Will of Benjamin Griffin Esq 1761

 Will written and proved in 1761

Of Great Marlow. Says is indisposed of body but sound of mind and memory. 

Asks to be buried in whatever parish he dies in and that funerary expenses should not exceed £50. 

Gives all wearing apparel both linen and woollen to his manservant Benjamin Beaver. If Benjamin is still living with him at time of testator's death he gets £100 too.

To all other servants living with him at time of death £10 each over and above any wages due to them.

All freehold messuages, tenements, lands and hereditaments with their appurtenances in Great Marlow to kinsman Samuel Norman of Henley on Thames Oxfordshire and his heirs in trust for benefit of testator's nephew William Griffin son of his brother Nathaniel. He is to get annuity of ten pounds to be paid out in quarterly installments that is 25th march, 24th June, the 29th September and and the 25th December. First payment to be made on the first of those days occuring after his death. Also trust to pay yearly sum of £20 from profits of these messuages etc towards the maintenance of kinsman Benjamin Griffin Jackson son of testator's niece Hester Jackson paid in such manner as the said Samuel Norman shall feel most fit and proper for him until he reaches the age of 21 at which time the £20 annual payment for the benefit of Benjamin Griffin Jackson shall cease and he will get the property instead. That is the messuage or tenement with outhouses, gardens and appurtenances in Great Marlow in testator's own occupation (which was lately two tenements) discharged of the annuity to nephew William Griffin.

 If Benjamin Griffin Jackson shall die before the age of 21 Samuel Norman to convey the property to the testator's brother Nathaniel and his heirs (in trust that they will discharge the estate of the aforementioned £10 and £20 legacies and pay all charges and repair costs pertaining to the property and all costs arising from the execution of the trust vested in the hands of Samuel Norman) and pay over all the "overplus rents and profits" to Nathaniel and his heirs. From them on the aforementioned annuities shall cease.

To nephew John Griffin eldest son of brother Nathaniel and his heirs all messuages or tenements with outhouses and hereditaments in Oakingham Berkshire. These are lately purchased from John Hibbert and are now in the occupation of the said John Griffin or his under tenants or assigns. John also to receive £1000 within 12 months of testator's death. Interest is not to be paid to him in the meantime.

Brother Nathaniel and Samuel Norman, their heirs and executors to receive £10,000 in trust to be invested. The profits and dividends from that investment to brother Nathaniel for the term of his life and then after his death to Nathaniel's son John and then the whole investment and it's profits to go to Samuel Norman himself and his heirs for their own use.

To the widow of brother Jacob Griffin an annuity of £10 for life split into half yearly payments. This to start within six months of testator's death. After the widow dies if testator's niece Hester Jackson is still alive she is to get the annuity instead. Hester is in any case to have her own £5 annuity free from all deductions. This is to be paid in twice yearly installments, beginning within 6 months of the testator's death. 

If Benjamin Jackson lives to 21 he gets £100 without any interest accrued before it is paid out. It is supposed however to be paid out immediately. If he does before 21 the money just to be considered part of the general estate of the testator.

Benjamin Beaver as mentioned above is to have £100 in trust for the maintenance, clothing and education of Mary Hawkins niece if Benjamin Beaver. Whatever is not spent at the time of her death goes to Benjamin Beaver or his executors or administrators.

All residual estate to brother Nathaniel and his heirs. Nathaniel and Samuel Norman to be executors of the will.

Witnessed by Richard ?Sincons?, John Wakeling, Richard Sutton.

Will transcribed and then summarized here from an original at the National Archives Kew by Charlotte Day and Kathryn Day.

Notes by Charlotte:

Benjamin was originally from Wokingham, the son of Ann (nee Gyles) and Benjamin Griffin, a mercer. Brother Nathaniel remained in Wokingham. Samuel Norman of Henley was the testator's maternal cousin. The widow of Jacob Griffin as mentioned in the will was Elizabeth. 

Benjamin Griffin Jackson appears in an interesting Old Bailey case concerning whether keeping someone in poor prison conditions could constitute murder if that someone died. It is available on the Old Bailey Online website here. See also another related case on the same website here and yet another linked case amongst the Justices' Papers on the London Lives Website here. 

Some of this family were Baptists. 

Holland Road Marlow Early History

 Holland Road was laid down late in 1901 by the workers of Mr Fossett of Slough. Earlier that year much of  the land that the early properties in the road would be built on had been bought bit by bit by speculator James Andrews Holland and in his honour it was decided by the Urban Council to name the new road Holland Road. (Often referred to as Holland's Rd early on.) The land was previously part of the "Quarrydale Estate", perhaps the grounds of the house Quarrydale which was by it though that does not look to long predate the Holland Road. 

James had no previous experience in property speculation. He would later state in court that his main former career was that of an employee of the Midland Railway. On the 1901 census he was the manager of a timber merchant in Ashford near Staines Middlesex and in 1881 he appears as a carpenter and joiner which seems at odds with his statement of being a Midland Railway employee for much of his career. Unless he was employed as a carpenter in some way by them ??? He did have some experience working as an assistant manager of a brickyard too. 

Regardless of his experience, thanks to loans from Mr Cripps of Marlow and Garner and Sons of Uxbridge he was able to begin building up Holland Road. You can understand why this area seemed a golden prospect to such a speculator. Holland Road was within walking distance of the station and the river yet would have still felt removed from the main body of Marlow. A peaceful but well connected semi rural idyll. James admitted he had only a small working capital and "few qualifications" but he was obviously able to win the confidence of his backers nevertheless. 

First in the new road came a bungalow with an attached artist's studio, then 2 cottages. These cost £729, 18 shillings and 6 pennies to erect on top of a purchase price for all the land of £567. These were followed by five more houses in a block for himself and two for his wife Sarah (or so he would later state) on more of the land. The couple lived in home called "The Maisonette" New Town/Quarrydale, possibly also in Holland Road.  (N.b there were two cottages known as no 1&2 The Maisonette, in New Town Rd proper around this time, which may be one of those meant.)  Unfortunately James had overreached himself financially and could not afford to continue to build on the rest of his land. He had no money left to continue his grand development scheme.

Though he had tenants for some of the built property this was not enough to keep him afloat and he was forced to try to sell the bungalow with studio, and 2 houses. These did not sell in two attempts and James filed for bankruptcy. There was some scepticism voiced in court that two of the properties allegedly built for his wife were genuinely not part of the bankrupt's possessions. He owed £510 to creditors at the time.

The mortgagees tried again to sell some of the property in 1906 and were seemingly successful at last. James and his wife moved away from the town. In 1911 he was a Building Works Manager boarding at Shottesdon, Shropshire. 

An early family to set up home in Holland Road was the Haddon family. In 1907 Richard Johnson Haddon (who may be the father of the family or his identically named son) appeared as a witness at the Old Bailey in London when Arthur Malyon of Leytonstone, Henry East of Dean Street (fruit and horse dealer), Frank Price of Dean Street and James Newell (of Marlow or Stokenchurch reports vary) were accused of a string of thefts in London and it's environs involving horses, wheeled vehicles and harnesses.

Some of the stolen property was sold in Marlow, some at Henley Fair and some elsewhere. Richard Johnson Haddon reported taking 4 horses to Henley Fair for East, including one of the allegedly stolen animals. He also believed he had seen another of the stolen animals in a field off Dean Street by the Bank of England pub. This field was one of two rented by East. 

The charges against Frank Price were dismissed by the courts at an early stage. Henry East was found not guilty and was welcomed home to Marlow by a crowd of 200 people who repaired to the Plough pub for a raucous celebration (on which more here) The rest of the accused were found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in jail. The court case contains various interesting points not relating to Holland Road but to Marlow in general and how the horse dealing trade operated here in the early 1900s.

It is also noticeable for the statement that using the "F word" as Henry East was quoted as doing was common in the town in 1907 (at least in Dean Street!). There is a link to a transcript of the Old Bailey trial in the Sources section below. The earlier hearings at lower court's were reported at great length in the South Bucks Standard.

Those giving evidence for the good character of East, included Francis Crawford Caffin who was a fruit customer of his and William Fisher the butcher of Market Square 

Two years earlier Richard Johnson Haddon Senior and Richard Johnson Haddon Junior had been in court at Marlow following an altercation with their Holland Road neighbour William Henry Lavell. It was alleged that a sickle had been thrown by Lavell at a dog owned by Haddon Junior and threats made against Haddon Junior himself. The judge accepted that he had not intended to harm the dog, only frighten it off and had been provoked by the dog taking one of his valuable chicks. He was thus asked to pay only half the costs of the case and Haddon Junior the rest. Lavell was bound over to keep the peace towards the Haddons.

 In 1914 William Lavell, still of Holland Road was sentenced to 4 months hard labour for arson at Wright's paper mills where he worked as a packer. Drunk thanks to a long drinking session at the Carrier's Arms in Wycombe Road (that and the Plough would be his nearest pubs from home), William had wanted to get revenge on the mill owners for exploiting and under paying certain female staff as he saw it. Women in his eyes could not stand up for themselves in such matters! He set fire to a door and put up barricades to hinder attempts at extinguishing the fire. Nobody was inside at the time. William was married to Ellen (nee Smith. M 1896) who on the previous census was described as a paper mill hand. This would have been at Wright's. It is not mentioned in the court case that Ellen was one of the women William thought was being mistreated but it may have been so. The couple's address in 1901 was "New Town" the district around Holland Road so they were already close to Holland Road. It is possible their home existed in the street prior to it being named or properly laid down as a road both of which occurred - officially speaking - several months after the census was taken. Development in Marlow was sometimes very haphazard, piecemeal and disorganized!

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

NB Early residents often gave their address as "xx Holland Road, New Town, Marlow"  or just "New Town". Most of the houses were named, and these names often changed with each new resident..

For other posts about specific Marlow Roads, shops or farms see this index. All references to any individual on this blog can be found on the A-Z Person Indexes. Thousands of people are mentioned.

Sources:

https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?name=19070528

South Bucks Standard September 6th 1901 and 21st July 1905. Bucks Herald 27th June 1903 and June 6th 1914. Bucks Advertiser July 11th 1902. All British Library Archives via the BNA.

England and Wales Census 1911. National Archives, Kew. Census information remains Crown Copyright. 

"England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X96C-M5W : 20 May 2019), James A Hollands, Ashford, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Sunbury 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:Q27J-WWZG : 12 December 2017), James A Holland, Leicester St Margaret, Leicestershire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 17, Piece/Folio 3158/106, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,883.

"England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7VP-XTT : 22 July 2019), William Henry Lavell, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

GRO marriage index.

1915 Marlow Directory and Almanack, Welbourne & Simpson, Marlow. 

1907 Marlow Guide, Marlow Printing Co. 

The Spindlo Family Bakers *Updated Nov 2024*

Richard Spindlo and Mary Ann Richardson married in the Henley Registration District in 1870. He was a baker just like his father Thomas and had been born according to his census entries at Knowl Hill Berkshire though he was baptised at Wargrave and spent some of his childhood there. Mary Ann grew up at Grey's Hill outside Henley in Oxfordshire and worked as a servant in Henley before her marriage. Her father William was a sawyer.

Shortly after their marriage Richard and Mary Ann had moved to Marlow and opened a bakery come grocers in Chapel Street. The building they occupied was a then newly built one which sadly no longer exists. The bakehouse was a separate structure out the back complete with a large seven bushel bread oven and a flour storage loft above. The Spindlos were likely the first occupants to use the premises as a bakery as prior to that the property on the site was in residential use only. The family often baked the giant loaves that decorated the tables at the parish Harvest Thanksgiving teas. 

Either Richard found it hard to please himself when it came to horses, ponies, carts and carriages or he had a sideline selling them as he frequently advertised them for sale. He also seems to have occasionally acted as a house agent.

The Spindlo's neighbours were a mix of working class and middle class householders, some shops and several pubs. 

In 1875 Mary Ann looking out of her bedroom window saw her newish neighbour James Harris who had not long since come out of the army in the garden of another neighbour, Eliza Creswell. He was smearing something on her tulips. He then poked about in the radish bed. Mary Ann didn't know whether he was doing something for the Creswells or not and said nothing. But when Mrs Creswell complained that her tulips were dying Mary Ann recalled the incident and told her about it. Mrs Creswell saw red at what she thought was sabotage. She let out a torrent of abuse at James Harris over a two day period. He went to the police saying that he needed protection from her as she had threatened to harm him and had made his little girl cry. The magistrates were not much convinced that he had not been in Mrs Creswell garden but found that she had threatened him. They didn't think he ought to be that afraid however. Both Mary Ann Spindlo and her husband gave evidence in court.

Later that same year Richard advertised for a young man to help out in the bakery part of the business. He must already know how to make dough. A comfortable home and good wages was promised to the successful applicant.

The couple had two children in the 1870s, Charlotte Ellen and Richard John. By the time of the 1881 census they had a live in servant to help in the home, teenager Martha North.

In 1886 Richard was fined along with many of the other Marlow bakers for selling bread to the public without weighing it precisely. His loaf was found by an inspector to be slightly short weighted. This offence was so common it would be a rare baker that did not clock up at least one conviction for such. It is very unlikely there was any intent to defraud customers. It is not easy to make any loaf to an absolute exact ounce in weight. Nor would most customers have wanted to stand waiting while their loaf was weighed and then had bits lopped off or odd slices added until the scales showed an exact weight.

He died aged just 46 following a painful illness the next year. Mary Ann took over the business, assisted by her son. In 1896 she was paying £30 a year rent for the premises (residence and bakers shop) plus £12 extra to rent the outbuildings which included the large bakehouse with flour store mentioned above.

In 1894 her employee William Soley was found to be seriously ill with what looks to our modern eyes as testicular cancer. Mary Ann drove him in her baker's cart to the hospital in Cambridge Road for an emergency operation. Sadly he reacted badly to the chloroform given to him and died. (Read more here)

In 1908 her own son Richard John (b 1878, also a baker, and known as John to distinguish him from his father) died following an unsuccessful operation at St Thomas Hospital London for "an internal complaint". He was just thirty years old. He left a widow Eliza Ellen AKA Ellen or Nellie (nee Harris) just three years married to him. Richard was a frequent singer in local amateur concerts including for the Choral Society and was also a member of the Congregational Chapel choir. Ellen also performed in this way though less often. Richard played in various different positions for Marlow F.C (and before that the Marlow Antelopes and Marlow Rangers), very successfully giving "splendid support" to the team over several seasons. His funeral was a largely attended affair. After a service at the Congregational chapel which was filled to capacity, a procession went to Holy Trinity where the young man was buried. Representatives of Marlow Football club, the chapel choir and the National Deposit Friendly Society of which Richard was also a member, all attended. 

Mary Ann continued to live on the bakery premises but her daughter Charlotte took over the running of the business. She described herself as a baker and confectioner. The grocery side of the concern had been left behind. In the 1910s she was usually given as being in Spittal Street. This was a continuation of Chapel Street. Whether she was actually in different premises however is open to question as Marlow people were extremely sloppy and / or confused when it came to rendering Chapel Street and Spittal Street addresses.

In 1922 she married a Mr Nash.

By 1939 the former Spindlo bakery had been taken over by Maurice Hunt.

Post written and researched by Charlotte. 

Related Posts:

To find other posts about Chapel Street or Spittal Street people see this index.

All mentions of anyone on this blog can be found by consulting the A-Z Person Index on the top drop down menu

Everyday life in old Marlow post index here

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog.

Sources included:

Kellys Directory 1911 and 1915. Kellys Directories Limited.

GRO marriage registration index.

South Bucks Standard 18th December 1908. Reading Mercury 11th December 1875. Bucks Herald 8th May 1875. British Library Archives via the BNA.

Census 1881, 91,1901 my transcription from microfilm.

People of Potlands (Portlands) Great Marlow

This post tells something of the people who lived in Potlands (morphed to Portlands in about the 1870s), a higgledy piggledy collection of about 7 cottages and outbuildings plus some small market garden plots that sat behind West Street, next to what we now call Portlands Alley. All are long gone. The name was present in the 1600s, and buildings erected there by the mid 1700s but this post focuses on the people of 1800s Potlands. Portland Villas, on the opposite side of the alley, will be a separate post of their own in the future.

A large number of the male residents of the Potlands cottages were gardeners, both domestic and market. The Bradshaw family rented market garden grounds off both sides of West Street from at least the late 1700s, including in Potlands. Members of the family were still there at the time of the Victorian censuses. William Bradshaw, a gardener, and his wife Catherine, a lacemaker, lived in Potlands for decades of the 1800s. Their son William and his wife Sarah also made their home there. William senior won multiple local prizes for the fruit and vegetables he grew in his gardens- plums, pears, beans, peas. 

John Neighbour (born July 1804, according to his census entries in Monks Risborough, Buckinghamshire) was the gardener to the Wethereds at the large house Remnantz in West Street, and another prize winning vegetable grower. He too was a long standing Victorian resident at Potlands. His son William born 1834 grew up to be the much lauded gardener of Court Garden house near the other end of Potlands Alley. He lived with his wife Emma in the Lodge in Pound Lane in 1861 before bagging the even more prestigious job as Head Gardener to Sir William Clayton at Harleyford in 1866. Once again here he was a prize winning gardener though his speciality was flowers such as freesias and petunias rather than fruit and veg. 

Samuel Quelch the coachman who lived at Potlands with his wife in 1861 probably worked either at Rennantz or Court Garden. The Wethered family of Remnantz definitely owned 2 cottages in Potlands.

Adding to the country feel of this address was the piggery at least one cottage had next to it in the 1830s. Going to a pump or well to fetch water helped reinforce the rustic experience. Potlands got no mains water supply until 1903.

On a more industrial note on one side of Potlands Alley beyond the cottages lay Wethered's Brewery which was a major employer in the town and which against all odds managed to persuade several Potlands men to work there rather than in a garden. Examples include Charles Bateman a brewery labourer resident there in 1881 and Henry Smith a maltster in the same year. And 27 year old 1901 resident Francis Faulkner was an assistant mineral water manufacturer. Charles Bateman was summoned to the local court for driving his cart without a rein in 1870. To be honest the brewery horses were generally so well trained and rehearsed in their routines that they needed very little guidance on the road, but Victorian law was inflexible on that point. 

When the residents weren't hard at work they had a wide choice of public houses within a stones throw from their homes. The absolute nearest one was the Red Lion which was perched on the corner of Potlands Alley and West Street. Potlands resident John Loosley, a labourer, stopped off for a drink there on his way home from a trip to Henley in 1832 and had his cotton umbrella stolen from the premises. 

Alfred Neighbour (born 1840, son of William above) who grew up in Potlands became the landlord of the Red Lion. Like most Great Marlow historic landlords he managed more than one premises in his time so our Marlovian ancestors would also have seen him and his wife Emma behind the bar of the Dog and Badger in nearby Medmenham. In 1867 as landlord of the Red Lion Alfred was summoned for allowing gambling at cards on his premises. However the Red Lion wasn't a very troublesome pub overall and the cottages of Potlands were generally a quiet place to live. (Read a biography of Alfred Neighbour here) Robert and Mary Loosley had a pair of sheets stolen from their garden in 1858 during a mini crime spree in the town and there was the occasional drunk arrested in the nearby alley or a robbery there during the Fair, a tragically destitute and starving man stole a half sovereign that Mrs Jane Bradshaw had just put on her mantlepiece in 1879 but that's about the extent of crime in the immediate vicinity. Robert Loosley, born circa 1805 was, by the way, another of Potlands's gardeners. He was the brother of the John Loosley who had his umbrella stolen in the Red Lion. 

What of the occupation of the ladies of Potlands? Eliza May born when her parents (Joseph - a gardener!- and Hannah Jane nee Brown) lived in a Potlands cottage in 1833, grew up to run a boarding house by the sea in Hastings Sussex with her siblings George and Jane. Given that Hastings was popular for seaside holidays / recuperation and that the Mays had a plum spot on Carlton Parade near the beach they may well have found themselves lodging other Marlovians down for a rest cure, or bumped into them on the seafront.

Like so many widows in Victorian Marlow 47 year old Elizabeth Faulkner resident in 1901 earned a living as a seamstress. Living with her was her widowed father Jonathan Brown who was ...yes you guessed it - a gardener! Elizabeth was the mother of Francis Faulkner mentioned above. 

Martha Neighbour, wife of John the gardener above, worked as a seamstress both before and after her widowhood.

Many widow seamstresses would have been returning to the trade they had pursued as young unmarried women. Ellen Smith living in Potlands with her family in 1901 was a 17 year old trainee dressmaker. 

A linked trade was that of lace-making as followed by amongst others 13 year old Ellen Chown and 15 year old Eleanor Merchant.  Ellen Chown was living with her mother and stepfather James Hopkins, who from other sources is known to be a labourer at the brewery. The family later moved out onto West Street. In 1862 Ellen found James dead in bed at the age of around 58. The inquest demonstrated just how worn out James was- here was a man who for years had struggled for breath and coughed of a morning, whose legs were 'bad' and who was starting to suffer from palpitations too. The shocking thing for us today looking back is that despite all these symptoms Ellen testified that she considered this but middle aged man to be in good health! Low was the general standard of wellbeing for manual labourers in those days. James had the day before his death returned home from work at 6pm, had only a cup of coffee and a slice of bread and butter to eat, before retiring to bed at seven. He was up again at 10.30 because he had as a matter of routine to put in another hours work overnight filling barrels. He returned just past midnight and should have been up again ready for work between 5 and 6 am the next day. Worried that he wasn't, Ellen went to check on him and found him dead. The inquest was held in the Red Lion. By sad coincidence Ellen was herself found dead in her bed in West Street in 1891 resulting in another inquest. She too was someone who was someone usually short of breath. She was formally identified by her half brother George Hopkins who had moved to Cookham and, true child of Potlands that he was, became a gardener. The last person to see Ellen alive was her friend and previous Potlands resident Sarah Smith to whom Ellen spoke her final words of "Good night, God Bless".

The deaths of both James and Ellen were deemed to be due to natural causes.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

Related posts:

To find more posts about Potlands or nearby addresses like West Street and Hayes Place see this index.

Every mention of a person on this blog can be found on the A-Z person index (over 4,000 people at last count).

More posts relevant to the Red Lion can be found on the Pub Related index.

Where your gardener ancestor worked: here

Some sources:

1841, 1851, 1861,1871 and 1881 census Great Marlow my transcription from microfilm. Census information remains Crown Copyright.

Hastings census 1871,81,91 and 1901 Great Marlow census transcribed from microfilm by Jane Pullinger.

Bucks Gazette 20th October 1832.

Reading Mercury 20th Feb 1858. South Bucks Standard 16th Jan 1891. Copies held at the British Library Archives, via the BNA.

1833 parochial assessment original working notebooks, held by me and transcribed by me. 

Parish registers.

Additional research notes by Aiden O'Brien. 

Pay For My Funeral You Miser! Will Catherine Allnutt

 The will of Catharine Allnutt. Written 1819. Proved 1820.

Says she is in ill health but of sound memory. 

To dear brother Zachary now of Henley Upon Thames her one third share in three cottages and gardens in Bovingdon Green which was left to her by her friend Mary Stevens. They are in the occupations of James Wheeler, Mary May and Thomas Frith. If it is not in her power to leave this to Zachary as it is supposed to descend to her dear sisters Ann and Martha then he does not need to give the £20 mentioned below to her sister Ann after all.

If Zachary can inherit the cottage share then he must pay their sister Ann £20. 

Also to Zachary the £100 navigation bond left to her by her dear friend Mary Stevens which is in her father's possession. Tells Zachary to give £20 to "my poor Aunt Argles" and £10 to Miss Sarah Fields and £10 to Miss Ann Fields who were her dear and loving friends in her painful illness.

Dear sister Ann all wearing apparel, poultry and the few books and goods she had of Miss Stevens.

Brother Zachary appointed executor as doesn't want her dear and aged father to have the trouble. She hopes Zachary will not grudge her funeral expenses as they are the last thing she will ask of him and she has for years been a faithful servant to him for pay not sufficient for necessaries in her station in life. He has plenty of property himself and a long life ahead of him in which he will enjoy it so need not take any out of the little estate she leaves behind to pay for her funeral.

Topaz pin and best earrings to "my sister Zachary Allnutt of Henley or Charlotte the wife of my brother" [Possibly meant to say "my sister MRS Zachary Allnutt also known as Charlotte the wife of my brother Zachary"].

Witnessed by Sarah Puddifant, Ann Bond, Mary Gibbons.

Notes:

Ann Bond was the wife of William Bond senior the builder. More about her and her family here.

Biographical post on Sarah Puddifant here.

Catharine and Zachary etc were children of Henry Allnutt who died not long after Catharine herself.

Transcribed and summarized by Charlotte Day from a copy of the PCC will obtained from the National Archives, Kew. Additional research also by Charlotte Day.

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

Where There's A Will There's A Spicer

 If your ancestor left a Victorian will in Marlow between 1828 and 1871 there is a fair chance that Ralph Spicer drew it up or witnessed it. He was a solicitor and attorney who lived and worked on the site of the above property in West Street. The current building is a 1900s replacement. Ralph's home looked much less impressive, reasonably sized but plain.

He was in practice in Marlow by 1826 and in this building by 1833.

In 1828 he was acting for some of those involved in the great hoo ha that was the building of a new bridge in the town. To read about that difficult time see a post on the history of Marlow Bridge here

The year 1828 was also the year that Ralph and his wife Emily had their apparently only child Ralph North Spicer baptised at Marlow. This child when filling in censuses as an adult usually gave his place of birth as Henley which may well be true as place of birth and place of baptism needn't match. Ralph Junior grew up to be a solicitor too.

The year 1828 was also the year that Ralph became a Master Extraordinary in Chancery for Buckinghamshire. What this means is that if anyone involved in a Chancery case who lived in Bucks needed to swear an affidavit then they saw Ralph to get it done. He was only 26 at the time.

He had served his apprenticeship as an articled clerk in the offices of Sweet Stoke and Carr of Basinghall Street, London. He officially became a solicitor in 1824. According to an obituary in the Law Times he had married the daughter of the Stoke in the above law firm. Emily is censused as having been born in Wales so I am not sure about this, I could not find their marriage at my first attempt. In 1831 Emily advertised for a good plain cook for the family.

In 1833 the West Street property consisted of a house, stable, offices, chaise house, yard and garden and was valued at £30 a year.

Six years later Ralph bought a cottage in Cadmore End which was rented out. I do not think he owned his West Street home though I cannot be certain. He later moved premises to the High Street.

Ralph pops up as the defence or prosecution in cases across Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. He was often in London dealing with local bankruptcy or similar troubles. He had a second Buckinghamshire office at Amersham though it seems this was largely staffed by others under his name and supervision.

In 1848 Ralph took a Mr Hayward of Maidenhead to court to retrieve 6 shillings in unpaid legal fees. In 1866 he was chasing £10 from Henry Stroud formerly of the nearby Coach and Horses pub in West Street, who had gone bankrupt [for a bit more about Henry and to see a photo of his premises as they look today see here]. His son Ralph North Spicer was acting for the debtor!

Ralph and Emily seem to have maintained a second home in London with their adult son later in life. This must be why Ralph appears on the 1871 census twice - once in Marlow and once in London. Someone in one of the households made an error! Ralph Junior acted as Ralph Senior's agent in London. Before that Junior lived in Oxford Road Marlow. Like his father he was also an insurance agent.

Ralph Senior died in 1874. A tribute was paid to him during the sitting of the Windsor County Court a few days later. He had endeared himself to all by his gentlemanly and honest conduct it was said. Furthermore he was "well informed upon almost every subject you could converse with him". The Buckinghamshire Advertiser's obituary said Marlow has lost a "genial and kind hearted friend".

The year following Ralph North Spicer took his clerk to court over the alleged theft money from himself and his deceased father.

Ralph Spicer was by descent of the Spicer family of High Wycombe and Glory Mills, Wooburn. Different obituaries give different father names for him- either Ralph or Freeman!

Emily died in 1876.

NB: The property above, home to Ralph has been considerably altered since his day, and now presents a grander appearance than it did then! 

Related Posts:

Ralph was a strong liberal supporter and this post details just what the professional and social risk this could be in Marlow at the time: 1847 election riots here

More on occupiers of other West Street properties can be found by looking at the West Street sub section on the menu under the " Specific Shops, Streets...Etc" option.

All mentions of a person on this blog can be found on the Person Index on the top drop down menu. 

Sources:

The Law Times Volume 58 published by the Office Of The Law Times 1875. Digitized by Google. Accessed March 2021.

1841 and 1851 censuses my transcription from microfilm, other censuses transcribed by Jane Pullinger.

Slaters Royal National and Commercial Directory 1852. Published by Isaac Slater.

National Archives Discovery Catalogue.

1833 Parochial Assessment. Original paper record held by my family and transcribed by me.

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 19th Dec 1874. Copy held at the British Library Archive and accessed by me March 2021 via the BNA.

Maidenhead Advertiser 29 December 1874. As above.

Windsor and Eton Express 5th Aug 1845. As above.

Reading Mercury 11th July 1831, as above.

Bucks Herald 1st December 1860, 8th November 1866 and 4th December 1875. As above.

Post researched and written by Charlotte Day.

I have worked out historic occupancy of many buildings in Marlow, sometimes back into the 1700s by cross referencing property transactions, wills, censuses, photographs, historic newspapers and many more sources.

Photographed November 2020.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse this image or research for the purpose of family or local history research with credit to this blog. Thanks.

Nellie Creswell

Ellen Creswell, known as Nellie, was one of the Marlow ladies who pioneered cycling in the town for female riders and competitive rowing for local women too.

Born in 1867 to Eliza and Henry Creswell, Nellie spent her early years in the Cross Keys pub in the town as her father was the landlord there. He retired in her late childhood and the family eventually moved to a house called The Ferns in Glade Road. This is still there (number 17) but does not bear the name. Not to be confused with The Ferns, Little Marlow.

She not only served as one of the committee members of the Cycling club, the only known Victorian woman to do so in Marlow, but became the club's Vice Captain. She helped organise and competed in club competitions which tested speed or agility on a bicycle, not infrequently beating all of the men in mixed events. She did it in long skirts too. While a few women in England cycled in pantaloons or rational dress at that time Nellie made it clear she did not support club membership for women that dressed that way (or for men with unconventional cycling dress).

The Marlow club went out on group rides but Nellie pedalled off on her own out of town too, something which many female cyclists did not yet feel comfortable doing in the Victorian age. Nellie was fined 10 shillings by the Henley Magistrates for riding on the footpath on one such trip in 1898 [Henley Advertiser 5th March 1898].

Nellie also, by 1892, was rowing for Marlow at the Regatta in the women's team events.

There was a strong sporting tradition in the Marlow Creswell family. Her uncle Augustus was one of the best local male rowers and her brother George played for Marlow F.C. in it's early days as well as the more famous Everton. George's premature death by way of blood poisoning in 1904 devastated the Creswell family. Nellie had acted as bridesmaid at his wedding to Catherine (Kate) Chamberlain of Bisham.

Nellie herself did not marry but remained living in her parental home in Glade Road with her parents and then after their deaths on her own. She is buried with her parents in All Saints churchyard in Marlow. Her date of death is indecipherable but from other sources we know it was no earlier than 1928.

The son of her brother George, also called George, died in the First World War. Nellie apparently was the beneficiary of his estate. He had lived with her at The Ferns, Glade Road for most of his life. I am uncertain what happened to his mother Catherine after she became a widow.

At All Saints can be found this grave of Nellie (Ellen) and her parents - "In loving memory of my dear parents - Eliza Ann Creswell d Jan 25 1903 aged 73 and Henry Creswell d. June 9th 1913 age 79 years. [Henry was the son of George and Charlotte Creswell of The Swan and would later run The Cross Keys for a few years himself]

Rear of the grave: Also Ellen Creswell (Nellie). Inscription currently obscured by greenery. 

All mentions of any person on this blog can be found under the Person Index. There are plenty of Creswell / Cresswells! More posts about people of Glade Road or any other street can be found indexed here. More grave photos and transcriptions indexed here. 

You can find out more about the early history of cycling in the town in Kathryn's post here

Other posts you might like: "Groundbreaking women in Marlow History" here.

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

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

Skewer Makers of Dean Street

UPDATED JULY 2024

If you took a wander down Dean Street in Great Marlow, early in the morning in the first half of the 1800s, you would have seen a stream of men and donkeys heading out of town. Their mission was to gather hazel or privet wood known as "prickwood" from hedgerows for the making of skewers. The skewers these men fashioned supplied much of the London meat industry although they were also used by butcher's shops throughout the South. So associated with skewer making were these men with their donkeys that anyone in Buckinghamshire who saw a passing man and donkey presumed that there went a Marlow "skewerter." They then proceeded to lock up their hedgerows so to speak! More on that below. Dean Street was colloquially known in town as Skewer Street. The skewer makers sat in their doorways on Sundays making their skewers, having spent the rest of the week gathering the wood. Some women as well as the children learning the trade sat making them too. The family donkey would be in the passage of the house looking on.

Skewer making was a major industry for the town but one that doesn't get the attention of the lace, thimble or paper industries for which Marlow is well known.

Late Victorian references to the by then mostly vanished trade said many of those involved had been of gipsy origin. It is certainly the case that a number of Dean Street families had gipsy roots. Even though most were living a settled lifestyle as early as the beginning of Victoria's reign their descendants could still recall their origins and would define themselves as gipsy into the modern day.

Not all families involved were gipsy however, not by any means. 

Some of the gathering of wood ("prick wood") from hedgerows around Marlow itself rather than further afield, was also done by the women of skewer making families travelling on foot.

One of the problems the skewer makers always had was getting the wood both in the Marlow area and further away. The hedgerows belonged to the landowners and taking any amount of wood from them was theft. Many convictions for such were accrued by the Dean Street men. However considering the scale of operations even those levels of prosecutions suggest that some tolerance may have been exercised by some landowners. Either that or the skewerters were good at a speedy getaway!

Prosecutions often involved wood stolen from the richest local landowners. Marlow skewerters sometimes expressed in their defence at those times that they did not regard their taking of skewer wood to be a crime. They were pursuing a traditional occupation complicated by no fault of their own and without them having any power to prevent it by Enclosure acts which cut the poor off from traditional common land. Some of the wood taken was from coverts which the landowners themselves maintained purely for leisure game shooting. Popular opinion amongst the poorer people in Marlow was firmly with the skewerters and their right to gather.

The first conviction we have found for wood theft by skewer makers was in 1829. Then "Todd and Robinson" skewer makers of Great Marlow received 2 months in Aylesbury Gaol for stealing prick wood at Burnham.

Most thefts were small but in 1839 three Marlow men were convicted of stealing EIGHT THOUSAND sprigs from the undergrowth of a hedgerow at Gray's Court near Henley. Charles Bowles aka Guinea Bean was committed to Oxford Castle for 12 months and was ordered to be whipped twice in addition. Thomas Bowles was fined £8, and Thomas Frith the same but in default of payment was also imprisoned.

A probable relative of the two Bowles men above was John Bowles who was fined 9 shillings including costs for cutting wood for skewers in 1846. 

The youngest skewer maker I have seen so far is aged 16 on the 1851 census, Joseph Perry (later of the Fighting Cocks Pub). His 19 year old brother James and dad also James followed the same trade. The mum in this family Ellen [correctly Eleanor] was a lace maker like a high percentage of other women in Dean Street both married and unmarried. That women like Ellen also worked for pay, outside of the socially preferred model of family life at the time which would have them be full time housewives, is a sign that skewer making was not a high income occupation for their husbands. That is likely also why such a high number of Dean Street skewer makers were also convicted poachers. 

In the opinion of many being of a thieving disposition and being a skewer maker went hand in hand. The London Daily News for instance in 1848 thought that because the profession was built upon the habitual use of stolen wood something like a moral infection crept into the souls of these families and they couldn't resist poaching or other stealing. It was too much like second nature for them. The paper more or less labelled theft in the town as being down to the malign influence of these skewerters. Why the country courts throughout England were perpetually full of poaching or other larceny cases despite the absence of the skewer trade they didn't say.

Skewer making was seasonal, as suitable wood could not be found all year. Thus although many defined themselves predominately as skewer makers, none could follow this occupation year round. In between times most men were day labourers (which could get little work in winter and were always very poorly paid) while other men and some women became hawkers of fruit and veg, especially cherries. The transitory nature of skewer making work didn't seem to be understood  by the powers that be.

Investigations by the government into the poor laws in 1834 heard evidence from Marlow officials. These said that the part time skewer makers were often on poor relief and committing fraud by working at the same time for good wages. This makes little sense as by the officials own admission those on poor relief were required to work from 6 am to 6pm for the parish. This would be the hardest work in all weathers. No one would do this if they were, as alleged, making a good wage from just a few hours work of an evening skewer making. One Marlow poor relief officer a Mr Gibbons said the guilty skewerters of Dean Street could "live very extravagantly in reference to their station in life" and be "excellent customers to the public houses for beer". These would be the tiny beer houses in the street which made so little money most families who ran them needed to have an additional occupation and take in lodgers in order to survive. And by living extravagantly he must have meant living in overcrowded conditions in poorly maintained houses as that is what the skewerters did. Many went to gaol as they couldn't pay the fines given to them upon their conviction for taking the prick wood. They may have been seen at certain times of the year buying multiple articles, such as new clothes, but that was because those were the good times when skewer making season was on again, and the involved families finally had money to spend on essentials after often months of hardship.

The skewer trade began to fade in the 1860s but it took a while to die. Edward James Mortimer Collins writing in 1869 still said that Marlow was famous for skewers without putting that fact in the past tense. There were still skewerters in the early 1880s too and as late as 1889 John Bowles skewer maker of Marlow was fined for letting his donkey stray onto the highway.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

To find ancestors on the blog look at the Person Index option on the drop down menu.

Some Sources:

Newspapers at the British Library, accessed via the BNA:

Bucks Gazette December 12th 1829.

Bucks Herald 13th April 1833 and 8th June 1889.

Oxford University and City Herald and also the Bucks Gazette 13th April 1839.

Oxford Chronicle 31st Jan 1846. As above.

Above copies held at the British Library and digitized by the BNA. Accessed by us April 2021.

London Daily News. London Daily News 30th November 1848.

Windsor & Eton Express 19 July 1831, as above. 

1851 census Charlotte's transcriptions from microfilm.

Two Reports Addressed To His Majesties Commissioners Appointed To Inquire Into The Poor Laws. 1834.

The Ivory Gate Volume One by Edward James Mortimer Collins. Published by Hurst and Blackett 1869. Oxford University Library. Digitized by Google.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this content for family and local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here so that our sources listed above remain credited for providing information.

Bencombe Farm, Marlow Bottom

 

Description: 1944 = mixed farm with farmhouse and two staff cottages. Modern: used as a brewery.

Historic Occupiers=

1883= Edward Batt Curteis. He had moved to Shottesbrook Berkshire by 1886.

1887-1908= James Chilton. Kept pigs and poultry as well as cows and grew walnuts, peas, swedes and turnips as crops. In 1888 a cart his young employee was driving in Marlow High Street ran out of control and damaged some shop fronts. James and his wife hosted the children of the Marlow Baptist Sunday School for tea and fun at the farm in 1889. Wife Elizabeth, as was traditional on farms, was the one who raised the poultry. Two of her birds were stolen from her in 1898 by William Clark who was jailed for 14 days with hard labour as a result [Reading Mercury, 8th Jan 1898, British Library]. Thefts of crops from the fields of Bencombe Farm and other Marlow Bottom premises happened regularly as it was then a quiet spot. Farm suffered a reasonable fire in 1905, and another rick fire the next year which was put down to arson. In 1907 James was convicted of employing underage Charles Cooper on the farm. Sold up his farm stock and house stuff across the years 1907-1908 as he was retiring.

1909-1927= Abel Dell. Wife Alice (née Warner, married St George's Hanover Square London 1889). Abel was a many times prize winning raiser of beef herds. Also dairy. In 1912 he bought at an auction at Henley Town Hall a cow forcibly sold off to pay the withheld taxes of Suffragette campaigner Miss Lalacheur. The event was disrupted by Suffragette protesters outside and inside the Town Hall [Henley and South Oxford Standard 3rd May 1912, British Library]. Abel was also at Hill Farm Marlow 1899-1908, at least. He went bankrupt in 1927 and died in 1935. Alice died in 1936.

1938-39 at least= Morris, Dell and Co. Richard Dell born circa 1890  lived in. The farmhouse also acted as a boarding house at this point. Only one cottage seems to have then been in use for staff. It was occupied by Alfred Gomme and his wife Ethel plus more lodgers.

1958 in use as a poultry and turkey farm.

Researched by Charlotte Day.

Many other farms from Marlow and Little Marlow have similar posts to this on the blog. They can be found listed under the "Specific Shops, Streets...Etc" option on the menu here

To find people on this blog use the A-Z Person Index option- Thousands of people are mentioned.

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

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