Died 5 June 1930. Age 45.
ALSO OF
Lucy Martin.
D. 3rd July 1956 age 65 years.
In Marlow Cemetery.
Looking for another grave in Marlow? Check our index here
©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this image or transcription for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.
Updated August 2023, with additional research notes.
The next part of my gradual transcription of the original handwritten working notebooks used to compile this assessment along with related correspondence. These faded notebooks are in the possession of my family, and also contain some pencilled in corrections from the later 1830s, though not in this section. The assessment was compiled Autumn 1833 and was to be used to calculate tax rates for Marlow for the following year.
Transcribed by Charlotte Day.
©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this transcription with credit to this blog.
Bovingdon Green
Each occupying a cottage and garden with annual value of £4 10 shillings:
Thomas Frith [still in Bovingdon Green 1838]
Richard Fletcher
Thomas Jones
*****
Ephraim House
House and yard
£5
*****
William Davies
House, yard, garden and woodhouse
£10
*****
Marlow Common
Each in cottage and garden with annual worth of £4 10 shillings:
John Swadling
Thomas Mead [Described as in Bovingdon Green 1838]
William Howard [see below for another man of this name]
James Winkworth
*****
Henry Higgins [a Mr Higgins, poor man, was threatened and burgled by two men who forced themselves into his cottage home at Marlow Common in 1840. This may well be the same Higgins as here. If so his cottage was on the edge of Wolmer Heath "some three or four hundred yards from the other cottages on the Common"].
Cottage and garden
£4
*****
Each in a cottage and garden with an annual value of £5:
John Rose
Jesse Collins [ Will coming up on the blog in the next few months]
*****
Joseph Keep
Cottage and garden
£3
*****
John Blackwell [he was a blacksmith]
House, shop [this would mean workshop], garden and orchard
£9
Piece of ground on the Common
10 shillings
*****
William Howard
House and garden
£6
*****
Edward Collins [more on him including will notes here]
The Royal Oak House [pub, actually in Bovingdon Green]
£9
*****
James Martin
Cottage and garden
£5
Note: a "Mrs Butler", probably Ann, died at Marlow Common a few weeks before the assessment. She was perhaps the widow of the "Mr Butler" who died there in 1825. Mrs Butler may have lived in one of the households above, or it may have been that one of those households was one that has just moved in to Mrs Butler's property after her death.
For more posts on either place see here
To see more of the 1833 assessment for individual streets in Great Marlow see this index
All mentions of any individual on this blog can be found on the A-Z Person Index on the top menu. Thousands of people are mentioned.
In a summer Sunday evening in 1840, 23 year old dressmaker Patience Martin and her younger sister Maria decided to walk from their homes in Marlow to Cookham Dean, via Quarry Woods. It was a favourite place for a Sunday stroll and the young women had often made the journey. They were accompanied by their friend Harriet Clark. It should have been an enjoyable way to spend a beautiful evening, but the women could not have anticipated the horror that awaited them.
Patience was described as an especially beautiful young lady. She worked at the baby linen warehouse, a not particularly well paid job. Unmarried, she lived with her parents John and Harriett and her sister Maria in Dean Street. They were not a well off family. John was working as a agricultural labourer at this time.
On arrival at Cookham Dean, the women walked across the common, before going into the beer house of Mr Copas. There they shared a pint between all three of them. This was a common thing to do, especially for woman. They then walked to another pub on the common. On going inside they were greeted by three young Marlow men whom they knew. (Robert Moore, Thomas Eustace, and John Frane) All three worked for the Rolls family. Some rumours suggest that Moore was the "paramour" of Patience. Perhaps their meeting was not quite a coincidence, but it is only a rumour. Moore was married but living seperately from his wife who he said needed constant watching due to ill health - she was "subject to fits". The men invited Patience and her companions to take a little beer with them, they would then join the women for the journey back to Marlow. So far, so peaceful.
As they left the beer house a short while later, at 9.30pm, they were accosted by 4 men. (Richard alias "Daisy" Smith, Henry Harding age 19, John Taylor 26 and William Bishop, 22, all described as labourers of Bisham). Bishop grabbed at Patience and suggested he would walk home with her. Patience naturally objected as she said he was some one she only knew by sight and had never had as much as a brief conversation with before. On this, Bishops companion Smith, who was clearly out to make a nuisance of himself, challenged Moore to a fight. Moore dismissed this request as he said Sunday was not "a proper day for fighting" and carried on walking, the others now a little way ahead. They were followed by the 4 troublemaker's, who again challenged Moore to a fight. Moore refused again, and was then knocked to the ground by Smith.
Our party hurried on their way to Marlow but discovered a group of 20-25 men and some women blocking their path which lead from a lane off the common, over a stile and into Quarry Wood. This group were obviously just as much in a belligerent mood as the previous lot, and would not let Patience and the others pass. Patience said that at this point she was very frightened and wanted to retreat to the relative safety of one of the pubs they had left. But they could not get through the crowd in that direction either. After 15 minutes of insults and arguements, one of the gang said if Patience's party would shake his hand, they would be allowed to pass. This they wisely decided to do. But they had not got far into the woods when Smith, Harding, Bishop and Taylor ran after them. Harriet, Patience and Robert were all knocked to the ground by the thugs. Harriet got up quickly, aided by Eustace and it seems these two now ran off, leaving Patience and Robert in the rear. This is when things turned really ugly. Patience was the focus of the group's malevolence, perhaps in punishment for refusing the attention of Bishop. She was raped at knifepoint, first by Smith then by Harding with the others holding her down by the shoulders. Robert was punched to the ground at least three times while trying to rescue her. Harriet was screaming murder, and her cries were heard at Cookham Dean...but no one went to investigate them. Harriet heard the cries too, but Eustace told her to go on to Marlow and summon help. Robert knew he was outnumbered, and retreated a little distance to deal with a bloodied face. He then decided to try a trick of shouting loudly and pretending to be in a conversation with another as he went back towards Patience. He hoped the gang would assume he was part of a larger group and be frightened off. As it happened they had left by the time he came to her. He did his best to help the distraught Patience home, her bonnet ripped and shoes missing. As they left the woods, they must have hoped to have left their attackers behind them. But as they went to cross the meadows at Bisham, they were approached by a man who turned out to be Smith, although he had apparently made some attempt to disguise himself by swapping his jacket and speaking differently. Patience however recognised him and screamed. Smith was apparently insulted that Robert had knocked off his hat when the latter was attempting to rescue Patience, and wished to demand Robert's as a replacement! Robert was yet again knocked to the floor, and Patience assaulted. Her screams this time were heard by a farm worker...who went home and put his horses away before investigating the source of the sound. Frane who was a carter, also put his horses away before returning. As it was, Patience had got free and made it with Robert back towards Marlow, where they were finally met by Eustace and Frane who had returned to find Patience. These two men admitted to have feared being overwhelmed by the larger party they had left at the Quarry stile and were perhaps waiting for help from Marlow that never arrived. The following morning warrants were issued for the arrest of the 4 men, but Richard Smith Aka Daisy had fled, and was never bought to trial. The others were apprehended within a couple of days, and bought before the authorities at the Berkshire Summer Assizes.
Harriet had, on arriving at her home, done the most extraordinary thing of going to bed without calling anyone to her friends and sisters aid. This was seized on by the men's defence at the trial as evidence that Harriet did not think her sister really in danger, despite admitting hearing Patience specifically scream that she was being murdered. The lawyers suggested that the 3 Marlow couples had all intended to meet and then pair off for immoral purposes. The Cookham gang had gone after them in the spirit of causing mischief and had at most committed a minor assault. The evidence of rape was "only" based on Patience's say so they said, ignoring the collaboration of Moore, and others who saw Patience's torn clothes and distressed state.
The reason we have covered this case in detail the because it demonstrates the difficulty women such as Patience faced when becoming a victim of sexual violence. Patience Martin must have felt on trial herself when a righteous juror at the trial stood up and asked if she was in the habit of going to a public house on a Sabbath? She replied she did so sometimes. The public houses were legally open at the time she was there. The newspapers gave Patience credit for the calm, clear and intelligent way that she gave her evidence. It was they said done in a fashion becoming such a serious crime, and they said she looked "most respectable." The men's defence were however keen to make another fact known..had not Patience given birth to an illegitimate child some time before? She "admitted" that she had. The men were not asked about their previous relations of course.
The jury were told they could find the men guilty of assault if they did not believe all the evidence. After two hours of deliberation, the jury declared all the men guilty of their respective offences. Extraordinarily in our eyes, they were recommended to mercy by the male jury based on the perceived "loose" character of Patience. The judge does not seem particularly impressed by this request, but said he would honour it. Interestingly he did so partly because of the general lack of appetite for capital punishment. He said that despite the peculiar behaviour of sister Harriet, he had rarely seen evidence given so "conclusively". He could not think of some prisoners that more deserved to feel the full weight of the law for their act of "shameless brutality". He therefore recorded a sentence of death for all three present, but immediately commuted it to transportation for life on the condition the men were put to hard labour in a chain gang until the end of their lives. They would be "compelled to endure a life of the hardest labour upon very strict regulation."
Patience's character may have been smeared at the trial, but it was nothing compared to what came afterwards. The case stood out for its brutality and was reported in newspapers from the length and breadth of the country. The guilty men were taken to Reading gaol. From there, they wrote letters asking for further mercy. Their excuse? They were drunk. It is telling that the fact Patience had been in a public house on a Sunday was considered evidence against her, but correspondingly, the prisoners who had done the same could consider using the fact to get a lighter punishment. Somewhat strangely, the convicted men also said that a group of local unnamed farmers were behind the "malicious prosecution", the latter party prejudiced against them. I presume this is a reference to the fact that Harding had been suspected of, but not convicted, of poaching previously. A total of 59 people from Marlow also signed a petition on the mens behalf, using the excuse of Harding's youth, and lack of previous conviction to ask for leniency. And of course they said Patience had a "depraved" character and was in fact a prostitute. This was something even the men's defence had not suggested, probably because it would also have suggested the prisoners had been or wished to be her clients. Both Patience, and Moore also signed a letter asking the judge to be merciful - while this may seem strange to us, it is not at all uncommon in similar cases in the period. They were certainly not asking for the men to go unpunished. The stated reasons for Patience and Roberts appeal is not given, but something like an awareness of the hardship dependents faced with a son or brother sentenced to life overseas, or suggestion of a general wish to rise above a situation and show Christian mercy is often given in similar situations. The judge reviewing the case upheld the convictions in entirety and refused the appeals except to grant that Harding could be merely incarcerated for life, without the added chain gang participation, in light of his youth. As was standard, the gaolers were asked to report on the prisoners conduct since arriving under their care. Harding was rated good, Bishop bad and Taylor "very bad".
All three men were transported in the same ship, the Lady Raffles. This left for Van Diemens land in Australia on the 30th November 1840, and arrived there on the 17 March 1841. A total of 331 convicts were abroad on its departure. (They had the company of Marlow resident Charles East who was transported for 14 years - read about him here)
As for Patience, she died sadly young. She continued as a dress maker or related occupations. In 1846 she married cordwainer Anthony Savin(s) of Cookham Dean. She died just 5 years later aged only 38. I do not know what happened to her illegitimate child, the youngster does not seem to have been living with her at the time of her attack or subsequent marriage.
Written and researched by Kathryn Day, with additional research by Charlotte Day.
To find all mentions of a family or individual here use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.
For other posts related to crime, women's rights and general Marlow history see the index - here
Crime and disorder in old Great Marlow here
For content about Cookham Dean see the menu here
Sources include
https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/lady-raffles/1840. Accessed May 2020
Home Office Convict Petitions, series 11, Harding et al, Reference: HO 18/31/10, National Archives Kew.
Census 1841,1851.
The Examiner, 2 August 1840 volume, digitised by Google.
The Spectator, Vol 13, 1840, digitised by Google.
Morning Herald 21 July 1840
Bells Weekly Messenger July 1840
Bucks Gazette 4 July 1840
Berkshire Chronicle 27 June 1840
The original assessment working notebooks with related correspondence from 1833 (to be used for the 1834 parish rates readjustment) have been preserved by my family. There are handwritten corrections to circa 1839. The notebooks are fragile however so I am gradually transcribing it on this blog so it is not lost. I am transcribing the parts in the order that chimes in with other research I am doing.
Layout I have used is:
Name
Property
Assessed Annual Worth
Any notes by me in square brackets
By Charlotte Day.
Quoiting Place [Quoiting Square] and Oxford Terrace [in Oxford Road. Note the assessors went out of property order in parts of this section. They did not say which properties were in Oxford Terrace and which in Quoiting Place, though in many cases I do nevertheless know where the properties mentioned were located].
Widow Dolby
House and yard
£8
*****
Robert Wakelin [a bricklayer. Wife Hannah]
House and yard
£8
*****
David Jones
House and yard
£8
*****
George Reading
House, yard and sheds
£9
*****
John Boulter
Crown and Anchor house [pub] and garden [This was Oxford Terrace, in Oxford Road]
£8
*****
David Evans [a chimney sweep who employed at least 2 men by 1842. May also have worked c.1848-53 as a "fire defender". Biography of his wife here]
House and garden
£5
*****
Levi White [Later landlord of the Three Tuns]
House and garden
£5
*****
John Beaver
Cottage and garden
£3
*****
John Suthery
Cottage and garden
£4
*****
William Bryant
The Lodge house and garden [Oxford Road]
£6
*****
Thomas Piggott
House and gardens near the Lodge [Oxford Road]
£8
*****
Sir William Robert Clayton M.P [At The Cottage, later Quoitings House, not to be confused with Oxford Cottage]
Dwelling house with conservatory, stables, coach houses, coach yard, shrubbery, walks, kitchen garden, green house, lawn and other convenient offices [off Oxford Road]
£70
"A small cottage at The Cottage" [usually gardeners lodge]
£2
*****
John Lloyd Locke Clayton
Dwelling house, yard, stable, coach house, offices and garden
£30 [Oxford House?]
*****
William East
Six almshouses in the occupation of poor widows "if rateable" [Oxford Road, William presumably a trustee or guardian of these charity properties] each:
£3
*****
John Flint
House, yard, stables, coach house and large walled garden [probably at end of Hayes Place, which opened onto the side of Quoiting Square]
£15
Wood house and garden adjoining
£2
****
Robert Looseley
Cottage and garden
£5
*****
John Cox
Shop and garden
£5
House in front, woodhouse, gardens and yard
£6 10 shillings
****
John Tanner Hitchcock [in 1832 acquitted on a charge of stealing an umbrella from a fellow drinker at the Red Lion in nearby West Street. He had simply picked up the wrong umbrella. His wife was Ann nee Badger of Bisham who died in 1847. John was of Colnbrook at the time of their 1805 marriage. A corn dealer. In same property, which he rented, in 1840]
House yard and garden
£5
*****
Joseph Martin
House and garden
£5
*****
William Gunnell [Quoiting Place]
House yard and garden
£5
*****
James White jnr
Cottage and garden
£4
*****
Joseph Cox [wheelright, likely working for Thomas Cox below]
Cottage and garden
£3
*****
William Bavin [Quoiting Place, a chairmaker there since at least 1830. Later a beer retailer who moved to St Peter's Street to run the Two Brewers by 1837 and was later at the first incarnation of the Carpenter's Arms. For more see here] .
House, shop and shed
£6 10 shillings
*****
Michael Field [Marlow doctor and horse racing enthusiast. He died 1834]
House etc
£4
*****
Gilman [a blacksmith, no first name]
House, shop, Shoeing house, yard etc
£10
*****
William Ward [Quoiting Place]
Six Bells Beer House, yard and garden
£9 ( Read his will here) List of proprietors of the Six Bells is available here
*****
Robert Ward [Quoiting Place]
House and garden
£6
*****
William Creswell [Quoiting Place, he was a shoemaker, who had previously ran the Six Bells]
House and garden
£5 10 shillings
*****
Thomas Cox [Quoiting Place, a wheelwright. Had workshop premises behind this that don't seem to be mentioned here!]
Cottage and garden
£4 10 shillings
*****
Joseph Horne
House and yard
£8
*****
Robert Clark (probably a builder).
House and garden
£6
*****
Richard Way [came to Marlow in the early 1800s from Ockley. Wife Rebecca. He died 1836, Rebecca in 1821. Richard was a farmer in the 1820s. I am unsure if he was still farming in the 1830s. Their son Richard was a carpenter in West Street (later High Street), while another son was a poulterer in the High Street - see here - and another a publican. For the latter see here].
House and yard
£5 10 shillings
*****
William Stallwood [died 1837].
The Three Logerheads [Quoiting Place. Three Loggerheads pub, later the Queen], house and yard
£7
List of occupiers of the Loggerheads/Queen - see here
This assessment continued in a second post here
1700s Quoiting Square residents here.
1700s Oxford Road residents here
1700s West Street residents here
To find all mentions of an individual or family here, use the A-Z Person Index on the top drop down menu.
To find other streets/areas in the assessment, search for them in the Specific shops, streets etc index here.
For posts about everyday life in Marlow for the people mentioned here see the post index here
Becking Farm later known as Beacon Farm, Great Marlow was near to Booker. The farm was 120 acres in extent in 1709 and 109 acred in 1861. Note this farm is often owned and sold in tandem with Seymour Court, Seymour Court Farm and Tippocks/Triphooks.
Historic occupiers (who are not usually also the owners):
1709- farm existed. Unknown occupier but Etheridge family look to have owned it. (Etheredge)
1789 - freehold owner or possibly leaseholder (conflicting primary sources) John Johnson Esq of Seymour Court. John died 1821.
1791-1811 Benjamin Stallwood. Left the farm and moved to Old House Farm, Handy Cross as all the protected game in Sir William Clayton's private game preserve next to Becking Farm kept escaping onto Benjamin's farm and destroying his crops. The damage done was to the tune of £80. Benjamin faced ruin but was mocked by Clayton when he appealed for compensation. His sympathetic landlord John Johnson of Seymour Court Marlow tried to help by advertising for people who knew what they were doing to shoot the straying game and then, when that was insufficient, offering him the rental of Old House Farm instead. Benjamin remained at Old House until 1831. In the years after the game fiasco Benjamin wrote several times to the press to describe the pain he felt at what had happened. His case was also widely used to illustrate the injustice of the Game Laws that allowed rich peoples "sporting" interests to override the basic needs and wellbeing of other country people.
1814- James (?) Johnson owner as above seems to have been farming it himself.
1822-1830 George Lunn. Wife Mary who died 1822. He died 1830. He also by then farmed at nearby Seymour Court Farm where he actually lived. In his will he left all his farm stock to his nephews Edward and William Poulton. Grew oats, barley and wheat and kept cattle at Becking.
1833- 1838. Richard Lovegrove was the farmer though he lived in Bray, Berkshire. In his 1838 will he left his farm stock on Becking and his leases of both there and Widmere Farm Marlow to his nephew John Lovegrove who was already farming Widmere. Richard was only able to make a mark, not sign his will.
1840 - farm freehold up for sale, by executors of George Rogers Esq. 103 acres and a farmhouse. Note there were two men called George Rogers in Marlow at the same time.
1838-1843 John Lovegrove as above. (Yearly tenant) Also farmed Widmere Farm, where he lived. By 1847 had given up farming and was running the King's Head, High Wycombe. He faced bankruptcy then.
1848- 1858 James Taylor. Wife Harriet. Raising turkeys was a big part of their trade. Seventeen birds were stolen from the farm in 1857. Also farmed at Prestwood Common. Previously of Little Missenden - he initially remained living there when he took over Beckings. He had been ejected from his last farm after a dispute with his landlord. At that time he'd suffered insolvency but managed to dissolve his debts of £664 in 1851.
1861- 1865 Stephen Stevenson. Moved from Iver Bucks after January 1859. In 1865 worker on the farm was jailed for 6 weeks with hard labour for stealing a fowl from his employer.
1881-1901. Whoever is farming there does not live in. Carter James North however does live on site on the farm throughout this period. His wife Sarah died there in 1892. In 1889 Beacon and Moor Farms are offered at auction as a sporting estate in one lot of altogether just over 660 acres. They are described as currently let to a tenant bar 220 odd acres of woodland in hand.
1928- H Daniel.
Our blog focuses on people in Marlow up to the 1920s so I will leave it there.
Dates next to a person are when I have firm historic evidence of that person farming there. They may have been there earlier or later too. This is ongoing research and I hope that I will be able to fill in any gaps eventually.
Farm occupancies are determined by me from the study of wills I have transcribed, property records, adverts, agricultural journals, censuses, court cases etc.
For other farm related posts see the Specific Shops, Streets Etc option here for Marlow farms or for farms at Little Marlow or other places see the Nearby Places option. Use the Person Index option on the menu to see all mentions of any individual on the blog. Thousands of people are mentioned.
©Marlow Ancestors. If using this research credit this blog. You are very welcome to do so.
This is part two of a Victorian Christmas in Marlow. Part one deals with the Christmas ball, slate clubs, carol singing, shop displays and festive shopping...
Christmas Day at last
We think of snow bound Victorian Christmas Card scenes, but alas snow could not be guaranteed. A warm and muggy Christmas Day in 1885 saw one local journalist comment on how unlike the "old fashioned Christmas with snow covered ground and ice bound streams" it was, so the nostalgia for a white Christmas is an old one. From various reports we can gather an idea of how some of our ancestors spent their day. Church services obviously featured heavily for many, and work crept in for others. There are many reports of the town being busy with walkers on December 25th. A sweet account by the Marlow correspondent of the Maidenhead Advertiser in 1885, who was seemingly short of actual news, describes how the folk around him had spent Christmas Eve enjoying the traditional children's games beneath the branches of a Christmas tree groaning with gifts and "gaily dressed dolls, money boxes, flags, artificial fowls and bonbons". That certainly would make an interesting tree. Gifts were often hung directly on the branches if small, and some families invited guests to take a present off as they left. The games enjoyed by the youngsters in their "jolly juvenile Christmas Party" include Snap Dragon, and bran bag dips. (Small gifts hidden in sack of bran to be found by feel by a blindfolded child, a variation of a bran tub party game). Others played these kind of games on the 25th. The adults were said to have amused themselves with card games such as whist and nap as well as toasting the season.
Of course not all children received much in the way of gifts, let alone a tree drooping under the weight of them. It's heartening to hear how many of Marlow's little ones did receive something courtesy of a benefactor, often via a Sunday school. The little patients of the Cottage Hospital always received a small gift and the hospital in general saw lots of donations of food around this time of year for example some turkey and vegetables from Lady Clayton in 1897.
What's for dinner?
Beef was such a popular gift for the poorer folk from the various charities and well off givers that we know several hundred families in Marlow would have ate that for their Christmas meal. As for the others, it can be hard to pin down what they ate but we can at least know what was available to buy from Marlow shops. Smoked gammon was obviously popular as many sellers made a point of stressing how superior their offering was to all the others. In 1893, Clifton's provisioners in the High Street had 150 prime smoked gammon available. Geese do of course get mentioned, but turkeys are too. Mr Cripps of Highfields bred turkeys and poulterer Mr Wood was proud to advertise that he stocked them, along with turkeys from other local suppliers such as Finnemore and Wood End Farms. Mr Wood is often singled out as a man that made a particularly spectacular Christmas Show at his premises. In 1893, he also displayed ducks, pheasants and hares. In the same year, W H Clark advertised that they had a "lordly ox" on show, which had come from Winslow. Adverts do not often mention geese specifically because it was a given that they would be easily available. But turkeys were worth promoting. So we know that Mr Woods had competition from Mr Maddison in the High Street and Mrs Maskell in Market Square on the turkey selling front.
As a vegetarian, I think the display at bakers Messrs Death and Son, of West Street and later of the High Street is more appealing although lard probably featured in a good few recipes! Deaths were renowned for the fancy cakes they could make in almost any design. So it's not surprising that their extensive Christmas exhibition was said to be a remarkable collection of the finest mince pies "and dainties in pastry of all descriptions."
Alternative Christmas traditions
Prior to around the 1880's and stretching back decades, was a tradition Christmas Day gathering on Marlow Common with the main aim of catching rabbits and pheasants. Several hundred people are said to have turned up at times. Some were clearly there just to socialise but others came with dogs and guns. The authorities stamped this out as the land surrounding the common was in private ownership and the landowners said dogs and hunters strayed on their land and so were effectively poaching. A sweep in 1878 saw several arrests.
Goodwill to all men?
The Christmas period was a busy one for our police constables. Drunkenness and family squabbles feature strongly in petty session records of the time. In 1870, husband and wife Jacob and Julia Martin were charged with abusing each over loudly in Gun Lane (now Trinity Road) on the evening of Christmas day while under the influence of alcohol. They received a 16s fine. That is one example of many. Other seasonal misdemeanours include the frequent apprehension of those pilfering holly and mistletoe from private land in the hope of selling it on. Henry Beaver is one such Marlow man caught making away with part of a farmers holly tree in Hambledon in 1872. There also tends to be an increase in arrests for begging in the run up to Christmas, especially on Christmas Eve itself. But there are two ways of looking at this. There may have been more beggars congregating in town in the hope that the season would encourage generosity and the police might then act to deal with a nuisance. But many of those arrested were homeless tramps and it was a tradition in some places for them to be "round up" and arrested in order that they could be hosted in the relative warmth of the police station cells over Christmas.
Boxing Day
On Boxing Day some may have been nursing sore heads and fraught domestic relations, but at least an increasing number of workers could enjoy Boxing Day off from their labours. In 1872, the Reading Mercury journalists praised the Marlow traders closed on the 26th, as "by this thoughtful act of employers many of their assistants were able to visit their friends at a distance." However 3 years later, they noted that the grocers and some other traders in Marlow had not closed on Boxing Day. By 1900 it was announced that the drapers of Marlow, who traditionally took the lead in such things, would be closing for 3- 4 days over Christmas and other traders would likely follow their lead. However, it was possible that a knock at the door of a "closed" establishment would still be answered in an "emergency". George Hide the West Street draper advertised that his side door would be answered should there be any "special enquiries" requiring immediate attention over the Christmas closure.
It was a tradition to drink the health of friends on Boxing day so pubs did a roaring trade. Those unfortunate to have many friends whose health they cared for might find themselves before a not too understanding magistrate if they ignored the soft warning to go home quietly usually issued by our local police.
And of course Boxing Day was a traditional time for football matches, played at that time on Crown Meadow or Riley Recreation Ground as we call it now with the minor teams playing at Star Meadow or Gossmore or the station ground.
The Salvation Army often hosted many of the towns poorest citizens on the 26th instead of or in addition to pre Christmas feasts. On Boxing Day 1892 100 of the needy sat down to a "meat tea."
Written and researched by Kathryn Day.
Related posts:
Victorian Christmas in Marlow part 1 here
Edwardian Christmas in Marlow here
New Year traditions here
Skating on the Thames etc here
Bonfire night in Victorian Marlow here
A listing of other posts about every day life in old Marlow here
Easter and May day here
©Marlow Ancestors
Photo snapped September 2020 by Kathryn Day. Researched and written by Charlotte Day.
Below is a plaque of recognition for soldiers who fought and died in the 1899-1902 South African War, also known as the second Boer war. It was unveiled on the then headquarters of the Bucks Battalion of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, next to what is now the library in Institute Rd, in August 1909. Made of black Aberdeen granite, a few details on the "war tablet" are a little hard to read now but we've done our best ..
Trooper BF Burton
Trooper W G Drinkwater
Trooper A J Gale
Trooper G. R Greaves,
Trooper F Langley, (Frank, brother to Jack, see below)
Trooper J Langley, (Jack, sadly died in WW1. Read more about his family here )
Trooper H B Rowe,
Trooper C Webb,
Trooper W White,
First Bucks VRC :
Sergeant G Hide (Geoffrey)
Private C Green,
Private G H Green,
Private CT Martin,
Private A Silvey,
Private G Simmonds
Private J Wheatley
Bugler L Shaw,
Private W Batley,
Sergt. H J Smith
And : Trooper G A Rogers, killed at Bolshop May 19 1902)"
The unveiling was left to General Higginson. Raising funds for the plaque had taken time and it's reveal was regarded as a big occasion in the town. A guard of honour was formed in Institute Rd for the General, consisting of members of the Marlow company of the Territorials and other groups such as Marlow Fire Brigade and the Church Lads Brigade. Once the ceremony was complete, those gathered marched to the Enclosure - the no longer enclosed patch of grass on the Causeway. The purpose was to perform the inaugural hoisting of flags on the flagpole. The Overseas League provided the flagpole, and invited Marlow council to give a home to it. They agreed, and funds had also been raised to buy the flags. Various groups in town provided national or territorial flags, and that of Cape Colony in South Africa was among them, purchased with funds raised by the pupils of Borlase school. A flagpole is still to be seen on the Causeway and few probably know why one was first erected there. The Overseas League aimed to encourage a sense of brotherhood amongst individuals living within the Empire and so it displayed not only the Union Jack but the flags of Western Australia and New Zealand for example. This was the first such flagpole erected by the League and that fact was reported across the Empire.
More information about Marlow and the Boer wars will follow shortly.
See here for the Brewery First World War memorial tablet
And the tragic early history of The Armoury (Bucks Volunteer HQ) - some distressing content - is covered here
For all mentions of your ancestors here, use the A-Z person to index in the top drop down menu. There are more than 3,000 individuals listed there.
SOURCES
National Library of Australia Trove Collection:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/53186750/5137435, accessed September 2020
South Bucks Standard August 27th 1909, held at the British Library and accessed via the BNA November 2020
©MarlowAncestors. Post written by Kathryn Day.
Updated January 2024
In 1862 David Endall a jeweller and watchmaker of Banbury married at Great Marlow Mary Ann Butler of that town.
He had been working in Marlow since at least 1861, with a shop in the High Street. He was born in Bloxham Oxfordshire according to census entries. His parents were tailor James and housewife Ann. It looks as if James and Ann moved to Marlow with their son a some point between 1851 and 1855 when James ran a shop in West Street (tenant of Robert Hammond) but ill health meant he had to give it up, and the family returned to Banbury where they had previously lived.
As a result of James giving up his business due to ill health, his stock in trade was sold at auction in some 200 lots. It included as well as fabric a stock of hats, caps and hosiery. The family's household furniture down to their kitchen utensils were disposed of in the same sale. This may be a sign of financial distress however it was quite common for people to sell almost everything in their house before they moved to save what was then the great trouble and expense of transporting anything even relatively short distances. Households took sentimental items only and started again from virtual scratch in a new home.
David and his future wife Mary Ann had perhaps already caught each other's eye before he left. Or he visited from Banbury his old home in Marlow and renewed his acquaintance. They must have known each other in David's first period of Marlow living as his family lived but doors away from hers.
A few months after his marriage David had a silver watch stolen from his shop where it had been left for repair. The perpetrator Joseph Martin, a blacksmith, was sentenced to three months in jail as a result.
David became insolvent in 1867. This was a common fate for Victorian shopkeepers both in Marlow and elsewhere. We don't always appreciate today how hard it was to succeed back then.
If he needed some stress relieving activity David probably turned to his garden. He was secretary of the Marlow Horticultural Society and a multi times prize winner in their annual shows with his flowers, grapes and more. He was also a member of the Choral Society, church choir and the Marlow Rifle Volunteers. (You can read more about the Volunteers here)
He died in 1869 aged just 30 years old leaving Mary Ann with three young children - Mary Beatrice, Alice Elizabeth and baby Amelia. The sudden nature of David's death saw an inquest held at the Clayton Arms. It transpired that David had mounted the stairs to bed and on reaching the top, had said "oh dear!" and dropped down dead. The verdict was "natural death".
Following his death the Revd Cree of Marlow wrote to the Bucks Herald asking for donations for his widow and young family as they had been left destitute.
Mary moved back to live with her parents Thomas and Mary Butler. Thomas ran a Post Office come grocery store in West Street. Her brother Thomas junior also living at home was assisting in the grocery business. Her sister Elizabeth described as a telegraphist was probably in the Post Office side of things. Mary Ann did not then have a listed occupation herself.
Tragedy again hit the family when little Amelia Endall died in 1874 in her 5th year.
On the 1881 census Mary was listed as a dressmaker. Her 16 year old daughter Mary Beatrice was working as a seamstress. Alice her 14 year old daughter was a pupil teacher. They were then in their own house.
The new County Councils formed 1888-89 were elected by voters male and female providing they occupied sufficient property. The women of Marlow took up this new opportunity with more than average relish not only by voting on the day but coming together before it to choose, without any male involvement, and formally nominate a candidate to stand for Marlow. (This candidate was a man but who I can't tell yet as it was confidential). This was a rare act indeed. I have seen no other case of it. Mary Ann Endall was one of those women.
By 1891 Mary's West Street household consisted of her daughter Alice, still a schoolteacher plus a boarder in 65 year old Mary Flynn.
Alice married in 1894 George Henry Jones an insurance agent and moved to High Wycombe.
On the 1901 census Mary Ann is "living on own means" in the household of her brother John, also of independent means in Wycombe Road, Marlow.
Mary Ann died in 1924.
Further information
Every mention of a family or individual here can be found in the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. There's over 6,000 people listed there as of Jan 2023.
Posts about other West Street residents can be found here
General information about life in Marlow when the Endalls were living here can be found here
Sources:
GRO Death Registration Index, online from the GRO.
Reading Mercury 27th January 1855. Northampton Mercury 3rd May 1862. Bucks Herald 13th December 1862. Bucks Herald 6th November 1869. Newspaper copies at British Library, accessed via the BNA.
The London Gazette. March 1867.
Great Marlow census, my transcription from microfilm.
1851 census Banbury, database on Familysearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7Q8-LDK
Great Marlow parish registers, my old transcriptions.
Will of Robert Hammond, proved 1855. My transcription.
The almshouses for widows which stood in Oxford Road had been a gift of John Brinkhurst in the early 1600s.
Here's something about a few of their Victorian residents who received entry into them by being voted for in a meeting of the trustees. Voting took place upon the death of an occupant. As well as their home the widows received a small weekly income from the charity. In 1893 this was 5 shillings. The minimum age for entry was 60. Residents could come from Bisham or Marlow.
Elizabeth Keen
Born Elizabeth Windsor circa 1818 to parents Thomas, a postman, and Mary. She worked as a satin stitch worker as a young woman like so many other Marlow women, including her sisters Fanny and Eliza.
Elizabeth was elected into her charity house in 1893 and continued as resident until her death in 1901 following a short illness. Her young granddaughter Mary Deane lived with her then. At the time of her election to the Almshouses Elizabeth was around 75 years of age and living in Eton Place, Marlow. Two years earlier in 1891 at the time of the census she was a widowed needlewoman living in Dukes Place with her daughter Louisa born 1847. Both Louisa and Elizabeth's son Edwin (1839) and other daughter Sarah (1835) had been born illegitimately to Elizabeth prior to her marriage in 1857 to John Keen / Keene. Sadly Louisa was an inmate of St John's Hospital in Stone, Buckinghamshire, an asylum for "pauper lunatics" by 1901.
Emma Boddy
Emma received the happy news that she had won a place at the Almshouses in 1903. She was circa 70 years old and the widow of brewery labourer George Boddy who died between the 1871 and 1881 censuses.
Emma herself had worked as a needlewoman during her marriage and as a charwoman as a widow. At the time of her winning an Almshouse she lived at Cromwell Cottage which I think was the old gardener's cottage for Cromwell House. At the time Cromwell House was no longer in domestic use. The garden cottage was behind the High Street*.
The first home she lived in with George was perhaps in South Place where she appears on the 1861 census.
In 1870 they lived in Gun Lane (now called Trinity Road). Here Emma was assaulted during a heated argument with her neighbour Julia Martin. Emma took Julia to court where the guilty party was fined 5 shillings.
Charlotte Kilham
Admitted Autumn 1900. There until her death in 1910.
She was born as Charlotte Frith circa 1833 in Great Marlow according to the census. She may have been an inmate in the Bledlow children's workhouse as a child, otherwise her early youth is hard to trace.
In 1871 she was the unmarried housekeeper or perhaps "housekeeper" of Henry Kilham a widowed bricklayer in Little Marlow. She and he had a baby daughter Clara that year. The next year they married but Henry, who was 65 years old (26 years older than Charlotte) died within weeks of the ceremony.
Charlotte moved to Marlow and supported herself as a needlewoman. Before entering the Almshouse she lived in Trinity Road Marlow with Clara who was also a needlewoman.
More widows of these houses in this post. To find every mention on this blog of a person of interest to you choose the Person Index option on the drop down menu.
Researched and written by Charlotte Day.
* A description of a "Cromwell House Cottage" in 1898 refers to a bigger premises however as it had a coach-house and three horse stable in addition to a small garden. (South Buck Standard 6 May 1898)
© Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this material for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here so that my sources also remain credited.
Sources Included:
GRO Marriage and Death Registration Indexes.
Census Great Marlow 1861, 71, 81, 91 my transcription from microfilm. National Archives, Kew.
1901 England and Wales Census Database Louisa Windsor in Stone record from https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9Y1-G5C. National Archives.
Little Marlow 1871 census Charlotte Firth [Frith] from England and Wales Census Database, Familysearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXS5-262 National Archives Kew.
Newspapers in British Library Archives, via the BNA:
South Bucks Standard 26th October 1900 and 20th December 1901.
Can anyone help a fellow family history researcher Linda identify where this staff photo may have been taken in Marlow? Underneath are some...
