Post Office Blues

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

The Regency Post Service 

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

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

Early and mid Victoria post office

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

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

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

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

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

 Snow drifts and other difficulties 

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

The 1890s

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

The distant outpost known as Institute Rd...

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

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

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

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

A home at last

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

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

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

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

Edwardian Era  and beyond 

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

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

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

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

Related Posts: 

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

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

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

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

General posts about Marlow history here 

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

SOURCES INCLUDE: 

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

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

Marlow Guide 1903 & 1905

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

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

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

Slater's Commercial Directory 1850

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

© MarlowAncestors

Marlow Place History

 Marlow Place is often said to have been built 1720 or 1721 for the future George 2nd when he was still the Prince of Wales. It was said to used by his son Frederick as a residence as well.  However Country Life Magazine in 1921 reported a date of 1727 visible on the roof and it is said that a brick contains a scratched on 1731 date. These may be dates of modifications to the property though they seem to be occuring rather soon after the initial build.  These later dates though do tie in better with architectural analysis by various historic visitors to the house who said 1720 is too early stylistically to be a probable date for the house and something in the later 1720s -1730 is instead indicated. 

A different edition of Country Life from 1913 mentions only a date of 1731 scratched in an apparently contemporary hand into the brickwork of the outer wall. 

A description of a brick built mansion "on the right before you turn into the High Street" [as Marlow Place would have been when you entered Marlow by crossing the river at the old St Peter Street bridge point] by someone recalling their time at the juvenile branch of the Royal Military Academy tells us it was once owned by the mistress of Charles II, Louise De Kerouaille Duchess of Portsmouth. However it calls the house Alfred House, a smaller property which is within the High Street rather than located before you reach it. Alfred House in the High Street was also used by the Academy. So which property did the writer really mean? The source he had for his information is not stated. 

I can find no evidence beyond local tradition that the house was definitely built for, rather than simply used by, the then Prince of Wales. All evidence seems to point to the house being built either for John Wallop Esq or most likely his mother Alicia. Certainly it was Alicia Wallop who lived in Marlow Place by 1739 to at least 1742. Her garden adjoined the back of High Street businesses including a soap boiler which from its use of animal carcasses would be a smelly (and fire hazardous) neighbour to have, plus at least two blacksmith premises which would have been noisy. A good reminder that even the most privileged in society in the 1700s struggled to escape the noise and mess inherent to everyday life.

Alicia is likely the Mrs Wallop who donated to the church bells in Marlow church in 1720.

Edwardian occupier of the house the keen amateur historian William Niven noted that some of the oak panelling of the house was certainly older than the house. It is possible that this came from an earlier house on the land which was owned by Alicia's ancestors.

Admiral John Forbes had recently left the property in 1772. He was "removing to Essex" (apparently  to Old Mill Green House Ingatestone) The Marlow Place household goods were therefore auctioned off and the "large and exceedingly good house" is to let. It was available with or without accompanying pasture and meadow land. The garden itself was well stocked with the choicest fruit trees, so they said. There were apparently no immediate takers and the house seems to have been empty of tenants for at least a year. In 1773 adverts offering the property decide to include more elaborate descriptions of the house to drum up interest. Amongst other benefits, we are told the town has 3 stagecoaches to London a week in the summer and two in the winter. And water carriage could be had "almost to the door". Marlow Place is not of course an immediately riverside property but is within a couple of minutes walk of the Thames. 

The resident in 1780 looks to have been Edward Valentine Stead Esq. He left the house circa 1789 and died aged just 35 in 1790. Owen Williams M P succeeded him in residence. 

The Royal Military College used the premises to provide extra accommodation in the early 1800s. Out the back the cadets had a rifle practice range. The construction of this apparently ruined the original landscaping of the gardens.

In 1833 the occupier had recently been "Edmund Flemming" (correctly Edmond Fleming). The property was then valued as being worth £110 per year. It was the most valuable house in town by some way. Edmond had  lived in the house since at very least early 1829 as a David Alexander Fleming, a silversmith, aged 44 and late of Whitechapel died at "his father's house" Marlow Place that year. His will shows that he was the son of Edmund and had no children so that his brothers, sisters, parents and employees benefitted from his will.  You couldn't get a more Scottish name than David Alexander Fleming so there's a possible clue to Edmond's furthest ancestral origins there! Edmond was already in his early 80s when his son died, and his definitely Scottish born wife Isabella was a similar age. It is likely that they wanted to downsize a bit! Or not spread themselves so thinly as Marlow Place was only their country home. Edmond was still working in Newgate Street in when he wrote his will.  His son David's will written in 1823 was witnessed by a Henry Hammond of Great Marlow which tells us that the Flemings were already connected to Marlow back then.

Nevertheless by 1836 Edmund and Isabella had moved to live with their son at Cookham Grove, Cookham as Edmond died there then and Isabella continued to live there until her own death a decade later. 

Edmond Fleming was a jeweller, silversmith and pawnbroker who operated from Newgate Street London. Cookham Grove was the country seat of his London pawnbroker son William. The son had owned that property by 1834 but seems to have let it out to others until 1836. Not only his parents but various other unmarried adult siblings made it their home or country retreat as they saw fit.

In Newgate Street Edmund occupied two premises next door to each other, a jewellers and silversmiths at 89 and a pawnbrokers at 90. Recent (September 2025) research into Edmund, Isabella, William and the rest of the Flemings has brought up so much material that we think they will be best served with their own separate post which is available now on the blog here.

In 1834 Marlow Place was advertised to let once again in the local press. [Berkshire Chronicle 26th July 1834, accessed by me online March 2021 via the BNA]. The house was then described as consisting of ten bedrooms, a library, entrance hall, dining room, breakfast room, drawing room with detached offices [they meant rooms for domestic management like laundry rooms and stores not somewhere to do your paperwork], a double coach house and stabling for ten horses. There were also lawns, greenhouses and gardens listed as part of the property in the 1833 assessment. Later reports mention meadows and those fruit trees again.

 

These premises made an impressive boy's boarding school between 1857 and 1877. Thomas Mathews was the first master to run the school there, alongside his wife. He found the building in a most dilapidated state at the start of his tenancy and spent considerable time and effort in restoring the house. He was very keen on cricket and the school had a cricket ground in a meadow by what later became the railway station. Boys needed to bring with them to school 3 suits of clothes, 6 shirts, 3 nightshirts, 6 pairs of stockings, 3 pairs shoes, a pair of slippers, 6 towels and a bible.

Music and book keeping lessons were included within the standard school curriculum as was, unusually, Hebrew if desired. For an extra fee French or swimming lessons could be obtained or the boys prepped for the Civil Service entrance exam.

When Reverend Thomas Gwynne used the premises as a school in the 1870s he could take 26 pupils. Their minimum age was 8. Gwynne had previously ran a private school from Candover Park in Hampshire. He was known as "Old Tom" to his young charges, although not to his face of course! He was a much liked man by the adults in Marlow - but not by the pupils whom he taught. More on him in a separate post in the future.

The Mathews had taken children from age 6, with the younger boys under Mrs Mathew's care. 

These various school proprietors all rented the property rather than owned it.

Marlow Place was owned by the Williams family from at least 1795 - Colonel Thomas Peers Williams was born at the house then. Owen Williams is listed in parliamentary papers as resident there 1809 to 1817. The Williams family eventually sold it to long term tenant and architect William Niven, who wrote a couple of articles about the house for magazines such as Country Life. His grave is on the blog here.

In 1877 the last incarnation of the school closed and the house was due to be refurbished and converted back into a family home. During this work, labourer Timothy Young was killed in the grounds when engaged in demolishing a 10 ft high garden wall made partly of brick and partly of flint. Timothy was buried alive when the wall suddenly collapsed before the workers were ready for it. Some of the others engaged in the task were also injured by falling bricks but Timothy was worst affected as he was hemmed in by nearby shrubs and could not make any escape. He was dug out by his colleagues but died from multiple severe injuries a little over an hour later.

Lady Marie Alice Rushout - tenant there -died in 1882. She was the widow of baronet Sir Charles Rushout and had moved to Marlow from Gloucestershire. The following year the house contents were up for sale by a Lady Northwick perhaps a relative as the contents included little miniatures of "the Misses Rushout" by Andrew Plimer. Known as "The Three Graces" they were the daughters of Sir Thomas Rushout. These miniatures were regarded as particularly fine and beautiful works of art. 

In 1885 the new occupant of Marlow Place was widow Jane Haig who moved there from Bray Court, Maidenhead. A few days after she moved in, Jane's upper housemaid Alice Anthony AKA Kate or Katie Anthony was caught with a large amount of stolen goods hidden in her bedroom. Sacked, Alice was supposed to be escorted to the 4.10 train out of town by the butler but for unspecified reasons she ended up sleeping the night at Marlow Place instead. At six the next morning she did a flit with her mistress's portmanteau and another stolen bag stuffed with an astonishing amount of loot.

Unfortunately her knowledge of Marlow train times was sketchy and she ended up waiting longer than she had expected for her getaway train. Jane's coachman John Gale* was on her trail. Confronted by him, she ran off without the portmanteau but John and a summoned constable cornered her near Little Marlow. She still had other stolen articles on her person. In court they struggled to find room to display everything she had carried off.

I won't list it all but to give you a flavour of the items here's some of them:

A gold ring

A pair of lady's drawers

2 corsets

Some sheets of papers

3 pairs of scissors

A music book

3 table cloths

12 handkerchiefs

Curling tongs for the hair

Buttons

2 tooth brushes

2 gold pins

5 pairs of shoes

Measuring tape

An umbrella

Envelopes

12 photographs (no mention of their frames)

Opera glasses

2 pairs spectacles

Elastic

Button hook.

Left behind in her room were articles stolen from Jane's housekeeping stores such as soap, furniture polish, candles and matches. I suppose Alice ran out of room in her two bags to take it all with her!

Unsurprisingly she was jailed. The maximum sentence possible -six months - with solitary confinement an added punishment. Alice screamed and collapsed in the dock upon hearing the sentence.

A crowd of around 100, all from the poorest parts of town, gathered at Marlow station to see Alice and accompanying officers of the law leave by train for the jail in Aylesbury after her conviction. It is hard to judge whether this was in support or disapproval of Alice or just from curiosity. Alice was said to have previously lived in Marlow and may have had family here.

Jane Haig continued to live at the house until at least 1888 when her married daughter Helen Frances Warner drowned while swimming with family at Temple.

William Powley once Vice Principal of Durham University lived at Marlow Place until his premature death aged 56 in 1895.

Next came Colonel Clarence Granville Sinclair a young widower who himself died aged just 37 in 1897.

He was followed in residence at Marlow Place by William Niven. Mr Niven was able to buy the house from the Williams family rather than just rent it in 1921. See a photo of his grave here. We will have more on him in the future.

* John Gale retired to Victoria Road Marlow.

Main post researched and written by Charlotte Day. Photos and information about Thomas Young and Admiral Forbes provided by Kathryn. 

Related Posts:

Biography of Alicia Wallop here

Biography of three Victorian Trinidadian pupils at Marlow Place School: here

Additional sources I found useful:

Reading Mercury 29th March 1773 & 12th October 1792, Windsor and Eton Express 31st January 1829, South Bucks Standard 27th November 1896 , Maidenhead Advertiser 14 April 1877, Oxford Journal 11 July 1772, held at the British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA.

Parochial assessment notebooks 1830s, owned by my family. These are being transcribed gradually onto this blog.

1871 census. Transcribed by me. Census information always remains Crown Copyright. 

GRO death index.

Armorial Families. A Directory of Coat Armour, by Arthur Charles Fox Davies published 1910 by T.C and E.C Jack.

Saturday Review of Politics, Literature Science and Art volumes 28-29 published by John W Parker 1870. Accessed via Google Books March 2021.

History of Newbury and Its Environs by Edward William Gray, published by Hall and Marsh 1839.

Country Life volume 49 page 353. And Volume 33 issue 836. 

Dutton and Allen Commercial Directory 1867.

Bentley's Miscellany, Volume 20 : "Shots from an Old Six Pounder". [Richard Bentley 1846]

English Country Houses: Baroque - James Lee-Milnes (Country Life Books, 1960)

 Andrew and Nathaniel Plimer - George Charles Williamson, (G Bells & Son 1903.)

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/029d5a54-d882-43b0-ae1d-9399f135df68

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to reuse this research for family and local history purposes with credit to this blog.

The Joy And Tragedy Of The Armoury's First Year

The Armoury, or the Headquarters of the First Bucks Rifle Volunteers, Institute Rd. 

The Joy

This post is about the first year in the life of the above building. The 1st Bucks Rifle Volunteers were formed in 1859 but they did not get their permanent home and headquarters in Marlow until 1890. (The armoury when the Corps started in 1859 was at the town hall, after an initial plan to store their weapons at the police station were refused by the police due to lack of secure space.) The first stone was laid in 1889 by the Volunteer's Colonel Wethered, on a site donated by Owen Williams, along with that of the neighbouring Marlow Institute. It was built by Marlow man Young Lovell, who has left his mark all over our town!

The joint opening day of the two buildings was one of huge celebration in Marlow. Streets and buildings were garlanded with flags and bunting. Members of other Volunteer Corps travelled here by train to join a joyous parade of Corps, the Volunteer Fire Brigade and various friendly societies. Accompanied by the rifle volunteers drum and fife band, they bought things in the town centre to a standstill. They then announced their arrival at Institute Rd by sounding their bugles, although a crowd was already awaiting them. Colonel Wethered addressed the crowd from the upstairs window of the Armoury, where the orderlies room was located. He spoke of his pride of his Corps and their handsome building. 

After this, officers were allowed to show their wives and lucky guests around the new headquarters. There was of course an armoury room, fitted with new gun racks that could accommodate 180 rifles and bayonets. This included an "armourers bench" for for cleaning and repair of the rifles. Visitors could also see a display of antique guns above the fireplace and the drum captured at the siege of Sebastopol and presented to the Drum and Fife Band by Lieutenant Colonel Higginson in 1861. 

Outside, in the drill yard, the old town stocks and gaol door could be seen. These are later described as being on display at the rear of the adjacent Institute, in whose custody they were until they were passed to the town council for display on the Causeway. (They were donated to the Institute by Charles Miller Footitt.) 

The tragedy

A few months after the above happy day, drill instructor Edward Baldwin went to the Armoury and found a shocking scene. In the Armoury room itself, he discovered the prone figure of his predecessor, Sergeant John Mentor, with a loaded rifle between his knees and the end at his mouth. John had attached string to the trigger to enable himself to pull it easily. Horrified, Baldwin sprang forward and snatched the rifle away. He stopped to "admonish" John and remove the cartridge from the gun. While he did this, John ran out and was seen going towards his home a short distance away at The Limes, Glade Rd. Baldwin allowed him to go and went to fetch a policeman. Poor John arrived home and hid a letter to his wife. A short while later she saw him taking out some table knives which he told her he was going to clean. She told him they had been done, and thought he then returned them all to their case. Tragically he had not, and instead secreted a sharp pointed knife before leaving the house. He walked to the train station and was then seen walking alongside the train line towards Bourne End. Some plate layers working on the line spoke to him and he said he was going to catch a train at Bourne End. They alerted two policeman who had been sent to find Mentor. The Constables came across him standing quietly by the rail line, looking to their eyes as if he was waiting the chance to throw himself under a train. When John saw them approach, he ran towards the river.  Faced with their gaining on him, he suddenly stopped, turned, and stabbed himself in the heart, dying instantly. 

What had bought on this terrible and "determined suicide"? John had been suffering from depression since loosing his job as Instructor for the Volunteer's 15 months before, a position he had held for about 10 years. He had came to the end of the period for which he had been engaged but had expected to be re -hired again as had happened before. Sadly those in charge decided not to recommend him for consideration. He took this understandably to heart, and regarded it as a dismissal. He said at the time that he'd been given no reason and did not ask for one. His comrades were said to be astonished when he left his role, and organised a farewell dinner in his honour. At this he was presented with a silver tea service which had been paid for by voluntary subscriptions by members of the volunteers past and present. His speech then seemed relatively philosophical and restrained although he acknowledged he had been much upset and felt justified in this reaction. He assured his listeners that he had made an "arrangement" with those in charge and he could now say that it was to his "advantage" to leave as he had done. He also admitted to some breaches of military discipline but said they had never prevented him doing his job. 

However it was later suggested that concerns had been raised about his mental health a long time prior to his departure. His successor thought he was a little "insane" and others agreed he had taken to a rambling style of speech. His wife said he had sometimes drunk a little too much in the company of the Corps but she was firm in her statements that her husband had drank only moderately in the previous year. John had became bitter and sent long and abusive letters to those in charge of the Corps who he blamed for the loss of his role. These were read to the inquest behind closed doors along with a letter left on his body. Verdict - suicide while suffering from temporary insanity. 

A short while after John's tragic end, a group of non commissioned officers and privates of the Volunteers held a meeting at the Greyhound. They decided to ask Mrs Mentor if she would allow them to erect the gravestone in his honour, at their expense. It's easy to imagine what a gesture like this might have meant to the widow. She replied that she would be glad of their kind mark of respect. Their stone is shown below. It can be found at All Saints Church. 

John Mentor

Born 2 Jan 1840 Died Nov 1896

Information on grave itself:

Colour Sergt (2nd) Batt 4th regiment. Ten years sergeant instructor 1879-1889 to Marlow Company of 1st Bucks R.V.C who erected the stone. 

Also of Eliza his wife, died Jul 31st 1910 age 62 years (Lily)

     

Notes. 

John is also described as a former "orderly room sergeant". He was the secretary of the St. John's Ambulance association in Marlow. 

Wife Lily continued as a lodging house keeper at The Oaks,  Institute Rd which was just three doors away from the Armoury. 

The Armoury was later used as the Recruiting Committee Office in the First World War, open each evening 6-9pm. 

Related Posts:

Info about the neighbouring Institute (now Marlow library) here

Biography of Drill Instructor Columbine here

The Volunteer camps in Marlow and at Danesfield in the 1860s here

Other residents of The Limes - here

To find other posts about everyday life in old Marlow see the list here. To find every mention of your ancestor here, use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. 

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

©MarlowAncestors

Selected sources: 

South Bucks Standard - 18 September & 28 November 1890, copies from the British Library and accessed via the BNA

Bucks Herald 20 November , 6 & 27 December 1890, as above.

Maidenhead Advertiser 24 September & October 9th 1890, as above

Reading Observer 29 November 1890, as above

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News - 29 November 1890

Bucks Examiner 3 December 1890 as above

Berkshire Chronicle 3rd December 1859, 29 November 1890, as above.

Aldershot Military Gazette - 15 November 1890 - as above

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer, Slough reference library. December 6 1890. 

Census 1881,1891 - transcripts by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger. 

Saving lives in every kind of way -Marlow Heroes no 5&6 the Dunbar- Dicksons

 

This post is dedicated to Marlow heroes John and Emily Dunbar Dickson. 

 John work as the medical officer for both Marlow and the Wycombe rural district council areas saw him hold to account landlords for the frankly inexcusable conditions they were requiring their poorest tenants to live in. He dealt with infectious disease outbreaks, and was one of the doctors of the original Cottage Hospital at Cambridge House. Emily did a lot to help the less fortunate Marlow citizens and lead the fundraising for the new hospital at Glade Rd, clashing with Edward Riley the recreation ground donor in doing so - more of which below.  

John was born in Belfast in 1853 while Emily was Scottish. John arrived here first. He had studied at Queens College and then held various medical positions including that of house surgeon at Royal Bucks Hospital in Aylesbury. He came to Marlow in approximately 1880 to take up a partnership with surgeon John Rawden Hobson. At first John lodged with Sarah Mealing in her lodging house in the High Street. The partnership with Hobson was dissolved in 1885 and John struck out alone. 

John and Emily married at St. Oswalds, Kilmarnock, Renfrewshire on June 2nd 1885. They returned to Marlow and initially settled in West Street before taking up residence in The Gables, Institute Road, in 1893. This would be their home for some 30 years. It was built for them, by builders Loosely of Wycombe, one of the first houses in the new road. 

John meets the German Emperor

Not content with saving lives in a medical setting, John joined the Marlow Volunteer Fire Brigade, initially as a honourary medical officer but he still involved himself in drills and wore a full uniform. This gave him the experience to eventually act as the superintendent of the Marlow brigade for several years. He took on the role in 1890 on a temporary basis originally, with Foreman Batting, after the previous Superintendent Charles Footitt took 6 months leave from active duty due to ill health. Charles was unable to resume his position although he remained a member of the brigade for a while, and so John took the role. (Foreman Batting retired in October 1890) If you are wondering how John could possibly find time to fight fires alongside his work as a doctor, it may help to know that the brigade was not called out very often! He had been in charge for 2 years before his men got called upon to actually fight a fire. (The fire at Captain Marshall's menagerie and home, The Eyrie, 1892) It was not an uneventful period in charge however. In 1891 the Marlow Fire Brigade were amongst a number of crews that were invited to the Crystal Palace in London to put on a "Grand Review" before the German emperor. They were put through their drills and the Marlow gentlemen must have impressed the dignitaries present as John was the the brigade superintendent picked out to meet the Emperor and exchange a few polite words. He stepped down from command but remained as honourary surgeon to the brigade for the first few years of the new century under captains Smith and Page Dye. 

He also had a hands-on life saving role in a different way in 1891 when he leapt into the River Thames and saved the life of a young lad in danger of drowning. The youngster's boat had capsized near Shaw's boathouse and the boy could barely swim. So John threw off coat and hat and plunged in to the rescue in "the most plucky manner possible."

The Dickson's War Effort

During the First World War, the Dickson's eldest son Ian, also a doctor, recieved the Military Cross in the New Years Honours of 1918. He survived the war, and even managed to marry while on a short home leave from fighting near Salonika. (To Nell Parry Price January 1917) Ian had left for the Transvaal in 1912, for a projected stay of 3 years, before war intervened and he joined the RAMC. The Dickson's younger son John was not however so lucky and was killed while serving on HMS Hawke as a midshipman in 1917.  He was aged just 17. 

Emily was a leading member of the First World War War Relief Committee and she was in charge of their Victoria Road depot. This site did two important things. If a woman who had lost her employment because of the war, and could not get any of the limited relief otherwise on offer, she could apply to Emily to be given paid employment at the depot. This was needlework and produced items needed by the Red Cross such as clothing as well as items for hospitals and institutions. 

John meanwhile had retired from his own practice in 1914 (not from his other roles)  but this lasted little time as his successor was absent on war service so he resumed his role for a few more years. 

Shoddy housing and dodgy sanitation

John probably made the biggest difference in his work as the councils Medical Officer and Medical Officer for Schools. These were roles which he filled for a quarter of a century, only giving up a few months before his death. He work with people such as the Sanitary Inspector to hold landlords and householders to account when they had allowed their buildings to degenerate into an unhealthy state. Some of the housing in the region of Dean Street and Marefield, as well as Hayes Place were in a poor condition.  John did inspections and frequently found that the landlords had provided inadequate drainage, poor sanitary arrangements and badly built and leaking cess pits and wells. He recommended what measures needed to be taken to remedy the situation, such as stopping the well and ordering the property owner to supply a decent water supply. In 1910 he discovered how bad the situation had became at Hayes Place. He said the two inadequately sized privvie pitts shared by 5 of the homes there were ancient, and wrongly constructed. He considered them to be a danger to the inhabitants that needed immediate replacement. The cesspool had fallen in and leaked under the scullery floor of one house heavily polluting the soil. The privvies needed to be pulled down and the entire drainage system reconstructed. 

In this role he also inspected Marlow's common lodging houses (aka doss houses) to see if they were abiding by the requirements of various Public Health Acts. The frequent answer was no. One of his most alarming reports was probably relating to the Crown and Cushion in Dean Street. He said there was no screening between the beds of married couples, too few basins, inadequate toilets and that the yard and stables were not cleaned often enough to be in a sanitary condition. 

He was also the school medical officer for the Marlow district and as such sometimes had to order the closure of schools to contain outbreaks of infectious disease. He would visit the homes of those infected and in some cases see that they were disinfected properly. 

Hospital trouble

John was one of the doctors attending the original Cottage Hospital in Cambridge House. He performed operations in the small operating theatre there and treated dozens of people who would otherwise been unable to afford medical care. Emily Dickson was one of the "Lady Visitors" to the hospital who arrived to comfort the patients and do little things for them that did not require nursing practice. She also gave practical gifts of food and bedding to the institution. Emily was heavily involved in raising funds to maintain the hospital and so was a natural chair for the committee dedicated to raising funds for the new cottage hospital which would arrive in Glade Rd. In this role she clashed with former hospital subscriber and current committee member Edward Riley, the man who bought Riley Recreation park for the town. Edward did not want a new hospital to be built in case it would end up "put on the rates" rather than paid for by public donations as before. He also considered the Glade Road site "unsuited for a hospital." While his concerns about funding were shared by some others, and were not without foundation, Edward does not come across as the most easy to deal with individual when others disagreed with him! Emily was present when he complained "too many women" were on the building committee. He wrote letters to the press in response to private letters that Emily wrote to ask for his support in her work. These letters from Edward come across as condescending even if read in the most generous spirit!  John and the other medical staff were moved to write their own public letter threatening a wholesale resignation if progress was not made on providing a better hospital than the inconvenience of Cambridge House could provide. They were they said fully confident that the community would show enough support and "public spirit" to see the building of the new hospital through, despite "unreasonable objections" from those not currently subscribing to the hospital themselves. To read more about this, see the posts here and here. 

A post about Edward Riley is here

The Institute

John was a firm supporter of womens suffrage. He spoke in support of  women getting the vote during a public debate on the issue at the Institute - a motion he had advanced but one that was decisively defeated. He did however secure the rights of woman to join the Institute in their own right and to attend classes there, both the general ones and those intended for ladies in the first place. He himself taught ladies classes on first aid and home nursing at the Institute as well as offering lectures on subjects such as the blood circulation and the workings of the ear and eye to all.

It was John who was credited as the driving force behind securing Technical Education (adult education) classes for Marlow. They would also be held at the Institute for much of their history and John was the treasurer and hon sec for the TE group at various times. You can read more about the Institutes early life here

The Institute building is now the Library. It sits next to the Dickson's former house, which was built for him in the then new Institute Rd in 1893. 

Goodbye John

John resigned from his Council work 2 months before his death in 1923, as he had became suddenly unwell. The Wycombe rural district council deferred accepting his resignation in the hope he would recover. But his condition worsened and he passed away at The Gables in January 1923 age 69. 

The Dunbar Dicksons name crops up constantly in late Victorian and Edwardian Marlow history. It's hard to do justice to all the roles they filled in one post but here is a summary of some (and only some!) roles we have not already mentioned..

John was also:

 a JP sitting at the Marlow petty sessions court adjoining the police station in Trinity Road. 

Member of committee to organise the introduction of old age pensions locally.

Chair of meetings of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoons held at the Congregational Church as it was then known. (Others also took this role on by rotation) 

Committee member and subscriber to Marlow Institute (elected to board of trustees 1895) & Marlow Rowing Club. He was also a judge at the regatta at times. 

Helped to organise 1902 & 1911 Coronation celebrations

President of Reading and Upper Thames Branch of the BMA 1890

Supporter and main lecturer for the St John's Ambulance in Marlow. Insisted that classes should be free for those who could not pay.  Working women could attend free too. 

Treasurer of the Marlow branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 

Keen cricketer, who played in many charity matches and for the Institute Cricket team. 

Trustee of Oxford Rd Almshouses (from 1898) 

And Emily:

Was a committee member of the South Bucks School of Domestic Cookery. This held free cookery lessons at the Girls School in St Peters Street in the early 1890's. 

Fundraiser for the St Johns Ambulance, Diamond Jubilee and 1902  Coronation celebrations.

On the ladies commitee of Marlow Cottage Hospital 

Passed an examination in domestic hygiene in 1888, taken in London. I'm uncertain of the awarding body. Her certificate was present by the Duchess of Albany. 

Member of the South Bucks Woman's Liberal Association. 

Post written and researched by Kathryn Day

Other medical related posts

Patients treated at first Cottage Hospital under Dickson and Culhane here

Call the Apothecary here

Marlow Hero Nurse Cassidy here

Matron Mary Cole here

Benjamin Atkinson, surgeon here

Midwife Sarah Price here

The first Cottage Hospital and Provident Nursing Club here

More about the Cottage Hospital and the move to Glade Rd site  here 

Romantic troubles of Dr Culhane here

A full list can be found under the General History option of the top drop down menu. 

 To find all mentions of your ancestors here, see the A-Z person index in the same menu. 

Some sources: 

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1911. (Kelly's Directories Ltd)

London Gazette Part 3, vol 1, 1885, digitized by Google. 

Lancet, Vol 2. 1891, digitized by Google

South Bucks Standard 30 May 1890, 1 January 1892, 12 Jan 1894, 10 June 1904, 8 April 1910, 24 April & 3 July 1913 British Library Archives. 

Bucks Herald 18 July 1891, 20 January &  21 April 1923 as above. 

Henley and South Oxfordshire Standard 18 July 1891. 

Census 1881, 1891, 1901 - transcriptions from microfilm by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger. 

War Weekly January 1917

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer May 19 & December 1st 1888,  Slough library. 

Building News collected volumes, 1893. 

©Marlow Ancestors

Marlow's Lesser Known War Memorial

Below is a plaque of recognition for soldiers who fought and died in the 1899-1902 South African War, also known as the second Boer war. It was unveiled on the then headquarters of the Bucks Battalion of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, next to what is now the library in Institute Rd, in August 1909. Made of black Aberdeen granite, a few details on the "war tablet" are a little hard to read now but we've done our best ..

"This tablet was erected by public subscription to record the names of members of the Auxillary forces connected with Great Marlow who served in the 1899 war in South Africa 1902

Imperial Yeomanry: 

Trooper BF Burton

Trooper W G Drinkwater 

Trooper A J Gale

Trooper G. R Greaves, 

Trooper F Langley, (Frank, brother to Jack, see below)

Trooper J Langley, (Jack, sadly died in WW1. Read more about his family here )

Trooper H B Rowe,  

Trooper C Webb, 

Trooper W White, 

First Bucks VRC :

Sergeant G Hide (Geoffrey)

Private C Green,  

Private G H Green, 

Private CT Martin, 

Private A Silvey, 

Private G Simmonds 

Private J Wheatley

Bugler L Shaw, 

Private W Batley,

Sergt. H J Smith

And : Trooper G A Rogers, killed at Bolshop May 19 1902)" 

 The unveiling was left to General Higginson. Raising funds for the plaque had taken time and it's reveal was regarded as a big occasion in the town. A guard of honour was formed in Institute Rd for the General, consisting of members of the Marlow company of the Territorials and other groups such as Marlow Fire Brigade and the Church Lads Brigade. Once the ceremony was complete, those gathered marched to the Enclosure - the no longer enclosed patch of grass on the Causeway. The purpose was to perform the inaugural hoisting of flags on the flagpole. The Overseas League provided the flagpole, and invited Marlow council to give a home to it. They agreed, and funds had also been raised to buy the flags. Various groups in town provided national or territorial flags, and that of Cape Colony in South Africa was among them, purchased with funds raised by the pupils of Borlase school. A flagpole is still to be seen on the Causeway and few probably know why one was first erected there. The Overseas League aimed to encourage a sense of brotherhood amongst individuals living within the Empire and so it displayed not only the Union Jack but the flags of Western Australia and New Zealand for example. This was the first such flagpole erected by the League and that fact was reported across the Empire. 

More information about Marlow and the Boer wars will follow shortly. 

See  here for the Brewery First World War memorial tablet

And the tragic early history of The Armoury (Bucks Volunteer HQ) - some distressing content - is covered here

For all mentions of your ancestors here, use the A-Z person to index in the top drop down menu. There are more than 3,000 individuals listed there. 

SOURCES

National Library of Australia Trove Collection:

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/53186750/5137435, accessed September 2020

South Bucks Standard August 27th 1909, held at the British Library and accessed via the BNA November 2020

©MarlowAncestors. Post written by Kathryn Day. 

Books, Billiards And ..Beer? Marlow Institute

In January 1853, a group of Marlow citizens decided to solve a problem in the town. Marlow was known for it's sporting success they said, but when it came to matters literary and scientific, other towns were ploughing ahead. It was time for Marlow to catch up and form it's own literary and scientific institution. The new boys' school room had opened in the Causeway the previous year so it probably seemed the right time to turn everyone's attention to adult education. The school room became the venue for the meeting which ended with the resolution to set up an Institute. The idea was enthusiastically received and promises of donations were made immediately. Harleyford's Sir William Robert Clayton became President. 

By December the Institute was ready to give it's very first lecture. While there was obviously a delay to allow funds to be raised, it was also the intention to offer the lectures mainly during the winter season. Marlow's regency Adult Institution for promoting adult literacy had also offered classes mostly during the winter, because the long dark evenings were when the working man was mostly likely to be able to attend. Long hours of daylight meant longer working hours and less time and energy for attending lectures. The Institute did have the express purpose of providing education and recreation for artisans and workers. How successful they would be in this aim would be the subject of contention. 

What the Institute didn't have at this point was a designated Institute building. The lecture was therefore held at the Town Hall. Local scientist, mathematician, inventor civil engineer and amateur astronomer Edwin Clark was the first speaker. He was sure, he said, that the Institute would provide an opportunity for self improvement within reach of any who chose to take the opportunity. Edwin's father had been pillow lace manufacturer but suffered a great deal of financial ups and downs and appears on census returns as a grocer later. Edwin probably knew more than some of the other speakers about what it meant to take charge of your own education - he was apparently a bit of a reluctant scholar himself as a young man. He credited a boyhood lecture on electricity held at the same Town Hall as an inspiration that set him on his own path of learning. He apparently constructed his own "electrical machine" afterwards to make demonstrations to his young friends. The text of Edwin's inaugural address to the Institute was published and available from local booksellers as a memento. 

As well as lectures, the Institute established a library and reading room in the High Street. (In the former classroom of Mr Fields school, almost opposite Cromwell House. Mr Field was also the postmaster)  In 1862 it was said to have 950 volumes. Previously Marlow had a number of subscription based circulating libraries located in the various stationers and booksellers around town, such as Calcutt and Elgie in the High Street. The Institute library would also be available to subscribers only. It was open to ladies but few were reported to have joined in the first year.  

For those who could not afford the annual Institute subscription, there was from 1859, an alternative for men at least. The Night school, set up by the Vicar of All Saints (Rev Frederick Bussell), hosted lectures and classes during the winter season. It was aimed at working men and although the lectures encompassed religious and moral subjects, this was not the limit to their scope. The teaching was done by the Vicar himself, assisted by his curates, the Sunday School teachers both male and female, and their friends. These classes seem to have been very popular, especially with youths and agricultural labourers. In 1861 the programme extended to summer activities to keep the young men suitably occupied, with the formation of the Night School and Juveniles Cricket Club. Bats and balls would be provided. The school struggled after Rev Bussells sudden and untimely death that year but continued for a number of years. 

There was also a Mutual Improvement Society which offered lectures. They were usually held in the Lecture Room in St Peters Street (now the Masonic Centre) but when the Institute got a building of it's own, it was intended to be shared with the Mutual Improvement Society. The two organisations then merged. However, there were other Mutual Improvement societies at later periods, usually based in one of the churches and chapels. (The main MIS as mentioned above started in 1877 and was chiefly aimed at young men)

Is there yawning at the back? 

Back to the Institute. Reports of their first events invariably mention an enthusiastic audience. But it seems the subjects chosen did not please everyone. The South Bucks Free Press said in 1862 that lectures were now far from the rage in Marlow with large audiences unknown and "desolate benches are frequent." Other reports of a popular entertainment, as opposed to an educational one, noted a fuller audience than normal and the fact the onlookers did not for once look bored. Musical evenings do seem to feature more often as time goes on but I'm sure the supposed torture suffered by early attendees was  exaggerated. The Institute was self funded and no doubt would have folded if it consistently failed to interest anyone! Of course there were ups and downs financially, with a particularly difficult time in the mid to late 1870s when funds were described as "somewhat attenuated". In 1875 the Bucks Herald went as to far as to say the Institute was retrogressing at such a rate that it would soon terminate in "utter collapse". They added that "one finds no plausible pretext for keeping it alive". This was because the membership was relatively small and declining and the number of leisure events was starting to outweigh the educational ones in their eyes. The library was in a poor state too - "dilapidated and exhausted." The paper was especially annoyed that the playing of dominoes would be allowed in the Reading Room for two hours an evening - such frivolous behaviour was the beginning of the end as far as they were concerned. 

An appeal was made in 1879 for Marlow residents to donate newspapers, magazines and similar publications to the library once they had finished with them. Sir William Clayton took the lead by offering a loan of his copies of the Saturday Review and the Public Opinion during the 6 months he expected to be away on a Mediterranean cruise aboard his yacht. "Members will doubtless exercise due care in their use". 

The Institute gains a home

As it is, the Institute grew and thrived. There were some blips such as a reported waning interest in the lectures in the 1880s, causing then to be moved from weekly to fortnightly. Readings and debates were dropped as part of the regular programme in 1888.  Plans to have their own permanent home for activities were often floated, and in 1887, it was decided to make a definite fundraising drive to this end. The building would be a lasting memorial to the Jubilee. Some £200 of excess funds raised for those celebrations had been kept back as a start for the fund.  Colonel Williams donated land for the build, in what is now Institute Road and within an area he was developing. A new headquarters for the 1st Bucks Rifle Volunteers would be built alongside, the two buildings joined by a high arch. (Read more about the dramatic first year of the Armoury here) Construction did not begin straight away, as time was needed to raise part of the building cost. (It was originally stated the Institute building should not cost more than £1200 but the lowest tender for the accepted design was priced at £500 more than that.) It was constructed by Marlow builder YJ Lovell and his workforce.  The architects however were not local, which seemingly broke the rules set for determining the winner of the building design competition by the Trustees.  The Building News considered the new Institute and the Armoury to look like "a pair of second rate suburban villas"!  Nevertheless, the foundation stone was laid by Thomas Somers Cocks of Lymbrook (Thames Bank) in 1889 with Col Wethered doing the honours at the neighbouring HQ. Lovell was unfortunately unable to attend the formal opening due to ill health. 

In June 1890 the buildings were finished, and the Volunteer HQ and Institute were opened on the same day in September of that year. This official opening was a big event in Marlow and the town was decorated with flags and bunting. A half day holiday was declared by many shops in town. Even those Marlow citizens hard at work during the Wednesday ceremony could not have missed the fact it was happening. The Volunteers Drum and Fife band paraded around town followed by a procession of Volunteers, the volunteer fire brigade and the towns friendly societies. They announced their arrival outside the HQ and Institute with bugles. While they were parading, the trustees of the Institute had been hosting a celebration dinner in the boys schoolroom. (Now the Church Hall in the Causeway.) A lucky few were offered a tour of both new buildings although the library and recreation rooms were not finished and were opened the following month. (The room dedicated in the plans to library use was however initially set up as a temporary reading room as the permanent Reading Room was acting as the stop gap Recreation Room! Only the Classroom was ready in it's proper place when the building opened. The proper Reading Room was not actually fully fitted up until 1892, as the South Bucks School of Cookery and Domestic Science hired the room for 6 months, and in doing so installed an oven and sink etc which were subsequently removed.) Next there were speeches, and the official opening ceremony. Colonel Wethered, addressing the crowd from the upper orderly room of the Volunteers HQ, also refered to the Institute which he had been involved in setting up. He remarked that the Institute had been erected for the benefit of the working man and artisan and he sincerely hoped it would live up to it's ambitions. He had, he said, developed a sense of "love and interest" in this class of person who made up such a large number of the men under his command in the Volunteer Corps. 

Within a few years, disappointment was expressed at how relative few of these working class people had in fact become members. There were more than one class of membership, with first class membership unsurprisingly costing the most. All members had the right to attend events however. While some of the language used may seem patronising now, it seems many were passionately interested in opening the Institute to a wider range of people. But sadly even the cheapest subscription would have been out of reach for Marlow's poorest families, payable in advance as it was.  (In 1889 the subscription was £1 1s per year for first class membership, 10s for second class, and 5s for third.) Attending a lecture or class also involved paying an extra entrance fee. Those who were not members themselves were able to attend some of  the events as a guest of a member while others were open to anyone, with subscribers paying a lower admission rate. Visitors to the town could also apply to become a temporary member during their stay.

 Woman were allowed to become members in their own right and while there were female only classes, woman could also attend the general ones. This was far from a given at the time, and a source of pride for forward thinking trustees such as Dr. Dunbar Dickson. At the grand opening the Dr reminded those present of the opportunity for women to join and hoped those doing so would by their example "improve the minds of the male sex."  (You can read a post about the doctor here). 

Third class members of either sex were not originally allowed to vote at the meetings of members, which caused much tumult at the 1878 annual meet. The disenfranchised third class members tried to change this, by proposing an amendment to the society's constitution and voting amongst themselves to adopt it. This was of course not considered a valid amendment but after "some discussion" it was decided to end the discrimination. Four members of the third class had always been part of the management committee, and this was subsequently increased to six. 

Inside, the Institute consisted of a library and reading room downstairs, with a recreation room above the former, and a class room over the latter, with a small connecting room to use with either. Outside, the building was fronted by a small "tastefully planted garden" and at the rear was a large area originally intended to house a hall to accommodate bigger events but funds ran out before it was built. It was later laid down as a bowling lawn (1908). The town hall or Music Room continued to be used as a venue for large entertainments. 

 Donations had not just came in cash but in the form of books, furniture and fixtures for the building. For example, Reuben Nereus Smith of Beaufort Cottage donated two library chairs and a number of small mahogany chairs, and grocer Alfred Ilsley presented a complete set of the works of George Eliot. (To read more about Alfred see here.) Two mahogany bookcases and a large table in the library were the gift of Colonel Wethered along with much of the flooring. Cork flooring was used in the library to create a suitably quiet walking surface! Charles Miller Footitt offered the old town stocks and gaol door which had come into his possession. They were put on display behind the Institute/Armoury for several years before passing into the hands of the council who displayed them on the Causeway. Charles also donated a complete railway map and timetable for the British Isles. 

The selection of books available was regarded as extensive by some Institution supporters but one disgruntled member writing to a local paper in 1899 thought the fiction section "a marvel of smallness and inadequacy" with two many classic works - and too much Dickens. Dickens was "intensely vulgar" and written for a generation passed away the letter writer said! 

The buildings were open from 10am to 10.30pm every day except Sundays when it opened from 2-6 and 8-10pm, with the reading room closed at one period on Sundays. It had a caretaker who doubled up as the librarian. An ad for this position in 1896 specified the applicant should be well educated, married and perhaps a retired military man. 

 Books, billiards and ..beer? 

When the building was designed, space was allowed for a billiard table. But then the trustees began to doubt whether it was quite the thing  for a Literary and Scientific Institution. Or rather whether it should spend funds on this. A petition was raised to ask them to reconsider and eventually it was decided to allow the table, if a group of supporters paid for it. A charge was made to use the table, and this money was used to reimburse the table buyers and then to maintain the billiard facilities. So no Institute funds would be spent on the divisive table. Initially allowed for a year, it was a big success. The annual billiard competition attracted a large number of entrants and there were also matches between the Marlow and Wycombe Institutes.  The Institute had in fact had a hired recreation room in 1888 before the current building opened. It was open 5 days a week and proved hugely popular with young men. 

Refreshments were available in the building but they were to be strictly non alcoholic. This exclusion outraged a letter writer to a local paper who thought the only reason to exclude alcohol was because the trustees doubted the morals of the members and their ability to moderate their intake. His complaints were to no avail. The Institute did get a bar, but not until the 20th century. 

South Kensington comes to Marlow

Soon after the Institute opened, it began hosting Technical Education Classes under the auspices of the South Kensington museums. Previously these had been held at different venues around the town such as Borlase school. The students took exams and if successful could gain a certificate and attend a prize giving at the Institute. Some 43 students were enrolled in these classes in 1893. The Technical Education committee paid to use the Institute rooms and when they eventually moved the classes back out to Borlase, a large hole was left in the funds. The solution? Install another billiard table! 

The Technical classes were available in subjects such as drawing, clay modelling, French, shorthand and wood carving. A branch was set up in both Lane End and Frieth although some of these classes were subsequently dropped due to low numbers of students. 

They ran both evening and day courses, with the evening option costing more. 

Taxation of bachelors and other debates...

Here is a sample of the activities on offer at the Institute, aside from enjoying the books and billiards. After  much debate, card playing (from 1893) joined dominoes, backgammon, bagatelle and chess as permitted games. But they could only be played in the recreation room and strictly no gambling was allowed. The recreation room was also the only place that you could smoke. Those who were disconcerted by card playing must have been horrified by the gift by Charles Footitt of his Household Artillery game which involved shooting miniature missiles at a target, with bells that rang to indicate a direct hit. Charles had exclusive rights to make this toy aimed at adults, although it had been invented by another man. 

Dr Dickson offered lectures to women in First Aid as well as  those on other medical subjects such as the working of the human eye. Rev Tavender of the Congregational Church gave a presentation on America and the Rev A Thompson of Little Marlow offered a virtual tour of Venice and Russia. You could also enjoy demonstrations of electrical power (1894, Edward Riley) and modern cookery - the latter took place in the Music room, St Peters Street and was presented by Miss Stanfield of the Sheffield school of Cookery. Or perhaps your Marlow ancestor would have enjoyed the illustrated talk on the Land of The Pharaoh by Wycombe's Arthur Vernon (1893), the life and times of Charles Dickens (Robert Hayes Smith,1895), allotment gardening (various times, at the Glade Road allotments and Medmenham School rooms), or oxy-hydrogen lanterns (Rev. S Wilkinson, 1893.) Sir George Higginson gave a talk in 1893 on the time he had spent as Lieutenant of the Tower of London which was especially well attended.

In the Edwardian era subjects like veterinary science were on offer as well as fitness classes conducted by Miss Morley under the Joseph Conn system. Mrs Joseph Conn visited the Institute in 1908 and bemoaned the prevailing "degeneracy" seen in all classes of society, which her brand of healthful exercise would help alleviate, or so she said. 

Debates were conducted on subjects such as whether woman should get the vote (1891, Dr Dickson proposes that they should but was defeated) and whether bachelors ought to be taxed to encourage marriage. (Mr Wethered joked that it would be a difficult tax to collect but if women were employed to do it, then perhaps it would facilitate marriage in more ways than one! The tax was proposed by the happily married Robert Hayes Smith, who was also Institute Secretary. A post about him can be found here)

Less expectedly, the Institute had a successful cricket team. I can see several references to this in the 1860's but it seems to have lapsed as it was apparently "started" again in 1896. They played their first game on Crown Meadow but later they came to an arrangement to play and practice on the Marlow Cricket Club ground. It amalgamated with Marlow Cricket Club in 1901, to become their second eleven. An Institute Rowing Club seems shorter lived, as does a Minstrel troupe. 

Problems a plenty

The initial enthusiasm for the Institute fulfilling (mostly) it's original function was at its peak in the first 10 years after its opening. The literary and  educational aspects gradually declined relative to the social club elements. By 1902 Dr Dickson could call the institute a "disgrace" to the town. Only one lecture had been held the previous year, and one entertainment. It was dirty and dusty inside he said, and shabby looking on the outside with the front neglected and the fencing in need of replacement. A donated portrait of Sir William Clayton had apparently been ruined due to it being left about here and there as a promised picture rail had never been put up. Rev Tavender of the Congregational Church thought the character of the library was not good. The then committee could only admit the complaints were justified. They said the caretaker was uninterested in his work and so did little of it (why he was not sacked if this was so was a question not answered).  It was added that the Hon secretary L J Smith jun, had as a volunteer not nearly enough time to devote to the institution. Dr Dickson was quick to state he wished to reflect no criticism on LJ and said he thought the Institute really needed to employ a paid assistant to help run it. Alas, the surplus funds were nowhere near sufficient for this. Efforts were made to tidy it up (a new oak fence arrived at the front in 1903) and keep an educational element. 

The Institute has seen many uses through time - see our post on Marlow in the First World War for more on this. (Find in the general post index linked below)

It eventually closed in 1959 and became Marlow's Library, a role it still fulfills. 

Above, the Institute today. Image courtesy of Colin Groves. 

To find more posts about individual buildings, streets or similar look under "Specific Shops, Streets etc" on the top drop down menu. All mentions of a person can be found under the Person Index, also on the top drop down menu. 

To read other posts about everyday life in old Marlow see the post listing here

To read about Marlow's first Regency era literary Institution see here

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

SOURCES

The Forty First Report of the Department of Science and Art Committee of Council for Education, Volume 41, The South Kensington Museums. 1894. 

Journal of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce, Volume 10. RSA 1862. 

Berkshire Chronicle 22 January 1814, 17 December 1855, 15 June 1861, British Library collection, accessed via the BNA,  November 2020. 

Bucks Chronicle and Gazette - 24 December 1853, as above. 

Reading Mercury 22 January & 30 April 1853, 22 February 1890, 21 Jan 1893 as above

Kelly's Directory of Berks, Bucks, Oxon 1883,1903, 1911, 1915 - Kelly's Directories Ltd. 

 Maidenhead Advertiser December 17 1879. 

Building News, March 29th 1889, digitised by Google. 

Bucks Herald  20 Mar 1865 & April 1878, as above. 

South Bucks Standard 8 March 1901, and 14 February 1902 thanks to Martin. 

©Marlow Ancestors.