Will Of Baldwin Borlase Of Medmenham 1689

Will written 1675. Says he sick and weak but of sound mind.

Commends soul to God.

Burial at discretion of executors.

To his mother Dame Alice Borlase twenty shillings to buy a ring.

To cousin John Borlase of Great Marlow 20 shillings to buy a ring and to John's sister Mary Borlase £100 and to her sister Mrs Elisha Borlase £100.

Cousin Miss Mary Miller daughter of Humphrey Miller and Mary his wife (who is the testator's sister) £100 when she reaches the age of 21. [The term cousin was used for nieces and nephews as well as other relatives at this time].

To ....  ...ence £5

Mr William Barton £5

Mr Henry Cant of Hillingdon £5

To John Ingwood £5

Money to buy rings for each of the servants who live with brother John Borlase.

Loving friends Andrew Duffield of Medmenham, John ...of Hambledon, Thomas Clayton of Henley and Peter Dicconson of Medmenham and to John ...ley of Hambledon  15 shillings each to buy rings.

All linen,woollens, swords, belts to George ....well

To my dear and loving John Borlase of Bockemore  [Bockmer] in Medmenham, baronet all rest of his estate after legacies, debts and funeral expenses paid. This John made executor of the will too.

Witnessed by Henry Cant, William Barton ,John Norcott.

I (Charlotte Day) transcribed then summarized this PCC will from a copy obtained from the National Archives, Kew.

Many local wills are available on this blog including about a half dozen from Medmenham.

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

Wood Barn Farm Little Marlow /Woodbarn Farm

Compiled and written by Charlotte Day.

Spelling of farm is haphazard.

Historic occupiers (who are not usually the landowners).

Note: this was part of the Westhorpe estate. A mixed farm historically. 1.5 miles from Great Marlow.

Gaps in dates represent gaps in our knowledge. We have a lot of old notes to wade through. No doubt more gaps will be filled in the future!

HISTORY TIME LINE

1825 - Mr Cozens left the farm selling off all stock and the contents of his house. Grain and sheep were raised there.

1835 - 47 John Stone Miller was the occupier, possibly earlier. In 1835 two men who had had words with him set fire to a clover rick on the farm in revenge. The rick was entirely destroyed.

In 1841 Mrs Clark, wife of one of the farm workers resident at the farm left her toddler child in the care of another worker's wife who lived nearby. The latter got distracted and the child wandered out of the cottage. Searches could not find the child anywhere that day or night. The next morning the little thing was found curled up under a hay rick where it had crawled for warmth. Despite this effort the child had died of exposure during the night. The discovery caused devastation in Little Marlow. Mrs Clark was probably the wife of John "Clarke" mentioned below.

Also in 1841 John was given notice to quit by landlord George Nugent in order to pressure him into voting for Nugent's preferred candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election. All Nugent's tenants were so treated. Marlow elections were very dirty- we were famous for the fact. If the tenant voted the right way the eviction would be rescinded. John simply didn't vote at all, a brave decision but not one that would necessarily have guaranteed he could stay on his land. On the day of the election he was shot at by his farm door by drunken supporters of Nugent's preferred candidate. John refused to alter his decision not to vote for anyone if he couldn't vote freely. He was unhurt in the shooting but perhaps only because the gunmen were too drunk to shoot straight. The frame of the doorway he was standing in was hit. John's eviction was not proceeded with, probably because the shooting incident had already been too embarrassing for the Nugent camp and they needed the matter swept under the carpet as quickly as possible. There is no suggestion anyone from on high ordered or encouraged the attack but they had set a tone of intimidation in the election campaign and the consequences of that were probably more than they had bargained for.

John was assaulted by two men in 1844 resulting in a dislocated arm and also that year suffered six break ins in the space of as many weeks. It cannot be ruled out that these were further acts of political intimidation. Such things happened in Marlow. This decade was a time of violence and tension in both the Marlows, for many reasons however, not only political ones. Little Marlow and the nearby Handy Cross area suffered from a lot of theft. No wonder John probably got sick of the place. He left the farm in 1847 and his remaining crops were sold off at once - oats, wheat, hay and "spring tares". He had also been sheep farming there. John still retained some land in Marlow as two years later the Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News reported that beech fagots from "Monk Wood" in Marlow property of John had been stolen. John caught the men red handed and they were traced thanks to their identification by John Clarke, Miller's long term farm assistant. Attempts to have the men arrested caused civil disturbance in the town but eventually succeeded. 

1847-52 Thomas Parrott occupied the farm. After suffering from repeated thefts of barley from one of his barns he hid his ink stand deep in the barley. When police searched for further stolen barley he told them they'd know the thief because embedded in their booty would be his inkstand. Thanks to this ingenuity the thief, a farm worker for Thomas, was caught.  Thomas died in 1852 but in 1854 a Mr Parrott was still the occupier, obviously a relative.

1859-63 William Banwell has the farm. It was mostly a poultry and arable farm under him. He paid £400 a year rent. In 1859 he was robbed of turnip greens. The theft of these from fields occurred multiple times over the years from the farm as well as others around Little Marlow. Most thieves were impoverished women trying to feed their families, or children sent out by them to gather greens. Farmers often tolerated this to a certain degree with prosecutions coming because of the observations from police officers on patrol rather than complaints from the farmers. Turnips and swedes were largely grown for animal feed not human food at this period but some of the growing tops would be picked off and cooked like spinach and were available at local greengrocers. William Banwell left in 1863.

1860 - Westhorpe estate sale includes Wood Barn Farm consisting of 335 acres of farmland plus 20 acres wood. John P Ellames became the owner until his death. He later swapped his  Westhorpe estate for Little Marlow manor but retained Wood Barn. 

1863-72 occupied by William Curtis. He also had Seymour Court Farm though lived at Wood Barn. In 1868 extreme heat caused Thomas Clark working at Wood Barn Farm reaping wheat for William Curtis to die of heat stroke in a scorching July. He was one of two farm workers to die in similar circumstances across the two Marlows, and two more became seriously ill. 

The next year a 12 year old boy Edmund Clark who worked at the farm, presumably a relative of Clark above, set fire to a hayrick at the farm "for mischief".

William Curtis himself died suddenly of a fit of apoplexy while out in his fields in 1872. His son James Curtis took over.

1872-78 James Curtis (the son). He decided to give up in 1878 when his lease expired and all the farm stock was sold off. The Ellames then kept the farm for their own use with the bailiff James Brock in day to day charge of things. The Ellames main function of the farm became the supply of dairy produce to the Manor House and grain for feeding the game birds used for "sport" by Manor guests. Sheep, turkeys and other poultry were also raised commercially at the farm.

1878 + James Brock as above in charge of the farm. He lives on it too.

1899 - John P Ellames had died so farm stock and implements sold off.

1900 Mr W Wooldridge had taken over the farm but had already decided to leave and was selling up stock= 19 dairy cows, cattle, poultry, a few pigs. Farm had been let to someone else.

1901- Benjamin Hornby was now the farmer.

1904 - Benjamin Hornby prosecuted for cruelty by shooting a stray dog in the eyes and leaving it to die in agony. The full details caused widespread revulsion and are too distressing to repeat here.

1907 Benjamin's widow sold up her stock and left including a herd of  29 dairy cows and 9 cart horses. An Ernest Hornsby was mentioned at the farm also in this year.

1912 - 25 George Field kept the farm as well as Cressex Farm where he actually lived. In 1915 George was fined for the stomach churning condition of the room he placed uncovered pails of milk in prior to them being put into churns. This room was a sheep slaughtering room too and the pails were placed on the bloody floor. Animal matter was found by an inspector on the pails and animal hairs in the milk. Hungry anyone? It must be said George was not personally on the premises supervising at the time of the observed hygiene offences.

George died aged 71 in 1925.

1917 Farm for sale again. Now said to be of 314 acres and with four worker cottages not mentioned in previous sales.

1939 - Field Bros ran the farm. Henry Field lived in the farm house. A Mr C Field was also a farmer here.  Only one worker's cottage now obviously connected to the farm but 3 are in the sake a year later so 2 were probably just being rented out to non employees for a while. 

1940 for sale again 214 acres and 3 cottages plus farm house. Arable and pasture.

1943 -53  (at least) Mr Robert Barnes and Mrs Barnes. Robert had bought the farm and at least one  farm cottage. In 1944 in the Bucks Free Press Mrs Barnes advertised for a lady companion for an elderly lady at the farm (perhaps a live in relative unless Mrs Barnes herself was not young) and home help. She assured the applicants that she had a modern farm house with an aga.

1956 R Barnes and Son.

FURTHER INFORMATION 

For other posts on Little Marlow & nearby see the index here

Information on other specific farms can be found in the index here

To look for an individual on the blog (there's now info on 7,200 individuals here) use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. 

Compiled by Charlotte Day.

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

Selected References=

Oxford Herald and University Press 17th November 1835. Reading Mercury 25th July 1868. British Library Archives via the British Newspaper Archive.

Maidenhead Advertiser 3rd Oct 1900, Baylis Media Archive.

Kelly's Post Office Directory of Buckinghamshire etc, Kelly's Directories Limited.

Census of England and Wales 1841-1901, transcribed by me National Archives. 

Solicitors Journal and Reporter, July 1860, Law Newspaper Co, 1860.

Private letters.

Prince of Wales Pub, Mill Road (sometimes address given as South Place) - List of landlords

 

Updated by Charlotte March 2026

Address can be given as Mill Road / Lane or South Place - it's on the corner of the two. Occasionally it's given as Platts Row / Road which was a group of houses on the other side of Mill Road. Early records also refer to it as being in Strong Beer Acre / Lane (roughly the area on the right hand side of the upper part of Station Road when coming from the town).

1861 - James Twitchen (wife Alice). Note there was a different publican with this name at Little Marlow.

1864 - James Twi(t)chen "Strong Beer Lane" 

1866 - James Twitchen. Premises became fully licensed in September this year, having initially been refused this the year before. E.g gets spirit licence. 

1869 - James Twichen/ Twitchen. James moved to the Royal Oak Bovingdon Green. 

1871- John Miller. Many barge hands lodged there at this period.

1872- John Miller "Prince of Wales Inn".

1873 - John Miller had died so Cassandra Miller (nee Creswell) John's widow took over the licence.

1875 Licence transferred from Cassandra to Felix Atkins, who had married her.

1880 - had windows broken in the 1880 election riot. See here for more information. 

1886 - Cassandra died. See Cassandra's grave here

1887 - Felix Atkins "Platts Row" In this year Felix launched an action for slander against two individuals who accused him before many others of killing his wife. A juror was withdrawn for reasons I could not see and the case collapsed. It does not seem to ever have been revived. 

1891 - James Rose (also carpenter). 

1892 - J.C Read (see below too) 2. Robert Hawkins "Mill Lane".

1897 - James Rose. His wife Eliza Hannah died this year aged just 33. In the same year the couple lost an infant daughter. Eliza was said to have an obliging and courteous manner, and to be a devoted mother and wife. She died after a long illness, leaving 6 young children. James is a member of the Marlow Volunteer fire brigade.  Hold-over  given to George Brown. 

 

1898 - George Brown transferred premises to J C Read (hold-over again). Later this year Johnathan Read went to the Red Lion (q.v)

1900 - John Cook Read again (hold-over) to Robert Hawkins again. 

1901 - 1. Robert Hawkins. Around this time the Prince of Wales had one of the largest Slate Clubs in Marlow, an essential life support for many of Marlow's working class residents. To read more about them see the post here. It had 75-100 members on average. 

1902 - upon Robert's death Mrs Alice Hawkins 2.) Edward Baldwin. 

1903   Edward Baldwin. An Ex Sargent Major.

1907 - Norman George Clark who soon transferred the pub to Benjamin John Cheese.

1909 - Benjamin John Cheese transferred to John Colbourn. John came from Acton, and got the licence by the skin of his teeth as he'd had a conviction for allowing gaming at a previous premises. He managed to produce a letter from the Acton magistrates stating that his character was otherwise good, which saves the day. 

1910 - John Colbourn passed premises on to William Albert Robinson

1911 - Robert Mortis.

1915 - Robert H Chambers.

1920, 21 - Henry Baker.

1924 - Horace Gardner has licence but leaves for Red Lion, Penn. A hold over is granted to Arthur Baynes / Banes. 

1936 - from July - George Turnham who was previously a motor driver for 9 years. 

1939 - Arthur Banes.

1946 - A D Hadlow. In 1947 moves to the George & Dragon in Marlow. 

1960 - E Hale is moving to the Queen of England, Slough. Charles Gibbons will take over at Prince. He came from The Wheatsheaf which is due to close on July 3rd. 

For other related posts see the Pub related menu here

 For every mention of your ancestor here, see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.     

© Marlow Ancestors. 

SOURCES

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1863,1883, 1903, 1907, 1911,1915

Census - 1871, 1881, 1891. Transcription from microfilm by Charlotte.

 Historic newspaper articles from the South Bucks Standard and Bucks Herald, held at British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA. -

South Bucks Standard - 20 May 1892, 22 Aug 1902, Reading Mercury 8 September 1866.

Numerous ads, licence hearing reports, property transactions, wills, court cases etc.    

Executions And Turnip Rustling- Marlow Bottom Farm

Hold on to your hats- this is complicated!!!

C1767 - Webb family occupy "Marlow Bottom Farm", tenants of the Claytons. 

1813 - "Marlow Bottom Farm" given as 170 acres.

1829- 1832 Richard Webb occupied a farm with this name. Still owned by the Claytons. Wife Mary. Leased the farm and also Burford Farm in Marlow Bottom which had previously been occupied by James Webb, presumed father of Richard, and Thomas Rolls. Also had land elsewhere in Marlow as well as other property, especially in the Dean Street area. Burford was his by lease from 1813. Appointed executor of will of Elizabeth Winter written 1813, proved 1814. He himself died 1832. Photo of his grave here. In 1825 his former employee Edmonds was executed for twice stealing his horse (the same horse, stolen, recovered and stolen again). Richard said Edmund's had been a good employee once and asked he be treated with mercy to no avail. To read the full peculiar story, see Kathryn's post here! In 1830 he was one the local farmers threatened by letter for using mechanization on the farm. He does not seem to have given in to demands to remove his machines or been attacked by the Swing Rioters. For more on the Swing Riots in Marlow see Kathryn's post here. 

1833- The 1833 parish assessment lists "Marlow Bottom Farm" twice, once as owned and occupied by William James Atkinson, and once again as owned by the Clayton's and occupied by David and James Webb. So there are two farms now using the name! See below, and note that the short form "Bottom Farm" can refer to either of them or even to nearby Burford Farm. 

1833- David and James Webb have "Marlow Bottom Farm", the one owned by Clayton that is. It had grown to 256 acres.

1833- William James Atkinson owned and farmed a property designated as "Marlow Bottom Farm" of 305 acres. He continued to live elsewhere in Marlow however. For more on William and his family see here. William eventually, as described below, gave up the majority of his farm Marlow Bottom and let it out to others instead. The farm thereafter is usually given as much smaller as he kept some land back for himself. He may also have let portions of land to tenants other than the main farm occupier. 

1838- 1843 James and David Webb who were brothers, the sons of Richard and Mary Webb above. (Clayton property) In 1841 John Perry and Henry Green were fined for poaching on their land. The Perry family were notorious poachers. For more on them see my post here. In 1842 the two Webbs went bankrupt. Amongst money owed was to the parish for unpaid poor rate taxes. They had to sell off their horses, implements and crops of hay, wheat and turnips but obviously managed to continue at the farm for some while as both were still farming there 1843 and David at least was still at the farm when he died in 1846. Warrants were out for their arrest in 1842 because of the tax issue. At the same time there was a warrant out for David's arrest over an alleged assault of Eliza Frith. I don't know what happened about the latter charge. James and David also occupied Burford Farm Marlow Bottom until ejected by their landlords in 1843. In addition they farm 90 acres at Hill Farm. 

1844-46 David and James Webb (Clayton portion) David died in 1846 while away visiting his brother Alexander. James continued the farm until Michaelmas 1847. 

1848- Crops sold off, barley, wheat, oats from the farm of William James Atkinson "Marlow Bottom Farm". He continued to farm a small amount of land here until his death in 1850 when his property descended to his nephew Benjamin Atkinson who owned the farm until at least 1862. In that year he also owned and let let out Town End farm in Marlow. Benjamin is covered in detail in this post. 

1851- John Miller. Wife Mary. Mary raised the fowls on the farm, two chickens were stolen from her in 1853. I am unsure of whether he was at the Clayton or Atkinson owned "Marlow Bottom Farm".  John gave evidence at a hearing on local political corruption -see here.

1854 - 1860 Mary Miller, by then a widow, left and sold up her crops of barley, clover, peas and chaff as well as her stock of poultry. Ducks were stolen from her that year, as was a sack. For the latter offence Charles Frith was sentenced to a month in jail.;Yep, for stealing a sack. Mary died in Kilburn London in 1865. 

1860-1863 George Wells. He fell out significantly with a Mr Hall who had bought some of Mary Miller's crops which were still on the farm when Wells tried to come in as a tenant. Plus Mary Miller was still in the house and wasn't giving him the keys to his barns. His issues with Hall led to a suit in court, a counter suit for slander and then more suits. George Cannon the bookseller and chemist of Marlow High Street, unfortunate mutual friend of both parties, tried very hard to mediate but was ultimately unsuccessful. No wonder Mr Wells didn't stick around for long. He must have been sick of the sight of that stressful farm! Presumably George was at the Clayton owned farm.

1862- Benjamin Atkinson as owner farmed his "Marlow Bottom Farm" himself for a while but decided to give it up and put it up to let again in 1862. He was a doctor and did not reside at the farm at any point. It took until 1863 to get a new tenant. Benjamin said that he was giving up farming altogether so sold off the stock of both his Marlow Bottom Farm and Town End Farm in 1862. He held the farm until his death however with tenant's running it. Following his death in 1867 his widow Eliza held it. By 1880 she had a bailiff Mr Daniel Goodwin running things for her rather than renting it out to a tenant. He lived on site.

1863-1871 William Spiller. Not sure if he was at the Clayton or Atkinson owned farm but most likely Spiller was a tenant of Atkinson's as his arrival fits with Atkinson's relinquishing agricultural pursuits himself. Spiller's farm was mostly arable. He was fined 20 shillings for beating a boy who worked for him for disobeying him [Reading Mercury 14th July 1866, British Library].  The next year he was fined for employing a boy called Robert Twitchen aged just 10 years old as a carter! All but one of William's hens were stolen from the hen house in 1869. Left once his lease was up.

1870- A "Marlow Bottom Farm" is described as having a newly erected farmhouse and as being a corn and sheep farm. The farm is said to be in some sources 150 acres and in others 318 acres. It's never simple when it comes to tracing the history of the farms there! It would seem there were still two farms and sources were getting confused between them as to acreage.

1871-1880 Joseph Birch. Wife Emma. In 1874 John Todd of Marlow was fined for taking turnip greens from Joseph's field. Joseph went bankrupt in 1878 but seems to have managed to stay at the farm for a while afterwards. He was jailed in 1879 for several months after it was revealed he has attempted to move and conceal some of his property from his creditors. The main creditors were the executors of his late father to whom he owed £500 (perhaps a loan to start up farming?). They had one night forcibly removed much of his farm stock, horses and equipment so they could auction them off, effectively ruining him as a farmer and forcing the bankruptcy. He tried to keep back items such as his wife's piano. As he couldn't pay his rent his household furniture and crop of hay was seized by his unknown landlord. Joseph and Emma left Marlow for Chesham in 1880.

1878 - "Marlow Bottom Farm" for sale - but which one! Described as a "capital sheep and corn farm" with "dry and healthy land". Offered with modern farm house, 5 labourers' cottages and a little over 315 acres.  Same year another "Marlow Bottom Farm" containing 140 acres of land and woodland and a farmhouse is up to let. Told you things were complicated. The farm with 140 acres was put up for sale the next year but only a minor part of the land was sold.

1881 - A "Marlow Bottom Farm" now of only 86 acres was up for sale- arable, pasture and woodland with an orchard and farm house. Vacant possession. Perhaps this was the 140 acre farm which the owner attempted to sale in 1878 minus the little bit of land successfully sold at that time.

1881 in July Mr E.B Curtis entered into the "Marlow Bottom Farm" previously owned by Mrs Atkinson and was still there a year later. He knocked two workers cottagers into one for his farm bailiff to live in. Bailiffs were most often seen at farms where the owner or tenant reduced elsewhere but Mr Curtis did live in Marlow Bottom. He and his farm bailiff Daniel Goodwin couldn't get along and they parted company in under a year. It ended up in a court case in which Curtis was found to have given Goodwin insufficient notice when he fired him. This Goodwin was the same bailiff that had worked on the farm for Mrs Atkinson.

1888- a Mr Chilton at "Marlow Bottom Farm" but which one?

1884 - 1902 Henry White. Originally from Cornwall. Raised chickens, bees and field crops at "Marlow Bottom Farm" but which one?

1903- 1921 William Chappell. His wife offered rooms at the farm to rent to tourists. They seem to have taken over the premises of Henry White. Kept cattle, poultry, pigs. In 1906 their employee John Lovegrove had to have his thumb amputated after his bird scaring gun exploded in his hand. This farm was sold by unknown owner 1921.

1931-34 Mr F.C Mathews, a supporter of the Working Men's College of London. He invited some of the unemployed men training there to a summer holiday camp on the farm in 1933. Apparently gave up resting chickens on the farm in 1931 as he sold off all his stock and equipment. A Great Marlow Parish councillor.

1934 Mr William Ray Coryton of Marlow Bottom Farm had a serious fire in his farmhouse gutting a bedroom, dining room, the stairs and the hall. Two firefighters from Marlow Fire Brigade were injured in the attempt to control the fire. There was no water but a small well with which to fight the flames. Report Bucks Free Press 14th December 1934, Bucks Free Press Archives.

1938- poor boys from London brought here for a camping holiday. Alfred Arnold was the occupier, as he was in 1939 though he was described as a grocer rather a farmer. It is possible that the other former "Marlow Bottom Farm" had become Cranes Poultry Farm which appears at Marlow Bottom on the 1939 Register (Ancestry). Scout groups had held summer camps at the farm regularly for some years.

Farm occupier listings are compiled by me by cross referencing property records, ads, trade journals, censuses, wills, court cases and more.

To look for other people on the blog use the Person Index option on the top menu. There are over 10,000 people listed there. 

For other posts related to Marlow Bottom and nearby see here

Lots more farm occupier lists to come on the blog for both Great Marlow and Little Marlow areas.  Use the Specific Shops, Streets Etc option on the top drop down menu to find other farming related posts.

©Marlow Ancestors. 

The Poaching Perrys

The men of the Perry family of Dean Street / Hatches Row Great Marlow were notorious for their prolific, unapologetic and at times violent poaching in the 1800s.

The main suspects were brothers William and John Perry, sons of Joseph and Sarah (née Heather, married 1803). William was born circa 1804 and John in 1810.

Look them up on the census or other records and they tend to appear as harmless agricultural labourers and in William's case a beer seller too but at the end of that working day their other, to them probably more important work, began. It's a bit of a surprise that any game survived locally!

The first conviction for William I found was in 1830 when he received 3 months in jail for poaching. In 1838 he was fined for illegal use of a gun, while in 1839 he was forced to pay up after being caught trespassing in search of game. By 1840 he was already described as a notorious and long standing poacher. That year he was caught poaching by a gamekeeper at Shottesbrook. William beat the gamekeeper about the head with the butt of his rifle and escaped. Reports of the incident lead to two Windsor policeman pursuing and arresting him. Could they hold him between them? No. The Perrys were consistently described as tall, heavy built men. William was one of those in Marlow who sometimes fought with cudgels for a share of a prize pot. This sport had its heyday in Marlow late 1700s to about 1840s. He was said to be one of the best fighters in Buckinghamshire.

If William thought he would get away with attacking the gamekeeper however he was wrong. The Windsor constables he escaped from knew exactly who he was and where he lived.

Marlow Parish Constable Henry Stallwood, another Constable Daniel Cox, Tithing Man (Marlow was divided into East and West Tithings each with a man responsible for certain criminal matters on their patch) James Cox and Constable Horton from Windsor got together to try to take William into custody. They didn't expect it to be easy.

James Cox must have drawn the short straw as he was the one to knock on William's door.

The constables went round the back.

William was in and asked for the warrant to be read out in full to him, perhaps giving himself time to weigh up his options. John Perry the brother of William shouted at him to run away and save himself. His friend Charles Gibbons used the "say it backwards" language of criminals in those days to urge the same "t'nod og!" [don't go with him, the constable] . Horton however cuffed William and escorted him towards the door. A man called Richard Carr came in causing a distraction (not necessarily on purpose) and John Gibbons another friend of the Perrys who was also already on the premises attacked Horton and freed William. A different Constable stepped up and seized William getting him as far as the street. Horton followed and also took hold of the prisoner. At this point someone struck him on the head. Others including Charles Mould and Charles Gibbons moved in to try to rescue William once more. Horton had a staff as part of his official kit and used it to prevent this. People began pouring out of their houses in support of William until an estimated 100 people had gathered. Some openly called for the Constables to be killed. Horton was repeatedly hit by Charles Gibbons and Charles Mould and set on by a bulldog before being knocked unconscious with a stick. It was thought Charles Gibbons was responsible for that blow. A James Richardson dragged Horton away down a side way and confiscated his staff.

William made something of a run for it, to the cheers of the crowd, but the other constables did manage to capture him. They also recovered the unconscious Horton and sat up all night tending him. Later they successfully arrested James Richardson, Charles Gibbons and Charles Mould. All would be jailed for several months for their part in events.

Considering all these convictions it is a puzzle to see just how William managed to get a beer house licence. These had to be renewed yearly and you were supposed to have good character to get one. Yet time after time William was allowed to keep his beer house the Fox and Pheasant (appropriate title!) in Dean Street. He and his wife Avis (née Butler, married Great Marlow 1829), were there by 1861. William was still listed as landlord in the late 1860s when he was fined for being open illegal hours.

His last poaching conviction was in 1876. The weary sitting magistrate said that that occasion was the 10th time he alone had sentenced William, mostly for similar poaching offences.

William died in 1880 at the quoted age of 73 or 74 after falling out of a tree in Datchett whilst gathering walnuts and apples for his employer John Langley the fruiterer. It was thought a dizzy spell brought on by heart disease caused the accident. He fractured his spine in the fall. Avis had predeceased him. 

What of his brother John?

He started his criminal career in traceable records with a charge of handling a stolen silver pocket watch in 1829 when he was 19. In 1840 he was fined 10 shillings for shooting at the sign of the Fighting Cocks pub in Dean Street, causing it damage. Inebriated poaching practice? William East was charged with the same offence. The Easts seemed to have had something of a shakey on-again off-again relationship with the poaching Perrys. (Thomas East was one of those who witnessed the fight occasioned by William's arrest and gave evidence against Richardson in that case.)

In 1842 he was described as a "stout, resolute poacher" in the Windsor and Eton Express. The Marlow constable Henry Stallwood surprised him in bed with a warrant for his arrest on multiple charges of poaching at Fawley. Stallwood must have had a short memory as he believed John when he promised that he would come quietly and waited for him to dress himself before taking him outside. Can you guess what happened next?

Yes, John shoved him aside and ran off. Several days later Stallwood had another go. He found John in a beer house. John made no pretence of going quietly that time and struggled. Stallwood threatened to show him the work his Constable's staff could do if he kept resisting. John ignored him and ended up so badly injured his life was feared for. Despite having multiple severe head injuries and a badly bruised body he stood trial, found guilty and sent to jail for 14 months.

While he was being help in the lock up prior to trial various Dean Street women and men gathered outside the premises and urged him with their shouts to try to escape. They presumably didn't realise how badly he was injured at the time.

Did this experience put him off offending? 

Not a bit. As "John Perry the notorious poacher" he was back on trial for the same in 1843. 

He teamed up with his brother William in 1844 for another bout of poaching. In 1884 John tells the J P at his latest trial for shooting game, that now he's over 70 he will "go poaching no more". Knowing John he probably meant he would try not to be caught any more! The justices awarded John a £2 fine, promised  future angelic behaviour not withstanding. 

Joseph and Sarah Perry had two more sons - George born 1813 and Samuel born 1804. Both were convicted poachers. Samuel (m Mary Ann Miller) also ran the small Rose and Crown beer house in Dean Street by 1842. Samuel died in a tragic accident, falling from a ladder which gave way under him while he was gathering walnuts in 1844. Historic landlords listing for this pub is on the blog here

He served 3 months in jail for poaching in 1830 and a further 2 months for the same in 1837.

Poaching wasn't his only crime - he was jailed for being part of a gang that burgled a house in 1831 and stole 2 great coats, 2 pairs of breeches and sundry other articles.

Samuel's grandson Alfred Perry features in my History of Marlow Bridge post here

George received an unusually large fine of £5 for poaching in 1840. If he failed to pay it he was to be jailed for 3 month instead. He had been caught on the land of Colonel Higginson.

The same year he and his brother John were caught poaching together and described as "incorrigible poachers" when jailed again for two and three months respectively. Later reminisces recalled many a "desperate and more or less bloody struggle" between later parish constables Richard Davis and Tom Walker and a Perry or two. 

Later generations of Perry men clocked up their own poaching convictions too. The last I saw evidenced was in the 1930s.

Of course not all Perry men poached. I think it is fair to say too that the family seemed to have been thought of affectionately by those reminiscing about the old poaching days. If you weren't a poacher or an official they may have been perfectly nice to you. Something made those 100 people come out to support William that time. Poachers were arrested all the time, especially in Dean Street without the arresting officials being subjected to that much hatred.

The Perry women had no criminal convictions that I can find except Keziah (née Warwick married 1853) wife of a James Perry. She managed to get into a fair amount of trouble generally and was jailed in for stealing money from a shop till. I am uncertain how this James relates to the poaching Perry family above. He was the son of James and Ellen/ Eleanor. His brother Joseph went on to be landlord of the Fighting Cocks.

Sarah Perry mother of the Perry poachers and widow of Joseph worked as a lacemaker during her long widowhood. Elizabeth wife of John (née Coleshill m 1832) was a seamstress.

The trade of wooden skewer making was once a Marlow speciality. Various Perry men worked in that trade and and are amongst those that are featured in this skewer making post.

There was a wealthy lawyer named Nicholas Perry in Marlow in the 1600s. I have transcribed his will and it can be read here.  There were Perry residents of Dean Street by the mid 1780s.

*To find all mentions of an individual on this blog choose the Person Index on the drop down menu*

Post written and researched by Charlotte Day, with additional research by Kathryn Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use this research for local or family history purposes if you credit this blog and link here so that my sources also remain credited. Thanks.

Sources:

Censuses Great Marlow 1841, 51, 61, 71, 81 my transcription from microfilm.

Great Marlow Parish Registers, my transcriptions.

GRO Marriage Index.

Property records in my family.

Reading Mercury May 1840, 2nd December 1844.

Windsor and Eton Express 27th October 1838, 15th August 1840, 26th February 1842.

Bucks Herald 17th July 1841 and 14th August 1880.

Bucks Gazette 5th March 1831.

South Bucks Standard 25th October 1884 & 7th April 1899

Newspaper copies above are in the British Library Archives and supplied by the BNA. 

Miller Graves And Research, Great Marlow

©Marlow Ancestors. Use image or research if you give credit to this blog.

Note: We have grouped these graves together for ease of use as they are for people of the same last name but there is no reason to conclude that those on the different graves were related to each other.

Philip Homan Miller "of Moyleen" died 1928 aged 82 and his wife Marianne Sophia who died 1929 aged 78.  

Both of the above were artists / painters. Phillip and quite possibly his wife were of Irish origin. He contributed artwork to numerous illustrated newspapers of the day. 

Moyleen was a 14 room house/farm off West Street/Henley Road. This would at the time have been referred to usually as "West End". 

This grave is in Marlow Cemetery. Marianne was obviously a skilled maker of preserves as her "pure orange jelly" was exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society show in London in 1909, earning her a Banksian Medal no less. This was followed by other similar awards for fruit syrups and "confections".  During the 1st world war it is said that as part of the war effort a jam factory was based there. Local schoolchildren were allowed time out of lessons to pick rose hips and blackberries to feed the factory and others. In 1922 the Millers received planning permission to construct a jam factory at Moyleen, which may have been an extension of an existing concern or perhaps a restart of it. 

Update by Kathryn: 

Mrs Miller was a long term supporter and committee member of the Children's Country Holiday Fund. This provided the much appreciated opportunity for young children of London County Council schools to enjoy a fortnight's holiday in rural areas. During their stay the youngsters were encouraged to record the beauty of nature in drawings and paintings. The school with the best work, as judged by the Fund art critic Mrs Miller, received a trophy. In 1928 the two winning schools of that year would also receive two large artworks painted locally by Mrs Miller. They were entitled "Spring" and "Autumn" and showed woodland scenes. 

Lastly the Millers were well known in Marlow for starting the West End Social Club, in the early 1920's. This is almost totally forgotten now but was a big thing at the time. It was intended as a way for the residents of the west end part of Marlow to socialise together. There was little development in the Spinfield area at the time, and the Pound Lane area housing estates were yet to be built.  The residents of West End, Red Pits and Henley Rd therefore felt a little "out of the way". It started in a small way with the virtually compulsory 1920s Marlow entertainment of whist drives and talks on subjects such as rose growing. It soon snowballed and hosted events in the centre of Marlow too, including a hugely successful chrysanthemum show which had open classes attended by those from quite a distance. And the social club even had its own orchestra! More about it will follow shortly. 

The above grave is in All Saints Parish Church. It's badly weathered but here's what is readable..

John Miller who departed this life November 19th 187-

Aged 35 years. 

ALSO - 

Daughter of the above, Jane born Jan 1867, died June 1878.

It is not probable that these Millers are related to those at the top of the page.

© MarlowAncestors. 

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