Mysterious Disappearances And Suffragettes- Early Residents Of Victoria Road Marlow

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

A couple of cottages named Victoria Cottages erected in 1872 were likely the first homes built in Victoria Road. They still exist today.

The first resident of Victoria Road Marlow who can be definitely named is a Mr E Savage who in May 1880 wrote a letter to the maker of a "Pectoral Syrup" extolling it's virtues as a cure for asthma, whooping cough and similar conditions. The writer was also impressed by soothing powders for children sold by the same maker. As a stated father of 8 children you could see how he might appreciate such powders! We can only hope all those children were not squeezed into his Victoria Road cottage as it would have been a small one. Perhaps some had, thanks to all that soothing medical attention, grown to adolescence or adulthood and moved out by the time their parents moved to Victoria Road!

On the subject of moving into or out of the street, the South Bucks Standard of 8th July 1892 contained an advert for a house contents sale at number 1 Victoria Road*, the resident William Ashby having "moved away" from the area. Behind this simple advert there was an alarming truth- William, a three weeks married insurance agent, had vanished into thin air shortly before the sale. He said goodbye to his wife one morning having told her that he was going to meet his Prudential Assurance Company boss in High Wycombe but was never seen again by neither her nor anyone else in the area. He did not turn up to the work meeting. No one could fathom why he would wish to leave his home, job and bride, nor did they think that he had any personal worries. The fact that she put the furniture up for sale almost immediately suggests that the new Mrs Ashby (Florence Ann nee Faulkner) gave up on her husband quickly. Financial distress may have been involved, though William was said to have been highly successful at selling insurance in the past two or three years. The items for sale suggest a comfortable income: a velvet covered drawing room set, tapestry carpets and a marble topped wash stand etc.

As a teenager in his native Northamptonshire William had worked as an under gardener so becoming an insurance agent was a step up for him. Prior to his marriage he lodged with the Everest family in nearby Glade Road, Marlow.

So where did William disappear to? The answer intriguingly was apparently Ireland. He married, despite already being married, a Bridget Kelly in Dublin in 1899 before returning to England with her to raise a family. The couple lived first in Yorkshire and then in Westmoreland and Lancashire with William reverting to his original occupation as a gardener. Florence herself as "Florence Ann Ashby or Faulkner" remarried in 1900 a shoemaker John Gibbard. This was back in Northamptonshire. Did she believe William dead? Perhaps the first marriage was annulled. William could be declared legally dead after 7 years of being missing. I only hope poor Florence found happiness after her distressing and humiliating desertion. The quick sale of the furniture may hint that Florence did in fact receive some communication from her husband saying he intended never to return even if she did not wish to make it public at the time.

Victoria Road is a few minutes walk from the River Thames. Today you would be surprised to hear that it had flooded but in 1903 overspilling river water reached the residents there. Mr T Coster an engineer who rented a Victoria Road cottage in the early 1900s specialised in building for customers in Marlow and elsewhere their own docks and boathouses to help them enjoy the river. He also serviced ornamental waterworks. 

Coster's business would not have caused much nuisance in Victoria Road itself but the residents did have some other commercial occupiers to put up with, most notably the steam powered chair making premises of the Buckinghamshire Chair Factory. A full post about that business by Kathryn is available here. Their premises included a saw mill. The working conditions were pretty awful, with improper sanitation, no ventilation for those working with the wood and flimsy buildings. Kathryn's post will tell you more. The company went out of business in 1912 but a sawmill company took over from them and annoyed the residents of nearby Dedmere Road with the amount of sawdust which blew into their homes and gardens. The Mathew Couchman who in 1903 was a timber merchant and engineer with a saw mill in Victoria Road had a side line in milling barley or any other meal required by customers. 

Disturbance could come from other sources too- the artist's studio in Duchess Place in Victoria Road (near the corner with Dedmere Road, no longer used as a separate address) was used by the Women's Freedom League for a Suffragettes' meeting in 1912. Mrs Mary Sargant Florence chaired the event. 

Her studio was used in another radical way too- as the base for a Girls' Club. Not much radical in that you may think. But you could count on your hand the number of such organisations for girls as opposed to boys at that time. That young females should spend leisure time outside of their own home (as their brothers routinely did) and away from their families was hardly ever considered important. The club was aimed at working class girls and acted as an educational as well as social venue. The education of working class girls was one of the lowest priorities for society as a whole in that era. A more detailed post about the Girls Club will be published by Kathryn on this blog in the future.

*House numbers have been altered since. This number one is not the number one seen today.

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

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

Sources:

Bucks Herald. 9th May 1885. South Bucks Standard 8th July 1892. British Library Archives via the BNA. 

Berkshire Chronicle 1st August 1903. As above.

"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2DZ3-RL9 : 13 December 2014), William Lerson Ashby, 1892; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1892, quarter 2, vol. 3B, p. 166, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. 

Patients Treated At The First Marlow Cottage Hospital

  We have completed several posts about the original Marlow Cottage Hospital in Cambridge Road (1889 -1915), which you can find linked to below.  This one focuses on some of the patients treated there. The hospital was intended to serve Great Marlow, Little Marlow and Bisham but on average a third of patients came from places such as Lane End and Wooburn. Over half were children. The number of inpatients is hugely dwarfed by the outpatients who attended the hospital for more minor care, and also those in ill health that the nurses visited in their homes. 

Operations were performed at the hospital which had it's own operating theatre. The visiting surgeons (Dr John Dunbar Dickson and Dr Robert Culhane) were responsible for these but the day to day care was down to the Matrons - Nurse Mary Ann Cassidy in the first year, and Mary Anne Cole thereafter, sometimes assisted by a second paid nurse, probationer or servant. The most common operations were relatively simple - the removal of tonsils and adenoids in children for example. But some were more complicated. I've chosen to feature the unsuccessful 1894 operation on William Soley because the inquest gave really interesting details of the attempts made to revive him. Most operations did not end so badly however! 

William was a journeyman baker working for Mrs Spindlo in Chapel Street. He had a tumour in his groin and it was decided it must be removed quickly. He was reluctant to be operated on but was persuaded by the doctors that it was really necessary. As a working man he naturally had to consider carefully before committing to anything that would result in an unpaid period of time off work. Mrs Spindlo provided her cart to carry him to the hospital. He had previously undergone several examinations and it was determined that his heart and lungs were healthy enough to endure the operation. This was due to take place the following day. It would be performed by Dr Culhane, assisted by Dr Dickson, and attended by Matron Mary Cole. Chloroform was the anaesthetic available to them. Unfortunately within two minutes of it being administered and before any cuts were made, William stopped breathing and suffered a cardiac arrest. To revive him they tried not only artificial respiration, but also hitting William with wet towels, putting mustard on his chest, applying ammonia to his nostrils and cold water to his face. Sadly nothing worked. William died on the operating table. It was decided he had suffered an unpredictable reaction to the chloroform, which caused or accelerated a heart problem. The coroner's jury donated their fees to poor widow Eliza. 

Most of the adult male patients seem to have suffered work based injuries.  I will give two examples. 

Ellis Harvey, aged 56, was working on Dial Cottage in 1890. He was a bricklayer and was engaged on doing some exterior repairs. He fell from 18-20ft high scaffolding and suffered serious spinal injuries. A cart was requisitioned to take him straight to the Cottage Hospital. His injuries were beyond the repair of the doctors, and Nurse Cole could only do her best to make him more comfortable in the last days of his life. He died less than two weeks later. As before, the jury at the inquest into his death gave up their fees, this time donating them to the Hospital itself. It was believed he had suffered from a giddy spell, as the scaffolding was examined and was considered safe. (He was working for Mr Pierce of High Wycombe)

The second case is that of Amos Newell age 25. In 1893 he was working for his uncle Emmanuel Plumridge, who leased part of Star Meadow (off Wycombe Rd) from Mrs Atkinson of The Rookery. What Emmanuel was interested in was the large walnut trees there. They were the sort of crop that has bought a surprisingly large number of Marlow men and women to grief. More valuable relatively than now, a large number of people had convictions for stealing walnuts from Marlow trees, and those in Star Meadow were a hot target. (Trees at Little Marlow were also plagued by nut rustlers!) Emmanuel had been given the right to also collect the nuts when he hired the field. So his nephew Amos and another man were sent to harvest the crop. Amos did not work exclusively for his uncle whose main job was as a  highways and cartage contractor.  Amos is described as a farm labourer at his death. In the effort to reach more nuts, Amos clambered up the tree as he always did. He would stand on a bough and shake the branches with the other man remaining below. Unfortunately Amos misjudged his foothold and the bough he stood on broke off, and he plummeted to the ground. He was taken immediately to the hospital but died shortly afterwards. Another case involving a walnut tree was that of William Beaver, hawker, of Primrose Lea. If it was hazardous to knock the nuts down sober it was much worse to attempt it while "in drink" and unfortunately that's what William did in 1899. He fell 40ft from the tree, at Frieth. At first it seemed a miraculous escape from serious injury. His fall had been broken by lower branches to some degree and he had no broken bones but he did have 2 cuts on his head. He was taken by cart back to Marlow to have his wounds seen to at the Cottage Hospital. On the way there his wife Martha*, from who he was seperated, was informed of the accident and saw him briefly. She said she remarked it was not wise to pick walnuts when the worse for drink and sent the cart on it's way, not thinking him seriously injured. Dr John Dunbar Dickson saw to his head and sent William home. But the "friends" that he lived with would not recieve him and so he was returned to the hospital and admitted. He complained of a headache after 2 days, but his condition took a sudden dramatic turn for the worse on the forth day. He had became agitated and violent towards the nurse the night before, and the doctor said he was forced to put William in a straightjacket to protect the staff. Dr Dickson said William had begun to suffer from severe delirum tremens which had been aggrivated by his fall, and sadly William died "raving mad" a few hours later. 

 

Alcohol also played a part in the horrifying accident suffered by Lower Assendon bricklayer Phillip Joseph Joiner, who was working at Bourne End. Phillip was "worse for wear" and waiting to cross at the level crossing near Bourne End station. But a goods train was pulled up there and rather than wait for it pass, Phillip decided to crawl under the train through to the other side. Another man waiting at the crossing warned him to wait, but Phillip was determined. Sadly the train moved while he was on his way underneath and his legs were severely injured. He was taken to the Cottage Hospital quickly and both legs were amputated. He did not survive. He was 29.  

These cases might be depressing, so I'll end with an example of one that seemed very serious but had a happy ending. A "Master White" aged between 10-12 years old, fell out of a moving train between Bourne End and Marlow in 1892. He was travelling back to Marlow alone. It seems he had been leaning out of the window, when his cap fell off. In trying to make a snatch for it, he over reached and fell from the train. This is partial guess work from those at the the time as no one travelling on the train saw exactly what happened. Very luckily for the boy, someone in the fields adjacent to the rail line did see him fall. They ran to the spot and initially feared the worst as the boy was unresponsive and covered in blood due to some nasty head wounds. But he came round, and was carried to the Hospital. He was found to have a lot of cuts, and was naturally badly shaken. But under Nurse Cole's expert care, he was expected to make a full recovery. 

The times the staff could not save their patients always makes more of a ripple than those occasions where the sick make a quick recovery. The staff there saved hundreds of lives and lots of Marlow people would not be alive today if their ancestors had not spent time at the Marlow Cottage Hospital. 

*Martha Beaver had successfully applied for a seperation order from her husband in 1898 after he had assaulted her with a penknife while drunk. He was sentenced to 2 months in prison with hard labour and on release was made to pay a weekly sum for the maintenance of his wife and the three youngest of their six children then living at home. 

For more about the hospital see the following posts:

Matron Mary Ann Cole here

Matron Mary Ann Cassidy and the setting up of the forerunners to the Hospital here

Apothecaries and patent medicine sellers here

List of medical related posts here

The Romantic troubles of Dr Culhane here

Death by fire here

More on the Spindlo's here

Others are on the General History option in the top drop down menu. 

To find every mention of your ancestor here use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. 

See:

South Bucks Standard 16 September 1892, 03 August 1894. 

©Marlow Ancestors

 

Dr Battie

 

William Battie is the man credited with designing Court Garden House in Marlow, his future residence. As a  doctor, he was also credited with unwittingly becoming the origin of the term batty to describe someone eccentric. This is difficult to pin down, and there are other candidates. What is sure, is that William was doctor who became a  specialist in nervous disorders, and he may have had a few eccentricities of his own. 

William was born in 1704 in Modbury, Devon, the son of Rev Edward Battie. He went to Eton and Cambridge, initially to study law. But he failed his exams so took up medicine instead, and so was eventually admitted to the Royal Society. He first practiced as a physician in Cambridge in 1729 before moving to Uxbridge, then Twickenham. He worked as a physician at St Lukes Hospital, resigning in 1764, and as a superintendent of a private mad house at Woods Close, near Islington. He would eventually own two private homes for the mentally ill. His 1758 treatise on the treatment of madness criticized the prevailing methods at Bedlam hospital in particular, and produced a furious response which was also published. William pioneered a more humane approach and said it was critical that the patients physical wellbeing was taken care of  - with a good diet for example. 

 Concern about the state of private "mad houses" lead to the appointment of a commission at the House of Commons to look into their regulation - or lack of it. William appeared before it in 1863, when he was now regarded as a very eminent physician in his field. He was asked directly if it happened that perfectly sane individuals found themselves shut up in a private asylum. He replied that it was "very frequently" the case. William said those responsible for deciding whether a  patient should be admitted or not were not competent judges and as a whole the premises needed better supervision. Sadly, while plans for enhanced regulation were made, they were not directly acted on until 1774 and then only partly. 

There are two oft repeated stories about William. One is that he liked to do impressions of Punch, which were regarded as side splitting funny by his contemporaries. This has more than one source. This act of mimicry he used once to save the life of a child with a throat swelling who he made laugh so much with his antics that the swelling burst. The same performance possibly saved him from injury after an altercation with some Marlow area bargeman. They were upset by his promotion of an idea that the transportation of goods by water could be done more efficiently if the barges were no longer pulled by men, but by horses instead. Naturally those paid to do the extremely hard and dangerous work of pulling the barges were not going to support a loss of their income. The barge hands won in the short term. William is said to have stopped a dunking at their hands by making them laugh with his Punch impression. He was reported to walk around in fear of a similar attack long afterwards however. 

The second main Dr Battie story is that he designed Court Garden as an amateur and forgot to include a staircase in his plans so it had to be added later. Dr Battie may have forgot the staircase at the design stage but it is hard to imagine the professionals tendering to build his design would not have pointed this out before they began work, or that they allowed the build to finish without saying a word. So perhaps the idea of the house seeing completion before a staircase was put in is not quite true even if Dr Battie did not remember to include a spot for it in his workings, hence it's awkward placing. The origin of this story is a letter written by Francis Carter, an associate of Battie, to the author of a book of literary anecdotes, after the death of Battie. But this book says Francis, who despite visiting Battie at Marlow several times and indeed spending several summers at Marlow Place, never actually went inside the "very faulty" house. So perhaps it is not the most authoritative voice. (Some editions also say Battie lived at Marlow Place, not Court Garden but this may well be a subsequently corrected printing error rather than a mistake by the author.) The story is nevertheless repeated often in later contemporary accounts without mentioning the source. One fault the house definitely had was a basement that was under water during periods of high flood. This is mentioned much later too, and is not surprising given it's riverside location as homes much further away reported the same problem. The same source is behind the story that William liked to go about town dressed as a  "common labourer". Perhaps he did, given his talent for mimicry. 

William married Miss Goode in 1738/9 and had 3 daughters - Anne, Catherine and Philadelphia. Anne was the eldest and unmarried at his death. She inherited Court Garden and eventually sold it to another eminent surgeon, Richard Davenport of Essex. She later became the second wife of George Young. William is not buried at Marlow. He died in 1776 a little after suffering a paralytic stroke in his 75th year. He wished to be laid to rest next to his wife in Kingston, Surrey with no monument above. Among the bequests he left was £100  to St. Lukes hospital and a similar amount to benefit the widows and orphans of clergyman. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day with updates by Charlotte Day.

© Marlow Ancestors. 

To find posts about other medical practitioners, Marlow's medical history from apothecaries to nursing clubs, and general posts about everyday life in old Marlow look at the index here

To find posts about another particular house such as Court Garden - see the index here and for a post about the transformation of the estate into Higginson Park see here

Sources include:

Gibbs, Robert. Worthies of Buckinghamshire And Men Of Note In That County (R Gibbs 1888)

Nicholls, John.  Literary Anecdote  of the 18th Century - Essays and Illustrations. (John Nicholls 1812)

Rose -Edward Henry James, Rose, Henry James, Wright, Thomas. A New Biographical Dictionary, Vol 3 (T Fellowes 1857)

Wright, William - Fishes and Fishing. (T C Newby 1858)

The Thin Line Between Life And Death

 Before our ancestors had easy access to the likes of antibiotics, and tetanus shots, any kind of accident could spell disaster. This post tells the story of the death of three Marlow men and boys, related by birth or marriage, to illustrate how fine the line between life and death could be. 

First we have Abraham Creswell (or Cresswell, the family used both spellings as you can see from their graves at All Saints). Abraham was the son of William and Mary Creswell of Wycombe Road Farm. William was a strong minded man who had many battles with those in authority, over land and highway encroachment issues. Read about this entertaining character here . This independent spirit was also stubborn in his dealings with his sons. It is said that while he expected them to help on the farm, he would not allow them any say in it's management, or their own affairs or indeed any share in it's profit while he lived. When Abraham was bought home in 1860 in a tipsy state by a policeman, William refused to let him in and told the constable to lock his son up instead. So they did. William may have been a tough master, but he was also a shrewd investor in land and combined with a talent for thriftiness, this allowed him to leave a substantial legacy of approx £16,000. His land holdings were divided out, with High Rews (Ruse) Farm going to son William, and the Wycombe Road Farm to Abraham. Abraham also inherited £4000 and the house in Wycombe Road. He had fulfilled many other roles before he finally gained his inheritance. He was for example a carrier working for his wife's relations the Johnsons of the neighbouring Plough Inn. He later won the contract to provide cartage services for the Great Marlow Railway Company although he was relieved of this duty 2 years later for failing to perform services, and a failure to render accounts. He probably had heard so many lectures from his parsimonious father about accounting for every farthing to render making up his own accounts an unpleasant task! 

Abraham would enjoy being in charge of his farm for just a year. In the February of 1894, he took a trip to Beaconsfield Fair for business purposes. On his return, he pulled up his horse and cart in the farmyard. Then a freak accident occured. He dropped his whip, and as he stooped down to retrieve it from the floor, his horse stepped back and trod on his hand, cutting it badly. It was obviously a painful injury, but worse was to follow. Abraham's arm swelled a huge amount, and he became unconscious. Blood poisoning had set in, and a few days later, Abraham was dead. He left a wife Jane (nee Belcher) and 7 children. There are many unfortunate similar cases relating to accidents on farms, and in fields. 

Both Abraham and Jane had lost siblings in tragic circumstances. Abraham's brother Edward died aged 16, also at the Wycombe Road Farm. He went out to the fields armed with a gun in order to scare birds from an area of freshly sown seed. The trigger caught on his sleeve, and the gun fired accidentally. He was hit in the foot but managed to hobble home assisted by his 11 year old brother. At first he did not seem in too much pain, but when his foot was examined, it was realised the shot had gone through his big toe. A surgeon was called - and he came armed with the tools for amputation of the toe. This may sound extreme but it was thought the toe was shattered. After examining the boy, the doctor initially wanted to proceed with the operation. But then he changed his mind. He was well aware of the risk of infection after amputation, and so decided on balance not to remove the toe or at least not yet. But sadly young Edward developed lock jaw or tetanus as we would call it, weakened rapidly and died just 3 days after the accident. The inquest was held at the Plough. 

The second case was that of Charles Belcher, the brother of Abraham's wife Jane. She was the "girl next door" living at the Plough with her parents and her maternal grandparents who ran it, the Johnsons. When her brother Charles was 16, he was working for a coal merchant. They praised the fact that he was always busy and could be trusted to get on with his work. They were therefore happy to leave him at the coal yard while they were out making deliveries. One day they returned in cold and wet conditions to see Charles working outside carrying coals. He seemed to be unsteady. They made a good natured comment to him along the lines of "You haven't been working out here in these conditions have you? You'll do yourself an injury!" They told Charles to learn from their experience and do a different task as it was far too slippery to make progress moving loads. They had already expressly forbade the young man to carry heavy weights alone as they knew he did not have the experience to do so. These comments, well meant, unfortunately seem to have had the affect of preventing Charles from admitting that he had in fact tried to lift loads beyond those he was allowed to, and what's more had injured his hip in doing so. He told one worker who noticed him wince that he had had a slight slip and was a little tired but did not mention the heavy weights he had been carrying. His mother thought him in low spirits but did not realize that he was in pain. But the pain got worse, and Charles could no longer disguise it. His mother would not take his denial that he was not injured, and so he confessed that he had suffered an accident at work. But he did not want to tell her he had done it while not following orders or that several days had passed since it occured. Instead he told her he had suffered a fall from a small height the previous day. She immediately called a surgeon. This mans assessment of Charles was based on the fact he had only just hurt himself, rather than the fact the pain had been growing steadily worse over several days. He said that had he known the injury was not a fresh one, and was the result of a strain lifting a weight rather than a fall, he would have treated the boy differently. As the boys condition suddenly and unexpectedly worsened, he confided to his mother how the accident had truly happened, and how he had been frightened he would not be allowed back to work if he told the truth. He said his employer was not to blame, as he had not been asked to tax his strength, and in fact had been expressly forbidden to do so. It was only after speaking to the employers who remembered the wet slippery conditions in the yard the week before, and what Charles had said about a minor slip of foot, that the length of time the poor boy had hidden his injury was revealed. Sadly the delay in seeking help was a fatal one and Charles died. It is believed he succumbed to an internal rupture or hernia.

Astonishingly this was not the end of the families ill luck when it came to accidents. The South Bucks Standard of April 17th 1903 [British Library Archives, via the BNA] reported that Alfred Cresswell aged 11 was severely injured when a gun his 14 year old brother was playing with went off and shot Alfred in the arm. These boys were the sons of Abraham and Jane and the accident occurred at the widowed Jane's then home up at High Rews Farm.

Related Posts

Danger of fire here

More medical history related posts can be found under the General Marlow History option on the menu. 

All mentions of any individual on the blog can be found on the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. 

Some sources

1871, 1881, 1891 Census transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte Day. 

GRO Death Index. 

Creswell, Belcher and Johnson family research by Charlotte Day

South Bucks Standard 16 March 1894, 1 November 1895, copy from British Library archive.  

Maidenhead Advertiser 1 April 1893 as above. 

© Marlow Ancestors

Romantic Troubles For Doctor Culhane

Francis John Fitzgerald Culhane arrived in Marlow to work as an assistant surgeon to Doctor Shone circa 1883. As his name suggests he was paternally of Irish descent but was born in Dartford, Kent in 1857. His parents were Daniel, an apothecary and surgeon and Rosalind née Crowdy.

Francis's childhood may not have been too easy with his father having gone bankrupt two years before Francis's birth and then dying aged only 48 in 1861. But the young man was educated enough to train as a surgeon and had an outlet playing rugby for Dartford.

Francis was engaged to Miss Mary Baskin by 1885. Mary was a "dramatic reader", someone who gave lively readings of books, poems or monologues putting on different voices if needed. Both men and women might pursue this unusual career. The readings took place in town halls and the like. Mary also worked as a published author of sentimental "sketches", novels and poetry. Her first work was published when she was not yet 20 years old and working as a drapery shop assistant in Southampton. Sweetly, she dedicated her book to the shopkeeper's wife, perhaps someone who had encouraged her literary dreams. The themes of her works according to reviews were faith, kindness and a wonder at nature. A creative, confident but humble young woman you'd think. 

Mary wrote her first novel only 2 years later. The heroine of that fictional autobiography was of a "genteel" but poor family. Like many young women in a similar situation the heroine becomes first a governess but hates it and leaves. Reviewers were moved by Mary's description of her character's difficulty in going to London and finding a publisher for the writing she hopes will then support her. You have to wonder how much of this "fiction" wasn't Mary's real life experience. 

In around 1880 Mary moved permanently to London. Once there she started to give readings from popular authors British and American as well as poetry recitals of her own and other's works. Her performances took place right across England as well as in Scotland. These mostly replaced her writing as her source of income.

Initially she lived with some cousins but after that for several years Mary lodged with the Reverend George Morlock and his wife Charlotte at 32 North Villas, Camden Town. George was the vicar of St Leonard's Shoreditch. Many of Mary's dramatic engagements were for the Young Mens' Christian Association or other similar religious groups. This may have put her into the sphere of the Morlocks who had an interest in such groups. In at least one performance of Mary's supplementary musical vocals were provided by Mrs Morlock herself.

The Sunderland Echo said Mary was possessed of a naturally "good, clear melodious and powerful voice". Other reports also praised the beauty of her voice and talent of her performance.

In 1883 Mary signed for a letter addressed to Mrs Morlock from a well wisher who wanted to donate to parish charities the Morlocks were involved in. Mrs Matlock claimed she was never given this letter or the 6 shillings it contained. Mary, she maintained must have stolen both. Mary denied not giving over either. If she was formally charged with theft as far as I can see from my initial research no criminal case materialised in a court of law. What did materialise was a bitter feud between the Morlocks and their lodger. The Reverend wrote letters to mutual acquaintances including, most painfully for Mary, her fiancé Francis Culhane at Marlow calling Mary a dangerous woman, a swindler, a liar, and a drunkard not to mention a woman of low morals. 

There is a suggestion that there was no genuine suspicion of theft against Mary at first as the Morlocks were going out to the theatre with their lodger in a friendly way after the incident and  Charlotte Morlock was happy to join forces with her in order to raise funds for a piano for the Shoreditch Girls Friendly Society. Mary gave a dramatic reading as part of the fundraising efforts. When that did not raise enough cash she wrote to the local papers urging the public to send money for the project to Mrs Morlock. The address given to send donations to was Shoreditch Church. If she was someone looking for opportunities to steal money sent in the post wouldn't she have suggested that it went to the house she shared with them and where she would have the best opportunity to steal it?

A falling out over a debt Mary was said to owe them seems to have caused the Morlocks to revisit in their minds some time afterwards that puzzling incident of their vanished letter and to cast the confusion as to what happened to it in a new and sinister light. 

George Morlock sued Mary for slander for accusing him of persecuting her. Mary was humiliated and launched a counter suit for libel against the Reverend. Or in some versions of events she filed a suit first and he was the one with the counter suit. Francis Culhane was a witness for the prosecution in the case against George Morlock and gave surety for Mary's appearance at the Central Criminal Court for the trial. In his preliminary evidence Francis said that his fiancée had no need to steal money as he would always give her some. His support for her was publicly unwavering.

There is no record that I can find of a full trial going ahead so perhaps the parties concerned decided to limit their future public embarrassment by coming to an understanding. Mary's dramatic readings stop abruptly after the first hearings of the case. No further work was published by her either as far as I can trace, at least under her own name.

Despite the support Francis showed Mary they never saw through their engagement. Francis found a bride in namesake Frances [aka Fanny] Ford in 1890 [married Kensington, her family was from Cambridgeshire]. These two had two known sons together in Marlow -  Hubert and Frederick. They lived in what was then known as Quarry House in the High Street. Below is a picture of the premises in Culhane's day. It is the building in the middle with a tall carriage entrance doorway. Sadly these premises no longer exist. Thanks to Michael Eagleton for the photo. In 1900 the rent for this property was £80 a year.

Doctor Culhane worked hard in Marlow. He became one of the surgeons attached to the Cottage Hospital and gave first aid classes for working men. The importance of the latter endeavour at a time where workplace injuries were common and not infrequently life limiting or fatal can't be underestimated. He was also the appointed doctor attending various Marlow slate clubs and benefit societies whose members could qualify for a sick benefit if they could not work. For example members of the Clayton Arms slate clubs could pay an extra subscription to qualify themselves for subsidised medical attention from Dr Culhane. 

For those who could afford not even the small price of slate club membership Francis made no charge for visits and gave any necessary medicines for free. He was universally known as a kind man and friend to the poor, and unlike other doctors of his day would never turn anyone away even an obviously unable to pay patient calling on him in the middle of the night. For countless impoverished Marlow families he was the last and only hope they had when someone in the family fell ill.

Given his tender heart many aspects of his job must have been hard to bear. Francis had to attend distressing cases as a matter of routine including dying children who could not be saved and multiple attempted suicides. He was also called to give medical evidence at criminal trials. A particularly sad case was the death of a baby of the Boddy family believed to have been the victim of infanticide by its mother. This case is discussed in detail in this post. He was also the attending surgeon in the Moor End murder case of 1891. You can read more about that event here

He was also the Marlow Vaccination Officer and the Medical Officer for the Wycombe Board Of Guardians [of the poor]. For more than 20 years he served on the Marlow council and was once chair of the Parish Council. For leisure he played in friendly football matches for Marlow teams, as well as in cricket ties including for the Marlow Institute cricket team.

Francis died in 1940, greatly mourned.

****

Mary Baskin possibly became a domestic cook.

George Morlock came into a large amount of money in 1886. The next year he moved to Haggerston. He was given a reasonably large fine for non compliance with an unspecified court order in 1887 and was also sued for the non repayment of a loan so he was not necessarily as reliable a man as his job may suggest. The work he and his wife did for orphans and inner city disadvantaged children, giving them access to the countryside and sea is however not open to doubt.

Francis's brother Frederick also became a surgeon. His mother Rosalind survived until 1903. Both she and Frederick moved to Hastings, Sussex.

Further information:

All mentions of a person on this blog can be found by looking at the A-Z  Person Index - thousands of people 

For more medicine related posts see the General Marlow History option on the top drop down menu and the medical history sub category within it.. here's a selection:

Patients treated at the Cottage Hospital  here

Call the Apothecary here

Marlow Hero Nurse Cassidy here

Matron Mary Cole here

Marlow Heroes Emily and Dr Dunbar Dickson here

Written and researched by Charlotte Day

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here.

Some Sources:

Mary Baskin's works are mostly available to read on Google Books.

Newspapers in the British Library Collection via the BNA: Newcastle Courant 22nd Feb 1886, Hackney and Kingsland Gazette 5th Feb 1886, Bucks Examiner 6th March 1886, Sunderland Echo 25th October 1884.

"England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVH1-F9PZ : 2 November 2021), Francis J F Culhane, 1940.

GRO marriage registration index, GRO.

Census for Great Marlow, my transcriptions from microfilm. Dartford census transcribed by Jane Pullinger.

The 'Insanity" Of Robert East

Distressing content.

Mental illness was of course not well understood in the past and the suffering of those considered -rightly or wrongly - to be suffering from it could be immense.

Several male members of the East family of Great Marlow suffered mental health crises in the 1830s and 1840s. This post focused on one of them, Robert East. 

Robert was born 1794-96 depending on the source you believe. Most likely he was the son of John and Elizabeth East of Great Marlow and baptised there in 1796. 

By 1841 he had been admitted as a pauper lunatic into the private asylum at Bethnal Green "Warbuton's Asylum". Thomas Warburton had bought and expanded an existing asylum on the site back in 1800. The running of the place was condemned in 1826 with inspectors reporting "scenes of the most cruel and disgusting nature" within its walls. Unclothed inmates were left chained in freezing rooms for hours at a time for instance. Overcrowding was significant with some inmates sharing a single bed with two others. Doubts about the validity of the certification of insanity for some inmates were also raised.

In 1832 the asylum was the centre of a major cholera outbreak.

Exactly when Robert was sent at the expense of the parish of Great Marlow to Bethnal Green isn't known but he was there by the time of the 1841 census. This wasn't supposed to be a case of just dumping someone ill and leaving them to their fate- the asylum was supposed to try to cure those it took in. Some it succeeded with but not all went home nonetheless. Parishes might prefer to keep cured inmates locked up rather than have to pay to support the pauper back at home or risk them relapsing and having to be expensively transported back to London for more treatment. Sadly many inmates it was reported were also abandoned by their families who otherwise could have pressed for their release if cured. Robert was not fortunate enough to find a cure at the asylum. He was still there and described as "occasionally troublesome" but not usually in need of restraint in 1846 when he died.

His death was horrible. Another inmate George Pearson attacked him apparently without warning early one morning when all were in bed. George pulled Robert to the floor and kicked him in the head until he died. The staff member supervising the inmates was himself hit when he tried to stop the attack. No previous violent behaviour had been noted in George who apparently thought kicking Robert in the head would help him.

An inquest was held on site at the asylum in which George was judged by the jury to have committed homicide while of unsound mind and without malice. 

Robert was buried in the churchyard of Bethnal Green.

Things were supposed to have improved dramatically at Mr Warburton's by this date with few of the 582 inmates routinely chained and outdoor exercise provision having been instituted. But the details of Robert's inquest call into question how much progress had really been made. He was sleeping in the "long crib room" with 37 other people (so no privacy) and apparently only one staff member on watch. While George Pearson had not previously harmed anyone else he had a history of hurting his own self. Other of the inmates probably needed intense supervision for the same reason not one man for 37 ill people.

A year earlier the campaigning group the Lunatic Friends Society had visited another inmate William White and exposed the flimsy nature of his supposed insanity- panic attacks brought on by the fact he had been prescribed certain medicines he knew to contain substances which would be deadly poisonous if incorrectly administered (prescribed to him for physical ailments.) He was a man who had been made ill by previous medications taken. That the asylum continued to insist he needed to remain incarcerated was ludicrous they reported. You have to wonder just how "insane" anyone else in Warburton's asylum actually was. The fact that two other East men from Marlow suffered mental health crises at a similar period- a different Robert East who threw himself down a well and died and that suicidal Robert's brother William who was sent to an asylum just afterwards - could be no more than a coincidence. The family relationship between Robert of the Bethnal Green asylum and the two brothers isn't certain, very possibly they were cousins. 

Certain trades did pose serious risk to sanity in the past. Hatters really did go mad, and often, because of substances they handled to give just one example. The occupation of Robert East of the Bethnal Green asylum is unknown. The other Robert was a grocer. The most common occupation of male Easts however historically in Marlow going right back in time was butcher. So no obvious link to dangerous substances there.

To read more about the tragedy of Robert East the grocer and his partner Harriman see this post here

Researched by Charlotte and Kathryn Day. Written by Charlotte.

For more posts related to medical history in Marlow see on the menu under General Marlow History. All mentions of someone on the blog can be found on the Person Index.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here.

Sources included:

Report of Luke James Hansard, Lunatic Friends Society 1845.

Accounts and papers of the House of Commons 1826-27.

Reading Mercury June 1846. British Library Archives, digitized by the BNA.

1841 census Bethnal Green, reels, London Metropolitan Archives.

"England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N53T-LZV : 16 March 2020), Robert East, 1846.

Great Marlow Parish Registers. 

Will of George Trash, Surgeon 1796

Will summary for George Trash, surgeon of Great Marlow, proved 1796. (NB If you are seeking George Trash of Marlow, painter/plumber/glazier/ironmonger, whose will was proved 1777, a summary of that will follow when time allows!) 

Will written 1795. 

George says that he is sick weak in body but sound in mind and memory. 

All messuages, land, tenements wherever they be go to wife Ann until such time as she remarries or dies. She also to receive all household goods, chattels, furniture, ready money, book debts, notes [credit notes], and mortgages. After her death or re marriage, whichever shall first "happily" occur, all of the above shall be divided equally between all surviving of their children, or their children's heirs if they dead with property to be held as tenants in common. 

Executors: (All of Great Marlow)

George Davenport of Court Garden, John Hone, esq and Robert Goldsmith, attorney.

Witnessed by:

Sarah Sneath and James Chappell who signed their names and Ann G......s who made her mark. 

Transcribed by me  from a P.C.C will kept at the National Archives, Kew. 

George was a surgeon and apothecary, the usual combination at the time. He was in partnership with surgeon William Sneath, and after William's death continued alone. In 1781 George took out advertisements in the local papers to say that six years after William's death he was now moving his "shop" and business to his own home within Marlow. The same notice tells us that George had attended the usual course of lectures in physick, anatomy, chemistry, and midwifery at St Thomas and St Guys hospitals. All patients "carefully and diligently" attended to.  

Note: Widow Ann Trash died 7 Oct 1830 age 73, at her then residence in Welwyn. 

To find all mentions of your ancestors here however small, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. More wills can be found under the Will Transcriptions menu option.

Related posts:

Call the apothecary- Early medical care in Marlow here. 

Will Sarah Sneath here

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use the content of this post for family and local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here.

Shopping At George Cannon's

 

A selection of shopping possibilities at George Cannon's chemist come booksellers from 1829-1858. This was in Market Square and then later in the High Street. (Latter premises below)

 

Buy tickets and consult a seat plan to secure the best spot at the Town Hall for the one night only "Woodman's Olio of Curiosities". This 1858 show involved performers with a hundred changes of character, voice and costume to produce an original "mimical, musical and polygraphic" entertainment. Original sounds the right word! Price 3s for the stalls, 2s for the rest except 1s for backseats. Starts 8pm, tell your carriage to call for you at 10pm when all is over. 

Tickets to the Ball held in the Town Hall to mark end of the Races, 1844 -8s including refreshments. 

Anti bilious stomach pills - "Strengthens digestive organs" Prepared by George Cooper of Reading rather than by our George. 

Alternatively try Dr Sydenham's Anti bilious pills which are also unrivalled for "spasms", nervous headaches and liver complaints. Guaranteed to clear your intestines of bile. Mercury free and "suitable for females." 1s 1 and 1/2d a bottle. 

Take a look at book proposals on display at George's, and if you decide you would like to see it published, you can subscribe to help meet the production costs. In exchange you will be able to buy the finished volume for a reduced price, and if you give enough, you might see your name credited as belonging to a subscriber within the book itself. On other occasions you might be thanked in an ad promoting the books publication. George is a printer, and will print some of the proposed volumes himself. In 1829, one of the proposed volumes is a book of Psalms and Hymns which will cost 10s if you subscribe, 12s otherwise. 

Fothergills Nervous drops - for low spirits, fainting fits, hysteria, and relaxation of the system - 4s 6d a bottle. 

Dr James Fever powder -  2s9d a packet. Also cures rheumatism and shortens duration of colds. 

Butlers Cayenne Lozenges - for habitual sore throats. Also acts a stimulus for fatigue. 2s a box. Also offers "digestive candy"  with rhubarb and ginger 2s a box. 

Marshalls universal cream - for sore and ulcerated legs, burns and sores - 1s 1d

Birds Hygein (sic) Antiscorbotic Pills - cures leprosy, scurvy, cancer, kings evil, facial blotches, glandular swellings. Also available as an ointment. 1s 1+1/2 d per box of pills or same price for pot of ointment.

Perry's essence for tooth and earache - 1s1d a bottle

Pococks gangrene embrocation - for ewes! Will also deal with bites from "bites of venomous reptiles" George also sells other patent medicines for farm animals, mostly sheep. He is also an agent for Potter's guano, guaranteed to make your crops grow. 

Mays Matchless Sauce - a savoury sauce, not medicinal 1s 6d Not the obvious thing in our eyes to buy from a bookseller and chemist! Charles May was a chemist located in the Butter Market, Reading and prepared this on his premises along with the other Mays items listed below.  He then dispatched them to local agents such as George.

 

May's indelible ink (for marking linen) - 1s 6d

May's Camphorated Vegetable Dentifrice.  (A tooth cleaning powder used with water) 1s 1+1/2d a box. Higgs Dentifrice powder costs the same and promises to preserve and beautify the teeth. Prepared in Maidenhead by chemist J Higgs.)

Tooth cleaning brushes in the latest most approved patterns

May's Medicated Honey for gentlemen "incommodated" by shaving, nursing mothers, and those with chapped lips, hands or feet. 

Blairs Gout and Rheumatic pills - to prevent the disease "flying to your brain" 

Roses celebrated botanic cream - prevents hair going grey or falling out and makes it glossy as well. One trial will convince of it's superior qualities, or so they say!

A lithographic print of the iron chain suspension bridge now erecting at Great Marlow 1830. Print executed from a drawing made that shows how it will be once complete. 5s each, or 7s 6d on india paper. Produced by George on the premises.  

John Cassells roast Coffee - the first for quality in the Empire. Available in air tight sealed packages from 1-8 oz or 1/2 - 1lb canisters. George also sold tea.

Consult a visiting dentist who sets up at George's -  "decayed teeth restored", every Wednesday in 1838. 

Want to do more historic shopping? Find out what you could buy at John Howes patent medicine and stationers premises here

And take a look at the Historic Cost of Living posts  specific to Marlow  - Part one and Part 2

And information about wages your Marlow ancestor could expect to earn here

Interested in patent medicine? A post about Marlow apothecaries and other early forms of medical care can be found here

More about George

George was behind the building of Cannon's Row (now called Platts Row) in Mill Road - see here for pictures and more info. 

And this post here for an over view of George's life, and a picture of his High Street premises plus an image of his grave. 

SOURCES

Post Office Directory Of Chemists & Druggists, Vol 2 (Kelly's Directory Ltd, 1870)

Windsor and Eton Express February 7th 1829, copy from the British Library and accessed via the BNA

Reading Mercury -7 & 30 May & 15 November 1830, 3 January & 21 February 1831, 13 October 1834, 23 February & 10 October 1835, 24 October & 5 November 1836, 4 February & 5 August 1837, 30 May 1840, 17 February 1844, 5 April 1845, 23 November 1848, 23 November 1850, May 10 1851, 06 March 1858 as above

©MarlowAncestors

Fleeing Debtors and Man Midwives

 

I have been cross referencing wills, photos, property surveys, censuses, sale adverts and more in order to identify Victorian occupiers for many a property in West Street. In some cases occupancy further back in time can be ascertained too. It is an ongoing project of mine. I'll be uploading more as and when I have time. There are other posts already on the blog in this line. Search "West Street". 

This building was the home of Surgeon William Hickman from at least 1832 to his death in 1850 aged 93. William was originally from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire but was in Marlow by 1782 when he married Ann Wethered. It is possible he was already in these premises back then but I cannot yet be certain. 

In 1791 William was listed as a surgeon apothecary and "man midwife". In most later references he is styled simply "surgeon". 

Either he or his son of the same name was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Royal Military College further down West Street in 1810. This is now the house Remnantz. At least four of William and Ann's sons became surgeons! William the father had had a violent confrontation with some of the teenage cadets a few years earlier which makes the appointment something surprising. More on this confrontation here

The Hickmans sold a variety of patent medicines to their patients. For example, in 1831 they are listed as a supplier for Shepherds Camphor Lozenges. These were just the thing for "putrid throats"  and for refreshing flagging spirits after attending a fashionable assemblage or rout - or so they said. A few years later Hickman and Brinsden could supply Schweppes "celebrated soda water" for digestive purposes. (Thomas Evans Brinsden)

Ann died in 1809 so that was a very long time as a widower for him. 

In his will written 1848, he asked to be buried beside Ann and other members of his family in Marlow churchyard. He made an "earnest request" to be buried in the same [quiet] manner as his son Francis who had died in his parent's house in 1831. Both Francis and one of William's other sons died when only in their 30s, their mother was only 50 at her own death. 

Above, the grave of William and Ann Hickman, their son Francis mentioned above and others. At All Saints, Marlow. 

William's will left a silver quart tankard to his son George (a surgeon of the High Street)  and to Owen Wethered a pint silver drinking vessel that had belonged to an Ann Wethered.

This Owen also received a History Of England in 2 volumes. William certainly liked a good read. When his household effects were sold off at auction in 1851 the sales listing mentions 500 volumes including "valuable works on medicine, surgery, physiology, chemistry and miscellaneous literature". He also had mahogany furniture, "fine old china", mahogany four post beds, engravings and paintings. It was a plush life for him in West Street! But he deserved it as he was definitely still actively working as a surgeon in 1845 at the age of 88. He may well actually have worked until his death. No wonder an obituary called him "universally respected". The same obituary in the Medical Directory of Scotland called him a pupil of " the immortal Hunter". Presumably this was the famous Scottish surgeon John Hunter, one of the most eminent of his day. Hunter worked with Edward Jenner the smallpox vaccine pioneer among others. 

Williams's long life lead him to be considered an authority on the Marlow of days gone by. So when journalists and writers researching the life of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wished to know about the celebrity's short time in Marlow, it was often to Hickman they were directed. He told one that while he remembered Shelley, and indeed had treated him for an unspecified ailment, he found the poet unsociable as he did not keep company with the townspeople in general.  

I am not sure who was in these exact premises immediately after William died. From 1877 ( at the latest) until his bankruptcy and disappearance in 1888, Richard Coster the grocer, provision merchant, rent collector and land agent was based here however.

Richard ran away from his financial troubles, being seen once in Chester in a distressed state then apparently no more. His concerned near neighbour in West Street James Roberts the draper was one of those who tried unsuccessfully to find him again. Richard was a widower without children. Described as "timid" he seems to have been well liked. Some twelve years later a man was found lying unconscious in the road at Hungerford. He was taken to the workhouse there, and it was then established that he was the long missing Richard Coster of Marlow. Richard expressed a wish to go to Saunderton Workhouse which was the one responsible for the Marlow area. I suppose it was the closest he'd thought he'd make to going home. He was bought there but died a few days later. 

From at least 1891 Albert Fleet operated here as a grocer first then as Colonial Meat Stores with a grocery sideline (from circa 1892+). A Colonial Meat Stores was also in Spittal Street under different proprietors 1891-99. Both businesses specialised as the name suggests in foreign meat. Albert remained in these premises until at least 1919. A Mr Turnham was managing the West Street shop in 1912, whether this was for Albert or on his own account I am unsure.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day with additional research by Kathryn Day. Photographed 2020.

Sources:

1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow. Original handwritten copy held by my family and transcribed by me.

1791 & 1794  Universal British Directory.

Will of William Hickman. Copy obtained from the National Archives and transcribed by me.

London Gazette Part One, 1810. Digitized by Google. Accessed March 2021.

The Medical Directory of Scotland, 1852 by John Churchill. As above.

1841, 81 and 91 censuses transcribed from microfilm by Jane Pullinger.

Great Marlow church registers.

Bucks Herald 18th January 1851 and 28th April 1888, Bucks Gazette 9th April 1831, Banff Journal 23rd March 1847.  Copies held in the British Library Archives and accessed by me via the BNA March 2021.

A list of persons who have obtained certificates of their fitness and qualification to practice as apothecaries, from 1815 to 1840 ; Royal College of Physicians London (Gilbert and Rivington 1840)

Robson's Commercial Directory 1839. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Saving lives in every kind of way -Marlow Heroes no 5&6 the Dunbar- Dicksons

 

This post is dedicated to Marlow heroes John and Emily Dunbar Dickson. 

 John work as the medical officer for both Marlow and the Wycombe rural district council areas saw him hold to account landlords for the frankly inexcusable conditions they were requiring their poorest tenants to live in. He dealt with infectious disease outbreaks, and was one of the doctors of the original Cottage Hospital at Cambridge House. Emily did a lot to help the less fortunate Marlow citizens and lead the fundraising for the new hospital at Glade Rd, clashing with Edward Riley the recreation ground donor in doing so - more of which below.  

John was born in Belfast in 1853 while Emily was Scottish. John arrived here first. He had studied at Queens College and then held various medical positions including that of house surgeon at Royal Bucks Hospital in Aylesbury. He came to Marlow in approximately 1880 to take up a partnership with surgeon John Rawden Hobson. At first John lodged with Sarah Mealing in her lodging house in the High Street. The partnership with Hobson was dissolved in 1885 and John struck out alone. 

John and Emily married at St. Oswalds, Kilmarnock, Renfrewshire on June 2nd 1885. They returned to Marlow and initially settled in West Street before taking up residence in The Gables, Institute Road, in 1893. This would be their home for some 30 years. It was built for them, by builders Loosely of Wycombe, one of the first houses in the new road. 

John meets the German Emperor

Not content with saving lives in a medical setting, John joined the Marlow Volunteer Fire Brigade, initially as a honourary medical officer but he still involved himself in drills and wore a full uniform. This gave him the experience to eventually act as the superintendent of the Marlow brigade for several years. He took on the role in 1890 on a temporary basis originally, with Foreman Batting, after the previous Superintendent Charles Footitt took 6 months leave from active duty due to ill health. Charles was unable to resume his position although he remained a member of the brigade for a while, and so John took the role. (Foreman Batting retired in October 1890) If you are wondering how John could possibly find time to fight fires alongside his work as a doctor, it may help to know that the brigade was not called out very often! He had been in charge for 2 years before his men got called upon to actually fight a fire. (The fire at Captain Marshall's menagerie and home, The Eyrie, 1892) It was not an uneventful period in charge however. In 1891 the Marlow Fire Brigade were amongst a number of crews that were invited to the Crystal Palace in London to put on a "Grand Review" before the German emperor. They were put through their drills and the Marlow gentlemen must have impressed the dignitaries present as John was the the brigade superintendent picked out to meet the Emperor and exchange a few polite words. He stepped down from command but remained as honourary surgeon to the brigade for the first few years of the new century under captains Smith and Page Dye. 

He also had a hands-on life saving role in a different way in 1891 when he leapt into the River Thames and saved the life of a young lad in danger of drowning. The youngster's boat had capsized near Shaw's boathouse and the boy could barely swim. So John threw off coat and hat and plunged in to the rescue in "the most plucky manner possible."

The Dickson's War Effort

During the First World War, the Dickson's eldest son Ian, also a doctor, recieved the Military Cross in the New Years Honours of 1918. He survived the war, and even managed to marry while on a short home leave from fighting near Salonika. (To Nell Parry Price January 1917) Ian had left for the Transvaal in 1912, for a projected stay of 3 years, before war intervened and he joined the RAMC. The Dickson's younger son John was not however so lucky and was killed while serving on HMS Hawke as a midshipman in 1917.  He was aged just 17. 

Emily was a leading member of the First World War War Relief Committee and she was in charge of their Victoria Road depot. This site did two important things. If a woman who had lost her employment because of the war, and could not get any of the limited relief otherwise on offer, she could apply to Emily to be given paid employment at the depot. This was needlework and produced items needed by the Red Cross such as clothing as well as items for hospitals and institutions. 

John meanwhile had retired from his own practice in 1914 (not from his other roles)  but this lasted little time as his successor was absent on war service so he resumed his role for a few more years. 

Shoddy housing and dodgy sanitation

John probably made the biggest difference in his work as the councils Medical Officer and Medical Officer for Schools. These were roles which he filled for a quarter of a century, only giving up a few months before his death. He work with people such as the Sanitary Inspector to hold landlords and householders to account when they had allowed their buildings to degenerate into an unhealthy state. Some of the housing in the region of Dean Street and Marefield, as well as Hayes Place were in a poor condition.  John did inspections and frequently found that the landlords had provided inadequate drainage, poor sanitary arrangements and badly built and leaking cess pits and wells. He recommended what measures needed to be taken to remedy the situation, such as stopping the well and ordering the property owner to supply a decent water supply. In 1910 he discovered how bad the situation had became at Hayes Place. He said the two inadequately sized privvie pitts shared by 5 of the homes there were ancient, and wrongly constructed. He considered them to be a danger to the inhabitants that needed immediate replacement. The cesspool had fallen in and leaked under the scullery floor of one house heavily polluting the soil. The privvies needed to be pulled down and the entire drainage system reconstructed. 

In this role he also inspected Marlow's common lodging houses (aka doss houses) to see if they were abiding by the requirements of various Public Health Acts. The frequent answer was no. One of his most alarming reports was probably relating to the Crown and Cushion in Dean Street. He said there was no screening between the beds of married couples, too few basins, inadequate toilets and that the yard and stables were not cleaned often enough to be in a sanitary condition. 

He was also the school medical officer for the Marlow district and as such sometimes had to order the closure of schools to contain outbreaks of infectious disease. He would visit the homes of those infected and in some cases see that they were disinfected properly. 

Hospital trouble

John was one of the doctors attending the original Cottage Hospital in Cambridge House. He performed operations in the small operating theatre there and treated dozens of people who would otherwise been unable to afford medical care. Emily Dickson was one of the "Lady Visitors" to the hospital who arrived to comfort the patients and do little things for them that did not require nursing practice. She also gave practical gifts of food and bedding to the institution. Emily was heavily involved in raising funds to maintain the hospital and so was a natural chair for the committee dedicated to raising funds for the new cottage hospital which would arrive in Glade Rd. In this role she clashed with former hospital subscriber and current committee member Edward Riley, the man who bought Riley Recreation park for the town. Edward did not want a new hospital to be built in case it would end up "put on the rates" rather than paid for by public donations as before. He also considered the Glade Road site "unsuited for a hospital." While his concerns about funding were shared by some others, and were not without foundation, Edward does not come across as the most easy to deal with individual when others disagreed with him! Emily was present when he complained "too many women" were on the building committee. He wrote letters to the press in response to private letters that Emily wrote to ask for his support in her work. These letters from Edward come across as condescending even if read in the most generous spirit!  John and the other medical staff were moved to write their own public letter threatening a wholesale resignation if progress was not made on providing a better hospital than the inconvenience of Cambridge House could provide. They were they said fully confident that the community would show enough support and "public spirit" to see the building of the new hospital through, despite "unreasonable objections" from those not currently subscribing to the hospital themselves. To read more about this, see the posts here and here. 

A post about Edward Riley is here

The Institute

John was a firm supporter of womens suffrage. He spoke in support of  women getting the vote during a public debate on the issue at the Institute - a motion he had advanced but one that was decisively defeated. He did however secure the rights of woman to join the Institute in their own right and to attend classes there, both the general ones and those intended for ladies in the first place. He himself taught ladies classes on first aid and home nursing at the Institute as well as offering lectures on subjects such as the blood circulation and the workings of the ear and eye to all.

It was John who was credited as the driving force behind securing Technical Education (adult education) classes for Marlow. They would also be held at the Institute for much of their history and John was the treasurer and hon sec for the TE group at various times. You can read more about the Institutes early life here

The Institute building is now the Library. It sits next to the Dickson's former house, which was built for him in the then new Institute Rd in 1893. 

Goodbye John

John resigned from his Council work 2 months before his death in 1923, as he had became suddenly unwell. The Wycombe rural district council deferred accepting his resignation in the hope he would recover. But his condition worsened and he passed away at The Gables in January 1923 age 69. 

The Dunbar Dicksons name crops up constantly in late Victorian and Edwardian Marlow history. It's hard to do justice to all the roles they filled in one post but here is a summary of some (and only some!) roles we have not already mentioned..

John was also:

 a JP sitting at the Marlow petty sessions court adjoining the police station in Trinity Road. 

Member of committee to organise the introduction of old age pensions locally.

Chair of meetings of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoons held at the Congregational Church as it was then known. (Others also took this role on by rotation) 

Committee member and subscriber to Marlow Institute (elected to board of trustees 1895) & Marlow Rowing Club. He was also a judge at the regatta at times. 

Helped to organise 1902 & 1911 Coronation celebrations

President of Reading and Upper Thames Branch of the BMA 1890

Supporter and main lecturer for the St John's Ambulance in Marlow. Insisted that classes should be free for those who could not pay.  Working women could attend free too. 

Treasurer of the Marlow branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 

Keen cricketer, who played in many charity matches and for the Institute Cricket team. 

Trustee of Oxford Rd Almshouses (from 1898) 

And Emily:

Was a committee member of the South Bucks School of Domestic Cookery. This held free cookery lessons at the Girls School in St Peters Street in the early 1890's. 

Fundraiser for the St Johns Ambulance, Diamond Jubilee and 1902  Coronation celebrations.

On the ladies commitee of Marlow Cottage Hospital 

Passed an examination in domestic hygiene in 1888, taken in London. I'm uncertain of the awarding body. Her certificate was present by the Duchess of Albany. 

Member of the South Bucks Woman's Liberal Association. 

Post written and researched by Kathryn Day

Other medical related posts

Patients treated at first Cottage Hospital under Dickson and Culhane here

Call the Apothecary here

Marlow Hero Nurse Cassidy here

Matron Mary Cole here

Benjamin Atkinson, surgeon here

Midwife Sarah Price here

The first Cottage Hospital and Provident Nursing Club here

More about the Cottage Hospital and the move to Glade Rd site  here 

Romantic troubles of Dr Culhane here

A full list can be found under the General History option of the top drop down menu. 

 To find all mentions of your ancestors here, see the A-Z person index in the same menu. 

Some sources: 

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1911. (Kelly's Directories Ltd)

London Gazette Part 3, vol 1, 1885, digitized by Google. 

Lancet, Vol 2. 1891, digitized by Google

South Bucks Standard 30 May 1890, 1 January 1892, 12 Jan 1894, 10 June 1904, 8 April 1910, 24 April & 3 July 1913 British Library Archives. 

Bucks Herald 18 July 1891, 20 January &  21 April 1923 as above. 

Henley and South Oxfordshire Standard 18 July 1891. 

Census 1881, 1891, 1901 - transcriptions from microfilm by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger. 

War Weekly January 1917

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer May 19 & December 1st 1888,  Slough library. 

Building News collected volumes, 1893. 

©Marlow Ancestors

Midwife Sarah Price

If you had an ancestor born in Great Marlow between the late Victorian era (at least) and 1910 you may well have Sarah Ann Price to thank for their safe delivery. She had by 1903 delivered according to her around 900 Marlow babies- and counting. 

Sarah was born in 1836 as Sarah Ann Waters. She was baptised at Iver to Elizabeth and Richard Waters. Dad Richard was a miller, and moved around with his family several times to different mills including to Bray Mills and Temple Mills. The latter are by Marlow.

In 1859 Sarah married Marlow man William Price. I am uncertain at what point she began practising as a midwife but it was well before 1901. Her experience meant that when midwife's came to be registered she was able to continue despite not having medical qualifications.

In 1903 Sarah was a witness at an inquest when a baby which she had delivered died around 12 hours after birth. This was the child of Mr and Mrs North of West Street Marlow. The jury had to consider whether the mother might have accidentally rolled over in bed and suffocated the child, whether foul play may have occurred or if the child had been improperly attended to at birth. It must have been an anxious time for Sarah but the surgeon who had examined the dead child said that she had done a proper job at the birth Mr North who also gave evidence in support of Sarah. Nor were any signs of violence on the child which might have cast suspicion on the North family. A verdict of natural causes due to debility at birth was returned.

It is a sign that Sarah's expertise was highly valued that when the North parent's thought their child to be dying it was to her and not a doctor or surgeon they went to for help to save him.

On the midwives roll of 1905 Sarah is registered as living at number 7 York Road. She was still there in 1910. Earlier in her married life she and her husband had lived in Dean Street.

Sarah died in 1917 and was buried in Marlow Cemetery.

Related Posts:

Biography of Dr John Dunbar Dickson, of Marlow Cottage Hospital and council medical officer: here

Call the Apothecary here

Marlow Hero Nurse Cassidy here

Matron Mary Cole here

Benjamin Atkinson, surgeon here

The first Cottage Hospital and Provident Nursing Club here

More about the Cottage Hospital and the move to Glade Rd site  here 

©Marlow Ancestors.

Sources:

Marriage certificate.

The Midwife Roll, The Wellcome Trust London. Ref b24389596-:377959x. Ancestry. Com Operations Inc Provo, UT. Database online. 

Census Great Marlow 1861-1891. Transcribed by me from microfilm.

Census for Bray and Hurley transcriptions by Jane Pullinger.

GRO Death Registration Index.

South Bucks Standard 10th April 1903. Paper copy held at the British Library. Accessed via the BNA [Inquest].

Don't Mess With Matron Part Two

           The Glade Road site.

This post is a continuation of a history of the first Cottage Hospital. Part one here.

 Problems mount at the hospital 

The site at Cambridge House was considered likely to be a quiet one when the hospital first opened. It was not quite to be. Some open ground to the rear of the hospital was used frequently as a place for children to play football but this was preferable to it's use by "delinquents" who adopted the site in the mid 1890's. They were said to throw stones and break windows although the hospital itself escaped their specific attention. Police began to keep a close eye on the area and a number of boys were rounded up and sent before the magistrates mostly to receive small fines and vigorous telling offs. Three boys playing football in Eton Place in 1895 were especially censured because their actions could have caused "considerable discomfort" to patients in the nearby hospital. Richard Engelfield, Arthur Rockett (Rockell?) and James Dormer recieved 1s fines each. To be fair to the boys, neither Riley Recreation ground or Higginson Park were yet open to the public. Then there was the fair and also steam organs, travelling theatres and roundabouts that turned up in what is now Riley Recreation Ground at other times. 

Give us space! 

The improvements in 1894/5 cost £200 and added a new operating room, a new ward and two W.C's. The narrowness of the stairs, passage and landing had been partially eased by widening all 3. But the stairs were still steep and added much to the exhausting  nature of the work. This was not just true for the Matron Mary Cole, but the mostly unnamed servant and charwoman who toiled up and down dozens of times a day.  The wages for the general servant were described as good for a "really trustworthy person" in 1894, but the frequency of adverts appearing for this role suggests it was hard even by the standards of domestic service, good pay or no. 

The last years

In 1908, Nurse Cole was again working alone. Another probationer had come and gone. It was said the assistant nurses did not get enough free time, to which the hospital replied that Cole sacrificed her own days off so often that she could scarcely give any more time to allow the nurses more leisure. They praised Cole's strict economy that saved every possible penny. She could do no more. 

The hospital felt cramped, the stairs were steep and Dr Dunbar Dickson, one of the hospital surgeons in regular attendance, thought the sanitary arrangements totally inadequate. So in 1911 a committee was formed to consider potential sites for a brand new more commodius building. An area of Glade Road let as allotments and belonging to John Langley chairman of the Marlow Urban District Council was considered the most suitable spot. Mr Langley offered to sell the land at a favourable price, but later offered the site entirely for free, providing building work was started within a year. Alternatively he would offer a £250 donation if they prefered another site. 

Architect Mr G Berkeley Willis A R.I.B.A, a local man, was asked to draw up plans which were approved. Estimated cost £2,400. But the Charity Commission needed to investigate the plans for affordability and because of the deed of trust giving the Cambridge Road building to the hospital specified it had to be used for that purpose. The charity investigation took some time and I will spare you the details! The upshot is the plans were approved, but with 8 beds, revised down from 12. 

The Charity Commission had visited the old hospital and didn't consider it practical to make any further improvements or extensions there. The road outside was considered busy (and noisy), and the arrangement of wards over two floors inconvenient. Mr F.O Wethered who had initially supported the hospital move, changed his mind. He commissioned an architect to draw up plans to adapt the existing site, at the cost of £600-700, supported by some of the other subscribers. This would provide a new staircase, and put all the wards on the same floor. He also thought if the hospital would amalgamate with the Provident Nursing Association, more home visits would be possible, reducing the number of those who needed admitting to hospital in the first place. But those in favour of the move said the new site would be much more versatile as it allowed for expansion as well as being quieter and healthier. And they had also raised a lot of funds. With arguements going back and forth, the staff of the old  hospital had had enough and issued an ultimatum. They gave notice that should the plans come to nothing, they would "with deep regret, be obliged to sever their connection with the hospital". Finally the hospital went ahead. 

A last rush of fundraising saw a wide range of events including the popular hospital parades by the local Friendly Societies joined by the Marlow Town and Salvation Army bands. The 1912 one saw 1,000 people attend the open air service at Court Garden at the conclusion of the march. (The parade started at Star Meadow off Wycombe Road at 2pm and went along Chapel Street, Dean Street, Cambridge Rd, Oxford Rd, Quoiting Square, High Street and Glade Rd. A star attraction was a Wethered brewery vehicle converted into a hospital scene with master F Nicholls as the patient.)

The new hospital would have two wards, one male and female, each with 3 beds. The other 2 beds were to be in single person wards, to allow for isolation of the infectious. And of course there would be an operating theatre and an outpatient department. It was opened by General Higginson in August 1915. As this was obviously war time, the trustees  were empowered to place the building at the disposal of the army authorities should the need arrive. Cambridge House was also placed at the authorities disposal. After the War it was noted that the new buildings design had allowed the hospital to run at full capacity during the war, managed by just the Matron and a probationer with the able assistance of  a cook and servant. Of course this is the staff levels that tended to run the old hospital at full capacity too, but with fewer stairs and corners to clean we can hope it was a less exhausting business! 

Matron Mary Cole would not make the journey to the new site. Once the hospital had secured it's future, she resigned, her health having suffered due to the burden of her workload. She had given 25 years unrelenting dedication to her work in Marlow. 

The work of Nurse Cole or Sister Cole (either title of which was used at the time to refer to her) must have saved dozens of lives, alongside the surgeons, servants and nurses working with her. And by helping the injured breadwinner avoid permanent disability they helped still more families avoid destitution. 

Related Posts

Biography of Edward Riley here

Biography of hospital surgeon Dr John Dunbar Dickson here

Call the Apothecary here

Marlow Hero Nurse Cassidy here

Matron Mary Cole here

Benjamin Atkinson, surgeon here

Midwife Sarah Price here

Some of the patients treated at the hospital here

A full list of medical related posts can be found under the general history option on the top drop down menu. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors.