Life In 1930s Marlow Part Two Sport, Leisure, Transport

 Part One dealt with homes, shopping and employment. See here. A further part covering childhood and religion will become available next year.

Sport

The Regatta attracted a world record (for an Amateur event) 107 entries in 1930 and continued to thrive during the thirties. It wasn't only local teams competing- in 1936 a team from the Tokyo Imperial University stormed to victory in the Grand Challenge Cup with their ultra light cedarwood boat and what was described as an unorthodox even eccentric rowing style. Sadly in just what eccentric way that they were rowing has been lost to history. The crew also raced at Henley Regatta that year, long a magnet for foreign teams, before flying off from Croydon Airport to the Berlin Olympics. Despite the hype around the team before the event no Japanese rower actually medalled at Berlin.

Spectators at each Regatta crowded onto the bridge despite dire warnings that their combined weight exceeded the 5 ton safety limit for this old structure.

Winners at the Regatta carried of solid silver prizes supplied as they had been for decades by Rowe's jewellers in the High Street.

Marlow also had a Rowing Club Regatta until the number of members on anti aircraft duty or military service forced the temporary cancellation of the event in 1939. The Rowing Club wasn't popular with everyone - Marlow's vicar successfully asked for Sunday morning rowing practice to be removed from the club's normal schedule as it coincided with his services.  The strength of the "nothing but church on a Sunday" brigade at the time cannot be underestimated. Some wanted the swings taken out of the playground in Higginson Park on a Sunday!

A 1931 promotional advert from a campaign suggesting Marlow was just the place for sports loving tourists to come for their holidays. 
 

The Regatta was part of  a week of linked events which also typically involved tennis tournaments as well as sometimes bowls and putting ones not to mention fireworks and fun fairs.

In Higginson Park there were then two putting greens. As well as the Regatta week tournaments they hosted a separate annual one. Normal putting cost 6d a round in 1931 including the use of the putter, a score card and the ball. A Putting Club existed in the park and organized it's own small weekly competition for members. Mr R Young in 1932 broke their course record by getting two holes in one!

Elsewhere in the Court Garden complex were three hard tennis courts which could be hired at a cost of 2 shillings an hour. Thirsty sports people obtained refreshment from the park pavilion.

Due to a legal tangle part of Higginson Park was run at the time by the Higginson Park Society, and part by the council. Members of the society were asked to pay a minimum subscription of 5 shillings a year early in the decade. They had their own tennis group which organised an annual "American Tennis" tournament, whatever that was.

The Football Club reached the dizzying heights of the Premier Division of the Spartan League in 1938. It's Supporter's Club was newly formed at the beginning of the decade. At the same time a second adult team Marlow Wednesday was formed. They won the Windsor and District Wednesday League in their first season.

Marlow Working Men's Cricket Club meanwhile played in the Wycombe and District League and operated from Higginson Park, a near neighbour to the Bowling Club whose new 6 rink Court Garden premises opened in 1931. Marlow's other cricket team the Marlow Cricket Club of Pound Lane was defunct by this time but later revived and still exists in this second incarnation today.

The nearby village of Little Marlow had its own Cricket Club and team  in combination with Bourne End of which the residents were very proud. Little Marlow could also boast a football team.

Billiards and snooker tournaments were regularly held at the Institute billiards room in Institute Road. In fact the fees generated from entries into billiards events and for other use of the billiards table did much to keep the institution going. This building is now Marlow Library.

At Borlase school the boys could make use of a fives court as well as the more conventional tennis courts, running tracks, football pitch and cricket field.

Hockey had been played informally in Marlow since the mid 1800s and the Hockey Club had its inaugural meeting in 1909. Both men's, women's and mixed teams competed for the town in the 1930s and both received coverage in the local press near equal to that of the football team which reflects the enhanced popularity of hockey as a spectator sport at that time. The Hockey Club ground from 1921 was either a field near the railway station or the grounds of Spinfield depending on availability, with the Gossmore recreation ground also being used at times during the 1930s. The men's team at times struggled to find enough sufficiently skilled players to compete so in some seasons only Marlow's women were able to regularly represent the town.

Hockey and tennis were the main but not only sporting opportunities for female residents in the town. Some of the annual Regatta events were for women as were some  swimming competitions in the River Thames and the Badminton Club was unisex. Female Marlovians were often mentioned as spectators at Marlow's home football matches. They had been attending regularly since at least the late 1800s. However while Marlow F.C had had a female President in the 1920s, Lady Vera Terrington of Spinfield, there was not apparently any ladies team playing for them.

Darts tournaments in pubs were popular for men but women were also casual players and informal competitors. A Pub Darts League, probably for male players only, was started in Marlow in 1935 involving teams from the Duke of Cambridge, Railway Hotel, Horns,  Carpenter's Arms, Ship, Royal Oak at Bovingdon Green, Carrier's arms, Three Tuns, Red lion, Hare and Hounds, Two Brewers, Wheatsheaf and Nag's Head. This replaced an earlier league which was not restricted to pub teams, and which the Bank of England pub team dominated.

The Bucks Amateur Athletic Association formed just before the 1930s and held some events in Marlow. Ladies events began in 1932. More informally athletic sports organized by the short-lived Marlow Bottom Residents Association took place at Bencombe Farm at least a couple of times during the decade. The bar may not have been set too high at the latter. As mentioned in a previous posts one of the competitions was "cigarette lighting".

Leisure swimmers could enjoy the official bathing place in the Thames at Marlow and another at Hurley both with their own attendants. The Marlow one was in the Berkshire side of the river and consisted if a chained off area of water. Anyone who dared to arrive for a swim in an "insufficient" costume could expect to be handed a "sober" cotton alternative to put on. In 1930 spectators at the Swimming Sports enjoyed a display of diving off Marlow Bridge (in one case with both hands and feet tied!) by members of the Maidenhead Swimming Club. Council hopes to go one better than a swimming place and build a lido in Higginson Park where the football pitch is now were dashed when the Ministry of Health refused the necessary funding.

Those who wanted to learn to ride were fortunate in having a riding school at Field House Farm on the edge of town complete with a show jumping arena. Occasional gymkhanas took place at the farm. These were quite informal- with events such as "mop polo" where instead of the usual stick the ball was hit with mops. 

Special coach services were laid on so equine loving Marlovians could attend Newbury horse races and during Ascot week a roaring trade in hire cars was done thanks to all the Marlovians who wanted to go there.

Greyhound racing at an amateur level took place at meets in nearby Booker and Cressex. Coach trips were organized every year from Marlow to greyhound tracks in London and elsewhere. Pigeon racing was popular and the town had its own pigeon racing club for those involved.

Boxing took place regularly at Wycombe Town Hall, sometimes including fighters from Marlow.

The worldwide political situation inevitably meant that some leisure hours were spent not in relaxing but in urgent political discussion. Marlow had a branch of the League of Nations Union a pacifist organisation which held that disarmament of all countries and membership of the League of Nations was the only way forward for the world. Captain Liston of New Court was one of the members of the Marlow Branch. As it became apparent to many that a second war with Germany was inevitable nationwide membership of this organization dwindled. Those Marlovians who did not hold with the notion of pacifism urgently encouraged the participation of the town's adolescent and young adult males in leisure activities which would see them transform themselves into better soldiers when their time came. Gymnastics was promoted because it fostered strength and self discipline, while shooting at targets was encouraged for obvious reasons.

Other Leisure

Higginson Park Social Club by 1938 which met in a room at Court Garden. Their activities included dances (they had their own swing band), darts competitions and whist drives. Whist drives in general were extremely common as fundraising events in 1930s Marlow.

Marlovians could enjoy films (the new County Cinema opened in Station Road in 1938, replacing the Spittal Square St George's / former County cinema premises). Or perhaps they preferred to sit back at home and listen to the radio or gramophone. Both Platts in Quoiting Square and Compton's Cycle Agents in West Street functioned as radio dealerships alongside their other trades. Mr Platt proudly advertised that he was the sole agent of both Murphy and Bush radios in the town. A Murphy radio would set you back a minimum of £6 10 shillings. Sounds cheap doesn't it? Consider this- a plot of land on Marlow on which to build a bungalow cost from £15-16 in the same era.  A parlour maid would need to use more than a month's wages to buy such a wireless. Leo Ryan and J.G Mackey both in the High Street were two other men who sold radios. J.G  Mackey was the Philco brand stockist. This company also made early televisions but it is not known if Mackey in Marlow sold those too. Listening to the wireless required a licence, with government detector vans stalking the streets to catch any householder who forgot to buy one.

Photographer Norman Greville in the High Street offered the Patheoscope for viewing short reels at home, a device which doesn't seem to have caught on.

The Masonic hall in St Peter Street, as the Public Hall until 1933 and the Masonic centre thereafter, was sometimes used for dances in the 1930s and the George and Dragon in the High Street held them fortnightly from 8pm til midnight- tickets 2s or 3s 6d for a couple. Bargain hunters with their own transport could find cheaper dances held every so often in local village halls. At Lane End in 1937 entry cost just 1s 6d for one person. Frieth village hall was cheaper still at a round shilling. In many of these dances spot prizes were given to those whom the judges deemed to be the best dancing couples. These prizes might be in cash so that a talented pair could hope to win back their cost of entry and even make a profit from their night out.

Hilda Bailey of High Street Marlow taught dancing in the town as well as in High Wycombe and Beaconsfield. She could teach you ballroom and ballet as well as a bizarre array of fancy moves -"Comic dancing", "Character dancing", "Greek Operatic Dancing" and "Acrobatic Dancing". I think we'd all like to have been a fly on the wall during those classes. At her Wycombe dance studio Hilda offered "tap dance and limbering" classes for "business girls"on a Tuesday. The late 1920s saw a craze in England for folk dancing. The girls in the Church of England school took part as did the ladies of Bovingdon Green.

Hilda Bailey also held a general non-dance ladies fitness class every week. Other keep fit classes, for both men and women, were held at the Domestic Science Centre rooms off Wethered Road. 

In Marlow Bottom a "Witches Barn" Club is listed in Kelly's Directory 1939 edition. On their website the current Barn Club date their existence only from 1948 so the nature of this earlier club is unknown to me. A few years before this 1939 mention there was in existence a Witches Barn Tea Garden And Motor Service in Marlow Bottom. The barn used for this was originally at White Hill outside Marlow, but was taken apart bit by bit and re-erected in Marlow Bottom.

Another initially unexplained aspect of Marlow in the 1930s was what exactly the "Marlow Players" were doing when they competed in "Drama League" competitions. Competitive acting?!? Upon research I find that yes that really was a thing in this period. In each area of Britain local teams of amateur actors took to the stage one after the other and their performances were ranked by an adjudicator who then gave prizes to those in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The Marlow Players formed in 1937 and were competing in the League from the next year. They weren't the first amateur team from Marlow to be involved however, one called the "St Martins" team were competing from 1936. Bovingdon Green had it's own amateur dramatic group, the Bovingdon Green Players.

As well as in the Institute, readers could, by the end of the decade, enjoy a part time library and newspaper reading room in a portion of what is now Liston Hall thanks to the generosity of Nesta Liston who helped the town to buy this former chapel. A small library of around 100 books was also kept at Bovingdon Green village hall.

Marlow had a small museum which opened in the former billiards room of Court Garden House in 1934. The exhibits included a mammoth tusk and skull bone found there at the Folley Brothers pit at Well End, Little Marlow and examples of stuffed birds.

Transport

Car ownership was increasing significantly in the 1930s. By 1939 there were 3 million motor cars in Great Britain. Marlow had at least four motor garages by the end of the decade - two in the High Street, one in Station Road and Platts in Quoiting Square. A sparkling new Austin Ten Four family saloon automobile with Dunlop tyres from Currall's garage in the High Street would set you back £168 in 1932. Secondhand cars, vans and trucks could be bought from Mr Gibbon's dealership at no. 19 York Road while cars could be hired from the Three Tuns in West Street, a business in Little Marlow Road and the above mentioned Witches Barn Motor business at Marlow Bottom. Pubs such as the Two Brewer's and Compleat Angler were quick to advertise the fact that they had safe lock up garages available for guests. 

Houses with their own garage were still relatively unusual but Suffolk Lodge off Station Road had one, The Sycamores had two and Quarry Wood Hall boasted four! Marlow got it's first, long-promised, public carpark in Pound Lane early in the decade. 

Prosecutions for speeding were less common than they had been in the 1920s but both Marlow residents and visitors were caught with expired licences every month and slapped with a fine. Prosecutions for having overly noisy cars, trucks or vans also occurred not infrequently. 

Despite the growth of motoring the majority of local travel was still done on foot, by bicycle (single or tandem), by bus or by train. Buses to High Wycombe took 25 minutes from Marlow and left every half hour in 1930. Residents of Bovingdon Green won a regular bus service into Marlow in the same year. Buses from Marlow also served Maidenhead via Bisham and Reading via Henley. The Maidenhead service went over Marlow Bridge despite the fact that this caused the structure to wobble! And that was with the passengers getting off and walking across separately. Plans to knock down and replace the bridge with a new one in 1930 were abandoned due to the expense involved. Thank goodness- the replacement was to be of utilitarian concrete! Similar plans re-emerged a few years later but were again felled by financial concerns 

Some of the bus services were run by the Marlow and District Motor Company, others by Booker Bus Services and still more by Thames Valley Traction Company. The Marlow company and Thames Valley Traction both offered special excursion trips to the seaside, Newbury Races, Whipsnade Zoo and elsewhere. Tickets for those trips as well as season tickets for the everyday routes could be bought from the company's town centre office. The other Marlow bus service, at least in the early 1930s. If you wanted to hire your own charabanc for a work's or club outing you could visit Reginald Batting in Market Square. Wycombe Charabanc Company ran a charabanc from Marlow to Bournemouth every Sunday in the summer - 10 shillings day return, 15 shillings open ended return.

In an extraordinary case at the start of the decade Marlow bus conductor Mr Stacey (Thomas?) was fined for, as a joke, letting off a firework in a bus owned by the  Marlow and District Motor Company. The vehicle was then on a journey from Wargrave to Henley (and presumably then on to Marlow) on Guy Fawkes Day 1930. The firework startled the driver who swerved, drove into a ditch and then overturned. One of the passengers was killed. Others received injuries. The police deemed driver Walter Newell ultimately responsible for what happened on his bus and as well as charging the conductor they charged him with failing to prevent the discharge of fireworks on a public vehicle.  Charges against Walter were dismissed in court. If he was keeping his eye on the road he couldn't really be watching his conductor's every move and it is reasonable to assume that the conductor throwing a firework en route wasn't high on Walter's list of probable events he might experience that day! The firework landed by the driver's seat, fizzed, but I think did not fully explode. Stacey did not give evidence in court so that we can't know his take on the events. The cab window was open at the time which may indicate that he intended to throw the firework past the driver and out through it. Hardly less risky though! 

Greenline Coaches started a regular express coach service to London. A similar service could be caught from Maidenhead. So Marlow was actually better connected to the capital than it is today!

Road traffic accidents were frequent on the streets of Marlow despite low vehicular speeds. Motor bikes were seen as glamorous but dangerous and mishaps involving them appeared  particularly regularly in the local press. Most accidents were not fatal but in 1930 Alice Budd of Chapel Street, a pillion passenger on her boyfriend's motorbike, was killed in a smash. In the same year pillion passenger Arthur Lee of Dean Street suffered fatal head injuries in an accident in West Street. Lionel Evans of York Road suffered two broken legs and a fractured skull in a motorcycle accident in 1939. 

Both motorcycles for the glamorous and cycles for everyday transport could be bought from Comptons and Baileys, both in West Street. Even more glamorous was of course air travel. In 1934 during the Whitsun holiday an aircraft owner offered short flying trips from a field in Wycombe Road, Marlow. Understandably there was a long queue of Marlovians who wanted to take to the air for the very first time. Similar trips had been offered over the previous few years in Wycombe itself. At one such event the pilot would do a loop the loop with you strapped into the passenger seat if you paid 15 shillings. No thanks!

However you zoomed about the streets back down on terra firma you had some very patchy road surfaces to deal with. Some of our urban roads were gravel, a small but increasing number tarmacked, with others topped with more experimental surfaces that never took off in the long term. Long roads may have been surfaced with different materials in different places causing a somewhat uneven journey down them. Glade Road for instance. The installation of mains sewage to the town caused huge disruption to roads and pavements in the early 1930s as did the laying of underground electricity cables at around the same time. A lack of surface drainage caused significant difficulties when it rained heavily. The residents of Marlow Bottom suffered 6-8 inch deep mud that persisted for weeks at a time on the roadway into the village and made it impassable to motor traffic. A report by the RAC on current local main road conditions appeared in the Bucks Free Press every week. 

Leisure trips on the River Thames were available for those that wished to visit Windsor Castle or cruise past Quarry Woods. Boats could also be hired at Marlow riverside. Heaven help anyone who wanted to go through Marlow Lock while scantily clad however. In 1934 a bye law to prevent anyone passing through wearing less than "full rowing costume" or "full university bathing costume" was proposed due to complaints that that wasn't always the case. Was rowing in your undergarments a thing in the 1930s?!?

A more unusual form of water transport from the usual rowing boats, punts and steam launches was owned by Mr Vivian Simon of Stoneyware, Bisham- an electric canoe!

For all that electric modernity, Marlow was still a place where horse drawn transport certainly wasn't over with and the council used a horse drawn cart for the town's rubbish collection. At least one of the town milk floats continued to be pulled by horse in 1934. The Pinches at Field House Farm still did a ready trade in farm and other cart horses.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my research with credit to this blog.

Selected Sources=

Marlow Town Guide 1931/32

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire etc 1939, Kelly's Directories.

Bucks Herald Feb 20th 1931 (Marlow regatta record breaking), 8th April 1932 (defunct cricket club). Both British Library Archives.

Reading Mercury 26th Aug 1939 and Saturday 25 November 1939 British Library Archives in this case via the BNA.

Sheffield Independent 6th and 26th November 1930. British Library Archives via the BNA.

Bucks Free Press June 27th 1930, August 17th 1934, March 10th 1933 and 19th August 1932. Bucks Free Press archives.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations_Union

Regatta Programmes

Crown Hotel Marlow guide. 1930s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_at_the_1936_Summer_Olympics

Historic advertising literature, personal interviews.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Theatre_Association

Barmoor Farm Marlow Occupiers And History Timeline

Barmoor Farm 

Description= 2 miles from Marlow. In 1895= 295 acres with  farmhouse and 6 cottages. 1937 = 328 acres with house and 8 cottages. Consisted mostly then of pasture but also had a small wood and for plantation attached. Earlier a mixed farm. Farm no longer exists (it is under Booker Airfield).

1250 - a Barmoor Manor existed in Marlow which may be the origin of Barmoor Farm. It was seemingly a minor manor. First known mention of the farm as Barmoor Farm was in 1672.

Occupiers - these are not usually the same as the owners. Gaps in dates are current gaps in our knowledge=

1758 - part of the farmland (only) occupied by Moses Medwin.

1798 - Mr Brangwin 

1833 - 51 George Brangwin who was born Hambledon circa 1791, as was his wife Mary. The owner of the farm was then Sir William Robert Clayton. George also rented Red Barn Farm next door from the same owner.

1859 - 61 Isaac Wane son in law of George and Mary Brangwin. Wife Eliza. Isaac was born circa 1821 in Fairford Gloucestershire. He had previously been running Red Barn Farm for George Brangwin. Both Isaac and Eliza were members of the Salem Chapel in Marlow, entering that church in 1845.

1863 - 68 George Brangwin back in charge though Isaac Wane seems still to have been involved. He continued to rent Red Barn Farm too. George died in 1868 aged 75.

1868-82 Following the death of George Brangwin Isaac was back as the lead farmer and had the lease in his own name. In 1872 his daughter Clara passed the Cambridge Exam. She and her siblings had had the benefit of a governess who taught them French and more. Isaac's widowed mother in law Mary Brangwin also lived within his household. In 1868 James Faulkner labourer was convicted of poaching at Barmoor Farm and was fined 30 shillings. In default 1 month in prison. [Bucks Herald 1869 Feb 13th, British Library Archives via the BNA]. Isaac gave up the lease in 1882. He stayed at Red Barn until 1892 when he retired from farming altogether. He died circa 1893. More on Isaac and Red Barn here.

1882-95 James Elliott who also rented Red Barn Farm towards the end of that period. He was elected as one of the parish overseers in 1889. James made a significant income from growing mushrooms in his fields but struggled with thefts of them. Mushrooms were extremely popular in late Victorian England for making into the condiment mushroom ketchup as well as using in soups etc. In 1895 both farms were put up for sale by auction. James made a bid for Barmoor but it wasn't high enough. Red Barn Farm did not reach its reserve price. James's wife Elizabeth had died earlier that year aged 67. 

1897- 98 W Lee. He gave up the farm in 1898 and sold off his stock. This does not seem to have been substantial. He raised sheep.

1899- 1936 Thomas Lacey Morris born circa 1871. He occupied the farm until his death age 65. His wife was Emily. Owners and occupiers in one. Both were from West Wycombe according to the census. Their baby daughter Kathleen died at the farm in 1899. Another daughter Margaret married William Pinches of Field House / Pinches Farm in Marlow. Thomas bred and sold shire horses at the farm.

1937 - the house, farm and "sporting estate" of Barmoor put up for auction by the executors of Thomas Morris at the Crown in Marlow. It is sold for £10,500. 358 acres, a fir plantation, a wood, pasture land and eight dwellings.

1938 - the farm is used to film the film I Met A Murderer (originally intended to be called Deadwater) directed by Roy Killino and starring James Mason as a murderous farmer and Pamela Kellino as the woman he meets. The farm shire horses Boxer and Ronnie feature as plough horses in the film. Filming is difficult because of muddy conditions on the farm and the sheep running away from the strangers when they are meant to be in shot. The film is a low budget film noir. The owner of the farm is unknown to me but he was an owner occupier and advised on the accuracy of scenes of thatching shot on the farm. 

1939 - W Thomas. Later that year Watton Aviation Limited have the farm and it is to become part of the future Booker Airfield.

Compiled by Charlotte Day from research by both Charlotte and Kathryn Day.

Selected Sources=

William Page (ed). 1925. A History of Buckinghamshire (Victoria County History) Volume III. Volume 3. p74.

Census of England and Wales 1841-1901 transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger.

The Aeroplane. (1939). United Kingdom: Temple Press.

Canadian Moving Picture Digest. Volume 30 (1938). Canada.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0031464/ 

Shire Horse Stud Book. United Kingdom, n.p, 1932. English Cart Horse Society.

International Directory of Pedigree Stock Breeders. (1928). United Kingdom: Tillotsons Publishing Company.

Marlow Directory 1891 

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire etc 1899 and 1939 editions published by Kelly's Directories Limited.

Duttons Directory of Buckinghamshire etc 1868.

May 28th 1937 edition of the Bucks Advertiser (sale of Barmoor).

Barmoor sale catalogue=

https://testslbuckinghamshire.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&BRN=558967

Country Life, 26th June 1937. 

Maidenhead Advertiser 27th October 1886 (mushroom theft problem).

Parish surveyors notebooks for 1833 and 1834 in my possession.

GRO death and marriage registrations online

Private letters.

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

Lee grave, Great Marlow

Elizabeth Lee, wife of James Lee Jan 17 18(5?)7 aged LIV years.

And James Lee died Mar 18th 1864 age 73.

Grave located All Saints, Parish Church.

Photo and transcription by Kathryn Day. 

For a major local criminal case involving James Lee as a crucial witness see here.

A post about James and Mary's daughter Mary Ann is on the blog here

Please see the Graves Index for similar posts of Great Marlow and Little Marlow Graves.

All mentions if a person on this blog can be found in the A-Z Person Index. Thousands of people are mentioned.

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

Wiggington Graves and Research, Great Marlow

 

The grave of George the son of William and Mary Ann Wiggington of this town who "entered into rest" Feb 23rd 1880 aged 27 "With Christ Is Better".

Also commemorated on the grave is his sister Mary Ann who it says died at Brighton and is buried there. Died January 10th 1901. "Until The Day Dawns"

Maryann Wiggington. Beloved wife of William Wiggington. Born April 10th 1813 and died December 13th 1865

ALSO OF 

William Wiggington husband of the above who died suddenly Sept 19th 1879 age 60.

This grave is also in All Saints.

Graves in All Saints Churchyard Marlow. Photographed April 2021.

Research by Charlotte:

William and Mary Ann (the parents)

William was a retired bargeman. He dropped dead in his garden. He had previously survived surgery in London for cancer of the tongue. Mary Ann kept a grocery and tobacconist's shop in Dean Street Marlow. This was the property of her father James Lee. The spiteful and gested political atmosphere of Victorian Marlow saw Mary Ann targeted because of her father's political allegiances. You can read more about this in our post here.

Mary died after a long period of illness that involved her heart, lungs and liver. The doctor who treated her in her final illness, Dr Oliver, was accused by her husband, two teenage daughters Mary Ann junior (18) and Emma (15) and another doctor of malpractice, treating her when incapable to do so because he was obviously intoxicated. William threw him out of their home. Mary herself believed the last medicine she took was making her worse. An inquest found that Dr Oliver had made no mistakes as to treatment despite his possible drunkenness at time and that Mary was so ill that her death was not exceptional. An autopsy ruled out there being any poisonous ingredients in the medicines Dr Oliver gave her. One of the ingredients used would however burn the throat when swallowed.

The fact that he had declared her to be getting better when she no longer had a pulse makes the idea he was fully competent when he attended her questionable!

Mary Ann's cause of death was given as heart disease. She also had a diseased liver.

This couple were Wesleyans. There was no burial ground at that time for the Wesleyan community or a town cemetery hence their burial at the parish church.

Mary Ann (the daughter). Born 1848.

Worked as a keeper of a lodging house for a while.

©Marlow Ancestors.  You are very welcome to reuse this content for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog. Thanks.

More on Mary Ann's death can be found in local newspapers such as the South Bucks Free Press  Dec 22nd 1865.

Will of Edmund Stone 1709

 Will of Edmund Stone, mercer of Great Marlow. Written 1705 with a codicil 1706. Proved 1709.

A very long and complex will with plentiful crossings out.

Commits soul to God.

Asks to be buried at Cookham with his family.

Appoints for the period of 12 years two of his friends as trustees for property that is to go afterwards to his grandson. Edmund Stone Austin. Friends are Jonathan Hammond of Great Marlow and John Lee of Cookham. If Edmund Stone Austin has no sons then property to his brother Valentine Stone Austin. If Valentine has no sons then property to his brother John Austin. If John has no sons then property to testator's daughter Elizabeth Austin and her heirs male.

Property involved is:

9 acres of meadow in Bray Meade and Wickets Meade in Bray Berkshire.

Close nearest ....Pond called Long Leys.

Messuage or tenement with appurtenances and 2 acres arable Braywick, side nearest Long Lane.

6 messages or tenements and appurtenances in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Messuage or tenement with appurtenances at North Towne with 2 and a half acres lying dispersed in Cookham Field.

My message or farm with all its closes, land, meadow, pasture and woods in Wooburn Buckinghamshire.

All other messuages he may have.

Son Nathaniel Austin owes testator £200 in bonds for which little interest has been paid. In turn testator owes Nathaniel a £500 mortgage on the above property with 2.5 acres in North Towne. This property was bought in the name of the testators daughter because at the time it was a "troublesome" period for Protestant Dissenters. Though in her name the family understood that it was really the testator's property. Nathaniel has various goods at his house which belong to testator. These are to be sold and the money put towards paying off the £500 mortgage. Nathaniel is the preferred chapman to handle the sale. If he wants to buy the goods himself at full value he can. The rent for that property is to be paid to the trustees. They can ask for it to be given over for sale by them at any time.

Out of all the property wife Dorothy gets an annuity of £20 paid in quarterly installments for the 12 years the properties are under the trustees. Rest of income is to be put out in such way as to get interest. Once Dorothy has her annuity, and enough is raised to pay off the £500 mortgage, £100 is to raised from the property so it can be given as a lump sum to Edmund Stone Austin at 21. If he dies before that money descends to Valentine Austin, or if not to John Austin or to the daughters of testator's daughter or to other heirs of daughter Elizabeth herself in that order of precedence. 

Trustees 1 guinea each. They to reimburse themselves the expense of keeping the properties in good repair.

Household goods in my dwelling house to wife Dorothy for life.

All residual property to wife Dorothy who is made executor.

Witnesses John Welles, Mary Welles and Robert Peck.

Codicil 1706:

Jonathon Hammond and John Lee removed as trustees and testator's friend Nathaniel Micklem the elder and his brother in law Richard Gray also of Hurley made trustees instead.

The profits of his property now to go to his wife Dorothy for the first 6 years of the trusteeship.

Grandson Valentine now gets £100 at 21 too. If he dies before that it to go to his brother Edmund or if not to his brother John .

Transcribed and then summarized  from a PCC will held at the National Archives Kew.

All mentions of any individual on this blog can be found on the Person Index. This included over 4,000 people.

Index to other Great and Little Marlow wills here: here

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

1833 Parochial Assessment Lane End Part One

 As Lane End was part of the parish of Great Marlow in Buckinghamshire it is covered by my original 1833 parochial assessment notebooks for that parish, which are held by my family. These were the working notebooks used by the assessors to compile the local tax assessment for 1834. My notebooks also contain additions and corrections for several years afterwards and scrap related correspondence related to the assessment.

©Marlow Ancestors. Freely use quotes from this transcription for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog.

Any notes by me are in square brackets.

Corrections and amendments to the original notes seems to have been done in the notebook up to circa 1839 and will be noted in my transcription too if they occur in these parts of the assessment.

Charles Fletcher

Property occupied:

Crown Inn house, garden, "etc"

Annual value of property: £9 10 shillings

Also occupies:

Shoemaker's shop

£2

Small orchard

£1

Orchard by Marks 

£3

*****

William Jarvis

House and garden

£5

*****

William Collins

Cottage and garden

£4

Meeting House [note added in brackets afterwards "if rated"]

£7

*****

Jeremiah Almond

Cottage

£3

*****

William Catton

Yard, barn, shop, sheds and garden

£6

House and garden

£6

Orchard, stable and shed

£4

Small garden

10 shillings

*****

James Bird

Cottage and garden

£4 10 shillings

*****

Thomas Hackstraw

Cottage and garden [pencil note added later: " part of garden"].

£3 10 Shillings

*****

Thomas Marks

Beer shop house, yard, stable [pencil brackets later put around the word stable] and garden

£7

*****

?Ramsey [no first name, last hard to read could be Ramey, even Rancey. Later the name "Denham" added in pencil without Ramsey name being crossed out]

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Joseph Lovegrove

House, yard, stable, carthouse, sheds and garden

£10

*****

Edward Tundall

House and garden

£5

*****

William Janes

House, yard and garden

£5

*****

William Lee

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Widow Biggs

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Thomas White

Cottage and garden

£4 10 shillings

******

Joseph Dean

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Samuel Harris

Cottage and garden

£3

*****

Henry Gray

Cottage, garden and stable

£5

*****

Martha Bateman

Cottage and part of yard

£3

****

To be continued..

Look at Nearby Places on the menu for more Lane End content.

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Elizabeth Lee / Tyler of Great Marlow - Clayton Arms

Elizabeth was born circa 1795. By 1817 she had married Marlow baker William Lee of Chapel Street and was mother to a daughter Rose Ann, known usually as simply Ann. 

I have not located the marriage of Elizabeth and William. He was baptised into a nonconformist Christian family which may explain that. I believe the couple worshipped at the Salem Chapel, Quoiting Square now known as Christ Church.

According to an obituary for Rose Ann, her father William Lee was hung in Aylesbury Gaol for forgery, one of the last to suffer this punishment for the crime. This must have been traumatic and embarrassing for Elizabeth. I believe the offence was actually fraud.

By the time of the 1841 census she had remarried Joseph Tyler and they were running the Clayton Arms pub in Quoiting Square. Joseph was there personally, with or without Elizabeth, by 1838. He was the first landlord of Clayton Arms, which was owned by the Clayton family. 

Prior to this pub job Joseph had been a linen draper, at first in Watlington, then by working with John Meadows in the High Street, before striking out on his own with a business in Quoiting Square (probably next door to the Clayton Arms). He gave up the latter and sold it in 1830.

Joseph had a reputation for providing excellent dinners at the pub - or was that really Elizabeth's doing?

On the 1841 census Elizabeth had her daughter Ann with her. The girl would go on to marry Henry Moss. On the 1851 census Ann and Henry were living with Elizabeth who by then was a widow and running the pub alone.

The licence was transferred to someone else in 1858 following her death.

For more posts like this see the listing Biographies Of Individuals and Pub Related Index.

For more Quoiting Square (formerly Quoiting Place) content see this index

All mentions of a person on this blog can be found on the Person Index.

Sources:

Newspaper copies held at the British Library and accessed by me October 2020 via the BNA- South Bucks Standard May 17th 1895 [Rose Ann's obituary], Reading Mercury 15th March 1830 [Joseph Tyler information].

GRO death index online.

1841 and 51 censuses transcribed by me from microfilm images of census pages.

Buckinghamshire Baptism Index, baptism of William Lee. Find My Past. Accessed October 12th 2020.

© MarlowAncestors 

Copy Farm Marlow Historic Occupiers

Copy Farm at Copy Green. Not to be confused with Charity Copy Farm which was much smaller (though I suppose they were originally one) which was left to charity by Benjamin and William Loftin in 1759. (Or rather money was left for the purchase of land to provide an income for the charity). The latter also called Loftin's Charity Farm at times.

Description: 1844= 106 arable. 1854= 112 acres with 2 workers cottages, stable and 3 barns 1861= 112 acres. 1910= 110 acres. 1919= arable and pasture 112 acres. 1927= Under 100 acres.

1798- Mr Johnson.

1833- John Gibbons occupier, owned by Mr Hammond. 107 acres. At that time Copy Charity Farm amounting to 60 acres was occupied by William Goldswain.

Owned by Robert Hammond certainly between 1845-55. Likely remains in that family ownership long after.  Unknown occupier - believe to be John Gibbons still in 1847 but uncertain.  Robert in his will proved 1855 asked for it to be sold after his death. 

1861- William Greenwood. Wife Alice. 1861 census says employs 3 men and 2 boys. Sold up his stock and left town 1865.

1871-91 Thomas King. He also occupied Widmere Farm. He was a churchwarden of Marlow. Wife Mary. See previous post here on Widmere Farm for much more on his farming life.

1891-95 Emmanuel William Plumridge. Leased from Mrs Hammond whose agent Mr Lawrence allegedy  would not let him leave lease early after Emmanuel suffered the expensive death of all 9 of his farm horses during an agricultural depression when things were already tough. Emmanuel was ruined as a result of being unable to get out of his loss making farm. He seems to have been illiterate and thus unable to understand what rental agreement he was signing (with just an X). (He does seem to have been very confused about the circumstances in general, and at first said he'd signed no rental agreement, then he stated that he hadn't recognised the document for what it was.) According to Emmanuel he'd transferred his stock from Field Farm in Marlow to Copy Farm to make way for the expansion of Captain Marshalls Menagerie. He thought he'd taken Copy Farm on for three years but at the end of this period he was told he must give two years notice to quit! You can read more about Emmanuel and especially his wife here

1900- J Wheeler. May be mistake for Leonard J Wheeler.

1901- Leonard John Wheeler. Had been publican at Royal Oak Bovingdon Green, 1893-95. Prior to coming to Marlow had been a farmer at Wargrave Berkshire like his dad. Left Marlow by 1911.

1910. For sale.

1910-16. Arthur Hawes. In 1901 he lived with his parents Thomas and Mary at nearby Charity Copy Farm [not same as Copy Farm] though he seems to have been the farmer there rather than them. He and his dad worked at Charity Copy as labourers and the whole family lived there long before that.

1927-28. Fred Lee.

Occupation compiled from property records, adverts, wills, court cases, agricultural journals etc.

Ongoing research, more will be added if possible.

To find all mention of your ancestors here, use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. For other farm related posts, see the Specific Streets, farms, schools etc option on the same menu. Happy hunting! 

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

Will Christopher Pepper of Great Marlow

Christopher Pepper, silversmith. Will written and proved 1807.

A very simple will:

All freehold, copyhold and real estate he owns [not described] and all else he has to his two brothers Thomas and Francis Pepper. These two are appointed executors.

Christopher made a mark rather than sign.

Witnessed by:

Thomas Lee, Thomas Gibbons and  Green.

Two days later Christopher had his will witnessed again. This time he signed it, perhaps feeling stronger than at his first attempt. Witnesses above signed again.

Francis Pepper the brother MAY be the paper maker who had the lower mill at Marlow and died 1832.

For more of my Marlow will transcription summaries see here. All mentions of someone on this blog can be found listed on the Person Index on the top drop down menu. 

Will held at the National Archives, Kew.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse my transcription summary for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

The Eventful Life of James Croxon - Prisoner & Friend To The Poor

There have been Croxons/ Crocksons/ Croxens in Marlow and Bisham for a long time. The James who is the subject of this (long!) post was born in Reading circa 1807 before moving to Marlow where he had family connections. He was not the wealthiest man in Marlow. He was a baker for most of his life. To some he would become an advocate for the poor, and a stubborn defender of the rights of the many. To others he was a fraudster and troublemaker. What he undoubtedly did was draw attention to a number of issues affecting the lives of the less well off. It was his motive and credibility that was sometimes questioned. 

In the beginning...

Back to the beginning. In the 1833 Parish Assessment, James Croxon is listed as a West Street resident occupying a cottage and bakehouse with a relatively high value. This was near Borlase School. A few years later he had the valuable contract to provide the bread and flour for the Union Houses of the Wycombe district - that is the workhouses under another name. But then he lost this contract. His critics say this inspired a campaign to malign the Wycombe board of Poor Law Guardians in every way he could. He began an extremely prolific letter writing career, keeping the pages of the local newspapers busy with his complaints. 

James lands in gaol

However just after his loss of the bread contract in 1840, he was implicated in a forgery case and sent to Aylesbury Gaol. It was a little complicated to unravel, but in a nutshell James was accused of forging his father in law James Lee's signature on bills of exchange, and thus defrauding the Stephens & Co bank of money paid to Croxon on the strength of Lee's signature. It was said Croxon had been doing so for about 5 years. Eventually the bills were dishonoured, Lee denied ever having issued them and therefore refused to pay back the money given to Croxon by the bank. He said he was illiterate and so could never have made a signature, nor had he ever authorised anyone else to do so on his behalf. So Croxon found himself committed to gaol on a serious charge.

 The 1841 census finds him in the prison, with his wife Hannah nee Lee back in Marlow, alongside several of their children. At this point the family were living in Dean Street, home to several other bakers. At the trial, the case against Croxon fell apart. Several witnesses, including 2 lawyers clerks said that they had previously presented dishonoured bills under his own name to James Lee, and he had eventually paid them, including those presented by Croxon and had never questioned the right for Croxon to hold them. They also said another of Lee's married daughters Mary Ann Wigginton, had managed his affairs and been authorised to sign bills of exchange for him. Both Lee and Mary then changed their sworn statements made on two earlier occasions, that no bills of exchange had been issued. Lee said he did get Mary to organise these, but had meant to say it was only ever in relation to settling his own financial affairs, and never Croxon's. Mary said something similar, that she had meant to say only she had not organised any for Croxon in particular. She also said she thought the signature on the bills was in Croxon's handwriting but could not be certain. The case was dismissed but James Croxon's trouble was not over.  (See note 2 below for an contested election vote involving James Lee and Mary Ann Wigginton.) 

A second charge of forgery related to another signature on one of the above mentioned bill of exchange, that of farmer George Brangwin (Branguin in London news reports, an incorrect spelling) who had endorsed one for 50 shillings. George denied having done so. At trial, George did say he had put his name to another bill for the same amount some time before and Croxon's defence was the contested bill was just a renewal of that. The court decided against him, and James Croxon found himself sentenced to 2 years imprisonment with hard labour. 

Guilty?

At his trial, James Croxon was described as a most respectable looking person (although appearances can deceive of course!) and he was able to provide a number of character witnesses. He was not questioned directly, but his defence  did not change their story. It must be said that Croxon seems to have upset a number of local people, and at least one of them was the writer for the Bucks Gazette. He called James a "whining fanatic" and "canting hypocrite".  He poured scorn on Croxon for being a man who had tried just before his own trial to secure the release of three "desperate ruffians" who had been sentenced to transportation for life for a brutal assault on a young woman. These three men (Bishop, Taylor and Harding) had apparently paid Croxon to write an appeal on their behalf which was then refused. (For the full sad story of this horrifying attack on Patience Martin and the aftermath, see the post here)

The Gazette also accused Croxon of being a "meddling busybody" who put off people from the cause of teetotalism that he was said to promote. In fact they said with Croxon off in gaol, the idea of becoming a teetotaler had suddenly become more appealing. Croxon was most likely a non conformist. We believe he worshipped as one of the Salem Chapel congregation, this we will hopefully confirm later. He clearly upset those unwelcoming to his message. So reports of his conduct have to be filtered through this prejudicial reporting locally. There is also a political element as James sympathised with the liberal & radical cause in town, rather than the Tories who held Marlow as a pocket borough. In 1835 he was listed as amongst the 34 "independent and spirited voters" who had voted against the continuance of Williams as MP. Votes were not secret then and it was said there were many who had wished to vote the same way but had expressed fear of doing so as Williams was their landlord. 

Aftermath

What can poor Hannah Croxon have made of the case with her husband pitted against her father and sister? Whatever the truth of the story, it is a definite fact that the Croxon's had long standing financial problems and they had just lost their main breadwinner for two years. Things must have been very difficult indeed for Hannah and her children. Hannah was present on the day of Mary Ann's sad death in 1865 so any estrangement between the sisters was not permanent. 

I suspect the financial implications of his imprisonment cast a long shadow. He appeared as an insolvent debtor in court in both 1850 and 1853 spending 40 days in prison for debt on the last occasion. At these hearings he gives his occupation as baker. On the 1851 census he is listed as living in the poor and populous Dean Street. Ten years later he is in Chapel Street. In both 1851 and 1861 he had two of his adult unmarried daughters living with him (both working as satin stitch workers or dressmakers) as well as his young son Laban and later a lodger too. The young women's income must have helped the family budget although satin stitch was usually low paid work. Mrs Croxon was a victim of theft in 1859 when a quantity of washing was stolen from her garden along with articles from at least a couple of other houses. Such as lost must have hit hard. 

James Croxon wields his pen

James was not a man to let those in authority off if he suspected laziness or incompetence, rightly or wrongly so. Throughout the 1860's in particular he filled the columns of the local papers with letters (those that would print them anyway) in particular disputing how the poor law guardians did their work. This group set and administered the poor rate and managed the workhouses, including that at Marlow. James thought he could do it better, but he was unable to stand for election to the board as it seems he did not occupy property of sufficient value to meet the requirements. He thought the rules should be changed to allow him a chance for election. The guardians did read out his letters at meetings but say he made a number of vague accusations and seemed confused about the law and what was in their power. James was not easily deterred and continued to hold the guardians to account. He noted they had failed to have their books open for inspection by ratepayers on the required number of days for example, and got that rectified. He also rightly questioned why those receiving poor relief were expected to queue outside in all weathers, rather than receive it indoors as formerly. The previous distribution place was the Clayton Arms but it came to be felt that using a public house was inappropriate so the spot outside the distributor's house was used instead. A letter supporting James in this matter spoke of his "humane efforts" to support the poor. Poverty was a sufficiently heavy burden for the aged and sick to carry it said without further indignities being heaped upon them. Some suspected James himself wrote these letters of support. If he did, he was an eloquent writer who spoke with awareness and compassion. He had other battles, refusing to pay the church rate after protesting on its unfairness to non conformists and the inflated costs, as he felt them, of collecting it. He also tried to get the tender for doing work for the new sanitary inspectors in 1865, but failed. We will leave James with his most successful project. In 1865 he was one of prime movers to set up the Marlow Rate Payers Association. No chance now for parish books to linger uninspected! 

I have not found the death of James, but his wife Hannah died in 1880. 

Notes: 

1. 

Bill of exchange. Lee signs the bill promising to pay Croxon (or whoever has the note) 50s at a set time in future. Instead of waiting for his money, Croxon takes this to the bank and they give him a portion of the value owed (minus a handling fee as they are inconvenienced by not being able to claim the funds back from Lee until the note is due to be paid) When the note expires, Lee has to pay the bank who bears the note the full amount stated plus any interest applied. Bills could be renewed, sold on etc. It seems Croxon had paid most of the bills off himself, Lee only being chased when he did not. The banks would not accept bills signed by just anyone. You had to be someone thought a respectable citizen likely to be able to fulfil the amount. 

Note 2. 

Previous brush with authorities for grocer come timber dealer James Lee and daughter Mary Ann Wigginton. The vote of Lee in the 1831 election was considered by some to be invalid. You could only vote if you occupied property of sufficient value in the right area. Lee's vote in the election was based on his occupation of a Dean Street house with shop, stabling and small timber yard. (Dean Street was known as Well End then, it's not the same as the hamlet by Little Marlow) This shop had been managed for some time by Mary Ann, even before her father retired from this part of his business. 

James was however discovered to have left the premises 2 or 3 years before the election, to go and live in Little Marlow. His daughter Mary Ann and her new husband William Wigginton, a barge man, had taken over the shop, and Wigginton's name was above the door. Mary was however still the one managing the business. James claimed that he still paid the rent and used the outbuildings for storage but this was not considered enough to make him resident by those contesting the vote. Their complaint was thrown out however and the vote stood. 

Mary Ann Wigginton was the subject of an coroner's  inquest, held at the Greyhound in 1865. Her husband had accused the doctor (Dr Oliver) attending her of being drunk on duty and hastening his wife's end by giving her the wrong medicine. The full story of that is available here

Written and researched by Kathryn Day 

Related posts: 

To find every mention of your ancestor here, look at the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. There is over 3025 people there. For general Marlow history posts see the General History option here where there are also links to other posts related to crime. 

Chartist Edmund Stallwood here

1847 election riots here

©Marlow Ancestors

SOURCES

Archibald, Thomas Dickson, Streeton, Arthur Towers - Analytical Digest of cases published in the New Series of Law Reports. (1847)

Barron, Arthur Report of Cases of Controverted Elections in the Fourteenth Parliament. (S Sweet, 1849)

1847 Kelly's Directory. (Kelly's Directory Ltd)

Slater's Commercial Directory 1852

The Law Journal papers 1847.

The Sun(London) 22 Jan 1841, 7 Aug 1851, 6 April 1853 - copies from British Library Archive through BNA partnership. 

Bucks Gazette 23 Jan 1841, as above

Windsor & Eton Express 26 Dec 1840

Bucks Herald 31 Jul 1880, as above

South Bucks Free Press 02 May 1862, as above

List of Insolvent Debtors, 1850-1855, (R Jenkins 1974)

1841,51,61 Census transcript from microfilm by Jane Pullinger. 

More Dean Street Landlord and Beer Seller Listings *Updated*

Updated by Charlotte Feb 2026.

If the premises you are searching for isn't listed here, search for it in the Pub Related option in the top drop down menu. 

Well End was one of the original names of Dean Street. It was used mainly pre 1850's, although some trade directories still utilised it in the 1860's. It is not to be confused with Well End near Little Marlow. 

THE FOX AND PHEASANT

Note there was also an early The Fox in West Street.

1851 - William Perry, age 52

1859 - William Perry fined £1 for having his beer house open during illegal hours on a Sunday.

1860 - William and Avis Perry. Lots more on these in our Poaching Perrys post. His brother Samuel was landlord of the dean Street pub the Rose and Crown. More on him in the Poaching Perrys post here . William was fined this year for using short measures, one of 4 establishment so caught. 

1864 - William and Avis Perry. William was fined £2 and 10 shillings plus costs for opening the premises on a Sunday morning (and thus was attracting people away from attending divine service instead). Avis is the one in court on William's behalf. 

1868 - William Perry fined £5 for opening up his beer house for sale of beer on a Sunday

1871- William Perry transferred to John Larkin who came to this pub from the Carpenters Arms (see this post) Also a carpenter. Wife of Larkin was Eliza. 

1872 - John Larkin.

1881 - John Larkin?

THE ROSE AND CROWN 

Beer house with yard

1833 Richard Clarke. Came from The Jolly Malsters Dean Street. Died 1836. More about him on that post.

1840 - described by the Bucks Gazette as an "obscure beer shop in Dean Street" when a drinker who fell asleep in the tap room was relieved of more than £6 by a pick pocket. 

1842 - Samuel Perry. Brother of William Perry above. See the Poaching Perrys post for more on him and his family. Dead by 1851.

1844 - J Carr. Almost certainly Josiah Carr who this year was involved in a very long (over two days) fight with another man that started in the Rose and Crown, carried on in the street outside then moved to "Crown Close" (near the back of Boots today). All over a game of cards being played for money. Josiah was a serial poacher convicted of offences at Fawley and Marlow. See also The Anchor below for more Carrs.  

Gone by 1872.

THE ALMA presumably named for the 1854 battle, however records suggest the premises first received a licence in 1830. This would indicate that this was one of the many pubs that changed name over time. On Queens Road / Gas Works side of the road. 

1860 - James Patterson (fined for having defective measures, and unusually one was an "over measure" rather than a short measure!) Having a defective measure was a very common offence and seems often to stem from manufacturing defects in the measure rather than dishonesty on the publican's part. In 1861, he was living elsewhere in Dean Street and working as a cordwainer with wife Ann. By 1871 he and Ann have taken on The Nags Head, also in Dean Street. Possibly the James "Pattison" at the "Blue Bonnets" [Bonnet O' Blue] West Street 1855. 

1861 - James East, also market gardener. Wife Charlotte. A James East was listed as a Well End / Dean Street beer retailer in 1849 at uncertain premises. This was not necessarily the same James as later at the Alma however. The James that was at the Alma looks to have been the cousin of  Mrs Diana Smith landlady of the Bricklayers Arms in Chapel Street. More on that pub here.

1869 -William East of The Fighting Cocks applied for the licence as he said that he only put his name down for the Cocks to save it from closure but he had no intention of staying there. William was unsuccessful though, as he'd faced trial at a Quarter Sessions.  He wasn't found guilty but this was regarded as a "moral stain" and only those of good character were allowed a licence - in theory at least!  John Finch took on the Alma instead temporarily.

1870 - James Meakes had it briefly (he was a brewer and he may have been running his own pub until he could find a live in landlord)  then Henry Harding (hold over). William Brown applies for the licence but the magistrates feel the local character references he supplies are not sufficient as he's only been in town for 3 months. Therefore they  don't represent a satisfactory insight into his character they feel. NB this is not the same William Brown who was a landlord at The Mint or Jolly Maltsters. 

1872 - Mr Finch. William Thatcher was spotted going intothe  premises during prohibited hours and was fined 1s, a nominal sum for his first offence. His defence? He just wanted to borrow some salt for his vegetables from Mrs Finch.

1873 - John Finch to George Allen. John appears to have moved to The Bank of England, where the brewers were required to find a new tenant after the previous one was accused of harbouring criminals. 

1877 - John Finch qv (lodging house also) 

1878 - William West  (hold-over)

1879 -Henry Hester with wife Charlotte. Licencing authorities are assured Henry has a character of excellent "sobriety, industry, and honesty". An attempt to transfer the licence little later that year to Daniel Price is refused due to lack of sufficient character references for Daniel. He did succeed taking it on briefly the next year it seems. 

1880 - 1. Henry Hester transferred licence to Thomas Price or Daniel Price. 

1881 - Daniel Price transferred licence to George Allen.

1882 - Licence renewal for George Allen refused. The premises had been closed several months at time of the licencing sessions. In April two homeless women, Sarah Brewer junior and senior were arrested for sleeping in the empty building. Sarah senior spent 7 days in prison for this, the younger was released without charge. By September the owner of the premises, James Meakes (Meekes) was extremely frustrated that he had been unable to find a suitable tenant (or rather one the licencing magistrates will accept as suitable) So he decided to apply to take over the licence himself. If they did not grant this, James said that the property would become valueless as it will have to stay closed. His pleas were unsuccessful. Probably because they suspected that the other business interests of James would not in reality allow him to personally manage things with the close attention they felt the Alma needed. In October the licence was refused again to George Allen. This refusal came after the magistrates went to view the property - for reasons we cannot yet discover but the most common reasons for refusal on grounds of the property itself rather than the behaviour of the landlord were too low a rateable value to qualify for a licence, the perceived condition of the building or a physical feature that was considered likely to make the premises hard to police - eg entrance on to a back alley.

1884 - "The Alma Inn". We are uncertain if the premises were still actually open for business but the name still seems to have been up.

THE FIGHTING COCKS

Was immediately next to the Nag's Head

1840 - Samuel Beckett. John Perry was convicted of shooting at and damaging the sign of the Fighting Cocks.

1844 - S. Beckett. Also a carpenter. 

1851 - Samuel Beckett

1853 - Samuel Beckett

1861 - Samuel Beckett (also a carpenter). Wife Emma nee James. Samuel was born circa 1812, the son of James (a carpenter) and Ann Beckett who lived Quoiting Square Marlow. Samuel was dead by 1882. Emma died in 1883.

1868- William East. Probably had come from The Nags Head.  

1869 -William East transferred to Joseph Perry. William applied to take on The Alma as he said he'd just stepped in when the Cocks was at risk of closure and so put his name on the licence with no intention of staying long term. He was not successful in his application for The Alma. See below. One local report states the licence transfer was to a James Perry, not Joseph but the majority of evidence suggests that Joseph is correct. The new Perry in charge said on his application for the licence that he was already resident at the Cocks. He said he currently worked seasonally on threshing machines and at hawking fruit. He however did have experience of running an unnamed beer-house in Canterbury about 12 years previously. He did so for a year after which time he "could not make it pay". 

1871- Joseph Perry born 1834 (also an agricultural labourer, former skewer maker -more on his family's involvement in this trade here). Wife Ann. 

1873-  a lodger had coins and buttons stolen from the premises.

1878 - Joseph Perry (also labourer)

1881 - Joseph Perry (also agricultural labourer)

1883 - Joseph Perry to his widow Ann. 

1884 - James Perry 2. John Bryant

1884 - John Briant /Bryant (later a greengrocer/ shopkeeper/ market gardener in Queens Road. John was a retired soldier) 2.) Mrs Perry (unknown first name). She was given notice to quit by Wethered's Brewery as she was caught selling beer outside of legal hours. At court she received a 15s fine for this.

1885 - proposal to close The Fighting Cocks if the immediately adjacent Nag's Head was awarded a spirit licence. An identical proposal had been accepted the previous year but paperwork wasn't filed in time so the Nag's Head spirit licence had to be applied for again this year. Proposal accepted in principle but Fighting Cocks did not close. See below. 

1889 - Proposal again made by owners to close this down in exchange for being granted full licence for Nags Head. It doesn't seem to have happened as in 1892 a second proposal is made to close it in exchange for the Wethered Brewery getting an off licence that would allow it to sell smaller quantities of bottled beer off the premises to trade customers who came from small beer houses. Their existing licence only allowed them to sell beer by the large cask or in a minimum of 24 bottles at once, which they said was too much for some of the smaller concerns who would happily come and collect their own bottled supplies direct from the brewery if permitted. Seems The Fighting Cocks was still open however until 1897. When the off licence was considered, Wethered's had suggested they would close the Cocks to encourage the magistrates to find in their favour, and the magistrates intimated they would like to see this happen. However it doesn't seem they made it an actual condition of granting the licence, so perhaps that gave the brewery no sense of hurry in the matter. 

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE 

1860 - John Langley. Fined for using short measures this year. Wife Ann. 

1861 - John Langley (John aka John Langley Senior was at the Verney Arms by 1871, see also The Crown).

1863 John Langley tried to get a spirit license for the premises but it was refused.

1869- John Langley tried again to upgrade premises to an alehouse in September. Not successful. His existing premises were large enough to host a club dinner for 150 persons in May. He opened the Verney Arms in October with an official grand opening in December. It was described as newly built premises.

Not listed in an 1872 list of beer houses. 

THE ANCHOR, on the Queen's Road side of the street.

Primarily a lodging house, albeit one with beer selling licence. Not the same as The Crown and Anchor. 

1840 Joseph Carr?

1841 - George Carr (beer seller and lodging house keeper, premises not named, but right street). Carr's Beer house "Near Marefields." . Wife was Ann.

1844 - George Carr 

1853 - George Carr 

1854 - premises for sale, "that well accustomed Beerhouse" the Anchor, Dean Street. Includes tenement adjoining and large yard.  

1857- George Carr fined 50s for having his beerhouse open for longer than the legal hours. This was a large fine for that offence. Mrs Carr represented him in court and said she had kept a beerhouse for 20 years without being summoned so we know Mrs Carr was equally involved in the business. It also suggests the possibility of the Anchor existing as far back as 1837, or of the Carrs having previously been at another house.

1860 - George Carr. Fined 2s 6d for giving short measures, one of several beer sellers caught doing the same in Marlow that year.

1861 - George Carr 2. Ann Carr widow of George.  She was a lodging house keeper and marine store dealer on the same premises as well as being a beer seller. 

1862 - Ann Carr "Anchor Beer House". Fined for having 5 people drinking in her bar after hours. She said she had lost track of time. Ann was said in the South Bucks Free Press (Nov 1st 1862) to be a good looking, blonde woman (or as it was said precisely "fat, fair and forty") who did a good trade as lodgings provider for itinerant people on the fringes of society. This made her a desirable match. A widowed man called Richardson had been playing court to her seemingly with success even though they sometimes physically fought but eventually they fell out for good. Ann told him to leave. In revenge for one night he let anyone who wanted to put their horses in her meadow and eat the grass for the sum of 6 shillings. He broke the lock in order to do this. Presumably she was keeping the grass for hay or it was thought the animals might damage the hedges or just startle Ann by their unexpected presence. An odd sort of revenge anyway. She had him arrested but chose not to appear in court to press the case and the charges were dismissed. Ann by the way was nearly 50, not 40.

1863 - Ann Carr, still also lodging house keeper and marine store dealer. 

1867 - Charles Price. Fined 21s for keeping the premises open after hours on one occasion and 10 shillings on another. Went by 1871 to Crown and Cushion Dean Street, first to live with his sister in law the landlady then to run the place himself.

1876 - George Carr, now a lodging house only. Believed to be no longer licensed at this point. Perhaps son of George and Ann above though we couldn't see such a baptism.

1897 - is still in existence and apparently licensed again as there was reference at a local coroner's inquest to a man who lived elsewhere in the town going for a drink in the Anchor, Dean Street Marlow. A resident of the premises then was an Alice Hurst.

Related Posts:

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

Posts about life in Dean Street and neighbouring streets here

More beer sellers than bakers -Temperance in Marlow here

Lists of posts about everyday life in old Great Marlow here

* For more on the dramatic life of William and his wife Avis see our post here.

SOURCES

Licence hearing reports, property transactions, court cases, advertising, wills etc and...

1853, 1863 Mussons and Cravens Commercial Directory from University of Leicester Archives.

Kelly's Post Office Directory - 1859, 1864, 1869, 1877. By Kelly's Directories Limited.

1833 Parish Assessment. Original record held by my family and transcribed by Charlotte Day.

1872 Beer House Listings, Old Bucks County Council Archives

Pigots Directory 1844

Census 1841,1861,1871,1881,1891 transcribed from microfilm.

Bucks Herald 3 October 1840, 17 July 1841, 9th August 1873, 22 May 1902 - held at British Library and accessed via the BNA March 2021.

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 14 July 1860, as above

Reading Mercury -10 November 1855, 25 September 1875,  29 November 1890, as above

South Bucks Standard July 14 1876, 20 September 1899, June 10 1904, December 25 1908, March 25th 1909 as above. 

Windsor & Eton Express January 25 1868, January 9th 1909 as above

South Bucks Free Press July 14 1860, as above and August 8th 1884 via the Bucks Free Press archives.

Maidenhead Advertiser September 4 1889, as above

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer Aug 29 1885 - Slough Library. 

Post researched and written by Kathryn Day

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Musical Chairs At The Chairmakers Arms, Dean Street, Marlow

 THE CHAIRMAKERS ARMS Great Marlow

Updated by Charlotte April 2026.

The Chairmaker's Arms in Dean Street seems to have been a pub dogged by misfortune. No one seemed to want to stay there long. As a fully licensed house, it was not subject to quite as much competition from its numerous beer shop neighbours in Dean Street as might be supposed but it never seemed to thrive.

IMPROPER PERSONS ALERT

The pub is known to have existed in August 1874, but was no more than a few years old then. It was on the Queen's Road side of the street, at the town end, very close to the Jolly Malsters pub. The first few years of the Chairmakers were marked by a rapid turnover of landlords and intermittent closures.

In 1885 John Hodgkins left the pub after a couple of years at the helm. The previous year the pub has been shut up for a while and not trading and then John had tried to have the pub transferred to a Thomas White of Wendover but this was unsuccessful. In February 1885 the brewery holding the premises was granted "holdover"  of the licence from John Hodgkin's to the brilliantly named Neighbour Wilcox, who had come from London with excellent references including from a clergyman. Neighbour Wilcox applied for a permanent licence transfer in March but this was refused after the police objected. They said that Wilcox had been harbouring "improper persons" - known thieves, prostitutes and poachers -on the premises. He was also caught in possession of nets the police believed that he was hiring out for the purposes of poaching on land and in the river. Neighbour said he'd accepted the animal catching nets as part payment of a debt from an ex lodger or, according to other reports, as security on a loan made by him to an associate at Ealing.Wilcox explained away the fishing nets on the basis he had formerly been a fisherman. He insisted that had not been aware anyone drinking on his premises had a bad reputation, he being but an innocent stranger to town. The police answered that they had physically pointed out to Wilcox those he must not serve but spot checks had found that he did serve them. Some spent what was considered a suspicious amount of time there. It was also said that on one occasion when a policeman had entered the pub, Wilcox had made a signal to another man who then hot footed it out of the premises a little too quickly for the suspicious constables liking. Especially as the man concerned was convicted thief Mr Boddy. And the so called undesirables on his premises had come by just to pay for some beer. Their habit of suddenly scrambling over the back fence of the pub on other occasions when the police were about had apparently gone unnoticed by Wilcox. (They are not named other than "Butcher" Lloyd. This is convicted poacher etc George Lloyd ) After Wilcox had the transfer refused, the pub was closed for several weeks. 

In May the temporary holdover licence was granted to Reading publican Thomas White on his second attempt. But only a month later, White said he wanted to give it up. He declared he was ill and asked for the licence transfer to A H Neighbour (Alfred Henry Neighbour previously of the Red lion and Dog & Badger, not to be confused with Neighbour Wilcox. See link below for biography of Alfred.) The bench impatiently refused yet another change so White said he'd continue a while longer. A month later a continuation of this licence was refused as the police again strongly objected to it's continuance. They said that Thomas White was in charge in name only, and in fact did not live on the premises, a condition of the licence. (Although the brewers lawyers argued the necessity of this point.) 

Of course the magistrates were more than a little annoyed by this merry go round and asked the brewery Fullers a few awkward questions about how they were choosing their candidates to put forward for licencing. 

The authorities favoured stable guardianship, with tenants there for the long term. In Marlow, they were more often disappointed in this regard than satisfied. The magistrates expressed frustration at brewery owners for effectively borrowing experienced landlords with reputations for running steady premises and parachuting them into more notorious haunts to avoid those premises being closed. There was no intention of making them stay long term. They hopefully turned a place around, or at least left as soon as the brewery could find someone else to take over. This new person was often someone less experienced who was just treading water there and getting basic experience until a more profitable pub became available. 

A full as we can landlord listing for this pub at the end of the post.

THOMAS WHITE IN CHARGE ...OR IS HE?

In the case of Thomas White, the police alleged that the person actually resident at and presiding over the Chairmakers arms was A.H Neighbour who the authorities had already refused a transfer of the licence to. Mr Neighbour denied this..but applied for the licence anyway in August. The magistrates were not impressed and refused the application. However Mr Neighbour was a determined man and applied again, only to to be refused. (You can read about him in detail here). They noted White appeared to be one of the landlords who'd never intended to stay at the Chairmakers, and in fact his wife and children had never joined him there (assuming White himself had actually ever taken up residence himself.) White admitted he'd spent a number of nights away, and that his family did not live with him. He now said his wife had taken objection to the Chairmakers and refused to come and live there, and this was in fact the real reason he wanted to give the place up. 

The town was awash with rumour that the Chairmakers might finally be breathing its last. But the brewery Fullers would not let that happen just yet. They found a man who they thought the authorities could not object to in experienced landlord and Marlow man, James Edwards of Trinity Court. (Aka Trinity Place) He was able to call several people to attest to his good character, so at last the Chairmakers had an acceptable custodian. But if the authorities breathed a sigh of relief at this, it was premature. Because just 2 years later, James Edwards was on the move again, to the Verney Arms elsewhere in Dean Street. In fact James moved around premises fairly often as a sort of "fixer" and temporary safe pair of hands for the brewery. You will find him listed under many pubs in our landlord listings.

 This latest move was not quite to the liking of James though. The Chairmakers lease had been sold by Fuller's to Henley brewery Holmes and Harper and James had been given notice by the former. Holmes & Harper asked him to stay on as manager on a temporary basis once his notice period was up, for £1 a week. This was because, surprise surprise, they did not have someone immediately available to take over. When they did, James demanded his full notice again. The brewers disputed the need for this, tried to get him ejected and were not immediately successful. Ambrose Frith eventually took over the Chairmaker's Arms.

A CRIME AGAINST YOUNG EDITH

In 1904, the pub was the scene of a crime that gives a window into life in the area at the time. Eleven year old Edith Hillsdon (in some reports Hillsden) of Dean Street was sent by her father Joseph to sell a bag of walnuts. In doing so she called at the Chairmaker Arms. Walnut trees grew at a number of locations around town and there have been many many convictions of those allegedly trespassing to gather them, or indeed steal them. There's no suggestion Edith had got hers in any underhand way, but the crop had more value relatively speaking than would be obvious to us now. On entering the pub, Edith put the bag of walnuts down on a table and turned away for a moment to speak to the landlord. Turning back round she found them missing. A tearful Edith had then to explain to her father what had happened. A witness saw her receiving a beating for the loss. Edith managed to tell her father that she believed a drinker in the pub, William Collins, had been the one to take her bag. A furious and apparently drunk Joseph went into the Chairmakers and collared Collins, throwing him to the floor and pinning him to the ground. A passing constable heard the furore and rushed in. He conducted a search and (acting on a tip off according to some) found the bag, with just one nut in it, hidden amongst timber in the yard. Collins denied wrong doing, but was charged. He later claimed to have legitimately bought the walnuts but he could not say from whom. He was fined 10s for the offence, as it was not his first conviction. 

LANDLORD LISTING-

1878- pub to let (September 14th Reading Mercury advert). Doing good trade it was said and able to sell spirits. "Chairmakers Arms Inn". A Fullers Brewery of Maidenhead pub. A Mr Cooke applied to the magistrates for the licence later that year but was refused as he could not offer sufficient testimonials as to his character.

1880 - 1.) William Holford who left the pub in March 2.) John Treadwell. He was sent to the pub by Fullers brewery several days before the Magistrates' licensing meeting could officially grant the licence to him. It was understood that though the licence was going to be in John's name, his son Frederick would run the business on a day to day basis, and both would live on the premises. The brewery and the Treadwell's thought that the magistrates would not mind a slight gap between the Treadwell's arriving and getting their alcohol licence. However an undercover police inspector charged Frederick for selling beer without a license within minutes of the pair opening the premises, which resulted in Frederick being fined 3 shillings - he was the one behind the bar. Nevertheless John was allowed to take on the licence officially. He lasted 6 months at the pub 3.) Thomas Miles.

1881 - 1). Thomas Miles 2.) John Hodgkins (alt. Hodgeskins)

1884 - John Hodgkins (proposed transfer to John Windsor falls through. For more on John Windsor see the Bricklayers Arms landlords listing) to Neighbour Wilcox then to Thomas White, (then unsuccessful attempt to transfer to A. Neighbour), then to James Edwards. See above for explanation.

1887 - James Edwards  2. Ambrose Frith.

1888 - 1. James "Jim" Stonor 2. James Millett.

1889 - 1.William Brown. 2. Alfred Lee.

1891 - Alfred Lee.

1893 - Alfred Lee -transfers premises to William Henry Taylor (latter had been granted holdover previous year).

1894 - WHF Taylor/William Taylor 2. William Herniman.

1895 -William Hernaman qv. Proposed transfer of licence back to Alfred Lee refused. Alfred would later run a grocery shop and dairy in Dean Street.

1896 - William Oliver Hernaman 2. James Cox.

1897 - Fred Herniman/Hermanean (authorities don't seem to know what spelling to fix on!) James Edward gets a holdover for the premises late this year, a second stint. See above.  He is the usual choice to temporarily take charge of a premises in Marlow when a landlord leaves until a permanent choice is made. As such he's served behind the bar in a large no of Marlow's pubs. 

1898 -  James Stroud.

1903 - James Stroud.

1906 - is reported to be shut up for a few weeks. James Stroud has left and a holdover was granted to James Henry Belchar. 

1907 - James Belcher* Fully licenced. 

1911 - James Belcher. Moved to the Carrier's Arms, Wycombe Road. More here.

1913 - Closed Permanently? Yet 1915 trade directory gives Mrs Belcher as landlady. It is common for these books to contain out of date information however.

* For more on James Belcher, see Here.

Researched by Charlotte and Kathryn, written by Kathryn.

For similar posts look under Pub Related menu here. And to find every mention of your ancestor here, use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. More Dean Street content can be found on the menu under "Specific Shops, Streets ...ETC".

SOURCES 

Numerous adverts, licence hearing reports, premises details, and crime reports and:

Maidenhead Advertiser,19 March, 1st October 1884, held at the British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA. 

Bucks Herald, 09 February, 22 March 1884, as above. 

Bucks Free Press 21st March 1884 Bucks Free Press Archives.

South Bucks Standard 14th October 1892, 06 January 1893 , 04 November 1904, as above. 

Kathryn's landlord listing index and Charlotte's property ownership research. 

Kelly's Post Office Directory, 1903, 1907, 1920 Kellys Directories Ltd. 

Widmere Farm Occupiers- Child Labour And Tragic Carters

 Widmere Farm, Marlow is on the site of the former Widmere Manor and contains remains of an ancient chapel. My concern here however is the use of Widmere as a farm. Aka Widmer, Widmore

WIDMERE

1747- Daniel Moore bought the manor of Widmere including the farm but he did not himself farm. He was a merchant and M.P who was not that often actually in Marlow.

1793- 1822. Thomas Oxlade. Also had Munday Dean Farm. Some of the land in 1811 seems to have been used by Joseph Webb.

1829- John Webb late of Widmere Farm died.

1833-37 John Lovegrove. Described in 1847 as a man "proverbial for his laconic and good humoured face" and in 1835 as that "most respected agriculturist". On his way home of an evening from Wycombe Market in 1835 was set upon by four men, dragged off his horse, bludgeoned about the head and robbed of £32 plus a few personal items. 3 men arrested at St Albans. [Bucks Gazette 13th June 1835. British Library]. In 1833 the farm was 361 acres and owned by William Clayton though occupied by John. He subsequently moved to Beckings Farm, Marlow. In 1842, Mrs Lovegrove has her arm broken in two places when she is thrown from her pony chaise on the way back from Windsor. Her friend also in the chaise has slight injuries. The pony had shied at an unknown sight. John went on to run the Kings Head, Wycombe but was declared an insolvent debtor in 1847. At this point he was living in Stoke Row but his wife and family were said to still reside in Wycombe where they had continued at the Kings Head for a while. 

1843 James and Richard Lovegrove selling up the farm stock.  In 1833 Richard was at Beckings Farm instead.

1843-49 Richard King. He died 1849. Moved from Chisbridge Cross Farm. Also had Burford Farm Marlow Bottom 1843-1849 but resided Widmere. In 1843 hosted a ploughing match on the farm. Turnips stolen from his field 1844. In 1848 his employee Levi Silvery / Silvey won a prize for being an industrious worker. Such prizes were given out at regular intervals by agricultural associations[Bucks Herald 11th November 1848, Via the BNA].

1849-51 Mrs Sarah King. Her employee in husbandry Frederick Tilbury was convicted of misconduct in his job and fined 18s including costs in 1850. She retired by 1860 and her son Thomas (see below) took over. She continued to live with him. She also had Burford Farm after his death until 1851. The 1857 wedding of Miss Sarah King of Widmere to Mr J Blakemore of Birmingham at All Saints was described by the Windsor & Eton Express as a "grand and inspiring" bridal ceremony that was "never excelled, if equalled, in this town." The entrance to the church was decorated with ivy. So many people turned up to observe the arrival of the 7 carriage bridal party at the church that not only the church was filled to bursting, but the churchyard too. 

1858- 91 Thomas King. He also had Copy Farm, Copy Green. Marlow churchwarden. Married Frances Hewett of Swallowfield Berkshire. In 1858 a seven year old child George Harris employed by Thomas was admonished but not further punished by the magistrates for setting a fire to keep himself warm and in the process accidentally setting fire to some hay. George was still working for Thomas King as a teen. In 1871 employee Charles Bradfield was killed instantly after being crushed by a runaway cart on the farm. He was only 27 years old and a father of 3 small children. His widow Fanny married Charles Lee two years later.

Thomas was farming a total of 400 acres 1861 with 20 staff. In 1881 had a total of 565 acres. Marlow churchwarden. 

Early in 1891 Thomas died so the farm stock was sold off and the farm put up to let. Farm then 360 acres arable with 2 worker cottages and a farm house. Wheat, oats, barley, beans and peas grown on the farm. It seems that not long before his death he had moved to a farm in White Waltham and was winding down his Marlow farm.

1900-1920+ David White and sons. Raised pigs and dairy stock. One son John White. Another son Thomas married Florence Morris whose family had Cressex Farm near High Wycombe.  A David White was also  at Seymour Court Farm in the early 1900s I am uncertain if this is the same man. Occupying multiple farms at once was not uncommon in this period. David White & Sons were certainly at Seymour Court Farm in 1920. 

1939 - William Arthur White. 

End of period blog deals with. 

***

Ongoing research. I will update as I sift my old notes.

Dates next to a name are when I have found evidence of a person occupying the farm. They may have been there earlier or later too.

Farm occupants are determined by me from property records, court cases, wills, letters, censuses, adverts and more.

To find other farm posts use the "Specific Shops, Streets Etc" menu  here and to seek any individual use the Person Index option on the top drop down menu. This blog contains mention of thousands of people!

©Marlow Ancestors. You can use my research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here. Thanks.