Great Marlow Stagecoach Services

  This is a follow up post to our entry on the Wyatt family who did so much to make coach travel faster for late 18th and early 19thc Marlow residents.  Their service to London, run with a series of partners and finally alone, was known as The Original and then The Wyatts coach. You can read more here.

But there were others services and this is an overview of the main other ones. 

The coaching trade boosted income for the innkeepers who provided a starting or finishing point for a journey. Coach building and maintenance for those owning their own private coach or carriage also provided work. We will mention Marlow resident Mr Lovegrove who advertised his coach painting services in 1770.  He had he said, been "regularly bred to the profession in London" and would do the job in the best and most professional manner. 

At first Marlow did not have a daily stagecoach service. In 1773 there were journeys made three times a week to London in the summer and twice weekly in winter. 

In May 1788 a new daily post coach run by Saunders, Smith and Co started running from Mr Dixon's the Lower Crown. Sundays were of course excepted. It left at 7am and returned to Marlow on the same day at 2pm. It arrived at the bustling coach interchange known as  The New White Horse Cellar Piccadilly. It's route went via Little Marlow, Wooburn and Taplow. The newspapers at this time carried advertisements for a coachman to serve this new route.  So what qualities would a coach driver need? Mr Dixon was mindful of the reputation some drivers had for being drunk in charge and reckless with both coach and horses. So his ideal candidate should be steady and sober, and must have held a similar role for some time. Experience with driving in both London and country areas was essential as was a good temper. What especially dates the ad is a requirement for the successful candidate to be free of smallpox.  

In 1790, the Lower Crown's London coach was leaving an hour earlier. It took an hour to get to Maidenhead, and 4 hours to reach London itself. Three years later, a "neat, new, elegant" London coach was run from the same Lower Crown by Minchener's [also occurs as Miltchener, this was Elizabeth of Colnbrook], later a partner of Wyatts. The first service set forth on the 8th April 1793, promising lower fares. The charge for travelling in the more expensive interior seats was 8s from Marlow to London in 1797, one shilling less if travelling from Maidenhead. There was also a special rate for small parcels at 4d. This coach went via Maidenhead (Swan Inn) to Piccadilly as before, but it also now advertised that it stopped at the New Inn, Old Bailey. It took longer to arrive in London than the previous coach, at 5 hours. But it was "safe, easy, and expeditious", at least if no highwayman were about. Sadly Minchener went bankrupt in 1806. A daily service departing from the King's Head, Old Change at 10am is also mentioned in 1793. 

Moving on to 1798 a new Marlow coach to the capital was started from Mrs Chapman's Upper Crown. This went through Maidenhead and arrived at the Bolt and Ton, Fleet Street via the inevitable New White Horse Cellar, Piccadilly. If the thought of getting up early to catch this coach was off putting and you wanted the luxury of selecting your own departure time, then the proprietors would allow you to hire out the entire coach and it would then set out when you chose. That however was an expensive option.  Around this time or a little later William Williams was running a post coach from the Lower Crown. William moved his post business to the Corporation Arms in High Wycombe in 1808, still promising to make travel as comfortable as possible for all those "pleased to honour him with their favours". 

It was not just the two Crown Inns that were coach stops. In 1819 Robert Mossington (Mossenton) had recently taken over the Greyhound Inn in Spittal Street. He was keen for everyone to know he had spent a great deal of time and effort on fitting up the premises in the most modern manner. He would also be running a new service to London, known as The Accomodation coach -  "All possible attention will be paid to safety, convenience and comfort of passengers". This took 5 hours so no real improvement had been made on earlier running times. Robert seems to have done very well at the parcel carrying part of his business, and so he also recruited the Two Brewers in St Peters Street to act as a parcel booking office. He offered a slightly later start from Marlow than his rivals at first - 8am with a return from the city at noon (later 2.30 pm) the following day. He did eventually bring his start time from Marlow back more in line with that of his rivals. The route was via Little Marlow, Maidenhead (the White Hart), Burnham and Slough to the Bull Inn, Holborn, the Belle Savage, Ludgate Hill and The Gloucester Coffee House.  Fares were 12s for a hopefully more comfortable interior seat, and 7s for an outside one, to London. He obviously was doing something right as a little over a month after starting his coach, he decided to make it a daily rather than thrice weekly service. (Sundays excepted)

WS Williams and Co obviously thought there was demand for another London service and so they launched a new post coach from The Greyhound in 1820. I believe they may have already run to London via Little Marlow, Wooburn and Taplow as they tell us in the adverts launching the new service that the coach serving these places will run unchanged bar an earlier start time.  They followed this by The Favourite in 1823  - more or less following the route and timings of Wyatt's the Original which was still going.  The Favourite went via Bisham (the Bull), Pinkneys Green (the Golden Ball), Maidenhead (White Hart), and Taplow (The Dumb Bell Inn) to Gloucester Coffee House, Piccadilly, and the Belle Sauvage, Lydgate Hill  London, daily, except Sundays. And why should you use Mr Williams service? He carried only 4 inside passengers in The Favourite, so was offering more leg room! He said his service had been timed not to interfere with existing services but this was only true on the return leg, which also took in Aldgate. Both the Favourite and The Original left Marlow at 9am (The first Williams coach left much earlier). The Favourite departed from the Greyhound, and also used The Two Brewers and The Bull Bisham as booking offices. Relations between the old and new service were naturally strained. When the two coaches met at the famous coaching stop the White Horse Cellar in London in September 1823, (before the timings had been moved further apart)  Wyatt and his rival Marlow coachman, a Mr Bonus came to blows. Wyatt accused Bonus of assaulting him, by punching and kicking but Bonus said he was provoked and warned Wyatt he would do just so if he did not leave off annoying him. Witnesses agreed with Bonus who was therefore unpunished. The trigger for the squabble was the sight by Wyatt of a lady who had formerly been a regular passenger of his was now a customer of Bonus. Wyatt said he had merely approached her calmly and asked for her to consider using his coach again. At this, he claimed Bonus had approached him and attacked. Bonus said the lady was actually already inside his coach at the time and Wyatt had been standing on the coach step conversing with her and offering to undercut Bonus. A very competitive market! The Favourite deposited it's passengers, purloined or otherwise at Marlow at 7.30pm.

Then there's the services that ran from Wycombe to Henley or Reading via Marlow. The coach and especially the numerous carrier services changed over time so this is just a summary. The Industry also known as Hone's Coach after it's operator, is probably the best known post coach. It started in 1828 and initially ran every day except Sundays. But within a few months, the service was reduced to running 3 times a week. (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, with Wednesday replacing Tuesday by 1830, left Reading at 4.45pm, later 3pm) However some services tweaked their timetable to reduce services over the winter when travel was less appealing, so the service was naturally changeable. The Industry is interesting because operator Hones & Co was a big concern in Reading and they timed their departures for Marlow and Wycombe for after the coaches from other major destinations had arrived, such as Bath, Brighton, Portsmouth and Bristol. So if your ancestor came to Marlow from further afield, this may well have been the route they took to arrive in town. In 1830 the mile stones between Marlow, Henley, and Reading were "newly painted and fitted up" so a traveller "has now a chance of knowing how far he is progressing". Those showing Marlow 1 mile must have elicited a silent cheer for the weary passengers. On the return from Henley, the coach pulled up at The Upper Crown at 7pm, but in the reverse direction passengers boarded at the Red Lion in West Street. Another service running from The Falcon, Wycombe to the White Hart Henley via the Three Tuns, Marlow was The Sociable by Thomas Hall, later known as "The Van", on Tuesdays and Fridays. The Van was afterwards ran by Lofting then Farley, from The Greyhound and the Tuns with the Halls operating a service from the Clayton Arms. Other carriers in this pre Victorian period include Thomas Wyatt's "Wagon" which went daily to London from The Horns, Chapel Street via Maidenhead and Salt Hill, Slough, and James Druce who ran to Wycombe on Fridays.

The Wonder omnibus with its beloved charismatic driver Charlie Burns went from the Crown (upper) to Maidenhead to meet the trains before the line came to Marlow. He will be the subject of his own post in the future.

Notes : In 1670 the carriers to London from Marlow came there every Tuesday, stopping at the Swanne in the Strand.  

1842 - carriers to London - Johnson, goes to the Bell, Warwick Lane, returning to Marlow on Thursday at noon. Robinson, to the The Rose, Smithfield, returning from there Tues and Fri mornings, and Wyatt's to the King's Arms, Holborn and White Bear, Piccadilly, returning Tues and Sats. (In 1807 the stop is called the Black Bear)

 Other later Victorian carriers include:

James Johnson of The Plough (to London once a week returning two days later), Charles and Tracey Wyatt (a man, Tracey was a male name then!)  from the Horns Inn Yard to The New Inn, Old Bailey and Piccadilly twice weekly, returning the next day each time, Wyatts from the Horns to Maidenhead and Slough, Richard Robinson from the Greyhound to Wycombe twice weekly. And there was a coach service from The George and Dragon once a day each to Henley and Windsor in the 1880s. And an omnibus to Windsor from the Greyhound to meet the South Western trains once a day.

Related Posts

More transport related posts can be found in the listing here

 All posts relating to an individual can be found under the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. 

Marlow highwayman Peter Rivers here

Marlow's toll gates here

For posts related to the inns mentioned, use the Pub Related option, yes also on the top drop down menu! 

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

SOURCES

Extract of the annual returns of the Great Marlow and Stokenchurch Turnpike Trust. Great Britain House of Commons. 1851, Vol 18

Kent's Directory for the year 1793 (Richard & Henry Causton, 1793)

Taylor, John. The Carriers’ Cosmography. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 6.6, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 30 Jun. 2021, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/CARR1.htm.

Reading Mercury 19 March 1770, 9 March 1773,  17 May 1780, 17 & 24  April 1788, 1 August 1789, 4 March 1793, 27 June 1796, 17 April 1797, 14 May 1798, 16 September 1811, all copies from The British Library. 

Oxford Journal 28 July 1787, 4 August 1804, 30 April 1808. As above. 

Windsor and Eton Express 05 September 1819, August 6 1820, 9 August 1823. As above. 

Berks Chronicle 6 September & 15 November 1828, 21 August 1830. As above. 

Bucks Gazette 19 February 1831, 31 March 1832, 24 October 1835 As above. 

Pigots Directory 1830, 1831,1842, 1844

Bucks Herald 3rd October 1840, As above

Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette  24 November 1849

Statesman, 4 Oct 1823. 

Enrolment books, deposited with Clerk of the Peace, ref Q/RX 1835, Bucks Archives. 

Robson's London Directory 1842. 

Slaters Commercial Directory 1851

High Wycombe Directory and Handbook 1885

Crosby's Complete Pocket Gazette (B Crosby & Co, 1807, 1815)

Dutton, Allen and Co Directory and Gazetteer 1869

Kent's Directory for the Year 1793 (Richard and Henry Causton 1793)

©Marlow Ancestors

Landlords The Upper Crown, The Crown and Broad Arrow, The Lower Crown Inns, Great Marlow.

 *Updated by Charlotte November 2025*

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Marlow has had two Crown inns. When modern residents refer to The Crown, they mean the one in the Market Square, which was historically known as The Upper Crown then the Crown Hotel, to distinguish it from the Lower Crown in the High Street. The Lower Crown's original name was the Crown and Broad Arrow but this is largely forgotten now. Both were very old. 

You may see references to the Upper Crown as the inn exclusively known as the Crown and Broad Arrow but this is seemingly incorrect. Contemporary sources spelling out the full name of the Lower Crown just as often refer to it as the "Lower Crown and Broad Arrow." (For example see Reading Mercury 19 June 1786.) The Crown and Broad Arrow can be found separately listed to the Upper Crown in lists of inns at the same time, (E.g The Reading Mercury 08 July 1771) and information about the contents sale of Alfred House/Cromwell House in 1756 describe this property as being nearly opposite the Crown and Broad Arrow which makes it opposite the Lower Crown. It's usually described as in the High Street rather than the Market place which is the location of the Upper Crown. Lastly proprietors later listed as in charge of the Lower Crown can be found earlier listed at the Crown and Broad Arrow. We have done our best to attach the right early innkeeper to the correct premises. 

The original Upper Crown building was replaced but it was trading from the 1590's at least. It was later known as the Crown Hotel and used some of the neighbouring town hall building, before taking it over entirely. It's former core location is however where Boots the chemist is now. For more on the history of the two see the post on the Crown Inns Here

Remember also Marlow has had pubs or beer houses called the Crown and Anchor, Rose and Crown (also at Little Marlow, very frequently shortened to The Crown) and the Crown and Cushion. 

This post will be updated as new information emerges. All listings are as noted in original sources, including alternative spellings. Where multiple sources list an individuals name, only the first and last mention are listed here unless there is any alteration in how they are recorded, for example an additional occupation is noted. Note that some listings may in fact refer to father's and sons sharing the same given name so be sure to double check this. See notes below for more help finding your ancestors in these listings. 

UPPER CROWN / THE CROWN

The former Town Hall with clock above, had assembly rooms on upper floor which were used by the Crown until they eventually took over the whole building. 

This building, above,  is where the Upper Crown was for much of it's life. It expanded into the Town Hall next door and eventually abandoned it's original site. 

Post about  the balls/assembly here

(Market Square)

1595 - Premises owned by Richard Mathews / Mathewe.

1596 - Roger Smith, who was also a shoemaker. He bought the premises , which he already occupied. In 1610 he put the business into the hands of trustees for the benefit of his sons John and Valiant.

1617 - Edward Wooden (Wooten) bought it and ran premises. In 1620 premises sold to John Little of Little Marlow.

1636 - Owned by Thomas Drewe, a draper. Leased by Edward Wooden's widow Elizabeth. 

1650 - Elizabeth Wooden (Wooten) occupier. Thomas Drewe the owner sells it to brewer Moore. Previous tenants listed then are Mathew Cane and Bonaventure Ward. (A Mathew Cane was at the Angel by 1643) Also in this year the occupiers of the Crown benefit from a 1,000 year grant of right of access through Thomas Drewe's gateway, between two properties, into their "backside" and malthouse. The access is specified as applying to horses and carts carrying hay, straw and wood and their accompanying leaders and drivers. The origin of Crown Lane perhaps? 

1712= Samuel Sandys

1717 - Mr Richard Hall. He went bankrupt 1724. "A large inn with close behind" [Area of enclosed land]

1754 - Sylvester Law

1757 - Sylvester Law (moved to the Cross Keys) See his will summary here

1766 - Mr Webb

1767 - John Webb [Likely the John Webb who was Law's brother in law]. Then John Parsons.

1768 - John Parsons. Possibly the same John who acts as a parish constable.  During his tenure pub often hosts auctions.

1771 - Trustees of the new Reading to Hatfield Turnpike toll road recommended this Crown and the Lower Crown and Broad Arrow as a place to get a good horses or post chaises en route. 

1775 - John Parsons. Leaves to take on The Black Bull coaching inn at Holborn this year. William Faithorn takes over at the end of the year. 

1778 - Mr Faithorn. Chaise, horses etc available at short notice. 

1780 - Mr Faithorn

1785 - Samuel Chapman

1792- Samuel Chapman, landlord has died. "Landlord of the Upper Crown for many years". See grave below.

1794- Mrs Mary Chapman. Widow of the above. See grave below.

1798 - Mrs Chapman. A new coach to Fleet Street, London via Maidenhead starts from her inn this year. Monday to Saturday service.

1803 - there is a good chance that the innholder John Gosling who died this year was the occupier of the Crown as his will was witnessed by men occupying premises immediately by there.

1811 - Mr Davis (Wavis in a second incorrect record!)

1820 - Richard Furnell, died aged 39 of a sudden fit of apoplexy. Wife Dinah. Had been innkeeper since at least 1815, though not necessarily at the Crown. Dinah married secondly Richard Westbrook who took over the Crown. She is mentioned in the 1822 will of Richard Furnell's brother William Furnell which you can read here. William's grave looks like his occupation is "omnibus..." so maybe he also worked out of the Crown. 

1823 - Richard Westbrook, as above. He was originally from Cookham. Richard and Dinah moved to the Red Lion Hotel, High Street, High Wycombe. Richard's sister Eliza was a baker in the High Street. See her biography on the blog here. Their brother William Westbrook was a butcher in Market Square near the Crown.

1826 - Mr Westbrook.

1830 - George Westbrook. George is an enthusiastic cricketer. In this year he plays a one wicket match against a gentleman of Beaconsfield. (These sort of matches were all the rage locally around this time and the natives of Beaconsfield were our frequent foe.) George won, scoring 14 runs to Mr Williamson's zero. He also represents Marlow in some early team matches. 

1831 - George Westbrook "Family and commercial hotel" (also described as excise office and posting house) 2. Geoffrey Westbrook

1832 - G. Westbrook

1833 - George Westbrook also leasing rooms at Town Hall for a "card room" and associated parlour. 

1834 - George Westbrook

1835 - George Westbrook leaves the Crown. James Franklin takes over, selling up his farm Low Grounds to do so. Post Boy : Joseph Davis, cook Sarah Brown, waiter Edward Cook. 

1836 - James Franklin. Wife Sarah.

1838 - Mr and Mrs Franklin. The latter is the granddaughter of "Mrs House" who died that year.

1839 -  J Franklin "Crown Inn." Ostler - James Lowman. Post boy (actually an adult- ) John Spratley. (James is subsequently coachman to the Atkinsons at the Rookery)

1840 -  James Franklin

1847 -  James Franklin. James describes himself as innkeeper, hotel keeper, coach proprietor, and livery stable keeper.. He suffers financial difficulty around this time and is declared bankrupt in 1852. 

1849 -  Samuel Wise

1850 - Richard Westbrook comes back. Also keeps the Lion Inn in High Wycombe still. 

1851 -  Thomas Furnell. He was the grandson of Richard and Dinah Furnell above. Marries Jane Veary of High Wycombe 1852. 

1853 -  Thomas Furnell

1854 -  Thomas Furnell "Crown  Hotel"

1859 - Mr Paine. In 1865 William Paine appears as a sort of expert witness in a court case about buying sub standard wheat. In this he says he was formerly a mealman. 

1860 - Mr Payne

1861 - William Paine (age 47)

1862 - William Paine who was threatened with being run down and assaulted by two men when he told them he would not have them ill-treating a horse as they were on his premises. The horse had been exhausted by dangerous driving in the streets outside and was whipped in the yard of the Crown. He withdrew charges against them after they expressed deep apologies and said they had been very drunk at the time. The magistrates still fined them for being drunk and disorderly.

1863 -  William Paine. "Crown Hotel"

1865 - William Paine. He was elected as one of the Guardians of the poor that year. Was in the role to at least 1871. 

1871 -  William Paine.

1872. William Paine died.

1873 - Mrs Paine (widow of above).[Emma Margaret. She died in 1890 aged 70]. She transfers license to Samuel Hill [died 1875 age 42, at Oundle, Northants]

1875 -  Mrs West [Susan] 

1875 - Fire in chimney at Crown causes substantial damage. 

1876 - Advertised facilities include the coffee room, billiards, an omnibus to meet every train, close and open carriages for hire, and private "apartments" available for family hire. 3 minutes walk from the river (fairly quick walkers only!!)

1883 - Susan West/Langley. 2. John Langley. Sadly Susan committed suicide in this year, travelling to Bridport Harbour to do so. (She was born in Somerset) She told the landlady of the boarding house she stayed in that she had suffered head pain since a blow to the head occasioned by a fall from a dog cart. She said she wished to have a few days holiday because of this period of ill health and bought with her just a small bag. She had recently remarried to John Langley  but according to local newspaper reports she gave her name as West (that of her first husband) at her lodgings. A full post on Susan is available here

1885 - John Langley died in the garden at the back of the Crown, after falling from a ladder while pruning a wall trained fruit tree. A biography of John and his son are available here

1886 -  Lease went up for sale and it includes the town hall, but no immediate takers. At this point the Crown has 18 bedrooms and 3 private sitting rooms on offer.  

1887 - Henry Calf. Former station master, bank manager and soldier! Henry owned the hotel himself.

1889 - "a comfortable old fashioned house with a first rate billiard room"

1891 - (Manageress Margaret Hughes)

1892 -  Henry Calf - he had converted  rooms in the upper story of the adjacent Town Hall into a Billiard Room (former assembly room). The lower part of the town hall still houses the fire engine and stalls on market day. These stalls are now mostly or entirely butchers. Henry dies in November aged over 70 of bronchitis, after long illness.  

1893 - On Henry Calf death, Miss Hughes continued to manage premises, now for new owner William E Cole. "Every luxury of recreation" offered with lawns and gardens. Mr Cole had come from the Crown Hotel in Devizes and was a former Quartermaster in the Royal Wilts Yeomanry. He began a reorganisation of the hotel from top to bottom until it's known as a "favourite resort for well to do visitors and commercial travellers". Amongst the projects is the creation of a small room adjoining the bar, created by "setting back the partition in the bar passage by several feet". A large conservatory was added to the rear in 1894, and in the same year the old entrance through the market house beneath the town hall portion was opened up again. In 1895 he also engaged 60 rooms in private homes to accommodate an avalanche of Whitsun visitors! It was described as "World famed as one of the oldest established commercial and  visitor's season hotels (both winter and summer), in this part of England." Cole also had a booth offering refreshments during the bigger matches of Marlow F C (from 1893). They played in the Crown Meadow ground behind his premises and rented from him at £15 a year. The team change in "dressing rooms" in the outbuildings there which they also rented from Cole, at £11 7s 6d per year. 

1897 - the extent of the tourist trade done at the Crown can be seen by the fact that within 1 week in the summer of this year, a full 1,000 persons on staff outings from big London employers had been catered for there. A similar number were catered for the following week.  This does not include other types of visitors and guests. 

1899 - William Eades Cole dies in his sleep at the hotel aged 47 leaving a wife and 4 young children. It is said he died of consumption following bronchitis. His widow vows to carry on. 

1902 - Mrs Cole ("Julia" Elizabeth nee Feltham). Mrs Cole is declared bankrupt early this year, the proceeding have started in 1901. She lays the blame partially on Marlow carriage builder Charles Drye who she says sold a carriage sent to him for repair, without her permission. Mr Drye denies this and say he had advised Mrs Cole the carriage would be expensive to repair and so had offered to buy it off her for £7, an offer she had accepted. He had then sold it on. However Mrs Cole also admitted during her insolvency hearings that she had been practically insolvent at the time of her husband's death, and that she had not kept proper books (because her husband had never done so)  and so had never tried to balance them.  2. Miss Feltham (sister of Mrs Cole)  3. Margaret Douglas Ditchburn

1903 -  Miss M.J Feltham - manager I believe earlier.  2. Charles McGlynn/ Glynn

1905 1. Charles McGlynn 2. T Hull

1906 - Mr Hull

1907 - Thomas Halse Hull. He and his wife took on an hotel in Sonning  in 1907. They were allowed the licence there on condition that they  gave up the Marlow concern. Business transferred to Mrs Ellen Dax/ Mrs Stanley Dax . She came from the Catherine Wheel in Henley. Mrs Dax advertised the luncheon and teas served in the garden, the hotel"s tennis lawn and the possibility of using Crown Meadow for a ride or other exercise, as star attractions of her premises. 

1908 - Mrs Dax

1909 - A W Shearsmith

1910 - Mr A. W Shearsmith transfers to H E Scott [Horace Edwin, his wife Bertha assisted in the business].

1911 - H E Scott [Horace Edwin]

1914 - tragedy occurs when 16 year old Crown servant Louisa Maud Allen dies after a kitchen accident. Her apron catches fire and she is soon engulfed in flames. The fire is put out promptly by the cook and landlady present but the poor girl has suffered severe burns. She dies at the Marlow Cottage hospital. 1915 -Now also offers a garage with inspection pit, tennis lawn and billiard room. Landlord Oliver P Taylor. 

1920 - Mrs Oliver P Taylor takes over officially as her husband has died. This was Louisa Taylor.

1924 - Mrs Oliver P Taylor. A room with meals for those staying 5 nights or more costs 10 sh 6d a night in 1924.

1925- the Crown bought by a Mr Sidney Vereker. He gives Louisa Taylor notice to quit and she sells up most of the furniture fixtures and fittings and moves out but then Vereker says he doesn't in fact mean to apply for a holdover of her license straight away. The details are very confusing. A dispute between the two led to at least two court cases. Meanwhile the Crown stood empty. Louisa eventually did leave.

1927 - Mr and Mrs A Henderson Rutledge. "Ye Olde Crowne Hotel". They have refurbished and fully electrified the premises. They also allow an Ancient Order of Froth Blowers group to start up on their premises in this year. This joke social club was a nationwide concern open to membership by men, women and children. Members at their get -togethers have to pay fines for reported infractions of various comic rules which each club branch makes up themselves. The money collected goes towards children's hospitals. Otherwise the main activity for the male members is sitting drinking and smoking in a pub.

1931 - Mrs & Mrs S Lindsay Galloway. "Ye Olde Crown Hotel"  Has been redecorated and refurnished yet again and provides every modern convenience. Star attractions include the Palm Saloon", "separate tables" for meals , their noted stock of wines and a large car park. 

1932 George Godsall.

1932 - 33 at least Captain Edward James Keeling M.C (resident owner). Previously at  George_&_Dragon

Above, two pages from an advertising brochure for the Crown Hotel under E J Keeling. 

1934 - Keelings leave and are replaced by Mr and Mrs W L Hill who were previously at The Chequers, Fingest. Pub was refurbished internally.

1939 John O Mason 

1957 Mr and Mrs R.H Snow.  Large ballroom available.

1958 R.H Snow.

LOWER CROWN / CROWN AND BROAD ARROW (High Street)

Site of Lower Crown. 

In existence from at least 1619. 

1679- Thomas Lloyd? 

1691 - "The Broad Arrow" late in the tenure of William Hopkins. A William Hopkins had been prosecuted the year before for keeping an unlicensed ale house in Marlow, location uncertain. Now premises owned or leased by Samuel Lynn. Samuel owns several properties in Marlow. He takes out licence this year for the Arrow to be used as a common meeting house, possibly meaning one of several outbuildings to rear although this type of accomodation is usually specified in the meeting house licence. 

1751 - John Phillips (and carpenter) Died this year. Wife Mary did the brewing (on the premises, usual practice back then) and selling of the liquor. She then married the below.

1751+ William Dark (e) Will summary here William hosts "cock matches" during the Marlow Races. 

1764 - Mary Dark (widow of John Phillips and William Dark both above)

1765 - Widow Dark "Crown and Broad Arrow"

1771 -  Crown & Broad Arrow - recommended along with the Upper Crown as a place to get a post chaise and a good horse on the new Reading to Hatfield Turnpike toll road. 

1776/7 - Mr Thomas

1788 - starts new post coach service to London, run by Saunders, Smith and Co. 

1781 - Nicholas Thomas

1782 - Nicholas Thomas (died this year)

1786 - Robert Dixon "Lower Crown and Broad Arrow" Also runs coaching business - see more about that here

1789 - Robert Dixon

1794 - Robert Dixon sells up. He is apparently "going into business". "Lower Crown" . His stock of wines and spirits, 2 post chaises, 4 post beds for guests and a herd of cows were part of the contents of the pub which was put up to auction when he left. We are told the premises has "numerous bed chambers and fitting rooms for the accommodation of company" as well as a "good" kitchen, bar, larder, pantry, and cellars. Outside there is a large yard, stabling for 30 horses, standing for carriages and various other outbuildings. The Lower Crown also has a "good garden" and a close of land adjoining.  

1799 - Mr Patrick. 

1808 - William Williams stops his coaching service from here and moves it to the Corporation Arms in High Wycombe. 

1831- possibly Thomas Oxlade. He was landlord of  "the Crown Great Marlow Parish"when he had to summon the tithingmen men to deal with the unruly behavior of two of his customers who had blown out his candles and then refused to leave when asked to. The  term "Great Marlow Parish" of course also encompassed at that time Lane End, Bovingdon Green and other outlying places for certain matters including criminal cases such as this. He was definitely not at the Upper Crown in Market Square. 

The Lower Crown inn closed in the 1830s (by 1833).

NOTES FOR FINDING ANCESTORS ON THIS BLOG

Use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu to find every mention of your ancestor here.  Many Marlow landlords changed premises and there can be other family members running other establishments. Some places changed how they described themselves - or how they were viewed- and so licensed premises listings here take in not just beer houses, pubs and inns but common lodging houses and hotels too. We mainly focus on pre WW1 listings but sometimes list later names if it ties in with research we are helping with. 

For other pub/hotel related content see the Pub related option on the top drop down menu. 

SOURCES - 

Multiple property deeds, wills and similar documents cross referenced. (The two Crown's location research is by Charlotte Day)

Dickens Dictionary of the Thames, (Dickens, 1889 edition)

Reading Mercury 8 July 1771*, 17 September 1787, 17 April 1788, 23 October 1833, 17 September 1873, held in British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA 

Oxford Journal, 14th August 1756*, 17th December 1765*, 7th March 1767, 9 August 1794, 25th November 1820, 4 August 1849 as above. 

South Bucks Standard, 21 Jan 1860, 12 May, 29 December 1893, 13 January & Jul 21 1899, as above. 

Berkshire Chronicle 4 February 1826, as above. 

Bucks Herald, 21 February 1835, 6 July 1839 and 3 April 1886 as above

Maidenhead Advertiser 21 June 1876. As above. 

Nottingham Journal 15 Oct 1883. As above. 

Bridport, Beaminister, and Lyme Regis Telegram 19 October 1883, as above

1833 Parish Assessment owned by my family and transcribed by Charlotte.

Census 1851,1861,1871,1881,1891

1853 Mussons and Cravens Commercial Directory

Kellys Post Office Directory, 1869,1877,1883,1899,1903, 1907,1911,1915, 1920

Pigots Directory 1823, 1831,1844

Robson's Directory 1839

Will of John Phillips, proved 1751, transcribed by Charlotte Day from National Archives. 

1650 Grant of Right of Way, Drewe to Moore. National Archives index. 

AGM report, Marlow F C 1893. 

Marlow Guide, 1904 & 1907 

The Hotels of Europe - (Henry Herbert & Co, 1876)

Marlow Almanack and Directory 1907 &  1915. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Read All About It - Thanks To Mr Smith

 

Grave of Robert Hayes Smith B. Mar 1st 1827, d. September 13th 1903. Also beloved wife Margaret Ann. 

If your ancestor attended almost any public event in the second half of the 19thc, a certain familiar figure could invariably be seen scribbling away at the sidelines. If you attended a cricket match at Marlow, you might see the same man scoring the game. Attending the Institute? There he is again, giving a lecture, taking notes or leading a debate. If you wander down the High Street, our busy friend will greet you from the door of his stationer and booksellers premises. Mr Robert Hayes Smith is a man hard to miss. He is someone Marlow has had reason to be very grateful to, because he completely transformed our towns access to news and information. 

Robert was born in London in 1827, moving to Marlow when he was 7. He attended both Faulkners School (a private one for young gentlemen) and the Blue Coat School as a foundation scholar (that is for free) - the latter is now known as Borlase. He was a bright young man and is said to have excelled at his studies. While young he took part on a long and arduous over land expedition to India, looking at the best trade routes to follow before the Suez Canal was operational. In Egypt, the intense heat meant the group chose to travel only when it was dark, after several members became seriously ill. This bought dangers of its own, and Robert became separated from his companions on one occasion. He was found and they continued on to Alexandria. He reached Bombay via a steamship so the journey was not overland all the way. The return journey was made by ship, via Alexandria, and the Bay of Biscay to Southampton. At this point, Robert was said to be ill himself. This was put down at the time to the physical demands of travel and the rapid changes of climate he had experienced. He was said to take years to fully recover from his trip. 

On his return he concentrated on his stationary and printing business. At first he was located in Spittal Street where he combined his work with hairdressing - a common Marlow pairing. Later he was in the premises previously used by stationer and hairdresser George Smith Pearce who you can read about elsewhere on the blog - link below. It's probably this role of Robert's that had the most significant effect on Marlow life. He was the first person to organise the regular delivery of daily papers to Marlow, a parcel of them arriving here by train and horse. This may not seem extraordinary but it was. In 1836 Mr J Juggins of Quoiting Place placed many adverts promoting his plans to supply Marlow with newspapers and periodicals from the London press, in anticipation of a reduction of stamp duty then applied to them. But the price reduction was not large and despite Mr Juggins promising the "upmost punctuality" in their arrival and onwards dispatch, this paper delivery service was remembered as sadly slow.  A decade later Marlow had a billiard room and "newsroom" in the High Street, at the property of Mr Maddocks. (In the former Lower Crown Inn, which was then let to more than one tenant. Mr Maddocks was a friend of the poet Shelley in Marlow and lead a colourful life - you can read more about him here ) This was patronised by the male gentry who were members. Together, they subscribed to The Times newspaper, receiving a single copy between them, and only the day after it was printed. It had to be sent from London you see and papers were before 1855  still subject to a stamp tax. They were expensive hence why people went to newsrooms and coffee shops to read them. This copy of the Times was described as the only copy of a London newspaper in town to be present on a regular and reliable basis soon after publication. Some of the inns, such as the Three Tuns, had newspapers but they tended to be older copies and the easier to come by regional titles. So when the "Tax on Knowledge" was abolished as far as newspapers was concerned, the cost of the papers went down and many more publications started up. With the better train services also improving the chance of a paper arriving soon after printing*, Robert saw the opportunity to organise a fresh supply of news into town. His shop became the place to go for up to date information. Robert was not just a fancy and commercial stationer, bookseller and newsagent, but in common with others in a similar line, he was also a printer and ran a circulating library. (His premises were often referred to as the Library in fact.) He took in advertisements for the papers and sold tickets to events and Salter Steamer boat trips and more. He was also the man to go to if you wanted to take out insurance as a rail passenger to cover you in the event of a train crash. And he also acted as a tea dealer and spirit agent later on! 

Robert would later spend 50 years as the Marlow correspondent for the South Bucks Standard. It's in this role he could be found attending almost every meeting and event in town. It's hardly surprising he was said to know everything about Marlow and it's people. The reports Robert must have looked most forward to making were those related to his beloved Marlow Cricket Club, which he devoted himself to for 60 years. Aside from scoring their matches, and filing match reports, he served various roles on their committee including that of Secretary for 10 years. When receiving a presentation (and gold half hunter watch) from the club in honour of such long devotion, he made a speech. He said he had spent thousands of the best days and the best hours of his life in it's service and had done so cheerfully and willingly "because of my profound admiration for the noble game, a game which I hold to be worthy of all the sacrifices I made for it." This received a resounding cheer. He also recommended the playing of cricket to all young men seeking to succeed in any field of life as it was a sure remedy against "ennui and melancholy, an infallible prescription for providing a healthy mind in a healthy body."

Music was another of Robert's passions. A member of the Choral Society, he appears often as a singer at local charity events. His fellow worshippers at the Roman Catholic church could also hear Robert singing in their choir for decades. 

The Marlow Institute also saw Robert sitting on its board, and he gave lectures on mostly literary subjects such as "The life and times of Charles Dickens." He frequently donated books to the Institute library. In 1891 he proposed a debate on the subject of a potential tax on bachelors to encourage marriage. This was only a semi serious suggestion from the long time happily married Robert whose wife Margaret was probably in the audience. He naturally supported the tax! For many years Robert had the contract to supply the newspapers for the library of the Institute in the 1860's before it arrived in permanent premises in Institute Rd. 

When he died in 1903, the world of his youth where up to date newspapers were scarce must have seemed incredible to the young people around him. Robert had retired from his business in 1892 but it was hardly a quiet retirement as he continued to serve on committees and support the Marlow Cricket, Football and Rowing Clubs. He was also treasurer for the Marlow Victoria football club in its early days.  He is buried at St Peter's Catholic Church in St Peter's Street. His grave, and that of his wife, is still visible and is shown above. One slightly unusual aspect of his funeral is the second funeral service, read by F O Wethered in his role as "Brother Wethered" of the Loyal Orphans Hope Lodge of the Oddfellows. This organisation had a long history in the town and Brother Smith was a longstanding member. They were a kind of friendly society with a sort of Masonic love of ritual. Each local lodge had it's own name, with Orphans Hope belonging to Marlow. The Oddfellows were a national organisation and had their own funeral service to be read at a Lodge of the grave side when a member died. They also sprinkled sprigs of thyme on Robert's coffin. Not everyone may have sprinkled herbs on his grave, but the turn out for the funeral was very large. It was observed that Marlow had lost an adopted son that had loved the town dearly. (He had been due to leave the neighbourhood for a villa "near the Crystal Palace at Norwood" shortly before his death.)

NB There was later a branch of W H Smith in town but that is not Robert's family business. Other Smith's were drapers or china dealers. The Spittal Street W H Smith was a draper/milliner although they did stock Christmas and New Year cards, as did many other shops besides stationers and the like.

*The blocking of train lines in times of snow or flood caused occasional delays in the papers sent from London arriving. For example the papers due to arrive by train at Marlow at 8.30 am just after Christmas in 1886 did not arrive until 3.30pm due to snow related blockage on the line. 

Those of lower incomes could read newspapers at pubs and refreshment rooms. It was noted in the 1880s that those sending their children to the pubs to bring home a jug of beer in Marlow often requested that the child return with one of the papers, to be bought back a little later. 

You can read about Robert's  predecessor George Smith Pearce here

More on other members of Robert Hayes Smith family see here

 For more on the Institute, see this post

To find all of the mentions of your ancestor on this blog, use the Person Index and Biographies of Individuals options to be found on the top drop down menu. 

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