Georgian Victualler And Lock Keeper George Phelps

 This post is dedicated to George Phelps, the first collector of tolls at Marlow pound lock when it opened in 1773. George kept the role up until his death more than 30 years later. 

Born around 1735, George was most likely the son of the Marlow miller also known as George and his wife Elizabeth. Millers had a big role in managing the earlier flash locks both in terms of manipulating the water to suit their milling needs, and when convenient, providing the flash of water that allowed barges to progress up the river. So George probably learnt many useful things about the River Thames from his father. When Marlow got a brand new pound lock for the first time, George junior was therefore a good candidate to be appointed toll collector there. Boats passing through had to pay a fee to use it. He would also need to manage the lock with a view to preventing excess flooding of the farmers fields about Marlow during bad weather.

 It's hard to be sure how often George was required to open the gates for passing barges. The flash lock at Marlow wasn't opened every day as it took too long for the water levels to recover afterwards enough to allow the millers to get on with their work. The pound lock did not suffer in the same way so could be opened much more often. No more extended waits to pass on for the bargeman arriving at Marlow to find they had missed the flash. Having studied the lives of other early lock keepers on the Thanes of the time, it's obvious that most had another job too. In fact some complained that the increased water traffic represented too much work for them as it prevented them getting on with their occupation. Clearly at least some didn't consider it a full time job but obviously some locks were busier than others. This is probably why later regulations for lock keepers specified that they had to be physically present at the lock must of the time.  For some the occupation was easy to slot around lock keeping anyway such as baking bread at Hambledon Lock to sell to bargeman and others passing by. Advertising the fact you offered refreshments at the lock house was prohibited in the 1860s but that didn't mean the provision of food actually stopped. 

So it's perhaps not surprising that lock keeper George is also identified as the keeper of the small riverside "Bowl and Pin" inn or beer house. I have found several lock keepers who brewed beer to sell on before it was frowned upon. The Bowl and Pin was in what was known as The Old Bridge House which was demolished in 1790. The year before a new bridge had been completed at the bottom of St Peters Street, and the Pin was removed to improve access to it. It was one of a number of properties than belonged then to the Bridgewardens of Marlow and so the income from its rent was supposed to be invested in the upkeep of the bridge. You can read more about this "new" bridge, the fore runner to our current suspension bridge in a post here. It was therefore only a short distance from the lock. It's likely that George's family looked after the Pin day to day, despite his name on the licence. This was common in Marlow and elsewhere with the innkeepers taking on other roles that took up so much of their time they could never physically be serving beer or ale at the same time. (Such as the many carriers come beer shop keepers who were away from home for several days a week.) George still identified himself as a victualler in his will. I had assumed the two George's were relatives initially until I ascertained they died on the same day. 

George received a weekly wage for collecting the lock tolls. This was 5s 6d a week in 1773. Later the wage was withdrawn and the keepers were compensated by the provision of free accommodation and the ability to keep the tolls from pleasure boats. In George's day there was no lock keepers cottage at Marlow. None of the neighbouring locks such as Temple and Hurley constructed the same year were provided initially with accomodation either. They did get some before Marlow however. Presumably George was happy to live nearby. 

When George died in 1811 he was in his 70s. He was succeeded as lock keeper by John Dell who had married his daughter Sarah. A summary of his will can be read here

You can see the grave of George and wife Elizabeth at All Saints: here

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

 Further information 

To find all mentions of any individual  check the A-Z Person Index on the top drop down menu. Thousands of people are listed. 

A tribute to our bargeman here

Other posts related to the River Thames at Marlow here

List of 100+ old Marlow pubs/beer houses/inns etc here

Victorian female lock keeper Martha Lomax of Hambledon here

© Marlow Ancestors.

Phelps and Dell Graves, Parish Church, Great Marlow

 

George Phelps Dell, died Jul [31st 1850], Age 5? 

And Ann Maria his wife who died Feb 19th 187? Age 77

And Robert Davis Dell

And James Dell 

[Note that George Phelps Dell was a publican in the 1820s to 1831 at the Barge Pole]

As Above, closer view. 

John Dell. Details obscured by another grave stone which has been rested in front. Lock keeper at Marlow from the death of his father in law in 1821. 

Fallen grave lying on side:

George Phelps d. Apr ?? 1811, age 76. And Sarah wife ....????1775 age ?? (George was licencee of Bowl and Pin, at St Peter Street at time of its demolition 1790, and was still described as a victualler at his death but we do not know where he was then operating from. In our eyes he is better known for another role as the lock keeper of the first Marlow pound lock.  Read his will here and a detailed biography here His daughter Sarah married a John Dell ).

And James Dell died Dec 3rd 1823 age 21

And John Dell, brother to the above Born May 2 1801, Coventry. Death Date unreadable. 

Same as above, another view of the toppled grave.

 

More grave photos for Great Marlow, Little Marlow and Hurley with a few from Bisham can be found under the Graves option on the menu here All mentions of an individual on the blog are listed on the Person Index in the top drop down menu. Over 10,000 people are featured.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse this content for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here.

Will Of George Phelps Of Great Marlow 1811

Victualler. Will written and proved 1811. 

Says indisposed of body but of perfect mind, memory and understanding.

To Thomas East of St Clement's Lane, Lombard Street, London and to John Dell of Great Marlow in trust all money held in government funds or stocks in my name at the Bank of England and all my dividends and interest after funeral expenses paid. They to suffer my daughter Sarah Dell wife of John Dell to have the dividends, profits and interest during her lifetime.

After her life the principal to be equally divided between her children.

Also to my grandson George Phelps Dell £50 at age 21.

Daughter Sarah Dell all household goods and furniture for her life then they to be sold and the money split equally between her children.

All residual property to daughter Sarah Dell for her own disposal without the say of any husband of hers.

Executors Thomas East and John Dell.

George made a mark rather than sign.

Witnessed John Allnutt of Great Marlow, William Plater (made mark), Elizabeth Thorn.

Notes:

Formerly at Bowl and Pin, St Peters Street, which was demolished 1790. Uncertain where he was 1811) See his grave and that of other family members here. [He was also the first lock keeper at Marlow when the pound lock started in 1773, a role he kept up until his death. Many early lock keepers had other jobs. George's son in law John Dell succeeded him as the collector of the lock tolls. More information on George's pound keeping role, see here ]

Will held at the National Archives, Kew.

Transcribed by me and then summarized and paraphrased here.

More wills under the Wills section on the menu. All mentions of a person on this blog can be found under the Person Index. 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my summary with credit to this blog.

Marlow in the Swing Riots 1830

 In the November of 1830, a number of anxious farmers, and prosperous Marlow citizens gathered for a public meeting in the Upper Crown. The reason for their concern was repeated reports of the "incendiaries" as they called them, who had been targeting the hay ricks in the wider neighbourhood. Farm workers unhappy with their low pay and working conditions, had been making their points by commiting acts of arson, destroying property worth large sums. This was not a meeting to discuss how legitimate any of the grievances were, and the papers stressed it was the principal citizens that were in attendance. The purpose was to decide the best way to protect property. Two courses of action were decided on, to swear in extra special constables, and to mount a foot and horse patrol of the neighbourhood hay ricks. Handbills were also circulated in Hambledon and Medmenham encouraging men to come forward to be sworn as constables to "assist in the preservation of peace."

 

Those Marlow men who kept a close eye on national news would have been aware that trouble was likely to strike close to home. Throughout the South East there had been so called Swing Riots since the summer. These were named after the fictional "Captain Swing" whose name was used to sign warning letters to local farmers and employers, threatening them with acts of arson and property destruction if they did not give in to paticular demands. One act of rebellion seems to have inspired others, and the focus locally began to be on "machine breaking" or putting out of action threshing machines and other mechanical devices that were reducing employment opportunities. Some of these contentious threshers were made locally, by Marlow ironmonger, engineer and agricultural implement maker John Moss. Reports of the excellent amount of work one of his machines was able to achieve in a short time at a farm in Rickmansworth, may have inspired some farmers locally to invest in one themselves. They could also be hired. 

A LETTER IS RECEIVED

Farm labourers looking for threshing work were only too aware of which farms had the threshing machines on hand to partially replace their labour. In November 1830 Mr Wright at the Marlow Paper Mills, Richard Webb at Marlow Bottom Farm, Joseph Biddle of Town Farm/High Wycombe and James Phelps of Temple Farm were amongst a group of local farmers and paper mill owners who received a dreaded Swing letter. Their property was threatened unless they did away with the machines that were taking away jobs. 

Joseph Biddle had read enough reports of the violence occasioned by a refusal to cooperate with the rioters, and was in no mood to take chances. He immediately had his new threshing machine taken down. He had a large number of ricks in close proximity and said it would be impossible to save the whole should one be ignited. Mr Phelps of Temple followed his lead. Richard Webb was said to have burnt his own threshing machine to pre-empt any action. And then they waited. 

A week or two later these letters were followed up by some targeting smaller landowners and gentleman farmers including William Atkinson (Marlow Bottom, Town End and the Rookery farms), Mr Wethered and  Mr Lovegrove.  

THE NEWS FROM WYCOMBE

Most reports of a Swing Riot starting begin with some mention of suspicious strangers being seen in the town and those at High Wycombe were no exception. Some of the rioters gathered at Flackwell Heath, first in the beerhouse of John Sarney (the Leathern Bottle) and then on the Heath itself before proceeding to attack a number of the paper mills in the vicinity of Loudwater. Some of the mill owners tried to reassure the men that the machines had been taken out of use, but it was usually to no avail and the mills were broken into and equipment destroyed. An 'express message" was sent to the Town Clerk at Marlow, to warn him to prepare for a similar attack on the Marlow Paper Mills. What happened next is subject to wildly different eye witness accounts published within the next few days. 

Some accused the town clerk of panic. But this is with hindsight. He had no way of knowing which direction the rioters would come next. He first had to spread word, without the aid of telephone, around the town. So he ordered the alarm bell at the Town Hall to be rung, usually reserved for announcing a fire. We might expect the church bells to be rung, but there is no mention of this. This summoned the town criers to the Crown, who then went to their appointed places to make a public announcement. This was apparently to alert householders to a looming risk to their home and persons, and to request they gather to decide the best course of action. This was considered to be to dispatch a message to Colonel Clayton, the magistrate, at Harleyford. Unfortunately, Clayton had already decided on his own best course of action. That was to go shooting, and leave things to the special constables he had seen sworn in. The differing reports of the rest of the days action can partly be explained by those who seem to support Clayton and were therefore keen to dismiss the riots as over hyped and nothing that justified Clayton staying at home in case he was needed. Clayton said he thought the constables could have dealt with things, and he would not want to burden the parish with any added costs that other protective measures might entail. 

But our town clerk needed someone to take charge and so he sent a message to our two MPs, Mr Williams senior and Junior at Temple. They were thankfully at home and immediately came to Marlow and set up at the Crown. They then began to swear in a number of additional Special Constables, and were joined by other magistrates.

Some eyewitness accounts declare there was panic in the streets with woman rushing home with children in their arms, and householders arming themselves with whatever was to hand. Shops were barricaded and shutters closed. Other eyewitnesses, said that while a few "old women" and "gentlemen commonly denominated as dandies" were alarmed, the only panic was seen in the actions of the Clerk and MP (who was a political rival to Clayton). The streets were perfectly quiet they say. On the other hand others stated that it was decided to send a horse and cart to fetch a "depot of muskets kept in the neighbourhood" and they also considered sending for Colonel Clayton's small cannons that were kept at Harleyford and used on ceremonial occasions. These might be taken to the Mills as a deterrent they thought. It isn't clear if this messenger was sent. But an unnamed man was despatched to Reading to fetch the military. Unfortunately he was told he should have gone to Windsor barracks instead so it was after midnight that help arrived in the form of 30 Grenadier Guards and their officer, travelling in a coach, post chaise and cart. 

In the end, the rioters never made it on to Marlow. We may never know how many Marlow men travelled to Flackwell Heath or Wycombe to join in. But 21 year old Little Marlow ploughman and agricultural labourer William Knibbs (Nibbs) (born Flackwell Heath) was one of several Buckinghamshire men sentenced to 7 years transportation for role he played in the "riotous assembly" at Loudwater and resisting arrest at the scene. This was an immediate commutation of a death sentence. He left the UK on the ship Proteus with 111 other prisoners on 12 April 1831 and arrived in Van Diemens Land, Australia on 3rd August. He died there age 75 in 1884. 

Flackwell Heath's John Sarney (Sawney) received a pardon after spending several years on the prison hulks. He was buried at Marlow in 1840 so presumably had moved there. Aged 53/4 when convicted. John had originally been sentenced to death before it was reduced to transportation for life, and he was moved to the prison hulks for something like 5 years before a decision to pardon him was made. His offence related to machine breaking at the paper making mill of William Robert Davis.  A large petition from local residents was presented to the authorities shortly after the conviction appealing for mercy for John and this was followed by a similar letter from many of the mill owners and others who had been attacked or threatened including William Davis and Marlow's Mr Wright. They no doubt felt that calm would better be preserved if mercy was shown to those not considered to be the most strident ringleaders. Farmer Edmund Collins, overseer of Wycombe continued to write campaigning for John's release from his extended stay in the hulks. Edmund said the delay in making a decision in the case had prolonged the torture for wife Sarah who was "almost out of her mind" with stress and worry.  Indeed Edmund offered to employ John should he be released.  

Other local connections:

(All of the below spent time on the hulk York at Portsmouth before being transported on the Proteus as above, unless stated)

 Aylesbury's John Blizzard, whose wife Mary was living "on the parish" at Little Marlow at the time of her husband's trial. He was sentenced to death but this was commuted to transportation for life. He had been involved in the destruction of Zachary Allnutt's paper making machine at High Wycombe. 

William Butler was a native of Little Marlow then living in Woburn. A farm labourer, he was sentenced to death commuted to 7 years transportation for his involvement in the machine breaking at Allnutt's paper mill as above. 

John Moody - 26 year old ploughman and Little Marlow native. Offence again relates to Allnutt's mill. Death sentence commuted to 7 years transportation. 

William Moody age 22, of Little Marlow. Probably brother to above. Death sentence commuted to 1 years imprisonment. 

Related Posts

1847 election riots Here

Chartist Edmund Stallwood here

Every mention of an individual here can be found listed in the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

SOURCES - a selection

A Guide to Early Modern History, 1830- 1835, Cory, William Johnson. C Paul &Co 1882. 

The Life & Times of Swing, the Kent Rick Burner. "Swing, Francis".  R Carlisle, 1830.  

Berkshire Chronicle - 27 November 1830. Copy from the British Library and accessed via the BNA March 2021

The News (London)  21 November 1830, as above

Reading Mercury 20 September & 29 November 1830, as above

Windsor and Eton Express 28 August,  27 November, 4 & 11 December 1830, as above

Oxford Journal 27 November 1830, as above

Albion and The Star 26 November 1830, as above

Sun (London) 25 November 1830, as above

History Of England from the year 1830- 1874, Volume 1. Molesworth, William M. Chapman & Hall, 1886. 

https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/proteus. Accessed April 2021. 

Hampshire Machine Breakers, Jill Chambers. (J Chambers 1990)

©MarlowAncestors