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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Early History Of Dedmere Road and Field House / Field House Farm

Dedmere Road, Marlow existed as a rough way through the countryside  as "Dedmere Highway" [Deedmere, Dedmore, Dudmere, Dadsmere....] in the 1600s (access to Common Fields) but its residential development was mainly from the early 1890s onwards. One earlier exception was Dedmere House also known as Field House which existed as the home of James and Sarah Webb and their children by 1871. It was a small distance off of Dedmere Road.  They had moved there from West Street. 

James was a farmer of 20 acres on the 1881 census, employing one man. Two years previously a tame goose and some ducks were stolen from them.

In 1886 the Webb's son in law Charles Fisher a butcher of Harrow was charged with coming to the Webb's house and trying to shoot their guest Mrs Sarah Holm in an effort to force her to produce his wife Mary (known as Polly) who was there with her parents. Sarah had never seen Charles before in her life and seems only to have been confronted by him because she was in the house and opened her window upon hearing banging at the front door in the hope this heralded the arrival of a telegram she was expecting. She seems to have been out of the loop in regards a delicate family situation involving the Webb's and Fishers. The rest of the household, alarm raised by Mrs Webb, in recognising the door knocker had decided to studiously ignore Charles and not let him in to speak to Polly. He fired shots at both the front and rear of the premises. Charles ended up breaking down the door, assaulting a male house guest and asking another to fight with him out in the road. At his trial Polly was excused by the judge from "the pain" of testifying against her husband though she was called as a witness by the prosecution. It is a fallacy that women could not testify against their husband in court- look at court reports and you will see that they did so regularly, but judges and magistrates would be seen as ungentlemanly if they asked a wife to do so if other witnesses could do the job as well. As not everyone in the house had heard any shots and the accused had no reason to wish to harm Sarah Holm the case was dismissed with the option for the Webbs to decide to press charges for Charles breaking into their house or their guest to prosecute for being assaulted but it seems in neither case this happened. Polly was back living with her husband in Harrow at the time of the 1891 census, hopefully with some peace and happiness in her life and this embarrassing incident swept under the carpet. The case seems to have been poorly conducted with the bench ignoring the fact that Charles having a lack of personal animosity towards Sarah Holm was hardly the point on which the probability of his guilt of firing at her hung. She was shot at because she was being intimidated as a person, any person, in the same house as Polly with the aim that Polly would be forced to agree to see him. There is no question that Charles had a gun with him that night, though he initially lied to police about that fact. That poor Sarah Holm had had sufficient motivation to crawl, terrified, in her nightdress along the landing to get help was given no importance by the bench.

Note that Polly's sister Elizabeth was married to Charles's brother William.

The Webb's often seem to have had a house full of guests or lodgers. In 1874 one lodger, Harcout Hardy, who had made his money as a tea merchant in Shanghai, died at the Webb's home from the long term affects of less temperate drinking- several bottles of sherry a day plus whisky. He was only 37. The presence of a live in male medical attendant come servant was insufficient to stop his drinking. The inquest was held at the new Railway Hotel in Marlow. No mention is made in any report of where his wife Amy was living while Harcourt was trying to recover his sobriety in Marlow. The couple had a son Frederick together. Harcourt's will has as beneficiaries a James Hardy and John Gray Hill.

Of long standing farming stock the Webbs would have been quite at home in the then largely still rural vicinity of Dedmere Road. Yes there was the nearby railway station from 1873 with its busy goods yard, and later a chair factory and saw mill in Victoria Road near the junction with Dedmere Road but mostly there were fields all about them.

As was typical in Marlow housing development when it did pick up in Dedmere Road soon far outstripped the ability of the powers that be to keep up with adding the necessary infrastructure. There was no gas main in the road in 1901. A small extension was made that way in 1903 to allow a few street lamps to be provided but five years after that the whole road still did not have the privilege of a gas connection. Nor did all the houses have access even to their own cesspit. The road remained unsurfaced until 1909. The local unemployed were roped in to do the labour for that job.

Flooding from the river could be a problem. Mr P Nelson Smith lived at Field House in 1904 and fumed to the council that the land around his home and the lane leading up to it was under a water for a third of every year. The same year the property was put up for sale by its owner along with 27 acres of accompanying land, pasture and orchards. The advertising stressed the "convenient arrangements" of the "well built house" but naturally did not mention the somewhat aquatic nature of its gardens. 

Previous flooding of the farmland may have been a factor in the business failure of a Mr Hutton Stallworthy farmer of Field House Farm (and Spring Gardens Bourne End) in 1893. He had been at the farm since around 1891 and returned with his wife to Oxfordshire following his insolvency. From there they moved to Hampshire, to Northants and finally via possibly a few other places back to Waddesdon Bucks.

On the plus side all that nearby water helped firefighters quickly quench a fire that broke out on part of the farm in 1892. This part was being used by farmer Mrs Morris so must have been let or sublet separately from the main farm which was then in the hands of Hutton Stallworthy and his wife Emma (nee Dodwell).

On the time of the 1891 census Hutton and Emma had 19 year old Ernest Coltman with them. He is described as a visitor but he was in fact a paying pupil learning farming from Hutton at a cost of £90 a year. Hutton borrowed £100 from him to help buy a traction engine but couldn't keep up with payments and it was seized. Ernest found it difficult to stick with any particular trade, or to stay out of personal debt and  he burned through an inheritance he had received at a rapid rate leading to him too being declared insolvent in 1894. Numerous Marlow tobacco sellers were left with unpaid bills.

Hutton and Emma's son "Earnest" born at Field House Farm in 1893 may have been named after Ernest Coltman as he lived with them at the time.

WW1 touched every part of Marlow including Dedmere. The Reading Mercury on 25th September 1915 reported that Private A Ayres of the Border Regiment, late of Dedmere Road, had died of wounds received at Gallipoli. I have not been able to trace his military service otherwise.

From 1899 to the middle of WW1 Field House Farm was occupied by Keziah and George Barrett who operated it as a dairy farm. It had by then increased in size from the 20 acres James Webb had had to 30 acres. They had bought the farm from the executors of an Alfred Webb in 1899. On the 1911 census the Barretts had a 20 year old servant girl Florrie Yates living with them but perhaps either servant or mistress was unhappy as a few weeks after the census Keziah advertised for a new servant girl - wages up to £11 a year.

Keziah and George both died in 1916 and the farm stock was sold off. Coming in after them was the rather shady Edward Fenner Fennel, horse dealer and dairy farmer, who went bankrupt almost immediately. He had a string of aliases making straightening out his financial affairs a challenge. In 1919 he was given 6 months hard labour in Kent for forging a reference.

After the war there was increased development in the Dedmere area. Though still mainly residential in character the neighbourhood included the Greenwich Saw Mill in Victoria Road which had replaced the earlier chair factory come saw mill as mentioned above. Dedmere Road residents were amongst those who went to the Council in 1946 to complain about the amount of sawdust from it that blew their way. The council did not consider much could be done about it.

From (at least) the 1920s to at least the late 1950s Field House Farm was used by the Pinches family as a stud specializing at first in cart and van pulling horses then later in quality riding horses. It was also a riding school and I believe a livery stable too. It was sometimes then called Pinches Farm. Mrs Pinches who ran the riding school was Margaret nee Morris whose family were at Barmoor Farm in Marlow.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

Related Posts:

For more history posts about specific Marlow Streets or named houses see this menu. There is a lot for instance on the people of nearby address Glade Road.

Over 4,000 people are mentioned on this blog. Search for all mentions of anyone on the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. You will find plenty more Webb family mentions amongst many other people.

Everyday life in old Marlow post index: Here

Sources Included:

Reading Mercury 12th August 1911 and 17th July 1886. British Library Archives, accessed via the BNA.

The Timber Trade Journal and Saw Mill Advertiser Volume 77 published by De LA Rue.

"England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPJ3-3DBS : 30 August 2018), Harcourt William Hardy, 16 Oct 1874; citing Probate, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm .

Census transcription by Charlotte Day except 1891 Harrow which was by Jane Pullinger.

GRO marriage registration index, GRO online.

Marlow Directory and Almanack 1907, Marlow Printing Company.

Kellys Directory 1915 by Kellys Directories Limited. 

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer July 17 1886 - Slough Library

Maidenhead Advertiser 29th July 1904. 

South Bucks Standard 30th June 1893 and July 13th 1894. These two editions British Library Archives, accessed via the BNA.

Bucks Free Press 10th November 1916, Bucks Free Press Archives.

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

The Sorrow of Mary English

Mary English was nee Sneath, the third daughter of prominent Marlow surgeon and apothecary William Sneath and his wife Elizabeth. Her father was in partnership with George Trash for some time, the two working out of William's home. After William's death, George continued the practice, eventually moving it to his own home. Mary was therefore a member of a respected and comfortably off family. But even so, her life was touched by much sorrow. 

William Sneath would have had a room at home set up as a surgery in the most literal sense, and reports suggest that a room also functioned as the apothecary shop. Surgeon and apothecary was the usual pairing of roles in the Georgian era - for more how this worked in practice see our post Call the Apothecary here.  Her mother ran a boarding school for young ladies from their home too, a common "respectable" occupation for genteel ladies to take up for extra income. Some of these schools took just a handful of pupils - most in Marlow were of this type. 

Young Mary was bought up to attend the parish church, but later became a non conformist. Religion featured heavily in her life, and was it seems both the cause and solace of many of her sorrows. As a young girl, she is said to have been affected by the death of a sister who on her death bed exhorted Mary to be mindful of the scriptures. This sister cautioned 12 year old Mary against novel reading in particular. This may seem an innocent occupation to warn against, but it was not uncommon for it to be considered "unsafe" for young women who it was feared could get "ideas" or become over excited. Others approached novel reading as just an indulgence and waste of time that could be better spent on more improving pursuits such as Bible reading. Still others thought it would make girls look less attractive (hunched shoulders!) or would hurt their eyesight. There were a number of booksellers in Marlow High Street that the Sneath girls could be tempted by. These operated as circulating libraries too, and were open for borrowing by members who paid a subscription. One advertised that all the books he offered had been personally approved as suitable for young women by the vicar! This attitude lingered a long time, and was one of the reasons that when Marlow got its first literary Institute with library, so few of those who borrowed books were female. It does not seem little Mary needed much warning however. A later "memoir" written about Mary described her as a child with "uncorrupted morals" and a mild character. 

Later curiosity led Mary to attend the services of some evangelical and independent ministers, principally Rowland Hill who was visiting Wooburn in 1774. Rowland is an interesting man in his own right, a famous preacher in his day. He was an advocate for the smallpox vaccine amongst other things  His arrival was likely to have attracted lots of those wanting to see a well known speaker in person but in Mary's case, his words were said to have struck a chord. He remained in contact with her ever after. It is likely that Mary attended Marlow's own Salem Chapel at this time. In any case she came in contact with non conformists and Quakers, and through the former she met her future husband pastor Thomas English. 

Thomas was born in 1751 in Oxford, to a family of worshippers at the established church. He also counted his transference to the non conformist community to the experience of hearing a preacher who struck a spiritual cord with him. In his case he was just 14, and sent to live in London to learn a trade. It was later said the young Thomas had experienced physical, emotional and verbal abuse from the family he lodged with at this time. They found his new found piety a source of amusement and an excuse to ridicule him. But he succeeded in becoming ordained in 1775, the same year he married his first wife Susannah Evans. After serving in a number of locations, Thomas & Susannah moved from Gosport in Hampshire to Wooburn. But within weeks tragedy struck, and Susannah died. 

Thomas would go on to marry our Mary Sneath in 1779. Of the couple's 5 children, only two Eliza/Elizabeth and Thomas, survived their mother. Two of the lost children died within days of each other, one while the funeral of the first was ongoing. This terrible loss was difficult for Mary to recover from. "Her countenance very strongly depicted the most affecting expressions of grief." The children had suffered painful lingering deaths, and Mary's faith was tested. She began to question if she had missed something in their care that may have made the difference between life and death. There was nothing any could do, but the poor mother could not rest. It was said that she couldn't stay quiet for long before breaking out in fresh remembrance of the children's suffering. The force of her "accumulated distress" was causing a nervous collapse as they termed it. It seems that Mary's voicing of her anger at God and fear that she was being punished for some unknown sin, was believed by some to be the voice of the devil speaking through her. And Mary began to believe the same. She is said to believe the devil had bargained for her soul, and that God was too disappointed in her to claim it back. It sounds as though she suffered a total mental collapse. Afraid to receive sacrament in case it prompted a "satanic assault", Mary must have been terrified. Poor Thomas did what he could for her, and she also befriended a group of Quakers in Maidenhead who were said to give her some comfort. At last Mary regained enough strength to travel to Brighton to take the sea air and waters. It was a fashionable place for invalids to go although the future city was nothing like the size it is now. The sea cure certainly worked its charm on Mary, and after some time she was able to return home. Of course, such grief as she had experienced as well as her spiritual trauma, could not really disappear overnight, and she continued to suffer some episodes of acute mental distress. But at least she enjoyed one period of "sweet serenity of mind". 

Mary died on the 2nd October 1794. She caught a cold (as they thought it) during a visit to Bristol with her husband. This affected her severely and she scarcely made it home. She never recovered, suffering a broken blood vessel and then a painful final illness. Thomas was said to leave her side as little as possible and he was there, along with her sister, when she finally went to her rest.

***

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

Mary's sister Sarah's will is on the blog here

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

More Marlow church, chapel religious history content can be found on the menu under Church Related.

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors.

Sources include: 

The Evangelical Magazine, May 1795. 

Christian Herald, June 19 1815 - digitised by Google. 

Memoir of Rev Thomas English, digitised by Google. 

The Annual Register (Longman, Green 1801)

 

What Did Platts Use To Be?

 

The site of a farmhouse throughout the 1600s to at least the earlier 1700s this building was used for a grocery shop come cheesemongers in the 1840s and early 1850s by Thomas Butler who later went on to be the postmaster in the West Street Post Office. 

The building then became the premises of Robert Graham the pawnbroker who was probably a Scot by origin. Robert's apprentice Joseph Evans took over the business in 1861 or 62 in partnership with Alfred Edward Batting but they dissolved their business relationship in 1864 and Alfred continued alone.

In 1860 Joseph Evans was one of the witnesses to give evidence against Mary Hill a needlewoman living with the Frith family also of Quoiting Square who stole towels and ribbons from the Frith's and tried to pawn them in Robert Graham's shop. I think she needed to make a bit more of a getaway first! The house the Frith's occupied no longer stands but it was about 30 seconds walk from the pawnbrokers, if that.

Joseph Evans and Alfred Batting together and then Alfred Batting alone also operated as furniture brokers and secondhand clothes dealers.

Alfred ended up moving premises into nearby Market Square leaving his Quoiting Square shop to be taken over by furniture dealer Alfred East circa 1880. Mr East was eventually able to live off site, the big dream of all Victorian and Edwardian shopkeepers. Being able to separate business and home life was the sign that you'd made it. His home Myneholme was in Institute Road.

More Quoiting Square shopkeepers will feature in future posts. List of 1700s occupiers of property in the Square here. More Quoiting Square related posts are listed here. Use the Person Index to find all mentions of someone on this blog.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors. Please feel free to use my research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here. You are also free to use my photo here.