Marlow's volunteer fire brigade was formed in 1874 but the town had a fire engine before that and therefore volunteer fireman to operate it. The very old fire tender, gifted to the town in 1731 by MP John Clavering still exists and will hopefully be out on public display in the future. Clavering was not a local man. He was elected in 1727, although an attempt was made to overturn that result. He ceased to be our M.P the year of the gift, when he was promoted to the role of Groom of the Chamber. Perhaps it was a parting present. At first, it was kept in the church porch, or just behind. A good central location but it probably got evicted when the new church was built in 1832.
How long that engine was in use I don't know, but the engine generally referred to as the "old" one in Victorian times arrived here in early 1831 made by Tilley of London. Unfortunately the first time the volunteers came to fight a fire with it, they realised they did not actually know how to operate the thing. So they had to fetch the old one instead! This fire was in the High Street and it was caused by a candle setting light to the bed curtains in the house of Mr White.
The 1830s was a busy time for the early fireman. It was a time for incendiaries, Swing riots and social unrest. You can read more about this in Marlow and nearby here And the fellows did not just fight fires in Marlow itself - they travelled to nearby villages and farms. I should also mention that the various fire insurance companies serving our local area maintained their own engines, for the use on properties covered by their policies. Whether any of these were actually based in Marlow itself, I'm not sure. For example the Sun Fire Office and Royal Exchange insurance companies both of which had Marlow agents, joined the Marlow brigade to fight an arson attack in Hutton's farm, Hambledon in 1839. Their combined efforts saved most of the farmhouse but all of the outbuildings such as the barns, granary and stabling were lost. The Hambledon Association for the Apprehension of Incendiaries offered a £20 reward for information as to the culprit.
The engine was of course horse drawn, and a report in 1849 tells us it was drawn by 4 horses usually. These were hired.
It's possible that the breweries in the town and the Marlow mills had their own small engines at this point as they certainly did later. Most mills seem to have done at this period. There's no mention of specific apparatus used in reports of a severe fire, also believed to be arson, at the mill in 1826. The wealthy Williams family of Temple House** had their own "engine" in the late 1850s if not before. It was said that it was made readily available to anyone with a fire in the neighborhood - for example it was used to fight a rickyard fire at a farm in Hurley in 1862. The Wethered brewery had an engine by the 1870s, which was also used on fires elsewhere on occasion.
In 1868 it was decided the Marlow engine would be put under control of the parish overseers and that it's maintenance would be paid for out of the poor rates.
The 1874 Volunteer Brigade
The idea of setting up a formal organised volunteer brigade was said to originate with architect and surveyor Charles Carter, who would be on the committee co opted to set it up. He would also act as their first superintendent. The idea was enthusiastically received. Col Williams of Temple promised £50 and lord of the manor Sir William Clayton of Harleyford offered £20 and to pay for the helmets. The vestry voted to gift the existing 1831 engine to the volunteer brigade. It was recognised as needing some repairs and so the volunteers were told they could if they wish sell it and put the money towards a newer machine. This would not be cheap so it was decided to make good the existing one. So off it went to Messrs Shand and Mason for an overhaul. It arrived back after a month "thoroughly repaired and possessing every modern improvement".
The general costs would be met by subscribers with a donation from the parish. The local fire insurance agents were also able to secure donations from their companies in several instances. The last item to be paid for were some uniforms made of "suitable waterproof material." It took until 1881 for the Volunteer Brigade to get their finances in the black after all this expenditure - donations not withstanding. If the Volunteer brigade did not adequately maintain the engine, it would revert to the parish control.
The first members of the brigade were:
Superintendent: Charles Carter
Foreman: Charles Miller Foottit*
Engineer: William Batting*
Hon Surgeon: W J Shone
Sub Engineer: John Langley *
Firemen: George Greenwood, R Wellicome, W Haynes, Walter Elgie, George Frith, George Barney
Hon Secretary: Thomas H Wright
Other committee members: Owen Peel Wethered, John Tudor.
To this list we should add the 5-6 members of the reserve brigade who often don't get named individually, and very many members of the public who acted as "pumpers" during a fire. At some places there was an organised list of reliable men who would be given preference should extra help be needed. Wycombe gave their pumpers a badge to wear to save confusion. I don't think anything of this type existed in Marlow. Pumpers were paid for their help, as other assistants sometimes were. A specific fund was available for the superintendent to use for this. It was customary for fire insurance companies to make a donation to the volunteer brigade if it worked on one of their properties and the money sometimes depended on the amount of additional help that had been necessary to engage. The possibility of extra (if very hard) work is one of the reasons that when the fire bell went, it wasn't just the fireman that hastened to the scene of a fire. No fee was charged for calling the brigade out at first although it was customary for the better off to make a donation afterwards. After 1900 the property owners were charged for the brigades attendance including the use of the engine, and hire of the horse plus refreshments for the fireman or repair of damaged uniform etc as required. Water used as part of the clean up was free.
The engine was housed in an arch of the Market House AKA the Market hall, and later part of the Crown Hotel. (The 1731 engine was also there.) A small token rent was paid for this. They also needed to pay to hire the horses to pull the engine. These were usually supplied by the Crown which has a long history as a posting house and place to hire a "fly" so it had plenty of steady horses at their disposal. These were grazed in the meadow behind the Crown. Once or twice a fire coincided with a time when all the suitable horses from the Crown were otherwise engaged and so they were hired from other establishments. One of the first major fires in the town they dealt with was actually in the Crown itself, when a chimney caught a flame. Getting to the source of the fire involved dismantling the brickwork. It was only put out after hours of "unceasing labour".
Oxford Road A Flame
Many of the fires covered by our brave volunteers have been covered elsewhere in the blog. I'll mention just a few more. The fire at the premises of coach builder and wheelwright George Cox in Oxford Rd 1877 involved 80 helpers. This was considered a serious risk to neighbouring properties which included thatched wooden barns behind them. George naturally had many highly flammable materials in his workshops such as varnish, paint and wood. A long chain of those bringing buckets of water to the fire, managed by publican John Langley* and aided by the Marlow and brewery engines, performed what was considered a miracle to prevent the fire spreading up Oxford Rd. George lost two carriages, his workshop and woodhouse, and most of his tools and materials. He was luckily insured. It seems a spark from a stove left on to dry a newly varnished carriage was to blame. The Temple House engine also came to help, but the fire was mostly over by the time it arrived. This engine was the source of envy by the Marlow brigade as it was steam powered and could draw up water where others couldn't. It was given to the Temple Volunteer Brigade when they formed, at the suggestion of Marlow's Charles Miller Foottit who was also responsible for drilling the new brigade.
Within a week, George's insurance claim was settled and the money with him, thanks to insurance agent William Crake*.
The engine was regarded as heavy and sometimes awkward to manage. So two small "engines" were purchased in the 1881 to assist the fireman (after several years of fundraising.) And a carriage to transport them on was also necessary.
Fun for the fireman
It wasn't just all work and no play for our firemen. Almost immediately they started playing as a football and cricket team for casual matches organised throughout the year. They put a crew to compete in many of the the regattas too. Then there were friendly drill competitions (and tug of wars!) with other fire brigades, usually involving a "capital dinner" afterwards. In 1877 fireman George Frith won a silver fireman's axe for performing best at his one man drill in a competition sponsored by a Maidenhead man.
They had an annual dinner (often at The Greyhound) and outing and on a few occasions a ball.
The men were invited several times to form part of Lord Mayor of London's civic parades with a number of other fire brigades. And on any occasion there was a parade in Marlow, the fireman were at the fore, in uniform. In 1882, when the Prince of Wales arrived at Marlow station on route to a visit at Temple House the brigade were chosen to line the bridge as he passed. Then in 1891 their destination was the Crystal Palace where they took part in a review before the German Emperor. Dr Dickson, currently their commanding officer, was introduced to the emperor himself.
The fire bell rings ...sometimes
The fireman had day jobs. When the fire bell rang (the rope hanging outside the front of the fire station at the town hall with the bell in the clocktower above) they had to stop what they were doing and rush to the station. The time it took for them to assemble from the time the bell first rang was carefully recorded, along with their arrival at the scene of the blaze. The bell caused frequent trouble. There were complaints about it almost immediately. In 1882 it was declared that the bell was finally in "good and effective working order". It's odd it seems to have needed more maintenance than the fire engine! The rope broke often which perhaps is not surprising as those ringing it were supposed to do so vigorously for several minutes. On another occasion the bell itself was found to have split.
How many fires?
To keep their place in the brigade, the fireman had to attend a certain number of drills (and perform them well). These were generally held once a month. Some years there were 5-6 fires, others none at all but the men had to be ready regardless.
And some of them were injured in their volunteer work. To help this, the fireman were covered by accident and death in service insurance from 1885. The members were allowed to attend the local St John's Ambulance first aid training classes for free too.
It was generally considered the brigade did stirling work that saved many lives and even more livelihoods. Where they failed it was usually due to a lack of water, for example at the farms far from a hydrant.
Playing with fire
You didn't have to go to the science of a blaze to see a fire fighting demo. If you went to the Music Room in 1883 (the masonic centre now) you could enjoy a lecture on fire fighting by Charles Miller Foottit who bought the two mini engines on to the stage. Two dolls were set alight to demonstrate the technique of putting out flames on clothing - a sadly all too frequent cause of death especially among little children. Charles also extolled the virtue of using asbestos paint as a flame retardant.
They also sometimes performed a public drill, usually as part of a fundraising effort eg on the lawns of the Complete Angler.
That old engine
In the 1880s the fireman were still using the 1831 engine, in addition to their mini ones. It had been modified in that time, most significantly by the addition of a brake. As Charles Carter said, without one, there was a serious risk of a nasty accident occuring. Thomas Corby the Marlow builder offered a prize to anyone who'd come up with a good workable brake for the engine and John Langley offered a second prize. I don't know who won though! (Thomas was visiting the brigade to thank them for putting out a fire on his premises). Running repairs were usually done by Marlow's Battings the ironmongers.
In 1891 it was decided only so many more repairs could be made to the 60 year old engine. Fundraising would start for its replacement soon they hoped. However they considered trade was too bad in the town to make the timing right for an appeal. So Charles Miller Foottit made an exhaustingly detailed report on modifications the old engine could undergo to give it a few more years of life. These suggestions were adopted. They did splash out on a new longer hose though. A fire escape to allow rescue from the upper storeys of taller buildings arrived in 1893. They wished to practice using this on buildings within the town, but recieved nothing but complaints from the occupiers. So a wooden tower was erected in Crown meadow (Riley Park) to use instead. This tower would appear several times, sometimes for public demos, other times a pretend house front did the job. In 1907 John Langley was recruited to dress in a nightshirt and play the part of a feinting fire victim to be rescued from the heights! Fireman Harry Sawyer saw him safely to the ground, nightshirt and all. In 1905 a wooden "house" was also erected in Shaw's boatyard and set well alight to demonstrate the use of a hand fire extinguisher. Successfully - thankfully for Robert Shaw.
By 1888 the engine house was described as possessing every requisite for modern fire fighting.
A new engine at last
By 1894 the old engine was really creaking. Brigade Hon Secretary Walter Wethered wrote to the new Parish Council to say it was in a dilapidated and possibly dangerous condition. The following year reports that the most senior members of the brigade would resign unless a better engine was provided were addressed at the AGM. The rumour was denied but they described how the axles and bearings were so worn that they could not go very far without having to stop and oil them, and wait for them to cool down before proceeding. It was only a matter of time before the engine broke down completely on the way to a fire they said. It is decided to ask the newly formed parish council, who technically owned the old machine, for money towards a new engine. Although a steam powered engine was the dream, they decided to settle on a cheaper manual one that was expected to cost about £130-40. They also believed they wouldn't be expected to pay the full cost up front but would be given 4-5 years to settle the bill.
The parish council agreed to pay £100 of the cost and to let the brigade keep the engine under their control provided them met the cost of ongoing repairs and maintenance. They would allow them to sell the 1830s engine and put the £20-30 they expected to get from that towards the cost of the new. The old engine's pumps were regarded as in good condition and it seems they expected it to be usable as parts - bearings and axle aside! Thomas Wright, the brigade treasurer leads a small party to London to view the premises of the two premier manufacturers of fire engines. They settle on a £140 manual machine from Messrs Shand & Mason which can take 22 men. This is the company that had done repair work on the old engine previously. It is delivered to Marlow on the first of August 1895, and immediately put through it's paces by the firemen in the market square and by the Compleat Angler. They are satisfied that "it throws a great quantity of water at great force. "
After 1900
In 1902 the district council took over the brigade again financially speaking. They would meet running costs but the brigade would use their donations to pay for uniform as needed. (These had been replaced when 15 years old so I don't think any one can accuse the men of carelessness with them. The old ones were kept for drill use. They were supplied by local drapers, and the epaulettes by Batting while jeweller Frederick Rowe re nickelled the helmets.)
From 1910 they gained use of the second arch under the town hall, previously used by Battings for storage but enlargements were still ongoing in 1912 when our history stops.
The sadness of George
I've not covered the lives of many of the individual fireman here for space sake as many if not all deserve their own post. Names marked with an asterisk above have their own entry already, linked below. Charles Miller Foottit had a huge role in the development of fire brigades in general. But I feel I should mention longstanding fireman George Grace here as the poor man hung himself in the fire station in 1909 age 64. He had been out of work, except for the small amount of money he earned for looking after the engine and cleaning it. At the time of his death he was one of the reserve team after 27 years in the main brigade. He had spent some time in hospital two years before and had never recovered physically or mentally it was said.
Written by Kathryn Day.
More information:
*Charles Miller Foottit biography here
John Langley here
The Battings here
Brigade surgeon etc Dr Dunbar Dickson here
**Temple House history here
To search for mentions of any others see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. There's several thousand people mentioned there - updated weekly.
Fires fought:
Buckinghamshire Chair Co, Duchess Place : here
Explosion at Gas Works, Dean Street - here
At the Crown here
Death by fire here
At Marshalls Menagerie here
Other posts about general Marlow history here
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