Hickman Graves, Great Marlow

 

Above, William and Ann Hickman. More on William who was a surgeon, and Ann here

Also their son William. 

And a number of others whose details are no longer readable, including a John, Thomas, and a Francis. (Looks to be Francis, son of Wm and Ann who died 1831.)

This is located in the churchyard of All Saints Church, Marlow. 

Above, also at All Saints. 

Thomas Hickman d January 22 1783 

Also of George Hickman, son of William and Ann Hickman d 10th June 1785 aged (5?) months

Also of a daughter of the above (not named) who "died in her infancy". Date unclear. 

All graves listed on this blog can be found in the index here and a list of transcribed wills can be found here

Use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu to find every post mentioning a specific individual or family. 

© Marlow Ancestors 

Marlow's Vanished Houses No 1= Hillside

Hillside was a substantial house perched on a slope just off what is now Seymour Park Road in Marlow. It was said to have been built originally as two homes. Any joining together of the two must have happened very early because in all historic references to Hillside I find it mentioned as one single habitation only. The house was far from any other homes and enjoyed magnificent views of the town all the way to the River Thames.

In 1873 Reynold Alleyne Clement and his wife Louisa rented Hillside at a cost of £75 a year. He was an adjutant to the Bucks Volunteers and by 1876 a member of Queen Victoria's bodyguard. In 1877 just as Reynold's lease was about to expire the house was put up for sale along with various cottages in Marlow by the unknown owner of the lot. In the sale description Hillside was said to comprise 11 bedrooms and dressing rooms, a w.c, three reception rooms, a kitchen, housekeeper's room, butler's pantry, and cellars. Outside there was a garden, 2 coach houses, stabling for 3 horses, a harness room and a paddock. Later records suggest that the land adjoining the house came to a total of 9 acres.

After he left Hillside Reynold became Clerk of the Course at Ascot racecourse. The family lived then at Sunninghill. One of many local families with horse racing connections! 

The successful purchaser of Hillside was Mr Thomas Whalley Vowe. He had previously been a district magistrate in South Africa. Thomas would enjoy his new home for no more than a few months before he was killed in a hunting accident near his former home of Hallaton in Leicestershire. His executors emptied the house and sold up.

Next in was the Bedford family- John, Elizabeth, their children and a governess Ada Browne. They had moved from London. For some reason the house was then said to have one less bedroom than previously. 

At the time of their residency some of the land next to the house was farmed by Marlow fishmonger /fruiterer Alfred Allam. Alfred dumped "night soil" (human waste) on his land. This was not an unusual thing to do in Victorian England as fertiliser and of course as a natural form of waste disposal. Instead of spreading out the night soil and digging it in, he had heaped it up near the boundary of his land and Hillside and left it in the open air. John Bedford feared that this was a health hazard for his children. He won an injunction from the High Court preventing Allum from adding to the waste already there. As concerning the heaps already present, John sought an order from the local council ordering their removal. This he failed to obtain on a legal technicality - despite him telling the court that his eight year old boy Bertie had been sick and feverish of late. This he believed was as a result of the contamination of the neighborhood air by Allum's waste. Feverish illness was common at the time so that isn't certain. No doctor presented medical evidence as to the cause of Bertie's illness in court, which is surprising as you would think the Bedford's would have used such testimony as a trump card in the case had it been available. This likely suggests that it was the Bedfords themselves rather than a doctor that had formed the theory of Bertie's troubles being as a result of the dung in a neighbouring field. No one who lived in the countryside was far from dung heaps, or dung in fields. The Bedfords themselves kept chickens, geese and pigs on their own property and may have farmed more widely in the area too. Nevertheless in an era when the belief that bad smells alone could cause sickness or death was near universal you would have every sympathy for a parent trying to protect their child. The Bedfords were at the time grieving from the loss of their five year old daughter Maggie earlier that year. The anxiety they must have felt at another child's illness in the family would have been very painful.

Alfred Allam was quite a "character". More about him including an apparent haunting by a poltergeist (!) and other brushes with the law can be found in my post here.

He died in 1888 which likely brought an end to the Bedford's difficulties with his use of the field. They chose to stay with their children at Hillside until 1895.

Another daughter of the family Eva at the age of 16-17 found herself caught up in one of the biggest scandals of the Victorian age. Hers was a walk on part but the courage it took to appear at the trial and the embarrassment she would have felt cannot be underestimated. In what became known as the Cleveland Street Scandal scores of the most powerful men in England including Prince Albert Victor second in line to the throne were found to have visited a male b*othel in the above street. All of those who worked at the establishment at night were boys who worked for the Post Office by day. Some may have been trafficked into this position. The clients of the house because of their privilege were given notice to leave the country so as to avoid arrest. Various witnesses were also paid to leave the country. Eva witnessed as far as I can gather simply the presence of a certain person at a certain time in the house of a lawyer later prosecuted for conspiracy for facilitating the removal of relevant witnesses to foreign lands. Eva had been taken to the house on a visit by a Mrs Samuelson. Any connection however slight to these events risked being socially disastrous for Eva. How her protective parents must have cringed to know that her name and address would appear in almost every local and national paper in the land plus plenty of foreign ones too. Their judgement on allowing their daughter to be placed in contact with anyone not above suspicion would also be called into question. There is no suggestion that Eva was aware of the goings on in Cleveland Street.

Lucy Wood lived at Hillside by 1905 until at least 1911. With her was her sisters Isabella (who died in 1909) and Susanna. All three elderly women were unmarried and of private means. Also living in the house (as opposed to in a separate lodge) was the sisters' coachman Alfred Hickman, his wife Emily and their three children. At the time the house was described as having 17 rooms not including any service rooms like pantries and sculleries. The sisters were remembered as very kind to all those around them. Isabella left a legacy in her will to Marlow hospital. They moved out by 1915 to Remnantz in West Street.

On the south side of the house was a pit used to dig out gravel for use by the local council amongst others. The council seems to have owned the pit. When supplies started to dry up in the early 1920s a new pit was dug also near Hillside. In 1924 geologists on a field trip to Marlow investigated both pits and found a Paleolithic worked flint flake in one of them. There was also sandpits close to the house. In 1909 Miss Wood's sent her coachman to carry a sand digger to the hospital after he was completely buried in a sand collapse.

In the late 1930s (at least) Estelle Devereux who described herself as an artist and writer made Hillside her home.

The house had disappeared by the 1960s, probably earlier.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

To find posts about other named houses in Marlow look at the "Specific Shops, Streets, Farms etc" option on the menu here For all mentions of any person on this blog see the A-Z Person Index.

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

Selected Sources:

Jubilee Celebration: Handbook to the Loan Exhibition Held in The Town Hall, Aylesbury, 5th and 6th, July, 1905. United Kingdom, n.p, 1905.

Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. Netherlands, Geologists' Association, London., 1924.

1881 census of England and Wales, transcribed from microfilm by me.

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire etc. 1883, 1911, 1915 and 1920 editions. Published by Kelly's Directories Limited.

Bucks Herald 21 jul 1877. Bucks Herald mar 23 1878.  Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 3rd January 1884. Both newspapers held in the British Library Archives and accessed via the BNA.

Berkshire Chronicle 27th September 1884.

Theal, George McCall. History of South Africa from the Foundation of the European Settlement to Our Own Times 1834-1854. United Kingdom, S. Sonnenschein & Company, 1893.

Wikipedia article= Reynold Clement.

Rictor Norton (Ed) "The Cleveland Street Scandal" Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 28 July 2020, amended 10 Aug. 2020 <http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1889clev.htm>

WILL OF ANN FULLER

Ann Fuller of Great Marlow, singlewoman. Will written 1851 and proved 1852.

Margaret Hickman has kindly offered to be her executor so she is appointed as such.

Just debts, funeral and costs for proving the will are to be paid first.

1 guinea each to:

Sarah Truss, widow.

Elizabeth Piggott, widow.

The wife of Edward Edwards.

The wife of Benjamin Marcham.

Elizabeth ?Mayor? 

The wife of Thomas Robinson of Harleyford.

To the wife of Joseph Austin her fire irons, fender, and sheets.

To Hannah Austin her best ....ing.

Tea caddy to ....Hickman.

Chest of drawers to Margaret Hickman.

From the rest of the furniture and clothing Martha Atkins, Susan Cleobury, Ann B.... and Caroline ?Dark? can choose something to remember her by.

Rest of her possessions: half to the said Mrs Austin and half to be divided between the children of Mrs Austin.

Witnessed by Ann Fry and William Fry both of Marlow.

The will was proved by Margaret Hickman wife of George Hickman.

Notes:

Ann lived with an elderly William Hickman, a surgeon, in West Street Marlow at the time of the 1841 census. I am unsure if she was related to him as the 1841 census did not record household relationships. William died aged 94 in 1850. George Hickman was his son and also a surgeon. Margaret Hickman was nee Aitchinson.

Benjamin Marcham and his wife lived in Oxford Road.

The wife of Thomas Robinson of Harleyford was named Mary. He was a Chelsea Pensioner.

Elizabeth Piggott was a laundress in Chapel Street Marlow.

Sarah Truss was an elderly laundress of Spittal Street.

William Fry was a servant (live out) who lived in West Street. It is uncertain whom he worked for. He had a daughter called Ann but she would have been only in her mid teens in 1851 which seems young for a will witness, though not unprecedented. The grave of William and his wife Phebe / Phoebe can be seen on the blog here, and their home here

More Marlow will summaries indexed here.

All mentions of any individual on this blog can be found by looking at the A-Z Person Index.

©Marlow Ancestors.

Will is held at the National Archives Kew. Transcribed by me and then summarised here.

John Gosling, Innholder Will 1803

 John Gosling Innholder of Marlow. Will written and proved 1803.

To his trusty servant Mary Humphreys £50.

To Mary Chamberlin £25 at 21.

Servants John (?Bunce?) and George Stewart £5 each.

Rest of his property to his "dear and only child" Sarah at 21. Until then held in trust with the produce and interest to be used for her benefit by his executors. These are his brother Thomas Gosling, farmer, of ?Studsbury? Wiltshire and Richard Westbrook butcher of Great Marlow.

Witnessed by John Phipps and William Hickman.

Notes:

The second witness was a doctor which may indicate John Gosling was ill at the time of writing his will though Hickman was a near neighbour anyway.

From other records the brother Thomas was of Charlton, Wiltshire.

The premises occupied by John are unknown but was likely the Upper Crown. The fact that he had 3 servants implies a larger premises, Richard Westbrook the butcher was almost next door to that and William Hickman very close by there too. 

Employee John Bunce was likely the man of that name who became the landlord of the White Horse in Spittal Street by 1809. 

This P.C.C original will held at the National Archives, Kew was transcribed by me Charlotte Day and then summarised here.

More wills from Marlow transcribed and indexed here.

©Marlow Ancestors.

Will Summary Richard Hammond Great Marlow

Richard Hammond, gentleman. Will written 1820. Proved 1824.

Everything he has [no specifics] to sister Mary Hammond. She sole executor.

Witnessed by William Hickman Senior, Katherine Sneath, Eliza Sarah Katherine English [third witness one person with a long name!]

Transcribed and summarised by me from a will at the National Archives, Kew.

Notes: Richard died the same year as his mother Mary. She had appointed Richard and his sister Mary joint executors of her estate but Mary junior was the only one of them still alive to act in that capacity. I have transcribed Mary senior's will and will upload it in future.

Katherine Sneath, known as Kitty, also witnessed the will of Mary Senior.

William Hickman was a surgeon.

You can find more transcriptions on the menu under Will Transcriptions. See the Person Index for every mention of anyone on this blog. There is currently over 1200 people listed [November 2021] with more being uploaded daily.

© Marlow Ancestors. You may reproduce my transcription summary for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and link here.

Fleeing Debtors and Man Midwives

 

I have been cross referencing wills, photos, property surveys, censuses, sale adverts and more in order to identify Victorian occupiers for many a property in West Street. In some cases occupancy further back in time can be ascertained too. It is an ongoing project of mine. I'll be uploading more as and when I have time. There are other posts already on the blog in this line. Search "West Street". 

This building was the home of Surgeon William Hickman from at least 1832 to his death in 1850 aged 93. William was originally from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire but was in Marlow by 1782 when he married Ann Wethered. It is possible he was already in these premises back then but I cannot yet be certain. 

In 1791 William was listed as a surgeon apothecary and "man midwife". In most later references he is styled simply "surgeon". 

Either he or his son of the same name was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Royal Military College further down West Street in 1810. This is now the house Remnantz. At least four of William and Ann's sons became surgeons! William the father had had a violent confrontation with some of the teenage cadets a few years earlier which makes the appointment something surprising. More on this confrontation here

The Hickmans sold a variety of patent medicines to their patients. For example, in 1831 they are listed as a supplier for Shepherds Camphor Lozenges. These were just the thing for "putrid throats"  and for refreshing flagging spirits after attending a fashionable assemblage or rout - or so they said. A few years later Hickman and Brinsden could supply Schweppes "celebrated soda water" for digestive purposes. (Thomas Evans Brinsden)

Ann died in 1809 so that was a very long time as a widower for him. 

In his will written 1848, he asked to be buried beside Ann and other members of his family in Marlow churchyard. He made an "earnest request" to be buried in the same [quiet] manner as his son Francis who had died in his parent's house in 1831. Both Francis and one of William's other sons died when only in their 30s, their mother was only 50 at her own death. 

Above, the grave of William and Ann Hickman, their son Francis mentioned above and others. At All Saints, Marlow. 

William's will left a silver quart tankard to his son George (a surgeon of the High Street)  and to Owen Wethered a pint silver drinking vessel that had belonged to an Ann Wethered.

This Owen also received a History Of England in 2 volumes. William certainly liked a good read. When his household effects were sold off at auction in 1851 the sales listing mentions 500 volumes including "valuable works on medicine, surgery, physiology, chemistry and miscellaneous literature". He also had mahogany furniture, "fine old china", mahogany four post beds, engravings and paintings. It was a plush life for him in West Street! But he deserved it as he was definitely still actively working as a surgeon in 1845 at the age of 88. He may well actually have worked until his death. No wonder an obituary called him "universally respected". The same obituary in the Medical Directory of Scotland called him a pupil of " the immortal Hunter". Presumably this was the famous Scottish surgeon John Hunter, one of the most eminent of his day. Hunter worked with Edward Jenner the smallpox vaccine pioneer among others. 

Williams's long life lead him to be considered an authority on the Marlow of days gone by. So when journalists and writers researching the life of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wished to know about the celebrity's short time in Marlow, it was often to Hickman they were directed. He told one that while he remembered Shelley, and indeed had treated him for an unspecified ailment, he found the poet unsociable as he did not keep company with the townspeople in general.  

I am not sure who was in these exact premises immediately after William died. From 1877 ( at the latest) until his bankruptcy and disappearance in 1888, Richard Coster the grocer, provision merchant, rent collector and land agent was based here however.

Richard ran away from his financial troubles, being seen once in Chester in a distressed state then apparently no more. His concerned near neighbour in West Street James Roberts the draper was one of those who tried unsuccessfully to find him again. Richard was a widower without children. Described as "timid" he seems to have been well liked. Some twelve years later a man was found lying unconscious in the road at Hungerford. He was taken to the workhouse there, and it was then established that he was the long missing Richard Coster of Marlow. Richard expressed a wish to go to Saunderton Workhouse which was the one responsible for the Marlow area. I suppose it was the closest he'd thought he'd make to going home. He was bought there but died a few days later. 

From at least 1891 Albert Fleet operated here as a grocer first then as Colonial Meat Stores with a grocery sideline (from circa 1892+). A Colonial Meat Stores was also in Spittal Street under different proprietors 1891-99. Both businesses specialised as the name suggests in foreign meat. Albert remained in these premises until at least 1919. A Mr Turnham was managing the West Street shop in 1912, whether this was for Albert or on his own account I am unsure.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day with additional research by Kathryn Day. Photographed 2020.

Sources:

1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow. Original handwritten copy held by my family and transcribed by me.

1791 & 1794  Universal British Directory.

Will of William Hickman. Copy obtained from the National Archives and transcribed by me.

London Gazette Part One, 1810. Digitized by Google. Accessed March 2021.

The Medical Directory of Scotland, 1852 by John Churchill. As above.

1841, 81 and 91 censuses transcribed from microfilm by Jane Pullinger.

Great Marlow church registers.

Bucks Herald 18th January 1851 and 28th April 1888, Bucks Gazette 9th April 1831, Banff Journal 23rd March 1847.  Copies held in the British Library Archives and accessed by me via the BNA March 2021.

A list of persons who have obtained certificates of their fitness and qualification to practice as apothecaries, from 1815 to 1840 ; Royal College of Physicians London (Gilbert and Rivington 1840)

Robson's Commercial Directory 1839. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Will Sarah Sneath 1814

 Sarah Sneath of Great Marlow, spinster. Will written 1803, proved 1814. 

Sister Katherine Sneath executor. After her debts have been paid:

Sister Elizabeth Sneath, £30 out of dividends from her stock out of her bank "long annuities".

Nephew Thomas English £20.

Niece Eliza English £20.

To the three children of George Trash (also a surgeon): Caroline Trash, Louis Trash, and Ann Trash £5 each.

Rest of estate to sister Katherine Sneath.

Witnessed by Richard Hammond, Timothy English and William Hickman (a surgeon).

You can obtain copies of this PCC will from the National Archives, Kew.

Notes: 

Sarah was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Sneath née Webb. Her father was a surgeon.

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

The English children mentioned above were the children of Sarah's dead sister Mary English nee Sneath, wife of Rev Thomas English. The will witness Timothy English was the son of Rev English by his first wife Susannah nee Evans of Hampshire. They were non conformists. A post about Mary is available here (sad).

A short post about Timothy English will come to the blog later.

*New content is currently added to the blog daily* 

©Marlow Ancestors. You may use my transcription summary for family or local history purposes provide you credit this blog and provide a link here.

1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow Part Three High Street West Side

I have transcribed this from the original handwritten working notebooks used by the assessors with related correspondence which my family owns. They were made so that local property based taxes could be readjusted in 1834. The notebooks contain updates and corrections up to the end of the 1830s which will be highlighted in these transcriptions if present for any entry.

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

Transcription and research by Charlotte Day.

High Street West Side Continued

Format is:

Name

Property

Annual value

Any notes by me in square brackets

Richard Grinsted [usually written Grinstead. Grocer and cheesemonger. Sold business 1839 after losing his wife and only child in rapid succession. Wife Sarah was only 24. This premises becomes grocer shop of Charles Susan]

House, coal shed, garden and stable

£20

*****

Late Thomas Rolls junior

House garden and offices

£25

Stable 

£1

*****

George Hickman [the surgeon]

Dwelling house, yard and garden

£26

Stable and coach house in yard adjoining

£1 10 shillings

*****

William Irving [linen draper]

Shop, house and garden

£20

*****

William Cock

House and garden

£12

*****

Henry Menday [a baker, also spelt Mendy and Mendey. This is the corner property at the junction with West Street].

House and bakehouse

£12

Garden and yard opposite 

£2

*****

West Street

John Pearce

The Coach and Horses [pub], house, offices and yard

£11

*****

James Sawyer [he was a baker. Wife Charlotte took over after his death. For a photo of these premises and more on the Sawyer family see a post here]

House, yard, flour loft and sheds

£12

*****

Joseph Stevens [he was a tailor. His will here].

House and yard

£5

*****

Richard Way [this was actually Lydia Lane's ironmongers but Richard as only man in household as been put as head. He was a carpenter. See the Quoiting Square parochial assessment elsewhere on this blog for his father. Lydia died in 1845]

Cottage

£5

*****

William Hickman [a surgeon]

Dwelling house and garden

£16

*****

Misses Field [Matilda and Elizabeth ran a school]

House, Schoolroom and yard

£12

*****

William Grant [draper. More here]

Draper's shop, house, yard, garden and woodhouse

£25

*****

John Gibbons [a grocer and tallow Chandler. Biography here]

Shop, dwelling house, 2 large store rooms, candle house, barn, granary, piggery, store rooms and lofts, stable, chaise house and garden

£35

*****

William Sawyer

The Ship Public House, yard, garden and stable

£12

West Street Continued here

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