Victorian Ladies of Business - the Misses Barton

 The Misses Barton were formerly large scale employers in a characteristic Marlow industry for upwards of half a century. Yet hardly anyone remembers them now. As female business owners and ones employing an entirely female workforce, our story of Marlow's Victorian women of business wouldn't be complete without them. Their industry was the manufacturer of embroidered clothing, in particular baby clothes. Marlow used to be famous for this, and if you have a young female ancestor* who gave their occupation as satin stitch worker or embroiderer in a census, it's very likely they were working in this industry. There were several large employers in Marlow in this field, including the Washbournes, Flints, and Bartons, occupying several hundred women and girls between them. Fashion's came and went, and all the families manufacturing in this are had their financial ups and downs as we shall see, but they nevertheless lasted most of the 19th century and some beyond. 

Susan (b.1820), Rosa (b 1830, Ada (b.1826) and Amy (b.1832) never married. Their sibling Charlotte (b.1813) did but was soon widowed and returned to Marlow to live with her sisters. (It's surprisingly common for local woman who had their own means of making a comfortable income to remain single we've noticed. Money bought choices unavailable to the poor.) They had at least one brother with them for a while at Marlow -  Frederick. He will be researched more later but today's subject is the Barton woman. 

Background 

The girl's parents William and Charlotte were not of local birth and seem to have moved here from London in the late 1830s. William was a baby linen manufacturer at this time. They had certainly arrived by early 1840, when they were living in West Street in a house valued at £17, let from Sir William Clayton. A near neighbour was the Flint family of fellow embroiders/cap makers. At this time, it was estimated 2,000 women and girls were employed to produce satin stitch work for these kind of employers in the neighborhood of Marlow. The relationship between these two big rival concerns is an interesting one. I believe they became acquainted when both were in London. But by this point, their relations were anything but cordial. In 1841 William Barton acted as an "informer" as it was referred to at the time.  He reported that old family friend John Tarrand Flint was engaging in the "truck system" at Marlow. This means he was accused of paying some of his female workers in the form of groceries rather than ready money. This practice had now been made illegal for most manufacturers to do. William said this was not fair on the workers  and had a disastrous affect on local shop keepers if allowed to go on. (And of course might have reduced Flints costs in a competitive market, especially as the goods supplied were supposed to be tea and coffee supplied by one of his sons then working for a tea dealer.) Barton sent to the Aylesbury assizes to lay his information. This was not well received in Marlow where the Flints were well regarded, especially as it was said to be an act of ingratitude by the Bartons who apparently had been assisted by the Flints when in "abject need". Furthermore John Flint had taught the baby linen business to the Bartons in the first place they said. The Flints denied they paid anyone other than in coin, and the justices declined to take the case further. William Barton tried again at the local magistrates court but they said that the women's work didn't count as manufacture as defined in the Act that banned the Truck System. William then presented a letter from an MP who had first proposed the bill. The latter said it was his intention that the law should apply to all wages but the JPs said intention was all well and good, but the letter of the law as passed was their business. William thought the Flints should have to pay a heavy financial penalty, but they always denied having begun the truck system. So no more came of the matter directly. It seems that the Barton's son Frederick was involved in an altercation with Flint's son Charles the year before, which saw the former convicted of assault and fined £5. Sympathy was expressed at the levying of what was the maximum penalty, considering all that seems to have been involved was the shaking of a fist in a face, and maybe a little shove. It was assault considered that the magistrates should have taken into account that young Frederick Barton claimed to have been much provoked by Charles Flint blackening his character to his unnamed employer with the supposed intent of stealing his position! Reports in different papers come down either very harshly on the Bartons or quite the opposite, and partly this is because the papers were very politically partisan and the Barton family were associated with the Clayton political cause. When William's outbuilding in West Street was the victim of arson in 1843, the Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury news thought "It is to be regretted that any one could be found base enough to attempt to do an injury to one so universally respected and who from his kindness it was thought impossible to have an enemy". Short memories there.  As both parties were generally known for generosity and good employee relations, let's hope the squabbles worked themselves out and the two could live happily in the same town over the next few decades! 

Housing trouble

But back to the sisters. The time after their arrival in Marlow was obviously rocky. Although their house in West Street sounds a good size and had a pleasant garden stocked with fruit trees and flowers, it was also described as in quite a state of disrepair. It's hard to know how far in the past the Barton's financial difficulty was. A nice looking residence in a respectable street quietly falling apart behind the scenes suggests perhaps they needed to be cautious with their funds. They moved out to another house in West Street in the summer of 1840. I do not know if the girls themselves had any embroidery training beyond what all young ladies were expected to have, but their mother Charlotte was certainly an accomplished needlewoman. She was still had the eyesight and dexterity to execute complicated sewing projects in her senior years, including an embroidered family portrait completed when she was age 80. This was put on display in Marlow on a few occasions as part of fundraising events. 

Elections in Marlow were usually fraught, sometimes violent and always accompanied by accusations of fraud and bribery on both sides. William Barton's vote was struck off as invalid in the 1842 election as he had voted (for the Claytons) on the strength of occupying the first West Street house mentioned above. But he'd actually moved out before the election and you had to be actually be in occupation in your registered property in order for your vote to count. (And for a minimum time before the voting day.) No action was generally taken against those voting when not entitled to, and in William's case it was probably an innocent error, as the house he moved into would also have qualified him to vote had he registered on the strength of occupying it - although he might have fallen slightly short of the minimum residency. Those who wanted his vote discounted said the disputed  house was empty with a "for rent" sign up in the window.  Several workman employed to do it up then said there was no furniture there. But as what counted as "occupation" was not always simple, it was attempted to show that as the Barton girls and their mother had visited the old house and picked the fruit from the garden, it was still occupied. They had gone in as they had not got to the end of their notice period the family said, and Clayton had commenced household repairs in the hope of finding another tenant sooner. If he could, he'd let them off the rest of the notice. The court was not convinced especially as the Barton's had all the furniture in the new house, and so the vote was thrown out. 

A Comfortable Life

By 1851, the family had moved to what was then known as Mill Lane or Thames Bank, now Mill Rd. (Thames Bank was also the name of a substantial house, but the Barton were not in occupation there.) Later they would occupy the beautiful property known as Thames Lawn. Now this is NOT the house now known as Thames Lawn (which was previously known as Thames Bank House and Goodyers) but an earlier version that stood nearer the lock which burned down in 1897. It was rebuilt in a different style and much enlarged but within a few years the name had changed and Thames Lawn was adopted as a moniker for the house that currently bears the name. 10 years later we are told the Barton's employ 80 hands. By this time Rosa had sadly passed away.  The remaining Barton sisters were aged between their late 20s through to their 40s, and it's difficult for us to know how involved at this point they were in the business. Their parents were elderly though, and it's hard to imagine they wouldn't have welcomed some assistance. They clearly knew enough to practically take over things when their father died in 1872. 

At an uncertain point probably some time before Williams death, the others moved out of Thames Lawn which was then in the occupation of William Rose, a solicitor. The 1872 household furniture sale which occured on the death of Rose gives us a glimpse into what must have been a comfortable home, as well as a prettily placed one. Among the objects sold by Roses estate were a library of 900 (yes 900) books, a nearly new oak punt, a "very fine" dining suite, old Wedgwood, Chelsea and oriental china, a phaeton, bronze figures and some oil paintings. [It was common to sell up possessions when moving, even if not after a death, necessity was not necessarily involved and was not in Roses case.] The Bartons remained in Marlow - I'm uncertain as the address the immediately moved to but in the 1890s onwards they were living at Wood View. 

The Ladies Lend A Hand

It's from the 1870s on that we see the sisters start to be listed much more often at events, as subscribers, at meetings etc in their own right. I think this was a new chapter in their lives, independence in financial and social matters going together. It's a shame that so often they are listed just as "the misses Barton" as it's difficult to get an idea of the individual interests and character of the women. It does seem that all had a hand in the business though, as variously each are described as a baby linen manufacturer at times. Susan died in 1878 though. 

They always appeared amongst those ladies manning stalls and tea tables at parish events, such as the annual parish tea and harvest festival. They were especially active in supporting the cottage hospital. Not only did they subscribe to it (to provide for its maintenance), but they also organised collections to make sure everyone else contributed too! And they made very frequent donations of practical items from newspapers for the patients to read to things like butter, eggs and old linen which was recycled into cleaning materials etc. 

It seems the sisters maintained an interest in history, in particular that of their craft. They owned lots of items of antique linen and clothing which they lent to various local exhibitions and fundraisers. In 1891 they displayed some of these plus a handsomely embroidered muslin dress at a display of local craft and industry held at the Music Room in St Peter's Street (now the Masonic centre). But the exhibition I'd most like to have seen was what they contributed in 1884 to what was known as a "Conversazione" at Marlow Place. This was a fundraising event for the Literary Institute and was a  sort of display of curiosities with an supposedly intellectual bent. The Misses Barton lent the embroidered family portrait of the family completed by their mother mentioned above, as well as artwork, a piece of lace made out of the pith of an Indian tree, a silver snuff box, an Egyptian water bottle and a portrait of the former Russian Czar, as removed from a cottage at Sebastopol by a former Marlow resident. An interesting collection! 

I haven't traced the death of Amy but the last of the other sisters, Ada Sarah occured in 1906. There wasn't much of a baby linen or large scale embroidery trade left in Marlow although there were still plenty of woman earning a living as dressmakers, seamstresses and the like. Considering the work produced here was once considered amongst the best in the country, according to William Barton, it's a shame it's not a trade better remembered. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day 

* Not all of the women working in this industry were young. In 1891 it was noted that Samuel Flint (son of Charles) had a number of elderly women working for him, including some aged 80. 

Related posts:

This deals with the sudden death of one of the Barton's servants: here

The Flints, embroiders of Marlow: here

All mentions of an individual or family here can be found in the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

Index of posts related to other Marlow industries and employers etc here

Sources include:

Report into the controverted Elections at Great Marlow (1843 Anon)

Journals of the House of Commons February 3-December 13, 1842: Vol 9 Publication date February 3-December 13, 1842. HMSO

Census transcript from the originals, by Jane Pullinger and Charlotte Day. 

England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJVS-1NY : 13 March 2020), Charlotte Benton Barton in entry for Thomas Hamer, 1837.

Kelly's Directory of Bucks 1899 (Kelly's Directory Ltd)

Dutton's Commercial Directory 1863. (Dutton & Co 1863)

Windsor & Eton Express 17th March 1842, Slough Borough Libraries

South Bucks Standard 13 November 1891,  29th November 1895, British Library Archive

Bucks Herald 8 November 1884, 29th Jan & 6th October 1906, as above

Bucks Gazette 28th March 1840 & 27th February 1841, as above 

Bucks Examiner, 27th February 1891 as above. 

Bucks Advertiser And Aylesbury News 22 April 1843, as above

Thames Bank/Lawn research by Kathryn. 

The Most Jovial Ephraim Sheppard

Today we are turning our focus on one of the biggest characters amongst the very numerous Victorian publicans, innkeepers and hoteliers of Victorian Marlow - the jovial Ephraim Sheppard. (Ephraim was usually pronounced as "effrum" then). Ephraim was the proprietor of the ancient and sadly now demolished Greyhound Inn in Spittal Street. 

Neither Ephraim or wife Elizabeth were born in Marlow itself. He was born in Sussex in 1844, although the family soon moved to Surrey.  Elizabeth nee Thompson was the daughter of a hairdresser and perfumer of Broad Street Reading. The couple met when Ephraim was a butler and Elizabeth a lady's maid in the same very grand household of the Viscount Enfield of Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge, London. It was a large establishment and no doubt provided excellent training for running a busy hotel. The route from butler to hotel manager or similar is a well trodden one in this era. They married in 1882 at Reading just weeks before arriving at Marlow to take over the Greyhound from Thomas Haydon Willis. 

Immediately Ephraim slipped into his soon to be familiar role as ebullient and welcoming host. Although the nearby Crown Hotel often held the biggest events and town meetings and the like, the Greyhound was a popular choice for club meetings and fundraising dinners. It had a "commodious club room" for this purpose. The front part was quite small but it had been extended at the back thanks to a meadow belonging to it there. Since their start in Marlow, the Greyhound had hosted the local branch of the Oddfellows Friendly Society (from 1844, the Loyal Orphans Hope Lodge) and the Royal Briton Benefit Society (from 1851). 

What the Greyhound was probably most famous for was it's fundraising "smokers" or smoking concerts. These were male only musical events, so called because of the custom of men in polite society to linger for a smoke and conversation after dinner while the ladies retired elsewhere to talk. (A lady did sometimes preside at the piano.) Ephraim must have enjoyed hosting them as there seems hardly a cause or event in Marlow he didn't organise one for. The Marlow Cricket Club was a particular passion of his and so the smoker was a welcome annual boost of funds for them. He played for the club himself too on occasion and was their official luncheon caterer after 1889. 

Amongst more serious causes the Sheppard's hosted smokers for was that for the relief of the unemployed in the town in 1887. This was used to pay for packages of tea and sugar and loaves of bread for 74 families.  Perhaps the most personal cause Ephraim fundraised for was that for the benefit of the family of his ostler of 10 years, Richard William Reeves.* Richard had died suddenly in 1898 at a young age leaving a wife and three little children completely unprovided for.

The Marlow voluntary fire brigade was another frequent beneficiary of his concerts. 

The Greyhound had a billiard room from at least 1891. It had some competition in this regard as the Literary Institute, and Complete Angler, Chequers and Crown hotels all had rival tables. Billiards were a big draw and the attendance at matches was surprisingly large with reports entering the local papers of relatively minor matches. Ephraim ran competitions and handicaps throughout his time at the Greyhound. The same names frequently crop up as winners- especially John Langley, Robert Lunnon and Herbert White. Sometimes the prize was money, at other times decorative items such a marble clock. 

In 1901 the Greyhound hosted a contest in the "new and popular" game of ping pong. A team of crack London players, apparently already famous, came down to challenge a Marlow team, and to the surprise of most, Marlow beat them!

Despite catering for the then relatively modern crazes of billiards, ping pong and smokers, Ephraim still catered for the traditional inn visitor. A visitor in 1890 wrote a comedic poem dedicated to the female cook at the Greyhound praising the hearty food on offer such as the inevitable chops as well as scallops and soups. The food on offer at their annual dinners hosted for groups such as the volunteer fire brigade tend to feature a bewildering number of roast and boiled meats and a generous selection of fruit tarts, creams and pies. As the South Bucks Standard put it in 1893, the courses were "abundant, substantial and various." Those enjoying that particular feast were 90 men employed in the building of the substantial house known as Stoneyware on the Bisham side of the river. You probably left the inn decidedly heavier than you went in!

Ephraim actively advertised that he would cater for pic-nic and boating parties. He promised good stabling and a lock up carriage house too, not to mention fine cigars and a good selection of cigarettes and wine. Those guests who needed to hire a steam launch or carriage could also do so at the Greyhound. 

The Sheppard family come across as ones that liked to celebrate the Christmas season in full. They started the annual festive ball shortly after arriving in Marlow and they kept hosting it up without interruption for some 20 years. (It was actually usually held on New Years Eve. Previous tenants had sometimes held similar events but Ephraim made it a bigger and regular event.) Guests were admitted via ticket of course, with the average attendance of 50-70 dancers from both Marlow and further afield. The premises were bedecked with resplendent greenery on these occasions. They were usually called "Cinderellas" that is they finished in time for the guests to get home by midnight. Perfect for those who wished to see in the new year at home. Later they took place in early January although they still called them a festive ball.  Furthermore, Ephraim, who was fond of singing, started fundraising carol singing rounds in the 1890s. These were organised with his dear friend Edward Flint of Shelley House. The purpose then was to fundraise for the Church Lads Brigade. At other times the Inn provided space for dancing classes in the club room - the students also had an invitation ball there to show off their newly perfected turn of foot. These events certainly didn't end at midnight - 5am was more like it!

In 1894, Ephraim spent time and money on improving and enlarging the hotel. I believe this is the time the "coffee room" was added or fitted out. The "Commercial Room" also starts to be mentioned around this time. Both were on the ground floor. 

In 1903 the Sheppards decide to leave Marlow. They placed adverts in the local papers to say they would be taking over the Cleveland House Boarding Establishment in Regency Square, Brighton. They suggested that their Marlow area customers might like to visit them there on their holidays as they were in one of the very best positions in Brighton they said.  However a couple of years later they had taken over the White Horse in Holt, Norfolk and so they pass out of our Marlow story. Before they left the couple hosted one last dinner. It was organised this time by their good friend Samuel Flint. A subscription had been raised to pay for a parting gift  - an engraved silver rose bowl. As one guest put it there were some people who always "shed a certain amount of sunshine" wherever you meet them and the cheerful Ephraim was one of those. 

The Greyhound really struggled after Ephraim left. The next occupier experienced financial difficulties and lasted only a couple of years. His own successor went bankrupt and angrily claimed that despite being told by the brewery that an £100 weekly income was achievable, he had not managed to earn more than £14 a week. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day with additional research by Charlotte Day. 

*In 1825 another ostler at the inn, Joseph Fox, died suddenly in the midst of a conversation with a customer about their journey. He was about 40 and his death was out down to that old favourite  - "Visitation of God"

More information: 

There are posts on this blog about individual families associated with certain pubs, as well as on individual pubs themselves so have a look at the Pub Related index here  & don't forget the A-Z Person Index for all mentions of someone on this blog. Find it on the top drop down menu. Thousands of people get a mention on this blog.

List of proprietors of the Greyhound here

Greyhound as a coaching Inn, and other stagecoach services here

Posts about historic residents and businesses in Spittal Street and neighbouring streets here

More beer sellers than bakers -Temperance in Marlow here

Lists of posts about everyday life in old Great Marlow here

Sources: 

Chief Register of Friendly Societies - Great Britain House of Commons, HMSO 1878

Census 1881, 91 and 1901 - transcripts from the microfilms by Jane Pullinger.

Kelly's Post Office Directory -  1877,1889, 1899,1907. 

The Angler, November 1883, digitised by Google. 

Oxford Journal 19th August 1882  (BNA)

Buckinghamshire Examiner 30 July 1890, as above

South Bucks Standard 9th June 1893 , 4th May 1894, 28th January 1898, Feb 7th 1902  & 17th April 1903, as above 

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 19 February 1887, as above. 

Windsor and Eton Expression, 18 November 1825. All as above. 

Maidenhead Advertiser 27th January 1892 - Slough Borough Libraries. 

Marlow Guide 1903. 

© MarlowAncestors. 

Harman's Chemist

Bernal Harman was a chemist with a shop in Market Square / Spittal Street Marlow in later Victorian and early Edwardian times.

He was born in High Wycombe in 1846. His full name was Bernal Osbourne Ralph Harman. His unusual first name comes from his godfather Wycombe M.P Ralph Bernal Osbourne, who in turn had it in the family as he was paternally of Jewish ancestry. Bernal Harman's father Charles, a solicitor and Mayor of High Wycombe was a political ally of the Liberal M.P.

Our Bernal had a privileged but tragic childhood, losing his mother Ellen (née Tatem) in his third year and his father in his ninth. He appears on the 1851 census living in Easton Street High Wycombe with his widowed father Charles and siblings plus two servants. Bernal still lived in Easton Street in 1861 this time with his older brother John but by 1868 he was married and operated his own "family chemist" in Magdalen Street Glastonbury, Somerset. From there he mixed up his own tooth powder guaranteed to give you a winning smile for life.

Then, by 1870, he moved his shop to Park Street, East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. His advertisements in local papers bear the legend that he was the chemist for the royal household at Osborne at this time. But he must have struggled as he appears in court reports as a debtor and he went into liquidation there in 1871. Finally, in 1881 Bernal and his wife Ellen (née Duckett, married Somerset 1867) and their children moved to Marlow so that Bernal could take over Banbury's Chemist and Druggist in Spittal Street.

As well as being a chemist his shop acted as a parcel agents and Bernal was one of the principle movers and shakers behind the establishment of a Literary and Scientific Institute in the town.

In 1891 Bernal faced serious trouble when the landlady of the nearby Wheelwrights Arms in Spittal Street, Mrs Lucy Jeffs, died after taking an opiate based sleeping draft which he supplied to her. The doctor and surgeon who attended her before her death suspected that the draught contained more opium than Bernal claimed and had poisoned her. A post mortem revealed that taking opium had brought on her death but that she was about to die anyway. She was a consumptive of long standing and very close to death from that. She asked for the draught because she was in too much pain to sleep. The expert opinion was that as her condition had deteriorated significantly the normally safe dose Bernal insisted that he gave her was not a dose she could withstand in her condition and made her exhibit symptoms of overdose. It is likely that he did not realise how much nearer to death she had become in the hours before he handed the sleeping draught to her young son in his shop. The inquest jury recorded a verdict of homicide through misadventure. Bernal seems to have escaped further scrutiny as far as our research can so far find. The verdict meant that Bernal had while acting lawfully and without intent to do harm nevertheless caused death. 

Above 1905 ad. Sole proprietor of the  "Carrington Bouquet" refers to a locally created perfume with a contentious history - see here for more. 

Bernal died in 1906 following a long illness. His wife Ellen survived him and lived later at 15 Claremont Road. She died there in 1921 age 72. Their son Henry "Harry" Harman fully qualified as a chemist and druggist in 1896-7 and had already taken over the day to day running of Bernal's business before Bernal's death though even afterwards for a while afterwards the name above the door still said "Bernal Harman".

Harry supplied bandages and disinfectant to the local council. He continued to act as a parcel agent like his father had done, as well as being a chemist. He was a successful rower for Marlow Rowing Club in his spare time. He married May Flint from West Street. Sadly, he died aged just 45 in 1920.

Written and researched  by Charlotte Day. 

Related posts:

For other posts about specific shops/businesses and other content related to Spittal Street see the index here

Information on other chemists and pharmacists in Great Marlow plus apothecaries, surgeons and other medical related posts see the index here

Index of biographies of other individuals connected to Marlow here

For every mention of an individual or family here see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. There's more than 4,000 people listed there. 

Some sources:

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire etc 1883 and 1907. Kelly's Directory of Hampshire 1880. Kelly's Directories Limited.

The Post Office Directory of Chemists and Druggists: Containing Lists of the Chemists and Druggists Throughout England, Manufacturing Chemists, Wholesale Druggists, Patent Medicine Vendors and Manufacturers, and Every Trade in Connection Therewith. (1870). United Kingdom: Kelly. 1885 edition also.

1851 census High Wycombe and 1881 East Cowes via Rootspoint.

The Pharmaceutical Journal Volume 51 printed by J Churchill. 1921.

The Chemist And Druggist. February 10th 1906. 

South Bucks Standard 12th Feb 1897 and 6th March 1891. Bucks Gazette 4th April 1846. British Library Archives via the BNA.

The Weekly Notes. United Kingdom, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, 1877. Via Google Books.

"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2DK3-W4K : 13 December 2014), Bernal Osborne R Harman, 1867; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1867, quarter 1, vol. 5C, p. 814, Wells, Somerset, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. 

Bucks Free Press 27 June 1921. 

The Flints- Embroiderers of Marlow

Updated November 2024.

John Tarrand Flint, originally of Derbyshire was an embroiderer of cambric and muslin specialising in childbed linen. He and his wife Harriet had some of their children in London but by 1829 they had moved to a cottage in Marlow High Street. A few years later they had relocated to a house in Oxford Road /Quoiting Square as it was listed in the 1833 parish assessment but quite possibly actually in Hayes Place. At that time the area of Hayes Place and Quoiting Square behind West Street was a real jumble with some properties hiding behind others and accessible by multiple winding paths from different streets. Their addresses were fairly randomly rendered. Flint's property was valued at £15 a year in 1833 and came with a walled garden, coach house, stable, woodhouse and yard. All the while John was maintaining premises in London too, initially in Monkwell Street and later in Basinghall Street. In the late 1830s he and Harriet returned to London first to Shoreditch and then to Crown Street Finsbury. John suffered bankruptcy in 1840 and was thrown into a debtor's prison in London. 

Once John was freed it was back to Marlow for the couple. They took up residence in West Street before apparently relocating yet again to Quoiting Square. 

One of their children Charles [baptised St Luke's Finsbury in 1818] and his wife Charlotte Ann Flint [AKA just "Ann"] set up home in Marlow about 1840. Like his father Charles was an embroiderer. He himself specialised in the manufacture of fine caps for the heads of babies and toddlers. These were made for Charles by women he employed of course rather than by Charles himself. The manufacture of these caps was one of the more prominent industries in Marlow at the time but fashion could be fickle and competition fierce. The trade was beginning to falter not long after Charles began in it. He had started to suffer financial difficulties by 1856 and in 1859 he filed for bankruptcy. He specified the falling off of the infant cap wearing fashion as the primary reason for his difficulty. At one point he had employed some 200 women and girls but now every day was a struggle with the only loans he could obtain to get him by at eye watering rates if interest. His affairs took some time to sort out- all still wasn't done in 1863. Matters were not helped by a great lack of sympathy from the initial judge that granted him bankruptcy with a third class bankruptcy certificate. The judge said he disapproved of babies wearing caps. He himself appeared in court without the customary wig so it seems that he was very prejudiced against head coverings! The issue of whether they adversely affected the brain was periodically debated in Victorian England.

Charles and Ann managed to keep several domestic servants in their employ at the time of the 1861 census but in later years the household had to be smaller. In 1861 they lived in Chapel Street. Before that they had lived in Hayes Place (perhaps in the same building on the corner with West Street that the Samuel Flint mentioned below used as a business premises) as well as away in Wooburn for a time.

In 1859 the debts of Charles stood at £1700. Amongst the creditors was the French company, Boniface and Co, which supplied him with cambric fabric for his caps. He owed them £147. As part of the bankruptcy procedure Charles was asked why he had got into such debt. He blamed a prominent doctor for advising that babies ought not to wear caps. It is interesting to note too that according to the bankruptcy proceedings his father John was at that point financially dependent on him. In his defence he said that he had been in business for 20 years before his bankruptcy and never drank his profits away in pubs unlike most of those in similar trades! He was laughed at several times in court for statements like this. It must have been a humiliating experience for him but all credit to him (and Charlotte)- he pulled himself up from the bankruptcy eventually. There were occasional blips such as when he was summoned for not paying his poor rate taxes in 1865 but things were getting better all the time.

The family eventually moved into the comfortable Albion House in West Street by 1881. This had formerly been the home of writer Mary Shelley and her husband poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. 

Charles died in the house in 1889. He was survived by second wife Elizabeth.

Of his large family with Charlotte their son Samuel became an embroiderer too and also lived at Albion House. He usually referred to it as Shelley House in honour of the previous famous occupants there. Samuel's embroidery warehouse was a little further down the road on the corner with Hayes Place.

Samuel and his wife Emily (née Patrick, married Whitechapel 1860) were renowned for their charity. Rattle a collecting tin in their direction and they would give you something. During the extreme winter of 1895 they gave out every day a basin of "good hot soup" to each of the women they employed. Three years earlier Samuel organised a concert in the Town Hall to raise money for a Christmas gift of coals to women employed in the embroidery and sewing trades across the town. Obviously a Christmassy sort of man Samuel also organised festive carol singers to perform around Marlow. They collected money for charity as they went.

In 1903 the South Bucks Standard said that "a more popular man than Sam Flint it would be very difficult to find". It noted too the "high esteem" felt in Marlow towards Emily [South Bucks Standard 23rd January 1903, British Library Archives]. The couple celebrated their silver wedding anniversary with a party at their home.

One day just afterwards when out for a Sunday horse ride Samuel's horse took fright and threw him off. He was badly bruised. That wasn't his only unlucky incident with a horse. In 1899 when driving a wagonette of friends home from a trip to Amersham races his horse panicked at the sight of a train and the wagonette crashed. This time nobody was much hurt [South Bucks Standard 7th April 1899, Via the BNA].

Samuel died in Shelley House in 1912 after a week long illness. He was buried in All Saints churchyard. 

To read about a feud between the Flints and rival embroiders the Bartons here

Other users of Albion House (in whole or in part):

Royal Military College junior branch here

Breakaway worshippers from Congregational Church after Rev Thomas Styles marriage - here

Royal Standard public house house

Mrs Tylecote's school here

Many more to follow!

For all mentions of someone on this blog see the A-Z  Person Index in the top drop down menu. See also Biographies of Families on the same menu for similar posts to this.

More West Street content can be found on the menu under "Specific Shops, Streets...Etc".

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

Other Sources:

Census my transcription from microfilm, parish registers London Metropolitan Archives, 1911 Post Office Directory by Kellys Directories Limited, property records held by my family, High Wycombe Directory and Advertiser 1885 -University of Oxford Library and digitized by Google, parish registers from the originals.

Landlords And History of The White Hart, Chapel Street

*Note: it is now clear that there were TWO early pubs called the White Hart, operating at the same time. Marlow people weren't very good at distinctive pub naming. There were two Three Horseshoes at the same time and both a Travelers's Rest and a Traveller's Friend, an Upper Crown and a Lower Crown existing along side one another.

White Hart number one, Dean Street side of the road.

1732- Robert Menday. Note: this White Hart building was standing by the 1670s but it is not until this date that I can say that it was certainly used as a "pub" and also certainly called the White Hart.

1732- Robert Menday.

1745- Mr Menday. Has its own brewhouse as many licenced premises still brewed on the premises. 

1761 - John Dormer "North side of Chapel End"

1823 - Mary Fletcher. She was the elderly widow of Charles Fletcher who may well have run the pub before her. A Charles Fletcher was listed as a Marlow publican in 1798. Mary's husband died in 1818. Mary was nee Huntingdon.

1824- Mary Fletcher

1831 Pigots Directory -  Mary Fletcher

1833 Mary Fletcher. She died in 1837.

1839 - T.O Fletcher. This was Thomas Oxlade Fletcher son of Mary above.

1840, March - pub suffered a break in with beer, mutton, and bread stolen. 

1844 - William Plumridge (also a bricklayer) May have taken over in 1839- he was certainly in Chapel Street from at least that year. William was responsible for building of the Wheatsheaf pub and adjoining cottages in what was then known as Strong Beer Acre. His son, also William, builds and runs The Duke of Cambridge, while daughter Amelia briefly ran the Star Of The Town pub with her husband Henry Judge and daughter Caroline became landlady of the Red Lion in West Street. Another daughter Charlotte with her husband ran the Wheatsheaf. More on Charlotte here.

1846 - William Plumridge fined 40s plus costs for allowing a "very extensive system of card playing" to be continually going on at his premises. The landlords of Cross Keys, Travellers Rest and The Nags Head were also caught in same sweep. 

1852 - William Plumridge

1854 - William Plumridge

1859 - 1. Mary and Henry Plumridge. 2. Edward James Flint

1861 -  Edward J Flint (born London, wife Ellen) Also embroider. 

1863 -  Edward James Flint. In this year the family suffered a horrific tragedy when their little girl Catherine, aged 2 and a half, drank boiling water from the spout of a kettle and died of her injuries. Little Catherine drank the water after hours in the kitchen at the dame school, which despite her age, she attended part time with her big brother. He saw her drink it but did not say so until several days later. The school teacher Harriet Fleming had allowed them to stay behind on the premises after school while she did her housework. This was as a favour to their busy mother. This was a common helping hand leny to families by dame school proprietors as was taking on very young children in the first place. She saw the child vomit and thought it had swallowed something it shouldn't, perhaps washing soda which was near by but did not guess it could be the case that she had drank boiling water. There was a blister on her lip. She quickly sent Catherine home with a message to her parents telling them what had happened and to keep her informed. Vomiting was considered key to recovery from eating toxic substances and would have been induced if it had not naturally occurred so in her eyes it would have seemed a worrying incident but one where the child would not likely be in fatal danger. Though blisters later developed on Catherine's chin too, Ellen Flint thought that her child had perhaps injured her throat in swallowing something like a button. Catherine herself said that she had drank some "dirty water". Ellen took her to both a chemist and a doctor, the latter of whom gave the patient some soothing powders and a recommendation she be bled with leeches. Sadly Catherine was in fact severely injured internally and she died. An inquest in to her death happened at the White Hart and have a verdict of accidental death. Other local cases of children drinking from the spouts of tea kettles and dying are known from this era.

1869 -  Edward J Flint   

1872 -74  Edward James Flint

1874-80 Ellen Flint, widow of Edward James Flint above.  

         

1880 - Licence transferred to Thomas Parsons from Ellen Flint.

1881 Transfer Thomas Parsons to Thomas Purdar.

1882 - John Chappell (see separate post here for more on him and his family)

 

1892 - Mr Chapel (Chappell)

1896 - Take a deep breath - John Chappell transfers premises in March to William Thomas Pearce (temporary) who transfers it to George Newman in November.  Newman is refused a permanent licence so premises go to Arthur Wallace who obviously didn't last long either.

1897 - Thomas Lay

1899 - Thomas Lay then W. Dominic Westcott, then Thomas Webb.

1903 - Thomas Webb

1907 - Thomas Webb. Transfers to James Pullen / Pullin (Incorrectly recorded as Thomas Pullin in one local paper.)

1908- James Pullen

1909- Closed under licencing reforms. Described as an "ale house" on its closure. Last tenant - James Pullen.

Later became the site of Flints fried fish shop which moved from West Street.

Second White Hart, Chapel Street - you could also call it in Spittal Square. This pub almost certainly became the Cross Keys circa 1839.

1823 -  Thomas Archer

1827- Mrs Archer "of the White Hart" died. This was Hannah Archer, wife of Thomas. She was aged 66 at burial. For more on this couple's granddaughter Emma, whose husband was transported see here and for their granddaughter Sarah see here.

1829 - Thomas Archer. Also posting house. In this year Thomas is fined 40s for keeping a disorderly house as he had allowed "loose women" and other troublemakers to remain on the premises while behaving in a disreputable way. 

1830 - Thomas Archer 

1831 - Pigots Directory - Thomas Archer 

1833 - Thomas Archer. He died in 1838 aged 76. 

See the Cross Keys landlords listing / history for probable continued history of these premises.

Researched by Charlotte Day with some research also by Kathryn Day.

SELECTED SOURCES

1853 Mussons and Cravens Commercial Directory. (Compiled 1852)

Marlow Directory and Almanacke 1907 , the Marlow Printing company.

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1859, 1863, 1864, 1877, 1899, 1903,1907

Robson's Directory 1839

Numerous cross referenced wills, property deeds, and the like. 

Pigots Directory 1823, 1830,1831,1844

Census 1871,1881,1891

Contemporary newspaper reports, licencing hearings, court case reports and advertisements accessed via the BNA:

Windsor and Eton Express, December 12th 1828, & Jan 9th 1909, held at British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA.

South Bucks Standard 22 May, 6 November, 18 December 1896, 19 May 1899, as above. 

Berkshire Chronicle, 24 February 1846, as above. 

Bucks Gazette 12 December 1829, as above

Bucks Herald 23 July 1859, 11 July 1874, as above

And from the Bucks Free Press Archives:

Bucks Free Press 17th April 1863.

1833 Parish Assessment, Charlotte's transcription from original surveyor's rough draft. 

©Marlow Ancestors. Use this research or the photo above for family history purposes if you like with credit to this blog.

Will Summary for Mary Hall of Great Marlow 1696

Summary created from my transcription of a will held at the National Archives, Kew.

MARY HALL, WIDOW OF GREAT MARLOW, WILL PROVED 1696

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

Commends soul to God and asks to be decently buried.

After funeral expenses met, brother Christopher Parsons to receive £10. His son William [referred to as "my loving cousin William Parsons son of my brother Christopher Parsons" [Use of the word cousin to refer to nephews or nieces as well as what modern people call cousins was perfectly normal in the 1600s] to be the will's sole executor. He receives all goods, chattels and personal estate of the deceased not bequeathed elsewhere.

Cousin Mary ?Flint? wife of Christopher ?Flint? of Little Marlow £5.

Cousin Elizabeth Lovejoy, daughter of testator's deceased cousin Thomas Lovejoy late of Little Marlow to receive 1 shilling.

Cousin Dorothy Dell wife of John Dell of Little Marlow ? shillings.

Sister Margaret wife of John Burchett of Cookham 1 shilling.

Will witnesses: Elizabeth Bowles who made a mark only, John Oxlade, Thomas Hobbs.

Transcription and this summary of it by Charlotte Day.

To find every mention of a person on this blog use the Person Index option on the drop down menu.

© Marlow Ancestors. If quoting from this summary or reproducing it please give credit and a link here so that source citations remain attached to the information. You are welcome use this summary in any way.

Old handwriting isn't easy. I have done my very best here. I hope it is useful to you.

So far this blog contains mention of

108

people from or associated with Marlow.