Election Rioters 1880 *Updated January 2024*

On 2nd April 1880 the electors of the Borough of Great Marlow went to the polls to elect an MP. When the Liberal candidate was revealed to have lost out to Conservative Owen Williams tempers frayed amidst the deep disappointment of many working class people. Men, women, boys and girls threw stones at William's election base at the Crown and at other town centre properties known to be occupied by his supporters. They then took to using umbrellas, walking sticks and clubs to do damage. As the evening drew on the women and children melted away and Marlow men were joined by those who had come from Bisham, Little Marlow and High Wycombe to protest. Some estimates give the number of rioters then at over 2000, some even 3,000. Violence escalated when ladders that had been left leaning up against the Crown by those putting up new lights were used to break windows and as an attempted battering ram to try to get into the building. (The men using the ladders may have been working on the framework intended to hold illuminations to mark Williams victory.)  Police were outnumbered and summoned soldiers to quell the riot. This they did but not until some £1000 worth of damage had occurred in the town. 

45 people were arrested as a result, of which 42 were charged. Of the 42 most were Marlow men, said to have been at a disadvantage as the local constables knew their faces and names and so could easily find them later if not seized at the time. Wycombe men could flee with less risk of being called to account. I could not find evidence of an outcome for all of those charged, or even all their names, at least not yet. It may be not all charges were pursued.

The following were those I have found charged with being part of the riot, with outcomes to their cases if any are known. I have confined myself to Marlow men. None of the ladies were arrested. To read about an earlier mainly female lead riot in Marlow see this post

Reuben Anderson

Bill against him thrown out by Jury at early stage in legal process. A labourer aged 36 in Oxford Road at time of 1881 census. But he lived St Peter's Street 1880, a few months after the riot, when he intervened to stop a woman neighbour of his being harassed and threatened by a man who had fallen out with her brother. A few weeks later fined for gathering wood that didn't belong to him. He died in 1890. Read a biography of Reuben here

Alfred Edward Allum

Age "25" or "26", court reports differed [probably actually a few years older] labourer when sentenced. 2 months hard labour. Probably aka Brassey - see here

Edward Anson

Aged 18. Sentenced to just one day in prison because of his youth and low involvement in events. Had been recommended for mercy by the jury. 

William Borden or Burden or Barden

Only rioter denied bail. 2 months hard labour.

Henry Bowles

Age 27. Labourer. 2 months hard labour. Grew up Dean Street. Also known as Harry.

John Bowles

2 months hard labour. Age 24, labourer. 

Robert Bowles

Age 22 and a labourer when tried. 2 months hard labour. 1881 census - skewer maker. For more on this trade in Marlow see this post. Son of Robert, a fruiterer, and Eliza. Grew up Hatches Row, Dean Street and still there 1881 census. This row is now demolished. He was an agricultural labourer age 13 on 1871 census. Robert was allegedly one of those who wrested a ladder from workers at the Crown, in order to use ladder to batter their way inside. He struck the man in charge of the ladder - bricklayer John White - causing John to loose vision in his eye for three days. Described by one policeman as "very violent" on the day. 

Joseph Cox

Sentenced to 2 months hard labour. Presumably the 49 year old labourer who appears in Marlow on the 1881 census in South Place although it sounds in some accounts he was younger. Was seen with a bludgeon by one witness. 

Joseph Dormer

Sentenced to 2 months hard labour. Bricklayer's labourer around 40 years old. Lived Marefield at time, later York Road (the same area). Grew up Gun Lane [now Trinity Road] and Dean Street.

Henry East

Six weeks hard labour. Without a stated age impossible to identify in other records.

James East

Six weeks hard labour. Without a stated age impossible to identify for certain in other records.

James Folly / Folley  alias Steptoe

Aged 32/34 and a bricklayer. Seen using a ladder to break windows. 2 months hard labour.

Joseph Hicks

 A tinker who lived Dean Street 1881. In his late 40s, exact age varies on censuses. Fined the year before the riots along with another man for stopping their cart in the road for too long. Case not proceeded with for riot. 

John Langley junior 

Ringleader of the initial protest but tried hard to calm things down when shops started getting damaged. Given 6 weeks hard labour only after jury recommended mercy. Could afford his own representation at the Quarter Sessions. Aged 25. On the 1881 census a salesman, earlier was a fruiterer, a long time Langley association. His conviction caused outrage in some quarters as it was believed he was targeted because of recent active promotion of the Liberal cause in Marlow. His father, also John had campaigned for the Liberal candidate Griffith too. A subscription fund was set up and the money raised was used to present to John a tea and coffee set from an expensive London maker as a token of esteem. The presentation was made at the Verney Arms, Dean Street, long connected with the Langley family. Read more about the pub here. John himself wrote a public letter of complaint against his conviction, after he had completed his sentence. He said he had been denied the opportunity to call witnesses that could have proved his innocence. A full biography of John is available here

Charles Mullett

Labourer aged 41. Lived in Dean Street 1881 census and a "pensioner". Originally from High Wycombe. Bill against him is "ignored" eg not proceeded with. 

William Moody. 

Threw stone at a policeman early on. Sentenced 2 months hard labour. Nearly 40 years old. Lived Oxford Road 1881 and a chair polisher. 

Albert Rockell

Age "18" [actually nearly 22]. Labourer when convicted. 6 weeks jail. (Or 8 weeks according to second source)  He was the son of James, a bargee / labourer and Sarah an embroiderer. Grew up in Gun Place and Gun Lane Marlow. The former no longer exists, the latter is called Trinity Road today. Albert had been fined £1 in 1876 for playing the illegal game of pitch and toss (coin throwing game which involved betting and was very popular with young men) at Bovingdon Green. He was listed as a hawker on the 1881 census when he lived with his older brother George and his family. Two years later was fined 10 shillings for assaulting a William Fletcher.

Henry Rockell

2 months hard labour. There are a couple of different potential Henry Rockells in other records which this one could be. Was said to be very active at Remnantz, throwing stones and attempting to break in, unsuccessfully. 

William Henry Silvey

A 33 year old shoemaker. Had a witness, grocer Joseph Dorsett of Market Square to show he went shopping with his wife [Fanny] early in the evening after leaving the Crown crowd. However witness admitted William's pockets looked bulging and prosecution said yes that was with stones he later returned and threw at the Crown. 6 weeks jail. On 1881 census he and Fanny lived Cambridge Road. Later lived Queen's Road. Later convictions for drunkenness.

James Benjamin Smith

Aged 22. Bricklayers labourer. 6 weeks in jail. Probably of Lane End. Limited evidence of his direct involvement in any serious damage but considered to be just as guilty as those taking a more active part simply by his presence there!

George Sparkes

Jury threw out bill against him. A 28 year old general labourer. Lived Oxford Road 1881 census.

Henry Stone

Six weeks hard labour. 

Thomas Stone

Six weeks hard labour. Was seen to be one of those wielding ladder that broke the Crown windows. 

William Tubb

Fined £5 plus costs by Magistrates for malicious damage, relating to breaking a pane of glass at The Horns, Chapel Street.  (One of 17 broken there that day.)  He went to the pub the following day, denied breaking the glass and asked the landlord John Coleshill not to press charges for the sake of his wife and 5 children. Coleshill's daughter Sarah had said there were about 40 persons in the mob outside their premises but she only recognised Tubb. He did not have to go to Quarter Sessions after evidence behind further charges for riotous assembly was not considered sufficient. Shoemaker aged 33 on 1881 census. Lived Dean Street.   

Cases not proceeded with against Wycombe men Owen and John Watkins, both chairmakers and labourer Charles Mullett also of Wycombe. 

*Additional info by Kathryn -  Riot Act was read by magistrate Somers Cocks at about 9pm, 3 hours after the election result was announced. (Some reports say at 8pm) All the lights had been put out. An 1882 account says that hot water and a hose from the brewery was used to dispell the group. Later accounts list other dispersal tactics, not necessarily mutually exclusive, of which the one that's survived longest in the popular imagination is the idea that guns were loaded with red jam and blanks to make the rioters think they had been both shot and hurt. I have not found a contemporary reference to this yet though! (The same story was related about the commotion after the 1868 election, complete with raspberry jam.)  Contemporary reports say that although a call for help was made for military assistance to the Grenadier Guards at Windsor, some confusion meant it was not actually delivered. Those describing the riot first hand immediately afterwards do not mention any Guards present while the riot was ongoing. The Bucks Herald says a repeat order for military assistance was countermanded as quiet had been restored by about midnight. The Buckinghamshire Advertiser credited the end of the riot to the gathering together of about 60 special constables, under command of a police superintendent from High Wycombe, who formed a barrier across West Street and used their truncheons "freely". (This superintendent thought there was 3,000 men gathered by 7pm!) The following morning 70 police and an untold number of special constables were on duty in Marlow while the operation of bringing the alleged ringleaders to court was ongoing, and that of rounding up other participants. The police were to patrol in groups, according to the order of  the Chief Constable of Bucks. He had arrived on the morning after the riot to assume control of the police force in Marlow temporarily. 

Violence had actually broken out before the voting even began, outside the Crown as Conservative headquarters. Blows were exchanged with liberal supporters but they dispersed before law and order arrived. The Greyhound was regarded as the centre of Liberal supporters before voting day. It hosted a "working man's meeting" the week before, which ended in a vote to support Liberal candidate Mr J Griffiths. Among the other damaged properties were the Prince Of Wales pub, the Three Tuns (every window broken and the bar damaged), the brewery offices, the shops of Charles Miller Foottit (chemist, High Street and Conservative supporter, lamp and flag pole trashed, upper windows broken, lower ones protected by iron shutters) and William Hankin (tobacconist, High Street. Shop totally sacked. Pipes from here were allegedly bring flogged cheaply in the beer houses that evening), the home of Charles Carter (parish surveyor),  the home of George Ward (High Street, all windows and any sashes broken), the home of Dr Shone, and in a minor way, the Railway Hotel (the Marlow Donkey as it's now known. The widowed Mrs Porter in charge had apparently been seen sporting Conservative colours on her carriage the week before). At the home of Robert Hammond Chambers, the avalanche of stones was severe enough to break plate glass windows a quarter inch thick and smash the substantial closed wooden shutters inside them. The stones damaged a wall across the other side of the room. A man was seen to be in the attempt of using a large stone to smash the entrance door but he was knocked down by a constable before he could break in.  Foottit said he'd found a quarter of a hundredweight of large stones on one of the beds in his home. Some paving slabs had been torn up for use too!

Interestingly Superintendent William Sargent of Wycombe said that the defeated Liberal candidate Griffiths had warned him long before the result was known that he suspected the potential for trouble if the Liberals lost. He added that Griffiths had suggested that policeman should be stationed outside the Conservative Wethered's home but he declined to do so in case it "tantalized" the crowd and he was blamed personally for this. Reports that the contents of Bisham's ballot box were going to be seized by a group of "roughs" as they were bought across the bridge to be counted in Marlow were taken more seriously. It was closely guarded. 

Griffith's himself appears to have left in his carriage quite soon after his loss was announced. Some reports say he passed the Crown just as the victor Colonel Williams appeared at an upper window to address the crowd, and that Williams called for three cheers for his opponent, but had trouble being heard. 

Even children (of both sexes) were apparently seen throwing stones at the various windows. The Bucks Herald (very pro conservative) said the first blow was struck by a liberal supporter on a conservative one, who was taken into the Crown with the aid of 4 men fighting their way through. They also claim that there was a cry to torch the Crown. The next day (Saturday)  there were here and there "significant stains of blood" to be seen in the streets. Even then a flare up of violence was feared and 70 police were on duty. Colonel Wethered decided that most of the arms of the Volunteers should be removed from their Armoury which was then at the Crown. He bought them back to his home and placed them under the care of 16 armed men. Two consignments of the Berkshire police were put on guard outside Bisham Abbey and Temple House but they had nothing to do. The biggest interest on Sunday was in viewing the damage, and people are said to have travelled from Wycombe to do just that. Some later reports suggest a guard made up of members of the Volunteers had been kept up outside the brewery for the next week. 

It's interesting that Colonel Williams held an open session at the Crown in the following April to hear complaints from his tenants about their treatment. He said during the election campaign he'd often been told his tenants were against him but he didn't believe it as no one had said so to his face. On reflection he thought "2 or 3" of these complaints justified further investigations and so so the aggrieved could present their case to him at The Crown on the day mentioned. If any did so, I don't know. 

Rioters info researched and written by Charlotte Day. Additional research Kathryn. 

Related Posts:

Marlow people loved a good riot. So far we have posts up on three previous riots, the 1800 Women's Riots here, 1847 Election riot here and the Swing Riots here.

Voters bribery case of Jason Povey here

For other crime related posts look see the list here

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

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Sources:

Census, my transcription from microfilm. 

Great Marlow Parish Registers, my transcription

Newspapers from the British Library / BNA collaboration: Buckingham Advertiser 3rd July 1880, Bucks Herald 3rd& 10th April, 26th June and 7th August and 30th August 1880, Maidenhead Advertiser 14th April 1880, Reading Mercury 17th April 1880. Buckingham Advertiser and Aylesbury News April 10th 1880. 

Judicial records research of Jane Pullinger.

Padk, Arthur Thomas From Lock to Lock, a playful guide, "Judy Office" 1882. 

Information from Anthony Wethered. 

Bucks Free Press 8th June 1934, High Wycombe library 

Historic Landlords of The Plough, Marlow

 Updated by Charlotte April  2026.

Location : Address may be given variously as Little Marlow Road, Wycombe Road, "the Bourne End Road", Town End, Marlow Fields, or Chapel End. Wycombe Road is the most common in historic use but Little Marlow Road was the "proper" address in more modern times. 

The Plough has been demolished, and replaced by this housing. Image ©Colin Groves. 

1854 - James Johnson. Pub "newly erected" in 1853.  James was however a carrier long before, running to London. In 1843 he suffered a severe setback when a valuable horse of his stumbled and fell in harness while crossing the bridge at "Bone End, Wooburn".  [Bone End is now known as Bourne End] The bridge sides were only 2ft high and horse fell head first over them, to be left dangling with its head in the water. James was only slightly injured and frantically tried to cut the horse free with the help of others who ran to his aid but it was too late. The horse was valued at £14. The Bucks Advertiser complained that the bridges in the neighborhood were poorly constructed and dangerous as a whole. 

Property description 1853 from Reading Mercury 17th December edition= 8 rooms, with double coach house, stabling and yard.

1861 - James Johnson (born St.Albans)

1864 - James Johnson (address  given as Chapel Street) Also runs carrier service. 

1869 - James Johnson

1870 - James Meakes. Previously of Little Marlow. Cousin of George Joseph AKA Joseph Meakes pub landlord of a Lane End pub. See here.

1874 - "Plough Inn". That year Joseph Meakes the father of James died at the pub.

1877- "Plough Inn" James Meakes. He married that year Eliza Mann (originally of Norwich). Had his licence endorsed for allowing gambling on the premises and opening later than allowed. James said everyone who was there out of hours were his private guests and were there in a back room to celebrate his forthcoming marriage and no money changed hands. He had forgot to lock the door he said but had called time by 11pm. However the magistrates considered the charge of gambling definitely proved, which was not allowed in a pub under any circumstances. So he was  fined but only a mitigated amount in consideration of his previous good conduct despite a previous warning for a similar offence. Eliza features as an unmarried woman in this post.

"The Plough Commercial Inn" . 

1881 - James Meakes

1883 - James Tompkins "Marlow Fields"

1884 - J. Meakes. Seemingly James back again.

1885 - James Meakes (one source said John but that obviously wrong). James was dead by 1891 as his wife Eliza was listed as a widyw. She had moved to Little Marlow. 2. John Gale. John advertised the fact that he had a lock-up coach house and stabling for guests. He hoped to attract commercial travellers to the pub. It is possible that John is the man of that name who later lived in Victoria Road Marlow and gave his occupation as a "retired coachman". A man of this name was coachman at Marlow Place in Station Road in 1885.

1886 - John Gale

1891 - John Gale.

1892 - John Gale then GB Hughes

1893 - G.B Hughes (See also The Carrier's Arms here) (also carrier running to Reading two days a week and to Wycombe on Fridays) Later at the Black Lion, Well End. 

1895 - Mr and Mrs Smith. Provided dinners and teas for group outings coming to Marlow in order to enjoy the river.

1896 - Samuel Smith

1898  - Sam Smith transfers to Fred. Carter.

1901 - Carter dies aged just 36. Widow Elizabeth takes on licence in immediate aftermath. 

1902 - George Frederick Cox.

1903 - George Frederick Cox.

1905 - Charles F Cox 2. Mr A? Wheeler. Most likely Henry Wheeler as below. 

1907 - Henry George Wheeler. That year his pub was the site of raucous celebrations after Henry East of Dean Street was acquitted at the Old Bailey of serious theft charges. The celebrations saw Wheeler charged with allowing drunkenness on his premises but the magistrate recognised that his small pub had been overwhelmed by 150-200 revellers and he had done all he could to keep order. One of the guests, teenager Kate Lunnon of Hatches Row, Dean Street had previously worked for East was however fined for getting insensibly drunk and passing out on a dung heap in the Plough Yard after drinking a whisky and ginger beer. She could have been more unfortunate and fallen in the pig stye that we know was also in the yard in that year (keeping the pigs of Harry Bowles). To be fair to her the pub was very small, full of people smoking and by all accounts stiflingly hot. Her arguement that she actually fainted after being helped outside to get some air sounds very credible. Henry East had bought her one drink but as far as I can see that was the extent of her alcohol consumption that evening. I demand a retrial! More on the Henry East court case here.

In 1908 Henry Wheeler suffered from a bad head injury after an accident involving his cart and another in collision on the Wycombe Road, past Burroughs Grove. He was dragged along the ground all the way back to the Inn. The other cart was undamaged, Henry's destroyed. Wife "Lizzie"/Elizabeth was nee Brown and was born in The Mint pub in Dean Street where her parents were in charge.  See here. He born London. Hosts the Plough Sick and Dividend Club slate club. 

1913 - "Plough Inn"

1919 - 32 Henry George Wheeler.

1932 - after 27 hears at the helm, Henry George Wheeler passes the licence to Edward Ernest Wheeler. Henry later became the librarian at the library set up in part of what is now Liston Hall, and the caretaker of the whole hall. He died at the Riley Nursing Home, Chapel Street in 1940. Edward Wheeler was a retired Metropolitan police officer.

1932-44- Edward Ernest Wheeler. Edward died this year, leaving a widow and a married daughter.

C 1950-early 1957 Harry C Windmill. Harry and Mrs Windmill moved to Middleton-on-Sea, near Bognor Regis.

1957 - 60 Victor Easthaugh.

1958 or 1959  depending on reports- the inaugural Boxing Day barrell rolling contest down Glade Road contested by the regulars of the Plough and those of the Marlow Donkey, one pub versus the other. This tradition continued until at least 1966. The winning team received a trophy of a silver barrell though not at the first event.

1964 -67 (at least) Jim Tubb landlord.

Related Posts:

There are posts on this blog about individual families associated with certain pubs, as well as on individual pubs themselves so have a look at the Pub Related index here  & don't forget the Person Index for all mentions of someone on this blog. Find it on the top drop down menu. 

Posts about life in the neighbouring streets here

More beer sellers than bakers -Temperance in Marlow here

Lists of posts about everyday life in old Great Marlow here

SOURCES

 Kelly's Post Office Directory 1864,1883, 1899, 1903, 1907, 1915,1920,1939

Marlow Town Guide 1905

Marlow Directory and Almanack, various years. 

Bucks Free Press 19th August 1932, Wycombe Library 

Contemporary newspaper reports of licencing hearings, court cases and other related news, some accessed via the BNA - a selected few: 

Bucks Herald June 24th 1874 and 11th March 1877 as above. 

South Bucks Standard - January 6 1893, December 24,1913, as above. 

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 14 October 1843, as above

Bucks Free Press - 7th May 1943, High Wycombe Library. 

Census 1861,1871,1881,1891

©MarlowAncestors. 

Criminal Career Of Sarah Bowles *Updated January 2024*

Sarah was baptized 1847 the eldest daughter of Robert and Eliza Bowles [nee Croxon] of Marlow. Robert was a fruiterer. She grew up in Hatches Row, Dean Street.

1860- 13 years old. Sentenced to two weeks in jail then two years in Bedfordshire reformatory school for stealing a feather bolster, a lace veil and some fake flowers from the shop window of Jane Edmunds in Marlow High Street. Must have got out early from the reform school as in less than two years she was about again in Marlow. The court blamed her situation on bad "home training" and thought it best to remove her from the "pernicious influences with which she had unfortunately been surrounded." 

1861- 13 years old going on 14 and working as a needlewoman. Spent 5 weeks in jail for obtaining 5 cups and other articles from Thomas Dukes, china dealer of West Street in Marlow Buckinghamshire under false pretences. To see these premises as they are today and to read more about the Dukes family see this post.

1862- fined for stealing turnip tops from a field. Age 14 to 15. Plead guilty.  It was stated then she had previously been jailed twice. She was convicted with a number of other teenage girls. 

1866- Acquitted of stealing 4 shillings 9 pence from a Marlow High Street shop till. She was then a needlewoman. Though she had been seen coming out from behind the counter of the unguarded shop and the till had been opened the exact amount supposed to have been stolen could not be sworn to by the shopkeeper Robert Hayes Smith who obviously didn't know what was or wasn't in the till at the time. Sarah had been prosecuted for the amount of coins found in her pocket on the presumption that she must have just stolen them. Sarah was probably up to no good that day behind the counter but that was one poor prosecution case! No wonder she was not found guilty. More on the interesting Robert Hayes Smith in this post.

1866- jailed for four months for stealing two pairs of boots and a flannel petticoat from pawnbroker Alfred Batting of Marlow late the previous year. She apparently hid the articles under her crinoline, and came back twice. Also accused of stealing some silver coins that he'd left on a shelf behind the till. Sarah sold one of the pairs of boots to someone who unfortunately went on to pledge them at the same pawnbroker they'd been stolen from, which lead to Sarah's arrest. Aged about 19 (although one source put her as 15)

1867- charged with stealing a silk cloak and mantle from William Reddington in High Wycombe. Jailed for 9 months.

*Sarah was then absent from Marlow census or other records for some years. She had returned by 1911. Worked as a ironer in a laundry late in life. There were some "Sarah Bowles" convictions during her absence but these were her sister in law of that name or others **

1913- Aged about 66. Jailed for two months for obtaining groceries from two shops in Maidenhead under false pretences. She pretended to be taking the food for a wealthy Maidenhead lady who had an account at the shops On her first visit she obtained salt pork, cheese, bacon, and butter then later the same day she obtained sausages, sugar, tea and cake from a different assistant. She was then of 120 Dean Street. She was arrested while waiting for the Marlow train in the waiting room of Maidenhead station with the goods in her basket. She offered no defence but pleaded her age in mercy. She had however previously been cautioned at the same court for obtaining charitable donations under false pretences. At her trial the policeman says that if only Sarah would give up her stealing some family members in Maidenhead would be pleased to give her a home. 

Notes:

Needle women were very lowly paid. 

The sort of records and resources that survive can tell us a lot about what Sarah did wrong but what she did right in her life may leave no visible trace for us who are looking back at her life today. She was a convicted criminal but if she was also a loving daughter, a loyal friend, a skilled worker or a caring sister we can never know it. Let us just remember she may have been many things.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors.

**To find other people in this blog use the Person Index option on the menu**

Sources:

South Bucks Standard 13th March 1913. Windsor and Eton Express 20th July 1861. Oxford Chronicle 6th January 1866. Latter two in British Library Archives.

South Bucks Free Press 29 December 1865, courtesy of Jane. 

Crime research of Jane Pullinger.

Census, my transcription from microfilm. Census information always remains Crown Copyright.

The Notorious William Hatch

William Hatch was baptised in Great Marlow in 1795 to William Hatch and Sarah who ran a bakery in the High Street. 

When the father William senior died he left all his surviving children who reached the age of 21 £150 each invested in stocks. William junior would have been one of them. The will is available on the blog here. Extraordinarily, one later report which accused William junior of acting out of pure malice as a police informer, also said that his real father had been a failed highwayman.

Whatever the truth of that William junior grew up to follow the respectable trade of baker. Initially he assisted his mother Sarah as a baker and corn dealer, then he traded briefly in Slough and Reading, both in Berkshire, before returning to once more help his mother. In 1831 he, but not his mother, who had not made him a partner in the business, was declared bankrupt. The bankruptcy notice also calls him a farmer.

This bankruptcy William survived and he continued baking. But he was not much liked and some kind of rumour or suspicion tended to be always around him. In 1828 John Boswell took out an ad in the Windsor and Eton Express apologising for circulating a false report as to William's character saying he was "extremely sorry" for his actions. The ad says he is taking it out as if he does it is agreed that William will not take legal action against him. Perhaps not the best wording if you want to suggest sincerity of apology but it worked. There is no hint as to what had been said about William.

Just a few weeks later however William won £5 damages from George Creswell of Marlow for calling him "Buffer the Hatch" when they were both in the Horns, Chapel Street. William claimed that "buffer" meant homosexual and that chalk scribblings using the same terms had been found on walls all around town. There was no suggestion George had been responsible for any of those. It is clear from the lawyers' arguments and witness statements that if buffer did signify homosexual to some it was not generally known to do so. The tone of George's voice and the fact the words featured on street graffiti meant they were presumed to be disrespectful words but without specific meaning. One of the lawyers said "buffer" had once long ago been used for lowly employees in law firms who had to do the unpleasant tasks like delivering eviction notices. I myself found evidence of the word being used as a term for someone who is willing to do other people's dirty work. Given that William when insulted was in a meeting with one of the Overseers of the poor, Thomas Broadway, then it may well be that outdated meaning was meant. It may also refer to Hatches electioneering work for the Williams family who held Marlow as a pocket borough.  George didn't explain his choice of words. The judge said it didn't really matter, an insult of some kind had been intended so damages were due to William. He however warned the offence did not warrant anything substantial. William had by the way formerly been an Overseer of the poor in Marlow himself.

In 1830 school master Mr Francis of the Bluecoats school (now known as Borlase), was convicted of assaulting William, when in drink. There was some amusement expressed at the senior, slight and short teacher taking on the 6ft tall and sturdy Hatch, and it seems Francis came off the worst.  Two witnesses on each side contradicted themselves altogether, but Francis was found guilty and had to spend a week in the house of correction. He also had to pay a £5 fine and find sureties for his future good behaviour. William said that Francis had called him a "sodom-ite" and he had retaliated with his fists. At this point the local magistrate presiding intervened to say he was aware of chalked graffiti in Marlow making a similar point but to the best of his knowledge there was no truth to the remark! However, the incident was widely regarded as politically motivated, as the two supported opposite candidates and feeling was still running high after a recent election. Hatch had been accused of brandishing a knife at an opposition voter at the previous election (which he denied doing), along with allegations that he had been banned from several public houses for violent conduct. It is true that certain establishments were strongly associated with one political candidate or another, and William may not have been too welcome in some simply for taking the other side publicly. He did say he did not regard his involvement in electioneering as very extensive. However the magistrates on summing up were no doubt politics stood behind it all. They expressed the wish that the school teacher would not let the electioneering spirit move him to breach the peace in future. 

William had plenty more court appearances. In 1829 he was fined 12 shillings for pulling up a crop of potatoes in a poor man's garden, a Mr Harding. This man may have been a tenant of his as the next year William had to pay the court costs when he failed in his attempt to prosecute his tenant Hannah Frith and her husband for picking fruit in the garden of the cottage they rented from him. The judge told William he didn't own the fruit, they did. In the same session the judge threw out William's suit against one John Simpson for allegedly throwing a stone at his window.

In 1829 William was also summoned for failing to support his illegitimate child with Ann Beaver and ordered to start paying up.

Three years later he was fined a shilling for trying to purposefully run down a servant of Mr J Clayton with his bakery cart. The judge condemned his reckless violence.

The next year William prosecuted Christopher Wildego for an alleged theft of a loaf from out of that cart.

In 1834 he stabbed a young boy who had formerly worked for him and stole the boy's knife. He was allowed to escape further penalty if he paid the boy 6 shillings compensation and give him back his knife!

The same year George Creswell was once again pitted against William. The Windsor and Eton Express said William was an "Ill looking man generally known as the appellation of the Buffer upwards of six foot high" who appeared in court with a cut face, two black eyes and 4 teeth knocked out. William said George had committed this assault on him. The paper said his usual "appalling" face was rendered more disgusting than usual as a result! Once more the setting for George and William's confrontation was a public house. William had used provoking language to the other man until he lost his temper. George was able to produce witnesses to prove that he was a respectable and "truly peaceable and steady man when unmolested" while William was the reverse so William's request that the defendant be bound over to keep the peace towards him was refused. George was however fined for the assault. The Creswells were renowned for being tall, strong and well built men. 

In 1835 William reached his lowest point being arrested for a "brutal attack upon his wife with intent to murder her". He had then run off for a few days but was arrested upon his return. He was unable to pay his bail, nor find anyone who wished to help him in this way ("no person having the remotest claim to respectability would become his security" said the paper) so was sent to Aylesbury Gaol to await trial. After three months in such custody he managed to prevail upon his wife to withdraw the charges on the grounds he would behave better in future.

He is referred to in reports at the time as the "notorious Will Hatch" and "Buffer the Hatch".

He had married a "Miss Spicer" in Henley, Oxfordshire in 1832. I have seen a marriage notice not a parish register so I am afraid I do not at the time of writing know the bride's first name. 

I find no further mention of William Hatch in Marlow records or any wife of his. They may have moved away to escape their recent scandals. William was still alive when his mother Sarah wrote her will in 1838. She had by then moved to Eton and left him besides money a bible. Making a point Sarah?

Sarah died in 1844. She was the owner of the row of houses in Dean Street called Hatches Row, which were sold off after her death.

For all mentions of a person on this blog see the Person Index. Over 2,300 people are listed as of December 2021. You will find more on Sarah Hatch for instance there.

Some Sources:

Wills of William Hatch and Sarah Hatch. Transcribed by me from wills held at the National Archives Kew.

Great Marlow Parish Registers, transcribed by me from the originals.

Windsor and Eton Express 8th May 1828, 12th Jan 1833, 25th Jan 1834, 29th August 1835, 19th Dec 1835.

Paper copies held at the British Library and accessed by me via their partnership with the BNA.

The London Gazette (compiled) Volume 2 by Thomas Neumann 1831. University of Iowa Archives, digitized by Google.

GRO Death Registration Index, online from the GRO.

The Poaching Perrys

The men of the Perry family of Dean Street / Hatches Row Great Marlow were notorious for their prolific, unapologetic and at times violent poaching in the 1800s.

The main suspects were brothers William and John Perry, sons of Joseph and Sarah (née Heather, married 1803). William was born circa 1804 and John in 1810.

Look them up on the census or other records and they tend to appear as harmless agricultural labourers and in William's case a beer seller too but at the end of that working day their other, to them probably more important work, began. It's a bit of a surprise that any game survived locally!

The first conviction for William I found was in 1830 when he received 3 months in jail for poaching. In 1838 he was fined for illegal use of a gun, while in 1839 he was forced to pay up after being caught trespassing in search of game. By 1840 he was already described as a notorious and long standing poacher. That year he was caught poaching by a gamekeeper at Shottesbrook. William beat the gamekeeper about the head with the butt of his rifle and escaped. Reports of the incident lead to two Windsor policeman pursuing and arresting him. Could they hold him between them? No. The Perrys were consistently described as tall, heavy built men. William was one of those in Marlow who sometimes fought with cudgels for a share of a prize pot. This sport had its heyday in Marlow late 1700s to about 1840s. He was said to be one of the best fighters in Buckinghamshire.

If William thought he would get away with attacking the gamekeeper however he was wrong. The Windsor constables he escaped from knew exactly who he was and where he lived.

Marlow Parish Constable Henry Stallwood, another Constable Daniel Cox, Tithing Man (Marlow was divided into East and West Tithings each with a man responsible for certain criminal matters on their patch) James Cox and Constable Horton from Windsor got together to try to take William into custody. They didn't expect it to be easy.

James Cox must have drawn the short straw as he was the one to knock on William's door.

The constables went round the back.

William was in and asked for the warrant to be read out in full to him, perhaps giving himself time to weigh up his options. John Perry the brother of William shouted at him to run away and save himself. His friend Charles Gibbons used the "say it backwards" language of criminals in those days to urge the same "t'nod og!" [don't go with him, the constable] . Horton however cuffed William and escorted him towards the door. A man called Richard Carr came in causing a distraction (not necessarily on purpose) and John Gibbons another friend of the Perrys who was also already on the premises attacked Horton and freed William. A different Constable stepped up and seized William getting him as far as the street. Horton followed and also took hold of the prisoner. At this point someone struck him on the head. Others including Charles Mould and Charles Gibbons moved in to try to rescue William once more. Horton had a staff as part of his official kit and used it to prevent this. People began pouring out of their houses in support of William until an estimated 100 people had gathered. Some openly called for the Constables to be killed. Horton was repeatedly hit by Charles Gibbons and Charles Mould and set on by a bulldog before being knocked unconscious with a stick. It was thought Charles Gibbons was responsible for that blow. A James Richardson dragged Horton away down a side way and confiscated his staff.

William made something of a run for it, to the cheers of the crowd, but the other constables did manage to capture him. They also recovered the unconscious Horton and sat up all night tending him. Later they successfully arrested James Richardson, Charles Gibbons and Charles Mould. All would be jailed for several months for their part in events.

Considering all these convictions it is a puzzle to see just how William managed to get a beer house licence. These had to be renewed yearly and you were supposed to have good character to get one. Yet time after time William was allowed to keep his beer house the Fox and Pheasant (appropriate title!) in Dean Street. He and his wife Avis (née Butler, married Great Marlow 1829), were there by 1861. William was still listed as landlord in the late 1860s when he was fined for being open illegal hours.

His last poaching conviction was in 1876. The weary sitting magistrate said that that occasion was the 10th time he alone had sentenced William, mostly for similar poaching offences.

William died in 1880 at the quoted age of 73 or 74 after falling out of a tree in Datchett whilst gathering walnuts and apples for his employer John Langley the fruiterer. It was thought a dizzy spell brought on by heart disease caused the accident. He fractured his spine in the fall. Avis had predeceased him. 

What of his brother John?

He started his criminal career in traceable records with a charge of handling a stolen silver pocket watch in 1829 when he was 19. In 1840 he was fined 10 shillings for shooting at the sign of the Fighting Cocks pub in Dean Street, causing it damage. Inebriated poaching practice? William East was charged with the same offence. The Easts seemed to have had something of a shakey on-again off-again relationship with the poaching Perrys. (Thomas East was one of those who witnessed the fight occasioned by William's arrest and gave evidence against Richardson in that case.)

In 1842 he was described as a "stout, resolute poacher" in the Windsor and Eton Express. The Marlow constable Henry Stallwood surprised him in bed with a warrant for his arrest on multiple charges of poaching at Fawley. Stallwood must have had a short memory as he believed John when he promised that he would come quietly and waited for him to dress himself before taking him outside. Can you guess what happened next?

Yes, John shoved him aside and ran off. Several days later Stallwood had another go. He found John in a beer house. John made no pretence of going quietly that time and struggled. Stallwood threatened to show him the work his Constable's staff could do if he kept resisting. John ignored him and ended up so badly injured his life was feared for. Despite having multiple severe head injuries and a badly bruised body he stood trial, found guilty and sent to jail for 14 months.

While he was being help in the lock up prior to trial various Dean Street women and men gathered outside the premises and urged him with their shouts to try to escape. They presumably didn't realise how badly he was injured at the time.

Did this experience put him off offending? 

Not a bit. As "John Perry the notorious poacher" he was back on trial for the same in 1843. 

He teamed up with his brother William in 1844 for another bout of poaching. In 1884 John tells the J P at his latest trial for shooting game, that now he's over 70 he will "go poaching no more". Knowing John he probably meant he would try not to be caught any more! The justices awarded John a £2 fine, promised  future angelic behaviour not withstanding. 

Joseph and Sarah Perry had two more sons - George born 1813 and Samuel born 1804. Both were convicted poachers. Samuel (m Mary Ann Miller) also ran the small Rose and Crown beer house in Dean Street by 1842. Samuel died in a tragic accident, falling from a ladder which gave way under him while he was gathering walnuts in 1844. Historic landlords listing for this pub is on the blog here

He served 3 months in jail for poaching in 1830 and a further 2 months for the same in 1837.

Poaching wasn't his only crime - he was jailed for being part of a gang that burgled a house in 1831 and stole 2 great coats, 2 pairs of breeches and sundry other articles.

Samuel's grandson Alfred Perry features in my History of Marlow Bridge post here

George received an unusually large fine of £5 for poaching in 1840. If he failed to pay it he was to be jailed for 3 month instead. He had been caught on the land of Colonel Higginson.

The same year he and his brother John were caught poaching together and described as "incorrigible poachers" when jailed again for two and three months respectively. Later reminisces recalled many a "desperate and more or less bloody struggle" between later parish constables Richard Davis and Tom Walker and a Perry or two. 

Later generations of Perry men clocked up their own poaching convictions too. The last I saw evidenced was in the 1930s.

Of course not all Perry men poached. I think it is fair to say too that the family seemed to have been thought of affectionately by those reminiscing about the old poaching days. If you weren't a poacher or an official they may have been perfectly nice to you. Something made those 100 people come out to support William that time. Poachers were arrested all the time, especially in Dean Street without the arresting officials being subjected to that much hatred.

The Perry women had no criminal convictions that I can find except Keziah (née Warwick married 1853) wife of a James Perry. She managed to get into a fair amount of trouble generally and was jailed in for stealing money from a shop till. I am uncertain how this James relates to the poaching Perry family above. He was the son of James and Ellen/ Eleanor. His brother Joseph went on to be landlord of the Fighting Cocks.

Sarah Perry mother of the Perry poachers and widow of Joseph worked as a lacemaker during her long widowhood. Elizabeth wife of John (née Coleshill m 1832) was a seamstress.

The trade of wooden skewer making was once a Marlow speciality. Various Perry men worked in that trade and and are amongst those that are featured in this skewer making post.

There was a wealthy lawyer named Nicholas Perry in Marlow in the 1600s. I have transcribed his will and it can be read here.  There were Perry residents of Dean Street by the mid 1780s.

*To find all mentions of an individual on this blog choose the Person Index on the drop down menu*

Post written and researched by Charlotte Day, with additional research by Kathryn Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for local or family history purposes if you credit this blog and link here so that my sources also remain credited. Thanks.

Sources:

Censuses Great Marlow 1841, 51, 61, 71, 81 my transcription from microfilm.

Great Marlow Parish Registers, my transcriptions.

GRO Marriage Index.

Property records in my family.

Reading Mercury May 1840, 2nd December 1844.

Windsor and Eton Express 27th October 1838, 15th August 1840, 26th February 1842.

Bucks Herald 17th July 1841 and 14th August 1880.

Bucks Gazette 5th March 1831.

South Bucks Standard 25th October 1884 & 7th April 1899

Newspaper copies above are in the British Library Archives and supplied by the BNA. 

The Sad Case of Harriet Boddy

It is a cold but fair February afternoon in Great Marlow 1903. Hannah Allen, of Hatches Row by Dean Street is about her housework when her teenage granddaughter Eliza runs in. The girl tells her that there's a baby lying on the ground outside. A boy from the Holloway family she says, saw it first and asked her to look. Hannah glances out of her kitchen window. In the grass next to the rubbish pit known as Langley's Pit, used by the local council she can see certainly something, and she goes to investigate. 

Lying face down at the edge of the pit, is a naked, bloody newborn. Hannah remains calm. Though the child is not moving she knows that does not mean it is hopeless. She places her hand upon the little girl but finds her stone cold. Hannah removes her apron to give the girl a decent covering and sends Eliza for a constable.

The constable notes blood on the grass and a gooseberry bush by the pit. Possibly also in a privy by it which upon inquiry he finds is used by the Boddy family headed by John and Sophia of Marefield Passage. (Aka Maresfield)  Harriet Boddy, the 24 year old eldest daughter of the house is known to be expecting. 

Theirs is not a happy home. John and Sophia are by their own admission living separate lives under the same roof. They no longer share a room. The fact that Harriet has for the second time become pregnant by an unknown father is causing financial worry and resentment from the main breadwinner, dad John. With only a labourer's wage he is already a man who leaves for work at 5am at the very latest, often at 4am. He has said the child might have to go to the workhouse. His wife and daughters are no longer talking to him as a result.

Under the cover of Hannah's apron the infant is carried to the Verney Arms pub in Dean Street to await examination by a surgeon.

In the meantime the constable seeks Harriet. She is not at home but her sister directs him to their grandmother's house. There he finds her sitting with her three year old son Albert playing on her lap. She denies having given birth but agrees that a doctor can examine her.

Her grandmother takes her upstairs to await Doctor Culhane. His examination when he arrives is brief. The constable waits outside the bedroom door. Doctor Culhane tells him that there is no question about it-  Hannah has just given birth.

The constable takes her and her grandmother back to to Harriet's house in Marefield Passage. A trail of blood drips runs from the back door, up the stairs and to Harriet's bedroom. Someone has tried to wipe up a large puddle of blood on the floor beside her bed. The blanket is bloodstained.....

So began a case that horrified Marlow though it would not have surprised them. I have found multiple examples in Marlow history of dead babies being discovered in fields and ditches. Usually no parent was identified for them. The suspicion was always that the child was an illegitimate one stillborn or the victim of infanticide. At least one other case was in the immediate vicinity of Marefield.

The coroner's inquest on baby Boddy returned a verdict of wilful murder and a warrant was issued for Harriet's arrest. 

Her initial appearance in a court of law was at a special hearing at the magistrate's court where it would be decided whether or not to send the case to the Assizes. Harriet had spent the time since her arrest in jail without access to any legal advice.

Such cases were always extremely difficult. It seems that the blood on the child probably came from the birth process and a bleeding umbilical cord. There were no obvious injuries to the body. Neither were there signs of disease or malformation in the child's internal organs. Cause of death was in other words "unascertainable" using only the scientific evaluation available in the early 1900s. If the mother claimed that the child was born dead it was hard to prove otherwise. This was exactly what Harriet claimed. She said that she had not realised that she was so close to term. Her mother Sophia had intended not to leave her side close to her time. As it happened Harriet found herself alone at home when she felt labour pains. Within an hour, she said she had given birth to a stillborn child. She admitting taking the body out to the rubbish pit. Of very low intelligence according to most people who knew her, she had no real explanation for doing this. Possibly the trauma of it all. Any jury at the Assizes would have to consider whether Hannah was telling the truth or had as the prosecution argued killed her daughter by leaving her to die of exposure and bleeding by the rubbish pit.

John Boddy, Harriet's father gave evidence that suggested that the child was in fact born between 4 and 5 in the morning, hours before Harriet claimed. He said that he had heard an odd sound outside which he later took to be a newborn cry as he laced his boots before work. He also heard Harriet come in the back door just afterwards. If this was the case the entire family was at home at the time. Sophia Boddy and two other daughters would even have been sleeping in the same bedroom as Harriet. No one else in the family agreed with this version of events. Perhaps Harriet was moving about because of early labour pains, whether she was able to recognise them or not. The sound may have been her not a baby.  Why she would deny this can't be told. One thing is sure- her father's evidence was dangerous if excepted by a jury as it would destroy her claim that the child was born dead, never having drawn a breath or making a sound. It could seem to imply complicity in the concealment of birth, or worse, on the part of his wife and daughters who surely could not have failed to notice someone giving birth inches from where they slept. 

The case was sent to the Assizes. John Boddy's evidence either mistaken or even malicious was not given much weight. There a jury decided that a murder charge was not appropriate without evidence of any premeditation leaving the possible charges of manslaughter and concealing a birth still on the table. 

At this point Harriet did have a defence lawyer. She plead guilty to the concealment of birth charge only. This matched the jury's opinion by the time they heard all evidence. Her lawyer hoped she could escape without penalty given that by then she had spent 4 months in jail, was mentally incapable of proper judgement and had suffered enough already by losing the child she had been looking forward to having. In concealing the birth there could have been no premeditation. Harriet had not sought to hide her pregnancy from anyone. Nor had there actually been any real attempt to conceal the body. It was plainly visible where she had laid it. Her 3 year old Albert was not neglected. In fact he seemed a happy boy loved by his mother.

The judge was more hard-line than the lawyer or jury and said in his opinion the case bordered on manslaughter. He clearly had doubts that the child was really born dead. He imposed a sentence of 3 months hard labour.

Within a few years of the case Harriet's father died leaving Sophia and Harriet to support the family as charwomen. I do not believe Harriet ever married.

BACKGROUND:

Maresfield Passage- AKA Gas Alley in the case notes- no longer exists, neither does Hatches Row. The Boddy household had lived at Maresfield passage for many years.

There were other Boddy households in Marlow at the time. While many of those other Boddy individuals were related to one another their tie if any to John Boddy was not obvious to me upon very superficial research. John lived in Lane End before moving to Marlow. Sophia was née Collins. They married 1877.

Eliza Allen lived in Cambridge Road. She was 15 years old. She had Holloway cousins which probably included the boy who first saw the body.

Research sources:

Marriage, death and birth certificates from the GRO.

1881 and 1891 censuses transcribed by me from microfilm census page images held at a LDS family history centre., London. These would now be available online.

1901 census from Find My Past UK accessed March 2018.

Newspapers at the BNA accessed March 2018 / June 2020: South Bucks Standard 13th February 1903, Reading Mercury 27th June 1903, Bucks Herald 20th June 1903.

Great Marlow parish registers, old transcriptions by me.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

To find every mention of a person on this blog use the person Index option on the drop down menu.

© Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here so that my sources remain credited for the information they provided.

So far this blog contains mention of

174

people from or associated with Marlow.