Edward Riley - The Man Behind The Recreation Ground

Marlow has been fortunate to attract many benefactors and philanthropists over time some of whom have been largely forgotten and who we hope to resurrect in this blog. But one man who is thankfully well remembered for his generosity is Edward Riley R.I.C, largely because his name is attached to Riley Recreation Ground. Edward was an analytical chemist and metallurgist who co founded and acted as director of two steel companies. He was born in London and much of his professional life was based there, as well as in Leeds and at the Dowlais iron works in South Wales. I am not going to focus on his work, as this was mostly carried on away from Marlow, but instead I want to flesh out the man who spent the last couple of decades of his life here, or more specifically at his home "Bohemia" on the riverbank in Bisham. But I will just mention that Edward pioneered new developments in steel manufacture and won awards for doing so. His chemical analysis work was quoted by researchers for decades after he completed it, and he travelled to America at one point to advise miners and manufacturers there. Mrs Riley was interested in music and a published collection of songs were dedicated to her. 

At his death in 1914, Edward was said to have lived at "Marlow" (really Bisham) for 26-27 years. Bohemia was built for him in 1886 at a cost of £2436, not including the land itself. The builder was Marlow's Young Lovell and his team. For the first few years, he and wife Mary were generally listed as summer visitors at Bohemia. Even later they spent regular time abroad, on the continent and in 1894 they passed the winter in Egypt. These travels would provide material for Edward's lectures at the Marlow Institute. 

Edward and Mary quickly became involved in all kinds of initiatives that involved a committee. Marlow Rowing Club and Regatta, the Institute, Cottage Hospital, Provident Nursing Association, Anglers Association and more all saw their attention. He was vice president at the Institute for a number of years. And it was Edward that donated the use of his land for the erection of a landing stage and large hired marquee for the young Marlow Rowing Club as yet without a boathouse of their own. 

Edward was a subscriber to Marlow's original cottage hospital in Cambridge House, Cambridge Road. Mary was among the "lady visitors" who took turns to adopt the hospital for a week and make visits to cheer and comfort the patients. Those inside were not forgotten on other weeks however as the couple sent donations of things such as cake, fruit and vegetables on a regular basis. As the hospital was entirely funded by donations and what payments the patients could afford, these kind of gifts were frequently asked for and earnestly welcomed. 

Given this involvement with the hospital, it is perhaps surprising that Edward did not support the development of a new more spacious and convenient cottage hospital in Marlow. As a frequent attendee at the subscribers meetings, he could not help but be aware that the staff of the original cottage hospital worked liked Trojans and found their work made more laborious by the inconvenience of a relatively cramped building with steep stairs and inadequate plumbing. The whole staff in 1913 had in fact threatened to sever all ties with the hospital if no advancement was made in oft voiced plans to build a better one. But Edward thought the town could not afford to build or support a bigger hospital funded by donations, even though the building site had been donated for free. He feared that if funding should fail the cost of maintaining the hospital would be put on the rates (local tax) and that the local tradespeople and businessmen could not afford this as trade in town had been "ruined" by the advent of the motor car. Instead he thought perhaps the town could invest in a motor ambulance that would take patients to the well equipped hospitals in Maidenhead or High Wycombe, if they could amalgamate with one of those institutions. He thought getting enough donations to keep things going would be a continual struggle. Edward's concerns were not without foundation. The cottage hospital had trouble attracting subscribers at times, and the Charity Commission would only give permission for plans for a slightly smaller hospital than the committee originally planned, on affordability grounds. Edward obviously felt strongly about this because when his name was wrongly included in a list of donors to the building fund of new hospital, he wrote to the newspaper to correct the entry publicly. When the Charity Commission said the revised plans were affordable, the hon. secretary of the Marlow Cottage Hospital Committee, Mrs Dickson, wrote to Edward asking for his support. Instead he published his replies to her letters in the local press and it's fair to say they have something of a patronising tone. He said anyone who had read the Commissioners report would agree with him that a new hospital was unaffordable and that friends of his involved in raising subscriptions at other hospitals also supported his view. He must have forgotten that in writing to Mrs Dickson he was communicating with someone who had been directly involved in raising such subscriptions for many years herself and who through her husband Dr Dunbar Dickson, was very well acquainted with the costs and practical considerations involved in running such a place. Edward had objected to the number of women on the organising committee - a complaint which was ignored, unsurprisingly given that it was the ladies who had suggested the need for a new hospital in the first place and it was a ladies committee that organised the fundraising that allowed the first cottage hospital to open. In one letter Edward suggests that the new hospital was advocated for mainly by the doctors and for their own interests regardless of the welfare of the town! It's hard to agree with him given the number of people that donated to a scheme that apparently no one wanted. The hospital was built anyway and it must be said that Edward was no slacker at parting with his own cash when it came to helping the sick in ways he did support - he funded a home for the district nurses, aka the Riley Nurses' Home and clinic which remained in use for decades after his death. He offered the finances to do this as an alternative to his supporting the new hospital but initially the money was not linked to a specific purpose. He said that if a hospital scheme that he personally approved of was bought forward the money could go to that instead. It should also be mentioned that Mrs Riley attended many meetings of the hospital subscribers with her husband, and was for a time on the Ladies Commitee. (Posts about the struggle for the hospital can be found here and here) 

Edward subscribed to the Institute and freely gave his time to lecture there. Subjects included the process of providing good drinking water, mineral extraction, and a pet subject, the wonders of electricity with practical demonstrations included. The Rileys had the use of electricity at Bohemia even though Bisham and Marlow were not yet connected to the supply network. They used this to illuminate the outside of their riverside home during the Regatta, and the display is frequently described as the most beautiful along the river side. They included "coloured fires" and lanterns with coloured glass panel surroundings to create the illusion of multi coloured lights. The Regatta traditionally ended with a Venetian fete which was chiefly a procession of decorated and illuminated boats along the river. Of course Edward used electric lights on his entry and he was not an infrequent winner of the most handsomely dressed boat award. At the time of the coronation of Edward VII in 1902, Edward set up lights in the form of a giant E.R and displayed them on the front of ivy clad Bohemia. 

The couple owned a house boat also called Bohemia. This they took to Henley Regatta when they were in residence. They also bought a new type of  electric launch which they christened "Champion". A trial run out with friends on the Thames was said to be a success but the boat is not often mentioned thereafter so perhaps it had some shortcomings not immediately apparent! Edward also had a couple of punts. One was also decorated and entered into competitions, with an arch of bullrushes and mountain ash berries and rows of sunflower heads mentioned as one medal winning design. The other had a more conventional existence as a fishing punt. Edward Riley was a keen angler and sometimes reports of a good catch reach the press, caught with the assistance of fisherman James Cox. He put up cash prizes for occasional fishing competitions too. With his love of all things a river side town could offer, it's easy understand why Bisham became his residence. Or Marlow, as he referred to as his address in every source I've seen that he wrote himself. Of course a river side address did have it's downsides, and Bohemia was flooded downstairs during the severe 1894 Thames flood. 

The gardens of Bohemia were enthusiastically maintained and famously lush and colourful. The Riley's gardener Mr J Jordan  grew a huge range of fruit, vegetables and flowers and won many prizes in local shows. He provided plants and flowers that were donated to decorate the stage of plays and concerts held at venues like the music room, with some palms used to create an "exotic" atmosphere to one amateur production. 

Edward funded three scholarships to Borlase along with his half sister Miss Mary Mitchell Wilson who is often uncredited for her contribution. Edward also announced a £1,000 gift towards the greater cost of setting up a new school chapel there but when he died it was announced by his executors that they would actually pay for the whole along with his sister. 

Edward spoke at a debate at the Institute in favour of Sunday opening of parks, public gardens, and museums. He took the issue of public access to recreation facilities seriously, in particular in regards that children should have somewhere safe to play off the streets. With this in mind, when in Edward Riley bought the Crown Hotel and the accompanying Crown Meadow when it came up for sale in 1914. He gave the field  for the use of the town as a recreation ground under the care of a group of trustees including himself. He gave a sum of money for it's maintenance and envisaged the hotel should continue with the profits invested in the Trust. Crucially he allowed the Trustees to make what changes to the hotel as they saw fit in pursuance of this goal. Proper funding provision was of course important to Edward as we know. The park had not opened when Edward died at Bohemia in September 1914 aged 83. It was decided to sell the Crown Hotel but delays in achieving this and the First World War meant the new Riley Recreation Ground was not formally opened until 1921. This long delay caused frustration locally. In 1919 a public meeting was called in Market Square to protest at the lack of a safe place for children to play  - Higginson park was not yet open of course. Those attending expressed frustration at the fact children were still actively barred from accessing the future Riley Park. The quickly elected chair Mr James proposed a resolution in favour of the provision of a proper recreation ground being provided somewhere. It seems they felt Riley Park would never fully open. The resolution was seconded by Mr E Harvey and passed by the crowd.

Their fears were of course unfounded. The grounds were not laid out as intended but remain charmingly open and surrounded by trees. I'm sure Edward and Mary, who died in 1923, would love to see them now. Both are buried at Bisham Church. 

Related Posts

To find out about the many former uses of Riley Recreation Ground/Crown Meadow see the post here

The Dunbar Dicksons here

History of Institute "Books, Billiards, and ..beer?" here

All mentions of someone on the blog can be found under the Person Index. To cut straight to a list of posts, each  dedicated to a particular Marlow individual see "Biographies Of Individuals" on the menu. There is also a "Biographies Of Families" option there. 

Sources:

Local newspapers held at the British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA. 

The Engineer, 18 September 1914. 

The Engineer, collected edition. vol 76, 1893. (Morgan Grampian 1893) 

Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute Vol 47, (SPON  1895)

Engineering and Mining Journal Vol 49, American Institute of Mining and Engineering (McGraw Hill 1890)

©Marlow Ancestors

Will The Horseless Carriage Ever Catch On In Marlow?

In 1897 the South Bucks Standard pondered whether "vehicles worked by steam, electricity or some other power not yet discovered" would ever become a standard method of transit. The reason for their contemplation was the appearance of what they considered to be the first ever motor car to grace the streets of Marlow. The sight of a horseless carriage complete with passengers going at a smart pace along the High Street "astonished" passers by. They did not know to whom it belonged. The following year, two such vehicles passing through to Henley were described as an "uncommon spectacle as yet in Marlow."

Yet just two years later, the same paper said that hardly an hour went by without the "peculiar rumbling" of a car being heard in the town. The Marlow families known to have a car in 1899 include Max Lindlar of Marlow Lodge (previously Suffolk Lodge, off Station Rd,) and surgeon Mr Allingham who split his time between London and Blounts Farm house, and then had a house built at Marlow Common. In 1901 Allingham's driver suffered severe cuts and bruises when the car in which he was the only traveller skidded on ice in Oxford Lane and then overturned. The car was smashed up itself and naturally the scene attracted a curious crowd. 

There were many complaints of speeding vehicles but our ancestors expectations of how fast a motor car should travel were far different from our own. For example complaints of cars "sweeping" down Oxford Rd towards the West Street corner at a dangerous pace were said to be travelling at as much as ...12mph. (1903)

Car de Luxe

As times move on you can see the carriage builders, cycle manufacturers, blacksmiths and inns adapting to the times and offering services to cater for motorists too. For example in 1902 Walker's Forge would not only competently  shoe your horse but were also advertising themselves as "tyresmiths" for motor vehicles. Hotels proudly announced that they had a garage and perhaps an inspection pit for running repairs where once they might have boasted of fine stabling. The Crown Hotel was one of these in 1915. (The Crown was one of the first in Marlow to advertise their suitability specifically to motorists and by 1904 they stated that they had been appointed the official local hotel of "the Automobile Club".)

 

C Drye, as seen above in 1905, started out as Warner & Drye Carriage Builders but gradually changed their focus to encompass first bicycles then cars. They eventually called themselves The Marlow Carriage and Motor Car Co. They would still build you a horse drawn carriage to order, but could also fix your car. Their main premises was in the High Street  where W H Smith is now. Cycle depot C J Bateman's in West Street also began to describe themselves as a "Motor and Cycle engineer" and most of the towns many cycle sellers and manufacturers began catering for motor cyclists at least. The Station Road cycle workshop premises became the Marlow Motor Car and Engineering Co, offering motor repairs of every description thanks to the inspection pit. They tried to offer every service an Edwardian motorist could wish for, from driving lessons to the ability to hire an expert chauffeur and/or vehicle at a moments notice. They also sold cars as the district agent for the Belsize Car. In 1907 they advertised the Belize 6 Cylinder as the Car De Luxe. Sounds perfect. 

The condition of Marlow's roads and pavements caused a lot of angst in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Back in the 1840's sand was sprinkled on the highway to improve conditions, but it can't have helped much. William Crouch Junior who made a living from sweeping the dung of the highway was fined in 1843 for damaging the road surface by taking the sand up accidentally while removing the manure. Perhaps the authorities should have employed him instead. A common complaint was the authorities did not notice problems with the road surface very quickly, and once they did it took endless meetings and procrastination to get something done. Those with the power to fix the situation were reluctant to begin work that would have to be charged to the rates. William was not the only person to earn an income from collecting road scrapings in those pre car days. The scrapings, chiefly dung, were sold on to gardeners and farmers and the right to collect them from a specific area had been sold by the authorities in turn. Later the council, or their sub contactor would be responsible for sweeping the roads and disposing of any rubbish. (See note 1)

A plague of dust and mud

The problem of swirling dust was also a cause for complaints. It was commented on by visitors and even Punch made a mention of it - "Oh why doesn't Marlow water it's one great street?" The water would dampen down the dust in theory, but too much made surfaces sticky and unpleasant in a different way. And of course, then winter rains sometimes caused "a plague of mud" which caused "much suffering" to householders and business in 1899. The roads developed for housing around this time suffered the most as they were not necessarily on the regular road watering or maintenance schedule. In 1908 the 24 households then in Claremont Road petitioned the council to do something about the atrocious road and path conditions in their road. The parish surveyor was sent to make a report but change came slowly. At this time more of the side streets saw their "footpaths" tarred as they described it, for example Glade Road and Institute Road in 1910. (The main roads themselves had been "tarred" from 1909. The rest were surfaced with "field flints" and gravel.) 

If Marlow had thought horse drawn vehicles bought up the dust, it was nothing compared to the work of the motor cars. At a Marlow Urban District Council meeting in 1904, those attending complained that cars passing down the street meant everyone in the vicinity got coated with filth and that the choking dust clouds lingered in the air some time afterwards. This made walking the streets very unpleasant indeed. The problem was at its worst on Sunday because the roads were not watered (damped down in order to suppress dust) then. This is when things got complicated. Some present considered that asking people to work on a Sunday on the roads would be wrong and not sufficiently justified by the fact doing so would make life easier for those walking to and from church services. Some actually considered it monstrous that driving was considered a Sunday suitable activity at all. Why should the "disgraceful" behaviour of a few motorists force others to break the Sabbath? Aside from a few arguments about what did and didn't count as the Sabbath, the alternative voices argued that those objecting to Sunday labour did not make opposition if the lamps in their streets were lit on Sundays by a worker and so on. In the end a compromise was made that the main streets would continue to be watered on a Saturday but would be done later in the day than before so the effects would hopefully last until Sunday Morning. They didn't, and complaints flooded back in. 

Tarring the roads themselves didn't solve all the problems of dust, but it did help tremendously. Of course not everyone was satisfied. In 1910 the main street of Bisham was now "a tarred abomination, smelling evilly, and wearing a squalid and abominable look" due to the arrival of the motor car. The village had now "the unwelcome choice of two evils; to be half choked with billows of dust, or to coat its roads with tar compositions " according to a travel guide. 

Reports of early car accidents are outnumbered by those involving Edwardian motorcyclists. For example  in 1904 motorcyclist Cecil Adrian Stacey of Bisham was fined for dangerous driving after he knocked Marlow cyclist, Sidney James Chalk off his bicycle in  the High Street. He was going out of Institute Road at a "considerable pace" - 10mph -  and took the corner badly. He swerved into the wrong side of the road and then tried to squeeze through a narrow gap between the cyclist and a cart. He knocked down Sidney by doing so. He continued on without checking what happened to the victim, who was thankfully not seriously hurt.  

Another hazard for wannabe motorists was a lack of visible street names. The Parish council complained about this in 1895 but it took another three and a half years for a new batch of handsome blue enamel plaques to be ordered from Mr Batting. Not all roads were labelled but funding was again the issue. 

Town trade killed by the motor car?

The motor car was here to stay. Marlow was a town that did so much trade from visitors for the "river season" and day trippers too that increased transport availability must have bought some additional visitors in. But in 1913 Edward Riley (the man who gave Riley Recreation ground to Marlow) thought that trade in the town had been "killed by the motor car". This is an interesting comment considering how few Marlow residents could have afforded to own a car at that time. Perhaps so many of the wealthier summer only residents spent their time motoring off to access bigger shops and attractions that the town traders no longer saw the trade boost they had came to rely on. 

For more on other forms of transport see a post on Victorian and Edwardian Marlow Cyclists and Cycle Manufacturers/sellers  here

And information on the Wyatt stagecoach masters here

Other transport related posts are featured on the General Marlow History menu option.

Notes. 

1. The issue of where to dispose of these scrapings and rubbish caused a lot of angst, especially as those collecting the waste for the council were accused of tipping it into any old ditch or corner, most notoriously around Strong Beer Acre (Station Road, 1897 use of a name with long heritage for the general area). The muted use of the old gravel pit at what we would now call Seymour Court Road at the top of Dean Street was ridiculed by the more progressive council members who pointed out this meant moving the rubbish dump closer to one of the most populous areas of Marlow, which would hardly deal with the problem. The pit would be better filled in they said, as it was old and unsightly. There is indeed now housing on the site.

Undated album page, featuring the Wethered family and their motor at Remnantz. 

 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related posts:

More general Marlow history and travel related posts can be found under the General History listing  here

More about the Lindlars and other residences of Marlow Lodge here

All mentions of a person on the blog can be found under the A-Z  person index in the top drop down menu. 

Sources

The Horseless Age Vol 21 (The Horseless Age Co, 1911)

The Spectator June 15 1895, digitised by Google Books. 

Berks Chronicle 21 February 1843, copy from the British Library.

South Bucks Standard 9 July & October 1 1897, 20 May 1898, 6 & 13 January, 13 October 1899, 18 April 1902, 10 April 1903, 08 May 1908 as above. 

South Bucks Free Press 28 June 1898, 27 December 1901, June 10 1904, October 18 1907 as above

Punch - August 21 1886 Volume 1, digitised by Google.

Marlow Guide 1905

Harper, Charles George - Thames Valley Villages. (Chapman 1910)

Country Life clippings, 1904. 

©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

The Many Lives Of Riley Recreation Ground, Marlow

Riley Recreation ground has had a very colourful life. Now a park, it has spent much of its life under the ownership of the (Upper) Crown Inn/Hotel hence it's old name of Crown Meadow, or further back, Crown Close or the Crown Enclosure. Two of it's old uses are well known - a place for the horses to graze that pulled the fire engine (although other fields were also used) and as the first home for the Victorian Marlow FC. This post is mainly about some of the other events that have taken place there. It was bigger originally, and had more of a pronounced slope up to the Cambridge Road end, hence why football match reports refer to one team as having the disadvantage of having to kick uphill towards their goal, or the "Marefield Goal". 

It was sometimes the venue for early cricket matches, including one in the 1840's between teams rustled up by two rival gentleman to settle a wager. Another similar event on "Alms House Close" may be referring to the Crown Close too, but may also be related to a meadow elsewhere off Oxford Road, or Cambridge Road. A close in those days refers to an enclosed piece of land. It is no wonder the flatter Alder Meadow became the venue of choice in general. 

The meadow had it's most colourful appearance during the October Marlow Fair. It housed the horse drawn caravans and wagons belonging to the menageries hosting performances in Quoiting Square, and overspilling into Oxford Road and West Street (See note below). Lions, bears and elephants were all bought to perform in this cramped venue so it's no wonder that the menageries latter moved their marquees into the Crown Meadow itself. During the first day of the fair, the meadow saw the sale of cattle, pigs and sheep, before going over entirely to pleasure use on day two. You could find all kinds of steam organs, steam powered roundabouts and side shows there, as well as throughout the town centre. When the Fair as a street based concern was cancelled after 1903, the rides and sideshows continued to come to the meadow for what was left of the Fair, with others going to Star Meadow, off Wycombe Road. They continued here until the eve of the first world war. But the site was the home to roundabouts, menageries and travelling theatres outside of fair time for well over 100 years. Some of the attractions were of the "one night only" kind, others stayed quite literally months, slotted in outside of the football clubs playing area - mostly. Beaches Roundabouts were for example a frequent visitor around the end of the 19th century and into the 20th. 

Sadly, one showman died on Crown Meadow in 1893. Henry John Hall of Uxbridge was a circus and swing boat proprietor who had attended Marlow Fair for many years. On the year of his death, he was exhibiting in the meadow a month before the Fair. Normally regarded as being in good health, he was found unconscious on the floor of his caravan soon after returning from a short visit to the Red Lion. He was dead before Dr Dunbar Dickson arrived. Just 55 years old, he left a wife and a stunned fair community. 

The travelling theatres - mostly putting on shows of the comedic or sensationalist kind - were a feature of early fairs in particular but continued to visit well into the Edwardian period. Unfortunately for the theatre proprietors, the powers that be became stricter on the sort of wood and canvas structures thrown up as a venue, and some got slapped with fines for failing to erect a sufficiently safe, sanitary and sturdy structure. Mr Kings "People's Empire" was one such allegedly irregular construction in 1906. Those that passed muster sometimes stayed for an entire season, such as the Electric theatre that set up in Crown Meadow in July 1909. 

In 1893 the meadow saw a Grand Olympian Fete. The Olympics had yet to be resurrected so this was an event loosely inspired by the ancient games. There were athletic races, which cost a small fee to enter but gave the chance of winning a cash prize in turn. And side attractions included a brass band and a circus with trapeze artists, high wire acts and acrobats. After the sports came dancing, with refreshments provided by Mr Cole of the Crown. The day ended with a "grand illumination of coloured fires"  and a few fireworks at dusk. However those paying their entry fee to the privately organised event were allegedly left very disappointed as some of the advertised entertainers did not turn up. And the high wire artist had to cut short their act when the improperly constructed wire began to sag! The improvised stage was also rough and its security was doubted. One artiste who did attend was a man who kept his balance while running on top of a giant revolving globe, juggling various knives and balls. 

Lord Sangers Circus and Hippodrome was one outfit to set up here for a one night show on several occasions. It paraded through the town at mid day - complete with elephants -  before setting up a large marquee and canvas stabling in the meadow. Sangers were never one to modestly announce their arrival. The 1895 Marlow show was described by them as something to "eclipse anything of its kind that has ever been submitted to any nation in the world."  The display was of a "brilliant character" according to the local press and fully attended. There were two performances, one afternoon, one evening. There had been a minor scare when a circus caravan lost a wheel near the bridge but no one was hurt. Let's hope they didn't bring those poor hefty elephants over the delicate bridge itself! Other circuses to use the future Riley Park as their home include Fossett and Sons in 1901. 

A "Water Carnival" hosted in the meadow as part of a circus in 1894 resulted in a court summons for Oxford Lane resident Mr Bowles. He had been in the habit for some years past of allowing the circus and roundabout proprietors to take water from his house in order to tend to their horses and operate the rides. They came to his door with a water cart and filled up. But the number of gallons needed for a water carnival on the land locked site (exact details of what this involved are sadly sketchy) caught the attention of the Marlow Water Company Engineer John Soley. He saw the circus taking a water cart to Mr Bowles' home. While it seems they may have turned something of a blind eye usually, they could not on this occasion. The matter ended up in court as the Marlow Water Company said it was not permitted to re-sell or give to others the companies water piped to a domestic address. The supply was not on a meter then. However the company could not prove Mr Bowles had accepted any money for the water and what's more the magistrates said they did not think it was generally known it was against the rules to share your water supply. It seems the magistrates were certainly unaware of the restriction so could not expect an average householder to know so Mr Bowles was let off without any fine. Mrs Bowles was the one who came to court.

The shows and attractions sometimes caused an annoyance to the staff and patients at the Cottage Hospital in it's original position at Cambridge House, Cambridge Road. At the time, medical advice was often that patients should avoid any kind of over stimulation or noise, to the point of removing pictures from the sick room walls, and laying material on the road outside an afflicted persons home to deaden the sound of horses hooves. So the sound of a circus or fairground organ in the neighbourhood was genuinely regarded as potentially dangerous if too frequent. It's interesting to note that when the hospital moved to the Glade Road / Victoria Road site, it's relative quietness was considered a strong advantage. Cambridge Road saw more and more traffic all the time it was said. Those who were in favour of the hospital staying there, argued that although match days could be noisy, the loud organs and show booths no longer attended the meadow with such regularity as before. Mr Wethered thought this was because the children were now mad on visiting moving picture shows and traditional fairground type attractions were no longer so exciting to them. 

Such rides and booths were unlikely to get permission to set up when Edward Riley bought the meadow and the accompanying Crown Hotel in 1914. He donated it to the town, vesting it in some trustees which included himself. He intended the Hotel to continue and that it would provide an income to provide for the maintenance of the new recreation ground, in addition to other money left for that purpose. Unfortunately Edward died in September 1914 before the park opened, and it was decided to sell the Crown itself. (You can read more about Edward Riley here) The war, and the difficulty of selling the hotel meant the opening of the Meadow as Riley Recreation Ground was delayed until 1921. Marlow Urban District Council chairman Mr H Buckingham did the honours in front of a large crowd. It was not laid out as intended, but at last it was available for public use. The losers were Marlow FC who were told when Riley bought the meadow that they would not be allowed to continue playing there much longer. They eventually moved to Star Meadow of course, after playing some games in Porter's meadow by the train station. The loss of the "Crown Ground" made things harder still for Marlow's other more minor footie teams who had also played on the site, as well as on Star Meadow. The likes of Marlow Star, the Ramblers and Rangers now all had to compete for space on one main site along with hockey teams. The clubs large iron and wood grandstand, purchased from Hampshire Cricket Club/St Mary's FC, remained on the Crown ground after the meadows sale. It was presumably their intention to move it to a new permanent home when that was found, as it had after all already been dismantled to come long distance to Marlow in the first place. But as the regular football came to a halt in the First World War, and the new park was not yet ready to open, the stand stayed put until 1918, when it was sold for three times what the supporters syndicate had paid for it, as iron was now relatively scarce. The sale happened because the club could not at that time see when football would be restarted again on any sort of scale. It was purchased by a local builder and some of the profits invested in National War Bonds. During the First World War the Crown Ground was used by teams from the locally stationed armed forces playing in the military leagues. 

The residents of Cambridge and Crown Roads may not have been sorry to see the football go. It was a frequent cause of complaint that when Marlow played at home, men would obstruct the two roads by parking their vehicles in the highway there and standing on the carts etc hoping to get a free view of the action. Mr Hillsden was one Marlow man caught by PC Atkinson in 1899 doing just that, along with a number of out of town football fans. Others had departed too quickly for the constable to collar. In 1896 a creative group of men were summoned for blocking Cambridge Rd with ladders leant against the perimeter of the ground, to provide them with a birdseye view of the match. They were let off as they all said they didn't know that they were doing anything wrong and had immediately departed once spoken to. ( James Dormer, Daniel Clark, Frederick and William Price, James Edwards, William and James Tubb, Albert Toovey, and for standing on a parked cart, Nicholas White.) When Marlow moved to Star Meadow, such action would be unnecessary as the site was barely enclosed and anyone could get a good view of the match from the surrounding area! It was said that if Marlow hoped to gain any profits from match attendance in the future they would have to erect a canvas wall around the meadow to screen the match play from curious eyes. Visibility of a different kind was sometimes a problem at the Crown Ground. It's amazing how many matches are said to have been played in conditions of thick fog. "Good play was almost impossible" as one match report from 1890 had it, relating to a match played by the Marlow Ramblers on the ground Aka the Wednesday Ramblers. Matches could also be shortened for other reasons - such as the visiting team needing to catch an early train home in December 1888. On that occasion they just stopped playing after an hour. 

This post has only covered a few of the many many events held at the now Riley Recreation Ground. It had a role to play in Coronation and Jubilee Celebrations too which feature in their own posts. And it was a gathering place to start parades and marches, a venue for amateur athletic meets and Borlase school sports, it hosted agricultural shows...the list goes on. And all this before it became a public park. Marlow should say thank you not just to Riley for his gift, but the various proprietors of the Crown Inn and Hotel for allowing the use of the meadow for so many events, sometimes free of charge. 

Notes:

Some of the menageries known to have visited Crown Meadow specifically both in and out of fair time include: Edmonds Menagerie in the 1880's, Anderton and Haslam's show and menagerie in the 1890's, Wombwells/Bostock & Wombwells under various owners from the 1840's into the 20thc and so on. 

For information on a raid on circus workers performing on Crown Meadow during the First World War see this post here

And info on Captain Marshall's Marlow Menagerie here

SOURCES

Copies of the South Bucks Standard, Maidenhead Advertiser, Reading Mercury, Bucks Herald, Middlesex and Surrey Express, Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press, and Henley Advertiser held at the British Library, and newspaper cuttings supplied by Jane Pullinger. 

Evening Dispatch 08 January 1918, accessed via the BNA. 

Looking towards Cambridge Road

 Looking towards Oxford Rd

For more on Marlow Fair see the post here

And for a general history of The Crown - here

Higginson park early history - here

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

© Marlow Ancestors

Books, Billiards And ..Beer? Marlow Institute

In January 1853, a group of Marlow citizens decided to solve a problem in the town. Marlow was known for it's sporting success they said, but when it came to matters literary and scientific, other towns were ploughing ahead. It was time for Marlow to catch up and form it's own literary and scientific institution. The new boys' school room had opened in the Causeway the previous year so it probably seemed the right time to turn everyone's attention to adult education. The school room became the venue for the meeting which ended with the resolution to set up an Institute. The idea was enthusiastically received and promises of donations were made immediately. Harleyford's Sir William Robert Clayton became President. 

By December the Institute was ready to give it's very first lecture. While there was obviously a delay to allow funds to be raised, it was also the intention to offer the lectures mainly during the winter season. Marlow's regency Adult Institution for promoting adult literacy had also offered classes mostly during the winter, because the long dark evenings were when the working man was mostly likely to be able to attend. Long hours of daylight meant longer working hours and less time and energy for attending lectures. The Institute did have the express purpose of providing education and recreation for artisans and workers. How successful they would be in this aim would be the subject of contention. 

What the Institute didn't have at this point was a designated Institute building. The lecture was therefore held at the Town Hall. Local scientist, mathematician, inventor civil engineer and amateur astronomer Edwin Clark was the first speaker. He was sure, he said, that the Institute would provide an opportunity for self improvement within reach of any who chose to take the opportunity. Edwin's father had been pillow lace manufacturer but suffered a great deal of financial ups and downs and appears on census returns as a grocer later. Edwin probably knew more than some of the other speakers about what it meant to take charge of your own education - he was apparently a bit of a reluctant scholar himself as a young man. He credited a boyhood lecture on electricity held at the same Town Hall as an inspiration that set him on his own path of learning. He apparently constructed his own "electrical machine" afterwards to make demonstrations to his young friends. The text of Edwin's inaugural address to the Institute was published and available from local booksellers as a memento. 

As well as lectures, the Institute established a library and reading room in the High Street. (In the former classroom of Mr Fields school, almost opposite Cromwell House. Mr Field was also the postmaster)  In 1862 it was said to have 950 volumes. Previously Marlow had a number of subscription based circulating libraries located in the various stationers and booksellers around town, such as Calcutt and Elgie in the High Street. The Institute library would also be available to subscribers only. It was open to ladies but few were reported to have joined in the first year.  

For those who could not afford the annual Institute subscription, there was from 1859, an alternative for men at least. The Night school, set up by the Vicar of All Saints (Rev Frederick Bussell), hosted lectures and classes during the winter season. It was aimed at working men and although the lectures encompassed religious and moral subjects, this was not the limit to their scope. The teaching was done by the Vicar himself, assisted by his curates, the Sunday School teachers both male and female, and their friends. These classes seem to have been very popular, especially with youths and agricultural labourers. In 1861 the programme extended to summer activities to keep the young men suitably occupied, with the formation of the Night School and Juveniles Cricket Club. Bats and balls would be provided. The school struggled after Rev Bussells sudden and untimely death that year but continued for a number of years. 

There was also a Mutual Improvement Society which offered lectures. They were usually held in the Lecture Room in St Peters Street (now the Masonic Centre) but when the Institute got a building of it's own, it was intended to be shared with the Mutual Improvement Society. The two organisations then merged. However, there were other Mutual Improvement societies at later periods, usually based in one of the churches and chapels. (The main MIS as mentioned above started in 1877 and was chiefly aimed at young men)

Is there yawning at the back? 

Back to the Institute. Reports of their first events invariably mention an enthusiastic audience. But it seems the subjects chosen did not please everyone. The South Bucks Free Press said in 1862 that lectures were now far from the rage in Marlow with large audiences unknown and "desolate benches are frequent." Other reports of a popular entertainment, as opposed to an educational one, noted a fuller audience than normal and the fact the onlookers did not for once look bored. Musical evenings do seem to feature more often as time goes on but I'm sure the supposed torture suffered by early attendees was  exaggerated. The Institute was self funded and no doubt would have folded if it consistently failed to interest anyone! Of course there were ups and downs financially, with a particularly difficult time in the mid to late 1870s when funds were described as "somewhat attenuated". In 1875 the Bucks Herald went as to far as to say the Institute was retrogressing at such a rate that it would soon terminate in "utter collapse". They added that "one finds no plausible pretext for keeping it alive". This was because the membership was relatively small and declining and the number of leisure events was starting to outweigh the educational ones in their eyes. The library was in a poor state too - "dilapidated and exhausted." The paper was especially annoyed that the playing of dominoes would be allowed in the Reading Room for two hours an evening - such frivolous behaviour was the beginning of the end as far as they were concerned. 

An appeal was made in 1879 for Marlow residents to donate newspapers, magazines and similar publications to the library once they had finished with them. Sir William Clayton took the lead by offering a loan of his copies of the Saturday Review and the Public Opinion during the 6 months he expected to be away on a Mediterranean cruise aboard his yacht. "Members will doubtless exercise due care in their use". 

The Institute gains a home

As it is, the Institute grew and thrived. There were some blips such as a reported waning interest in the lectures in the 1880s, causing then to be moved from weekly to fortnightly. Readings and debates were dropped as part of the regular programme in 1888.  Plans to have their own permanent home for activities were often floated, and in 1887, it was decided to make a definite fundraising drive to this end. The building would be a lasting memorial to the Jubilee. Some £200 of excess funds raised for those celebrations had been kept back as a start for the fund.  Colonel Williams donated land for the build, in what is now Institute Road and within an area he was developing. A new headquarters for the 1st Bucks Rifle Volunteers would be built alongside, the two buildings joined by a high arch. (Read more about the dramatic first year of the Armoury here) Construction did not begin straight away, as time was needed to raise part of the building cost. (It was originally stated the Institute building should not cost more than £1200 but the lowest tender for the accepted design was priced at £500 more than that.) It was constructed by Marlow builder YJ Lovell and his workforce.  The architects however were not local, which seemingly broke the rules set for determining the winner of the building design competition by the Trustees.  The Building News considered the new Institute and the Armoury to look like "a pair of second rate suburban villas"!  Nevertheless, the foundation stone was laid by Thomas Somers Cocks of Lymbrook (Thames Bank) in 1889 with Col Wethered doing the honours at the neighbouring HQ. Lovell was unfortunately unable to attend the formal opening due to ill health. 

In June 1890 the buildings were finished, and the Volunteer HQ and Institute were opened on the same day in September of that year. This official opening was a big event in Marlow and the town was decorated with flags and bunting. A half day holiday was declared by many shops in town. Even those Marlow citizens hard at work during the Wednesday ceremony could not have missed the fact it was happening. The Volunteers Drum and Fife band paraded around town followed by a procession of Volunteers, the volunteer fire brigade and the towns friendly societies. They announced their arrival outside the HQ and Institute with bugles. While they were parading, the trustees of the Institute had been hosting a celebration dinner in the boys schoolroom. (Now the Church Hall in the Causeway.) A lucky few were offered a tour of both new buildings although the library and recreation rooms were not finished and were opened the following month. (The room dedicated in the plans to library use was however initially set up as a temporary reading room as the permanent Reading Room was acting as the stop gap Recreation Room! Only the Classroom was ready in it's proper place when the building opened. The proper Reading Room was not actually fully fitted up until 1892, as the South Bucks School of Cookery and Domestic Science hired the room for 6 months, and in doing so installed an oven and sink etc which were subsequently removed.) Next there were speeches, and the official opening ceremony. Colonel Wethered, addressing the crowd from the upper orderly room of the Volunteers HQ, also refered to the Institute which he had been involved in setting up. He remarked that the Institute had been erected for the benefit of the working man and artisan and he sincerely hoped it would live up to it's ambitions. He had, he said, developed a sense of "love and interest" in this class of person who made up such a large number of the men under his command in the Volunteer Corps. 

Within a few years, disappointment was expressed at how relative few of these working class people had in fact become members. There were more than one class of membership, with first class membership unsurprisingly costing the most. All members had the right to attend events however. While some of the language used may seem patronising now, it seems many were passionately interested in opening the Institute to a wider range of people. But sadly even the cheapest subscription would have been out of reach for Marlow's poorest families, payable in advance as it was.  (In 1889 the subscription was £1 1s per year for first class membership, 10s for second class, and 5s for third.) Attending a lecture or class also involved paying an extra entrance fee. Those who were not members themselves were able to attend some of  the events as a guest of a member while others were open to anyone, with subscribers paying a lower admission rate. Visitors to the town could also apply to become a temporary member during their stay.

 Woman were allowed to become members in their own right and while there were female only classes, woman could also attend the general ones. This was far from a given at the time, and a source of pride for forward thinking trustees such as Dr. Dunbar Dickson. At the grand opening the Dr reminded those present of the opportunity for women to join and hoped those doing so would by their example "improve the minds of the male sex."  (You can read a post about the doctor here). 

Third class members of either sex were not originally allowed to vote at the meetings of members, which caused much tumult at the 1878 annual meet. The disenfranchised third class members tried to change this, by proposing an amendment to the society's constitution and voting amongst themselves to adopt it. This was of course not considered a valid amendment but after "some discussion" it was decided to end the discrimination. Four members of the third class had always been part of the management committee, and this was subsequently increased to six. 

Inside, the Institute consisted of a library and reading room downstairs, with a recreation room above the former, and a class room over the latter, with a small connecting room to use with either. Outside, the building was fronted by a small "tastefully planted garden" and at the rear was a large area originally intended to house a hall to accommodate bigger events but funds ran out before it was built. It was later laid down as a bowling lawn (1908). The town hall or Music Room continued to be used as a venue for large entertainments. 

 Donations had not just came in cash but in the form of books, furniture and fixtures for the building. For example, Reuben Nereus Smith of Beaufort Cottage donated two library chairs and a number of small mahogany chairs, and grocer Alfred Ilsley presented a complete set of the works of George Eliot. (To read more about Alfred see here.) Two mahogany bookcases and a large table in the library were the gift of Colonel Wethered along with much of the flooring. Cork flooring was used in the library to create a suitably quiet walking surface! Charles Miller Footitt offered the old town stocks and gaol door which had come into his possession. They were put on display behind the Institute/Armoury for several years before passing into the hands of the council who displayed them on the Causeway. Charles also donated a complete railway map and timetable for the British Isles. 

The selection of books available was regarded as extensive by some Institution supporters but one disgruntled member writing to a local paper in 1899 thought the fiction section "a marvel of smallness and inadequacy" with two many classic works - and too much Dickens. Dickens was "intensely vulgar" and written for a generation passed away the letter writer said! 

The buildings were open from 10am to 10.30pm every day except Sundays when it opened from 2-6 and 8-10pm, with the reading room closed at one period on Sundays. It had a caretaker who doubled up as the librarian. An ad for this position in 1896 specified the applicant should be well educated, married and perhaps a retired military man. 

 Books, billiards and ..beer? 

When the building was designed, space was allowed for a billiard table. But then the trustees began to doubt whether it was quite the thing  for a Literary and Scientific Institution. Or rather whether it should spend funds on this. A petition was raised to ask them to reconsider and eventually it was decided to allow the table, if a group of supporters paid for it. A charge was made to use the table, and this money was used to reimburse the table buyers and then to maintain the billiard facilities. So no Institute funds would be spent on the divisive table. Initially allowed for a year, it was a big success. The annual billiard competition attracted a large number of entrants and there were also matches between the Marlow and Wycombe Institutes.  The Institute had in fact had a hired recreation room in 1888 before the current building opened. It was open 5 days a week and proved hugely popular with young men. 

Refreshments were available in the building but they were to be strictly non alcoholic. This exclusion outraged a letter writer to a local paper who thought the only reason to exclude alcohol was because the trustees doubted the morals of the members and their ability to moderate their intake. His complaints were to no avail. The Institute did get a bar, but not until the 20th century. 

South Kensington comes to Marlow

Soon after the Institute opened, it began hosting Technical Education Classes under the auspices of the South Kensington museums. Previously these had been held at different venues around the town such as Borlase school. The students took exams and if successful could gain a certificate and attend a prize giving at the Institute. Some 43 students were enrolled in these classes in 1893. The Technical Education committee paid to use the Institute rooms and when they eventually moved the classes back out to Borlase, a large hole was left in the funds. The solution? Install another billiard table! 

The Technical classes were available in subjects such as drawing, clay modelling, French, shorthand and wood carving. A branch was set up in both Lane End and Frieth although some of these classes were subsequently dropped due to low numbers of students. 

They ran both evening and day courses, with the evening option costing more. 

Taxation of bachelors and other debates...

Here is a sample of the activities on offer at the Institute, aside from enjoying the books and billiards. After  much debate, card playing (from 1893) joined dominoes, backgammon, bagatelle and chess as permitted games. But they could only be played in the recreation room and strictly no gambling was allowed. The recreation room was also the only place that you could smoke. Those who were disconcerted by card playing must have been horrified by the gift by Charles Footitt of his Household Artillery game which involved shooting miniature missiles at a target, with bells that rang to indicate a direct hit. Charles had exclusive rights to make this toy aimed at adults, although it had been invented by another man. 

Dr Dickson offered lectures to women in First Aid as well as  those on other medical subjects such as the working of the human eye. Rev Tavender of the Congregational Church gave a presentation on America and the Rev A Thompson of Little Marlow offered a virtual tour of Venice and Russia. You could also enjoy demonstrations of electrical power (1894, Edward Riley) and modern cookery - the latter took place in the Music room, St Peters Street and was presented by Miss Stanfield of the Sheffield school of Cookery. Or perhaps your Marlow ancestor would have enjoyed the illustrated talk on the Land of The Pharaoh by Wycombe's Arthur Vernon (1893), the life and times of Charles Dickens (Robert Hayes Smith,1895), allotment gardening (various times, at the Glade Road allotments and Medmenham School rooms), or oxy-hydrogen lanterns (Rev. S Wilkinson, 1893.) Sir George Higginson gave a talk in 1893 on the time he had spent as Lieutenant of the Tower of London which was especially well attended.

In the Edwardian era subjects like veterinary science were on offer as well as fitness classes conducted by Miss Morley under the Joseph Conn system. Mrs Joseph Conn visited the Institute in 1908 and bemoaned the prevailing "degeneracy" seen in all classes of society, which her brand of healthful exercise would help alleviate, or so she said. 

Debates were conducted on subjects such as whether woman should get the vote (1891, Dr Dickson proposes that they should but was defeated) and whether bachelors ought to be taxed to encourage marriage. (Mr Wethered joked that it would be a difficult tax to collect but if women were employed to do it, then perhaps it would facilitate marriage in more ways than one! The tax was proposed by the happily married Robert Hayes Smith, who was also Institute Secretary. A post about him can be found here)

Less expectedly, the Institute had a successful cricket team. I can see several references to this in the 1860's but it seems to have lapsed as it was apparently "started" again in 1896. They played their first game on Crown Meadow but later they came to an arrangement to play and practice on the Marlow Cricket Club ground. It amalgamated with Marlow Cricket Club in 1901, to become their second eleven. An Institute Rowing Club seems shorter lived, as does a Minstrel troupe. 

Problems a plenty

The initial enthusiasm for the Institute fulfilling (mostly) it's original function was at its peak in the first 10 years after its opening. The literary and  educational aspects gradually declined relative to the social club elements. By 1902 Dr Dickson could call the institute a "disgrace" to the town. Only one lecture had been held the previous year, and one entertainment. It was dirty and dusty inside he said, and shabby looking on the outside with the front neglected and the fencing in need of replacement. A donated portrait of Sir William Clayton had apparently been ruined due to it being left about here and there as a promised picture rail had never been put up. Rev Tavender of the Congregational Church thought the character of the library was not good. The then committee could only admit the complaints were justified. They said the caretaker was uninterested in his work and so did little of it (why he was not sacked if this was so was a question not answered).  It was added that the Hon secretary L J Smith jun, had as a volunteer not nearly enough time to devote to the institution. Dr Dickson was quick to state he wished to reflect no criticism on LJ and said he thought the Institute really needed to employ a paid assistant to help run it. Alas, the surplus funds were nowhere near sufficient for this. Efforts were made to tidy it up (a new oak fence arrived at the front in 1903) and keep an educational element. 

The Institute has seen many uses through time - see our post on Marlow in the First World War for more on this. (Find in the general post index linked below)

It eventually closed in 1959 and became Marlow's Library, a role it still fulfills. 

Above, the Institute today. Image courtesy of Colin Groves. 

To find more posts about individual buildings, streets or similar look under "Specific Shops, Streets etc" on the top drop down menu. All mentions of a person can be found under the Person Index, also on the top drop down menu. 

To read other posts about everyday life in old Marlow see the post listing here

To read about Marlow's first Regency era literary Institution see here

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

SOURCES

The Forty First Report of the Department of Science and Art Committee of Council for Education, Volume 41, The South Kensington Museums. 1894. 

Journal of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce, Volume 10. RSA 1862. 

Berkshire Chronicle 22 January 1814, 17 December 1855, 15 June 1861, British Library collection, accessed via the BNA,  November 2020. 

Bucks Chronicle and Gazette - 24 December 1853, as above. 

Reading Mercury 22 January & 30 April 1853, 22 February 1890, 21 Jan 1893 as above

Kelly's Directory of Berks, Bucks, Oxon 1883,1903, 1911, 1915 - Kelly's Directories Ltd. 

 Maidenhead Advertiser December 17 1879. 

Building News, March 29th 1889, digitised by Google. 

Bucks Herald  20 Mar 1865 & April 1878, as above. 

South Bucks Standard 8 March 1901, and 14 February 1902 thanks to Martin. 

©Marlow Ancestors.