Life in 1950s Marlow Part Two Employment and Homes

Employment 

Major employer Wethered Brewery off the High Street, celebrated a bicentenary in 1958 with two garden parties for employees. Other larger employers in the town were the local council, Poppets Beads and the building trade in general. 

Poppets beads were plastic costume jewelry items. The company moved into the former cinema in Spittal Square in 1953. The old projectionist's room was used as the manager's office and the old seating area for production. Many of those employed by the company actually worked from home, only visiting the factory to collect the beads which they then strung into necklaces and other pieces. Both men and women were involved in the bead making. The same company also made aircraft parts as a sideline! In 1955 this division moved into its own Chapel Street premises with only a tiny bit of work still taking place amongst the bead making in the old cinema. Soon the cinema was deemed too small also and Poppets left to take over a nearby disused lamp shade factory. The former cinema was eventually acquired by the local council who intended to demolish it and use the site for housing, though this did not end up happening.

On a smaller scale in terms of employment there was Sunnydene and Quarry laundries, the newer cinema in Station Road, Toy Works Limited a toys, games and sporting goods factory in Court Garden (established 1943), the Victoria Engineering Company in Victoria Road, the Greenwich Saw Mill, the Marlow Coach Building Works in Newtown Road (which mainly built caravans such as the Marlow Tudor), C.C.K Limited at 53 High Street which produced women's scarves etc, Dairymaid Ice Cream Supplies in Crown Lane (commercial supplier, run by S.A Hawken), Mines and Putnam high class furniture makers in Station Road, Arnold's factory in Marlow Bottom which made wooden needlework boxes and automatic bottle wash machines plus possibly furniture, the Westhorpe sand /gravel pits and the various local schools, shops, pubs, cafes / tearooms, hauliers, and farms.

Toy Works as mentioned above proudly stated that though a few parts had to be imported from France or Germany most of their products were made with local labour only. Many of their toys were traditional wooden ones like bagatelle boards. The packers were usually female.

C.C.K Limited had moved to Mill Road Marlow from London because of the Blitz and chose never to return to the city after the war ended. Their products were made of plain or printed silk, rayon and wool. As well as fashion scarves they manufactured practical aprons in plastic or woven materials. I haven't been able to find out if their products were actually stocked by any shop in Marlow itself or whether they were all sent elsewhere.

I am aware that a Louisa Dereford and George Dereford ran "Marlow Mosaics" in this era but whether this was their own artistic enterprise solely or whether it was a business that employed additional mosaic artists I am unable to say at this point.

Employment opportunities in the 1950s could still be much constrained by the gender of the job seeker. It worked both ways of course- no one would employ a male nanny or maid but women had especial difficulties. The local press routinely carried job adverts that specified the gender that the successful candidate would have to be, and for the majority males were what was being sought. Some roles you might not predict did go to women more than men however. The traditional assigning of poultry on farms to the care of women for instance is reflected in the desire expressed by the owners of Bencombe Farm at Marlow Bottom in an advert for a female employee to run the poultry and turkey deep litter system there.

It was not uncommon for it to be specified that a prospective female employee who directly engaged with the public would need to be good looking as well as professionally competent. For example when Mac Fisheries in Marlow High Street wanted a female shop assistant in 1955 their advert in the Bucks Advertiser said that she must have a "good appearance and attractive personality". They do however get marks for specifying that the delivery van driver that they also found wanted at the same time could be male or female. That would have been quite unusual.

Marlow's first female police officer, W.P.C Ellington, arrived in 1954 after she transferred from High Wycombe.

Female workers doing exactly the same job as men were paid less than them. It was reasoned men had families to support so needed more money however this reasoning was of course nonsensical as thanks to the recent war the number of households with a female breadwinner had probably never been higher. Pay rates for those doing the same job also varied by age in many industries. Younger workers on farms, in most shops or in certain Post Office roles for instance whether male of female were paid less than those of the same gender over 21 or over 32 depending on the job. 

Get the right position and you never knew where it might take you. The Reading Mercury of 16th August 1958 reported that  Angela Chalk of Marlow and another former stable girl at Pinches stables in Field House Farm had the previous year won jobs working in the stables of a wealthy countess in France.

Those seeking a new situation either locally or further afield could make use of the I.H.B employment agency at 92 High Street Marlow or the government labour exchange. Under the Notification of Vacancies Order 1952 employers in most categories had to recruit only through scheduled employment agencies or the labour exchange. This was intended to mean the government could prioritize filling jobs in critical industries ahead of any others. Understandably, it was not popular with those employers who were de-prioritized. They could advertise a position in the newspaper but applicants had to go through official channels to make any application and stood a chance of being refused permission to contact the advertiser if it was thought they could be of better use to an essential industry or service. Men over 64 and women over 59 could apply for jobs without restriction as presumably they were considered too "old" for the essential industries. The order was rescinded in 1956.

Though the farming industry was less of an employer than it had been previously, it was still an important part of the national economy. A Young Farmer's Club had been formed in Marlow by 1954. Farm hands worked from 7.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday and half days on Saturdays. Increasingly other workers were getting their Saturdays off and a couple of weeks of paid holidays a year too. This coupled with the low agricultural industry pay and the long daily hours involved meant the abandoning of land based jobs by country people. Between 1948 and 1954 the number of female farm workers in the Marlow District fell by three quarters and that of males by over half. Mechanisation could only make up for these losses to a certain degree.

General labour shortages generally meant employers had to think of other ways to attract staff. Fines and Putnam the furniture makers of Station Road advertised that their employees could enjoy music while they worked as well as a canteen. Those wanting domestic staff in Marlow often reassured prospective candidates that they would be included in fun outings as part of their job.

Homes

The 1950s was still a notable era for the building of social housing. The council put out tenders for the building of 14 new council houses at Westhorpe Road for instance in 1954. In 1959 the last 38 older houses remaining in Dean Street were ordered to be demolished as the long standing Marlow slum clearance schemes first stage finally drew to a close. Multiple homes in Queens Road were similarly declared unfit for human habitation and compulsorily purchased for future demolition at around the same time. By the end of the decade the council was the biggest landlord in the town. 

The former Carriers Arms in Wycombe Road (now demolished) was used by the council as a hostel for those who had nowhere else to go in the early and mid 1950s. They took over the premises from the Ministry Of Housing. It is possible that originally evacuees or refugees had been put in the building. There was a critical shortage of even this temporary type of accommodation. There were still families living in metal shacks early in the decade at Beechwoods and in converted wooden sheds at Marlow Bottom (as owners and as tenants). The Marlow Bottom situation incensed Wycombe Rural District Councillor Mrs McKelvie who lambasted her colleagues for dragging their feet on providing new homes, rental or to buy, for those living in such structures. The situation was more complicated than it seems. Planning restrictions from on high meant people who had bought land in the village and had put up a temporary home on it while they raised funds for a more substantial structure were prevented from completing their dream despite having sufficient money to do so. In other words it wasn't only poverty (though it certainly could be) that forced people into living in such structures. Home owners could be ready, willing and able to make their shack a comfortable home but were told such work would contravene new planning regulations curtailing fringe developments. In a hope of exceptions or a governmental change of heart people clung on in their shacks or tried to sneakily extend or improve them without being noticed.

For private buyers in Marlow two estate agencies come auctioneers were available in the shared premises of no 37 High Street, Simmons with Gray and co, at no 84 there was George Kendall estate agent, valuer and auctioneer and at no 3 auctioneer and estate agents Lawrence and Laird. New homes were being thrown up everywhere possible in the Marlow urban area during the 1950s once materials and labour shortages caused by the war had eased, including the Wycombe Road and Oak Tree Road area, at Highfields, Lock Road, Chiltern Road, Riverside Drive, Gypsy Lane and Spinfield Park. While shortages of materials did remain private homes could only be built with a (hard to come by) licence from the council, Under rules set down by the Ministry of Housing priority was to be given to social housing on all potential urban development land.  

Bungalows remained highly desirable homes. A small 4 room bungalow in Wethered Road with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room could be bought in 1954 for £1750. Most homes were in the £2,000 - £4,500 bracket however.

Not every home yet had electricity in the 50s. Some of the older pre-war council houses for instance received electric lights and sockets in 1957 but others remained without it. Certain Chapel Street homes would not install electricity until the 1970s. The Electrics Company (Marlow) Limited in Market Square despite its name sold many calor gas appliances. These were not only stoves but lighting apparatus, gas powered fridges and gas fueled irons too. Many people kept oil lamps in case of winter power failures. Where electricity was present it was not necessarily installed in every room of a house. In any case in the early 1950s winter electricity demand often outstripped supply and Marlow users could expect one, even two, scheduled days a week when their supply would be turned off. These were notified of in advance as colder days drew near. The southern Electricity Board had an office and showroom in the High Street.

Coal and coke for fires were supplied by amongst others G.E Stevens of West Street and George Deane and Co (who had taken over the business and name of old Marlow company W.T Porter). Deanes were also one of the town's removal companies so very useful to have around! Early in the decade coke and coal supplies were not sufficient for the town needs due to nationwide problems. This left families having to severely ration their use of hot water at times.

By no means all Marlow homes had a bathroom in the 1950s, or even an indoor loo. Indeed there were houses without bathrooms in Wycombe Road in the mid 1960s, and in South Place even later, in the 1970s.

Antique furnishings were clearly popular amongst 1950s Marlovians. Bishop Limited in West Street specialised in antique silver, Sheffield plate and fine porcelain and there were at least two further antique shops on the town. There was also Walker's Antiques in the High Street. Secondhand but not antique furniture was sold by Taplins in Oxford Road. Buying secondhand furniture was seen by many as preferable as pre-war items were regarded as better quality. 

New furniture, carpets and other home furnishings could be bought from Norman Heals at 44 High Street as did Alan Hunt's Market Square shop. Mr Hunt's wares could be bought by way of a hire purchase scheme with payments spread over a period of up to two years. He also sold bedding from his second premises in Spittal Street. Hines and Putnam of Station Road were high quality upholsterers early in the decade who proudly made and marketed the "Marlow Suite" of sofa and armchairs. They moved from Marlow later in the decade but seem to have continued to make the Marlow suite. 

Washing machines could be purchased from Platts radio and television shop but there was still laundry services in the town -Quarry Laundry offered a free sock darning service to their customers - and hand washing in tubs wasn't yet quite redundant. Older people thought it superior! 

Pretty much every little usual item for DIY or home maintenance could be bought from the packed Chalk's ironmongers in the High Street, which under different but related families had a long heritage in Marlow. See my post here for the history of this building.

Not every home had a telephone by any means in the 1950s but the public call box provision in the town was expanding. The hamlet of Munday Dean got its first box during the 1950s.

For sources for this series of posts see Part One.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

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

Coster family of Marlow

 There were historically many Costers in Marlow. We will feature as many as we can on this blog in the future but for this post I will deal with the children and descendants of a particular couple- Edward Joseph Coster and his wife Elizabeth nee Fleming. 

Edward was almost always known by his middle name Joseph. He even married Elizabeth under that name in 1843! He was then 21 years old. Edward was the keeper of Marlow's lock for many years from 1848 onwards. This was not a particularly well paid job (though you did get a house with it) and he also worked as a cordwainer until at least 1863 to supplement the family income. In 1854 it was decided by the powers that be that many Thames lock keepers were to lose their wages entirely, including Edward whose £3 a month was cut off. In return for keeping their homes and the tolls given by pleasure craft he was to work for free! Bear in mind that the pleasure craft traffic could be very low outside of the holiday season. Fortunately several of his daughters remained at home as adults and brought in an income from their "fancy" needlework. 

Elizabeth's origins are unclear. On the census she usually says that she was born in Shoreditch London. She might be a relative of the Flemings who had Marlow Place as their country home though there would be a great gulf between that family and that of her future husband in terms of wealth. There was a Fleming connection to the Wyatt family of Marlow not obviously anything to do with the Flemings of Marlow Place and possibly another Fleming family group too so that needs to be born in mind.

Edward grew up in a long gone cottage by the also lost "Tithe Barn" near Marlow Bridge. 

Lock keeping was well established in the Coster family. Edward's dad Richard* spent much of his working days as a foreman carpenter and boat repairer at Marlow Wharf for the Thames Commissioners as well as boatbuilding on his own account, but later in life became the lock keeper at Boveney, Bucks. Richard's brother Thomas was the lock keeper at Temple, the next lock along the river from Marlow. Thomas retired in 1883 because of ill health.

Edward and Elizabeth had eleven or twelve children. They raised their family as Congregationalists, attending the church in Quoiting Square. Edward had not been raised that way himself but Elizabeth may have been. 

One of their children, 7 year old Willie drowned at the lock in 1868 after apparently falling into the water unseen by any adult. Children of lock keepers were quite frequently lost in this way in the 1800s. The Thames was a generally dangerous place in Victorian times. Few years went by without a drowning, or several, in the vicinity of Marlow. In his position of lock keeper Edward more than once had to assist in the recovery of the bodies. Still, apparently, his job didn't merit any pay!

Another child of Edward and Elizabeth, Edwin also died as a child, though not as a result of an accident. Another son Charles was probably also a child death.

Edward's son Edmund became a prominent Marlow grocer at no 20 High Street (old numbering. In later numbering was no 50, also eventually Edmund was at no 52 as well). It is possible that when he appeared in the 1881 census as a grocer's assistant it was for Noah Bartlett of West Street who married Edmund's sister Ellen, though he also had a relative Richard Coster who had a grocery shop in West Street (that Richard suffered bankruptcy in 1888 and disappeared, his family apparently never seeing him again). Noah Bartlett was also a congregational man. Sadly Ellen died less than a year into her marriage. More about Noah in this post here. The post contains a link to an image of Ellen's grave and a picture of Noah's premises in the modern day.

Above, high class provisions available from Coster & Son.. 1931. 

Edmund eventually expanded into a second premises in West Street. This sold grocery and later some hardware. Like most Marlow grocers of Victorian and Edwardian times Edmund suffered multiple thefts from his premises. The lists of items stolen from him give as a flavour of his stock- packets of tea, pots of jam, bottles of sauce, canned fruit and packs of candles. He died in 1930, his wife Mary (nee Carter) in 1933. By 1920 their son Sydney was a partner in the business. After Edmund's death the High Street shop was taken over by their son Sydney who used no 50 for groceries and no 52 as a tobacconist with some lines of "fancy goods" too. Adverts from his early years in charge show that he specialized in the grocery side in Empire butter and bacon. A 1933 advert says an A Coster was also running the shop. Poor Sydney died suddenly when just 54 while acting as goalkeeper for the mens' hockey team. He had played for Marlow for years and was the Captain of the Bucks Hockey Association. I think that he was one of the special constables of Marlow. By 1948 only the tobacconist and fancy goods side of the business at 52 was still running but it was still "Costers" for years to come.

Emily, sister to Edmund, Willie and Ellen married Marlow  High Street architect Richard Wellicome of Marlow in 1878 at the Congregational Church. Her sister Alice married West Street grocer Albert G Fleet there 7 years later. Albert both ran his own shop and assisted Edmund Coster in Edmund's secondary West Street premises. When their church needed to raise £300 for renovations in 1889 Alice was amongst the stall holders at the fundraising bazaar (running a Japanese theme stall). Alice also trained the children of the non-conformist teetotal Excelsior Band Of Hope (which was based in the Congregational church) singing and elocution.

Emily Coster as Emily Wellicome operated as a milliner and fancy draper from no 5 High Street (old numbering), eventually assisted by her daughter Florence. Astonishingly, just like Richard Coster, Richard Wellicome disappeared in the midst of a financial cloud. Wellicome had been the parish surveyor and rate collector and a warrant was issued for his arrest in 1907 for falsifying his accounts. The case drew national press attention and the unfortunate Emily was pressed for interview by journalists. She spoke of her distress. A cryptic postcard was sent by him from Gloucester to their 14 year old daughter Mabel saying "We are just off, feeling better, best love to all". A Marlow woman thought she had seen him on a London omnibus with a "wild" look on his face. Some of his account books were discovered abandoned in a bag at a Liverpool quayside but of the man himself neither police nor his family could find any trace then or ever. Later that year Emily's brother Edmund the grocer, who held the mortgage for Richard and Emily's home put a lien on the property so the absent Richard could not sell the property without satisfying the debt. All credit to Emily for picking herself up and carrying on. Mind you, with several young children at home what else could she do? By 1920 Emily had retired from her business. Initially she lived in Claremont Gardens but when she died in 1929 she was of 10 Glade Road.

Another sister Anne "Annie" Coster did not marry and worked as a fancy needlewoman. She also helped out in Congregational fundraising events and was, like her dad and brother in law Noah Bartlett, a long standing Sunday School teacher. After the death of her parents she kept her own household in her parents' old Station Road home, no longer needing to work presumably because of parental inheritance. Her also unmarried sister Julia (another former needlewoman) lived with her as did their uncle William Coster. Another fancy needlewoman their sister Lucy died at the age of 32.

Alfred Coster the eldest son of Edward the lock keeper moved to Devon where he worked as a draper. He married Mary Ann Wish in Newton Abbott.

A Mrs Coster, who could be Edmund's wife, was one of the women who stitched the banners used in the town as part of the one thousand strong children's parade which formed part of the 1887 Queen Victoria's  Jubilee celebrations.

Edward Joseph the lock keeper lost his wife Elizabeth aged 63 in 1886 and shortly afterwards decided to retire on the small pension granted to lock keepers. Well-wishers collected £70 to give him as a leaving present. In 1898 he died at the home in Station Road which he shared with several of his unmarried daughters and was buried with Elizabeth in the churchyard of the Congregational Church. The South Bucks Standard in reporting his death said that Edmund was a lifelong teetotaller (he was on the committee of the Marlow Total Abstinence Society when it formed) who never used "improper words" and had performed his duties "quietly, honestly and industriously". They also said that he was a man known for his kindness to children. Things were probably quite rosy for his 25 grandchildren then! He was also a cricket fan and keen walker.

*his mother was Elizabeth nee Windsor, who lived long enough to celebrate her hundredth birthday in 1889. By this time she lived in Bray. Her brother William Windsor the town postman was said to be a renowned Marlow eccentric. 

Post written and researched by Charlotte Day.

Related posts: 

Other posts related to those who made their living on or around the river (including other lock keepers, barge men etc) at Marlow can be found in the index here

To look for mentions of a particular person or family see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

To find information about particular shops, businesses or homes see the index here

Some Sources=

GRO marriage index, GRO online.

England and Wales censuses 1841-81, transcribed from microfilm by me. Census information remains Crown Copyright.

"England and Wales, Census, 1901", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSWG-5KC : Thu Feb 13 06:58:01 UTC 2025), Entry for Alfred Coster and Mary A Coster, 31 Mar 1901.

England and Wales census 1891

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4GGN-LPZ?lang=en

Baptisms of Edward Coster, Richard Coster, Thomas Coster- Great Marlow Bishops Transcripts, Find My Past.

Pigots Directory 1842, Slaters Directory 1852. Kelly's Directory 1899 and 1920 by Kelly's Directories Limited.

Marlow Directory and Almanack 1907, Marlow Printing Company.

Guide to the Crown Hotel Marlow, circle 1934.

Maidenhead Advertiser November 13th 1889, Baylis Media Archives.

South Bucks Standard July 1st 1898

Bucks Free Press. June 1887. Bucks Free Press Archives.

Newspapers from the British Library Archives and accessed via the BNA: Reading Mercury 12th September 1868 and 9th October 1886, South Bucks Standard 12th April 1907, Daily News 11th April 1907.

Recreated 1920's Marlow High Street Trade Directory with notes

Part One - odd numbers

With notes

Recreated from adverts, letters, trade directories, property transactions, newspaper stories, court cases etc.

The property numbers quoted here are not necessarily going to match up with modern numbers because of demolitions and amalgamations or other reasons and remember that the High Street had already been renumbered in the 1910s so that any 1920s property numbers will not usually be referring to the same property as their Victorian counterparts. 

Some properties on this side of the High Street were residential at this time and are not included in this post. The post office was also in the High Street, and the entrance to the brewery.

Many people mentioned here already have multiple mentions on this blog. To see all posts featuring any person looking for that person on the A-Z Person Index on the top drop down menu. More High Street history posts are indexed here, including

1-3 Lawrence and Son estate agents for domestic and commercial sales and lettings, auctioneers, valuers, insurance agents. The surveyor at the company was John Robert Laird who lived on the premises with his family. The business was later "Lawrence Son and Laird". One of the Mr Lawrences was a director of the Marlow Water Company.

5 Harold John Welch hairdresser in 1920 (bn 1879). (Sometimes given as being at 3 but was not) / The Cafe (that was the official name!) ran by Rose Owles.

7 National Provisional and Union Bank  - previous occupants of this building are listed here. The bank manager Cuthbert Raymond lived on the premises with his family. This was normal for banks at the time. More history of this premises here

9 Mrs Bonner Wellicome antique and furniture dealer 1920,21 (in business by 1911) New Branch of London County Westminster And Parr Bank mentioned as opening at no 9 1922. Head clerk on opening was Mr G. W Cousins.

11 Welbourne and Simpsons printers. Simpson was Herbert Edward Simpson born c1872. Earlier Smith & Co stationers, printers and circulating library. By 1942 was just ran by Herbert as H.E Simpson's newsagent, tobacconist and lending library. At some point in the 1920s the printers also apparently used number 15 High Street.

13 Lawrence J Smith office insurance agent, correspondence address for Great Marlow Water Company. Also in 1920 custom and excise office of James Gauld and the premises of confectioner Bert Jaynes. Lawrence at least was still there in the early 1930s. Presumably the offices  were above or behind the shop.

17  Harrell Limited grocers. Below is an ad from 1929. Possibly had moved from the other side of the High Street.

Harrell's were still at no. 17 in 1939. In the early 1930s there was an off licence at no.45 High Street called Harrell's which must have been a related business. Number 17 was later taken over by Barksfield Brothers for a second Marlow premises. 

19-21 Charles Drye "coach builder" of long standing but was already moving into the field of motor cars. Business known initially as the Marlow Motor works, then  came to be known as the "Marlow Carriage and Motor Car Company". A lot more on the early days of motoring in Marlow in this post. Now W H Smith. 

23 British and Argentine Meat Company. There by 1915. Some staff seem to have lived in. Formerly the base of royal furniture makers the Mealings

25 Phillip Brothers fishmongers from at least 1911. Some staff lived on the premises. By 1931 was Mac Fisheries. 

27 George Frederick Hill offices? Later amalgamated with number 29 into one premises.

29 Arthur George Hill upholsterer and cabinet maker. Arthur was in business with James Henry Tugwood until 1900 when they dissolved their partnership as furniture dealers, upholsters and decorators under the name Tugwood and Hill. Thereafter Arthur continued under his own name only. He witnessed his neighbour Gutteridge (below) being burgled in 1912. In the 1930s this was Hill and Son Upholsterers and in 1942 "A.G Hill and Son".

31 William Guttridge  hairdresser, perfumer, fancy goods /Harriet Guttridge toy seller on the same premises. Husband and wife. William had been in premises some years. In 1912 he was was described as a hairdresser and tobacconist when he was burgled. [Building demolished]

33 Ellen Arnold confectioner. The toy shop today. Formerly the Way family premises see here, also Kempster's. 

35 Lovell's building company offices. Edward Turner the manager lived in the premises. Their builder's yard was behind some of the neighbouring buildings along here. They also had a bit of yard in Dedmere Road. Offices still here 1942. Lovells as a whole became a national business. In Marlow they also functioned as undertakers and house decorators. History of other former builders who occupied this property here and about Young James Lovell himself here.

37 Daisy Ilsley's Prep School 1921. Her sister Emma Ilsley taught music and shorthand here too /Leo Redver Ryan electrical supplies and radio seller/electrician in 1929, probably earlier too. Moved premises to number 44 by 1938. Killed when a bomb fell near Bovingdon Green in WW2. His son was also injured. They were delivering a radio. A WW1 Navy veteran. The Imperial War Museum has a photo of Leo as a young man see here (leaves this site). The man for whom Ryan's Mount in Marlow is named. 

41 [Cromwell House] Gerald Berkeley Wills offices several businesses. Surveyor and architect by 1920. He was still in the High Street several years later but I am not certain if his premises were still at Cromwell House. Gerald designed the Marlow Cottage Hospital in 1914. He built Wolmer Cottage Bovingdon Green and lived in it with his family. Prior to his marriage to his wife Kathleen, Gerald lived at Stratton House, West Street Marlow. By 1921 also offices of Cripps and Shone solicitors. 

The building became by 1926 the offices of the Marlow Urban District Council. It housed the Post Office from December 1897.  The council clerk Llewellyn Shone had an office in the building. 

Full history of Cromwell House here

47 Alfred Davis junior journalist. Prominent in the organisation of local sports - and the Olympics! 

49 Walter Davis tailor, hosier, hatter etc. A Long standing business. 

The Chequers Hotel / pub [53] Billiards room. RAC approved. Pub also mentioned as a "masonic hall" 1927. In 1920 and 21 run by Lillian Long (bn 1888) who took over the premises in 1917, having moved from London. Her husband William was a motor engineer. Could be something to do with the below motor company. There is some reason to believe William and Lillian also rented no 55 in the early 1920s. They had moved to Aylesbury by 1932 where William worked as the manager of the Aylesbury Motor Company.

55 Marlow Motor Company. Newly formed with £500 capital in 1920, most likely involving William Long above. Also the premises of an unknown electrical engineer in the same year. / The Corner Restaurant in 1927 which also offered boarding. In 1927 proprietor was Charles J Paul. Restaurant still there late 1930s. Charles was also an insurance agent. On corner of High Street/Institute Rd. 

57 Grays' Stores. Henry Gray born c1867. Took over the Clifton grocer's and wine merchant's in 1901. Initially ran the shop with his brother James who was also a rent collector / letting agent but James had left the shop by about 1906 to concentrate on the latter business. Henry's shop was one of the fancier places in town to buy your provisions. He lived in Glade Road in this period. James lived in the Old Vicarage then later the house Thamesfield.

59 Residential address of Harry Redgrave jobbing gardener as well as the office (and possibly rooms of) T.N.W Watts who was secretary to Hambledon Council. Long term surveyor and inspector of nuisances for Marlow Urban District Council. Today is Fego.

61 William and Thomas Sellman builders, plumbers and painters. Here by 1911. William lived in. The Sellmans left these particular premises before 1939. In 1942 no.61 was Tillion's florists. 

"Palmers" Dr George Downes. Physician. His home and medical premises in one. His wife Aileen Downs was instrumental during WW1 in setting up an Infant Welfare Centre in Marlow, which suffered from high infant mortality due to poor housing and poverty at that time.

67 James Eyre Jackson artist.

73 "Quarry House" Francis Culhane doctor, surgeon, councillor. Biographical post on him here

75 William Jackson dentist 1920. This building does not exist anymore. Not in same spot as modern 75. Formerly a doctor's premises.

77 George Morton antiques. By 1939 was Kendall and Morton antiques dealers. Not in same place as modern 77 due to renumbering.

79 William Robinson pianoforte tuner and music warehouse in 1920.  Had been there for some years. He probably also gave piano lessons. In 1921 his widow Lily Robinson operated as a piano and music dealer here. Not in position of modern 79 due to renumbering. 

81 Thomas Wheeler refreshment rooms. Also tobacco seller. These premises were on the corner with Station Road. Not the same as modern 81 due to renumbering. Thomas  was not there 1915. He had previously ran a restaurant in Slough. Born c1863. 

Also Honourable mention to 

Charles Carter baker and confectioner on the Causeway which is a continuation of the High Street. (In recent times was Burgers. A  long standing bakers premises)

- Unnumbered - Currall's Garage (sales and service) plus radio agents. (Building demolished) 

Part two will contain the even numbers plus selected references.

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

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1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow High Street East Side Part Two

 I am slowly transcribing the original handwritten assessment working notebooks which are held by my family. Additions and corrections were made to some of the records up to circa 1840 in the same notebooks.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this transcription for family and local history purposes with credit to this blog.

Format for transcription:

Name

Property occupied

Annual value of property

Square brackets hold any comments or further research by me

High Street East Side continued

David Nichols [aka Nicholls. David later crossed through in pencil and the name James substituted faintly. This was in 1851 the home of James Nicholls blacksmith who probably worked for Burrells blacksmith and ironmongers, a near neighbour. James was probably already in occupation of the property in 1835 when he is recorded as an independent voter of the High Street. Frederick the son of James later took over Burrells]

House £7

*****

Ralph Clark [a tailor and independent  viterin 1835, this property later John Collins Clark / Clerk the tailor]

House and garden £11

*****

? Haynes [first name altered and illegible as a result, looks like James after alteration, possibly formed from original entry "Francis". A James Haynes / Haines was a carpenter - see here for a biography. He did later than the assessment live definitely in this house]

House and garden

£11

Workshop, garden and yard at wharf

£5 (occupied part of the old "tithe barn" by the bridge.) 

*****

Elizabeth Palmer

House, garden, lawn, stables, coach houses, offices and yard

£50 (Palmer House/Palmers)

*****

Josiah Clark [a grocer. Robbed of bacon and butter the previous year. More about his illustrious family here and a photo of his grave here]

House and garden

£15

*****

Thomas White

House and garden

£8

*****

Charles Clark

House and garden

£9

***** 

John Cozens [a John Cozens senior died 1836 aged 81. Had moved to the town from Oxfordshire]

House, yard, chaisehouse, stable, garden and house and garden adjoining

£25 (A beautiful stucco and bow fronted house now demolished) 

*****

Late Charles Wethered

House

£18

*****

Thomas Hardy 

House, garden and yard

£14

*****

George Creswell [barge owner, inn keeper, constable and farmer. Long post about him here]

House and garden

£10

*****

Henry Badger (the Parish Clerk) 

House and garden

£10

*****

End of High Street East Side

Transcribed and researched by Charlotte Day.

1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow High Street East Side Part One

I am gradually transcribing onto this blog the original handwritten assessment working notebooks used to compile the official assessment. These are held by my family. They were to be used to readjust the local taxes for 1834. Our notebooks contain some information updates written in during the later 1830s and related correspondence. I will add these updates if present for any properties below. I have also included my own research notes into the people mentioned and links to posts dedicated to some of them. Parts of the assessment are uploaded by me as and when they chime with research I am doing for myself or others. Lots are already available in the blog

To see the others available already look here

Transcription by Charlotte Day.

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

Format for transcription:

Name

Property occupied

Annual value of property

Additional research notes by me in square brackets.

High Street [East Side]

Rolls and Son [auctioneers]

House, storehouse, cellars, yard, offices and garden

£24 10 shillings

Furniture warehouse

£5

Garden belonging to Baines

10 shillings

*****

Benjamin Baines [a confectioner and foreign fruit dealer. I have a picture of his grave and a dedicated post about him on the blog here]

House, bakehouse, yard, stable and garden

£20

*****

Frederick Wyatt [stagecoach proprietor. Post about him and his family here].

House, stable, barn, yard, garden and orchard

£20

*****

Thomas Evans Brinsden [a surgeon]

House part of barn and 2 gardens

£15

****

William Chamberlain [a hairdresser]

House and garden

£14

*****

Miss Sneath [the Miss added in pencil. This was Katherine Sneath, a much loved Marlovian. Daughter of surgeon William Sneath and Elizabeth née Webb. Her mother's will is here and more about her family property here. Please see the Person Index for all other mentions of Katherine].

House, lawns, yards, storehouses, stables and large gardens

£30

Orchard occupied by Mr Aveling

£4 

*****

Richard Aveling [a grocer. Biography here]

House, yard, shed, barn, garden, stable and orchard

£20

*****

Thomas Corby jnr [builder. Thomas lost his right to vote because he did not have a separate entrance to his part of the property. Detailed post about him and his father here]

Part of house and garden [Dad below in other half]

£11

*****

Thomas Corby [builder, see above for link to a post about him]

House, storeroom, lofts, yard and garden

£14

*****

Widow Stevens [this property no longer exists]

House, yard and sheds

£12

*****

Hone [no first name] [Building now demolished. It was empty in 1831 but owned by Hone family].

House, lawn, stables, greenhouse, pleasure garden, large kitchen garden, coach houses, orchard, large store house and other conveniences

£50

*****

Edmund Mealing [he was an upholsterer and cabinet maker. Post about him and his family here ]

House, shop and yard

£9

*****

W. H Mathew [William Henry. Son of the below]

House and yard

£10

*****

Widow Mathews [Ann Mathews. She was running a grocery shop].

House and yard

£14

*****

Edward Griffiths [A tailor. In same premises 1832]

House and yard

£10

*****

Steadman Camden [a shoemaker and clothes seller. Biographical post on him here]

House, shop and lofts

£12

*****

John Way [he was a poulterer]

House, yard, sheds etc

£10

*****

William Bond [he was a builder, carpenter. Full biography here]

House, yard, workshops, counting house and shed

£18

Chaise house etc by Mrs Ralphs [Charlotte Ralfs on other side of High Street]

£1

Part of wharf and workshops at Bankside

£3

*****

Late Palmer [no first name]

House and garden coach houses, shrubbery etc

Hard to read property value.

*****

Sir John Mortlock [This was Alfred House later known as Cromwell House. More on him and this property here]

House, lawn, greenhouse, 2 large gardens, yards, stables, barn, coach houses

£70

*****

Revd Thomas Coxwell [this the old vicarage. Thomas Tracey Coxwell]

House and garden

£26

*****

Ralph Rose [a brewer]

House and garden 

£12

*****

Morris and Son [John Morris and son, drapers. Post about this family here].

House, yard, store houses and garden

£20

*****

George Davis [Landlord of this pub since at least 1826]

Chequers house [pub], yard and garden

£14

*****

John Wade

House and garden

£14

*****

Thomas Burrell [ironmonger and blacksmith. He was still in these premises 1851. More about him and his family here].

House, shop, garden and iron house

£10

*****

John Heppard

House and garden

£8

*****

Transcription and research by Charlotte Day.

To be continued...

Post Office Blues

 This is a brief run down of the post offices in the 1800s and early 1900s in Great Marlow. 

The Regency Post Service 

At the start of 1800 Marlow was looking forward to its first official "cross post" between Marlow and Maidenhead and certain other places in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. A cross post means letters between the two places didn't have to go up to London and then back down to the intended recipient but instead went direct which obviously saved a lot of time. I say the first official cross post because unofficially letters had been taken by carriers and coachman and other commercial travellers. It makes sense for these people to take post but it undercut the post service so was not officially allowed. After the cross post for Marlow actually started in 1801, adverts were placed in the newspapers threatening dire consequences to these unofficial letter carriers if they continued. They faced a £5 fine per letter carried and £100 for every week the practice continued. A very high price to pay. The official letters were left at the post masters who then saw them distributed to the actual recipient. 

From at least the 1820s the Post Master at Marlow was James Field of the High Street. With only one post delivery and dispatch to deal with, posting did not occupy all of James time. The family ran a school, and James also worked as a tailor and insurance agent. Latter people would remember the post office was almost an afterthought, a cramped room with the school room up a somewhat rickety staircase. (You can read more about the Fields school here  and read their wills here). James died in 1849 and it seems his widow continued to be in charge for a little while. 

Early and mid Victoria post office

A common complaint was Marlow didn't get frequent enough deliveries of mail. But in 1848 after much effort, the town secured a second post as the mail coach running between High Wycombe and Maidenhead would now stop at Marlow in both directions. John Moss the High Street iron monger, inventor and agricultural machinery manufacturer was credited for a relentless campaign to secure this benefit. He considered improved postal communication essential for a successful businessman like himself to operate - and compete with those in other better supplier towns. At this point the post office was in West Street with the Tyler family in charge. The premises tended to change when the postmaster did. 

In 1852 the post from Maidenhead arrived at the very precise time of 5.10 am and 2.15pm and left at 10.45am and 8pm. If you wanted to send a letter after that you had to go to a town with a later dispatch and people really did trouble to do so which shows how important the post service was. When I say the post arrived I mean it came by mail cart. Later the train would bring in much post, but it had yet to reach Marlow. Even then letters were still brought by mail cart from Wycombe. The post arrival times were subject to change over the years and so therefore was the time you might get your post delivered at home. 

In 1860 the mail cart contractor between Marlow and Maidenhead, Mr Hall suffered an accident near Pinkneys Green. His horse was startled by shooting in a farmers field, bolted and crashed. The cart was smashed to pieces, mail scattered  and Hall was much injured. In fact a cart wheel was supposed to have passed over his head which if true makes the prognosis that he'd be able to resume work  seems quite miraculous. They did not mention how long the poor man's recovery was expected to take. In 1875 it was announced that the midday mail to Marlow would now arrive by train from Maidenhead rather than cart. No mention is made of a change in transport method for the other delivery yet so either it was already bought by train or there was going to be two ways it came to town.

The next milestone was probably the opening up of telegraphic services at the Great Marlow Post Office from 1870. This meant recruiting more people to deliver the messages. And in 1877 Marlow got it's long awaited third post arrival and dispatch, thanks to the 4.15pm train to Maidenhead. 

In 1880 it was possible to officially use a rival parcel delivery option in Marlow. Sutton & Co promised a cheap service through local agents, and the Marlow one was Banbury's the chemist. The Victorian equivalent of an Evri parcel stop! In the following decade there were still three post deliveries a day to the town, and one on a Sunday. The post boxes were cleared in time to get the post to the station at the right hour. If you realised you'd left it too late to post your letter in the usual way, you could go to the West Street post office and pay an extra fee to have it placed directly in the mail bag, up to around 20 minutes after the official time the bags were made up. After that you'd have to wait until the next dispatch.  In this decade the mail cart contractor was John Creswell who employed others to actually drive it (I think they were mainly bringing post from High Wycombe). Time keeping was taken very seriously and this lead John getting into trouble in 1881. His horse fell and cut its knee. He tried to secure another one in time to take the mail out at the right hour but could not. So unfortunately he decided to allow his driver Charles Shephard to take out the injured horse. This was reported to the police, and so John was bought before the magistrates and given the maximum fine of £5 for cruelty to the horse. 

 Snow drifts and other difficulties 

Everyday difficulties in the town for our Victorian postman included vandalism of the post boxes (the enamel tablets giving the collection times were constantly removed), the occasional theft of mail bags and complaints at the posties spending too much time waiting at the door for someone to answer when not all had letter boxes. Then there was the possibility of the Wycombe mail cart getting stuck in a snow drift as happened in 1893 at Borroughs Grove. The dedicated driver abandoned the cart and bought what mail he could on horseback, but it arrived a day late. 

The 1890s

 At this time our main post office was still in West Street, and John C Butler was postmaster. It opened from 7am-8pm and on Sundays from 7am - 10am for letter or telegraph business. But if you wanted to take advantage of one of the other services offered over the counter, such as buying insurance or a money order, or a licence you had to wait until after 9am and couldn't buy these at all on a Sunday.  By now the post was dispatched from the town 4 times a day, while post arrived three times. The boxes were emptied either 4 or 5 times a day and actual household deliveries were usually twice daily. You could however call at the post office to collect a letter possibly waiting for you if you were really in a hurry to receive it. And it was still possible to pay extra and slip your last minute letter across the counter if you'd just missed the last posting time. The main boxes were described as positioned at Thames Lawn (not the house currently known as Thames Lawn, this one was adjacent to the lock and you will still see a little wall box there in Mill Road), near the parish church, (may be referring to the wall box currently at the church hall but photographs show one at this period in a wall opposite Station Rd on the other side of the High Street), in York Rd (gone), Station Road (gone), and in Chapel Street (gone). 

The distant outpost known as Institute Rd...

In the mid 1890s the increased trade at the Post Office made some in the town question whether we didn't need a bigger and more modern building to host it. It had been slightly enlarged in 1883 to accommodate an increased parcel traffic but this wasn't enough. This issue would rumble on a very very long time. The post authorities agreed the existing building was not only too small for current demand, but "unsanitary". They had secretly planned to find an alternative for several years they claimed. This claim would infuriate post master John Butler. He said he'd constantly complained in private letters to his bosses about how dire the conditions were in West Street. The health of his staff had suffered he said. But he'd been rebuffed as the Post Office said the income at Marlow didn't justify the expense of either finding a bigger premises or making good the old. After two years of threatening to resign as his health was worth more than any lost income, he did so in September 1897. He saw out his 3 months notice and wrote to remind the Post Office that the lease there expired in a few weeks, and he wondered what exactly they planned to do about that. This was all happening behind the scenes. 

 One proposal was to build a purpose built premises in Institute Rd where there were plenty of undeveloped plots available. The Post Office went as far as to draw up a plan of how the building might look but if they hoped the locals would be impressed they were wrong. They said Institute Rd was not central enough, despite running directly off the High Street. If the post office had to move, it should be in the High Street itself they said. A vote at a public meeting in 1894 condemned the Institute Rd site as unsuitable. They said the 30 or so commercial travellers who came to the town each week usually put up at The Crown at the other end of the High Street to Institute Rd and would be inconvenienced by having to walk to the new site. It's slightly baffling that a walk of probably 3 minutes would be considered something that would put off these commercial men from visiting Marlow but the residents of West Street were also unhappy that their convenient branch would be lost to the very slightly further away High Street let alone Institute Rd. (Three times as many people signed a petition for the office to stay in West Street as signed one to move it to the High Street.) One advantage of the new Institute Rd site was considered to be that it would be (slightly) nearer Shaw's boat house and that as a large number of letters and telegrams came their way relating to the hire of boats, it would save some delivery time. But the needs of the locals should come before tourists it was declared. 

There were more public meetings and an unofficial group of local citizens were tasked with finding a possible High Street site that would suit the Post Office but without initial success. Some locals were sceptical that the local committee would make  any progress anyway because they said the gentleman could shortlist any site they liked but it would be no good if the owner didn't wish to sell.  And knowing the town was desperate the owner would probably charge a high price for the building. A deputation even met the Post Master General. He agreed to stay the Institute Rd plan to give time for a more locally supported alternative to be found. The Post Office would be willing to rent somewhere they said, if the rent was reasonable. (They eventually said they'd only be willing to rent an existing building and would not fund a purchase or a new build after all.) An alternative plan to improve the existing West Street premises were considered but this was found to be too difficult and expensive. A proposal to raise a private subscription to pay for a new build in West Street never got off the ground. 

So what would the never to be built Institute Rd alterative have looked like? It would have had a resident for the Marlow post master next to and connected with the main post office building. You'd have entered through a spacious lobby in which all the post office notices would be displayed. Then proceeding through some swing doors, you'd enter the main room 22ft square with polished mahogany counters. Leading off this would be an office for the Marlow post master and a 40ft long 22ft wide sorting office fitted with "swing seats" for the postman. Then there were rooms for the telegraph staff and various other offices and a separate entrance for parcels. Sounds very efficient and much different to the "cribbed, cabined and confined" West Street premises. (Or as a letter writer to a local paper called it, "a miserable excuse for a post office".)

A home at last

The list of potential properties on West Street or the High Street considered as a potential site is indeed long. It included the old malt house and Langston's original boot stores, both in the High Street as well as numerous residential properties. Many of these look no more spacious than the existing post office, and the residents were not usually very receptive to the idea of being turfed out. Someone had the idea that the new stables of New Court that fronted the High Street (next to what's now W H Smith) should be demolished as an eye sore and affront to the town and the post office put up there. 

Finally, after three years of public meetings, protests and indignant letter writing, Cromwell House in the High Street became available, almost opposite old Mr Fields premises.  At first the fact the drawing room was on a different level to the front room was considered to scupper the plan to use this part as a sorting office. But after a little more investigation it was felt the levelling of the two would not cost as much as initially feared. Still it seems the Post Office originally rejected Cromwell House when it first became available. The reminder sent by retiring  Marlow post master John Charlton Butler that the lease on the West Street premises was due to run out in a matter of weeks seems to have panicked them into action. A deputation came to John and asked him if he'd allow the premises to be used for longer under a new post master but he utterly refused. It was against his conscience to allow what he considered a dangerously unhealthy place to continue in use. 

So alterations were made to Cromwell House and a nice new lamp was affixed outside.  John Charlton Butler later revealed that the move there from West Street was done at such speed that it was chaotic and a lot of property had been left behind with him. After a few weeks and more reminders a frustrated John said he'd begun using the left behind papers as fire lighters and would continue! He was very bitter at both his former bosses and members of the town council - "parasites" as he referred to them - who he said were taking credit for getting a new premises. The new post master was John William Langdon. 

Still the Post Office was satisfied. The residents of West Street were not, and successfully petitioned to get a sub post office in their Street which opened in June 1898. This was described as nearly opposite the old one, and in the premises of clothier A E Sutton. (Sutton occupied three different premises in West Street, the last was the former Sycamore House boarding house which he took over in 1901.) I should mention that there was also a sub post office at this time in Station Rd at the corner of Mill Rd in a grocers. It was proposed that if the authorities thought Marlow a little over supplied this could be closed in exchange for allowing the West Street sub to open but it survived. I expect the poor post master general had had more than enough of Great Marlow by then and had no appetite for an avalanche of letters from disgruntled Station Rd residents! 

Edwardian Era  and beyond 

So did the post office live happily ever after? Hmm, some people are never satisfied. A 1904 visitor to the town said Marlow couldn't count as a modern sort of place as its post office closed at 8pm on weekdays and  5pm on Sundays. In Maidenhead you could visit the post office at 9pm he said, and at Wycombe you could still post letters to London at 11.30pm. What they would have thought of our current arrangements? 

The mail cart was still running between Maidenhead and High Wycombe via Marlow to supplement the use of the train at the time of the first world war. In 1911 the cart was struck by lightning at Pinkneys Green. Both horse and man were rendered senseless but amazingly after 30 mins they were recovered enough to continue onwards. The driver did admit to feeling "a bit queer" for sometime afterwards as well he might. 

As for additional sub post offices, the residents of Marefield petitioned for one in their area for many years but it did not open there until June 1939. (In the Dean Street grocery shop of Mr Porter). 

Written by Kathryn Day. Researched by Kathryn Day and Charlotte Day.

Related Posts: 

Victorian Postman Plumridge here (also covers workings of late Victorian post office here)

Will of postmaster James Field 1849 and his wife Sarah 1855 here

Life of the poetic postmaster, radical and friend of Shelley William Tyler -here

For biographies of other post office staff eg postmen/letter carriers see the General History index occupations section here

General posts about Marlow history here 

To find every mention of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. There's over 6,000 people listed there. 

SOURCES INCLUDE: 

Kelly's Directory for Buckinghamshire 1852, 1854, 1883, 1889, 1905, 1911, 1920, 1939. (Kelly's Directories Ltd) 

Notice - Changes to Postal Delivery - 1874, 1875, 1877. Thanks to James Purdsey for a view of these. 

Marlow Guide 1903 & 1905

Census, 1841-91 - Transcript from the microfilm made by Jane Pullinger. 

 Berkshire Chronicle 29th April 1848, Gloucester Journal 30th March 1801, South Bucks Free Press 27th October 1860, Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 9th April 1870, Bucks Herald - 17th February 1877, 30th July 1881 & 3rd June 1911, and South Bucks Standard 24th April 1891, 18th & 25th May, 6th July & 31st August 1894, 15th Feb 1895, 6th August 1897, 12th Feb & 24th June 1898, 9th September 1904 - these copies via the BNA. 

Slough, Windsor and Eton Express Oct 31 1885 - Slough Libraries. 

Slater's Commercial Directory 1850

Maidenhead Advertiser 31st March 1880, 22nd November 1883 - Bayliss Media Archive. 

© MarlowAncestors

Way Family Premises

The home and business premises of John Way in Marlow High Street are today a toy shop.

John was baptised at Marlow in 1809 to Richard and Rebecca (nee Fowler) Way who had moved to the town in the early 1800s from Oakley Bucks. Richard was a farmer who lived in 1833 in Quoiting Square Marlow. 

Like many people in those days John suffered the loss of many family members in their prime- his sisters Rebecca and Ann died aged 16 and 22 respectively in 1819, followed two years later by his mother when she was only in her 40s. His father passed away in 1836 and his brother Joseph at the age of 26 in 1837.

John ran a poulterer's shop in the above premises from at least 1833 until his death circa 1846. In 1841 he expanded his business by obtaining a licence to sell game too. As poaching and the resulting illegal sale of game was a big problem getting a license to deal in it wasn't easy and it shows that John must have been considered as having an honest and trustworthy character if he was granted a licence. In 1845 his shop was broken into and a hare, a rabbit and a pheasant stolen. These items were allegedly then raffled in a local pub.

John must also have used a stable in St Peter's Street as part of his business as in 1833 his horse was stolen from that stable during the night.

In 1837 he had married Sarah Hibbert at St George's Hanover Square, London. By 1841 there were three children in their family - Rosa, Laura and a tiny baby boy as yet unnamed on the 1841 census. The family was sufficiently prosperous to be able to employ a live in servant then, Sophia Lissiman.

After John's death Sarah carried on the shop for a while, winning her own game dealing licence. This may have been only a temporary measure while his estate was settled. She was not in business in 1851.

John's older brother Richard, a carpenter, moved in to John and Sarah's former home. He lived there until his own death in 1865 age 66.

Sarah the widow of John was at Upton Cum Chalvey, Bucks in 1861 and a fund holder. Her daughter Rosa lived with her. In 1871 they were at Leytonstone Essex. Rosa did not marry and became a milliner and dressmaker.

NB These premises were occupied for many years in the later Victorian era by Kempsters the bakers / confectioners who also had a West Street premises.

Sources included:

1841,51,61 Censuses Great Marlow my transcription from microfiche at an LDS Family History Library, London. These can all now be accessed online.

Upton Cum Chalvey census transcription from microfilm by Jane Pullinger. 

"England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VFFV-DB4 : 25 June 2022), Rosa Ann Way in entry for Sarah Way, 1871.

Berkshire Chronicle 25th July 1846. British Library Archives. Reading Mercury 25th November 1833 British Library Archives via the BNA.Bucks Advertiser 13th December 1845, as previously.

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

Kempster Grave, Marlow

 

Grave of Annie Kempster died November 18th 1916 age 52 "Mother"

And William John Kempster who died January 1940 age 75. 

Notes by Charlotte:

William ran a bakery and confectionary shop in the High Street with an additional branch in West Street. Annie was his wife. Her maiden name was Arnold. Her sister Mary lived with the couple in 1911 as a shop assistant.

This memorial is located within Marlow Cemetery.  Photo by Kathryn in 2021.

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

Robinson Wills

 1.) Will of Nicholas Robinson, gentleman of Great Marlow. Written 1837. Proved 1840.

See notes below.

Nicholas says he is of sound mind but of bodily infirmity. 

Debts and funeral expenses to be paid.

All he has to dear wife Elizabeth for the term of her natural life then at her decease it all to be divided equally between his sons and daughters (not individually named).

Mr Richard Stephens of No.12 York Place, City Road, St Mary ....don, Middlesex to be sole executor.

Witnessed by Thomas Rolls junior draper of Great Marlow and Solomon Green draper of Great Marlow.

Notes:

Nicholas Robinson was a retired London merchant who lived at Seymour Court, Marlow by 1831. In 1838 he witnessed the will of Hannah Webb of Marlow Bottom Farm. He died on the 7th April 1840 but I could not see him amongst the C of E burials in the town.

Elizabeth died on October 16th 1847 at Great Marlow aged 72 as announced in the relevant issue of the Gentleman's Magazine. The Reading Mercury of 23rd October 1847 (British Library Archives) called her "much and deservedly lamented". The couple had at least 4 daughters: Hannah who married into the Gibbons family of Marlow, Mary whose will is below, Sarah, and Rachel plus at least 3 sons.

Thomas Rolls was in the High Street.

2.) Mary Robinson will. Written 1840. Proved 1848. Spinster. She was the daughter of Nicholas above.

All she has to her three sisters Rachel, Sarah and Hannah equally.

Sole executor her friend Richard Stephens esquire of York Place, City Road, Middlesex. 

Witnessed by the curate of Little Marlow and Thomas Rolls of Great Marlow.

Notes:

Probate was granted to Mary's sister Sarah Robinson as her appointed executor died before he could prove the will. 

Mary was born in 1805. Hannah in 1815, Rachel in 1803 and Sarah in 1811. For some reason most were baptized as adults.

These P.C.C original wills 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. You are welcome to use this information for local or family history purposes with credit to this blog.

James Haynes - Boatbuilder & Thief Catcher

 

James Hayne(s) was born in Marlow in the first few years of the 1800s. Perhaps not as famous as the late Victorian boat builders of Marlow and Bisham, he deserves a post of his own because of the many roles he played here - from preserving law and order, to preserving Marlow Bridge. 

As a young man James followed in his father's footsteps and worked as a carpenter. His dwelling house and work premises were in the High Street and Causeway at this point. In 1828 the workshop is described as located 200 yards from his home and were also separate in 1833. In any event, in 1828 a thief broke through the shutters of the workshop and stole a saw and an axe from James. This kind of theft was taken very seriously at the time as depriving a workman of his tools of the trade could too easily lead to him loosing the means to provide for himself. James was lucky in that the tools were recovered and the thief caught. The young man responsible, John Green, was an apprentice to another carpenter. It was James himself that recovered the tools, after he received something of a tip off. They had been hidden under some wood shavings in a loft. The judge expressed a regret that John had begun "a career of crime at a very early period in life" which seems perhaps a little strong given it was a first offence and he had previously borne a good character. Luckily for John, his master was willing to keep him on and spoke of his general steadiness. The judge therefore decided to be merciful and sentenced him to 2 months in prison. 

James did well in his carpentry business and seems to have been well regarded by his fellow traders. By 1833 he was working from a workshop and yard "at the wharf" with a residence in the High Street, still officially a carpenter. There were many buildings at the wharf, some quite ramshackle, that this could have been, used for all kinds of purposes over the years. 

James worked on Marlow's new suspension bridge and like so many others involved had to put in a few requests to actually get paid. This would be the start of a long involvement with the bridge. He was regarded as someone who could get things done, so it is no surprise he also later fulfilled the then elected role of parish surveyor. But the biggest role for James was as one of the parish constable in the days before a regular paid police force. If a warrant was issued for someone's arrest, James and his colleagues were supposed to stop their day jobs and execute it without delay. If they failed to do so without sufficient energy, they could themselves end up in court for neglect of duty. They also had to fit in routine patrols. James fulfilled the role for at least 10 years in the 1830s and early 1840s. He was required to follow up leads as regards to suspects or locating stolen goods, such as the parasol he found hidden in a water storage tank in the yard of Bond the builders in 1843 (not stolen by a Bond!) His finest hour was probably policing Marlow Fair in the same year. His patrols with fellow constables Henry Stallwood and Steadman Camden (biographical post about Steadman here) were completed with such a sharp eye and energy that not a single robbery was reported, despite the massive influx of visitors. 

It was not all hard work for James at this time. He was a regular participants in the charming Sunny Side v Shady Side of the High Street cricket matches which ran for several annual contests in the 1840s and 50s. It was usually played at the Aldermary - that is the meadow more or less where Marlow Cricket Club is now to be found off Pound Lane. So which side was the sunny one? The West Street / Higginson Park side. The Shady, Liston Court / Station Road side had the best level of success and was the one that James played for. It attracted a good crowd, no doubt including wife Elizabeth (nee Osborn) and their several children. One of these, Caroline, would go on to marry Robert Shaw, son of "King of the River" Robert Shaw, of boatbuilding fame. 

A little after this time, James begins to be more consistently described as located at the Causeway or "Bridge House" (of which there have been more than one in Marlow) and eventually his former home was taken over by Sellmans plumbers and painters. James also begins to be described as a boat builder at this time. He chose this occupation when filling his census return in 1851. He may well have always had a side line in repairing or maintaining boats but the hiring of them for leisure purposes was exploding in popularity at this time. Marlow was becoming more and more of a fashionable destination for visiting anglers from London and elsewhere - it's easy to underestimate just what a role tourism played in Marlow's past even at this period. See below for some linked posts about this. At some point James began to use what was known as the old tithe barn by the suspension bridge* as part of his business, or at least he used part of the area. It seems he may have shared usage of the actual barn building itself, apparently with a wheelwright at some point. (In 1872 the barn was let by the new Buckinghamshire Chair Co as a temporary workshop, although they were still there several years later)  James sold second hand boats and fishing punts as well as making his own river craft to a customer's specifications. It seems he specialised in punts in fact. He would also hire you a boat, house yours out of season, or do routine maintenance such as varnishing the timbers. The Marlow Amateur Rowing Club which started in 1871, used Haynes as their boathouse too, before they had their own premises. 

Next to James at the riverside was of course the suspension bridge. The story of its construction was frankly a tale of misery, and you can read about it in the posts linked to below.  James must have been only too aware that before the bridge was very old, it needed quite a bit of maintenance. He was Clerk of the Works for the repairs done in 1860 - facing some difficulty due to the reluctance of some to stop attempting to use the bridge while it was worked on. The surveyor assessing this work asked James to provide a boat so he could take a good examination of its state from the water. Finding one suitable proved difficult it seems. When the surveyor was taken ill, James was asked to make a report on the bridges condition himself. But the work was nevertheless completed on schedule. (The deal platform was replaced at "considerable expense" but by 1869 dry rot had set in and more work was needed.) By 1863 James was Surveyor of Bridges for the district, and under his care the bridge was repainted and repaired further. He was responsible for gathering tenders for this work. 

In 1866 James was one of a number of local men that testified before a parliamentary committee on improving the condition of the Thames. He made it very clear that he regarded the existing Thames Navigation Commissioners should all be sacked for incompetence. He claimed they had neglected to do routine maintenance on the river for many years and so had made it less appealing for those who wanted to use the river for commercial transportation of goods. While the rival attractions of the railway he acknowledged, he considered that the Commissioners had done nothing to make the river stand up against the competition. Instead James said the Commissioners had bought shares in the Railway and effectively given up!  I find his information concerning the river at the time Marlow had a flash lock the most interesting. He said the flash (surge of water) was made twice a week in those days, and this required the "draining" of the river for 4 miles (not literally drained dry of course!) so in "short water time" there was "no water" for days together - that is the water level was comparatively very shallow. 

By 1865, the business was known as James Haynes and Son(s) and its location was "Marlow Bridge". The eldest son Joseph James, who initially worked as a carpenter, sadly died aged just 32. It was less than a year after his marriage to Mary Poulton of Ferry House, Cookham. James himself would not live much longer. In May 1879, he passed away at Marlow. Wife Elizabeth survived until 1883, living in her later years in the High Street with son George and unmarried daughter Ann. George defined himself as a boat builder on the 1881 census, but it seems the business under the name of Haynes was largely over. Robert Shaw, mentioned above, would take over the site.  Eventually he would build a fancier boathouse by the bridge, the "tithe barn" having been demolished "recently" in November 1877, to make way for a never built hotel that faced strong local opposition. James was to quote one contemporary guide to the Thames, "a grand character" and I'm sure he was sorely missed by the boat men of Marlow. 

*This building was where Tierney Court is now. It was known at that time as the tithe or conventual barn but this was not probably its actual purpose. It's the "curious old building" that James Joseph Sheahan described in his History and Topography of Buckinghamshire. He was correct to describe how it was generally referred to by the locals (as there are a number of sources using this title before he did) but I have a suspicion that he got his information about the Marlow building confused with the tithe barn at Bisham. He described the roof of the Marlow barn as Spanish chestnut, which it was not, but the Bisham one was according to several earlier sources.  Both were also used to house Napoleonic war prisoners. I wonder if Sheahan might not have poached his description of the Marlow barn from the 1860 John Murray Handbook for Travellers in Berks, Bucks, and Oxfordshire. (John Murray, 1860) in which the description "curious old building"  is also used. That book goes on to describe the "monastic barn of Bisham abbey in which French prisoners were kept during the war" and also mentions that the "conventual barn" at Bisham has a roof of Spanish chestnut. So possibly Sheahan confused the two if he helped himself to a little reused information!? 

 Owner of the "barn" at its demolition (autumn 1877) was Owen Williams who seemed confident his hotel plan would go forward. He had apparently got as far as inviting tenders for its erection. However, this was premature and in the end Mr Williams sold the site to "Mr Burt" for the creation of a 50 bed hotel with stabling for 20 horses, a  coffee room and 100ft long covered balcony. The authorities scuppered this plan by making it clear that they would refuse the alcohol licence on the grounds that there were too many others suppliers of liquor in the area. The real reason was probably the objection of existing traders to such competition, in particular that voiced by Charles Miller Foottit of the Compleat Angler who had recently invested in improving his own premises! At this point the barn had descended into a place that tramps and the destitute sort shelter. It was described as dilapidated but also a picturesque feature of the river side and there were clearly many who did not want it to disappear but to no avail. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

More related Posts:

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

James' daughter Eliza features in a post here

The amateur who built a barge in his back garden, 1860s here

Life for the parish constables of Great Marlow here

Robert Shaw - here

Marlow Fair here

The troubled building of the Suspension Bridge here

1820s recreated trade directory Great Marlow here

Bellows, bricks and brandy - reviving the drowned here

Picnics and Punts- Summer leisure in late Victorian and Edwardian Marlow here

Biography of Charles Miller Foottit of the Compleat Angler here

The Bucks Chair Co here

SOURCES INCLUDE:

1833 Parish Assessment, original copies held by us. 

Census 1841,51,61,71, 81 - transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte and Jane Pullinger. 

Harrods Directory 1847, J G Harrod & Co. 

Slater's Royal and Commercial Directory 1852

Thames Navigation Improvement Commission, (1866) Parliamentary Papers Vol 33, Great Britain Houses of Parliament. 

The Architect, April 17 1869, digitised by Google. 

Reading Mercury, 6 April 1839, 24 April 1858

Oxford Journal 26 April 1828. 

Bucks Herald 2 July 1836

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 8 Feb 1873

Berkshire Chronicle 4 November 1843

Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette  4 July 1863

Bicester Herald, 6 June 1879.

GRO BMD index

Q/AB/43/515,Letter, Bucks Archives. 

Dickens, Charles - Dictionary of the Thames, 1880 edition. 

Pask, Arthur Thomas - From Lock to Lock, "Judy" 1882. 

Salter, John Henry. River Thames: a guide, 1881. 

© MarlowAncestors. 

Interesting Occupations Of Marlow People 1891

 Trawling through my transcriptions of the 1891 census from microfilm I found some people with slightly more unusual occupations than the usual agricultural labourers, seamstresses and paper makers.

Roughton Henry Whall A native of Gloucestershire, Roughton was an organist and professor of music according to the census. He had the role of organist at the parish church in Marlow. He was also, though not at Marlow, a clarinet teacher. His older brother William Boulter Whall was a mariner who published an important book on English sea shanties in 1910. Roughton contributed the musical settings for the book while their niece Veronica illustrated the work. In 1891 Roughton aged 29 and his wife Flora (nee Adames, married Chichester 1887) lived along with a servant in the High Street. Roughton had lived in Marlow for about 4 years at that point. The Whalls were still there in the High Street in 1892 but seem to have moved away quite soon afterwards. The couple settled finally in Stroud, Gloucestershire where Roughton acted as the church organist for over 20 years. He died in 1937 leaving an estate worth just over £3,500. Flora passed away the next year with an estate worth a little under £9,000.

Charles Campton A watercress grower living Henley Road. Aged 34. The local watercress industry never garners much attention but it encompassed sites at Marlow (along the Henley Road), Little Marlow, Bourne End, Wooburn Moor and Medmenham. It was up in Chesham that the Bucks industry was centered however. There a Henry Dell grew 100 tons of the crop in 1881 alone. Half a bushel of watercress wholesale in 1885 was worth 1 shilling. It was a popular food in the Victorian era. Though it was made into soups and purees, it was thought to be most beneficial when eaten raw such as in a salad or sandwich. Charles Campton may have had streams flowing from the Thames to feed his watercress beds however running water was not necessary to grow the plant, a plentiful supply of near enough water from a well which could be used to wet the soil regularly was enough. Fellow Marlow Ancestors blogger Kathryn has grown watercress in her Marlow garden in the modern day nowhere near a stream. The water of course must be clean. During the 1890s there was a panic when the public began to realise that some growers were using water from streams into which Wycombe Sewage Works discharged their effluent, as well as water from potentially contaminated wells. The victims in all this were mostly Londoners who ended eating up he majority of Marlow area cress. Charles Campton is not known to have been involved in selling dodgy cress! 

Jeffery Truss A bill poster aged 77 living West Street with his wife Ann, as they had done for years. Being the town Bill Poster was an official position with public announcements being posted up for the public by the man given that job. Though he does not say so on the census, Jeffrey had also been the town crier since at least 1866. He had earlier in life been a cordwainer. In 1894 poor Jeffrey was rendered bed ridden with paralysis and suffered the loss of his wife. He died himself the next year and was buried in St Peters Roman Catholic churchyard. Perhaps he was a late convert to Catholicism as he was for decades one of the bellringers of the C of E parish church. He was in fact one of the team that first rang the bells when the (current) new church was built back in the 1830s. Jeffrey also played the hand bells in local musical concerts.

A biography of his successor as Bill Poster for Marlow, Edward Hatton, has been published on the blog here. 

Ellen Venables A draper's cashier visiting Clara and William Langston at no 12 High Street. It is quite unusual to see shop assistants specifically referred to as cashiers. This implies she most probably worked somewhere sufficiently large or busy for it to be someone's job to just take payment rather than to be a general assistant. More about the Langston's here

See:

Wikipedia article on W. B Whall, brother of Roughton.

Obituary Jeffrey Truss South Bucks Standard 14th June 1895.

Burrell Research and Graves Great Marlow

See "Research" at the bottom of this page to read more about these people and how they connect to each other.

Above - Harriet, wife of Thomas Burrell d. Feb 20 18(..4?) age 40, name Thomas is inscribed below but the other details too worn to read.

Above, another grave. Thomas Burrell. Smith of this town, d. Sept 9th 1776 age 48

ALSO OF

Elizabeth his wife d. Feb 16 1799 age 67 years. 

Above, John Burrell, d. Sept 30th 1819 age 52

"Under this stone here lies a stone living with GOD above/ built on the rock was such a one/ whom force nor ...   could move/Near this place lay the remains of ..

Thomas Burrell d. Oct 8th 1818 age 57 years. 

John Burrell as above. Another view of same.

HB 1850, TB 1860, ?B 186?

AB 1829, WJB 1865

 Above, Sarah Burrell died Mar 1st 1825 age 65 years.

Research:

Harriet Burrell née Badger married blacksmith and ironmonger Thomas Burrell at Bisham in 1833. They lived, and Thomas worked, in premises on the East side of the High Street, Marlow by what is now Institute Road corner. That year his premises consisted of his house ,"shop" as in workshop, garden and an "iron house" and was worth an estimated £10 a year. Thomas was baptised at Little Marlow in 1801 to Thomas and Alice Burrell. His family was however of Great Marlow origin. Harriet died between the 1841 and 51 censuses leaving behind several young children. Thomas's married sister Elizabeth East (married Charles East 1822) moved in with him to help look after the family. In 1841 Thomas inadvertently bought for 3 shillings some copper wire stolen from the cellars of James Bavin in Marlow by William Heather and George Perry. The thieves initially used the wire to poach game but having been seen by a gamekeeper and fleeing, they decided to sell the guilty wire to various Marlow business people instead. They were jailed but no summonses were sent to those who had innocently bought the wire. The family had had a much more shocking brush with the law in 1839 when that Charles East, husband of Elizabeth was found guilty of sheep stealing and transported. More on this case here.

 On a more positive note Thomas Burrell came to the rescue of one of the Marlow church bells which had developed a crack in 1849. An iron band was made for it in his High Street forge, and a man, perhaps Thomas himself, ran with the red hot ring to the church. There it was heated a little more in a temporary fire made in the bell fry before being successfully fitted and quenched with water. 

Thomas was the victim of a robbery himself in 1862 (Windsor and Eton Express 20th December 1862) during a town crime spree. Old coins and 45 shillings in current money were stolen from his premises, as discovered by his daughter upon her returning from church.

It is possible Thomas eventually took over the smithing and ironmongery business of his uncle John. 

The Thomas Burrell in the second grave photo (d 1776) was the grandfather of Thomas, husband of Harriett. His wife was Elizabeth (d 1799) who appears in a grave photo further down this page. The couple married at Great Marlow in 1757. Elizabeth was née Saunders. In her will written in 1794 she mentions her sisters Jane Saunders to whom she left £5 and Ann Cork, wife of John Cork whom she left £150 invested in stocks. A share she had in 3 cottages in Wooburn went to her son Thomas while son John got 2 sheets and 2 pillows. Her two daughters (unnamed but one was Sarah) got to share all her wearing apparel. All the rest of her money and property was to be equally divided between all her surviving children. Sons Thomas and John were made joint executors.

The John Burrell on the grave (d 1819) was also a blacksmith, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth. He left his stock in trade and business to his unmarried sister Sarah who also features in the graves above and in her mother's will.

John's will was witnessed by his close neighbour George Davis landlord of the Chequers, William Hatch the baker from across the road and attorney Robert Goldsmith. Executors of the will were John Mossenton the cordwainer (of Chapel Street) and Sarah the primary legatee.

The Thomas Burrell who died 1818 was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth, brother of John, and father of the Thomas who married Alice.

Alice is presumably the AB 1829 on the grave above as she definitely died that year.

The HB 1850 may be Harriet, daughter of Thomas and Harriet who was born circa 1838, and the T.B may be her brother Thomas born circa 1836.

Photos and grave transcriptions by Kathryn Day, research and will transcriptions by Charlotte Day.

More information:

To find all mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. New posts / people added daily. Over 4,000 people get a mention!

More grave photo posts for Marlow, Little Marlow and Hurley here

Will transcription posts listed here

Posts about everyday life in Marlow for the Burrells and others here including links to posts about specific trades, recreated trade and address directories etc. 

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