George Alexander Gratton "the Spotted Boy"

 

 George Alexander Gratton as he was later known was born to two enslaved parents on the island of St Vincent in the Caribbean in July 1808. He had a condition that meant much of his body was white skinned with only some black patches while his face and hair were mostly dark with lighter patches. 

Presumably through sale, George came into the possession of a ship's* captain who brought him to England. According to some reports he was at that point an orphan, and had already been exhibited in his nations capital. It was also claimed the little boys life was in danger due to the "superstitious prejudices" of the locals, although how far this was true or a later attempt to justify his removal is unclear. At Bristol the captain sold him to travelling showman John Richardson for a reported 1000 guineas. If true that was equivalent to the cost of buying multiple houses but John was a highly successful showmen already and could afford it. He was known to be a big spender. George was then between 14 months and 19 months old depending on which report you believe. It appears the Captain had sought out Richardson as a buyer rather than the other way round. 

John Richardson had been born in Marlow Workhouse. Again, according to which story you believe he either ran away from the workhouse or from a job he had been found at the age of 14 and went to London. There he became involved in running a pub and organising travelling theatricals. These seem to have been largely comic. He was not a "freak show" proprietor as such. 

For many years a Bible passed down through the Wildego family of Great Marlow which was said to have been gifted by Richardson to one of their female forebears. This was in recognition of her role in feeding and clothing the young runaway when he had no one else to turn to. Once he had made a success of himself, Richardson remembered her kindness and rewarded her with the Bible and a miniature chalk portrait of the Spotted Boy. The Bible was still in the family hands when the recipient's granddaughter Hannah Wildego died in 1883. 

George was exhibited as a toddler for several months in the Summer and Autumn of 1810. He was at St Bartholomew's Fair in London, at Sadler's Wells and at Croydon as well as at Marlow. I have not myself found any mention of his appearing anywhere after 1810 (though there were imitators who did).

The sideshow was called The Beautiful Spotted Boy and was billed as a chance to see the wonder of God's creation. The Star newspaper said George was the "without exception the greatest beauty and most interesting curiosity ever seen" while another dubbed him a "lovely infant". At Sadler's Wells in September 1810 the Spotted Boy was well down the list of attractions but by October his appearance was one of the most highlighted attractions.

Those he appeared on the bill with in September included Grimaldi the clown, the Sampford Ghost, Lambert the Fatman, Sadler's Baboon and The Yorkshire Giant. These did not work for Richardson, they just appeared as part of the same shows.

The comedy performer Charles Edwards must also have worked on the same bill as George at one point as his wife Anne in writing her biography of Charles said that he met the child and developed "a great attachment to him". He visited George regularly. Ann recalled that "the child loved him very much and they played together by the hour". The same affection was said to exist between George and John Richardson. Robert Chambers in his book The Book of Days for instance called George "a child of amiable manners much attached to Richardson". As well he might be, as John's affection aside, who else did he have in the world?

John had George formally baptised when they were together in Surrey. I believe the Gratton name had been given to him by the ship's captain -  it was supposedly the name of the overseer of the plantation on which George was born. ("Mr Alexander's", that is the Colonarie Vale sugar plantation of William Alexander which had around 300 slaves working there.) I do not think that it is possible to discover his birth name or those of his parents. 

In 1811 John commissioned an artist to paint the boy. In the painting George is posing with a bow and arrow which may reflect how he was taught to pose at the fairs. Typically those with unusual skin or body appearances either sat while people filed past them or stood on a stage and struck a series of poses to allow their appearance to be fully demonstrated. Later John began to educate George, who was said to have a "quick and penetrating mind." But the child is thought to have had tuberculosis and died in February 1813, just short of the age of 5 or 6. (A swelling of the jaw was mentioned as the first symptom, and a fever.)

Above, Alexander as depicted in the painting hung in the church. 

He was buried in John's native Marlow in a brick vault within the churchyard. Apparently the showman feared the boy's remains would be stolen and so had chosen not to bury him for 3 months. I have not been able to ascertain whether this rumour was true. When John himself died in 1837 he asked to be buried next to him, which is what happened. Their graves can still be seen in All Saints churchyard. In the parish church is the portrait of little George**

The popularity of George as an attraction led to many "spotted boys" popping up at fairs for decades after George's death. To see one (real or subject to some body painting) in a sideshow became as commonplace as seeing a bearded lady or a strong man. I also found one case of a painted statue purporting to be a likeness of George being used as an attraction in the 1830s, after John Richardson's death.

An additional memorial is now in the churchyard for George, alongside his grave. This notes that George is the first known person from St Vincent's to have come to Great Britain.

You may be interested in this post on the blog which is about an African boy who lived in Marlow for a while also in the 1800s. And see this post about Marlow's links to slavery and its abolition.

Life at Great Marlow Workhouse 1775-1843 - here and later at the Wycombe Union workhouse at Saunderton here

All mentions of an individual on this blog can be found under the Person Index on the top drop down menu. More posts dedicated to one person can be found under the Biographies Of Individuals menu option.

*Possibly aboard The Friends of Emma, arriving September 1809.

** Another portrait from life was made by Mr D Orme. It shows George sitting on a turtle or tortoise with a Dalmatian dog at his side. 

© MarlowAncestors.  Written by Charlotte Day and researched by Charlotte Day and Kathryn Day. 

Sources:

Memories of Charles Mathews Volume 4 by Mrs Anne Mathews. 1839. Copy in the British Library, digitized by Google.

The Book Of Days or A Miscellany Of Popular Antiquities by Robert Chambers 1864. Published by W and R Chambers.

The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham by George Lipscombe. 1847. Digitized by Google.

The Morning Advertiser, 29th September 1810 and 10th October 1810. Copy held in the British Library archives and accessed via the BNA.

The Star (London) 10th October 1810. As above.

The Morning Post 7th April 1810. As above.

Graves Great Marlow.

Literary Journal and Miscellany of  Science, Art, History and Politics Vol 2, 1819. 

 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146636936

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News, 12 May 1883. 

The Edwardian Marlow Fair

 This is a quick follow on post to a lengthy history of Marlow's street based October fair that I published a while ago. That post dealt with the fair during its hey day and decline up to the time it's charter was cancelled in 1903. That might have been the end of the street based fair, but it continued on in October, fair charter or no, in more or less the old form until the First World War. 

Immediately after the cancellation of the charter, the fair moved into two locations. One was Star Meadow off Wycombe Road, the other Crown Meadow (now Riley Recreation Ground) which had been used by the fair for more than 100 years already. The latter was still in private hands, as it belonged to the Crown Hotel. But they made much money out of letting out the meadow to the showmen and ride proprietors, and not just during the traditional fair time of October. The two sites switched roles from time to time, with the traditional horse and cattle sales featuring once at the Star and then mostly going back to the Crown site. Mr Porter's meadow near the station also housed rides in 1908 - he owned or occupied more than one meadow in that area but the one usually called Porter's Meadow then was where Riverpark Drive is now. 

In 1910 it was announced that both parts (pleasure and agricultural) of the fair would take place in Star Meadow but this was abandoned it seems as many attractions pitched up behind the Crown as usual. In fact the largest portion of pleasure rides set up there, understandably given its central location and historic association with the event. The entertainment on offer that year include Purchase's Menagerie, "Professor" Alfred Ball's variety show (his Bioscope is not mentioned this year), an intriguing sounding bicycle roundabout, hoop la, shooting galleries, Wilson's Switchback ride, and Beaches roundabout. Most of these are familiar names from fairs past. If this was not enough, heading down to Star Meadow, you would discover Marlow veteran Biddall's Menagerie as well as a large number of stalls and side shows. You would also find a good number of excited school children, who were entertained at Biddall's courtesy of the generosity of a local gentleman who paid for their visit. This was something of a Marlow tradition in the early days but seemed to lapse a little in late Victorian times when it became more fashionable for those in a position to subsidise the children's visit to turn their nose up at that kind of attraction. Mr Biddall nevertheless carried on his own fair tradition of donating the profits from one show to the Marlow Cottage Hospital. On handing over the donation he made a speech stressing his long term connection to the town of Marlow and his joy at seeing old friends and familiar faces each year and the hope they would soon meet again. 

It's interesting the fairs are described as full of visitors enjoying the attractions. Those opposing the fairs continuance back in 1903 said it offered little attraction any more. Amusingly, back in 1894, the South Bucks Standard (always very anti fair) said "as a legitimate source of amusement, it is a dismal failure." The reason? It's attractions no longer included the sort of amusements the writer said had entertained children in the past such as clowns and montebanks. And all that had replaced them were the likes of roundabouts, "cocoa-nut" throwing booths and swings. I don't think the author had perhaps ever taken a child to the fair! 

 

The full history of Marlow Fair can be found here A notice was posted in 1939 to say the traditional October fair would not be held for the forseeable future on account of the war. It never really came back as a standalone autumn attraction to the same degree and now the main fair to visit on any scale comes for the summer regatta. 

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

To find other posts about everyday life in old Marlow including in the Edwardian period see: here

Selected Sources:

South Bucks Standard 2 November 1894, 30 October 1908, 11 November 1910, 31 October 1912, from British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA. 

Reading Mercury 21 October 1911, as above

©Marlow Ancestors

Food in Victorian Marlow.

The food eaten by different sorts of Victorian Marlovians can be reconstructed from court cases where food is stolen from larders, gardens and fields as well as businesses; reports of local celebration meals and wedding feasts; adverts put out by shops, hotels and restaurants; coroner's inquests  and crime reports that describe the meals eaten by those mentioned if it is relevant; postcards; Poor law records and many more sources.

 

Fish / Seafood:

Of course the river offered some opportunities to catch your lunch. Eels were amongst the possible wildlife that could be ensnared but they became increasingly rare during the Victorian era. The landlady of the Complete Angler Hotel, Mrs Parslow, always kept some in reserve when she could, strictly for her favourite customers.

For up to about a dozen men at any one time catching fish was not a hobby but a trade. Very few did so to sell the fish commercially, most via a boatbuilder or pub go between, hired themselves and a boat out to visiting "sportsmen" who wanted to fish for 'sport' and benefited from a Marlow fisherman's expert local knowledge. The Two Brewers and Compleat Angler both retained their own fishermen for guests in season.

Changes to the river flow caused by the new bridge as well as growing pollution and over fishing meant salmon were rare by the mid century. Other fish were still present however and few professional fisherman were still working at the end of the Victorian era. It is not usually possible to know whether those late examples were ever selling catches or only selling their expertise to allow tourists to catch their own. Another question is were other Marlovians eating any commercially caught fish from Marlow? The first fishmonger shop I've so far definitely located was in 1831 ran by George Draper in Chapel Street. Elsewhere in the country the majority of local fish caught tended to be rushed up to London or other major centres rather than be sold to locals. In the same way some country people complained that if they lived within transport distance of London they struggled to buy the fruit and vegetables grown in their home area because the London market consumed everything. Even access to fresh milk could be an issue. 

So we can't say for certain that any commercially caught Marlow fish was available to buy here. Possibly a certain percentage could be bought from a fisherman at the riverside. Apart from the Marlow eels at the Complete Angler no reference to local fish being available at any local pub or hotel has been found by me. That doesn't mean that it wasn't served only that the proprietors didn't consider it desirable or unusual enough to bother advertising its availability.

Someone was selling herrings out of barrels in town mid century, probably a grocer. These certainly sold fish sauce and salted fish.

Oyster stalls were a popular feature of the Regatta. At the time oysters were not as expensive as now. On an everyday basis fish could be eaten at any meal. What surprises a modern person today who reads cookbooks and menu planners from the Victorian age is just how frequently fish was eaten for breakfast- fried or in pies especially. One well off Marlow man in 1885 celebrated the start of perch fishing season with a breakfast of just caught fried perch dressed with parsley.

Fruit:

Commercial fruiterers resided very much on Dean Street in the Victorian age. All seemed to have been involved in the wholesale trade, some also retailed to the public. The Benning family in the late Victorian High Street were grocers, ironmongers and fruiterers. As well as fresh fruit they sold canned fruit such as pineapple. More about them here. At Christmas time fresh oranges and grapes were also sold in Marlow grocers for those that could afford them. It was also to grocers you went for dried fruits for your Christmas pudding or general baking. You would need to stone and stalk your own raisins at home then which renderd cake making very laborious.

Apple pies and cherry pies are mentioned multiple times as being stolen from Marlow and Little Marlow homes. Cherries were grown commercially at a small scale around Marlow and on a large scale at Flackwell Heath. You might have bought your cherries from visiting gipsy sellers too, who were common in the area and set up at most summer fairs and events that they could. Cherries not strawberries were the archetypal summer fruit of the Victorian era.

The fruit grown by the gardeners of the wealthy residents of Marlow can be seen from the local horticultural show results. These were already in full swing by the time Victoria ascended the throne. It took until the early 1870s for ordinary people to feature in these competitions if they were not professional gardeners. Fruits grown by rich Marlovians were: apples, plums, peaches, nectarines, pears, greengages, melons, strawberries, rhubarb and grapes. Melons were grown in special pits heated by decomposing horse manure. Lovely! So popular were these that the fact that a house had a melon pit could be featured in the sale particulars for that property (such as was the case for Spinfield House).

Ordinary Marlovians according to the show results were more likely to be growing: apples, pears, redcurrants, whitecurrants, blackcurrants, plums, gooseberries and raspberries. Note the greater amount of bush fruit grown by ordinary people.

From the hedgerows poorer residents gathered blackberries, mirelles, haws, sloes and crab apples (and young hawthorn leaves to snack on, until at least the 1940s!)

Vegetables:

Greengrocery hawkers were also centred on Dean Street in early times. They sold predominantly vegetables and salad leaves with fruit more likely to be sold at fruiterers. Many of those I find mentioned as involved in the green grocery trade turn out upon examination to have no shop but to be itinerant sellers going door to door or selling in the street. These were catering by and large to the poorer residents of Marlow and nearby areas.

The poorest of all could afford to buy very little. Women and children routinely stole into farmers' fields to pull off turnip and swede tops to cook as vegetables. The court reports of the 1800s are littered with prosecutions for this. Marlow Bottom because it was lonelier was a hotspot for this kind of activity. Some of the court cases are truly heartbreaking as the families prosecuted were absolutely destitute.

Swedes themselves by the way were usually grown in southern England as animal feed and not for human consumption. A World War 2 propaganda campaign by the government convinced us to give them a try as they were cheap and easy to produce en masse at a time of food shortages. The few cases of Marlow folks stealing swedes not just their tops would have been cases of the most dire desperation. Public prosecution for this would have been utterly humiliating. It was the social equivalent of being caught stealing grass or dog food to eat. 

Nettles were certainly eaten as a nutritious soup and stew ingredient, especially by gypsy families but others too, not necessarily out of poverty. Cookbooks of the era which were aimed at middle class families sing their praises as a blood strengthening food. Giant puffball mushrooms were once common in fields near the river and provided a large feast for those who found them. Mushrooms as a whole were much loved by Victorians, with mushroom ketchup a popular homemade condiment.

Watercress was grown by early Victorian times between Marlow and Medmenham as well as at Little Marlow. It was a very popular vegetable throughout the era both cooked and raw. So much so in fact a plate of it might be included on the breakfast table in season as a dish in its own right alongside the toast, pies and other dishes.

The vegetables and salads grown by the gardeners of the wealthy residents of Marlow are described in reports of local horticultural shows throughout the era: cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, celery and cauliflower feature most highly. Not often entered into shows but highly fashionable throughout the era was sea kale.

More ordinary citizens entered such shows from around the early 1870s. Women as well as men were then growing prize winning crops. Vegetables grown by these more humble householders were: lettuce, marrows, peas, turnips, onions and carrots. Probably, judging by seed stock advertised by Marlow seedsmen (stand alone businesses or a sideline for ironmongers) we can add beetroot as well as brussel sprouts and broccoli to that list.

Allotments arrived in Marlow in the 1880s.

Herbs, Spices etc:

Wild garlic leaves could be picked (sneakily) in Marlow churchyard as well as in the countryside around town.

Exotic spices were easily available at the grocery shops in the town centre, if you had the cash to spare. Preserved ginger was a favourite in Victorian England eaten as both a sweet and used in baking, especially around Christmas.

Seed Cake made with caraway seeds was almost an obsession throughout the country and was sold ready made by Marlow bakers.

Meat=

The most popular foodstuff to steal from Marlow household pantries was bacon, followed by cheese and pies*. These pies might be sweet or savoury. What meat was in the "meat pies" is almost never specified.

The most common meat stolen from shops after bacon was pork.

Any local, personal or national event celebrated by a dinner in the Victorian age tended to be centred around feasting on roast beef. Marlow records show here was no different than elsewhere. By far the most usual Victorian Christmas dinner given in ordinary family homes, workhouses and in places hosting workplace, charity or Sunday school festive dinners was roast beef and plum pudding not the turkey or goose of popular imagination. Actually beef and plum pudding was the standard year-round celebration meal for Victorians. The "plum pudding" became "Christmas pudding" for a few weeks every year when it was served at Christmas time aflame with some holly on top. So Marlow celebration dinners throughout the year featured plum pudding.

In 1884 a poor Marlow man was mentioned as having had a supper of "hog pudding and chitlets". Most sources say that hog pudding was a very peppery sausage made in Southwestern England rather than Buckinghamshire but perhaps it had a local variant. I did find a contemporary recipe that gave a sweet dessert made with hog fat the name "hog pudding" too so there's room to doubt. The "chitlets" that Marlow man ate was perhaps a dialectal way of saying chitterlings, sausages made of hog entrails a sign of poverty.

On the other end of the price spectrum the "Excelsior pork pie" was a speciality of Death and Son bakers of Marlow. They operated in both West Street and the High Street in later Victorian Marlow. What made the pie so superlative is sadly not specified.

It is likely that some Marlow people are "Buckinghamshire Badger", a speciality of nearby Stokenchurch which was a savoury suet pudding of bacon. Bedfordshire clangers, the local equivalent of Cornish pasties, were certainly eaten in rural Buckinghamshire as well as Bedfordshire but I have not seen as yet any Marlow specific references to that.

Butcher's shops were in the High Street, West Street, Spittal Street and Chapel Street. A biographical portrait of Rachel Hall a butcher of West Street has previously been published on this blog here See also my posts on butcher Jason Povey, who got involved in political bribery here and Emily Carter a Victorian butcher of Spittal Street here.

Some of the Marlow butchers had stalls at Marlow Market in Market Square once a week. This had become solely or mostly for meat by the 1870s. The meat sold on these stalls was the poorer quality, cheaper options.

By the 1880s some meat could also be bought from grocer's shops. They had long sold bacon which they might cure on their own premises but to sell other meat was something of a stepping on the toes of the butchers.

Baked Goods and Desserts:

Marlow had no shortage of bakers. These all sold flour for home baking as well as their own baked products. Some also functioned as corn dealers. Most were also pastry cooks selling sweet baked goods ranging from little penny sponge cakes for one person to large celebration cakes. Only the wealthy could afford to buy the latter. Marlow bakers advertised ready made birthday and iced Christmas cakes by the 1880s. Early Victorian Christmas cakes were not alcoholic and  usually not iced or served with marzipan either. They were intended as a plain, easily digestible dessert alternative to rich plum puddings for children. If Marlow bakers or confectioners supplied the Twelfth cakes that were popular in the early and middle 1800s for Twelfth Night parties and balls I cannot discover it, though it would have been unusual if they did not, at least to order.

Confectioners mainly sold sweets but sometimes functioned as pastry cooks as well and so also offered cakes and pastries, especially in the pre Victorian era. They might be grocers too!

In Victorian times home cooks could pay to bake their own pies and breads in the bakers' ovens after the bakers themselves were finished for the day. You have to remember that many early Victorian, and some later Victorian families had no oven at home or only a tiny one. 

Gingerbread stalls featured every year at Marlow Fair and the Regatta. They were a magnet for children.

Death and Sons bakers produced their own biscuits called the Marlow Pioneer Biscuits [South Bucks Standard 22nd February 1895, advertising accessed via the BNA March 2021]. Our grocery shops also sold ready made biscuits and cakes by the 1880s.

A biographical post on the Sawyer family bakers of Marlow is on the blog here.

Desserts in general in Victorian England were eaten daily by those that could afford the ingredients. You could buy ice from fishmongers such as Allams in Market Square in order to make your own icecream or sorbets, the standard centrepiece desserts of Victorian dinner parties. Otherwise trifles, steamed puddings, fruit tarts, syllabubs featured highly. Give a Victorian cook some bread or cake crumbs, cream and jam and she could whip you up about a hundred different desserts each with a slightly different name and method. Though I have found no reference to one being served in Marlow at least two Victorian cook books contain recipes for desserts called Marlow Pies. One of these books has two quite different recipes within its pages for Marlow Pie. These two recipes are also quite different again from the recipe in the other book. I have tried the latter and it is like a very sweet puff pastry treacle tart. I intend to investigate these Marlow Pies and their origin more fully.

Dairy Products:

Most Marlow grocers were also cheesemongers. Stand alone cheesemongers seem to have no presence though they did in earlier times. Advertised cheeses in Marlow were all hard cheeses and none were said to be locally produced. Stealing cheese from householders was quite common.

Bread and cheese was THE working class packed lunch of the 1800s. Poor little Thomas Lunnon aged 7 had just such a lunch stolen from him right from off his school premises in Little Marlow in 1892 [South Bucks Standard 7th October 1892]. He had carried it there in a basket.

Ice cream was usually made at home but those not able to do so could enjoy a portion from one of the several ice cream sellers who pushed their special barrows around the streets in the summer. Most of these were not local men. Many regarded the ice cream men a nuisance because they tended to attract a street-blocking crowd of children and adults. One such seller from Reading found himself in court after he was accused of causing traffic chaos on Marlow bridge with his barrow. The police observed 40 people gathered about him. Let's hope supplies held out! 

If you wanted to make your own you could buy ice for your churn from the fishmonger. Homemade iced desserts because they were difficult to produce were very much a status symbol. Vanilla ice cream was the most common but brown bread ice-cream made with toasted sweetened brown breadcrumbs was also a huge favourite in this era. I made some myself and I can only say it left me cold!

Milk was available from several town dairies or directly from some farms. 

Poultry and Game:

Both were typically bought from poulterer's and in poultry's case sometimes directly from local farmers. The farmer's wife typically had charge of this side of the business. For more on the early Victorian poulterer John Way of the High Street see here.

Stealing fowls from farms and homes was very common in Victorian Marlow. Reports of thefts which are not also accompanied by reports of the successful arrest of the guilty parties are unusual so perhaps the Marlovians responsible weren't very good at it.

Poaching for pheasants was a Dean Street speciality! These however were usually sold rather than consumed by the poachers. The illicit catching of rabbits or hares however kept many a Dean Street area family from going hungry. It also cost them heavily in terms of fines and lost income from jail time when the poachers were caught.

Nuts:

Walnuts were grown as a crop on almost every Marlow farm. They were much loved by Victorians who pickled them while still green and made walnut ketchup as well as utilising them in ways we would be more familiar with today. As they were valuable they were targeted by thieves.

From the countryside filbert nuts could be gathered in places. While beech nuts are edible if  cooked and plentiful around the town I have not found any reference to their use by Victorian Marlovians.

Almonds were very popular in Victorian cooking and found at the grocers, who also sold chestnuts in the winter. I have yet to find any reference to hot chestnut street sellers in Victorian Marlow.

For visitors:

The Compleat Angler, the Greyhound Hotel in Spittal Street, the Two Brewers in St Peter's Street, The Fishermen's Retreat and the George and Dragon on the Causeway all specialised in catering for the picnic and boating parties that came to visit Marlow.

By the 1870s the mess left behind by picnickers on the banks of the river was already considered a nuisance [Bucks Herald 18th August, page via BNA February 2021].

Great Western Railway offered special picnic party fares to Marlow from London and elsewhere. Favourite nearby spots were the fields near Gossmore in Marlow, Quarry Woods at Bisham, Winter Hill and Bisham Woods. All those places were at times haunted by begging children pleading for food.

Picnics in the Victorian era were very substantial affairs. A tea kettle was usually brought along and a spirit stove (coffee was not the done thing). A typical picnic contained multiple joints of meat, savoury pies, cold desserts (including the beloved plum or "Christmas" pudding), salads, fruit fresh or stewed or both perhaps with biscuits to dunk in the latter, fruitcake and gingerbread. Yes all of that. There might be sandwiches, though not always. Picnickers might just take bread rolls as an accompaniment to the other dishes. If they did take sandwiches it wasn't the cucumber ones we often associate with the era. They were for afternoon tea and considered too insubstantial for a picnic. A cucumber to be cut into cool chunks and offered as a snack usually went along however. Cucumber sandwiches weren't insubstantial in calories though  as they were often spread with both butter and cream!

*****

* my calculation. Thieves must have felt it was their lucky day when they broke into William Suthery's Little Marlow home in the 1850s and found all three ripe for the taking!

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

Related Posts=

Food in 1700s Marlow here

Historic cost of living in Marlow, including the cost of many food items from different specific Marlow shops in the Victorian era here

The Poaching Perrys here

The temperance movement in Marlow here

A Victorian Christmas in Marlow here

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

Thank you to Jane Pullinger for her family's information.  

Also of use= 

Royal County Directory for Beds, Bucks and Berks, 1876. [Marlow market information]

South Bucks Standard 23 September 1898. 

Sober And Honest Please

Updated October 2023

The above premises served as a grocery shop for much of the Victorian era.

William Hobbs established his shop here in 1838. Prior to his occupancy the building seems to have been only a residence.

William was originally from Reading in Berkshire where he married Sophia Butler in 1826.

In 1842 William advertised for a general servant to work alongside his existing one. The successful applicant was to be able to provide a reference as to her "sobriety and honesty" as well as perform "plain cooking". Two weeks later the ad was still in the papers so maybe sober, honest servants were in short supply locally!

William and Sophia left Marlow in 1844 and moved back to Reading to run a grocery shop. For whatever reason this didn't last and William was reduced to being an assistant in someone else's shop.

Sophia died in 1851 and William in 1855. This inevitably left their six children in difficult circumstances. An unusual advert appeared in the Berkshire Chronicle after William's death appealing for any kind readers to donate money to help the second eldest daughter Sophia set up a "fancy stationery" shop to support her family. The ad stated that 2 of her younger brothers had already been apprenticed into the carpentry trade while the other had been sent to school. Her younger sister was also at school all thanks to public donations. Her elder sister Sarah the ad said had suffered a series of illnesses and could not work in any way. 

I'm pleased to say that the appeal must have been successful as Sophia appears on the 1861 census in Gun Street Reading as a 30 year old bookseller employing one live in assistant as well as her 17 year old brother Edward as a stationer. Sarah was living at home without occupation so presumably was still unwell.

***

George Kidd, a native of Sussex, took over the Marlow grocery business which Hobbs had left in 1844. Four years later John Brown was accused of stealing a large 29lb loaf of sugar from him. That man must have had a sweet tooth! The theft was witnessed by shop assistant Walter Andrews who gave the alarm before setting off in pursuit with his master. George caught Brown first and handed him over to a constable. George bravely plead non guilty but he was sentenced to 7 years transportation as it was not his first offence. Browns reply to the magistrates on sentencing? "I'm much obliged to you sir."

In 1862 George had two cheeses by his door on the first day of the sometimes quite rowdy Marlow Fair. Or he did for a short time before someone reached in and helped themselves. Earlier that year Eliza Howard, fresh out of jail for another offense was charged with obtaining goods from him by false pretences.

Despite the trouble of thefts from him George must have been doing well as he and his wife Euphan could afford to send their son George junior to Marlow Place Academy boarding school in Marlow which wasn't cheap. It might seem odd to board your child in a school in the same town that you live in but I see such things often in Marlow history. Prospect House Academy was only a boarding school with no day pupil option at the time so if they wanted George to attend that, the best local school, board he must.

George senior died of consumption aged just 57 in 1865. Mrs Kidd decided not to continue in the business alone and sold it to Alfred Ilsley who would run things to his death in 1907.

Euphan died in 1871. George junior became a hotel proprietor in Twickenham. Daughter Dorothea remained in Marlow as a music teacher.

***

Alfred Ilsley and his wife Emma (nee Boshier) were both originally of Hampshire and were Non-Conformist christians. Obituaries suggest two marriages for Alfred. I have not researched his second wife's name.

As well as a grocer and provision merchant Alfred was also a bacon curer and corn dealer. Marlow thieves were like moths to a flame when it came to bacon - it was their number one favourite pinch. In 1879 Joseph Black (possibly Blick) stole bacon and sugar from Alfred's premises. It's a wonder I found only one such theft from Alfred. I generally get the impression that if you left bacon on public display in Victorian Marlow it was likely gone before you had chance to blink!

Two years later Alfred advertised for a young man to act as a porter for him and to mind a horse and a cow, presumably out back. His premises included a substantial covered yard, large granary and stabling behind it, accessed from Institute Rd. 

In 1889 the thieves were at it again but perhaps there was no bacon about as George Grace was charged with stealing two cakes and 1lb tea from Alfred instead. There is more on the Grace family of Marlow here

Alfred successfully stood for election for the Marlow Urban Council in 1899, promising of course not to spend much taxpayer money. (He did not stay long as a councillor) His shop advertising often stressed his "moderate prices" too  Obviously he knew the Marlow market! Alfred was a prolific advertiser, especially of his special blend tea and coffee. 

1905 Advert. 

As well as running his shop, Alfred was one of the trustees of the Buckinghamshire Chair Company, which had a factory in Marlow. (More on them here )

Alfred died in 1907 following a series of worsening strokes. Emma had died aged just 43 in 1886. The premises were put up for sale described as having been used as a "high class" grocery shop. The couple's son John had assisted in the business and indeed the local papers say it was purchased on his behalf by neighbour Y J Lovell. It may be the business had to be sold to fulfill a condition of the will eg to provide a specific bequest from the proceeds or to settle a debt or there may have been a family disagreement on how to dispose of it. The granary and rear yard were disposed of separately. 

Both Alfred and Emma were buried at Cookham Dean Baptist Chapel.

A future post will deal with later Edwardian occupiers of this property.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. Additional research by Kathryn Day. 

To find people of interest to you on this blog please use the Person Index option on the drop down menu.

For other posts about other High Street historic shopkeepers and residents see here.

Sources:

Marlow Almanack qv and Directory 1907. 

Reading Mercury 30th April 1842. [Hobbs wanting a servant].

Maidenhead Advertiser 30th July 1879 [bacon theft].

Bucks Herald 5th January 1889 [cake / tea theft] and 18th January 1848, Bucks Gazette 8th January 1848 [sugar loaf theft].

Berkshire Chronicle 3rd February 1855 [appeal for Sarah Hobbs].

Maidenhead Advertiser 21st August 1907 [sale].

South Bucks Standard September 5th 1907. 

Property records held by my family.

Great Marlow census 1841-91. Transcribed by me from microfilm.

England Marriages 1538-1973 Familysearch http://familysearch.org/ark/61903/1:1:Nx392s

GRO Death Registration Index.

Death certificate.

1861 census record Reading supplied by Jane Pullinger. Thanks Jane.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse this content for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here so that any sources listed remain credited. Thanks.

Menageries And Moving Pictures - Marlow Fair Memories *Updated Jan 2024*

If your ancestors lived in Marlow at any point up to the early Edwardian era, Marlow Fair would likely have figured largely in their lives. The fair was an old one, but this post isn't the story of the granting of charters and the like. Instead we want to concentrate on describing what living in the town was like when the fair arrived, and what it was like to visit the event. There was also a May Fair but this post is concerned with the October event, which survived the longest.

Originally held on October 18th, St. Luke's Day, it was extended to 3 days and then reduced to 2 in the 1770's, by which time it had also moved date to October 29th. It moved back to a 3 day event at the end of it's life. 

Most of the descriptions we have of the fair come from the last decades of it's existence when many considered it had become an embarrassing anachronism not least because it was held in the town centre streets. These descriptions were given mainly by those who wanted to abolish the event, the councillors and journalists whose day job as town centre traders left them with little love for the fair. Reading these, it can leave you with the impression that the fair was so despised that the showman and traders travelled great distance to attend an event in tumbleweed strewn streets, watched perhaps by pickpockets and drunks with everyone else staying home waiting for the horror to be over. In reality, traders kept coming back because trade was good, and while the original purposes of the fair may have changed, business was brisk enough. I hope to make this description as balanced as possible and also give a voice to those who looked forward to October 29th with more joy than trepidation, using original sources. 

Surviving images of the fair leave no doubt that it was disruptive to traffic, with booths and caravans or "vardos" lining the streets. It occupied the High Street, Causeway, West Street, Quoiting Square, Oxford Road, Spittal Street, Station Rd and Chapel Street, as well as Crown Meadow, or Riley Recreation Ground as we now know it. For traders in the High Street area, getting on with business during these few days was clearly going to be a problem. References to the unsanitary arrangements of the horse drawn caravans, who obviously had no plumbing, give an insight into another practical difficulty! Many of the traders got fed up with looking out of their shop windows on crowds spending their coin elsewhere, and with disruption putting off others from venturing out at all, several shut up their shops for the two days. Others took the precaution of boarding up their windows in areas where livestock was sold, in case a runaway beast should do any expensive damage. Horned cattle were eventually banned, and restrictions were also placed on the sale of pigs. Sheep feature mainly in pre Victorian descriptions if talking about large numbers of them, but they did continue to be traded throughout. 

Those writing about the fair at the time often struggled to square the circle of their own opinion (the fair is dirty and disliked by all, trade is dull) and the contrary evidence before them. For example in 1898 we are told by the writer in the South Bucks Standard that the fair was opposed in all influential quarters and continued to "defy public opinion" by turning up at all. He hoped the event would soon die from indifference. However he also noted the streets were crowded on the first day despite heavy downpours and remained so until late at night. So many people making an effort to turn out in the rain to an event nobody wanted to go to! And despite saying trade was poor, he admitted almost all of the horses put up for auction found a buyer.

WHAT YOU COULD DO AT MARLOW FAIR

In its early incarnation the fair was there to allow the sale of farm stock and produce but there was always a pleasure element. Each day was technically devoted to the sale of certain categories but as time went on, this became more blurred. The first day was usually devoted to horses and cattle, and also formed a statute day for hiring of farm servants. If your ancestor was seeking a long term job on a farm, they would head to the fair, wearing a symbol of their skilled agricultural trade, or carrying a tool to indicate what they did. Farmers could then approach them, conduct an interview and conclude a legally binding arrangement for employment for a fixed term such as 6 months or a year. The hiring aspect tends to get mentioned most pre 1830's but there are plenty of examples of people gaining casual work there until the fairs street based end. Helping to erect or take down the booths or manage the horses were popular ways to earn a little extra. 

Farmers and businessman travelled from all over the region to buy the horses and stock on offer. Marlow fair was regarded as somewhere to buy the very finest Welsh ponies and cobbs. In 1839 it was called "one of the first marts in England for the number, quality and superior breed of cart colts." The sellers could be more sure here of a good price and ready sale than almost anywhere else. Description of the trade done was considered worth reporting in the papers far and wide. In 1849, a good 2 year old colt would cost you between £32 and £35. Gradually trade decreased from this height but it was subject to lots of fluctuations reflecting the agricultural economy as a whole. It was still a place people met dispersed family - an annual family reunion for farming folk as one contemporary put it - describing how many attended in their best clothes.

Day two (and three when it existed) was for "all kinds of wares." Cheese, butter and hops get frequent mentions, along with toys and clothing in the late 18th and early 19th century. As the 19thc goes on, there were more side shows, rides and entertainments on offer, not to mention the traditional gingerbread and cake stalls. In the 1887 the goods for sale were summed up as "all things dear to the heart of little children."  Another stall offered cheap art prints of the finest quality. Or so they said. 

In 1892, a journalist reminiscing on Marlow Fairs past, noted it was once renowned for it's onion sales, with heaps of them to be seen in every direction. Vegetables also featured in vast quantities early on, less so later. 

There was also a time when traders, especially smaller ones, welcomed the fair for other reasons  - stocking up their own shop supplies. The South Bucks Standard Marlow guide of 1891 noted that the older inhabitants "still remember a time when the Gipsy dealers bought in large stores of all kinds of merchandise, which in great part provided the shop keepers with their goods for the year." 

MENAGERIES AND MOVING PICTURES

George Stevens, a Marlow man who wrote a series of nostalgia pieces for the local press in the 1890s, reflected too on the 1840s fairs. He recalled the excitement of seeing Wombwell's Menagerie, complete with elephants and other wild animals. They paraded down Henley Road, proceeded by a band, a day before the fair proper. Setting up in Quoiting Square, the shows took place in a tent with Crown meadow used for some of the vehicles. Space must have been at a premium. The less well off probably seized the chance to catch a glimpse of the exotic beasts as they arrived, as admission was regarded as a bit more expensive than to other shows. (1 shilling in 1869, with reductions for those under 10.) Wombwells visited Marlow for decades, under different owners and had the distinction of claiming Royal patronage in the 1860's - they had exhibited before Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle twenty years before. It also visited outside of fair time, on a regular basis, usually setting up in Crown Meadow. The same can be said of some of the other attractions. 

Wild animals unfortunately continued to pop up throughout the Victorian period, with a lion keeper in 1898 narrowly escaping with his life after a lioness attacked him. This man, Monsieur Viola, was part of Biddalls Menagerie this time using the Market Square. He recieved large lacerations to his torso and legs and his clothes were left in shreds. A surgeon was called and it seems he survived his injuries. (Incidentally Biddall's gave an entertainment at the 1890 fair in aid of the Marlow cottage hospital raising over £4 and Mr Bailey whose roundabouts filled the Causeway also made a substantial donation to the same cause in 1891, while Mrs Wilson, roundabout proprietor occupying Strong Beer Acre 1898 sent  the entirety of her Friday afternoon takings to the same cause. This is just a selection of fundraising by the fair people occuring every year the late Victorian period. Mrs Wilson gave a generous charitable donation at every place she went to in fact.)

Quite how the farm animals felt with predators caged close at hand must be wondered at! (An account of the 1867 fair says the hugely popular Manders Menagerie "somewhat interfered with the cattle fair". ) The ponies were exhibited in Oxford Road, with cart horses in West Street and cattle and other livestock took up Crown Meadow. A separate auction of working animals and vehicles was carried on at the Crown, taking advantage of the gathered crowds. West Street was also the place to go for equestrian accessories stalls selling items such as whips. 

Swing boat rides feature in 1840's descriptions and were still mentioned  in the final fair to be be held in the streets in 1903. They were regarded then by some as a sort of nostalgic throwback to fairs of yore. Originally placed in Quoiting Square once the horse sales were over, they later tended to occupy spots in the Causeway and Spittal Square, or the Common Slough as that was then known. Plum spots were regarded as the Market Place and the Spittal Square, because they could house the larger and most exciting attractions.

Knife throwing acts were perpetual favourites, with Biddall's show in the Market Square regarded as the most popular attraction in 1892. (The show was also stationed in Spittal Square on occasion.) A lady stood in the traditional manner while knives were thrown - hopefully - around her outline. Breaks is another knife throwing entertainment that came to Marlow, also occupying Market Square. Biddalls also offered feats of "jugglery", and rope dancing performed by a young girl. An occasional waxworks joined the fun such as Sedgwick's Menagerie and Waxwork in 1889. 

Travelling theatres featured heavily in the first three quarters of the 19thc eventually giving away to peep shows, cinematoscopes and moving picture shows. George Stevens, mentioned above, earned extra money by painting scenery for these theatres while they were in town. The theatres did not produce plays in the main, but included things like comic performances, and in 1838 a pipe smoking wheelbarrow wheeling monkey featured in William's theatre!

Here's an idea of some of the other attractions of 1880's fairs - In Quoiting Square was Taylor's Naval and Military warfare exhibition plus "Birds Galloping Horse Circus" while in Market Square you could encounter boxing booths, and see models of steam engines and silk machines shown by Mr Gregory. The Causeway was the place to go for Baileys Steam Circus while food stalls, photography tents and "cocoa nut throwing" booths popped up all over. A steam powered roundabout with "galloping horses" set up outside the George and Dragon in 1886 when it was the top attraction of that years event. In the 1890's there's more mention of steam powered roundabouts, as well as shows in booths, whose nature can be seen by the fact the public "were informed by printed placards that females would not be admitted." Apparently putting up these signs caused a rush of men to the shows concerned. The show people were clever marketers after all! Other peep shows included "The Horror of War" outside the Chequers in 1889, and an "Exhibition of Startling Events" in Market Square in the same year. In 1902 "animated photographs" joined the attractions. (Before Marlow got it's first cinema basic films were also shown at the Music Room in St Peters Street with special showings at times like Easter). In 1903 a bioscope is mentioned for the first time - more moving pictures. 

Side attractions included "machines" to weigh you (best used before a visit to the sweet stalls),  wheels of fortune, throwing at nine pins (to win a prize of a quantity of nuts) and darts competitions (hit the bullseye for a prize). All of these cost a penny a go in 1872. 

Shooting Saloons were forbidden after 1887, after a bullet from one positioned in the Causeway during the summer regatta smashed a bedroom window in a house next to the George and Dragon, causing much alarm but no serious injuries. (Many of the rides that came to the fair also came for the Regatta, causing "great obstruction" around the Causeway with one roundabout also setting up in St. Peters Street. The council was much less vocal about this issue than the fair, despite the same proprietors attending both. If you see an old photograph labelled as Marlow Fair, have a look at bystanders costumes. If it's summer clothes, it's likely to be a photo of the rides attending the regatta rather than the late October Fair.)

One last performer to mention - an unnamed "wonderful man" who was born without arms but who nevertheless demonstrated his wood carving, neat letter writing and concertina playing abilities. This 1889 "act" could be found in West Street at the junction with Quoiting Square. 

"A DELIGHT OF ANTICIPATION FOR YOUNG AND SOME OF THE OLD"

So is the fair described by George Stevens, looking back to the 1840's. He described the mounting sense of excitement as the date approached and the town began it's preparations. For some traders this meant stocking up on extra provisions to cater for the increased trade. Yes, for every shop that complained of a loss of income occasioned by the rival attractions outside, there were others who looked forward to a bumper few days trade. For example, in 1891 - the Messrs Myrton Bros had laid on "extra stock of provisions to deal with increased demand caused by visitors to Marlow fair" according to their advertising. And in 1896 Death the bakers of West Street advertised their special Marlow Fair ginger nuts and ginger buttons from 4d a pound with the very best quality a snip at 10d a pound - "rich, good, fresh". 

Stevens also remembered speaking to a man named Gunnell who had been born in Marlow in 1770. This man had seen George Alexander Gratton,  known as "the Spotted Boy," exhibited at Marlow Fair by showman John Richardson who also came from Marlow. Little George Alexander had black and white mottled skin and had been bought by the showman. He died age approximately 4, and is buried in Marlow. This is one of several references I have seen to Richardson exhibiting in Marlow.  A full post on young George is available here

TROUBLE AT THE FAIR? 

The perceived influx of ne'er do wells into the Town come fair time was one of the reasons presented as a reason to close it down. Pre and early Victorian records show that pick pocketing and the use of counterfeit coins were a frequent problem although reports of both actually declined as time progressed. Thomas Wyatt discovered £8 worth of counterfeit coinage in his straw yard in 1827, supposed to have been intended for use at the fair. On the other hand, in 1838 the Reading Mercury reported that while the pickpockets had arrived in Marlow, the activities of the officers meant "we did not hear that they had much success." And again in 1865 there was not one recorded incident of robbery or pickpocketing. 

In fact when the parish constables put in a claim for their attendance at the 1868 fair, much grumbling was made as to why they needed to be there at all - there were 9 members of the Bucks constabulary present after all and this was considered more than enough to keep order by the naysayers. 

Those who had been seen to do a few good sales were at risk of being followed on their way home and robbed of their profits. An unnamed local farmer was relieved of £40 in banknotes and 9 guineas in gold coin in this way in 1797. However Constable Thomas Hackshaw was on the case and apprehended the culprits who were sent off to Aylesbury Gaol. 

Fast talking salesman or "Street Jacks" offering poor quality goods or confidence tricksters plying their scams were also a feature, both of these said to move on quickly in order to avoid dissatisfied customers. And of course drunkenness was also to be found. But despite the impression given in late Victorian times, things seemed to get much tamer as time wore on. An especially busy fair in 1886 due to fine weather saw "no disturbances" while the show people were said to have behaved themselves perfectly. In 1892 the local papers reported that while extra police were on duty, there had been not a single arrest for pickpocketing or drinking. They reported the same in 1901, that extra police had not been "seen to be called upon in any requisite." A trawl through petty session records supports these eyewitness accounts of declining crime associated with the fair. Mostly it relates to drinking, and the magistrates often took the approach of letting non locals off the hook if they promised to leave town. Not quite the scene of crime that's lingered in the popular imagination! In fact just as many cases of drunkenness were bought before the magistrates at regatta time and far more at Christmas. 

Many of the beer sellers applied for permission to open early on fair days and this was generally granted. This recognised trading could start early in the morning. The White Hart, Greyhound and Coach and Horses were three establishments you could generally rely on to be open should you wish to have an early pot of beer. Clearing the crowded pubs at 11pm was a little more tricky. When it was reported in 1872 that a number of boxing exhibitions would take place at fair time, with a predicted increase in "roughs" attending, the landlords of the Greyhound (George Abbott), the George and Dragon (James Tilbury) and some others applied to the magistrates for the police to be ordered to clear their premises for them just before 11pm. The magistrates thought they would have to ask the chief constable not them, and the latter thought such action unnecessary. They would have extra police on duty and would attend any premises having difficulty if their attention was bought to it. But the victuallers solicitor Ralph Spicer pointed out it was difficult to find a policeman on such a busy day. To no avail. No trouble was in fact reported at closing up time and the only reported crimes at any point were two picked pockets. Incidentally Ralph, who lived in West Street, and Quoiting Square right in the thick of fair action, was absolutely against any plans to suppress the event. He saw "no harm in it." 

 Another cause of complaint was the fact the fairground rides and accompanying organ music continued late into the night. It was suggested in 1898 that the fair men could be asked to cut off their music at 11pm rather than the early hours of the morning! It had been determined that the council probably did not have the power to make a bye law to restrict the noise however. In 1896 the residents of Market Square complained they had been kept awake all night by the roaring of wild animals at a nearby menagerie! A description of the fair from 1879 does make it sound hard on the ears. Most of the stall holders and showman were using "voice trumpets" to make their cries carry further and one man was also using a gong, drum, pipes and a horn. And then there were the barrel organs. 

Other troubles, like perhaps striking a bad bargain are harder to trace. There were also a few minor accidents, mainly relating to rides and attractions. A little boy belonging to one of the fair people, aged 4 or so, run down by a waggon in 1892 is one unnamed example. He was last heard of doing as "well as may be expected." And then there was the freak accident that resulted in the death of a young servant, Elizabeth Townsend in 1886. Elizabeth was walking close to a "strength testing machine" when the man using it lifted the mallet to strike the target and accidentally struck her a blow on the temple instead. She was knocked senseless. Reports then vary as to what happened next. She was either carried still unconscious to the High Street home of her employer Miss Ralfs or she recovered sufficiently on the spot to walk away up the street until she met Dr Culhane who sent her home immediately. Sadly her wound was more serious than first suspected and nothing could be done for poor Elizabeth and she died soon afterwards. Although it was accepted that the man welding the mallet was not guilty of negligence, he had ran off after the accident and I do not believe he was identified. At the inquest it was suggested he was a person temporarily put in charge of the strength tester by its owner who did not know his employees name. The owner had visited Elizabeth before her death to express his sorrow at the incident. 

Lastly there was the problem of litter left behind. Confetti sellers had become a feature of the fair in the last decade of its existence and they also attended the regatta. This obviously left some mess to clear up. As for the refuse left by the fair people themselves, the Rev Whittingstall* was one of the few to point out that they had no means of rubbish disposal available to them and no effort had been made to provide a solution. 

CLANDESTINE GOINGS ON

In 1879 some of the traders and gentry discovered that if just a few of them as rate payers wrote collectively to the Secretary of State to ask for the fairs abolition, the Secretary could consider their request. This needed to be signed by the magistrates, but did not need to be endorsed by an particular number of residents. So a meeting was organised in the Boys schoolroom in the Causeway. It was a private rather than public meeting and only those against the fair were invited.  Word got out and some others attended, 40 people in all. And 22 of those voted to petition the Secretary of State. However when the news spread of the action taken in their name, many of those not invited to participate were furious, even those supportive of its demise. A second petition was sent to the Secretary asking him to make no decision until a proper public meeting had been held to discover the town's wishes. A parish vestry was called, and those present at the earlier meeting were met in part with boos and hisses, and much criticism of their "high handed action" . While the idea of removing the pleasure aspect from the street in favour of another location seemed to gather much support, the out right abolition of the fair did not. It had now been ascertained that the Secretary of State could not order the fair to be moved from the streets to a less crowded location, and could not forbid just  the pleasure part of the fair from continuing. He could only order it's complete abolition, and this was not supported. And so no further action was taken.

 The abolition supporters said the cause had been ruined by an influx to the Vestry meeting of the denizens of Well End (Dean Street as we'd call it, not Well End, Little Marlow) and Marefield - in other words the working class. The Maidenhead Advertiser, which was probably the most balanced in its reports of the various camps, pointed out that these people had in fact been specifically invited and their opinions had just as much weight at a parish vestry (in theory at least) as the wealthy. In fairness it must be noted that many wealthier people did support the fair and/or did try to understand why others did. For example Owen Peel Wethered appreciated it was often the one holiday that labourers got and that they much looked forward to it. 

The language used at the first private meeting, as regards the reputed evils and moral dangers of the fair caused amusement in some quarters even at the time. One letter writer to the Maidenhead Advertiser was quite baffled by these peoples description of the event - he said he'd never witnessed anything at all objectionable there. Of course for some any game of chance, of which the fair had many, was regarded as a form of gambling that would lead the poor into a downward spiral. Just seeing someone spending their money on an activity "debasing to public morality" was enough to make it objectionable in their eyes. 

THE END IS NIGH

The amount of agricultural trade done at the fair declined from it's pre and early Victorian days gradually. It's demise in this guise was predicted from the 1870's as we've seen but it continued for decades. In 1898 those residents living in the streets immediately occupied by the fair such as Oxford Rd and West Street (up to Quoitings Square) had been asked to append their names to a notice either pro of against pursuing the abolition of the fair. The result was 15 persons for its continuance and 105 against. While considering the wishes of those most immediately affected by the fair was obviously important, it meant that the vast majority of Marlow's residents and in particular the poorer ones, had not had their opinions considered. 

Later that year the Marlow Urban District Council wrote to General Owen Williams esq who had the right to collect the fair tolls, as without his support, cancelling the fair would be virtually impossible. (For example the tolls were 2d of each animal sold, 2d for a small booth, and 1s to 10s for larger ones in 1892.*) They did not receive an immediate response but Williams agent promised to speak to his employer about it. Williams had however replied to a query from the Marlow Rate Payers Association to say he had frequently received letters and petitions related to the abolition of the fair. But he had never acted on them as on closer enquiry it proved that "it was by no means the desire of the majority of the people of Marlow that the fair should be abolished." He added that for all those that were inconvenienced by the event, there were still more who were bought pleasure by it. He regarded himself as a "guardian" of this very old institution. Furthermore he said the fair was very well managed and the attendees "very well conducted". Abraham Baldwin of the aforementioned Ratepayers Association generally agreed. Abraham added that if there was a sanitary concern related to the holding of the street fair, why had the town's sanitary inspectors not used any of their powers to deal with it? He considered they had made no effort at all to this end. He also considered that if the fair was moved to somewhere further from the town centre, it would lead to an increase in immorality rather than the opposite. The goings on would be less public and open you see!

Not to be deterred, the council wrote again to Williams in 1899. He responded that he had received a second petition, this one in favour of KEEPING the fair. He noted that this latter had the support of many working class people and the smaller traders.  Sweetly some worried children had added their names to this pro fair petition too. Williams thought that the working classes would overall be more interested in keeping things as they were, and asked if the council had actually asked the voters their views. It seems they still had not done so in a comprehensive way, as they then arranged a canvas of rate payers and electors. They went house to house and you could also vote in the Post Office. Turn out was very small but the tally such as it was read - For abolition 263, against 151, neutral 96, did not vote 300. This was enough for the council and they wrote again to General Williams. He had previously said he would act if this was the wish of the majority of the population. In the end he changed his mind, and accepted the vote in which a minority of the population had voted at all, let alone for the fairs abolition. He agreed to support the councillors proposal if he was compensated for the loss of income from the tolls. A subscription fund was set up in 1902 with this in mind. 

In the meantime, the authorities decided to restrict what they could of the event. The police did not have the power to stop the fair while it had its charter, even if they wanted to. Rules were instead introduced by the local councils to limit when the stalls and show people could arrive in town and how soon they had to leave. Some did question whether they had the authority to ask the fair people to do the latter, as they were told to clear out by 10am on day three and many remembered  that the fair had a three day charter even if they had not used the third day often in recent years. (Some stalls stayed and traded on day three regardless of the official arrangements. Eg in 1886 30 stalls were still present and open for business on the Monday, when the fair had started Saturday.)  An attempt in 1903 to restrict the arrival time of the fair people to after 3pm did not work out well as the roundabouts and caravans were just forced to queue on the Berkshire side of the bridge, blocking passage of traffic. Nevertheless the subsequent setting up of stalls and rush for a good spot was said to be conducted in "an orderly manner."

  In 1901 it was decided that no one could set up any kind of booth or tent that in any way involved disturbing the surface of the streets. At a stroke, this made it impossible to safely erect many of the rides and attractions. The fact that posts for tying horses to could no longer be knocked into the road caused chaos at the horse fair in West Street. 

Alfred Ball, proprietor of the Market Square "Cinematograph" exhibit in 1901 was summoned for damaging the surface of the road which had recently been repaired with broken granite and steam rolled. He had driven in some small iron pegs to secure his large booth. In his defence, he stated that he had attended Marlow Fair for 20 years and had always used them. Any such restrictions would be the death of the fair he added, which no doubt was the point. He was fined 20s plus costs. The necessity of fixing booths properly was demonstrated in 1887 when an overnight gale knocked over several. No one was thankfully hurt. 

NOT IN MY BACK YARD

When the circular asking for donations towards the Williams compensation fund was put out, a suggestion was included that perhaps the fair didn't need to disappear altogether but could be moved to somewhere off the streets, perhaps Crown Meadow (which was already used by the fair). This upset an anonymous letter writer to the South Bucks Standard who said that if the event was such a nuisance, why should moving it to a different part of town be considered a reasonable solution, as it was just handing on the problem to others. He or she also cast doubt on how representative the ballot on removing the fair had been - "from what I have seen in this neighbourhood of late, I am of the opinion that the working classes are more in favour of carnivals than ever." 

Plans to make the abolition of the fair a memorial for the Coronation of Edward the 7th came to nothing. But in 1903 enough funds had been raised to pay off General Williams so steps were taken to apply formally to the Home Secretary for the axing of the fairs Charter. The last event to be held in the streets was therefore 1903. Local photographer J Badger went out and took many pictures, one appearing in the South Bucks Standard, with prints available from Mr Badger. He obviously felt there would be enough nostalgia for the event to make his efforts worthwhile! 

The horse sale at this last street wide event was described as well patronised and good prices were recorded at the accompanying equine auction at the Crown. 

In 1904 Williams received his money but what of the fair? It's fate had been described as "up to the fair people." But the horse and cattle fair was held in the Star Meadow in 1904 with the pleasure part in the Crown Meadow, complete with Alfred "Professor" Ball's Cinematograph after all. It is definitely not the case that the fair ceased to have any kind of agricultural function by the time it left the streets. 

In 1908, Mr Porter's meadow off Dedmere Road was also hosting rides and the event was back to 3 days in length. From 1910, both the pleasure and much reduced cattle and horse fair were to be held in Star Meadow but just to confuse things, the animal sale and the greater part of the rides then switched back to Crown Meadow. They continued for a number of years there with Star Meadow taking the overflow. The former still saw rides and theatres take up residence at other times too. The show and ride proprietors continued coming to Marlow in October specifically until the outbreak of war saw the cancellation of the 1939 Marlow fair. We now associate the pleasure fair with the summer regatta only. 

The fair could never have lasted long term in the streets in the motor car age, as it stood in 1903. The authorities actions only hastened the inevitable. But it was definitely mourned by many, including the children of Oxford Lane infants school which had previously closed during fair week. The teachers reported little attendance and those that did could scarcely concentrate over the noise of the steam organs in Quoiting Square. 

* In some years in the first half or so of the 19th century, at times of agricultural depression, the tolls were remitted fully or partially. They were then under the control of the then Lord's of the Manor, the Clayton family of Harleyford.

To read about the Edwardian Fair  see here. 

Pets in Marlow History kept by those without an menagerie (but still including monkeys and the like) here.

Written and researched by Kathryn Day

Above - Bottom picture the memorial to enslaved child  George Alexander Gratton, who was used as a show exhibit, and top picture the grave of the Marlow born showman John Richardson who exhibited him and had requested that they should be buried together. More on both here

*Rev Fearnley Whittingstall thought it would be better overall for the fair not to exist anywhere but he recognised that not everyone would agree. He thought that given that fact, it was desirable that the venue should remain somewhere in the town rather than outside it where there would be added difficulty in policing it thoroughly. He was also one of the few to express partial sympathy for the fair people themselves, who he pointed out were in his experience no more likely to contain villainous members than any other group of people. He thought it a pity too that their children should rarely have any schooling and so their "excellent qualities of heart and character" were not more often utilised for the public good. 

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

Sources:

Oxford Journal, 14 April 1764. Copy held at British Library and accessed via the BNA

Encyclopaedia Londinensis, Wilkes, John 1816, J Adlard, London. 

The New British Traveller or Modern Programme of England and Wales, Vol 2, Dugdale, James. 1819 J Robins &Co. 

Robson's Directory 1839

Pigots Directory 1831

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1854, 1883.

South Bucks Standard Marlow Directory, 1891. (Courtesy of Michael Eagleton) 

The Ethics Of Performing Animals, Aflalo, Frederick George, 1900 

Royal County Directory of Beds, Bucks and Berks, 1876

Maidenhead Advertiser 6th November 1872, 5 November 1887, 2 November 1898 - Bayliss Media Archive. 

 South Bucks Standard 17 July, 1896, 30 October 1891, 4 November 1892, 12 August, 7 October & 4 November 1898, 8 December 1899, 6 April 1900, 8 November 1901, 9 May 1902, 30 October & 6 November 1903, 30 October 1908, 6 October 1910, copies held at British Library Archive, as above. 

Berkshire Chronicle 8 December 1827, 3 November 1849 as above

Bucks Herald -  6 November 1847, 28 March 1885, 6 August 1887 as above

Reading Mercury 17 November 1791, 03 November 1838, 26 October 1839, 02 November 1867, 25 April 1868, 20 March 1869, 8 November 1890 BNA as above. 

Petty sessions reports, as above. 

Slough, Eton and Windsor Observer November 6 1886, Slough Library. 

©Marlow Ancestors.