1700s West Street Residents

Updated March 2023.

 I glean every possible will and property record to gather the names of those who lived in West Street in the 1700s. The date next to each name is the date I find reference to them there but they may have been present earlier and later. This post is for the OCCUPIERS not owners of property. In most cases in the 1700s the two are not the same thing. The precise buildings cannot usually be identified but I am working on it!

Multiple people in the same family can bear the same name so don't automatically presume that a "John Smith" here is your particular "Joe Smith"!

Alice and Robert Beckford. He was a hoop shaver and owned their West Street home, though they only occupied part of it. This was described in his will written 1730 and proved 1731.

David Beckford 1751. Occupied part of the house formerly occupied by Alice and Robert Beckford above, which had been inherited by the Beckford's daughter.

John Biggs. Tenant of a cottage 1733. This was probably on the North side, close to Potlands.

Abel Bird. "The youngest Abel Bird" Shoemaker resident 1754. There were multiple Abel Birds about, the Bird family owned several West Street properties as well as some elsewhere in Marlow such as in Chapel Street.

William Bradshaw, market gardener, tenant of lands. 1709-26. Now part of Borlase playing fields.

Samuel Bradshaw, market gardener, tenant of lands off West Street South side 1735. 

Thomas Cook. Tenant of house and land 1784-91. This appears to be on the way out of town. Owned by William Bishop who farmed at Winter Hill.

John Cox in 1751 occupied part of the same house (divided into two) that David Beckford also occupied.

J Dalmes Esquire. Tenant of Remnantz 1787.

Elizabeth Davis. Albion House. Running a school 1785. Same property as used by Sophia Tylecote, below.

Ann Gray - occupier 1792. North side. Likely widow of Benjamin Gray, bricklayer, who died 1791.

Thomas Gray - Bricklayer (and possibly carpenter) 1754.

Parmenus Grey. Labourer. Tenant of a North side cottage 1722.

William Glanville. Tenant 1729.

John Goldsmith. Tenant of a cottage West End (so on way out of town) 1767.

Anne and Thomas Handley. 1758. He owned the house that they lived in. He died in 1760 and left this and some land in Oxford Road to Anne for her lifetime.

James Harding. Tenant of a cottage West End (West Street from about Borlase onwards going out of town) 1767.

Mathew Hawes. Surgeon resident 1798.

Ann Hobbs, Mrs. 1774 to death 1787. More on her with a photo of the premises here 

Thomas Hussey, of the Ship Inn. Tenant 1792. All landlords for this pub here

William Johnson. Tenant 1733.

John Lane. 1787+ (probably 1785+) Running an ironmonger's shop. Took over from Ann Hobbs above. More, including a photo of the premises as they are today here

Ann Lockwood, widow. Occupier and owner of a cottage North Side 1726. She had bought the cottage in 1707 from her relatives Richard and Ann Lockwood who lived nearby in West Street but did not immediately occupy it herself.

Richard and Ann Lockwood. Owner occupiers of a North side cottage 1709. Relatives of the Ann Lockwood above, whose home they had also once owned.

Robert Moore. A baker. Owned and lived in a house 1795. Left it to his sister Susan.

Edward Neighbour. Landlord of the Coach and Horses 1783 till death 1787. Wife Lydia who inherited all his liquors and other possessions. Landlord listing for this pub here

Thomas Ollis. Ran the Three Tuns. 1798 to after 1800. Will 1808 summarized here.

William Phillips. Owner and occupier. Will 1749.

Thomas Pither. Occupier cottage North side 1709.

James and Sarah Puddifant. Late 1700s. He was a pawnbroker, biographical post about them here.

George Rackshaw. Tenant of a cottage, South side 1726. Neighbour of John Smith.

Thomas Redding. Tenant of cottage and land 1791. Seems Henley Road end.

Stephen Remnant. Owner and sometimes occupier Remnantz. 1753 -1787. After that owner only. Also later 1700s had some land on the other side of the street. Biography post here

Cornelius Richardson, hatter. Occupier 1754. Unknown if owner.

John Smith. Occupier 1726. South Side. Neighbour of George Rackshaw.

William Smith, cordwainer in West Street 1779-98. North side. The Smiths were still boot making in West Street, albeit on the other side of the road well into the 1800s.

Richard Truss. Tenant 1762. North Side.

Sophia Tylecote. Running school from and living Albion House 1795 to post 1700s. Apparently tenant at first but the house was owned by 1809 by her husband Jeffrey, a banker. Read more here

William White. Occupied part of a house in West Street 1730, owned by Robert Beckford above.

Elizabeth Wright. Landlady Duke's Head pub. 1761.

Related Posts:

To find every mention of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. As of April 2022 there are more than 4,000 individuals listed there. 

For an index of posts related to West Street in general see the listing here

Everyday life in old Great Marlow:

here

Post listing for West Street pubs, ale houses etc here

Recreated 1700s trade directory here

Residents of 1700s Spittal Street here

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

Little Marlow and Well End Victorian Shopkeepers

Shops in Victorian Little Marlow and Well End.

I have found these whilst researching other things rather than dedicatedly researching them so there is likely more info to be unearthed on some of them. There was a grocers next to the Queen's Head pub in 1899. Whose premises that was I am uncertain.

Note that the Well End I am concerned with here is the hamlet of Well End near Little Marlow not the street now called Dean Street Marlow formerly known as Well End, Great Marlow.

Dates given next to the names are when I have personally found evidence of the below traders keeping a shop in Little Marlow. They may have been in business earlier or later too.

*UPDATED JULY 2024*

Richard Barber

Greengrocer Little Marlow 1898. Also sold lemonade and ginger beer and was a nurseryman.

William Clifford

William Clifford, born circa 1846. Baker who went bankrupt in 1881. But he was still in business in 1891 and to at least 1911 on The Moor, Little Marlow. Trained in Great Marlow under his maternal uncle William Brooks of the High Street. Whilst working there he was a witness to an accident involving the delivery cart of Little Marlow baker William Goldhawk who appears on the list below. 

Wife Mary was from Chertsey, Surrey. Their 17 year old son Harry also baker at home 1891. 

Charles Frederick Creswell

Baker 1866 to his death in 1888. Summoned 1866 for using unjust scales. Born 1833-35. Though there are many local Creswells / Cresswells his census entries suggest a birth for him in Middlesex or Norfolk. Wife Eliza, née Smith (married 1854).

Samuel Doney

Baker and grocer from at least 1851 to his death in 1863. Wife Ann. Will trustee was William Goldhawk below who was engaged to marry his daughter Ann - see below.

John Franklin

Grocer at Well End 1876.

William Goldhawk

William Goldhawk baker and Post Master at the Little Marlow sub post office from at least 1861 to at least 1869. In 1863 also dealt meal. In 1869 sued Great Marlow baker John Millward for damages when his horse was killed and cart damaged by a delivery cart belonging to Millward running into it at speed in what we now call Station Road, Marlow. Goldhawks' cart was in the care of his young apprentice George Kirby at the time. Millward's cart, driven by his empoyee Mr Fasey, had rounded the corner at speed and without looking. By coincidence the accident happened outside the premises that of Brooks, another baker. And who was one of the witnesses in the case? William Clifford who worked for Brooks, and would later move to Little Marlow and run his own bakery there. See above. The case is interesting as it shows that Little Marlow bakers delivered to not only their own village but Great Marlow town too. 

William was described as a bankrupt baker 1871. Born 1814-21 Staines Middlesex. In Little Marlow as a resident by 1857 but no earlier than 1851. He and his wife Elizabeth moved from Egham where William had had a shop. She died and William remarried 1864 Ann Doney of Little Marlow in London. When Samuel Doney above died in 1863 the beneficiary of his will listed in probate records was William Goldhawk, his future son in law. He was in fact acting as trustee for Samuel's young son (and William's brother in law) Samuel Doney junior.  This was an unfortunate choice as Goldhawk seemingly took advantage of Samuel juniors youth and lack of business experience (he'd just turned of age) and persuaded him to sell him the family property at much below it's actual value. He then took a mortgage out on it, but didn't stop there. Instead he persuaded Samuel Junior to sign multiple deeds and conveyances for the property, using each one to get a different mortgage without revealing there was any existing one on the property. He told Samuel Junior he'd had to destroy the previous paperwork for various reasons. He then went and bought a number of cottages and building plots and flashed the cash so to speak, of which poor Samuel had none and so continued to go to work. This caused some gossip locally. Eventually events caught up with Goldhawk who became insolvent and at a meeting of creditors, some of those with mortgages came forward as well as a man who'd recently been "sold" the Doney property. With his lies revealed, Goldhawk absconded and Samuel Junior found himself in court facing serious charges of fraud. However he could produce many character witnesses, and as it could be proved he'd never personally benefitted in any way from Goldhawk's schemes, he was set free. It doesn't look as though he even recieved the money for selling the house to Goldhawk in the first place. 

 William was a relative of chemist Joseph Goldhawk of Staines. He played cricket for Little Marlow.

Arthur Hester

Shopkeeper 1911. Though on censuses as domestic gardener also. 

John Holmes

Baker 1866. Fined for unjust scales. Just "shopkeeper" 1869.

Henry James Hussey

Son of James Hussey below. Grocer at Little Marlow 1843 until he died in 1880 aged 69. Possibly moved from premises in West Street Great Marlow. At Little Marlow also sold petroleum and gunpowder. His wife Sarah took over his business assisted by their son Henry Valentine Hussey. Note he apparently had 2 sons called Henry, one of whom was also  Henry James but known usually by his middle name James. The other was Henry Valentine Hussey, occasionally known just as Valentine. This shop was next to the Queen's Head pub.

Henry Valentine Hussey

Grocer. Born 1852. Assisting his grocer mother Sarah 1881 and 1891. He was then a baker and a grocer. Also the village Post Master. The sub post office premises were on The Moor, Little Marlow. Note that he apparently had an older half brother also called Henry Hussey, though more often known by his middle name James. Henry Valentine was the village sextant, parish clerk and constable. He gave up the shop and Post Office and sold up all his furniture and household goods in 1910 and emigrated to Canada.

James Hussey

Retired grocer 1851. Born circa 1785. Father of Henry Hussey above who was running his shop for him by 1847. Grandfather of Henry Valentine Hussey.

Sarah Hussey

Grocer 1881 and 1891 with her son Henry Valentine Hussey. Widow of Henry James Hussey above. She also worked in the sub post office her son ran on the premises. They were located on The Moor, Little Marlow. She died in 1897. Born circa 1823, Holyport Berkshire.

John Jarvis

Baker 1837-52. Born circa 1802, Penn. Wife Martha.

Hugh Jones

Grocer, baker and general shopkeeper who became insolvent in 1864. Had also operated a shop in Newbury at one point.

Henry Lane

Baker and butcher of Well End. Insolvent 1828.

James Lawrence 

Shopkeeper 1863.

Joseph Parslow

Grocer. Insolvent 1856.

Thomas Rackshaw

Born circa 1820. General shopkeeper 1873. His shop was adjacent to the Ferns. Had notepaper and biscuits stolen from his shop that year. His main income was as a boot maker while his wife Mary was a dressmaker. They married 1870, she being née Mary Clark.

Emma Rose

Grocer 1847. Mrs.

Joseph Sworder

Grocer and hirer of horses and carts. 1870.

John Wells

Grocer of Well End, Little Marlow. Found to have all his weights light in 1871. In other words if you thought that you had bought a pound of sugar from him you took home a little less in fact. Had the weights confiscated and received a fine. 

More information:

For more Little Marlow content see the option Nearby Places on the menu  here  or the Graves option in the top drop down menu  for those specifically.

For all mentions of an individual here use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

For Well End Great Marlow see Dean Street post listing in the Specific Places index. 

Some Sources:

Census, transcriptions from microfilm by me. Census information remains Crown Copyright. 

Parish Registers, St Martin's In The Fields.

Bucks Herald 17th April 1864 and 10th February 1866. British Library Archives. Via the BNA. South Bucks Standard May 21st 1897. As above.

"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2D3J-N3H : 13 December 2014), Charles Creswell, 1854; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1854, quarter 4, vol. 3A, p. 609, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. 

The Goldhawk Fraud - pamphlet, anon, 1871. With thanks to Jane Pullinger. 

Kelly's Directory 1884 & 1889

Robson's Directory 1839

Musson & Craven's Commercial Directory 1853. 

South Bucks Free Press 10th March 1871

©Marlow Ancestors. Freely use this research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

The Ship, West Street Marlow Landlords and historic timeline

 

Updated by Charlotte Jan 2024.

 We mainly focus on pre 1920 listings but sometimes list later landlords if we come across them during research. 

1792 - Thomas Hussey/ Hussrey 2.Thomas Humphrey

1823 - William Clark

1824 - William Clark

1831 -  George Dorell

1832 - George Dorell

1836 - "The Old Ship"  Mrs Dorrell qv. 

1839 - As The Old Ship - William Sawyer. For him see also The Coach and Horses. He was he son of bakers James and Charlotte Sawyer of West Street see here for more on them and his brother.

1841 - William Sawyer

1842- George Stevens

1843 - George Stevens. Fined £2 for allowing cards to be played on his premises. This was a high amount and considered unfair by many. 

1844 - George Stevens 2. John Clark(e)

1846- as The Old Ship Inn. John Clark transfers to Richard Green who is also a blacksmith.

1847 - As The Old Ship - Richard Green.

1851 - Richard Reeves. Richard and his wife Jane were previously managers of the Workhouse. See this post for a biography of them.

1853 - Richard Reeves

1854 - Richard Reeves.

1859 - Jane Reeves. Widow of Richard.

1863 -  Mrs Jane Reeves

1864  - Mrs Jane Reeves

1870 "the Ship Tavern" 

1871 -  Sarah Reeves. She came from the Prince Albert, Spittal Street and was the widow of William Reeves. Jane had just died.

1872 - John Cuthbert

1873 - John Cuthbert. 2. Henry Poole

1876 - Henry Poole transfers to Miss Jessie Macintosh. 

1878 -  Miss Jessie Macintosh died there age 28. 

1878 - Henry Poole again. A business partnership with John Tildesley relating to the manufacture of soda water at the Ship, came to tears. The two fell out and came quite literally to blows when Charles and several others tried to remove the equipment. They took out summons accusing each other of assault - in the case of John the attack was upon Felix Tildesley who had accompanied his father to the Ship. The case against Poole was dismissed. Charles was fined 13s including costs. Then Joshua Benjamin Gladding takes over. 

1881  - Joshua Gladding dies, James Rim(m)ell takes over. 

1883 -  James Rimmel(l)

1884 -  James Rimmell.

Thomas Barnes (temporary after James Rimmell's death) then "Mrs Rymmell" qv widow. 

1885 - Hannah Rimmell (Wife of James) 

1886 -  Hannah Rimmell. (Wife of James Rimmell) Lost her licence for harbouring prostitutes -  see Here   Thomas Barnes takes over again 1887. 

1888 - Thomas Barnes. 2 Joseph Warden

1889  - 1. Joseph Warder/Warden, 2. Thomas George Austin

1890 - Thomas John Richards (born Kent)

1891 -  Thomas Richards

1892  - Transfer from Thomas Richards to William Saunders, and then from Saunders to W Dominick Westcott. Thomas Richards left after marrying a woman of  private means living in Little Marlow. But this marriage of Thomas and Agnes was not happy and within 2 months of their wedding day they had separated, both accusing the other of drunkenness and violence. The case went to court, and Agnes was convicted of assaulting Thomas by whipping his face. (Agnes admitted to using the whip but said Thomas had started the trouble by swearing at her.) A counter charge against Thomas was made, but he was found not guilty as it was considered he was acting in self defence.  The costs of both cases were to be paid by Agnes. She claimed Thomas had married her for her money, and had became a beast when he could not get his hands on it. Thomas said Agnes had taken against the daughters from his first marriage (especially Ada) and had acted out of jealousy. He claimed she had developed a habit of drinking when acting as the former land lady of the Windsor Castle Inn at High Wycombe. Both were bound over to keep the peace. 

1893 - 1. William D Westcott 2. Charles Lisson Mathews

1895 - Charles L Mathews 2. Thomas Walter (or Walker) Lowe

1896 - Mr Lowe 2. ? Gunn. Suffers a chimney fire this year due to beam running through chimney beginning to smoulder. Marlow Fire Brigade had dealt with this kind of fire before and said it is not uncommon to find such badly placed wooden beams in old buildings. Damage limited. 

1897 -   1 G A Gunn 2. James Swain.  (Joseph Warder, Thomas George Austin two names possibly proposed and refused instead of Swain)

1898 - James Swain transferred licence to Thomas Watson. He had no choice after police complaints of months of disgraceful behaviour at the pub, including him being found flat- out drunk on the premises and drunkenly attacking his wife Sarah so blood was running down her face when a police constable found her. The local magistrates said that unless Swain left immediately the brewery would lose their licence for the pub. They swiftly dumped Swain.

1899 - Thomas Watson (Alt. William Watson).

1901 - Mr Watson transfers premises to Arthur Osborn. 

1902 - Survives attempt by authorities to close it down as excess to West Streets licensed premises requirements. The high turnover of landlords in recent years counts against it but the fact the licence is "very clean" and the premises in very good condition keep it open. Arthur Osborne 2. W A Bennett (previously proprietor of Royal Oak, Huntingdon)

1903 - Albert E Bull

1904 - A E Bull 2. Arthur Barlow

1906 - Arthur Barlow 2. Thomas Flaxman/ Flexman

1907 - Thomas Barnes (hold-over) 2. Joseph Warden ditto. 3. Edward Tygat (e) 4. Alfred Schreen. 

1908 - Alfred Screen / Schreen. Spelling varies. Pub has bowling alley and a stable but the latter is not used. Headquarters of the 200 strong Ivy Ramblers Club of London.

1909 - Alfred Screen. In this year the pub is described as having 5 bedrooms which were constantly accommodating visitors during the "river season." In 1908 only three bedrooms mentioned as available to visitors.  In addition the skittle alley was sometimes pulled into use as a little extra space when hosting summer teas. The pub sells twice as many barrels of beer as they did a couple of years ago when they catered for fewer parties. That's two barrels worth of beer a week being sold plus 18 bottles of beer on average and 6 gallons of draught spirits. And yes they sold non alcoholic cordials and mineral water too. The pub is "clean and well conducted" but needs some repairs to the actual premises according to a report submitted to the licencing committee. 

1910 - Alfred Screen leaves Marlow. Next landlord - Charles Percy Joy

1911 - Charles Joy

1920 - Charles Percy Joy. Fined 20s for profiteering in this year for selling gin at higher than the fixed maximum price. Charles pleads guilty but says he doesn't sell many spirit drinks and so can't buy it at a favourable price. If he sells it at the maximum fixed price he says he'd be making a loss. And his total profit per bottle were only 1s which he did not think could be fairly called profiteering. A charge against Mrs Joy for actually serving the drinks is dropped. 

1924 - James G Palmer

1939 - Charles Thornton Arnold. 

1962 - Mrs Doris Mary West is leaving for the Canary Islands. Licence transfers to Mr John Somerville Blundell 

* For more on the Rimmell family see separate post here*

Look on the menu here for more landlord listings for Marlow, Little Marlow, Medmenham and Lane End as well as biographies of some pub keeping individuals or families, a listing of the 100+ pubs Marlow has had, and pub histories.

See under "Specific Shops, Streets Etc" on the menu for links to posts about other historic West Street businesses and residents.

©Marlow Ancestors. 

SOURCES

1853 Musson & Cravens Commercial directory (Compiled 1852), published by Musson & Craven. 

1859,1864,1877,1883, 1899,1903,1907,1911 & 1915 -Kelly's Post Office Directory. 

1839 Robson's Directory

Pigots Directory 1823,1831,1844

Contemporary press coverage of licencing hearings, court cases, and other news accessed via the BNA including: South Bucks Standard, 12 August 1892, 16 July 1901, 22 May 1902, June 21 1907, March 5th 1909 & 28th Oct 1910.

Reading Mercury May 8 1879. As above. 

Various property deeds, wills transcribed by Charlotte and legal proceedings. 

Census 1841,1851,1861,1871,1881, 1891