Will and Research Elizabeth Purlis 1780

 Elizabeth Purlis of Great Marlow. Says she is of sound mind. Gives a mourning ring to the following: Mary Green of Maidstone, Kent, Mary Hollingworth of Maidstone ditto, Mary Wilkinson of St Mary's Aldermanbury London, John Wilkinson (merchant) of St Mary's Aldermanbury, and Thomas Ollive of Smithfield Barrs London (surgeon). 

Elizabeth Ollive of Smithfield Barrs, widow, to receive 10 guineas and after all just debts, fore mentioned legacies and funeral expenses paid, Elizabeth is to receive all wearing apparel. All money, household furniture and effects to John Wilkinson as above and Thomas Ollive as above whom she appoints her executors, in trust for her father William Purlis. She wishes them to give him an annuity or something equivalent for his advantage. 

Witness Sarah Sneath, Maria Arabella Shuter. 

Codicil 1780. 

Gives to Elizabeth Ollive as above her dimity jacket and coat, her ten new shifts, nightcaps, pocket and neck handkerchiefs, stockings, robbins?, her best flowered and muslin aprons, and a piece of shell work in a glass case. 

To Ann Freeman of the Grange Walk, Southwark, spinster - her best striped silk gown, and brown ditto, her muslin jacket, white satin and her coloured petticoats, her cloak and buckles. 

To Elizabeth Freeman, widow of Great Marlow, her white gown and coat, green silk gown and coat, her flowered calico gown, and her dark cotton jacket and coat. 

The remainder of her wearing apparel to be divided between the two Freeman ladies mentioned, they dividing as they see fit. 

NOTES:

Benjamin Hollingworth of St Sepulchre London (surgeon) and Joseph Freeman of the Grange Walk in the parish of St Mary Magdalene Bermondsey, (tailor) were called upon to swear on oath that they were well acquainted with the testator for many years and that they have both seen her write and sign her name several times. This was necessary as the codicil was signed by the testator but was not witnessed. They swore that they had carefully examined the codicil and they were satisfied that it was in her handwriting. It was stated that the testator was a spinster. 

Will & Codicil proved by executors as above, 1780. 

Witness Sarah Sneath was the daughter of Marlow surgeon William Sneath. Her own will is summarised here.

Summarised from the PPC will at the National Archives by Charlotte Day. 

Index of other will transcriptions here.

© Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use my will summary and research with credit to this blog.

Will Summary John Rolls Proved 1857

 John Rolls of Great Marlow, coal and timber merchant. Written 1854. Proved 1857. See codicil below too. I found this will quite hard to read. I have done my best but recommend you obtain your own copy from the National Archives if this will is particularly important to your family.

Wants just debts and funeral expenses paid.

John Rolls Hoare and Thomas Rolls Hoare sons of my sister Ann Hoare 1 shilling each to mark my ....e of their....

My brother and I occupy a freehold property at the foot of Marlow Bridge in the parish of Bisham Berkshire which formerly belonged to our father. It comprises grounds, warehouses, ....., a meadow and gardens bounded in the North by the River Thames, and in the East by the Compleat Angler's Inn and in the South partly by the road to the Compleat Angler's Inn and partly by the old road called Bisham Lane and in the West by Church Meadow or land belonging to ...Davenport Esq. This property is being used by the brothers in their joint business partnership as coal and timber merchants. This all to my brother's use for his life, him keeping the buildings in good repair. Afterwards estate to go to Reverend Green of Shepton M...w in Gloucestershire who was the son of Mary Green who used to live in Great Marlow and his heirs. If he has none then estate to Osmund Rolls Green another son of Mary Green. If Osmund has not disposed of the said property in his life or in a will and has no legal heirs then property to the eldest of my bothers or sisters then living.

Dial Cottage on the Causeway which is in the occupation of Frederick Berger under a lease assigned by me to Robert Collins is willed to "the said" John Green (the Revd?). If John has no heirs, and has not disposed of it in his lifetime or by a will then to Osmund Rolls Green and his heirs. If he too has no heirs and has not disposed of the property in his lifetime or by way of a will then property to the eldest then living brother or sister of mine.

£10 each to brothers Thomas, Charles and George Rolls. Thomas's is in addition to what he is left as a thank you for being an executor of the will.

Sisters Ann, wife of John Hoare, and Jane Rolls £10 each.

£10 to be equally distributed between the sons and daughters of my bargeman Thomas Sparkes late of the Barge Pole pub. [More on Thomas here]

Executors £10 each as thank you.

My residual estate to the said John Green with one moiety of it left to Osmund Rolls Green.

Executors brother Thomas, John Green as above, Osmund Rolls Green as above, Edward Mason of Thames Side Windsor, coal merchant.

Witnessed by MJ Rippingham Great Palson Street London and Charles Tompkins of 20 Colet Road, Commercial Road, East London.

CODICIL. WRITTEN 1855.

John Green my gold ring and the rest of my jewellery to Osmond Rolls Green.

The legacy given to the children of Thomas Sparkes to be divided equally between John and Osmond above.

Codicil witnessed by Ralph Spicer*, solicitor of Great Marlow, and William Weaver, clerk to Mr Spicer.

The will was proved by three executors only. Edward Mason had renounced his role as executor.

Transcribed and summarized here by Charlotte Day from the original will at the National Archives, Kew.

*biographical post on Ralph Spicer here

©Marlow Ancestors.

1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow Part 42

 The next part of my gradual transcription of the original handwritten working notebooks used by the assessors to compile this assessment. These faded notebooks have long been in the possession of my family, and also contain some pencilled in corrections from the later 1830s, though not in these parts.

I am uploading the parts out of order that they appear in the assessment. Instead I transcribe and add them as they chime in with research I am doing for myself or others.

©Marlow Ancestors. Use this transcription with credit to this blog.

Name

Property occupied

Annual worth of that property

Any notes by me in square brackets

Hooks Cottages

Woodrow [no first name]

House and garden

£6

*****

William Stevens

House, garden and shop

£6

*****

Edward Pratt

Cottage and garden

£4

*****

Oakengrove

William Smith

Cottage and garden

£4

*****

Jordan [no first name]

Cottage and garden

£5

*****

William House

House, garden and stable £6

Part of a garden at Lane End 

10 shillings

*****

Thomas ?Fulton

House and garden

£5

*****

Burrough's Grove

John Green

Horse Shoes House [pub], garden, stable, woodhouse and garden

£8

*****

Wymers

Henry Webb

House, lawn, flower garden, stable, chaise house, garden, a cottage and small garden

£21

*****

Handy Cross

William Earies (Earis/Eyres/Ayris)

The Blue Flag house [Pub] shop, shoeing house, cottages, stable and garden

£9

*****

Each occupying a cottage and garden with an annual value of £3:

Jeffrey Sears

John Plumridge

George Wye

*****

Ragman's Castle

William Dance

Cottage and garden

£4

©Marlow Ancestors. Reproduction very welcome for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

The Fountains of Dukes Place / Burroughs Grove

 The Fountain family lived in Dukes Place Great Marlow from (at least) 1908 to (at least) 1913. Peter Fountain was born 1868 in Wendover Bucks to Emmanuel, a gamekeeper for Alfred De Rothschild Esq, and Charlotte. Mary Ann his wife was née Clarke and married him in 1895. 

Peter appears on the 1881 census as a 12 year old plough boy. The following year his family suffered the loss of his baby brother Henry. The 16 month old died from convulsions brought on by severe whooping cough.

By 1891 Peter lived at "Dirty Bottom" Marlow Bottom and was an agricultural labourer lodging with a 62 year old widower James Clarke who was presumably a relative of his future wife. In the years prior to his marriage however he was working as a gamekeeper for Lord Carrington. As such he appeared in several court cases as a witness for the prosecution when poachers were bought to justice. That didn't seem to stop Peter taking an interest in poaching himself - he was fined in 1901 for stealing a nest of pheasant eggs from another man's land. At the time this was classed as poaching because pheasants were game birds. This didn't seem to stop Peter being employed in later years as a gamekeeper.

Mary Ann was born around 1869 just outside Marlow at Burroughs Grove. I saw an online tree that gave her parents as William and Mary however on the 1881 and 1891 censuses she was living at Burroughs Grove as the daughter of David and Mary Clarke. David was a farm labourer. 

In 1908 Peter was fined for being drunk in Little Marlow. This was (at least) his second conviction for public drunkenness. (Fine 10s including costs.) By then the family had moved from Burroughs Grove to Dukes Place. Greater trouble came to the family through Mary Ann a few years later. In July 1912 she was fined £1 for stealing a pair of scissors and a hairbrush from Mrs Debbin at Prospect House. Mary Ann was not a very careful thief as after the act she went for a drink at the Horns public house just down the street from Prospect House. Multiple people in the tap room saw the stolen scissors on the floor at Mary Ann's feet and the hairbrush sticking out of her pocket. In December that year she and James Clarke (perhaps her brother) were found guilty of stealing a ferret from the garden of her Dukes Place neighbour Archibald Grainger. Again careful planning was not foremost in Mary Ann's mind. The theft occurred while another neighbour Mrs Ann Tilbury from no 2* Dukes Place was visiting Mary Ann and was thus a witness to her and James disappearing into the garden and coming back with the ferret. When suspicion began to be thrown at Mary Ann and James, Mary Ann told Mrs Tilbury not to admit to having seen them with the ferret, while James tried to get rid of the incriminating animal by offering it for free to a fellow drinker in the bar of the Railway Hotel. The original intent was to sell it. James tried to say he had found the ferret in the garden of the Carpenter's Arms around the corner from Dukes Place but the court dismissed this explanation.

In May 1913 Mary Ann was jailed for two months hard labour for stealing the hand bag of another woman on the train between Cookham and Maidenhead. Her accomplice was another Marlow woman Gladys Edwards. Inside the bag was 2 sovereigns which the women split between themselves and a gold watch and chain. Gladys kept the gold items. She sold the chain to High Street jeweller Frederick Rowe. The bag was thrown down a drain to hide the evidence. When arrested Mary Ann claimed that the bag was found by Gladys on the Maidenhead platform and having asked anyone around if it was their bag, decided to keep it when it was otherwise unclaimed.

Context for this is provided by a newspaper report that later the same year Peter was brought to court for abandoning his wife and family and thus rendering them as paupers dependent on the Parish. Poor Mary Ann may have been desperate when she stole the ferret. Her youngest child Annie was then only two years old. How much of her previous stealing had been acts of desperation caused by an uncommitted breadwinner? Peter said he left his home because it was used for "improper purposes". The Bench said there was no doubt his house was "badly conducted" but that was no excuse to leave. He was sent to prison for a month. 

Four years later Peter, during WW1, was arrested in Marlow as a deserter from the army. More humiliation for Mary Ann. 

Mary Ann knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of theft. When she was six her sixteen year old neighbour Sarah Green and Green's father John were jailed for breaking into the Clarke's home via a window and stealing from a box some shoes, 2 pairs stockings, a bonnet and 2 petticoats. The loot was discovered by a constable under the Green family's kitchen floorboards. Mary Ann was out with her mother at the time. Her brother William discovered the theft.

Above, Dukes Place in 2022 including the row known as Sunlight Villas/Cottages. 

*numbering in Duke's Place seems to have altered since.

Related Posts:

All mentions of a person on this blog can be found on the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu - 4,000 plus individuals are mentioned here. 

A short biography of another, earlier Dukes Place resident Elizabeth Keen is here.

Everyday life in old Marlow post index here

Index of posts relating to specific streets, properties etc here 

Other Borroughs Grove related posts here

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

Sourced included:

Census transcriptions from microfilm. my own.

South Bucks Standard editions 18th July 1912, 11th December 1913. British Library Archives.

Bucks Herald 16th October 1875. As above.

James Haynes - Boatbuilder & Thief Catcher

 

James Hayne(s) was born in Marlow in the first few years of the 1800s. Perhaps not as famous as the late Victorian boat builders of Marlow and Bisham, he deserves a post of his own because of the many roles he played here - from preserving law and order, to preserving Marlow Bridge. 

As a young man James followed in his father's footsteps and worked as a carpenter. His dwelling house and work premises were in the High Street and Causeway at this point. In 1828 the workshop is described as located 200 yards from his home and were also separate in 1833. In any event, in 1828 a thief broke through the shutters of the workshop and stole a saw and an axe from James. This kind of theft was taken very seriously at the time as depriving a workman of his tools of the trade could too easily lead to him loosing the means to provide for himself. James was lucky in that the tools were recovered and the thief caught. The young man responsible, John Green, was an apprentice to another carpenter. It was James himself that recovered the tools, after he received something of a tip off. They had been hidden under some wood shavings in a loft. The judge expressed a regret that John had begun "a career of crime at a very early period in life" which seems perhaps a little strong given it was a first offence and he had previously borne a good character. Luckily for John, his master was willing to keep him on and spoke of his general steadiness. The judge therefore decided to be merciful and sentenced him to 2 months in prison. 

James did well in his carpentry business and seems to have been well regarded by his fellow traders. By 1833 he was working from a workshop and yard "at the wharf" with a residence in the High Street, still officially a carpenter. There were many buildings at the wharf, some quite ramshackle, that this could have been, used for all kinds of purposes over the years. 

James worked on Marlow's new suspension bridge and like so many others involved had to put in a few requests to actually get paid. This would be the start of a long involvement with the bridge. He was regarded as someone who could get things done, so it is no surprise he also later fulfilled the then elected role of parish surveyor. But the biggest role for James was as one of the parish constable in the days before a regular paid police force. If a warrant was issued for someone's arrest, James and his colleagues were supposed to stop their day jobs and execute it without delay. If they failed to do so without sufficient energy, they could themselves end up in court for neglect of duty. They also had to fit in routine patrols. James fulfilled the role for at least 10 years in the 1830s and early 1840s. He was required to follow up leads as regards to suspects or locating stolen goods, such as the parasol he found hidden in a water storage tank in the yard of Bond the builders in 1843 (not stolen by a Bond!) His finest hour was probably policing Marlow Fair in the same year. His patrols with fellow constables Henry Stallwood and Steadman Camden (biographical post about Steadman here) were completed with such a sharp eye and energy that not a single robbery was reported, despite the massive influx of visitors. 

It was not all hard work for James at this time. He was a regular participants in the charming Sunny Side v Shady Side of the High Street cricket matches which ran for several annual contests in the 1840s and 50s. It was usually played at the Aldermary - that is the meadow more or less where Marlow Cricket Club is now to be found off Pound Lane. So which side was the sunny one? The West Street / Higginson Park side. The Shady, Liston Court / Station Road side had the best level of success and was the one that James played for. It attracted a good crowd, no doubt including wife Elizabeth (nee Osborn) and their several children. One of these, Caroline, would go on to marry Robert Shaw, son of "King of the River" Robert Shaw, of boatbuilding fame. 

A little after this time, James begins to be more consistently described as located at the Causeway or "Bridge House" (of which there have been more than one in Marlow) and eventually his former home was taken over by Sellmans plumbers and painters. James also begins to be described as a boat builder at this time. He chose this occupation when filling his census return in 1851. He may well have always had a side line in repairing or maintaining boats but the hiring of them for leisure purposes was exploding in popularity at this time. Marlow was becoming more and more of a fashionable destination for visiting anglers from London and elsewhere - it's easy to underestimate just what a role tourism played in Marlow's past even at this period. See below for some linked posts about this. At some point James began to use what was known as the old tithe barn by the suspension bridge* as part of his business, or at least he used part of the area. It seems he may have shared usage of the actual barn building itself, apparently with a wheelwright at some point. (In 1872 the barn was let by the new Buckinghamshire Chair Co as a temporary workshop, although they were still there several years later)  James sold second hand boats and fishing punts as well as making his own river craft to a customer's specifications. It seems he specialised in punts in fact. He would also hire you a boat, house yours out of season, or do routine maintenance such as varnishing the timbers. The Marlow Amateur Rowing Club which started in 1871, used Haynes as their boathouse too, before they had their own premises. 

Next to James at the riverside was of course the suspension bridge. The story of its construction was frankly a tale of misery, and you can read about it in the posts linked to below.  James must have been only too aware that before the bridge was very old, it needed quite a bit of maintenance. He was Clerk of the Works for the repairs done in 1860 - facing some difficulty due to the reluctance of some to stop attempting to use the bridge while it was worked on. The surveyor assessing this work asked James to provide a boat so he could take a good examination of its state from the water. Finding one suitable proved difficult it seems. When the surveyor was taken ill, James was asked to make a report on the bridges condition himself. But the work was nevertheless completed on schedule. (The deal platform was replaced at "considerable expense" but by 1869 dry rot had set in and more work was needed.) By 1863 James was Surveyor of Bridges for the district, and under his care the bridge was repainted and repaired further. He was responsible for gathering tenders for this work. 

In 1866 James was one of a number of local men that testified before a parliamentary committee on improving the condition of the Thames. He made it very clear that he regarded the existing Thames Navigation Commissioners should all be sacked for incompetence. He claimed they had neglected to do routine maintenance on the river for many years and so had made it less appealing for those who wanted to use the river for commercial transportation of goods. While the rival attractions of the railway he acknowledged, he considered that the Commissioners had done nothing to make the river stand up against the competition. Instead James said the Commissioners had bought shares in the Railway and effectively given up!  I find his information concerning the river at the time Marlow had a flash lock the most interesting. He said the flash (surge of water) was made twice a week in those days, and this required the "draining" of the river for 4 miles (not literally drained dry of course!) so in "short water time" there was "no water" for days together - that is the water level was comparatively very shallow. 

By 1865, the business was known as James Haynes and Son(s) and its location was "Marlow Bridge". The eldest son Joseph James, who initially worked as a carpenter, sadly died aged just 32. It was less than a year after his marriage to Mary Poulton of Ferry House, Cookham. James himself would not live much longer. In May 1879, he passed away at Marlow. Wife Elizabeth survived until 1883, living in her later years in the High Street with son George and unmarried daughter Ann. George defined himself as a boat builder on the 1881 census, but it seems the business under the name of Haynes was largely over. Robert Shaw, mentioned above, would take over the site.  Eventually he would build a fancier boathouse by the bridge, the "tithe barn" having been demolished "recently" in November 1877, to make way for a never built hotel that faced strong local opposition. James was to quote one contemporary guide to the Thames, "a grand character" and I'm sure he was sorely missed by the boat men of Marlow. 

*This building was where Tierney Court is now. It was known at that time as the tithe or conventual barn but this was not probably its actual purpose. It's the "curious old building" that James Joseph Sheahan described in his History and Topography of Buckinghamshire. He was correct to describe how it was generally referred to by the locals (as there are a number of sources using this title before he did) but I have a suspicion that he got his information about the Marlow building confused with the tithe barn at Bisham. He described the roof of the Marlow barn as Spanish chestnut, which it was not, but the Bisham one was according to several earlier sources.  Both were also used to house Napoleonic war prisoners. I wonder if Sheahan might not have poached his description of the Marlow barn from the 1860 John Murray Handbook for Travellers in Berks, Bucks, and Oxfordshire. (John Murray, 1860) in which the description "curious old building"  is also used. That book goes on to describe the "monastic barn of Bisham abbey in which French prisoners were kept during the war" and also mentions that the "conventual barn" at Bisham has a roof of Spanish chestnut. So possibly Sheahan confused the two if he helped himself to a little reused information!? 

 Owner of the "barn" at its demolition (autumn 1877) was Owen Williams who seemed confident his hotel plan would go forward. He had apparently got as far as inviting tenders for its erection. However, this was premature and in the end Mr Williams sold the site to "Mr Burt" for the creation of a 50 bed hotel with stabling for 20 horses, a  coffee room and 100ft long covered balcony. The authorities scuppered this plan by making it clear that they would refuse the alcohol licence on the grounds that there were too many others suppliers of liquor in the area. The real reason was probably the objection of existing traders to such competition, in particular that voiced by Charles Miller Foottit of the Compleat Angler who had recently invested in improving his own premises! At this point the barn had descended into a place that tramps and the destitute sort shelter. It was described as dilapidated but also a picturesque feature of the river side and there were clearly many who did not want it to disappear but to no avail. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

More related Posts:

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

James' daughter Eliza features in a post here

The amateur who built a barge in his back garden, 1860s here

Life for the parish constables of Great Marlow here

Robert Shaw - here

Marlow Fair here

The troubled building of the Suspension Bridge here

1820s recreated trade directory Great Marlow here

Bellows, bricks and brandy - reviving the drowned here

Picnics and Punts- Summer leisure in late Victorian and Edwardian Marlow here

Biography of Charles Miller Foottit of the Compleat Angler here

The Bucks Chair Co here

SOURCES INCLUDE:

1833 Parish Assessment, original copies held by us. 

Census 1841,51,61,71, 81 - transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte and Jane Pullinger. 

Harrods Directory 1847, J G Harrod & Co. 

Slater's Royal and Commercial Directory 1852

Thames Navigation Improvement Commission, (1866) Parliamentary Papers Vol 33, Great Britain Houses of Parliament. 

The Architect, April 17 1869, digitised by Google. 

Reading Mercury, 6 April 1839, 24 April 1858

Oxford Journal 26 April 1828. 

Bucks Herald 2 July 1836

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 8 Feb 1873

Berkshire Chronicle 4 November 1843

Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette  4 July 1863

Bicester Herald, 6 June 1879.

GRO BMD index

Q/AB/43/515,Letter, Bucks Archives. 

Dickens, Charles - Dictionary of the Thames, 1880 edition. 

Pask, Arthur Thomas - From Lock to Lock, "Judy" 1882. 

Salter, John Henry. River Thames: a guide, 1881. 

© MarlowAncestors. 

Will Christopher Pepper of Great Marlow

Christopher Pepper, silversmith. Will written and proved 1807.

A very simple will:

All freehold, copyhold and real estate he owns [not described] and all else he has to his two brothers Thomas and Francis Pepper. These two are appointed executors.

Christopher made a mark rather than sign.

Witnessed by:

Thomas Lee, Thomas Gibbons and  Green.

Two days later Christopher had his will witnessed again. This time he signed it, perhaps feeling stronger than at his first attempt. Witnesses above signed again.

Francis Pepper the brother MAY be the paper maker who had the lower mill at Marlow and died 1832.

For more of my Marlow will transcription summaries see here. All mentions of someone on this blog can be found listed on the Person Index on the top drop down menu. 

Will held at the National Archives, Kew.

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

The Ship, West Street Marlow Landlords and historic timeline

 

Updated by Charlotte Jan 2024.

 We mainly focus on pre 1920 listings but sometimes list later landlords if we come across them during research. 

1792 - Thomas Hussey/ Hussrey 2.Thomas Humphrey

1823 - William Clark

1824 - William Clark

1831 -  George Dorell

1832 - George Dorell

1836 - "The Old Ship"  Mrs Dorrell qv. 

1839 - As The Old Ship - William Sawyer. For him see also The Coach and Horses. He was he son of bakers James and Charlotte Sawyer of West Street see here for more on them and his brother.

1841 - William Sawyer

1842- George Stevens

1843 - George Stevens. Fined £2 for allowing cards to be played on his premises. This was a high amount and considered unfair by many. 

1844 - George Stevens 2. John Clark(e)

1846- as The Old Ship Inn. John Clark transfers to Richard Green who is also a blacksmith.

1847 - As The Old Ship - Richard Green.

1851 - Richard Reeves. Richard and his wife Jane were previously managers of the Workhouse. See this post for a biography of them.

1853 - Richard Reeves

1854 - Richard Reeves.

1859 - Jane Reeves. Widow of Richard.

1863 -  Mrs Jane Reeves

1864  - Mrs Jane Reeves

1870 "the Ship Tavern" 

1871 -  Sarah Reeves. She came from the Prince Albert, Spittal Street and was the widow of William Reeves. Jane had just died.

1872 - John Cuthbert

1873 - John Cuthbert. 2. Henry Poole

1876 - Henry Poole transfers to Miss Jessie Macintosh. 

1878 -  Miss Jessie Macintosh died there age 28. 

1878 - Henry Poole again. A business partnership with John Tildesley relating to the manufacture of soda water at the Ship, came to tears. The two fell out and came quite literally to blows when Charles and several others tried to remove the equipment. They took out summons accusing each other of assault - in the case of John the attack was upon Felix Tildesley who had accompanied his father to the Ship. The case against Poole was dismissed. Charles was fined 13s including costs. Then Joshua Benjamin Gladding takes over. 

1881  - Joshua Gladding dies, James Rim(m)ell takes over. 

1883 -  James Rimmel(l)

1884 -  James Rimmell.

Thomas Barnes (temporary after James Rimmell's death) then "Mrs Rymmell" qv widow. 

1885 - Hannah Rimmell (Wife of James) 

1886 -  Hannah Rimmell. (Wife of James Rimmell) Lost her licence for harbouring prostitutes -  see Here   Thomas Barnes takes over again 1887. 

1888 - Thomas Barnes. 2 Joseph Warden

1889  - 1. Joseph Warder/Warden, 2. Thomas George Austin

1890 - Thomas John Richards (born Kent)

1891 -  Thomas Richards

1892  - Transfer from Thomas Richards to William Saunders, and then from Saunders to W Dominick Westcott. Thomas Richards left after marrying a woman of  private means living in Little Marlow. But this marriage of Thomas and Agnes was not happy and within 2 months of their wedding day they had separated, both accusing the other of drunkenness and violence. The case went to court, and Agnes was convicted of assaulting Thomas by whipping his face. (Agnes admitted to using the whip but said Thomas had started the trouble by swearing at her.) A counter charge against Thomas was made, but he was found not guilty as it was considered he was acting in self defence.  The costs of both cases were to be paid by Agnes. She claimed Thomas had married her for her money, and had became a beast when he could not get his hands on it. Thomas said Agnes had taken against the daughters from his first marriage (especially Ada) and had acted out of jealousy. He claimed she had developed a habit of drinking when acting as the former land lady of the Windsor Castle Inn at High Wycombe. Both were bound over to keep the peace. 

1893 - 1. William D Westcott 2. Charles Lisson Mathews

1895 - Charles L Mathews 2. Thomas Walter (or Walker) Lowe

1896 - Mr Lowe 2. ? Gunn. Suffers a chimney fire this year due to beam running through chimney beginning to smoulder. Marlow Fire Brigade had dealt with this kind of fire before and said it is not uncommon to find such badly placed wooden beams in old buildings. Damage limited. 

1897 -   1 G A Gunn 2. James Swain.  (Joseph Warder, Thomas George Austin two names possibly proposed and refused instead of Swain)

1898 - James Swain transferred licence to Thomas Watson. He had no choice after police complaints of months of disgraceful behaviour at the pub, including him being found flat- out drunk on the premises and drunkenly attacking his wife Sarah so blood was running down her face when a police constable found her. The local magistrates said that unless Swain left immediately the brewery would lose their licence for the pub. They swiftly dumped Swain.

1899 - Thomas Watson (Alt. William Watson).

1901 - Mr Watson transfers premises to Arthur Osborn. 

1902 - Survives attempt by authorities to close it down as excess to West Streets licensed premises requirements. The high turnover of landlords in recent years counts against it but the fact the licence is "very clean" and the premises in very good condition keep it open. Arthur Osborne 2. W A Bennett (previously proprietor of Royal Oak, Huntingdon)

1903 - Albert E Bull

1904 - A E Bull 2. Arthur Barlow

1906 - Arthur Barlow 2. Thomas Flaxman/ Flexman

1907 - Thomas Barnes (hold-over) 2. Joseph Warden ditto. 3. Edward Tygat (e) 4. Alfred Schreen. 

1908 - Alfred Screen / Schreen. Spelling varies. Pub has bowling alley and a stable but the latter is not used. Headquarters of the 200 strong Ivy Ramblers Club of London.

1909 - Alfred Screen. In this year the pub is described as having 5 bedrooms which were constantly accommodating visitors during the "river season." In 1908 only three bedrooms mentioned as available to visitors.  In addition the skittle alley was sometimes pulled into use as a little extra space when hosting summer teas. The pub sells twice as many barrels of beer as they did a couple of years ago when they catered for fewer parties. That's two barrels worth of beer a week being sold plus 18 bottles of beer on average and 6 gallons of draught spirits. And yes they sold non alcoholic cordials and mineral water too. The pub is "clean and well conducted" but needs some repairs to the actual premises according to a report submitted to the licencing committee. 

1910 - Alfred Screen leaves Marlow. Next landlord - Charles Percy Joy

1911 - Charles Joy

1920 - Charles Percy Joy. Fined 20s for profiteering in this year for selling gin at higher than the fixed maximum price. Charles pleads guilty but says he doesn't sell many spirit drinks and so can't buy it at a favourable price. If he sells it at the maximum fixed price he says he'd be making a loss. And his total profit per bottle were only 1s which he did not think could be fairly called profiteering. A charge against Mrs Joy for actually serving the drinks is dropped. 

1924 - James G Palmer

1939 - Charles Thornton Arnold. 

1962 - Mrs Doris Mary West is leaving for the Canary Islands. Licence transfers to Mr John Somerville Blundell 

* For more on the Rimmell family see separate post here*

Look on the menu here for more landlord listings for Marlow, Little Marlow, Medmenham and Lane End as well as biographies of some pub keeping individuals or families, a listing of the 100+ pubs Marlow has had, and pub histories.

See under "Specific Shops, Streets Etc" on the menu for links to posts about other historic West Street businesses and residents.

©Marlow Ancestors. 

SOURCES

1853 Musson & Cravens Commercial directory (Compiled 1852), published by Musson & Craven. 

1859,1864,1877,1883, 1899,1903,1907,1911 & 1915 -Kelly's Post Office Directory. 

1839 Robson's Directory

Pigots Directory 1823,1831,1844

Contemporary press coverage of licencing hearings, court cases, and other news accessed via the BNA including: South Bucks Standard, 12 August 1892, 16 July 1901, 22 May 1902, June 21 1907, March 5th 1909 & 28th Oct 1910.

Reading Mercury May 8 1879. As above. 

Various property deeds, wills transcribed by Charlotte and legal proceedings. 

Census 1841,1851,1861,1871,1881, 1891

The Eagles Have Landed- in Spittal Street!

 Joseph Eagle or sometimes "Eagles" ran a grocery shop in Spittal Street Marlow. This was close to the old Greyhound Inn. Sadly neither building still exists. Joseph was on the premises by 1833.

He and his wife were worshippers at the Salem Chapel now known as Christ Church (United Reformed) in Quoiting Square. Their daughters Charlotte and Elizabeth were baptised there in 1811 and 1812 respectively (but born 1809 and 1811). There was also a known daughter Harriet born circa 1818. I didn't see her baptism in the microfilm images I was studying but I may have missed it, ditto the son William and daughter Ann who appear on the censuses or other known daughter Keziah. They were probably just on another reel of film.

The register gives Elizabeth and Charlotte's mother as an Elizabeth which is puzzling as their father appears as married to an Ann on the census and a Joseph and Ann Courtney married in 1809, before the births of Charlotte or Elizabeth. 

Daughters Harriet and Elizabeth did not marry and acted as assistants in their father's shop during his lifetime. In 1840 a bad shilling was passed in payment to Harriet but the Marlow constables were already on the trail of the culprit and caught him while he was still in Eagle's shop.

Three years later a boy called Thomas Plumridge was sentenced to three days in jail for stealing a piece of pork from the shop.

Joseph died in 1871. Elizabeth and Harriet took charge of the business in his place. In 1879 Benjamin Green* appeared in court charged with stealing a bottle of sweets and a bottle of sherbet from them while Harriet was on duty behind the counter. He had moments earlier in the same courtroom been jailed for 3 months for poaching so the second charge was not pressed.

Elizabeth died in 1880 after which Harriet carried on with the assistance of her young niece Ann Cheer (daughter of her sister Ann AKA Annie). Harriet died in 1893. 

Her sister Charlotte married James Sawyer the baker at the age of 17. She ran the Sawyer's bakery in West Street for many years as a widow. See an image of the site of those premises and read more about Charlotte  here

Keziah Eagle's husband Jason Povey got into trouble for accepting a bribe to vote a certain way during one of Marlow's many notoriously corrupt elections. More on that and Jason in future.

For other shopkeeping Marlow families see the Biographies Of Families option on the top drop menu. And for other post related to shops see the Specific shops, schools etc option on the same menu.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day. 

*Benjamin Green went on something of a one man crime wave in 1879. Early in the year he was acquitted of a charge of stealing a substantial amount of money from his employer Harriett Anthony of the High Street. At the same session he was also acquitted of stealing a pair of boots from Battings. However both the boots and the money were found later, secreted in the stables where Benjamin had worked.  He had claimed to have seen a man run out of the garden at the time of the robbery but it was a lack of footprints on bare soil to support his story that caused the police to be suspicious in the first place. 

Sources:

Bucks Herald 14th March 1840 and Bucks Gazette 11th March 1843. Reading Mercury 1st February 1879. Copies held in the British Library archives and accessed via the BNA March 2021.

My transcription of images of Salem Chapel baptisms on microfilm #007765132. Provided by the LDS church, Intellectual Reserve Inc.

1883 Kelly's Post Office Directory  published by Kelly's Directories Limited

1839 Robson's Commercial Directory. University of Leicester Archives.

1853 Mussons and Cravens Directory. University of Leicester Archives.

1844 Pigotts Commercial Directory.

Census 1841-91

1833 parochial assessment. Original handwritten notebooks held by my family and transcribed by me.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use my research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here so that the sources listed above don't lose credit for contributing.

Executions And Turnip Rustling- Marlow Bottom Farm

Hold on to your hats- this is complicated!!!

C1767 - Webb family occupy "Marlow Bottom Farm", tenants of the Claytons. 

1813 - "Marlow Bottom Farm" given as 170 acres.

1829- 1832 Richard Webb occupied a farm with this name. Still owned by the Claytons. Wife Mary. Leased the farm and also Burford Farm in Marlow Bottom which had previously been occupied by James Webb, presumed father of Richard, and Thomas Rolls. Also had land elsewhere in Marlow as well as other property, especially in the Dean Street area. Burford was his by lease from 1813. Appointed executor of will of Elizabeth Winter written 1813, proved 1814. He himself died 1832. Photo of his grave here. In 1825 his former employee Edmonds was executed for twice stealing his horse (the same horse, stolen, recovered and stolen again). Richard said Edmund's had been a good employee once and asked he be treated with mercy to no avail. To read the full peculiar story, see Kathryn's post here! In 1830 he was one the local farmers threatened by letter for using mechanization on the farm. He does not seem to have given in to demands to remove his machines or been attacked by the Swing Rioters. For more on the Swing Riots in Marlow see Kathryn's post here. 

1833- The 1833 parish assessment lists "Marlow Bottom Farm" twice, once as owned and occupied by William James Atkinson, and once again as owned by the Clayton's and occupied by David and James Webb. So there are two farms now using the name! See below, and note that the short form "Bottom Farm" can refer to either of them or even to nearby Burford Farm. 

1833- David and James Webb have "Marlow Bottom Farm", the one owned by Clayton that is. It had grown to 256 acres.

1833- William James Atkinson owned and farmed a property designated as "Marlow Bottom Farm" of 305 acres. He continued to live elsewhere in Marlow however. For more on William and his family see here. William eventually, as described below, gave up the majority of his farm Marlow Bottom and let it out to others instead. The farm thereafter is usually given as much smaller as he kept some land back for himself. He may also have let portions of land to tenants other than the main farm occupier. 

1838- 1843 James and David Webb who were brothers, the sons of Richard and Mary Webb above. (Clayton property) In 1841 John Perry and Henry Green were fined for poaching on their land. The Perry family were notorious poachers. For more on them see my post here. In 1842 the two Webbs went bankrupt. Amongst money owed was to the parish for unpaid poor rate taxes. They had to sell off their horses, implements and crops of hay, wheat and turnips but obviously managed to continue at the farm for some while as both were still farming there 1843 and David at least was still at the farm when he died in 1846. Warrants were out for their arrest in 1842 because of the tax issue. At the same time there was a warrant out for David's arrest over an alleged assault of Eliza Frith. I don't know what happened about the latter charge. James and David also occupied Burford Farm Marlow Bottom until ejected by their landlords in 1843. In addition they farm 90 acres at Hill Farm. 

1844-46 David and James Webb (Clayton portion) David died in 1846 while away visiting his brother Alexander. James continued the farm until Michaelmas 1847. 

1848- Crops sold off, barley, wheat, oats from the farm of William James Atkinson "Marlow Bottom Farm". He continued to farm a small amount of land here until his death in 1850 when his property descended to his nephew Benjamin Atkinson who owned the farm until at least 1862. In that year he also owned and let let out Town End farm in Marlow. Benjamin is covered in detail in this post. 

1851- John Miller. Wife Mary. Mary raised the fowls on the farm, two chickens were stolen from her in 1853. I am unsure of whether he was at the Clayton or Atkinson owned "Marlow Bottom Farm".  John gave evidence at a hearing on local political corruption -see here.

1854 - 1860 Mary Miller, by then a widow, left and sold up her crops of barley, clover, peas and chaff as well as her stock of poultry. Ducks were stolen from her that year, as was a sack. For the latter offence Charles Frith was sentenced to a month in jail.;Yep, for stealing a sack. Mary died in Kilburn London in 1865. 

1860-1863 George Wells. He fell out significantly with a Mr Hall who had bought some of Mary Miller's crops which were still on the farm when Wells tried to come in as a tenant. Plus Mary Miller was still in the house and wasn't giving him the keys to his barns. His issues with Hall led to a suit in court, a counter suit for slander and then more suits. George Cannon the bookseller and chemist of Marlow High Street, unfortunate mutual friend of both parties, tried very hard to mediate but was ultimately unsuccessful. No wonder Mr Wells didn't stick around for long. He must have been sick of the sight of that stressful farm! Presumably George was at the Clayton owned farm.

1862- Benjamin Atkinson as owner farmed his "Marlow Bottom Farm" himself for a while but decided to give it up and put it up to let again in 1862. He was a doctor and did not reside at the farm at any point. It took until 1863 to get a new tenant. Benjamin said that he was giving up farming altogether so sold off the stock of both his Marlow Bottom Farm and Town End Farm in 1862. He held the farm until his death however with tenant's running it. Following his death in 1867 his widow Eliza held it. By 1880 she had a bailiff Mr Daniel Goodwin running things for her rather than renting it out to a tenant. He lived on site.

1863-1871 William Spiller. Not sure if he was at the Clayton or Atkinson owned farm but most likely Spiller was a tenant of Atkinson's as his arrival fits with Atkinson's relinquishing agricultural pursuits himself. Spiller's farm was mostly arable. He was fined 20 shillings for beating a boy who worked for him for disobeying him [Reading Mercury 14th July 1866, British Library].  The next year he was fined for employing a boy called Robert Twitchen aged just 10 years old as a carter! All but one of William's hens were stolen from the hen house in 1869. Left once his lease was up.

1870- A "Marlow Bottom Farm" is described as having a newly erected farmhouse and as being a corn and sheep farm. The farm is said to be in some sources 150 acres and in others 318 acres. It's never simple when it comes to tracing the history of the farms there! It would seem there were still two farms and sources were getting confused between them as to acreage.

1871-1880 Joseph Birch. Wife Emma. In 1874 John Todd of Marlow was fined for taking turnip greens from Joseph's field. Joseph went bankrupt in 1878 but seems to have managed to stay at the farm for a while afterwards. He was jailed in 1879 for several months after it was revealed he has attempted to move and conceal some of his property from his creditors. The main creditors were the executors of his late father to whom he owed £500 (perhaps a loan to start up farming?). They had one night forcibly removed much of his farm stock, horses and equipment so they could auction them off, effectively ruining him as a farmer and forcing the bankruptcy. He tried to keep back items such as his wife's piano. As he couldn't pay his rent his household furniture and crop of hay was seized by his unknown landlord. Joseph and Emma left Marlow for Chesham in 1880.

1878 - "Marlow Bottom Farm" for sale - but which one! Described as a "capital sheep and corn farm" with "dry and healthy land". Offered with modern farm house, 5 labourers' cottages and a little over 315 acres.  Same year another "Marlow Bottom Farm" containing 140 acres of land and woodland and a farmhouse is up to let. Told you things were complicated. The farm with 140 acres was put up for sale the next year but only a minor part of the land was sold.

1881 - A "Marlow Bottom Farm" now of only 86 acres was up for sale- arable, pasture and woodland with an orchard and farm house. Vacant possession. Perhaps this was the 140 acre farm which the owner attempted to sale in 1878 minus the little bit of land successfully sold at that time.

1881 in July Mr E.B Curtis entered into the "Marlow Bottom Farm" previously owned by Mrs Atkinson and was still there a year later. He knocked two workers cottagers into one for his farm bailiff to live in. Bailiffs were most often seen at farms where the owner or tenant reduced elsewhere but Mr Curtis did live in Marlow Bottom. He and his farm bailiff Daniel Goodwin couldn't get along and they parted company in under a year. It ended up in a court case in which Curtis was found to have given Goodwin insufficient notice when he fired him. This Goodwin was the same bailiff that had worked on the farm for Mrs Atkinson.

1888- a Mr Chilton at "Marlow Bottom Farm" but which one?

1884 - 1902 Henry White. Originally from Cornwall. Raised chickens, bees and field crops at "Marlow Bottom Farm" but which one?

1903- 1921 William Chappell. His wife offered rooms at the farm to rent to tourists. They seem to have taken over the premises of Henry White. Kept cattle, poultry, pigs. In 1906 their employee John Lovegrove had to have his thumb amputated after his bird scaring gun exploded in his hand. This farm was sold by unknown owner 1921.

1931-34 Mr F.C Mathews, a supporter of the Working Men's College of London. He invited some of the unemployed men training there to a summer holiday camp on the farm in 1933. Apparently gave up resting chickens on the farm in 1931 as he sold off all his stock and equipment. A Great Marlow Parish councillor.

1934 Mr William Ray Coryton of Marlow Bottom Farm had a serious fire in his farmhouse gutting a bedroom, dining room, the stairs and the hall. Two firefighters from Marlow Fire Brigade were injured in the attempt to control the fire. There was no water but a small well with which to fight the flames. Report Bucks Free Press 14th December 1934, Bucks Free Press Archives.

1938- poor boys from London brought here for a camping holiday. Alfred Arnold was the occupier, as he was in 1939 though he was described as a grocer rather a farmer. It is possible that the other former "Marlow Bottom Farm" had become Cranes Poultry Farm which appears at Marlow Bottom on the 1939 Register (Ancestry). Scout groups had held summer camps at the farm regularly for some years.

Farm occupier listings are compiled by me by cross referencing property records, ads, trade journals, censuses, wills, court cases and more.

To look for other people on the blog use the Person Index option on the top menu. There are over 10,000 people listed there. 

For other posts related to Marlow Bottom and nearby see here

Lots more farm occupier lists to come on the blog for both Great Marlow and Little Marlow areas.  Use the Specific Shops, Streets Etc option on the top drop down menu to find other farming related posts.

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Marlow's Lesser Known War Memorial

Below is a plaque of recognition for soldiers who fought and died in the 1899-1902 South African War, also known as the second Boer war. It was unveiled on the then headquarters of the Bucks Battalion of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, next to what is now the library in Institute Rd, in August 1909. Made of black Aberdeen granite, a few details on the "war tablet" are a little hard to read now but we've done our best ..

"This tablet was erected by public subscription to record the names of members of the Auxillary forces connected with Great Marlow who served in the 1899 war in South Africa 1902

Imperial Yeomanry: 

Trooper BF Burton

Trooper W G Drinkwater 

Trooper A J Gale

Trooper G. R Greaves, 

Trooper F Langley, (Frank, brother to Jack, see below)

Trooper J Langley, (Jack, sadly died in WW1. Read more about his family here )

Trooper H B Rowe,  

Trooper C Webb, 

Trooper W White, 

First Bucks VRC :

Sergeant G Hide (Geoffrey)

Private C Green,  

Private G H Green, 

Private CT Martin, 

Private A Silvey, 

Private G Simmonds 

Private J Wheatley

Bugler L Shaw, 

Private W Batley,

Sergt. H J Smith

And : Trooper G A Rogers, killed at Bolshop May 19 1902)" 

 The unveiling was left to General Higginson. Raising funds for the plaque had taken time and it's reveal was regarded as a big occasion in the town. A guard of honour was formed in Institute Rd for the General, consisting of members of the Marlow company of the Territorials and other groups such as Marlow Fire Brigade and the Church Lads Brigade. Once the ceremony was complete, those gathered marched to the Enclosure - the no longer enclosed patch of grass on the Causeway. The purpose was to perform the inaugural hoisting of flags on the flagpole. The Overseas League provided the flagpole, and invited Marlow council to give a home to it. They agreed, and funds had also been raised to buy the flags. Various groups in town provided national or territorial flags, and that of Cape Colony in South Africa was among them, purchased with funds raised by the pupils of Borlase school. A flagpole is still to be seen on the Causeway and few probably know why one was first erected there. The Overseas League aimed to encourage a sense of brotherhood amongst individuals living within the Empire and so it displayed not only the Union Jack but the flags of Western Australia and New Zealand for example. This was the first such flagpole erected by the League and that fact was reported across the Empire. 

More information about Marlow and the Boer wars will follow shortly. 

See  here for the Brewery First World War memorial tablet

And the tragic early history of The Armoury (Bucks Volunteer HQ) - some distressing content - is covered here

For all mentions of your ancestors here, use the A-Z person to index in the top drop down menu. There are more than 3,000 individuals listed there. 

SOURCES

National Library of Australia Trove Collection:

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/53186750/5137435, accessed September 2020

South Bucks Standard August 27th 1909, held at the British Library and accessed via the BNA November 2020

©MarlowAncestors. Post written by Kathryn Day. 

Landlords and History The Three Horseshoes - both premises!

Written by Kathryn Day. Researched by Charlotte Day and Kathryn Day.

Updated December 2025

The Three Horseshoes pub most familiar to us now is located at Borroughs Grove just outside Marlow on the road to Handy Cross and High Wycombe. The old spelling of this place was frequently Burrow's Grove. Marlow however also had a Three Horseshoes pub / beer shop in Gun Lane (now Trinity Road).  In fact the two were for a period operating at the same time. 

THREE HORSESHOES -

BURROUGHS GROVE

Location is sometimes given as Wycombe Road.

*Note, there was more than one beer seller at Burroughs Grove. Sometimes confusion has been caused by a presumption that anyone listed as a beer seller there was trading from the Three Horseshoes, the only pub a modern person would know of at that location. All those listed below are certainly specifically at the Three Horshoes. Often informally called just "The Horseshoes". 

1826 - John Green.

1833-  John Green. Wife Elizabeth.. They were originally of Purley Berkshire. In 1828 their son John was sentenced to 14 years transportation for stealing a flitch of bacon. He was removed to the local penitentiary instead on the grounds that he was truly sorry for what he had done. His parents and 75 other locals signed a petition for him to be released even from that prison on account of his being led astray, being young, and being a newly married man with an infant child. The fact that John junior does not appear at home on the 1841 census suggests the appeal failed but he is back by the 1851 census so did not serve a long a sentence as he might have done.

1835 - Mrs Green had a narrow escape when a fully laden hay cart runs into the front of the premises, smashing into the tap room. One of the horses was killed instantly. The front horse had came out of the traces as it descended the hill at a pace, causing the other to career out of control with no braking possible. This horse had then failed to take the corner and had ran directly into the pub. The family heard the commotion while sitting down for breakfast, and were thankfully able to run clear. The carters also survived.

 1848 - J Green "Burrow's Grove"

1851 - John Green

1852 - John Green who died this year. In his will he left all he had to his daughter Sarah Silver wife of Joseph Silver and daughter in law Ann, wife of his son John. The couple lived with the widowed John already. Ann was nee Keen.

1854 - J. Green. This was John son of above.

1859 - John Green

1861 - William Leach (see also Hare and Hounds)

 1863 - William Leach "Wycombe Road"

1871 -  William Leach. Wife Caroline. 

1876 -  William Leach

1877 -  1. Sidney Young ? 2. John Northcote/Norcott

1878  - John Northcote/Norcott  transferred premises to William Plumridge

1883 - William Plumridge "Wycombe Rd" 2. James Saunders

1886 - Licence transferred from James Saunders to Henry Tilbury 

1890 - William Harraway (born Wilts) In this year William's daughter Emily Maud Mary age 17 died suddenly at the inn. She was taken ill at Miss Barton's down in Marlow where she was employed as a servant. This was put down to catching a chill after sleeping with damp hair. She took 5-6 of Beecham's pills to relieve her illness but this was above the recommended dose. After she was sick repeatedly, Dr Dunbar Dickson was called. He told her she had taken too many pills but she said she had done so repeatedly before without problems. He advised her to rest and so her sister Elisabeth Christine fetched her home in a fly. Emily then complained of pains in her body and indigestion but sadly her condition was more serious than anyone realised and Emily took a sudden turn for the worse. The post mortem put the cause of death as an inflammation of the stomach and a small rupture there. It was considered that the pills had aggravated an existing inflammation. There does not seem to have been any investigation into why Emily had this pre-existing inflammation No was it answered why she took Beecham's Pills for a suspected chill or why she apparently took multiples of these pills on a regular basis. Beecham's pills were a laxative and remedy for billiousness or nervous disorders (which were often thought to spring from poor digestion).  

1897 - William Harraway. In 1897 William gave evidence relating to "very bad language" to be heard about Burroughs Grove, thanks to the expressive Charles Boddy who received a 5s fine for this offence.

1903 - William Harraway

1906 - Tom Stroud. Samuel Peppall took over on September 26th that year. He had been a publican elsewhere for 23 years previously. Also rendered as Pepple.

1907 - Samuel Peppall . Fined for allowing drunkenness on his premises.

1911 - Samuel Peppall

1912.  Samuel Peppall

1920 - Samuel Pepall qv

1923 - Arthur Thompkins/ Tomkins

1932 - Arthur Thompkins

1933 - Arthur Thompkins transferred to Fred (Frederick) Brett

1936 - Henry Sheridan given temporary holdover. 

1939 - Frederick Brett, then Leslie Atkins.

1961 - D Aldridge

1963 - Mr L Aldridge who is leaving. John and Margaret Dickson take over.

THREE HORSESHOES, GUN LANE (Address given as The Garrison according to 1833 Parish assessment but it was not one of 5 premises that made up the subdivided Garrison itself. It was instead in the cottages nearby, abutting Holy Trinity Church when that was built. A post outlining history of Gun Lane can be found here)

1823 - William Hoare. .

1833 - William Hoare. Charles Hoare his son was assisting and took over fully in the next year. William's wife Hannah (nee Tilbury) died 1834. William died 1838 as "late the landlord of the Horseshoes Inn", aged 65. Died at Ramsgate. 

1841 - Charles Hoare (Wife Charlotte nee Tilleard - the grave of Charlotte can be viewed, along with the sad story of her death here, and a post about life for the widowed Charlotte at The Bear is here )

1843 - Charles Hoare. In this year Charles attends Marlow Races only to have his hat pinched! 

1850 - Charles Hoare. Fined this year for having his beer house open on a Sunday during prohibited hours (before the morning divine service). Fine £2 10s plus 8s costs. 

1852 - Charles Hoare

According to the daughter of Charles, the Three Horseshoes here closed when the church was erected in 1852. 

By 1861 Charles is at The Travellers Friend,  See also The Bear. His daughter Hannah married the Red Lion landlord Albert Edmund Neighbour who would after Hannah's sadly early death go on to run the Dog and Badger Medmenham. Daughter Sarah married Alfred Allam in 1865 - for more on the Allams see here. Charles other business interests included the Marlow gravel pits, which he owned for a period. 

We mainly focus on pre WW1 listings but sometimes list later names if it ties in with research we are helping with.

Use the Pub Related menu here

 To find all mentions of your ancestor however small, use the A-Z person index.  

Marlow's 100+ beer sellers A-Z see here

SOURCES  

1833 Parochial Assessment original working notebooks and correspondence held by my family and transcribed by Charlotte Day.

1853 Mussons and Cravens Commercial Directory

Kelly's Post Office Directory 

1847, 1859, 1863,1869,1877,1883, 1895, 1907,1911

Census - 1851,1861,1871,1891,1891, transcribed from microfilm made by Jane Pullinger. 

Slaters Royal, National, Commercial Directory 1852 (Isaac Slater 1852)

Duttons Directory 1863

Pigots Directory 1823,1831,1844

Oxford Chronicle 11 March 1838. Copy held at the British Library. Digitized by the BNA.

Bucks Gazette - 1 August 1835, 21 October 1843. As above. 

Bucks Examiner - 27 August 1890 as above

Inquest report notes- Emily Maud Harraway 1890. Plus coverage in the Maidenhead Advertiser December 10th that year.

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Graces of Marlow (some distressing content) *Updated September 2024*

Whilst wading through my mountains of research on Great Marlow people I noticed that I had picked up quite a lot of information about those of the last name Grace so I have gathered a selection of it  here:

George and Sarah:

George poss bapt 1765 Marlow to parents George and Jane however there are two contemporary Georges and only one baptism between them. Married Sarah Nibbs [this name also Knibbs in local records] 1785 Marlow. Sarah buried 1820 age 68.

George and Mary

George son of above George and Sarah. Baptised 1790 Marlow. Wife Mary buried 1840. George on 1833 parochial assessment and on 1841, 51, 61 census Gun Lane [now called Trinity Road]. On 1833 assessment his home was a cottage and garden worth £3 10 shillings a year. This would be very small, though there were slightly smaller cottages in Gun Lane. George on 1851 census is bricklayer's labourer 

Children:

Richard 1.) bapt 1811. Died 1814. 

2.) bapt 1815. Wife Mary Ann. Lived St Peter's Street 1851. Richard in 1861 summoned for failing to contribute to the maintenance of his children who have been sent to Reformatory Schools. Children not named in case. Road labourer for the parish 1881 when he lived St Peter's Street. *Update - one of the children was young Emily, sentenced to 3 years in the reformatory for stealing the clothes belonging to some of the girls attending the Miss Washbourne's Ladies Seminary or school in Marlow. Emily was at Hampstead Reformatory.*

Elizabeth bapt 1813. Mother of illegitimate son William bapt 1837 (who probably moved to Downley). Both of them live with her parents Gun Lane 1841. Probable mother of illegitimate daughter Sarah Webb Grace bapt 1839 too. This second child is not on the 1841 census.

George bapt 1821. Home with parents 1841. George, or just possibly his father, was stabbed by teenage Gun Lane resident Alfred White in 1858. Survived but badly injured. Alfred went for 2 years in a reformatory school as a result. George probably married a Rachel Smith 1865 Buckinghamshire.  Wife definitely a Rachel. Lived 1871 and 1881 Coleshill Buckinghamshire.

Michael bapt 1826. Home with parents 1841. Ag lab. See below.

Mark bapt 1828. See below.

Frederick bapt 1836. With parents 1841. Later a labourer. Wife Eliza. Daughter Sarah born circa 1869/70 charged with stealing clothes from a woman she briefly lodged with at Rotherfield Greys near Henley in 1888. When arrested she was working at Shiplake Farm.

George and Jane

George born circa 1841/42. Parents of Mark and Penelope below. Grandson of George and Sarah above. Lived with widowed grandad George in Marlow 1851 and 1861 Gun Lane. In 1858 sentenced to 14 days in prison for attempting to steal a pie from the shop of Margaret Winfield. Accomplice Thomas Stone managed to run off with two pies but George was seized by Mrs Winfield while trying to take his one. Was not George's first conviction. That Thomas Stone later accomplice to George Grace's father Mark in stealing peas from a field. 1871 George was a casual lodger at Bear lodging house come pub Chapel Street. George married a Jane who died 1892 Oxford Road Marlow aged 50. They lived there 1891 too when George is listed as a shoe maker and Jane as a laundress, as was their teenage daughter Alice.

Mark and Penelope.

Mark bapt 1828. Son of George and Mary above. He home with parents 1841 and with wife and parents 1851. Ag lab. Married 1849 Little Missenden Penelope James. Children Michael, Mary Ann, Elizabeth (Betsy), Richard, George (possibly 2 with first dying) James,  Polly?. Possibly others. Some children born before couple's marriage. Penelope acquitted of pickpocketing William Saunders in 1859. Couple lived Dean Street 1861. Mark acquitted of assaulting a woman in Quarry Woods that year. Wife Penelope died 1871. She had been drinking heavily, including at the Mint in Dean Street with her husband. He went off for a while with his nephew to go to Burroughs Grove outside Marlow. There he spent some hours drinking at the Three Horseshoes. When he returned home with some friends in a donkey cart they ran over Penelope near Marlow Bottom. She had been lying there in the road drunk and it was thought had already been run over by a ginger beer delivery vehicle. It is likely she had intended to meet her husband coming back from Burroughs Grove but had drank too much to make the journey. The report of the Reading Mercury on her inquest is listed in the sources below. The newspaper can be accessed at the British Library or via the BNA online for a fee. If you choose to read it please be warned that it contains some graphic information about the autopsy. Her husband Mark and son Michael were witnesses at inquest. Penelope was buried at Holy Trinity Church Marlow. There is no visible gravestone for her now. To see pictures of the church and graveyard as it is today please see this post. 

Mark still lived Dean Street 1881. He had by then married a second wife Emily. In 1884 received 3 months in prison for receiving stolen goods, wire netting, taken from Mr Darrell of Medmenham. Had only just then been in court for attacking his daughter Bessy during a drunken argument in the Chairmaker's Arms Dean Street.

Working for High Street builder Young Lovell 1889 when charged with stealing 6 yards of asphalt from him.

George and Alice

George born circa 1856 to Mark and Penelope above. Married Alice Green Cooper 1876. Her two brothers John and George Green beat him up 1882 so he summoned them for assault. He himself was in court charged with stealing 2 cakes and some tea from Alfred Ilsley the grocer in the High Street. Sentenced to three months hard labour. Not his first conviction. To see a photo of what these premises look like today or read more about Alfred Ilsley see here.

Michael and Eliza

Michael was a coal porter and sometimes grocer, the son of Mark and Penelope above. He gave evidence at his mother's inquest. Lived Dean Street 1873. Worked for Mr Langley, presumably John Langley.

Young daughter Rose burned to death in 1880 after being left momentarily unattended by her mother Eliza in a chair by the fire while Eliza went to take husband his breakfast and to walk two other reluctant children of hers to school. Rose had suffered fits before, and had played with the fire, either of which may have led to her getting close enough for her clothes to catch fire.

Live Cambridge Road 1881. Eliza operating a corner shop 1887, 1888 in Dean Street near corner to Queens Road. Shop new built 1887 and part of "Jubilee Terrace" which honoured Queen Victoria's Jubilee. Still there 1891. No longer any old buildings there. Eliza fined £5 for selling adulterated butter (plumped with too much water) shortly after she opened. It seems a commercial traveller had taken advantage of her inexperience and given her incorrect advice about product labeling. As such Eliza's large fine seems very unfair. She must have been a determined business woman to recover from such a dent in her finances. 

Michael and Eliza's son Walter later managed her shop until a fire, probably cause by mice, destroyed his stock in 1906. He moved to a different premises in Dean Street in the corner of Trinity Road where it seems his father operated as the boss. Unbelievably the next year that shop also caught fire but with less serious consequences. By 1911 the Graces had left the premises. They did not live in there.

Mary Ann Grace

Mary Ann born circa 1857/58. Daughter of Mark and Penelope Grace, above. On 1871 census a furrier living at home. 1881 own household, she an ag lab with her illegitimate daughter Rose. Married 1881 Charles Boddy. Charged later that year with stabbing him in the head with a knife in an argument after he had hit her. Her sister Elizabeth Grace rescued their baby from being in the room in the midst of their argument. When she heard her sister scream she thought she was being attacked and fetched constables. When she realised the situation she initially told the policeman her sister always went for a knife if she was angry, before seeming to decide to help Mary Ann after all and struggling with the officer who wanted to take the knife as evidence. The force of the blow had bent the knife. The blade penetrated to the bone. Mary Ann was sentenced to 6 months hard labour in Aylesbury jail. Her husband tried to prevent her arrest and did not wish her prosecuted. He required stitches to a 2 inch wound and lost a lot of blood. She said he had continually mistreated her. On hearing her sentence she fainted. (The arresting sergeant in the case was John Maneely whose biography can be read here) At the same Quarter Sessions that saw Mary Ann put in prison, her husband Charles was himself sentenced to three months in jail on the charge of fowl stealing. She still lived with her husband in 1891 when she was again arrested for threatening him, and for drunk and disorderly conduct. A constable said she behaved towards her husband then in "the most disgraceful manner" and was seen to chase him up Dean Street with a poker. An 18 shilling fine was the punishment this time. Three years later Mary Ann, up for further drunk and disorderly offences, and for swearing in public, said in court that she was driven to drink by a husband that continued to mistreat her and her children. She said she was afraid to go home so she spent much time outside. She however denied she had been drinking on the occasion for which she was arrested because she said she had no money. Mary Ann said her husband drank it away and her children would starve if she was not there for them. It was obviously a sad and difficult case and the magistrates told Mary Ann just to go home and there was no punishment. 

Walter and Elizabeth

Walter son of Michael and Eliza above and born circa 1877. Wife Elizabeth of Devon origin. In 1901 lived York Road and Walter described as grocer. Probably working already in his mother's old premises. Certainly Walter in 1906 had the grocery shop on corner of Dean Street and Queens Road which his mother previously ran. The premises that year suffered a serious night time fire. A constable on his beat saved the family's life by seeing flames and waking them. Shop and family's living space both badly damaged. His shop, seemingly in charge of his father Michael this time, had moved to corner of Dean Street and Trinity Road in 1907 when a lamp fell over and caught the room on fire. This time the flames were extinguished before serious damage occurred. Walter and Eliza left Marlow not long after that second fire, leaving Michael with the shop. Walter was possibly a Salvation Army man. 

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The Graces were not the focus of my research so there is likely to be much more out there on them if you look purposefully. There are definitely many more criminal cases involving the Graces - as victims as well as perpetrators. All posts are updated with new research as often as possible.

To find people of interest on this blog use the Person Index option on the top drop down menu. There is also a Biographies of Families option on that menu which you may find useful.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research if you credit this blog and link here so that my sources remain credited for contributing too.

Sources:

1833 parochial assessment. Original  notebooks owned by my family and transcribed by me.

My old transcription of Great Marlow Parish Registers.

My transcription of Great Marlow census from microfilm. Census content is the property of the Crown.

Little Missenden marriage, provided by Jane Pullinger. Also judicial records  / Quarter Session research of Jane. Thanks Jane!

Bucks Herald 23rd October 1858. Croydon Weekly Standard 16th April 1859. Reading Mercury 9th November 1861. Reading Mercury 11th September 1871 [Penelope's death] and 4th March 1882. Buckingham Advertiser 12th April 1884. Bucks Herald 18th December 1880. South Bucks Standard  28th September 1906. All British Library Archives. Via the BNA.

Death Certificate Jane Grace.

GRO Marriage Index online from the GRO website.