Benning Family Of The High Street

In what is now number 103-5 High Street Marlow  there was in late Victorian times a shop operated by the Benning family. A humble premises it was, double fronted officially but with not much of a window to display goods judging by a historic photo of the place, though a few items were hung around the door or propped amongst the outside wall to catch the eye of those hurrying around the corner to the railway station. 

Joseph and Mary Ann Benning and their children arrived in Marlow from High Wycombe sometime between 1872 and 1875. Both were born in Princes Risborough. Mary's maiden name was Benning too so it is possible, though unproven, that they were paternal cousins.

Joseph as a young man worked in High Wycombe as a chair maker. He went on to form a partnership in that respect with George Rackstraw, John Plumridge and Charles Gill under the name Charles Gill and Co.  For unknown reasons in 1855 it was decided to dissolve the partnership. Rackstraw, Plumridge and Joseph continued chair making separately thereafter. 

In 1862 Joseph married his first wife Esther but she was to die just 5 years later. They had as far as I can determine one child, James. A year after Esther's death Joseph remarried, to Mary Ann, in London. 

Between 1872 to and 1875 the family relocated from High Wycombe to Marlow as Joseph had been appointed foreman at the Buckinghamshire Chair Factory based there. The factory opened in 1872 so he may in fact have been there from the beginning. Initially the Bennings lived in what was then called Platts Row, a string of cottages in Mill Road, a short walk from Joseph's place of work in St Peter's Street. At the time Buckinghamshire chair making was beginning to decline. Difficult industrial relations and rising costs put considerable pressure on makers. You can understand Joseph moving into a paid position from being an independent tradesman for the security of his family.

In 1883 he was hailed a hero for his efforts to save the factory and surrounding buildings following an outbreak of fire there. A spark, it was believed from the chimney of the nearby pub the Fishermen's Retreat, had set fire to a pile of wood shavings in the factory and began spreading. Joseph was just locking up when smoke was spotted. He remained for hours in a smoke filled workroom, getting soaked by the water of the fire brigade so he could be the eyes and ears of the firefighters directing their hose from outside to where any smouldering flames remained. 

A very detailed post the history of the factory and life there for the workers is available on the blog here.

This fire was not the end of the factory (a later one did put pay to the premises!) though it must have disrupted production for a while. The enterprising Joseph had set up business as an ironmonger with his wife Mary running the shop on a day to day basis by 1883 so the family had a back up plan. It is not known where that shop was but by 1898 they operated from the High Street. They may well have been there from 1883 but shops moving about within Marlow was not uncommon so it can't be presumed that the Bennings were always in the same building. 

Joseph eventually retired from chair making to assist Mary in the ironmonger's while she also combined that business with running a grocer's and fruiterer's shop in the other half of the premises. An unusual combination of businesses you might think but in Victorian and Edwardian England all kinds of unpredictable hybrid businesses existed as families made ends meet any way they could.

In 1899 two young boys stole a can of preserved pineapple from the Bennings but were let off with a caution when their case got to court. Canned fruit seems to have been a particular favourite with little boys at the time and was not uncommon the focus of shoplifting by them - especially canned pineapple! Previously a Marlow man had been charged with obtaining 24 knives from the ironmongery side of the business by false pretences.

While the parents were busying about their shops, what of the junior Bennings?

Daughters Annie and Ellen ("Nellie") were active members of the Congregational Church in Quoiting Square / Oxford Road. Their parents may have been Congregational too though their older half brother James when grown up was a Wesleyan so family conformity of faith can't be presumed. Both sisters won local prizes aimed at young people for their display of Christian knowledge. The girls helped out in many church fundraisers, and Nellie was also the honorary secretary of the church's teetotal Band Of Hope in 1907 when she was in her late 20s. She is also listed as amongst those successfully completing a course on technical drawing at the Marlow Literary and Scientific Institute, so a clever young lady.

Meanwhile their brother Albert was running around for various Marlow youth football teams. He grew up to become a printer.

Big sister Lily worked as a dressmaker prior to her marriage.

A far sadder picture of Joseph's son James (from his first marriage) emerges. James became a soldier as a young man winning medals for his service in Egypt, was a skilled football, cricketer, and gunsman, was much liked by his army colleagues and had married and become the father of two children. His father and step mother must have thought all in his life was set up for his happiness but for unknown reasons James began running up debts which he kept hidden from his loved ones. As well as being the colour sergeant for his regiment he was the pay sergeant and began embezzling some of the money entrusted to him. He falsified his accounts to try to cover it up. That was never going to work long term and after a couple of months knowing that the game would shortly be up James at the age of 31 put the end of a rifle in his mouth, and pulled the trigger. His suicide occurred in a tent at a camp the soldiers were using near Reading Barracks whilst the barracks themselves were undergoing cleansing and repairs.

Joseph himself passed away in 1903, leaving a will with Mary as the main beneficiary. The family business had become focused on Mary's selling of groceries and green grocery by this time. The double fronted shop on the corner of Station Road was still let to Mary in 1905. She had however given up business by 1911 when Walter Haddock was running the premises as a greengrocer, followed by Thomas Wheeler by 1915. 

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. 

Note: Street numbers in the High Street officially changed twice in the 20th century and were also subject to minor alterations in between times so numbers 103 and 105 today were not numbered 103 and 105 in the Benning era.

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

To find all mentions of any individual in this blog see the A-Z Person Index. More posts about people who lived in the High Street can be found on the Street Index. More biographies of Marlow families are listed here.

Sources included=

1907 Marlow Almanack and Directory, Marlow Printing Company.

1902/3, 1911 Kelly's Directories of Buckinghamshire etc by Kelly's Directories Limited.

Marlow Literary and Scientific Institute  loose handwritten memoranda.

Censuses of England and Wales, 1841-1901. Transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger.

Maidenhead Advertiser, 6th September 1893.

Berkshire chronicle 9th sept 1893 .

Bucks herald 10th April 1883. This edition from the British Newspaper Archive's collection of scanned newspapers from the British Library Archives.

The gazette. 1855.

Recreated 1920's Marlow High Street Trade Directory with notes

Part One - odd numbers

With notes

Recreated from adverts, letters, trade directories, property transactions, newspaper stories, court cases etc.

The property numbers quoted here are not necessarily going to match up with modern numbers because of demolitions and amalgamations or other reasons and remember that the High Street had already been renumbered in the 1910s so that any 1920s property numbers will not usually be referring to the same property as their Victorian counterparts. 

Some properties on this side of the High Street were residential at this time and are not included in this post. The post office was also in the High Street, and the entrance to the brewery.

Many people mentioned here already have multiple mentions on this blog. To see all posts featuring any person looking for that person on the A-Z Person Index on the top drop down menu. More High Street history posts are indexed here, including

1-3 Lawrence and Son estate agents for domestic and commercial sales and lettings, auctioneers, valuers, insurance agents. The surveyor at the company was John Robert Laird who lived on the premises with his family. The business was later "Lawrence Son and Laird". One of the Mr Lawrences was a director of the Marlow Water Company.

5 Harold John Welch hairdresser in 1920 (bn 1879). (Sometimes given as being at 3 but was not) / The Cafe (that was the official name!) ran by Rose Owles.

7 National Provisional and Union Bank  - previous occupants of this building are listed here. The bank manager Cuthbert Raymond lived on the premises with his family. This was normal for banks at the time. More history of this premises here

9 Mrs Bonner Wellicome antique and furniture dealer 1920,21 (in business by 1911) New Branch of London County Westminster And Parr Bank mentioned as opening at no 9 1922. Head clerk on opening was Mr G. W Cousins.

11 Welbourne and Simpsons printers. Simpson was Herbert Edward Simpson born c1872. Earlier Smith & Co stationers, printers and circulating library. By 1942 was just ran by Herbert as H.E Simpson's newsagent, tobacconist and lending library. At some point in the 1920s the printers also apparently used number 15 High Street.

13 Lawrence J Smith office insurance agent, correspondence address for Great Marlow Water Company. Also in 1920 custom and excise office of James Gauld and the premises of confectioner Bert Jaynes. Lawrence at least was still there in the early 1930s. Presumably the offices  were above or behind the shop.

17  Harrell Limited grocers. Below is an ad from 1929. Possibly had moved from the other side of the High Street.

Harrell's were still at no. 17 in 1939. In the early 1930s there was an off licence at no.45 High Street called Harrell's which must have been a related business. Number 17 was later taken over by Barksfield Brothers for a second Marlow premises. 

19-21 Charles Drye "coach builder" of long standing but was already moving into the field of motor cars. Business known initially as the Marlow Motor works, then  came to be known as the "Marlow Carriage and Motor Car Company". A lot more on the early days of motoring in Marlow in this post. Now W H Smith. 

23 British and Argentine Meat Company. There by 1915. Some staff seem to have lived in. Formerly the base of royal furniture makers the Mealings

25 Phillip Brothers fishmongers from at least 1911. Some staff lived on the premises. By 1931 was Mac Fisheries. 

27 George Frederick Hill offices? Later amalgamated with number 29 into one premises.

29 Arthur George Hill upholsterer and cabinet maker. Arthur was in business with James Henry Tugwood until 1900 when they dissolved their partnership as furniture dealers, upholsters and decorators under the name Tugwood and Hill. Thereafter Arthur continued under his own name only. He witnessed his neighbour Gutteridge (below) being burgled in 1912. In the 1930s this was Hill and Son Upholsterers and in 1942 "A.G Hill and Son".

31 William Guttridge  hairdresser, perfumer, fancy goods /Harriet Guttridge toy seller on the same premises. Husband and wife. William had been in premises some years. In 1912 he was was described as a hairdresser and tobacconist when he was burgled. [Building demolished]

33 Ellen Arnold confectioner. The toy shop today. Formerly the Way family premises see here, also Kempster's. 

35 Lovell's building company offices. Edward Turner the manager lived in the premises. Their builder's yard was behind some of the neighbouring buildings along here. They also had a bit of yard in Dedmere Road. Offices still here 1942. Lovells as a whole became a national business. In Marlow they also functioned as undertakers and house decorators. History of other former builders who occupied this property here and about Young James Lovell himself here.

37 Daisy Ilsley's Prep School 1921. Her sister Emma Ilsley taught music and shorthand here too /Leo Redver Ryan electrical supplies and radio seller/electrician in 1929, probably earlier too. Moved premises to number 44 by 1938. Killed when a bomb fell near Bovingdon Green in WW2. His son was also injured. They were delivering a radio. A WW1 Navy veteran. The Imperial War Museum has a photo of Leo as a young man see here (leaves this site). The man for whom Ryan's Mount in Marlow is named. 

41 [Cromwell House] Gerald Berkeley Wills offices several businesses. Surveyor and architect by 1920. He was still in the High Street several years later but I am not certain if his premises were still at Cromwell House. Gerald designed the Marlow Cottage Hospital in 1914. He built Wolmer Cottage Bovingdon Green and lived in it with his family. Prior to his marriage to his wife Kathleen, Gerald lived at Stratton House, West Street Marlow. By 1921 also offices of Cripps and Shone solicitors. 

The building became by 1926 the offices of the Marlow Urban District Council. It housed the Post Office from December 1897.  The council clerk Llewellyn Shone had an office in the building. 

Full history of Cromwell House here

47 Alfred Davis junior journalist. Prominent in the organisation of local sports - and the Olympics! 

49 Walter Davis tailor, hosier, hatter etc. A Long standing business. 

The Chequers Hotel / pub [53] Billiards room. RAC approved. Pub also mentioned as a "masonic hall" 1927. In 1920 and 21 run by Lillian Long (bn 1888) who took over the premises in 1917, having moved from London. Her husband William was a motor engineer. Could be something to do with the below motor company. There is some reason to believe William and Lillian also rented no 55 in the early 1920s. They had moved to Aylesbury by 1932 where William worked as the manager of the Aylesbury Motor Company.

55 Marlow Motor Company. Newly formed with £500 capital in 1920, most likely involving William Long above. Also the premises of an unknown electrical engineer in the same year. / The Corner Restaurant in 1927 which also offered boarding. In 1927 proprietor was Charles J Paul. Restaurant still there late 1930s. Charles was also an insurance agent. On corner of High Street/Institute Rd. 

57 Grays' Stores. Henry Gray born c1867. Took over the Clifton grocer's and wine merchant's in 1901. Initially ran the shop with his brother James who was also a rent collector / letting agent but James had left the shop by about 1906 to concentrate on the latter business. Henry's shop was one of the fancier places in town to buy your provisions. He lived in Glade Road in this period. James lived in the Old Vicarage then later the house Thamesfield.

59 Residential address of Harry Redgrave jobbing gardener as well as the office (and possibly rooms of) T.N.W Watts who was secretary to Hambledon Council. Long term surveyor and inspector of nuisances for Marlow Urban District Council. Today is Fego.

61 William and Thomas Sellman builders, plumbers and painters. Here by 1911. William lived in. The Sellmans left these particular premises before 1939. In 1942 no.61 was Tillion's florists. 

"Palmers" Dr George Downes. Physician. His home and medical premises in one. His wife Aileen Downs was instrumental during WW1 in setting up an Infant Welfare Centre in Marlow, which suffered from high infant mortality due to poor housing and poverty at that time.

67 James Eyre Jackson artist.

73 "Quarry House" Francis Culhane doctor, surgeon, councillor. Biographical post on him here

75 William Jackson dentist 1920. This building does not exist anymore. Not in same spot as modern 75. Formerly a doctor's premises.

77 George Morton antiques. By 1939 was Kendall and Morton antiques dealers. Not in same place as modern 77 due to renumbering.

79 William Robinson pianoforte tuner and music warehouse in 1920.  Had been there for some years. He probably also gave piano lessons. In 1921 his widow Lily Robinson operated as a piano and music dealer here. Not in position of modern 79 due to renumbering. 

81 Thomas Wheeler refreshment rooms. Also tobacco seller. These premises were on the corner with Station Road. Not the same as modern 81 due to renumbering. Thomas  was not there 1915. He had previously ran a restaurant in Slough. Born c1863. 

Also Honourable mention to 

Charles Carter baker and confectioner on the Causeway which is a continuation of the High Street. (In recent times was Burgers. A  long standing bakers premises)

- Unnumbered - Currall's Garage (sales and service) plus radio agents. (Building demolished) 

Part two will contain the even numbers plus selected references.

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

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Platts Row / Cannon's Row Marlow

Buildings dated 1846.

Known as Cannon's Row as it was built for and owned by chemist and bookseller George Cannon. (To go virtual shopping in his Victorian premises see this post here)  His initials appear along with the 1846 date on the decorative plaque under the eaves. The properties were sold after his death and then became known as Platts Row, sometimes Platts Road. (Referencing the now gone Platts Farm)  This is within Mill Road Marlow.

Above, part of a fragile plan of Platt's Farm estate when up for sale in 1839. Lot 34 adjacent to "Duck Lane" (St Peter's Street) would soon become St Peter's Catholic Church. NB the St. Peters street on this map is what we would now call Station Rd. 

Open ground opposite the cottages and next to the Prince Of Wales pub in South Place was used by a travelling theatre in 1883, Belmores. One of the actresses performing there, Ada Hall, died of fits considered to have been brought on by a mammoth drinking session in the Prince of Wales. Ada had been in acute distress after hearing that her son was lost at sea. She was also suffering from money troubles and in mourning for the recent death of her aunt. At the inquest Platts Row resident Harriet Warren gave evidence. She had shown kindness to Ada, putting a blanket under her head when she found her sleeping in the taproom and visiting the theatre tent the next day to check on her wellbeing. Harriet was née Smith and married her husband Joseph at the Wesleyan Chapel in 1877.

Resident William Augustus Gill died in Platts Row in 1894 aged 61, having lived there with his wife Elizabeth for some years. His obituary in the South Bucks Standard [3rd August 1894, Via the BNA / British Library Archives] tells us that though a tailor by trade William was mainly interested in being out playing sports. He was a fast long distance runner who challenged others in matches, a cricket player for Marlow and an umpire until his sight failed.

I found evidence of him running a race for money 130 yards down Oxford Road Marlow against Maidenhead man Edward Shalor. William won by 4 yards. As a runner he went by the name of The Shrimp. Not sure why!

The obituary says William had a sharp but witty tongue. It glossed over evidence that he may have been a little short tempered having multiple court summonses for assault. Those who summoned him included hairdresser George Hitchcock and two local constables. William was twice fined for being in a pub drinking during prohibited hours. One of these offences was in the Prince of Wales.

Elizabeth survived William and died in Platts Row in 1900. She was née White and married her husband in 1852.

Another one time resident of Platts Row was Uriah Piggot who for 30 years worked as a gardener at New Court off the High Street.

Photo by Kathryn Day. Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

For other posts about specific roads in Marlow see under "Specific Shops, Streets...etc" on the menu. All mentions of an individual on the blog can be found on the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu - now containing 2,900 names. 

Related posts: 

Travelling theatres such as Ada's were a big part of Marlow Fair - read about this event in the Victorian era here and Edwardian times here. 

The death of a showman in Riley recreation ground in its previous life as Crown Meadow is covered here

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

George Cannon's initials and 1846 date.