Landlords Prince Albert Moor Common

Not to be confused with the briefly in existence Prince Albert in Marlow. Both came under Marlow for licensing requirements.

Gaps in dates represent gaps in our knowledge. For full historic lists of pub landlords many with pub histories attached in the Marlow district see the Pub Related Index.

1851-63 Joseph Jones. Wife Mary. Joseph also worked as a butcher.

1868- unknown landlord. Two customers found to have stolen pheasants upon their person in the tap room. They'd been poaching of course. 

1869-72 Edmund Shervall /  Shurville / Shervill / Shervel / Shurvell. Says on census that he was born in Great Marlow. May be the baptism 1836 Medmenham to unmarried mother Elizabeth. Wife was Eliza. Edmund was an agricultural labourer for most of his life including while the landlord of the Prince Albert. Eliza would have ran the pub on a daily basis while Edmund got another wage. This was a common set up in smaller pubs which could not get enough trade to function as the family's only income source. Edmund, Eliza and their children left for West Wickham, Kent.

1872 -86  Richard Ayres who was also a woodman. The J.ps granting Ayres the licence express the wish that he will live up to his prior good character and will not run the premises "in accordance with the very bad traditions" of the place!  In 1885 John Wakefield who lived at the pub was accused of sheep stealing from Barmoor farm Marlow. He worked at Greenlands, Hambledon. Sent to quarter sessions for trial. He seems to have been a relative of the Ayres. 

1886 - 97 Alfred Webb. Wife Sarah. Note: Alfred had a niece with the last name Ayres. This is a very common local last name but may mean Alfred was related to previous landlord Richard Ayres. Alfred's wife Sarah was assaulted by a customer who she had asked to leave in 1894 . [could richard have gone to ship inn cadmore end and died age 58 in 1895]. Alfred was charged with selling liquor at 11.20 pm when the pub should have closed at 10pm. He argued that those in the pub drinking were friends and relatives whom he had invited to have supper and a drink with him after they went to a sale together. They had arrived back at 10.50 pm, the pub had closed on time.  Sat in tap room as it was the only room still with a fire burning and it was a cold night. Bench believed him and case dismissed.

1897- 1902 James Frederick Plumridge. In 1901 used for inquest when a woman Emma Tibbs drowned herself and her 6 month old baby daughter Winifred in the water tank of their new home in Moor Common. Her husband said that his wife had known better times and was depressed at living in small cottage especially when she found the cottage had fleas. She had been up all night dealing with them and was exhausted.

1902 - J Grover or Grove briefly before James Frederick Plumridge again, also briefly. The pub enters a period of instability with frequent landlord changes, suggesting a difficulty in making the business a going concern.

1903 - Henry Talbot landlord. Customer jailed for assaulting him. Grabbed throat and tried to push him into the fire. Customer was disorderly and had been asked to leave premises.

1905 - Frederick Ward

1908 - Charles Read transferred to George Ambrose 

1910 Frank Edwin Wallace  who transferred licence to Thomas Plowman.

1910-1914 Thomas Plowman. He was  on the census as a widower (wife had been Emily originally from Bisham Berkshire). Thomas was originally from Sussex and had worked as a carpenter in the years before he took on the pub. He lived with his daughter Elizabeth and little grandson at the Prince Albert.

We generally list landlords up to around the time of the first world war. The pub is still there today.

Researched by Charlotte Day. 

Selected sources - 

England and Wales Censuses transcribed by me from microfilm except 1911=

"England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7KQ-2JV : 22 July 2019), Thomas Plowman, Hambledon House, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

and 1881 West Wickham "England and Wales Census, 1881", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27W-92K7 ), Entry for Edmund Shervell and Eliza Shervell, 1881.

Windsor and Eton Express 12th September 1868. British Newspaper Archive, via the BNA. South Bucks Standard 26th October 1894 and 19th March 1897 both British library archives, via the BNA. Maidenhead Advertiser May 8th 1901 as above.

South Bucks Free Press 28 December 1872 

Duttons directory 1863.

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N6DJ-X8R

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this information with credit to the blog.

1820s Address Directory Great Marlow

 After exhaustive trawling of wills, property records, court cases, advertisements and more I have compiled a directory of addresses for Marlow residents in the 1820s. To find address references isn't easy. Nowhere near everyone will be included here of course but I will add any future finds as I wade through my mountains of research notebooks. House numbers were not used in this period. This is to supplement our recreated 1820s trade directory which is available Part One here  Part Two here

Many of these people have multiple mentions on this blog. See the A-Z Person Index to find every mention of anyone. Several thousand people are listed there!

This post does not cover Little Marlow or Lane End.

Beech Lodge

Wyndham family. 1823+. Biographical post about them here

Bovingdon Green

Joseph Pratt. Tenant of land. 1820.

Burford Farm, Marlow Bottom

Richard Webb. 1817-32. Also at Marlow Bottom Farm, see below.

Causeway

James Brooks. Baker. 1823+

William Lloyd. Roebuck. 1823+. A man of the same name was a butcher at the same time in an unknown location.

Robert White. Swan landlord. 1823.

Chapel Street

Thomas Archer. Running White Hart 1829 to post 1820s. Possibly 1827+. More here

James Bowles. Fruiterer.

John Collins. Tenant 1824.

John Coster. Watchmaker.

James Creswell /Cresswell. Baker 1823+

William Crouch. Corn merchant. 1822-25

Mary Fletcher. Running White Hart 1824 to at least 1829 More here

Henry Goldsmith. Attorney. 1823.

John Green wheelwright.

Joshua Meakes. Blacksmith. 1823.

Thomas Meakes. Blacksmith. 

John Mossenton. Cordwainer/ shoemaker. 1819-24. John was probably the "Jno" Mossenton who in 1814 witnessed this will.

Charles Plumridge. Bricklayer. 1823.

Church Passage

George Davis. Landlord Barge Pole.

William Sparkes. Landlord Black Boy 1823+

Court Garden

J.C Stroude. More here

Dean Street

...Blackall. Tenant 1826.

Ann Beaver. Tenant 1826.

Richard Clark. Landlord Jolly Masters. 

Ann Davis. Tenant 1826.

Martha Downer. Tenant 1826.

Zachariah East. Butcher. 1823-25.

Ambrose Frith. Tenant 1826.

John Glover. Lace merchant.

George Goldsmith. Plumber. 1823.

Mary Gray. Tenant 1826.

James Grove. Tenant of cottage there.

John Hackshaw. Harness maker. 

William Plumridge. Grocer 1823. (Probably also beer seller)

John Price. Tenant 1829.

William Sparks. Tenant 1826.

Gun Lane (now Trinity Road)

John Gunnell. Tenant 1826.

William Hoare. Landlord Three Horseshoes beerhouse 1827+

Handy Cross

James Ayres. (Ayris) Blacksmith 1827.

Harleyford House

John Beaver, servant there aged in his 90s.

Sir William Clayton. Owner.

High Street

Thomas William Allum. Bricklayer. 1823+

William Allum. Tailor 1821-23. 

Richard Aveling, grocer. Find out more about him here

Benjamin and Sarah Baines, he a confectioner 1822+. She died 1824. For more on him see here and here.

John Badger. Ironmonger. To at least 1825. In business the previous decade, unknown street address but likely the same.

Emily Blackbourne. Bookseller. 1823-24.

Thomas Burrell. Blacksmith. 1823. See here

Samuel Carter. Bootmaker.

William Cock. Bootmaker.

Theophilus and Sarah Clifford. Theophilus was a stonemason. 1823+. More here

George Davis. Landlord the Chequers.

John Goodman. Surgeon. 1823.

East and Harriman. Grocers. 1828 to post 1820s. A tragic pair. Both would go on to commit suicide in 1837. Said to have lived together 30 years on their deaths. More here

George and Mary Ellison. Alfred House, now known as Cromwell House. Pre 1820 to post 1820s. More here

Mr Flint. Tenant of a cottage. 1829.

Avis Gibbons. Lived with John and Charlotte Ralfs, see below. Had done so for years.

George Hammond. Tenant 1824.

Sarah Hatch. Baker. Before 1820 till 1840s. Her son William assisting later. The notorious William Hatch! More on him here

Francis Hewitt. Tenant of a cottage 1829.

Thomas Hewett. Tenant 1824. [A butcher of this name was in High Street 1832].

John Hone Esquire. Died 1823 aged 32. See also one in West Street below.

William Humphrey. Harness maker.

William Irving. Insurance Agent. 1824+

James MacLean, High Street. More on him and his wife here

William Mathews. Grocer and tea dealer. 1817 to post 1820s. Wife Ann. More  here

John Meadows. Draper. 1829 to 1839. More here

John Morris. Draper, and family. Pre 1820s to post 1820s. To see the site of his premises and more about the family see here

Thomas Jonathan Oxlade. Draper. Will 1822.

Charlotte and John Ralfs and children. John was a draper. 1824. He owned his property. This was West side of street. John died 1826. He was also an insurance agent.

John Rolls draper.

Misses Rolls. Running school in Brampton House. 1823. 

Rolls and Sons auctioneers. Pre 1820 to post 1820s. Also estate agents by 1829.

William Rose. Died at his residence High Street 1829. Aged 94. A William Rose was a cooper in the High Street earlier in the 1820s but this likely a younger man.

John Shaw. Surgeon.  1822. See his grave and will here

John Tonge. Bookseller. Selling up 1823.

Mr Wright. Attorney. 1822-29.

Frederick Wyatt. Coach proprietor. Tenant 1824. Began business 1820 but not sure if then in High Street. In business post 1820s. More here.

Market Square

Richard Furnell. Upper Crown. Died of a fit of apoplexy on premises 1820.

Daniel Humphries. Pawnbrokers 1821-26.

Richard Westbrook at Upper Crown. 1824. Mr Westbrook 1826 [a George Westbrook was there 1830-35].

William Westbrook. Butcher. To post 1820s.

Marlow Bottom Farm

Richard and Mary Webb. 1829+ More here

Marlow Common

Mr Butler. Died 1825. His widow died 1833.

Medmenham Mills

Mr Thatcher. Died 1827.

Moor Farm

Joseph Webb giving it up 1827.

Munday Dean Farm

Thomas Oxlade. To 1822. Also at Widmere Farm.

Elizabeth Oxlade and Thomas Wyatt. 1829. Elizabeth became by marriage Meadows and then Sawyer.

Oxford Road 

William Robert Clayton. The Cottage (a reasonable sized house!) 1826.

Ann and William Hales. William owned a messuage, warehouse stable, garden and yard by Oxford Road next to Marefield stile in his will written 1824, proved in 1826. He was 75 at death. Left the property to Ann. William looks to have been of Deptford Origin. Ann moved to 19 Lower Phillimore Place Kensington in 1827 and died there in 1831.

Prospect House (junction of Wycombe Road / Chapel Street)

Henry and Mrs Terry. Running a boys boarding school till went bankrupt 1826. More here

William and Rose Faulkner. William there 1826+ running it as a school. He married Rose, daughter of Ann and William Bond in 1828. More here

Quoiting Square

William Bowles. Six Bells landlord 1823-24. Probably moved to the Greyhound.

Thomas Cox. Wheelwright. To post 1820s. These premises later burnt down.

Joseph Langley. 1820+. Draper.

Seymour Court Farm

George Lunn. 1822 till death 1830, seemingly jointly with Mr Poulton.

Mary Lunn. Wife of George Lunn above. Died 1822.

Mr Poulton. Seemingly jointly with George Lunn 1822. Also there 1824.

Spinfield Lodge

Caroline and Henry Pearson

Spittal Street

William Bowles. Greyhound Inn 1825 to post 1820s. Mrs Bowles his wife died there 1825. Probably previously at the Six Bells.

Robert Mossenton. Greyhound Inn before William Bowles took over. 1819-25.

St Peter's Street

William Cresswell. Tenant of a cottage 1823. Probably sub let it as William was of the Compleat Angler.

James Downer. Tenant of a cottage 1823.

Richard Gibbons. 1823. His father Thomas owned this property and left it to him 1824.

Thomas Gibbons. Coal merchant.

Thomas Grovesnor. Tenant of cottage 1823.

George Hawkins. Of Two Brewers. Died of smallpox 1826.

Richard Heath. Tenant of a cottage 1823. Still in the Street 1833 and 1841. Labourer. Also Mary Heath his wife.

Mary Horniman. Tenant and chandlers shop keeper. West Street 1825+.

James Peters. Blacksmith.

Joan Sparks. Tenant of cottage 1823.

Temple House. Also called Templegate House.

Owen Williams. 1820-post 1820s.

Thames Bank

Sir James Morris. 1820.

Town End Farm

Mr William Bullock. Pre 1820s -1824.

"Under The Bridge"

Elizabeth and John Rolls the Elder.  John was a coal merchant. Also had property Bisham.

Sarah Russell. Servant to Elizabeth and John Rolls above 1820.

West Street

Misses Bond. Running a school.

Thomas Bowen, Red Lion 1824 to post 1820s. More here

Mrs Burrows. Albion House, leaves for London 1825. 

Mrs Carter. Albion House West Street. Circa 1821.

Joseph Fryth. Tenant 1826.

Abraham Clark - 1825, house  adjoins that of John Langley. 

George Clark. Tenant 1826.

Henry Clark. Tailor. 1823.

Samuel Clark. Tailor. To post 1820s.

William Clark. Landlord the Ship. 

Edward Collins. Tenant 1826.

Richard Cowper. 1824. Clearly well off. Leaving his home 1824. Wife of unknown name died earlier that year.

William Cox. 1828. Tenant but had sub let to another.

...Dalby / Dolby. Tenant 1826.

William Derrick, Tenant 1825. A small tenement "behind" his property is let to Sarah Sparks 1825. (In another source she is merely "adjacent". William possibly the shoemaker active in the 1810s. 

Misses Field. Running a school. Probably Matilda Field and her sister.

John Gibbons, grocer and tallow chandler 1820 to post 1820s. For more on him and his family see here

Elizabeth Guppy, tenant 1825. Her home lies between the residences of Mary Horniman and Moses Wyatt. 

Rachel and Robert Hall. He was a butcher. More here

Henry Harmon. Tenant 1826.

William Harper. Tinplate worker.1823 to post 1820s.

Charles Herbert. Resident 1825. House known.

Ann Hone (Miss). Owner and occupier 1827. Will 1831.

Mary Horniman. Chandler. 1825 to post 1820s. Tenant. Shop and residence. Adjoins the residence if Sarah Guppy. 

Mr Howard. Tenant 1826.

Edward Jackson. Watchmaker.

Lydia Lane. Ironmonger. More here

Mr J Langley. Late resident 1825. Believe he was evicted when he was foreclosed upon. Next to Abraham Clark. His house is described as recently built in 1825. It has a stable as well as a yard, garden and wash house. 

Henry Lovegrove. Lace Merchant. 1823.

John Lovegrove. Died at his home there 1827. 

Joseph Mead. 1823+. A painter and glazier.

Mrs Mossenton. Tenant. 1827.

Mr Owen. Tenant 1826.

John Pierce. Landlord Coach and Horses. 1823.

John Plumridge. Tenant 1828 but had sublet to another.

John Prytherick / Prytherock, tenant 1825. Adjoins the home of Moses Wyatt. 

John Sadler. Butcher.

Wethered family. Remnantz.

Moses Wyatt. Resident 1825. Tenant. House adjoins Elizabeth Guppy's. 

Widmere Farm

Thomas Oxlade to 1822. Also had Munday Dean Farm.

John Webb. Lately in 1829.

Wood End (near Medmenham)

William Townsend. Pre 1820s to at least 1820. (Townsends were at Wood End for a long time)

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

 

Link to index which includes posts about specific trades and general Great Marlow social history  here

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

"That Abominable Den" St Peter's Court

**This post is due for an update. Further, earlier named households in this court are now identified**

St Peter's Court was a small, impoverished court off St Peter's Street, Great Marlow. It was an address with a very bad reputation. 

The first reference to it by name I find is in 1848 but it was clearly not newly laid out at that time. There were in that year 19 homes in the court which between them were home to at least 85 people. A different report gives the numbers of people there as even more - 88 adults and 35 children in the 19 cottages. Cottages as a description is undoubtedly optimistic given that some were later called "hovels" and were likely single room accommodations.

The Court was very close to the river and both sewage from the town was which emptied into the River Thames and the Court's own poorly built cesspool contaminated the wells providing drinking water for the people who lived there. The single privy serving all the homes was persistently overflowing. The whole court was described as "charged with the most offensive effluvia".  At times the resident families literally walked through sewage to get to their tiny homes. Cholera and persistent low fevers plagued them. During the 1849 cholera epidemic in Marlow 3 people in the court died and 8 more became ill. An emergency meeting in the Town Hall saw it organised that the families were removed for the time being to the Old Workhouse in Munday Dean Lane. This had been let to someone who at first refused to allow the parish to take back any of the space but relented. The St Peter's Court houses were to be disinfected. Some may have been demolished as a direct response to the cholera- that plan was mooted at the time and certainly the 19 houses of 1849 had become only 5 in number by 1871. 

In the early 1860s the single cesspit that all the residents shared was replaced by a new one. But still just the one.

In 1867 the Reading Mercury referred to "St Peter's Court" as "that notorious court". The case it was reporting was of James Spark(e)s, convicted of assaulting fellow resident Sarah Stacey. Few other court cases seem to involve the people of the Court. But wretched poverty went hand in hand with a presumption of bad character in the popular imagination of the day.

I found five households in the Court on the 1871 census. There were two households headed by a James Sparks so it isn't possible to be sure which one was the James of the assault case. One James Sparks was a labourer aged 46. He lived with his wife Maria who was a 53 year old laundress and their children George aged 21, James aged 18, Thomas aged 15 and Martha aged 12. Martha was a scholar, her brothers all labourers.

The second head of household James Sparks was aged 60 and a coal porter. He lived with his 50 year old wife Sarah, 21 year old son William a spinner of something I couldn't decipher, 18 year old labouring son Henry, 14 year old labouring son James and 7 year old scholar daughter Mary.

Sarah Stacey was not still in St Peter's Court in 1871 though there was a Stacey family headed by 29 year old bricklayer William and his 24 year old laundress wife Elizabeth (née Sadler, married Marlow 1864). The only named victim of the 1849 cholera epidemic in the Court which I could find was a  Stacey- William aged 40, father to the William above. William senior was described as a person of "most moderate and temperate habits"  and previously in good health. He left a pregnant wife and 6 children, who had no choice but to go to the workhouse. William Stacey the younger could be the one who asked the Board if Guardians for financial help towards the emigration to Canada for himself, his wife and their children in 1873 but was refused. Miss Fowler of Marlow who had helped others migrate was raising money to help the Staceys so it is still possible that they were able to leave England. The cost was estimated at £20.

The other families in the Court in 1871 were the Illsley family headed by James a 57 year old labourer and Elizabeth his 68 year old wife and the Grove family headed by Thomas a 40 year old labourer and Mary his 35 year old wife [Elizabeth Illsley was nee Grove]. On the 1861 census Thomas is more specific and calls himself a wharf labourer. He lived then with Mary in "St Peter's Street". It is possible this was actually St Peter's Court not being given a separate address by the census enumerator. The elder Sparks couple are also censused as living in St Peter's Street 1861. Remember that the Court was already occupied in 1848. Someone had to be living there in 1861.

Thomas Grove was fined for being drunk one evening in St Peter's Street in 1874. He was aghast at the charge insisting he had been more drunk plenty of times when out with "swells" on the river than he had been that evening. This suggests that he was one of the many Marlow men who earned money by taking well-off tourists out on the river and guiding them to the best fishing spots. The fact that his co-accused in the drunkenness incident was William one of the Shaw family, boat proprietors and fishermen, of Marlow supports that. Both men were unusually confident in Court, challenging the witnesses against them when they spoke. Still the charge was a minor one. Nothing to make the Court seem a terrible "den". Thomas had nearly two decades previously spent a month in jail for stealing filbert nuts from a tree belonging to the vicar but this does not relate to his time at St Peter's Court.

James Illsley had a conviction for stealing in his younger days but again not when living at St Peter's Court. His daughter Sarah, a needlewoman, in 1873 and described as of "St Peter's Street" was a witness against Isabella Quelch who had stolen various articles from the well off Morgan family of that street. One of the articles was some calico which Isabella gave to Sarah to work up. For more on this case see this post. There was no blame or suspicion attached to Sarah. 

The poor quality buildings of the Court were seen as an eyesore and embarrassment for the town.

In 1875 it was announced that the Court was to be demolished and more salubrious housing put in place of it. The Bucks Herald reporting this said that everyone would be glad such "an abominable den" would be swept away (the people set to lose the only home which they could afford presumably not included).

The Illsleys moved out to St Peter's Street at first. The cottage they rented there was in 1877 stated as being unfit for human habitation because it was in an insanitary state and in need of substantial repairs. The landlord William Crook blamed the Illsleys for the insanitary condition of the cottage and said he had removed them and was going to do the structural repairs necessary for safety. The Illsleys were camped outside their former home, presumably hoping to be able to go back in once repairs were done or simply having nowhere else to go. It was then in the middle of winter. By 1881 they were in Dean Street where we can only hope they had at last the decent home they deserved. 

The Staceys ended up apparently in Turville (where Elizabeth's family was) and the younger Sparks couple went to Oxford Road. The Groves lived later in Oxford Road too and Station Road, where Mary died in 1892.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day with additional research by Kathryn Day. 

Related Posts:

Poverty in Victoria and Edwardian Marlow here

Life at Great Marlow Workhouse 1775-1843 here

To find all mentions of your ancestor here, use the A-Z Person index in the top drop down menu. For other posts about general Marlow history including other poverty and medical related posts, see the General Marlow History section also in the top drop down menu.  

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

Census information always  remains Crown Copyright.

Sources:

The Third Report Of The Commisioners Appointed To Inquire Into The Best Means Of Preventing The Pollution Of Rivers [Royal Commission] 1866. Published by G.E Eyre and W Spottiswoode.

Censuses my transcription from microfilm.

Newspapers, available British Library:

Bucks Herald 11 August 1849, 30th October 1875 and 27th January 1877.

Bucks Chronicle 6 Nov 1848

Reading Mercury 22nd June 1867 and 12th September 1857.

Parish registers, my old transcription.