People of Potlands (Portlands) Great Marlow

This post tells something of the people who lived in Potlands (morphed to Portlands in about the 1870s), a higgledy piggledy collection of about 7 cottages and outbuildings plus some small market garden plots that sat behind West Street, next to what we now call Portlands Alley. All are long gone. The name was present in the 1600s, and buildings erected there by the mid 1700s but this post focuses on the people of 1800s Potlands. Portland Villas, on the opposite side of the alley, will be a separate post of their own in the future.

A large number of the male residents of the Potlands cottages were gardeners, both domestic and market. The Bradshaw family rented market garden grounds off both sides of West Street from at least the late 1700s, including in Potlands. Members of the family were still there at the time of the Victorian censuses. William Bradshaw, a gardener, and his wife Catherine, a lacemaker, lived in Potlands for decades of the 1800s. Their son William and his wife Sarah also made their home there. William senior won multiple local prizes for the fruit and vegetables he grew in his gardens- plums, pears, beans, peas. 

John Neighbour (born July 1804, according to his census entries in Monks Risborough, Buckinghamshire) was the gardener to the Wethereds at the large house Remnantz in West Street, and another prize winning vegetable grower. He too was a long standing Victorian resident at Potlands. His son William born 1834 grew up to be the much lauded gardener of Court Garden house near the other end of Potlands Alley. He lived with his wife Emma in the Lodge in Pound Lane in 1861 before bagging the even more prestigious job as Head Gardener to Sir William Clayton at Harleyford in 1866. Once again here he was a prize winning gardener though his speciality was flowers such as freesias and petunias rather than fruit and veg. 

Samuel Quelch the coachman who lived at Potlands with his wife in 1861 probably worked either at Rennantz or Court Garden. The Wethered family of Remnantz definitely owned 2 cottages in Potlands.

Adding to the country feel of this address was the piggery at least one cottage had next to it in the 1830s. Going to a pump or well to fetch water helped reinforce the rustic experience. Potlands got no mains water supply until 1903.

On a more industrial note on one side of Potlands Alley beyond the cottages lay Wethered's Brewery which was a major employer in the town and which against all odds managed to persuade several Potlands men to work there rather than in a garden. Examples include Charles Bateman a brewery labourer resident there in 1881 and Henry Smith a maltster in the same year. And 27 year old 1901 resident Francis Faulkner was an assistant mineral water manufacturer. Charles Bateman was summoned to the local court for driving his cart without a rein in 1870. To be honest the brewery horses were generally so well trained and rehearsed in their routines that they needed very little guidance on the road, but Victorian law was inflexible on that point. 

When the residents weren't hard at work they had a wide choice of public houses within a stones throw from their homes. The absolute nearest one was the Red Lion which was perched on the corner of Potlands Alley and West Street. Potlands resident John Loosley, a labourer, stopped off for a drink there on his way home from a trip to Henley in 1832 and had his cotton umbrella stolen from the premises. 

Alfred Neighbour (born 1840, son of William above) who grew up in Potlands became the landlord of the Red Lion. Like most Great Marlow historic landlords he managed more than one premises in his time so our Marlovian ancestors would also have seen him and his wife Emma behind the bar of the Dog and Badger in nearby Medmenham. In 1867 as landlord of the Red Lion Alfred was summoned for allowing gambling at cards on his premises. However the Red Lion wasn't a very troublesome pub overall and the cottages of Potlands were generally a quiet place to live. (Read a biography of Alfred Neighbour here) Robert and Mary Loosley had a pair of sheets stolen from their garden in 1858 during a mini crime spree in the town and there was the occasional drunk arrested in the nearby alley or a robbery there during the Fair, a tragically destitute and starving man stole a half sovereign that Mrs Jane Bradshaw had just put on her mantlepiece in 1879 but that's about the extent of crime in the immediate vicinity. Robert Loosley, born circa 1805 was, by the way, another of Potlands's gardeners. He was the brother of the John Loosley who had his umbrella stolen in the Red Lion. 

What of the occupation of the ladies of Potlands? Eliza May born when her parents (Joseph - a gardener!- and Hannah Jane nee Brown) lived in a Potlands cottage in 1833, grew up to run a boarding house by the sea in Hastings Sussex with her siblings George and Jane. Given that Hastings was popular for seaside holidays / recuperation and that the Mays had a plum spot on Carlton Parade near the beach they may well have found themselves lodging other Marlovians down for a rest cure, or bumped into them on the seafront.

Like so many widows in Victorian Marlow 47 year old Elizabeth Faulkner resident in 1901 earned a living as a seamstress. Living with her was her widowed father Jonathan Brown who was ...yes you guessed it - a gardener! Elizabeth was the mother of Francis Faulkner mentioned above. 

Martha Neighbour, wife of John the gardener above, worked as a seamstress both before and after her widowhood.

Many widow seamstresses would have been returning to the trade they had pursued as young unmarried women. Ellen Smith living in Potlands with her family in 1901 was a 17 year old trainee dressmaker. 

A linked trade was that of lace-making as followed by amongst others 13 year old Ellen Chown and 15 year old Eleanor Merchant.  Ellen Chown was living with her mother and stepfather James Hopkins, who from other sources is known to be a labourer at the brewery. The family later moved out onto West Street. In 1862 Ellen found James dead in bed at the age of around 58. The inquest demonstrated just how worn out James was- here was a man who for years had struggled for breath and coughed of a morning, whose legs were 'bad' and who was starting to suffer from palpitations too. The shocking thing for us today looking back is that despite all these symptoms Ellen testified that she considered this but middle aged man to be in good health! Low was the general standard of wellbeing for manual labourers in those days. James had the day before his death returned home from work at 6pm, had only a cup of coffee and a slice of bread and butter to eat, before retiring to bed at seven. He was up again at 10.30 because he had as a matter of routine to put in another hours work overnight filling barrels. He returned just past midnight and should have been up again ready for work between 5 and 6 am the next day. Worried that he wasn't, Ellen went to check on him and found him dead. The inquest was held in the Red Lion. By sad coincidence Ellen was herself found dead in her bed in West Street in 1891 resulting in another inquest. She too was someone who was someone usually short of breath. She was formally identified by her half brother George Hopkins who had moved to Cookham and, true child of Potlands that he was, became a gardener. The last person to see Ellen alive was her friend and previous Potlands resident Sarah Smith to whom Ellen spoke her final words of "Good night, God Bless".

The deaths of both James and Ellen were deemed to be due to natural causes.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

Related posts:

To find more posts about Potlands or nearby addresses like West Street and Hayes Place see this index.

Every mention of a person on this blog can be found on the A-Z person index (over 4,000 people at last count).

More posts relevant to the Red Lion can be found on the Pub Related index.

Where your gardener ancestor worked: here

Some sources:

1841, 1851, 1861,1871 and 1881 census Great Marlow my transcription from microfilm. Census information remains Crown Copyright.

Hastings census 1871,81,91 and 1901 Great Marlow census transcribed from microfilm by Jane Pullinger.

Bucks Gazette 20th October 1832.

Reading Mercury 20th Feb 1858. South Bucks Standard 16th Jan 1891. Copies held at the British Library Archives, via the BNA.

1833 parochial assessment original working notebooks, held by me and transcribed by me. 

Parish registers.

Additional research notes by Aiden O'Brien. 

Crooked Billet Sheepridge Little Marlow

Sheepridge is a tiny hamlet -it consisted of 13 homes in 1902- by Little Marlow.

Historical Landlord listings for the Crooket Billet:

1858- 1876 Maria Smith. In 1862 she was fined for using two jugs of deficient measure in her pub. She died in 1876. She was the widow of John Smith. The two lived at Sheepridge from at least the time of the 1841 census.

1876-1877 John Smith briefly as Maria's executor.

1877-1881 James Carpenter. Wife Rosannah also worked behind the bar. She was punched in the face by a belligerent customer Henry Beaver of Marlow for refusing to serve him and his friends another pot of beer after they ran out of money to pay for it. As a serial offender Henry was sentenced to 6 weeks in prison with hard  labour. Bucks Herald 22 Feb 1879.

1881- 1882 William Lovegrove. Some references put him there 1883/4 but licence transferred 1882 to Moses Tranter. 

1882-91 Moses Tranter. A shepherd before he had a pub. Moses gave evidence against some poachers he had spotted near the pub in 1882. He had been summoned for poaching himself as a teen. In 1891 moved to the Queen's Head Little Marlow and was later at the Live And Let Live beerhouse in Booker. Moses died in 1896 after falling suddenly ill while gathering hay in a field at Boulter End. He was a only 47. Left Widow Hannah and children including J.W Tranter, see below.

1891- 1896 Thomas Twitchen

1896-1899 Joseph Pope.

1899- John William Tranter briefly. He was called to war service in the Transvaal so the licence was transferred  to his mother Hannah Tranter.

1899- 1902 Hannah Tranter. Widow of Moses Tranter above. Hannah was née Bryant. She moved from the Live And Let Live in Booker which she had taken over from her dead husband in order to take over the Crooked Billet on behalf of her son who had the licence but was called into service in the South African Wars.

1902-  Hannah Tranter, James Jennings

1903- Hugh Hames

1903- T Jennings (very briefly)

1903- 1906 William Quelch. In 1906 accused of opening his pub illegally on a Sunday, and the previous year 8 men were found drinking there after hours. 

1910- Harry Sarney.

1910- 1911 Charles Barnes.

1912- Arthur Bristow. 

Our listings focus on pre WW1 or 1920's publicans. 

Pub occupancies are determined by me from wills, censuses, court cases, adverts, property records etc. Dates next to a landlord are for when I have firm historic evidence of their occupancy. They may have been there earlier or later too. Ongoing research- I will fill gaps as I sift through my research notes.

To find other Pub landlord listings or histories see the Pub Related option on the menu. For other Little Marlow content choose the Nearby Places menu option. All mentions of an individual here can be found in the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.  

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

 

"That Abominable Den" St Peter's Court

**This post is due for an update. Further, earlier named households in this court are now identified**

St Peter's Court was a small, impoverished court off St Peter's Street, Great Marlow. It was an address with a very bad reputation. 

The first reference to it by name I find is in 1848 but it was clearly not newly laid out at that time. There were in that year 19 homes in the court which between them were home to at least 85 people. A different report gives the numbers of people there as even more - 88 adults and 35 children in the 19 cottages. Cottages as a description is undoubtedly optimistic given that some were later called "hovels" and were likely single room accommodations.

The Court was very close to the river and both sewage from the town was which emptied into the River Thames and the Court's own poorly built cesspool contaminated the wells providing drinking water for the people who lived there. The single privy serving all the homes was persistently overflowing. The whole court was described as "charged with the most offensive effluvia".  At times the resident families literally walked through sewage to get to their tiny homes. Cholera and persistent low fevers plagued them. During the 1849 cholera epidemic in Marlow 3 people in the court died and 8 more became ill. An emergency meeting in the Town Hall saw it organised that the families were removed for the time being to the Old Workhouse in Munday Dean Lane. This had been let to someone who at first refused to allow the parish to take back any of the space but relented. The St Peter's Court houses were to be disinfected. Some may have been demolished as a direct response to the cholera- that plan was mooted at the time and certainly the 19 houses of 1849 had become only 5 in number by 1871. 

In the early 1860s the single cesspit that all the residents shared was replaced by a new one. But still just the one.

In 1867 the Reading Mercury referred to "St Peter's Court" as "that notorious court". The case it was reporting was of James Spark(e)s, convicted of assaulting fellow resident Sarah Stacey. Few other court cases seem to involve the people of the Court. But wretched poverty went hand in hand with a presumption of bad character in the popular imagination of the day.

I found five households in the Court on the 1871 census. There were two households headed by a James Sparks so it isn't possible to be sure which one was the James of the assault case. One James Sparks was a labourer aged 46. He lived with his wife Maria who was a 53 year old laundress and their children George aged 21, James aged 18, Thomas aged 15 and Martha aged 12. Martha was a scholar, her brothers all labourers.

The second head of household James Sparks was aged 60 and a coal porter. He lived with his 50 year old wife Sarah, 21 year old son William a spinner of something I couldn't decipher, 18 year old labouring son Henry, 14 year old labouring son James and 7 year old scholar daughter Mary.

Sarah Stacey was not still in St Peter's Court in 1871 though there was a Stacey family headed by 29 year old bricklayer William and his 24 year old laundress wife Elizabeth (née Sadler, married Marlow 1864). The only named victim of the 1849 cholera epidemic in the Court which I could find was a  Stacey- William aged 40, father to the William above. William senior was described as a person of "most moderate and temperate habits"  and previously in good health. He left a pregnant wife and 6 children, who had no choice but to go to the workhouse. William Stacey the younger could be the one who asked the Board if Guardians for financial help towards the emigration to Canada for himself, his wife and their children in 1873 but was refused. Miss Fowler of Marlow who had helped others migrate was raising money to help the Staceys so it is still possible that they were able to leave England. The cost was estimated at £20.

The other families in the Court in 1871 were the Illsley family headed by James a 57 year old labourer and Elizabeth his 68 year old wife and the Grove family headed by Thomas a 40 year old labourer and Mary his 35 year old wife [Elizabeth Illsley was nee Grove]. On the 1861 census Thomas is more specific and calls himself a wharf labourer. He lived then with Mary in "St Peter's Street". It is possible this was actually St Peter's Court not being given a separate address by the census enumerator. The elder Sparks couple are also censused as living in St Peter's Street 1861. Remember that the Court was already occupied in 1848. Someone had to be living there in 1861.

Thomas Grove was fined for being drunk one evening in St Peter's Street in 1874. He was aghast at the charge insisting he had been more drunk plenty of times when out with "swells" on the river than he had been that evening. This suggests that he was one of the many Marlow men who earned money by taking well-off tourists out on the river and guiding them to the best fishing spots. The fact that his co-accused in the drunkenness incident was William one of the Shaw family, boat proprietors and fishermen, of Marlow supports that. Both men were unusually confident in Court, challenging the witnesses against them when they spoke. Still the charge was a minor one. Nothing to make the Court seem a terrible "den". Thomas had nearly two decades previously spent a month in jail for stealing filbert nuts from a tree belonging to the vicar but this does not relate to his time at St Peter's Court.

James Illsley had a conviction for stealing in his younger days but again not when living at St Peter's Court. His daughter Sarah, a needlewoman, in 1873 and described as of "St Peter's Street" was a witness against Isabella Quelch who had stolen various articles from the well off Morgan family of that street. One of the articles was some calico which Isabella gave to Sarah to work up. For more on this case see this post. There was no blame or suspicion attached to Sarah. 

The poor quality buildings of the Court were seen as an eyesore and embarrassment for the town.

In 1875 it was announced that the Court was to be demolished and more salubrious housing put in place of it. The Bucks Herald reporting this said that everyone would be glad such "an abominable den" would be swept away (the people set to lose the only home which they could afford presumably not included).

The Illsleys moved out to St Peter's Street at first. The cottage they rented there was in 1877 stated as being unfit for human habitation because it was in an insanitary state and in need of substantial repairs. The landlord William Crook blamed the Illsleys for the insanitary condition of the cottage and said he had removed them and was going to do the structural repairs necessary for safety. The Illsleys were camped outside their former home, presumably hoping to be able to go back in once repairs were done or simply having nowhere else to go. It was then in the middle of winter. By 1881 they were in Dean Street where we can only hope they had at last the decent home they deserved. 

The Staceys ended up apparently in Turville (where Elizabeth's family was) and the younger Sparks couple went to Oxford Road. The Groves lived later in Oxford Road too and Station Road, where Mary died in 1892.

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

Related Posts:

Poverty in Victoria and Edwardian Marlow here

Life at Great Marlow Workhouse 1775-1843 here

To find all mentions of your ancestor here, use the A-Z Person index in the top drop down menu. For other posts about general Marlow history including other poverty and medical related posts, see the General Marlow History section also in the top drop down menu.  

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

Census information always  remains Crown Copyright.

Sources:

The Third Report Of The Commisioners Appointed To Inquire Into The Best Means Of Preventing The Pollution Of Rivers [Royal Commission] 1866. Published by G.E Eyre and W Spottiswoode.

Censuses my transcription from microfilm.

Newspapers, available British Library:

Bucks Herald 11 August 1849, 30th October 1875 and 27th January 1877.

Bucks Chronicle 6 Nov 1848

Reading Mercury 22nd June 1867 and 12th September 1857.

Parish registers, my old transcription.

 

Irving / Morgan the Drapers

The above Marlow High Street premises (photographed in March 2021) have a long history of selling clothes and drapery.

The first certain occupier of the premises was William Irving linen draper who was in situ there by 1824.

In the 1832 Post Office Directory by Kellys the business is listed as operated by William and Mary Irving. Whether Mary was William's wife or other relative it doesn't say. As well as being linen and woollen drapers they were mercers (that is sellers of silk and satin) and fire insurance agents.

William at least was still there in 1833 when his premises consisted of a shop (which would be part of the house), house and garden together worth £20 a year.

There is an excellent chance that William was a descendant of the Christopher Irving linen draper and chapman of High Street Marlow who died insolvent in 1778. The use of the name Christopher stretched back generations in the Marlow Irvings. 

They were members of the Congregational Church / Salem Chapel in Quoiting Square as were the next occupiers of the premises (by 1840), the Morgans who ran the business for decades. They too sold insurance as well as drapery.

First came John Morgan baptised at an Independent Chapel in Newport Pagnell in 1800 to William and Elizabeth Morgan. John and his wife Eliza were in Marlow by 1833.

Mr John Morgan the draper's son, while playing at sliding in the slippery High Street (the town's roads being famously bad at that time) was run over by a manure cart in 1840. Thankfully he was not badly injured. This child must have been either James (born 1836) or Joseph (1834) both of whom went on to assist their father in his business. James eventually took over as the proprietor after John retired. Joseph withdrew from the business in 1869.

In 1843 19 year old Harriet Shurley of Littlewick was found guilty of stealing a shawl and parasol from John Morgan's premises. She had come in on a rainy day and asked permission to sit down and shelter there. This was granted. When she left the articles were gone. John went to Charles Susan the pawnbroker a few doors down from him and found that Harriet had tried to pledge the items. Seeing that they were brand new, Charles felt suspicious and would not take them. They were later found, after Harriet was caught and admitted the crime, hidden in a rainwater tub in the yard of William Bond the builder (a post on him here). This was on the other side of the High Street. Harriet had two previous theft convictions in Berkshire so was transported for 7 years. She fainted when she heard the sentence.

It wasn't only in the shop that John Morgan had to watch out for thieves. Isabella Quelch the 16 year old servant girl he employed in his and Eliza's home at the Parsonage in St Peter's Street stole a large number of articles from him and his family in 1873 including 2 gold rings, 2 brooches, some rolls of calico, a pair of sleeves, 15 yards of lace,3 pairs of gloves and some odd ones, 5 pairs of stockings, 4 yards of brocaded silk, a kettle holder, 3 collars, 4 China cups and saucers and somewhat more strangely to us, a quantity of hair (probably for stuffing a mattress or chair.) She was sentenced to one month in jail with hard labour. Her mother Sarah Quelch of Wooburn Common received the same sentence for handling some of the stolen goods. Some of the stolen property belonged to to Morgans' married daughter Elizabeth Greenwood.

As time wore on the Morgans sold more and more ready made clothing as well as the traditional drapery and accessories. They always kept up with the latest fashions and when cycling took off James Morgan was quick to advertise material suitable for being made up into cycling costumes as well as ready made cycling gloves. At Christmas they also added dolls and toys to their offerings. 

By 1903 they were listing themselves as boot and shoe sellers, hosiers, milliners and hatters as well as drapers and outfitters. If you wanted mourning supplies you could also go to them, ditto for blankets or sheets. They were also agents for Dr Jaeger's Sanitary Clothing. Dr Gustav Jaeger from Germany had been making a stir for some years with his assertion that people were routinely being poisoned by wearing non - woollen clothing, especially if dyed a dark colour. Baldness, indigestion, spots on the body, chills, inability to keep up with your dance partner? Your insane wearing of linen is likely to blame. In rare circumstances camel hair was acceptable but otherwise woollen underwear, worn under further layers of wool was the only safe bet. To completely be safe you would also need to have woollen curtains, woollen carpets, woollen chair seats, woollen handkerchiefs etc.

James had married Fanny Havell Wright in 1861. The couple, their son William and daughter Alice were all fundraisers for the town's 1887 Queen Victoria's Jubilee celebrations (of which much more in future). James and Fanny were amongst the organisers of the celebrations as well as fundraisers towards them.

The Morgan family were also actively involved in local politics and their church. John, Joseph and James were amongst the main supporters of Liberal parliamentary candidate Captain Edmund Verney in his unsuccessful attempt at becoming the member for Great Marlow in 1868. He presented himself as an evangelical Christian and friend of the working man. Many of his supporters in town came from the Quoiting Square congregation. John was one of those on the hustings with Verney when the disappointing result of the election was announced.

Verney was eventually elected years later as an M.P for a different place. He was however expelled from parliament after being caught attempting to procure a young prostitute. How sad the devout Morgans would have been if they had successfully helped to elect such a representative!

Speaking of devotion Joseph Wright Morgan was one of those members of his church who took umbrage when minister Thomas Styles decided in middle age to marry a much younger woman. He and other worshipers broke away and held their own services elsewhere in protest. Initially they used hired rooms called the "Albion Rooms" but in 1861 Joseph Morgan organised the building "at considerable expense" of what was later known as the Music Hall or Lecture Hall in St Peter's Street as a place of worship for these breakaway Congregationalists. (Architect Charles Carter). He however opened it to hire for a set low fee to any local or philanthropic group regardless of religious or political affiliation. The fact it was well lit by gas, unlike the town hall at the time, was a major selling point and Joseph generously waived making an extra charge for the gas which was not a given back then! Today this building is the Masonic Centre. The breakaway church members returned to the main congregation in Quoiting Place / Oxford Road after Thomas Styles retirement in 1864. It seems all was eventually forgiven between the two men as when Joseph left Marlow in 1872 and thus his role as superintendent of the Congregational Sunday School, Thomas was one of those invited to his farewell celebration at the school and spoke of how the cause would feel his loss. If you want to read more about Thomas Styles see my post here.

Joseph was also fond of engaging in debates with others via the letters section of the local press about matters theological and political. He served as an overseer of the poor for Marlow and a chairman of the local Sanitary Authority. Eventually he moved to Enfield and worked as a printer.

John Morgan died in 1882, Eliza died in 1873, James in 1903 and Fanny in 1919. The South Bucks Standard reporting the funeral of James said that most businesses in the town shut between 2pm and 4pm as a mark of respect for James that day. The paper said "every sect and creed was represented at his funeral ..the business man, the working man, the nobility and gentry".

The business was then turned into a private company, with William, the son of James in charge. He had already acted as under manager for his father.

After the Morgans came the McIllroys (trading still under the Morgan name for a bit) and then WJ Daniel was in the premises.

Below is the shop in an advert from 1905.

Morgan Grave Photos:

Grave of John and Eliza Morgan in the graveyard Quoiting Square:

John Morgan d Jan 1882 age 82, Eliza d Nov 11 1873 aged 77.

Above: Grave reads:

In loving memory of dear little Ernest, the darling son of Joseph and Mary Jane Morgan, died May 29th 1869 aged 2 years and 9 months. 

Researched and written by Charlotte Day. Photos by Kathryn Day. 

Use the A-Z Person Index option on the drop down menu to search for other people on this blog.

Sources:

GRO Marriage Index from the General Registry Office, online.

The Builder, December 1860 

Property records in my family transcribed by me.

1832, 1869 and 1903 Kelly's Post Office Directories for Bucks etc, by Kellys Directories Limited. University of Leicester Archives.

Mussons and Cravens Commercial Directory 1853. University of Leicester Archives.

Pigotts Directory 1844.

My transcription from microfilm of census for Great Marlow.

Windsor and Eton Express 26th December 1840. Copy held at British Library and accessed by me via the BNA.

South Bucks Standard Feb 8th 1895 and 21st August 1896 as above.

Berkshire Chronicle 3rd June 1843, as above.

 Death Registration Index

Bucks Free Press 26th September 1873, Bucks Free Press Archives.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Edmund_Verney,_3rd_Baronet

Newport Pagnell baptism. England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8 Public Record Office London) https://family search.org/ark:/61903/1:1FW6B-24M