UPDATED BY CHARLOTTE May 2026
For a full list old beer houses, pubs and inns in West Street over time, have a look at at our full pub listing post already published. There is likely to be a few you have never heard of! The Pubs Related option on the top drop down menu will lead to related posts. Use the A-Z person index to find every mention of your ancestor however small. In these listings we stop listing landlords at around the 1920s as this time period is the blog's focus. However we record any information given to us about later landlords so please feel free to contribute your knowledge.
THREE TUNS
Note: an earlier Three Tuns is recorded in the High Street. The listings below include both the High Street and West Street premises to give a proper picture.
[1685/6 - 1702 when in High Street- Joan Pomfret initially with husband William then alone as a widow. Her husband died quite soon after the two of them got permission 1685 to create an unnamed new inn. This newly fitted up inn presumed to be the Three Tuns as it was on the West side and the Three Tuns seems to have been subsequently ran by her two sons. Joan and William came from running the King's Head also in Marlow High Street. Son Richard seems to have taken over the King's Head initially when his parent's moved to their new premises. When he took over new inn it seems no one was interested in taking on the King's Head and it became divided and used for residential and other business premises initially. Richard himself may only have used the King's Head as a residence or brewing site rather than an inn. Joan's will is on the blog here]
1708- Richard Pomfrett? Initially at King's Head. Son of William and Joan who converted a house into an unnamed inn on the West side of the High Street in 1685. Richard's premises are also unnamed. He certainly had a brother John in the brewing trade. This is probably the John below who was at the Three Tuns. This leads me to believe that it is probable that the new inn created in 1685 was the Three Tuns held by William and Joan, Richard and then John successively.
1709 - John Pomfret (street location not given) probably brother of Richard Pomfret above.
1717 - John Pomfret (street location not given) He died this year. "Large inn or tavern with close behind"
1724 - Richard Aycott (street location not given)
1729- Richard Aycott.
1733 - Henry Carter. At this point it belongs to the owner of the Marlow Mills John Lofting / Loftin
1737 - Henry Carter? "Three Tuns New Inn". Why the " New"? Well in 1740 a building (described as being situated in the High Street directly opposite properties which backed onto Marlow Place gardens) is named as the "old Three Tuns" so the pub seemingly moved to new High Street premises at some point probably in the 1730s. This is before the move to West Street. A Henry Carter was an ale house keeper and maltster a decade before.
1752 - Widow Aycott - location not given
1753 - Widow Aycott (as above) Also offering cock fighting this year.
1788 - When Thomas Wethered leases the Brewery site in this year, the title deeds are said to say it is former site of the Three Tuns Tavern.
1798 - Thomas Ollis (Premises owned by brewer Ralph Rose who also earlier leased The Dukes Head in West Street, among others).
1807- Thomas Ollis
1808 - Elizabeth Ollis, his widow (See here for a summary of Elizabeth's will) Elizabeth's sister married a Muspratt.
1830 -1. Mrs Ollis 2. Muspratt "High Street"
1831 - John Muspratt (address not stated)
1832 - John Muspratt "High Street"
1833 - John Musprat - "Quoiting Square" (Definitely an error in location by parish assessor who made a hash of West Street records!)
1839 - John Muspratt
1843 - Levi White (A Levy White is listed as boot and shoe maker in "Oxford Street" in 1839 Robson's Directory and is present in 1833 parish Assessment in Quoiting Place/Oxford Terrace). A Levi White was a beer seller in Hurley in 1840. Levi received a heavy £2 fine 1843 for allowing card playing on his premises during Christmas week. A blind eye had previously been turned to the practice. In the same year Levi was fined for selling short measures.
1844 - Levi White, who hosted a Conservatives dinner.
1853 - Levi White. West Street.
1854 - Mrs Mary White. West Street.
1858 - William Goldswain, died 1859.
1859 - Stephen Goldswain. West Street. (And gardener) The death notice from this year of Mrs Goldswain age 65 describes her as the landlady of the Three Tuns.
1861 - Edward August (and gardener). A twice weekly chess club was established at the club in this year. Strictly no gambling allowed on the games.
1863 - Edward August (also seedsman) [see also George and Dragon].West Street.
1865 - William Bowles.
1869 - William Bowles (and fruiterer). West Street. Formerly of the Jolly Maltsters / Malsters, Dean Street - see here.
1871 - William Bowles. West Street.
1872 - William Bowles to William Smith.
1873 - Joseph Smith to Charles Munday.
1875 - 1. Charles Robert Munday. 2. William Maisey "Three Tons"
1880 - William Maisey. West Street. In this year the premises has every window broken by the election rioters - for more see here Later the same year William's wife Martha Eliza dies at the inn age just 44.
1883 - James Arlett. West Street. Dominoes and Bagatelle offered. George Barnes of Oxford Road was employed as an extra pair of hands at the bar every Saturday night at this point.
1887 - 1. James Arlett (2nd source Thomas Arlett) 2.William Slater "of Walton on Thames"
1890 - Frederick Walker. West Street. Frederick is warned after several complaints about the conduct of his premises in this year. The magistrates said that if he is bought before them again, they will endorse his licence (a second endorsement would mean Frederick would be stopped from acting as a publican)
1895 - "The Three Tuns Hotel"
1903 - Frederick Walker - also a job master.
1908 - Frederick Walker forced to offer a public apology to fellow publican Charles Henry Porter of the Railway Hotel after spreading rumours that Porter was going bankrupt. Porter instigated a suit for slander against him.
1909- Frederick Walker also wine and spirit merchants, job master, post master. Promises good stabling. (Post master as in horses for hire, he does not run a post office!)
1915 - F .Walker. West Street.
1923 - 1934 F Walker.
1934 + Reg Speller. He had worked at Fred Walkers garage / motor hire business since 1919. Reg was active in protecting Marlow during the second world war through various roles. Perhaps least known is the fact an aircraft component factory was located at the spacious rear of the Tuns and Reg was to oversee it.
Closed 1964 on Reg's retirement.
SADLERS ARMS /SADDLERS ARMS (with one d is most common spelling) Had yard and outbuildings at rear.
1853 James Allum (Also marine store dealer) Wife Ann
1854 - James Allum (also saddler) 2. Francis Allum, also saddler.
1871 - James Allum (also saddler).
1876 -James Allum dies. Frank Joshua Hudson takes over (also butcher).
1881 - Frank Hudson (also a butcher) Wife Elizabeth.
1883 - Joseph Wilcox (and dining rooms) 2. Frederick Coleshill.
1884 - Frederick Coleshill (Summoned for allowing gambling on his premises)
1888 - Frederick Coleshill to Charles Coleshill. Fred looks to have moved to the Jolly Cricketers/Cricketers Arms Bovingdon Green. See here
1891 - Charles Coleshill.
1892 - Charles Coleshill transfers premises to John Adams.
1903 - John Adams transfers to William(?) Turner.
1904 - Henry (?)(possibly William) Turner transfers premises to William Root.
1909 - Closed by authorities under powers to limit number of licensed property in an area. Last landlord - William Root. It's relatively small size counts against it at the hearings which decide it's fate. William was evicted from the pub after it closed. He enters into a dispute with the brewery Wellers about how long he should be given to vacate them premises but gains no added time.
More info here
THE VOLUNTEER (more Henley Road really). Next door but one to the Hand and Flowers, adjoining Town Farm.
1861 - Edward Hatton. He moved into the premises that year.
1864 - Edward Hatton. Biographical post on him has been published on the blog previously and is available here
Pub gone by 1872. Wethereds brewery retained ownership and attempted to revive the beerhouse in 1888 and 1889 but a new license was refused.
THE BONNET O' BLUE / BLUE BONNET(S)/ BONNET SO BLUE. Named after the blue bonnet uniform of the little girls of the close by charity school.
1833 - William Stratford "Bonnet So Blue"
1839 - William Stratford
1843 - William Stratford dies and son Robert Stratford takes over. ("Blue Bonnets"). William's will is included within the post here which includes more info about the Bonnets.
1851 - Robert Piggott. Fined for allowing card playing on the premises. However it was noted that Robert and the two others convicted of the same offence were all supporters of the opposite political party to the arresting constables and the police stings may have been unfairly focused on them.
1855 - James Pattison. Suspected of running a disorderly house that "encouraged music and dancing" but the magistrates dismissed the case as unproven.
Royal Standard - (in the sub divided Albion House) Existed 1856. Good chance this was a new name for the Bonnet O'Blue which appears to have been in virtually the same spot, if not the exact one.
1869 - John Jefferys/Jeffries
1871 - John Jefferies (also gardener)
1872 - "Standard of England" John Jeffrey.
1881 - John Jefferys (also gardener) /Jefferies
1883- John Jeffries.
Licence ended 1890 with the premises taken into use by "Mr Grove in connection with his school". This was Borlase. And for Grove read Graves.
HAND AND FLOWERS
(Occasionally known as Hand With Flowers / Hand Of Flowers in early records), probable literal interpretations of the pub sign.
Building dates from 1700s.
1853 - George Johnson "Henley End"
1864 - Sarah Johnson "West Street" Widow of George Johnson. She was the daughter of William Stratford of the Bonnet O'Blue.
1871 - Sarah Johnson
1877 - Sarah Johnson dies age 60, and licence was transferred to Mrs Stratford.
1881 Keziah Stratford (Sister in law of Sarah Johnson above).
1882 - Mrs Stratford 2. Henry Carter (we now go into period of proposed, rejected, temporary etc licencees that gets confusing but all here are as listed in contemporary records)
1883 - Keziah Stratford, 2. Ann Carter.
1884 - Ann Carter 2. James Young (proposed transfer, dealt with early following year)
1885 - Ann Carter, but managed until October by her daughter in law Mrs Mary Ann Carter wife of Henry. Mary wanted to give up months earlier but was continually pressed by the brewery to stay there. The date they wanted her to stay until kept being pushed back, even when Mary said she had agreed to rent a cottage and really needed to leave as she would otherwise be paying rent on a cottage she couldn't live in (it was a legal requirement to have a residential publican- so Mary would have to live at the Hand and Flowers if the brewery wanted the licence for the premises renewed that year). In June 1885 it was agreed that a James Young would take over the licence but he wasn't immediately free to move in and take over so Fullers got Mary to continue until the end of September. This came and went without Young being ready. She eventually locked the pub up and left regardless, her patience worn thin. In November Fullers brewery suddenly took possession of the premises and changed all the locks so Mary could not get to the fixtures and fittings belonging to her family which were supposed to remain in situ and be bought by the new landlord but had not yet been paid for. Frederick William Simpole was sent to manage the pub temporarily for the brewery, James Young apparently still not being ready. Mary Ann Carter tried to get past Simpole so nothing could happen to her unpaid for fixtures and fittings. A scuffle ensued and Mary Ann summoned Simpole for assaulting her. The court said any assault was minimal and gave him a nominal fine. A counter summons from Simpole against Henry Carter, Mary's husband, also for assault was not proceeded with. In December the licence finally transferred to 2.) James Young.
1891 - 1907 James Young. In 1897 the pub was sold at auction to a Mr Canning for £1,070.
1907 - James Young had died. Eliza Swadling took over, his married daughter.
1920 - Mrs Eliza Swadling "No. 128 West Street"
1939 - Albert Swadling, son of the above. He was born in the Hand & Flowers itself and was 30 years the landlord.
1950 Albert Swadling, applied for the right to sell alcohol for off the premises consumption as well.
WHITE LION (FORMERLY THE FOX)
Premises believed to have started in 1830. Named The Fox by 1833 when Henry John Franklyn was landlord. He was followed in the premises by William Sayer but whether it was known as the Fox or the White Lion under then is uncertain.
1852 - unknown Stephenson. Probably John below.
1861 - John Stephenson. Born in Lancashire. John was a brewer living in Hayes Place behind the White Lion on the 1851 census and ran the Coach and Horses on the other side of West Street in 1852.
1871 - John Stephenson.
1872 - John Stephenson
1880 -1. John Stephenson who died that year 2. Catherine Stephenson (born Westmoreland, wife of above).
1883 - 1. Mrs Catherine Stephenson 2. Mary Probert, widow. She was the daughter of the landlords of the Carpenter's Arms Joseph and Charlotte Rose.
1887 -Mary Probert.
1888 - Phillip K Harman (Married Mary Probert above, who transferred the premise's licence to him)
1891 - Phillip Harman (also a painter) Household included stepson Thomas Probert, age 10 who would grow up to be a Carpenters Arms landlord.
1897- pub became the new club headquarters for the Marlow Victoria football team. This was a "junior" team, typically this meant players 15-20 years old.
1901-1903 Robert Harman. Also a painter.
1903 - Phillip Harman- the previous one back?
1905 - P Harman license transfer to Thomas Henry Verlin.
1905-7- Thomas Henry Verlin transferred license to David Bedwell.
1911 - license transferred from David Bedwell to John Copley.
1912 - licence transferred from John Copley to Richard Evans.
1913 - licence transferred from Richard Evans to Henry Green and then to Edward William Walker.
1914 - Edward William Walker to Joseph Gilby.
1914-16 Joseph Gilby "White Lion Inn". Early in 1916 licence was transferred to William Henry Morris who had come from the Red Lion Great Milton, Oxon.
1916-19 William Henry Morris as above.
1919 - Closed.
DUKES HEAD
1761 - Elizabeth Wright. North side of West Street. The White Horse (first reference 1755 under Mr Crocket) appears to be very close. Further research to follow. .
WHITE HORSE
Appears to have been very close to the Duke's Head. North side of West Street.
1755,56= Mr Crockett. A place to register horses for the Marlow Races.
1786 - Mr Goldswain.
1792- the records of the Robert Boothby charity tell us that in 1792 it was funded out of the rent generated by a building near the Market Place "formerly the sign of the White Horse". In 1832 this Boothby charity house was described as on the North side of West Street and was in residential use.
The last mention of a pub of this name in Marlow as a going concern is in the 1810s well after the West Street White Horse closed. This is because a Spittal Street premises began using the name (probably by 1803). This became the Greyhound in 1819. In other words there were two pubs called the White Horse which were not necessarily related businesses.
The Harrow
Mr Bennell. 1849. This looks to be Samuel Bennell who was also a wheelwright. The beer shop was broken into by burglars who knocked a hole in the back of the pub in 1849. This pub seems to have been far up the road, in what we would call Henley Road today. That it is an earlier name for the Hand Of Flowers can't be ruled out. Later mentions of The Harrow have been ascertained to refer to The Plough in Little Marlow Road, due to misinterpretation of the pub's pictorial sign, and not this pub.
Researched by Charlotte Day and Kathryn Day, post written by both.
Related Posts:
To find a mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down.
List of 100+ Matlow beer sellers, pubs, ale houses etc here
Index of pub related posts here
Other West Street related content: here
Index of posts related to everyday life in old Marlow: here
Sources include:
1853 Mussons and Cravens Commercial Directory.
Kelly's Post Office Directory 1847,1863,1864,1869,1877, 1881,1883,1903,1907,1911, 1915,1923,1939. Published by Kelly's Directories Limited.
1833 Parish Assessment. Original notebooks held by my family and transcribed by Charlotte Day.
Historic newspapers from the British Library Archives accessed by me via the BNA: South Bucks Standard 23 December 1876, 14 Oct 1892, 21 June 1907, Oxford Journal September 1753, Bucks Herald 23rd June 1877, 7 November 1885, 4 June 1887, 30 July 1892.
Piggots Directory 1830,1844
Robson's Directory 1839
Will of Elizabeth Ollis, held at National Archives, Kew and transcribed by Charlotte Day.
Will of John Pomfret, proved 1717, held at National Archives Kew, as above
Will of Richard Pomfret, proved 1702, as above.
Property records research by Charlotte Day.
Census 1861,1871,1881,1891
Clayton Family Archive papers at Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
The Book of Marlow, Cairns, A J, 1976, Barracuda Books.
Will of John Lofting, written 1733, proved 1742.
©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here so that my sources do not lose credit for information provided. Thanks.
