Harman's Chemist

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written and researched  by Charlotte Day. 

Related posts:

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

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

Index of biographies of other individuals connected to Marlow here

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

Some sources:

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

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

1851 census High Wycombe and 1881 East Cowes via Rootspoint.

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

The Chemist And Druggist. February 10th 1906. 

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

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

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

Bucks Free Press 27 June 1921. 

Alicia Wallop Of Marlow Place

Alicia Wallop née Borlase, born circa 1658, deserves a place in Marlow history as the probable first occupier of Marlow Place. 

Alicia's paternal grandfather founded the grammar school in Marlow on a charitable basis as well as a lace making school. One of the first things any writer or commentator wrote about Marlow in the centuries that followed was always the Borlase charity bequest, so Alicia would have reason to have grown up feeling proud of her birth family.

She married John Wallop Esquire of Farleigh Wallop in Hampshire in 1683. In that county they made their home and that of their 7 children. 

In 1688 Alicia's mother Joan died and made her and her sisters executors of her will and its residuary legatees. The sisters were also to share their mother's jewelry.

John Wallop's death in 1694 began a decades long widowhood for Alicia. She was the executor of his will. As her the guardian of her children she had to represent their interests in their Hampshire, Devon, Dorset and Somerset estates and inheritances  while they were minors. Part of that responsibility was managing political matters in what would be the inherited sphere of influence for her husband's young heirs. As such Alicia strongly supported the Whig political candidate William Guidott. So skilled at persuasion was she that the Corporation of Andover complained that she was making voters break their solemn promises to vote for Guidott's rivals -something which would have been an enormous breach of gentlemanly conduct for those voters. Guidott won but was later found to be embezzling funds from the Duchess of Marlborough's estates leading to supporters distancing themselves from him.

Alicia was busy elsewhere, engaging in some land speculation in the Bond Street area of London as part of a wealthy syndicate. She was the only female member of the syndicate. Other efforts to increase her wealth included her interest in playing the Lottery! There's no evidence that she won anything, sadly.

In 1705 her mother in law Dorothy Wallop left Alicia £100 to buy a ring in her memory.

By 1721, probably not too much before that, Alicia moved to Great Marlow. Her home was probably not yet Marlow Place as it does not seem to have been built for a few years yet but Alicia was resident in that house by 1741, probably by 1734. Her will was written at her St James London home in 1731 but she mentions her Marlow mansion and at other times appears to be back in Hampshire so she was obviously a bit of a floater when it came to residency.

Alicia died on 20th October 1744 and was buried with her husband and other Wallops at the church of St John in Farleigh Wallop. In her will she was one of the many people of the day who simply instructed their executors to bury them decently at their discretion. The memorial to her erected in the church by her only surviving son, the Earl of Portsmouth, stated that Alicia had seen and conversed much with the world in her lifetime but chose to spend her later years in quiet and Christian retirement. She was said to be a constant friend to the poor and one who had approached life with "great decency, prudence and wisdom" as a "very virtuous and exemplary woman".

In the will Alicia left £10 to the poor of Marlow and £10 to those of Farleigh. All servants employed by her at the time of her death were to get £5 each to buy mourning clothes. Black clothes were expensive to produce and had good second hand resale value so the servants were likely well pleased with this bequest.

The main beneficiaries of her will were the only two of her seven children who survived her- daughter Mary and son John.

Related content:

History of Marlow Place here

More posts like this in the biographies Of Individuals Index here

Sources included:

Wills of Alicia Wallop, John Wallop, Dorothy Wallop and Joan Borlase, transcribed by me from wills at the National Archives, Kew.

Hayton, D., Handley, S., Cruickshanks, E. (2002). The House of Commons, 1690-1715. United Kingdom: History of Parliament Trust.

Cosmic Rays: Essays on Science and Technology from Royal Institution: Essays in Science and Technology from the Royal Institution. (2001). United Kingdom: OUP/The Royal Institution. [Despite its title this collection contains some London property history].

House of Lords Journal Volume 16. London. Pp 503-504. British History Online.

Property records.

The Shergolds- Little Marlow Schoolteachers *Updated July 2025*

 William James Shergold born circa 1856 in Basingstoke Hampshire arrived in Little Marlow to take over as the Head Teacher of the school on the 18th February 1888. With him came his wife Mary Ann born circa 1850 in Sidmouth Devon who was to act as the assistant and their three children Maud, Ethel and infant Frank.

The family had arrived from Ardsley in Yorkshire where Mary Ann and William also ran the village school with great success. They left however in something of a state of embarrassment as William had resigned his job at the National School because he was led to believe a job as head of the more prestigious Board School newly built in Ardsley was basically his for the asking. Actually it wasn't and the board appointed a different man leaving William and through him his wife without a job. Still the locals sympathised with him. Thanks to donations from over 200 people William was presented with an illuminated letter of thanks and best wishes plus a purse of gold coins. You will note Mary Ann who has also taught at the school for 11 years and is also leaving doesn't get a mention. The sexism of the time! The couple beat 4 other candidates to the Little Marlow role. 

Little Marlow's school dated from the early 1860s and catered for boys, girls and infants. The average daily attendance in 1894 was some 110 children out of a maximum capacity of 114.

The Shergolds fitted into the village straight away and their teaching was soon getting rave reviews from inspectors, the local press and their public. Mary Ann helped set up Mothers Meetings in the village. These were conducted in concert with the Mothers' Union, a Christian group devoted to promoting excellence in motherhood and the pooling of ideas, spiritual support and general encouragement between mothers of all social backgrounds. It was founded in 1874 by Mary Sumner and still exists. In the 1890s there were Mothers Meetings in Well End and Flackwell Heath as well as Little Marlow all united in the belief that no one could influence the future of the world for the good more than the mothers of the next generation. 

William meanwhile was conducting the church choir. He and his wife taught their school children to sing. Concerts by the pupils packed out.

The Shergolds may have taken a pay cut to come to Little Marlow thanks to William accidentally rendering them both unemployed. In Ardsley they had kept a live in servant but it took a few years to be able to employ household staff in Little Marlow. Things were obviously going well for them by 1905 when William advertised in the Maidenhead Advertiser for a live in cook. His family he said had a coach. Why was this information relevant? Firstly, because telling an applicant that you had a coachman reassured them that you were a gentleman and that you had plenty of money thus hinting at respectability and the means to pay a competitive wage. Secondly, because those living in country villages without train stations suffered a high turnover of staff who found their situation too dull and isolated- not to mention exhausting if they were expected to run errands on foot into the nearest town. The Shergolds suggest their cook could at least sometimes be dropped into town by the coach. A gentry family would not behave in this friendly way very often but William and Mary Ann sprang from humble origins. It is extremely unlikely that they could afford to employ a coachman so William Shergold would be the driver himself.

On the 10th anniversary of the Shergolds arrival at Little Marlow, the managers of the school passed a resolution to put on record their absolute approval of the teachers work. Both had worked with "perfect fidelity, sound judgement and remarkable success". The Rev Thompson added that the pair had  shown great loyalty to the school (probably acknowledging they could be better paid elsewhere) and had always met him with earnest spirit of co operation. 

Daughter Ethel trained as a pupil teacher under her parents. Once qualified in 1887 she was offered an assistant teacher's post in Trinity Schools Reading. The South Bucks Standard said that she would go there with Little Marlow's "warm esteem and cordial wishes".

By 1915 daughter Maud was acting as an assistant schoolteacher at Little  Marlow too. On the 1881 census in Ardsley she had been entered as a three year old scholar so William and Mary Ann started them young! 

In 1915 William was still the head but his assistant teacher is a Miss Ellen Frost so Mary Ann had perhaps retired and Maud moved on. She married first a Mr Johnson and then in 1924 a William Berrey. 

Son Frank became an electrical engineer who lived in Enfield with his wife Gertrude.

In 1920 William retired after 32 years service. He received a handsome cheque for £100, money raised entirely by voluntary subscription. It was noted that Mrs Shergold  had been known as "Mother" because of the kind attention she had paid to the children in her care. William had transformed the school it's mangers said, because he believed education should also include care of the children's physical and moral health. He had started organised games, and established a flourishing school garden for the boy pupils among other things and limited the use of learning by rote and cramming. 

On retirement the couple left Little Marlow to join their son in Enfield. I'm sure they were much missed. 

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

For more Little Marlow related posts see this index or for Little Marlow grave pics see here.

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Some sources:

Kelly's post office Directory of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire 1911 and 1915. Kellys Directories Limited.

"England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9Y1-MXY : 20 May 2019), William Shergold, Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Marlow subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

"England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27Y-73JJ : 11 December 2017), Wm Jas Shergold, Ardsley, Yorkshire,Yorkshire West Riding, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 15, Piece/Folio 4600/45, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,775,291.

South Bucks Standard 10th December 1897. Burnley Chronicle 3rd March 1888. Maidenhead Advertiser 14tg June 1905. British Library. Via the BNA.

 Bucks Free Press 9th July 1920, Wycombe Library. 

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWHM-BZB

The Sorrow of Mary English

Mary English was nee Sneath, the third daughter of prominent Marlow surgeon and apothecary William Sneath and his wife Elizabeth. Her father was in partnership with George Trash for some time, the two working out of William's home. After William's death, George continued the practice, eventually moving it to his own home. Mary was therefore a member of a respected and comfortably off family. But even so, her life was touched by much sorrow. 

William Sneath would have had a room at home set up as a surgery in the most literal sense, and reports suggest that a room also functioned as the apothecary shop. Surgeon and apothecary was the usual pairing of roles in the Georgian era - for more how this worked in practice see our post Call the Apothecary here.  Her mother ran a boarding school for young ladies from their home too, a common "respectable" occupation for genteel ladies to take up for extra income. Some of these schools took just a handful of pupils - most in Marlow were of this type. 

Young Mary was bought up to attend the parish church, but later became a non conformist. Religion featured heavily in her life, and was it seems both the cause and solace of many of her sorrows. As a young girl, she is said to have been affected by the death of a sister who on her death bed exhorted Mary to be mindful of the scriptures. This sister cautioned 12 year old Mary against novel reading in particular. This may seem an innocent occupation to warn against, but it was not uncommon for it to be considered "unsafe" for young women who it was feared could get "ideas" or become over excited. Others approached novel reading as just an indulgence and waste of time that could be better spent on more improving pursuits such as Bible reading. Still others thought it would make girls look less attractive (hunched shoulders!) or would hurt their eyesight. There were a number of booksellers in Marlow High Street that the Sneath girls could be tempted by. These operated as circulating libraries too, and were open for borrowing by members who paid a subscription. One advertised that all the books he offered had been personally approved as suitable for young women by the vicar! This attitude lingered a long time, and was one of the reasons that when Marlow got its first literary Institute with library, so few of those who borrowed books were female. It does not seem little Mary needed much warning however. A later "memoir" written about Mary described her as a child with "uncorrupted morals" and a mild character. 

Later curiosity led Mary to attend the services of some evangelical and independent ministers, principally Rowland Hill who was visiting Wooburn in 1774. Rowland is an interesting man in his own right, a famous preacher in his day. He was an advocate for the smallpox vaccine amongst other things  His arrival was likely to have attracted lots of those wanting to see a well known speaker in person but in Mary's case, his words were said to have struck a chord. He remained in contact with her ever after. It is likely that Mary attended Marlow's own Salem Chapel at this time. In any case she came in contact with non conformists and Quakers, and through the former she met her future husband pastor Thomas English. 

Thomas was born in 1751 in Oxford, to a family of worshippers at the established church. He also counted his transference to the non conformist community to the experience of hearing a preacher who struck a spiritual cord with him. In his case he was just 14, and sent to live in London to learn a trade. It was later said the young Thomas had experienced physical, emotional and verbal abuse from the family he lodged with at this time. They found his new found piety a source of amusement and an excuse to ridicule him. But he succeeded in becoming ordained in 1775, the same year he married his first wife Susannah Evans. After serving in a number of locations, Thomas & Susannah moved from Gosport in Hampshire to Wooburn. But within weeks tragedy struck, and Susannah died. 

Thomas would go on to marry our Mary Sneath in 1779. Of the couple's 5 children, only two Eliza/Elizabeth and Thomas, survived their mother. Two of the lost children died within days of each other, one while the funeral of the first was ongoing. This terrible loss was difficult for Mary to recover from. "Her countenance very strongly depicted the most affecting expressions of grief." The children had suffered painful lingering deaths, and Mary's faith was tested. She began to question if she had missed something in their care that may have made the difference between life and death. There was nothing any could do, but the poor mother could not rest. It was said that she couldn't stay quiet for long before breaking out in fresh remembrance of the children's suffering. The force of her "accumulated distress" was causing a nervous collapse as they termed it. It seems that Mary's voicing of her anger at God and fear that she was being punished for some unknown sin, was believed by some to be the voice of the devil speaking through her. And Mary began to believe the same. She is said to believe the devil had bargained for her soul, and that God was too disappointed in her to claim it back. It sounds as though she suffered a total mental collapse. Afraid to receive sacrament in case it prompted a "satanic assault", Mary must have been terrified. Poor Thomas did what he could for her, and she also befriended a group of Quakers in Maidenhead who were said to give her some comfort. At last Mary regained enough strength to travel to Brighton to take the sea air and waters. It was a fashionable place for invalids to go although the future city was nothing like the size it is now. The sea cure certainly worked its charm on Mary, and after some time she was able to return home. Of course, such grief as she had experienced as well as her spiritual trauma, could not really disappear overnight, and she continued to suffer some episodes of acute mental distress. But at least she enjoyed one period of "sweet serenity of mind". 

Mary died on the 2nd October 1794. She caught a cold (as they thought it) during a visit to Bristol with her husband. This affected her severely and she scarcely made it home. She never recovered, suffering a broken blood vessel and then a painful final illness. Thomas was said to leave her side as little as possible and he was there, along with her sister, when she finally went to her rest.

***

Her mother Elizabeth's will was published on this blog here. Elizabeth was nee Webb - more about her family here.

Mary's sister Sarah's will is on the blog here

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

More Marlow church, chapel religious history content can be found on the menu under Church Related.

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors.

Sources include: 

The Evangelical Magazine, May 1795. 

Christian Herald, June 19 1815 - digitised by Google. 

Memoir of Rev Thomas English, digitised by Google. 

The Annual Register (Longman, Green 1801)

 

Ruth North The Toy Dealer

If time travel is ever invented you will find me nosing around Ruth Helena North's toy dealers in Edwardian Marlow. She was located in West Street at numbers 18-20 (modern numbering, currently Sainsburys).

Ruth was a Hampshire girl by birth spending her childhood in the fishing village of Itchen and the parish of St Mary Extra near Southampton.

Her father William was a fisherman and mariner but she may have had little memory of him because she was born approx 1866 and he was dead by the time of the 1871 census.

Her mother Mary Ann raised Ruth and her siblings alone. She supported them with occasional work as a charwoman and laundress.

Ruth worked as a servant before marrying fellow Hampshire resident James North in 1895. 

By 1901 the couple (probably in 1896) along with Ruth's widowed mum Mary Ann Blizzard had moved to Marlow to take over the fancy goods repository of Ruth's unmarried elderly aunt Hannah Blizzard who had died. Poor Hannah burned to death after her clothes caught fire on the premises - you can read about that sad event here

Ruth officially "assisted" her husband in this business but as he was also a tobacconist and corn dealer Ruth was most likely the real one running the fancy goods side of things. A fancy goods repository was basically selling fun but non essential items such as you might treat yourself or someone else to. In Hannah's day the business was mainly a retailer of toys and sweets.

After James's death Ruth concentrated on toys. She died in 1939 having ran her toy shop right up until then.

1905 advert, above.

*Hannah Bliz(z)ard and Mary Ann Blizzard share a memorial stone in Holy Trinity churchyard. Image here

See also this related post on relative John Adams toyseller and fancy goods man. 

To find all mentions of a person on this blog please use the Person Index.

To find shops see the "Specific Shops, Streets, Etc" option on the menu.

©Marlow Ancestors. If reusing or quoting this research make sure you link here and credit this blog. 

Sources:

GRO England and Wales Birth, Marriage and Death indexes online on their website. Accessed October 2020.

Death Certificate Hannah Blizard.

University of Leicester Special Collections online, Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire 1939.

England and Wales census 1851, 61, 71, 81, 1901 and Hampshire Parish records from Familysearch website, Intellectual Reserve Inc, run by the LDS. Accessed October 2020.

Gravestone transcription by blog member Kathryn Day.

South Bucks Standard Report 5th June 1896 [Hannah's death], paper at the British Library, accessed online via the BNA October 2020.