the new name was Rudolph Valentino's The Sheikh.) It was fitted out for showing "talkies" by September 1930, at one time the smallest cinema in the world to be capable of screening such films, according to the manager H F Bailey. Western Electric did the honours and it seems the investment paid off as the picture house was said to be full to capacity, including people standing. Standing room only gets mentioned several times in fact. 

During the First World War

During the First World War, Manager W J Deller (Dellar) was working 18 hour days. In 1916, he opened the cinema from 6-10pm Mondays - Saturdays and earlier for the Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Then from 11pm - 6am he was engaged in war work at a local munitions depot, also working there for 12 hours on a Sunday when the cinema was closed. He was keen to show that cinema staff were not shirkers in the war effort. (In the same year they advertised for a pianist to work a 30 hour week.) In October 1914, all the takings from the Friday screenings one week were donated to the Marlow War Relief Fund. Deller's days had got longer since the outbreak of war as he had struggled to find staff who were not required for military service. His staff in 1916 consisted of just 3 - a "pianiste", cashier, and a lad. Among the tasks he had taken on were bill posting (sticking up the film advertisements and show time posters) and maintaining the gas engine. 

Marlow on screen

Marlow also saw the arrival of the occasional silent picture film crew, as well as visits by those involved in the "kinematograph trade" who made several river outings to Marlow as a group. Intended as a pleasure trip, the "antics" of the group were also filmed by one of those attending. How lovely it would be if this footage (from 1911- 1920's) had survived. Some of the films shot partially in Marlow include "Sorrel and Son" 1927 (river scenes and a wedding at the Compleat Angler) and in 1921 "The Experiment" for Sinclair Hill (more river scenes). 

Afterwards

This blog mostly deals with the period pre 1920's but I'll just give a quick mention of the Cinema's life after this point so you can seek for more information if the later periods are more interesting to you. The County Cinema opened on a new site in Station Road in January 1938. It was originally planned to partly demolish and rebuild the old Cinema in Spittal Street but the size of that site obviously limited the improvements they could make so in the end this project was abandoned in favour of a new location, with the old building remaining in place for other uses. The style of the cinema was supposed to be Georgian to make it in keeping with the surrounding buildings (Architect David E Nye, builder Lovells of Marlow). At the time it was regarded as "beautiful" at least by the actress Edith Stamp Taylor who declared it open and others describing their first impressions. Nowadays the buildings are looked back on as not the most attractive and both they and the Spittal Street cinema have been demolished. 

Horace Lacey and co in the day job as "van proprietor" and "cartage agent" 1907 Station Road. 

The Public Hall, St Peters Street as it then was known, now the Masonic Centre and site of Marlow film screenings before the Picture Palace opened. 

NOTE

The Music hosted an animated picture show or cinematographe exhibition in 1897, organised by the Marlow Institute. "The wonder of the age!" Admission 6d, 1s or 6d, half price for Institute members who could also stand for free at the back of the hall, space permitting. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

To find all mentions of someone on the blog use the Person Index option on the top drop down menu. You may also like to look at the General History menu to read other posts relating to everyday life here in the past - see the post listing here

1915 advert for the Marlow Picture Palace and it's continuous performances, 6-10pm daily plus Wednesday and Saturday matinees. 

©Marlow Ancestors

Sources.

The Kinematograph Annual Yearbook 1937 & 1939 (Kinematograph Publications 1937/1939)

The Bioscope 3 July 1913, 18 December 1913, March-June 1914, 12 November 1930. 

The Builder 22nd Jan 1937. 

South Bucks Standard 14 November 1912, 30 January 1913. British Library Archive, accessed via the BNA. 

Bucks Herald 15 March 1913. As above. 

Kinematograph Weekly, 18 December 1913. 27 January 1916. Thanks to Marcus Endwright for access to these. 

Marlow Guide 1907 & 1915

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1911, 1915, 1939.

Carter, Huntley. The New Spirit in the Cinema: An Analysis and interpretation of the Parallel Paths of the Cinema. (H Shaylor 1930)

Tapsell, Martin. Memories of Buckinghamshire Picture Palaces. (Mercian Cinema Society, 1984) 

A History of Marlow in the First World War - 1918 and 1919

 UPDATED DECEMBER 2024

JANUARY 1918

- the New Years honours list includes three Marlow men who have recieved the Military Cross. They are Captain Ian Dunbar Dickson, Captain K Griffith-Williams of Highfields, and Lieutenant TNW Watts.  

- The Marlow Communal Kitchen is opened at 55 High Street. (See December 1917) A lot of Marlow people volunteer their time and resources to get it up and running, and volunteer ladies agree to cook the meals. The Marlow Gas Company fits the premises up for gas for free and lends 2 stoves and a large boiler. It will be open from 12-2 daily. For a sample menu with prices, see April 1918. 

FEBRUARY 1918

- The Marlow Food control board announce they are preparing a local scheme for butter rationing, organised in similar way to recently introduced sugar ration. You will pick a nominated grocer to use for this each week. No shopping around for this. 

- The Marlow Urban District Council write to the trustees of Riley Recreation ground to ask them if they would allow a portion of Crown Meadow (Now Riley Park) to be cultivated free of charge, if the need arises. Mr Edward Riley had gifted the Meadow for the town's use in 1914. They are responding to requests from up above not to allow vacant land to remain in unproductive use when there are food shortages. 

- Marlow's dimly lit streets get even darker as the few lamps that continue to be lit (but still shaded) are now reduced further in number. There is a shortage of men who can trim the mantles on the lamps. Workers at Marlow Gas Company had been tending to many lamps until they had to inform the council that their own labour shortage made this impossible in future. 

- Captain William Onslow Secker of Maldah, Institute Rd receives £100 in damages from fellow soldier Edward Joseph Trim who had slandered him by telling others he is a German spy who has been locked up in the Tower. Trim was a policeman at Marlow at the start of the war. Although they found him guilty, the jury was careful to state they felt that Trim was probably not responsible for his actions that day due to the sad experiences he had recently been through. He had seen three of four of his commanding officers killed, and had been extremely ill in hospital with severe nervous strain. Following this his wife had died. The judge said he was grateful for the jurors words as the case would come to the attention of Trim's military superiors. (You can see Hilda Trim's grave here) Secker was at Wood End House in 1911. 

- Marlow council Chairman John Langley, injured during a London blackout, is well enough to be bought home to Bridge House by motor ambulance

APRIL 1918

- The communal kitchen is now serving 300-400 meals a day. On the menu is a daily soup which costs 2d a pint, meat pasty (4d each), Shepherds Pie (2 and 1/2d), fishcakes (4d), stew with dumplings (2d per 1/2 pint), hot pot (2d per half pint) Apple pie/Jam Tart/Treacle Tart (all 2 1/2d) Rice or tapioca pudding (2d) and potatoes in jackets (1d)

- The last war- time soldiers stationed in Marlow, the East Anglian Royal Engineers, leave town. 

JULY 1918

- Two wives of soldiers on active service are fined £2 for assisting absentee soldiers (those missing without leave) to evade the authorities.  The women are told that if in future any wife is found to be harbouring an absentee or deserter, they will be sent to prison without possibility of paying a fine instead. 

The boys of the "Trinity Road" school (they meant Wethered Road) were taken to the Picture Palace to see an instructional film about the War in the Air and the doings of the Navy.

- The war may not be over, but a public meeting is held to discuss ideas for creating a permanent war memorial in Marlow. In the end, it's decided to put something within the parish church as well as a memorial in "some other place" outside. 

AUGUST 1918

- Alice Whiteway of Dean Street comes before the magistrates for assisting a man to absent himself from Military  service. It's her second offence and she is sent to prison for a month. Emily Wheeler, a first time offender, also of Dean Street recieved a 14 day sentence for the same offence. Sadly Alice Whiteway would appear again in March 1919 when her 5 children are taken from her care as the authorities charge her with being unfit to care for them as she was - according to the police - always in public houses with soldiers who were not her husband. The latter had got her separation allowance suspended. Alice's defence is not recorded in the reports I've read and its important to remember that the courts often held up women against a higher moral standard than was expected of the men in the same situation. 

OCTOBER 1918

- Marlow food control committee set the price of milk at a maximum of 8d per quart for October to March and 9d per quart for December to February. A half penny discount applies per quart for milk dispensed over the counter and paid for by cash rather than credit. 

NOVEMBER 1918

- News of the peace is greeted with jubilation. The town crier is quickly enlisted to spread the news to every quarter of the town and to ask everyone to gather together in the Market Square at 2 o'clock. Later people at the event would remember that flags and bunting seemed to appear out of nowhere to decorate the square and windows in the High Street. A huge crowd is bought together. The National Anthem is sung several times and cheers are made for almost everyone including the King and Queen, all servicemen, the Prime Minister and the Allies. In the evening a special thanks giving service is held in the parish church. 

- The Marlow food control committee announce local tea rationing is over but you must still buy from your registered tea dealer for now. 

- Private Frank Price's late death shows the war kills in many ways. He had been discharged from the army in October and admitted to the county Asylum. He returned home the same month but was still suffering tremendous mental torture. Tragically he committed  suicide in the Meadow adjacent to Marlow station shortly afterwards, leaving a wife and 7 children. 

- Fundraising for a permanent war memorial gains momentum and £750 has been pledged by the end of November. It has been decided the memorial in the church will be a dedicated window, while the outside one will be in the Enclosure (the  large patch of grass on the Causeway)

- An outbreak of flu sees Borlase school closed down for 2 weeks. 

DECEMBER 1918

- The first prisoners held by Germans at end of war, arrive home. They are Private H Ayres and Lieutenant A C Welbourne.

JANUARY 1919

- The first Marlow man to be captured by the Germans - Lieutenant M Couchman - arrives home in England. 

- Sergeant W A Lunnon of Portland Villas shares a pamphlet given to him by his German captors in Bayreuth Bavaria. "If the people at last realise that it is not each other who are their enemies but the ruthless forces of imperialism, capitalism and militarism, of all sorts or jingo journalism that sows falsehood, hatred and suspicion, then this war will not be fought in vain" It ends with the thought that the dead of both sides have long been sleeping as comrades in the same earth and if living men could share the same sense of brotherhood, it would be a hopeful peace. 

- The Marlow National Kitchen (communal kitchen) is to be closed after running at a loss. 

MARCH 1919

- It's standing room only at the parish church for a service of remembrance for the men killed during the war. Some seats are reserved for serving and ex soldiers, who march through the town behind the Marlow town band. A collection is made for the War Memorial fund. 

JUNE 1919

- Any Marlow man not sick of military service might be pleased to see that the Bucks Battalion of the Territorials is opening up to recruitment again. Initially only 18-41 year olds who have served in the war are wanted, to sign up for 2 years. 

- At the "Victory" Marlow Amateur Regatta, 3 crews of those blinded in the war compete. When one wins their heat, it generates the largest cheer of the regatta. 

JULY 1919 

- Marlow's peace celebration takes place in Crown Meadow with an incredible 770 ex servicemen sit down to lunch in a giant marquee. In the afternoon there's sports and then the marquee is given over to 1,000 children who are treated to tea. In the evening a torchlight procession of vehicles delights all, before a display of naval flares lights up the surrounding country for miles. Lastly a giant bonfire fire is lit to take the celebrations in to the night. 

OCTOBER 

The Peace Celebration Committee meet to decide what to do with the left over funds not spent on the celebrations. (£123) It was decided to give a dinner to those servicemen who had returned home since the last one, and to distribute the remainder to the widows and mothers of the fallen in the form of vouchers which could be exchanged for coal or food. These woman would also be given a public tea. S Cubitt, local bank manager, is the treasurer. 

 1920

JULY

Marlow's war memorial at the Causeway is unveiled. It was designed by T. Hansford White. In the 1920s the start of the two minute silence is often marked by the sounding of the Brewery siren. 

Above programme for the official unveiling of the "war memorial cross", 1920. 

 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

For other posts on Marlow in the First World War, see here : 1914, 1915 , 1916 1917

First World War memorial tablet at the Brewery here

Some WW1 graves here

To search for ancestors on the blog choose the person index option on the top drop down menu.

To read other posts relating to Marlow's military history or everyday life here in the past, see the post listing here

SOURCES/FURTHER RESEARCH

Reading Mercury -  January 12, February 2, April 5, 20,  July 20, October 12, November 16, December 7, 1918 held at British Library  Archive and accessed via the BNA October 2020

 Buckinghamshire Advertiser 23 February 1918, as above. 

Bucks Herald:  January 19, April 27, May 26, August 3, November 2,  1918 - as above

Bucks Herald January 4, 11, 25,  March 15, June 28, July 26, 1919, 7 July 1920

Slough, Eton and Windsow Observer 28th June 1919

©MarlowAncestors. You may quote this research providing you credit this blog and link back here to ensure credit is given to all original sources.