William Creswell of Wycombe Road farm was a man of many talents. In his youth he was said to possess "almost unequalled strength". Then there was the fact that "almost everything he touched turned to gold". He was equally good at saving money as earning it. And above all he enjoyed a stubbornly independent spirit that made him clash swords with those in authority who had different ideas about land rights and ownership than he did..
Gives a good thrashing
There are a number of William Creswell/Cresswells in Marlow's history. Our subject today is the son of William Creswell of the Compleat Angler /Anglers Hotel in Bisham. (You can read about William of The Angler here ) William Junior was born at the Angler in 1811. In his youth William quickly became known for the fact he was a tall and "finely built" man. He tested his strength in a number of sporting competitions and also less officially - he was said not to be shy of giving someone a good thrashing if he thought they deserved it. On one occasion he was fined 10s for throwing George White into the River Thames!
William was also a proponent of the "noble art of self defence", better known as boxing, and he must have made a formidable opponent. He was also famed for his punting skills on the river, winning prizes for this - for example 10s in 1860.
William was a professional boatmen too. He ran The Swan barge with his brother George (of the Swan pub later), and like his publican father, dealt in coal and timber at times. He also worked as a fisherman, in this instance meaning a fishing guide who took visitors to his parent's inn out on the river to the best angling spots. The Compleat Angler as we know it, was already a famed place for fishing and boating parties despite it's more modest size compared to later incarnations. William's parents hired punts, and guides such as William to cater for the visitors. Later on William appeared before a Royal Commission of 1866 on the subject of pollution in the Thames, which also discussed things such as flooding and how the character of the water had changed. As both a farmer with riverside land that flooded, and a former barge master he was in a unique position to provide information to the inquiry.
William amasses land
While still young, William Junior began to lease numerous small pieces of land throughout Marlow, for example at Red Pits (off Henley Road) and within Marlow Fields (off Wycombe / Little Marlow Roads in this instance). These holdings he gradually expanded by purchase and he also inherited other land. His big opportunity came in 1850 when the existing landowner of much of the farmland around Wycombe Road sold it and the new owner that came next sharply increased the rents. Many tenants quit out of necessity, and there was an opportunity for someone else to move in. And that was William. The pieces of farm land were scattered as they in some cases previously formed part of the common fields, some bits of which were already in private hands at the time of the Enclosure Acts. The Wycombe Road farm came together piecemeal and without a historic farm house, but William was already living in "Marlow Fields" -probably in Wycombe Road itself as he did later - so he had a suitable house by default, with a barn and yard a little separated from it. William would later own much of this land himself, as well as High Rews (Ruse) farm, in addition to leasing Hawkins Farm from 1877. William's golden touch allowed him to go from farming a few acres in the 1830's to 50 by 1851, 100 in 1865, 160 in 1881 (employing 7 men and 3 boys) and 200 by the time of his death.
Above, from a map drawn by William Francis in 1839 showing some of William's holdings in Marlow Fields off Little Marlow Rd. The road marked out between land labelled lot V and lot III is what we call Dedmere Rd while the road running top downwards is Glade Rd.
William pushes the boundaries
Not that this satisfied energetic William. He was always happy to try and inch the boundaries of his land a little further outwards if he saw an opportunity. His first offences were minor, and related to trying to plough over or diverting the footpaths going through his Wycombe Rd holdings in the 1860's. Some rumblings about William attempting to tweak the path of Wycombe Road itself surface. But his more serious run ins with the likes of the parish surveyor were in the 1880's and early 90's and related to land around the Frieth Road and Marlow Common areas. The 1884 case probably sums Williams story up the most. He was summoned for digging up and "subverting" the course of the Frieth Rd near his holdings at Hawkins Farm. He had removed a hedge and fence boundary at the edge of his field, and put up a new fence and gate further out, so incorporating some of the common land adjoining the highway into his own fields. He had also removed some fencing that had previously enclosed an old chalk working known as Gipsy's pit near Chisbridge Cross, and yes the area was a traditional place of encampment for Gypsies. The parish surveyor Frederick Plumridge wrote to William a polite if optimistic letter asking for his co -operation at returning the highway and surrounding areas to its original place and state. He did not reply. Frederick also attempted to talk to William on the subject and recieved an earful of abuse in return. So a special parish vestry was held to decide how to proceed. The sage Walter Lovegrove, elected to the chair, thought dealing with William was likely to be an expensive and difficult affair and they should proceed with careful consideration. Walter was right. A summons was issued for William, and he was bound over with a £30 recognizance to appear at the Quarter Sessions. He did not turn up, but sent his eldest son also William, on his behalf. The court said they could not possibly try a sort of deputy in this way. His poor son said his dad was unfortunately suffering from an attack of gout and couldn't make it. The court said William could have submitted medical evidence in that case and his recognizance would be called in. But while the court adjourned, the son was able to get a telegram sent from his father's doctor confirming he did indeed have gout. They decided to raise the recognizance to £50 and make him find two sureties of £30 each from other people, sums that would be lost if William did not make an appearance next time. A bench warrant was issued and William eventually made it before the court the following year. He was fined £20 with the threat of 6 weeks improvement if payment was not forthcoming. He paid.
An extravagant pile of manure
William also occupied the courts by blocking roads by parking his farm waggons there, letting his horses stray on the highway, having an offensively large manure pile in his yard, and for having a quantity of night soil at the farm likely to be damaging to human health. Night soil is human waste and William had it from a cleared out cesspit. He had overloaded the cart taking it away and broken the shafts as a result. This was his excuse for not removing it sooner. Luckily for William the inspector of nuisances investigating the noxious aromas coming from the yard had not inspected the cart to see if William's story was true so the court decided to give the offender the benefit of the doubt and let him off without a fine. I suspect the poor parish inspector was keen to make a quick getaway to sweeter smelling air.
William the miser
William's obituaries all agree on one point - he was very good at making money, and even better at not spending it unless he could really help it. One praised his "plodding indomitable industry and economy of the most niggardly description". Another, by the Maidenhead Advertiser said "reckless extravagance was not one of Mr Creswells weaknesses". It seems many people had stories to tell on this theme but the most amusing is perhaps the one from the solicitor William asked to draw up his will. William said he didn't think he ought to pay for this legal service, as it was just the sort of thing a good lawyer should do for their client as a sort of favour, which would be repaid by some other persons act of kindness to the solicitor. William himself did not actually promise to do this good deed however! It seems the solicitor was so amused by this he did actually accept no fee for his work. William does seem to have been thought of with respect and affection despite of his terrorising those in authority, or perhaps because of it!
It is not surprising perhaps that getting William to pay his taxes was not an easy task. He was summoned in 1882 for failing to pay poor and lighting rates. He then sent payment - minus the court costs added on top of the original sum of course. So it was back to court to extract some more.
William was said to have accumulated great wealth. Initial reports were that he left £12000 in cash at his death with the final estate value of £16,000-20,000. He was also noted for expecting his sons to work on his farm without sharing in the profits or having any say in managing the estate - or their own affairs!
William died in 1893 at home in Wycombe Road, after a few days illness believed to be bronchitis. His wife Mary nee White had predeceased him. His son Abraham inherited the Wycombe Road house and farmland, but lived less than a year to enjoy his inheritance. A post about him and another son Edward is available here
To read about Marlow bargeman and bargemasters see here.
Written by Kathryn Day, researched by Charlotte Day with additional research by Kathryn.
SOURCES
1841,1851,1861,1871,1881, 1891 census transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger.
1833 Parish assessment transcribed by Charlotte from the original notebooks owned by our family.
GRO death index.
Report of Royal Commission on avoiding pollution in the river, Great Britain Parliament, 1866, digitised by Google.
Kelly's Post Office Directory 1881 (Kelly's Directories Ltd)
Will of John Creswell (Williams uncle) from the National Archives, transcribed by Charlotte Day.
Undated land sale notes, relating to George and William Cresswell owned by my family (circa 1833)
Harrods Directory 1876, (J.C Harrods & Co)
Bucks Herald 20 May 1878, 5 Jan 1884, from British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA June 2020.
Reading Mercury 11 May 1846, 11 & 18 October 1884, as above
Grantham Journal 11 April 1885, as above
South Bucks Standard: 19 May 1893, as above
©Marlow Ancestors
