1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow Quoiting Square / Oxford Terrace Continued

My family has the original working notebooks written up for this assessment. It was to be used to set the 1834 rates. 

It's age means the material is faded and falling apart so I am transcribing it in parts starting with the house and building information. The notebooks have some corrections and additions added up to circa 1839. If any are present for these entries I will indicate so. I have been adding the different parts to this blog as and when they chime with other bits of research I am doing.

Format I use:

Name

Property

Annual value of property

Any notes of mine added in square brackets

Quoiting Place [Quoiting Square] and Oxford Terrace [in Oxford Road] in book but the assessors made a hash of this section. Many of these properties were actually round the corner in West Street and I have noted this below as appropriate.

Continued [1st part of Oxford Terrace and Quoiting Square is here]

Thomas Davis

House, woodhouse, garden, stables and shed

£11

*****

William Harper [tinplate worker. Apparently actually West Street. Certainly was West Street earlier]

House, two gardens, workshop and yards

£10

*****

George Wyatt

House, woodhouse, stable and lofts

£10 10 shillings

Large garden

£2

*****

Thomas Wyatt 

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Edward Tyler [a tallow chandler and market gardener who was sent to a debtors prison in London in 1834. Property actually West Street though probably by Quoiting Square turning].

House, storehouse and large garden

£9

A large market garden 

*****

Henry Stallwood [The Marlow parish constable and hayward for Marlow manor. Very good at his constable job! His dad William lived next door see other 1833 assessment posts]

Cottage

£3

*****

Miss Lord [Eleanor Lord. This was a boarding School. See my Schools In Marlow History post published here. Premises actually West Street].

Dwelling house, yard and convenient offices

£23

*****

Widow Clark [Actually West Street]

House and garden

£8

**

Widow Puddifant [Sarah Puddifant. Died 1840. Actually West Street. Post about her here].

House, yard and garden

£12

[Added in pencil after the name of widow Puddifant without crossing her name out is the name James Thomas Lovegrove and added to the annual value column in pencil words "raised to £22". More on James here]

*****

John Musprat [Actually West Street]

Three Tuns [inn] house, yard, stables and garden

£11

[More on John and also the Three Tuns here ]

*****

Samuel Carter

House and garden

£5

*****

George Greenwood

House, garden and shop

£13

Large garden

£2

*****

George Gale [master of the National School in Oxford Road]

House, play ground, stable and gardens

£17

Large Garden

£2

*****

William Windsor [a baker. Also actually West Street. He still there 1844]

House and garden

£5

*****

Richard Musprat [actually West Street]

House, yard and garden

£6

******

William Smith [actually West Street]

Cottage and garden 

£4 10 shillings

*****

James Allum [actually West Street]

House and garden

£6

*****

William Humphrey [West Street]

House and garden

£7 10 shillings

*****

Francis Pearce

House and garden

£7

*****

William Pusey [Surely this too is actually West Street?] [A straw bonnet maker and chair turner. See here for more about him and his family]

House, washhouse, shop, yard and large garden

£11

*****

Robert Sawyer [West Street again]

House, part of yard, stable, sheds, piggery and large garden 

£15

Tolls of the market 

£3

*****

George Westbrook

The Crown [Inn. This was in Market Square though the grounds and back of it could be accessed from Oxford Road], house, pleasure gardens and garden adjoining, large garden at the top of the yard, stable yard, stables, coach houses, skittle ground and other convenient offices

£60

The Town Hall card room [next door to the Crown, again not in Quoiting Place or Oxford Road!], parlour etc belonging to it

£10

*****

Oxford Road

Late Charles Bowerie Esq [probably Bouverie]

House, yard, stable, coach house and garden

£30

*****

Sarah Pimm [nee Hale, widow of Richard Pimm, hurdle maker who had died that year aged 62]

Cottage and garden

£4 10 shillings

*****

Richard Frith

Cottage and garden

£4 10 shillings

*****

Alexander Higginson Esq

House with offices, lawn, garden and green house

£45

To find all mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. There are thousands of people listed there.

For other posts about Quoiting Place, Oxford Road or West Street see the index here

For a full list of former schools like Miss Lord's school see Schools in the index here

Index to posts about the every day life for Marlow people at the time of the assessment and others see - here

© Marlow Ancestors

Charles Susan - Radical And Emigrant

This post is about one of Marlow's men who left our town for America in the late 1840's. Charles Susan is long dead to us now, so it's hard to think of him as a passionate and radical young man dreaming of a new life abroad but that's who he was. The Charles we feature today was born circa 1808, to another Charles Susan. Charles senior was a respectable clothes dealer and pawn broker in the High Street. This older Charles mainly sold second hand clothes rather than making them up himself. Used clothes retained value in the past when not everyone could afford new ones. Clothing was therefore also one of the items you could pawn in his shop. The very poorest had few if any spare outfits to offer and what they did have was probably of too poor a condition to be worth much. But reports suggest that items like "Sunday best" outfits were a favourite item to offer, as well as seasonal items like coats and jackets with the hope they would be redeemed back by the time they were next needed. Charles senior was also the agent for Burrows shoes, mostly hand made by workers in Marlow and Cookham, as was the younger Charles in time. (More of this forgotten but huge scale local employer in the future!)

Our Charles however principally acted as a grocer, with a sideline in pawnbroking. At first he was trading in Spittal Street, (sometimes given as Chapel Street, the two roads run into one another) but in 1839 he took over the premises of Mr Richard Grinstead in the High Street. As such he sold off all the shop fittings of his old business. The description of this gives us a lovely glimpse into the interior of his shop before the era of photographs. He had two shop counters, each 13 ft long, the best one made of mahogany, the other of deal. There were also nests of 16 & 18 drawers, painted shelves, sets of weights and scales, a lamp and 12 large cannisters. As was usual at the time, Charles lived in the same premises he traded from and when he moved, he decided to take on most of the furniture already belonging to the living quarters of his new shop. So he sold off his Spittal Street household goods at the same time. Therefore we can snoop amongst his belongings offered at auction. He had a comfortable range of fashionable items, mostly made of mahogany and walnut, such as card tables and glass fronted bookcases. And of course he also shed some practical items such as "night commodes"! 

Above, the sweet shop is location of Susan's first premises. 

Both generations of Charles Susan seem to have identified as radicals and liberals politically. This was somewhat brave in Marlow as it was opposite to the interests of the principal landlords the Williams family, who were frequently accused of evicting and bullying tenants who voted against them. Marlow elections tend to always involve accusations of bribery and corruption, and a number of results were contested. Supporters of the radicals said they often met people who expressed a wish to vote for them but said they were too afraid to do so. Therefore those men who did make a vote against the Williams were called brave and independent. In 1835 Charles Susan junior is listed amongst those. He was later described as a fierce radical. He wrote letters to the local press criticising the intimidation and bullying that went with 1830s and 40s elections in Marlow. His critics accused him of putting his name to letters dictated by others but there is no doubt they expressed the beliefs Charles himself had. 

In 1841 Charles is mentioned in the press as one of those bringing a petition to the two then MPs. This, signed by 400 residents was against the "oppressive" Poor Law which had expanded the work house system. It was reported that Sir William Clayton of Harleyford recieved the deputation with courtesy but refused to present the petition on their behalf to parliament. The other M P, Colonel Williams, did however present it. It was bundled with some others that requested the new poor laws to put aside altogether in favour of resuming the old. The Marlow petitioners said they in fact didn't want the old equally unfortunate old system back, but to adapt the new to be fairer and kinder. Charles subsequently wrote to the press to deny that Clayton had refused to take their petition - he said they'd never asked him to, as Williams had already consented to do so. They merely asked him to support it, which he said he wouldn't do. 

Even the voting for elected parish positions was subject to accusations of voter intimidation by candidates regarded as followers of one camp or another. Charles stood for various positions and succeeded in becoming an overseer of the poor, in an election that stood out for the precautions taken against voter interference - according to the supporters of those that won. 

Both Charles and his father were members of the Salem Chapel, the dissenting or non conformist chapel in town. This is now Christchurch URC, Oxford Road. The Salem minister Rev Thomas Styles shared their political views and also publicly voted against the Williams. A number of his congregation did the same. More about the controversial minister here.

Charles Junior may have dreamed and saved for his new life abroad for a long time. He married in Marlow to Esther, who according to later reminisces was the wealthy young widow of Daniel Humphrey. Charles' eldest son was born in Great Marlow in 1840, and was also named Charles. In around 1849 the Susan family made their move across the ocean to America, at the same time as a couple of other Marlow tradesmen including Susan's brother in law. Like many, they bought land and attempted to make their way by farming. Wisconsin was their destination and it seemed they made a great success of it - eventually. Interestingly, in the 1890's a dormant bank account under the name of Charles Susan in Wisconsin was amongst those old deposits whose existence was publicised in the press. A deposit had been made in the 1840's shortly after our Charles arrived in America but never claimed thereafter. The youngest Charles, who had came to America as a little boy with his parents, thought this money had been his father's. He made a claim for it, but there were others who claimed to be the rightful heirs of the Charles Susan. The trouble was finding out which Mr Susan had really left the money. I don't know if he was ever successful in his claim. 

Notes:

The very youngest Charles born 1840 in Marlow, was at this point an Archdeacon in Portage, Wisconsin. He died in 1898 after a short illness when he held the position of Archdeacon in Milwaukee diocese and chaplain to St Marks Hospital in Chicago. (It was reported that Charles senior had also changed his denomination from non conformity.) Charles junior earlier in life joined a Volunteer regiment and fought in the Civil War, before taking up farming and eventually seeking ordination. 

To find all mentions of your ancestors here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. Other shopkeeper biographies can be found under the Specific Shops, Streets etc option on the same menu. 

Related posts

1847 election riots - Charles appears in this post here

1880's election riots here

The election bribery case involving Jason Povey here

To find other posts about life in old Marlow when your family lived here see this index here

Sources include

1833 Parish assessment, original notebooks held by our family. 

South Bucks Standard 30 August 1895, British Library Archive, accessed via the BNA. 

Bucks Herald 10 & 17th April 1841, as above.

Weekly True Sun paper Jan 1835. 

Census 1841, Charlotte's transcription from microfilm. 

List of voters for independence and liberty, Great Marlow Elections, 1835.

 

Traveller's Friend AKA Traveller's Rest Dean Street

 Updated by Charlotte November 2024

The Traveller's Friend [sometimes mistakenly referred to as the Traveller's Rest which was actually a different pub in nearby Chapel Street. This was itself sometimes mistakenly called the Traveller's Friend], was a small beer house and low lodging house in Dean Street Marlow, an area dense with other sellers of alcohol, and other low lodging houses. The establishment wasn't the absolute roughest of the Dean Street places but it wasn't far off. Repeatedly the men lodging there were described as tramps or vagrants. They often got in trouble for being drunk and disorderly. It should be understood however that the poorer and shabbier dressed you were the more quickly you would be targeted by police if thought to be tipsy. Drunken rich people generally were advised just to go home and sleep it off, it being considered not fair to embarrass them by making them appear in court to answer charges. The sort of destitute people who used this pub would usually receive no such kindness and were often drinking on a empty stomach which meant a rapid absorption of alcohol. 

The pub was fairly close to the corner of Spittal Street and Dean Street, just a few feet from the Cherry Tree, the Jolly Maltsters and later the Chairmaker's Arms too. That was 12 ft from the Cherry Tree and 9ft from The Mint across the road to be precise.

There was only three bedrooms in the property so if you stayed there you weren't getting a bed let alone a room to yourself.

Out back the pub had stabling for three horses though visitors were most likely travellers on foot. Many Dean Street pubs hired out sheds and stables to other residents of the street who had donkeys or ponies for use in their veg hawking, cherry selling or skewer making businesses.

There was a back alley entrance to the Travellers from an alley that also ran behind and could be accessed from the nearby Cherry Tree. This alley was eventually forcibly stopped up as it was seen as a place for bad behaviour such as the exchange of stolen goods or as a means of a quick getaway from the police.

Charles Hoare ran the business from at least 1861 to at least 1864. At other times he ran the Three Horseshoes in Gun Lane and the Bear in Chapel Street both very near the Traveller's. (See this post on his wife Charlotte here). The pub had probably existed as an unlicenced lodging house for some twenty years before Charles took over.

 William Price was the landlord for some time. (Possibly from 1864) He said in an 1871 licencing hearing that he had had a licence to sell beer by retail for some 20 years, although it would appear he was not at the Traveller's premises all of that time- he was at the Cherry Tree in 1861 ( See here ). He was also a fruiterer, a very Dean Street occupation - in the late 1840s there had been an orchard out back of the Cherry Tree and there may still have been one later. At one point he and his wife Lydia had trouble with one of their guests whom William suspected of stealing wood from the yard at the Traveller's. William offered to fight him, Lydia politely asked him to leave but he would not. Police had to be called.

William died at the pub in 1874 . Lydia took over the licence. This was a technical detail as she was already described long before that as the landlady but previously only William's name was on the licence. She ran the premises for only a short time before her tragic and horrific death at Bourne End Station later that year, aged 65. On the way to visit her daughter in Goring, she was dragged under the wheels of a departing train after risking a dart back to it, apparently to retrieve something forgotten in the carriage. Her injuries were such that the elderly lady stood no chance of survival. Her son Thomas took over the beer house. Then by 1877 came a William Price followed by a Henry Price (also a dealer in fish, poultry and veg) landlord until 1894 when a Charles Price took over temporarily. He was considered to have conducted the premises badly, allowing things to get close to riotous inside so that his attempts to take over the pub permanently got short thrift from the magistrates. The revelation by the police that Charles had once been convicted of poaching (albeit 8 years ago) and had recently been seen walking into town with two notorious poachers and an unexplained three dozen dead rabbits didn't exactly help matters. Henry Price had to take back the licence. There then followed an unsuccessful attempt to transfer the premises from Henry to Richard Wilson, a coffee shop proprietor from London. It seems the magistrates did not want someone inexperienced in charge of a house that was described as a haunt of poachers and the favourite drinking hole of all the "lowest" people in Marlow. When it emerged that Richard had not yet managed to sell the coffee business when he applied to take over the Friend, that was it. The only thing worse than an inexperienced host on the premises, was an inexperienced host who wasn't even going to be able to be on the premises  because he had other business to attend to at the same time in a different town. After Richard informed the Bench he hadn't secured a buyer, a hold over was given to George Stroud. 

In 1897 it was licensed as a common lodging house for a maximum of 6 lodgers but anecdotal evidence suggests this limit was often exceeded.

The poor state of the building meant significant repairs were needed in 1901 if authorities were to permit it to continue to operate. During the works the then proprietors Annie and George Stroud (from 1894) had to move out. They were forced to stay in a Dean Street house left empty after it too had been condemned as being unfit for human habitation. In the end, the Travellers Friend was practically rebuilt at a cost of £400 in order to satisfy the authorities. 

Above, now a cycle shop, the former Travellers Friend, largely rebuilt 1901. There was 2 doors on the front and one at the side after the rebuild.

Maybe the Strouds enjoyed their enforced hiatus from their beer house business as some of the Dean Street customers were a lot of trouble. In 1901 Annie was threatened with being hit with a beer cup by an itinerant woman. This woman along with her husband was allowed to purchase beer on the premises but refused lodgings there as they had caused trouble during a previous stay. The complaining woman when turfed off the premises retaliated by smashing the window of the Traveller's Friend.

The next year the spruced up pub ceased to be used as a lodging house. Officially that is. I found a lodger referenced in 1908! The original dedicated lodging house portion attached to the main part of the premises was removed in the renovations. The works also gave the pub a separate jug and bottle entrance for takeaway alcohol. At this point the pub had three bedrooms and a stable that could take 3 horses.

A James Humphrey, who took over from George Stroud in 1902*, was there until 1904. Humphrey passed the premises onto Frederick Clifton after a brief hold over of the licence was granted to William Henry Noble. Fred Clifton passed it on again the following year to William Henry Blair. In 1906 Frederick Elmy took over briefly.  John Henry Westman had it in 1907-1909 and was the final landlord. 

The pub was forcibly closed in 1909 under local measures intended to reduce the concentration of beer retailers in any area. As mentioned above, it was described as 9 yards from the Mint and 12 yards from the Cherry Tree, 73 yards from the Cross Keys in Spittal Square plus 33 from The Verney Arms. It was selling 59 barrels a beer a year at this point.

One of the reasons counted against its remaining open was the high turnover of landlords in the proceeding 5 years of its life.

When the Travellers was closed down in 1909 it became Alfred Lee's grocers (later Chapple's general store) with his dairy behind. David Webb the corn merchant occupied the adjacent building to the left, now demolished, (later Hoars cycle shop.)

*George Stroud and his wife moved to Cambridge Road by 1907 when George was fined for using "disgusting" and "indecent" language in front of several witnesses. He said then in his defence that he had run The Traveller's Friend for 8 years without any complaint against him or his conduct.

Related Posts: 

Travellers REST here

 Pub Related post index here 

Posts about life in Dean Street and neighbouring streets here

More beer sellers than bakers -Temperance in Marlow here

Lists of posts about everyday life in old Great Marlow here

 Many many Marlow publicans and beer sellers etc had connections as a family or as an individual to several different premises. There was a high turnover in licence holders at many locations! To find all mentions of your ancestors here, see the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. This lists more than 4000 individuals from Marlow's past and new content is added daily. 

Sources:

Censuses from my transcriptions of microfilm images of census pages supplied by the LDS at a Familysearch family history centre.

Bucks Herald 11April, 29th August and 11 July 1874, South Bucks Free Press 22nd September 1865, South Bucks Standard 4th January 1901, 16th February, 13 April and 8th June 1894, 8 October 1897, 4th January 1901, 1st and 22nd August 1902, 27 May and 13th April 1904,26 May 1905 13th March 1908, 05 March 1909 at the British Library via the BNA. Accessed July 2020.

Property deed/sale research and licence hearing reports. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Note: There was also a similarly named Traveller's Rest at Wheeler End, and also at Wooburn.

Previously published pub related posts can be found under the Pub Related option on the top drop down menu. Many many Marlow publicans and beer sellers etc had connections as a family or as an individual to several different premises. There was a high turnover in licence holders at many locations! To find all mentions of your ancestors here, see the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. This lists more than 4000 individuals from Marlow's past and new content is added daily. 

A Valued Maidservant

This interesting grave in All Saints reads:

Duffin White d. October 19th 1793, age 56

ALSO OF 

Sarah Dennis. Date of death unreadable as it's obscured by grass and grave is leaning forward slightly. However burial records tell me Sarah died 1794.

Duffin White was a cooper of Great Marlow whose will was written and proved 1793. In it Duffin appointed his serving maid Sarah Dennis [spinster], who is buried with him as his main heir and sole executor of the will. Sarah inherited the house they lived in [which was in the High Street] all the furniture, Duffin's stock in trade and any residual property.

She was also the trustee - along with George Trash the Marlow surgeon - of two more properties which Duffin had owned and which were to be sold to pay other legacies in the will.

These legacies were:

Kinsman Henry Laurence, bargeman of Great Marlow £5

Cousin Ann Webb widow of Great Marlow £5

Cousin Elizabeth wife of John Beaver £5.

The will was witnessed by Marlow men Thomas Rolls a draper, Richard Aveling a grocer and attorney Robert Goldsmith.

Duffin was baptised at Great Marlow in 1737 to Thomas and Ann White.

Sarah was baptised at Great Marlow in 1765 to Samuel and Elizabeth Dennis. She did not live long to enjoy her inheritance as she died the year after Duffin.

In her will she said that she was sick and weak. She asked George Trash to sell her home and all her china, plate [silver] and linen to pay the legacies she wanted to give. George himself got £10 while a Mary Glanville who lived with her was to receive £5. An income of 2 shillings a week each went to her aunts Jane Ayres a widow and Anne Humphreys. After their deaths I think her uncle Thomas Dennis, a bricklayer was to receive it.

Sarah asked for twin headstones to be put on her late master's grave. One to her, the other to Duffin White and a Thomas White whose headstone was to be altered or replaced (I couldn't quite read it) to say the names and ages of Thomas and Duffin White. Presumably this Thomas was the Thomas who was Duffin's father, though he may be a brother to Duffin or another relative. Obviously George Trash for some reason did not carry out these instructions precisely as to the gravestones. It is possible however that the stone we see today is a later replacement.

Will witnesses were James Glanville a maltster, Thomas Rolls a draper and Robert Goldsmith an attorney. 

Photo by Kathryn Day. Research by Charlotte Day.

To find other wills on the blog see Will Transcriptions on the top drop down menu. See also the Graves and Person Index options.

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

The People Of Westhorpe House, Little Marlow

Westhorpe House is a Georgian mansion by Little Marlow. It previously sat in around 100 acres of parkland and was often sold and occupied in conjunction with nearby Westhorpe Farm and Little Marlow Manor. In this post I aim to shine a light on some of the people who made the house their home above or below stairs.

The house was built in the late 1600s by the Chase family.

Field Marshal Sir George Nugent and his wife Maria were perhaps the most prominent residents of the house. George had been a commander in the American Revolutionary War and for five years governor of Jamaica. American-born Maria kept a journal of her time in Jamaica which was published posthumously. This is considered a key text in Jamaican history and is an interesting read. Her attitude to the slaves she encountered was bafflingly contradictory. She was willing to dance with a slave and continually asserted that slaves had souls just like anyone else and so were worth saving in the religious sense. Also while she criticized the slave population for laziness and immorality she thought that the fault for that lay not with them but with the bad example set by their lazy and immoral masters. At the same time she thought most slaves well treated, being willfully oblivious to the fact someone declared a slave [e.g a non person] is by definition being appallingly treated even if no additional suffering is heaped upon them by violence etc. It also stretches credibility when Maria tells us that a boatload of newly arrived slaves which she examined to see if they looked sad and in need of spiritual succour surprised her by actually looking happy and being more interested in her carriage than taking in their new surroundings.

Maria and George left Jamaica in 1806 and were at Westhorpe by 1819. Four years later they threw a party at the house to celebrate the 21st birthday of their son George junior.

Maria was the driving force behind the couple gifting 100 blankets as well as items of warm clothing to the poor of Little Marlow every year. England had seemed particularly cold to her she said after her time abroad in Jamaica, India and the USA.  

Maria became suddenly ill while taking the air in her carriage in 1834 and died shortly afterwards.

At the time of the 1841 census the widowed George lived at Westhorpe with his married daughter Maria [sometimes given as Mary] and her husband Rice Richard Clayton AKA Richard Clayton for company, not to mention a whole pack of servants.

George died in 1849 aged 91 and was buried at Little Marlow. Following his death the contents of the house were sold including a large library of quality books and a cellar full of expensive wines. 

Maria's sudden demise was not the only unexpected death at Westhorpe. In 1859 occupier Sir Arthur Buller's butler William Forward committed suicide by shooting himself in the face in the cellar of the house. He had been complaining of ill health and acting in a subdued manner. The jury at the inquest [which took place at the house!] thought that his long time separation from his wife Sarah was a key factor in his low spirits. It seems that this marriage was not known of by his fellow workers. Only when going through his personal papers did they discover evidence of it. 

Arthur Buller was born in India in 1808 and worked for the British state there, in Sri Lanka and in Canada before moving back to England, his family's ancestral home.

It is not certain how long Arthur had been at Westhorpe when his butler died. Certainly not quite as far back as the time of the 1851 census when Lt Edward and Eliza Simeon lived there, but probably soon afterwards. Edward and Eliza had moved in in 1849 after George Nugent's death. With them in 1851 were 10 servants including two footmen MJ Rogers and Phillip Eaton. One of the female servants F Hinzel had come all the way from Switzerland. 

Both Edward and Eliza were the  survivor's of their previous marriages. Her parents resided at Leeds Castle, Kent. His was a Berkshire and Oxfordshire family.

A few months after the census Edward died and was buried in Reading. It is likely that Arthur Buller moved into Westhorpe soon afterwards.

He moved to London eventually and the house was sold in 1859 to George Jackson Esquire. George put the house up to let in 1862 for a minimum period of 7 years but perhaps there were no takers as he apparently continued to live at Westhorpe until his death in 1896. He had previously resided at Little Marlow Manor. 

The 1863 property to let adverts say that the house and gardens had both recently been overhauled. The house interior, prospective tenants were reassured, was decorated with "taste and simple elegance". Outside were the luxuries of hot houses, melon pits and  an expanse of ornamental water not to mention a trendy rock garden [The gardener from at least 1869 to at least 1890 was George Davis].

During George Jackson's time at Westhorpe there was another sudden death in the house- an unnamed nursery maid aged just 22 whose heart gave out as she changed her clothes after coming back from a walk with her charges.

The 1861 census shows George a widower with 11 children from just a year old up to 19 years old. 

One of those children Felix, away working at a brewery in Burton Upon Trent when in his 20s, fell into some machinery and was killed instantly.

Keeping the Jackson family going in 1861 was a group of 10 live in servants. 

By 1871 with the number of children at home reduced, only 7 servants were kept.

The 1871 cook Ann Chaplin had had an impressive rise from being the 16 year old sole servant in a London household on the 1861 census, to the cook in the large household at Westhorpe in 1871. She was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Chaplin and was born circa 1840 in Easthampstead Berkshire. I was not able to find her in 1881. The cook at Westhorpe then was Fanny Gilbert, and Eliza Humphrey in 1891.

1871 footman Enoch Watts, born circa 1827 had risen to butler by 1881. Enoch was a married man whose wife Theresa and family did not live with him at Westhorpe though, they were staying in the village of Little Marlow.  This was quite an unusual situation for a butler who tended to be unmarried or married to the cook/ housekeeper of the same household. He continued to live in Little Marlow after his retirement with his married daughter Sarah Piggott. Theresa died 1881. She worked as a laundress, as did Sarah before marriage. (To see the grave of Enoch and Theresa see here)

Westhorpe House was sold in 1896 following George Jackson's death. He left an estate worth over £100,000.  A Mr Gordon was the resident in 1899.

The estate was again sold in 1917.

The 1917 sale guide said that the house had 19 bed and dressing rooms, 2 bathrooms, a billiards room and library amongst other things. In a sign of changing times some of the stabling had given way to motor garages.

Our blog primarily deals with Marlow people pre 1920s so with that I will bid farewell to this handsome house.

For more on Marlow's links to both slavery and its abolition see here . More Little Marlow content can be found listed under Other Places on the menu. All mentions of an individual on the blog can be found on the Person Index.

To find posts about everyday life in old Marlow, see the listing here

Sources:

Reading Mercury 31st December 1849 [suicide], 18th April 1863 [nursery maid death] and 19th August 1882 [Felix Jackson death]. Bucks Herald 17th May 1862 [property description] Copies at the British Library accessed via the BNA October 2020.

Little Marlow Parish Registers.

1841, 61, 71 and 91 censuses transcribed from microfilm by Jane Pullinger. 1851 and 1881 census my own transcription from microfilm.

Wikipedia articles on Sir George Nugent, Sir Arthur Buller and Sir John Simeon [father of Edward] all accessed October 13th-15th 2020.

Lady Nugent's Journal, reprinted 1907 by the Institute of Jamaica. Can be purchased on Amazon if you want to read it.

Auction sale guide, 1917. Loose. Poor condition. Partial.

GRO Death Index online. Accessed February 2021.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors. If reusing this research (which you are very welcome to do for family or local history purposes) please give credit to this blog and link here.

Crown and Cushion, Dean Street Landlord Listings

 CROWN AND CUSHION

Updated by Charlotte October 2023 and Kathryn in Jan 2024.

Note that this pub was located in Dean Street but it may be given the address of Well End in early sources, this being one of the early names for the street. This is not the same place as Well End, Little Marlow. Well End for Dean Street was a name in popular and official use mainly pre 1850's although it can be found in the 1860s. If you go up Dean Street in the direction of Lane End, that is moving away from the town centre, you would have found it on left hand side about half way between the tyre shop and the entrance to Cambridge Rd. The building itself was demolished many years ago. 

*All spelling is uncorrected from original sources, so you may find variations of your ancestors name that could prove useful when searching for them elsewhere*

Had yard and stables. Also operated as a lodging house.

Start date of 1835 given for this given in 1872.  Did not exist under this name in 1833 certainly.

1841 - Jeremiah Humphries. Also a grocer. Wife Mary Ann.  Jeremiah Humphreys is listed as a Dean Street resident in the 1833 Parish Assessment that we have but his house is not identified as a pub or beer house. He does however seem to be resident in the same building as would become the pub. He was however apparently in Spittal Street running a pub in 1839. See our post for more on Jeremiah and a bit of trouble his son also called Jeremiah got into with some relatives-  here

1844 - Jeremiah Humphries  (Humphreys) also tobacco pipe maker. Also a lodgings house.

1851- Jeremiah Humphreys. In this year lodger Samuel Lewis (alias William Craig) commits suicide by hanging himself on the premises. They say he was a "confirmed drunkard" and that his mind had become diseased because of it.  

1853 - Jeremiah Humphries also a shopkeeper. Fined £1 with 8 shillings costs for not whitewashing the sleeping apartments of his lodgings house as required by law for hygiene purposes. Fined.

1855 - "Mr Humphreys Lodging House"

1857 - Rag and bone man James Webb dies after falling and hitting his head during an incident there. Known for his "excitable nature" , several men delighted in teasing and provoking James. One decided to sneak up and pinch James while he was drinking, at which he jumped up and hit his head. He clearly suffered a serious head injury and his condition deteriorated. James was sent to the Union Workhouse to receive medical attention but died age 57. Those responsible were not charged for their role as the doctor involved in his post mortem said there was evidence of disease in the brain and he could not rule out this as the cause of death. 

1861 - Jeremiah Humphreys also shopkeeper and lodging house keeper. Age 45. This is the son of Jeremiah Humphreys above.

1864 - Jeremiah Humphries

1869- Jeremiah Humphreys attempts to upgrade his premises to an ale house. 

1870 - Jeremiah dies age 55. We have a photo of his grave and will upload it in future.

1871 - Maria Humphrey(s), also grocer and lodging house keeper. Widow of the above. Maria later remarried a Jones.

1872 - Charles Price, brother in law of Maria Humphreys above. He was also a general dealer.

1873- Charles Price lost license for letting his premises be the resort of thieves and drunkards. Later in the year that decision was overturned  on the condition that Price immediately made arrangements to gave his license up to new tenant George Langley. This presumably was because the charges for which Charles would have lost his licence if guilty had not yet been heard in court at the time of the first licensing hearing and therefore should not have been cited as a reason for him to lose his licence,  but that all concerned knew he was likely to be found guilty when the charges were heard. (He was fined for both and the licence endorsed). Later worked as a skewer maker. Charles was previously at The Anchor, Dean Street. The magistrates were in any case not keen to renew his licence in the grounds that accommodation for travellers was "filthy". A party of Hussars billeted there while passing through the town refused to sleep in the house and resorted to the stables instead. Another condition made for renewing the licence overall was that the lodging house should be separated entirely from the beer house (business wise). During the court case, it was said that the lodging house had been supervised (in theory) by Thomas Bradley, who was also a convicted thief. (21 days hard labour in 1872). 

1873 - George Langley then Frederick Brook(e)s.

1877- Frederick Brookes.

1878- Frederick Brookes charged with selling beer during prohibited hours.

1883 - Frederick Brook(e)s. More on the Brooks family of this pub here.

1885- man fined £1 for drinking on the premises during prohibited hours.

1886 - Harriet Brooks, takes over from husband Frederick upon his death. 

1891 - Harriet Brooks dies, and James Edwards takes on licence briefly before transfer goes to James Gibbs. 

1897- pub declared unsanitary (building condition not the fault of the tenants cleanliness). At this point it is licensed to house 14 lodgers. 

1901- James Gibbs landlord assaulted by a customer. A lot of lodgers with him on the census that year.

1902- Italian organ grinder Thomas Offo robbed while staying at Crown and Cushion.

1904 - Found to not be abiding by Public Health Act provisions for common lodging houses. There was not enough screening between the beds of married couples (they did not have their own rooms), there were insufficient basins and the yard and stables were in an "unsanitary" condition. Notices served for improvements to be made. The idea of a total rebuild is floated.

1907- still James Gibbs

1909 - Forcibly closed under measures to limit number of licensed premises in an area. However it lingered on as a common lodging house for a few more years. Building now demolished. Last landlord James Gibbs and his wife -  "a most respectable couple". The brewery argued for the premises to remain open on those grounds. Sadly this was not enough and they lost their business and home. 

Researched by Kathryn Day and Charlotte Day. 

Related Posts:

There are posts on this blog about individual families associated with certain pubs, as well as on individual pubs themselves so have a look at the Pub Related index here  & don't forget the Person Index for all mentions of someone on this blog. Find it on the top drop down menu. 

Posts about life in Dean Street and neighbouring streets here

More beer sellers than bakers -Temperance in Marlow here

Lists of posts about everyday life in old Great Marlow here

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