Rev S R Wilkinson - The man for treats and trips

 If there was one man in Victorian Marlow who did more than any other to bring a little fun into the lives of it's youngsters, rich and poor, it must be the Rev Sheldon Robert Wilkinson. Rev Wilkinson was the proud possessor of the means to show to the public "dissolving views" by his oxy hydrogen limelight. Before moving pictures, this was the most exciting way to see images. He was able to project the pictures on to a large screen in front of the audience. It involved a flame of a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen being used to heat a block of lime. Operating it was therefore something you had to be careful with as there was the potential for explosions to occur. The slide shows were accompanied by a narration (usually read by someone else, Wilkinson needed to concentrate on the light) and sometimes music. It's hard for us to understand just how popular these shows were, but they were a staple of school treats, lectures, and fundraising efforts for decades in Marlow. 

Son of a surgeon and apothecary 

Sheldon Robert Wilkinson was born in 1844 to surgeon and apothecary (as he was initially styled) Joseph Sheldon Wilkinson who was based in Marlow High Street. Wilkinson senior was originally in partnership with fellow surgeon George Rawden Robson but they parted ways and the latter went bankrupt in 1865. Sheldon spent his early childhood in Marlow before moving away to  boarding school followed by Oxford university. When he was ordained, he had to wait for an appointment as a curate or assistant curate and there was not yet a vacancy at Marlow. It was said in a newspaper article on Sheldon's death that his return to Marlow dated from the death of his father in 1861 but while he may have done so for a while he was serving as a curate at Colnbrook in 1871. In this year his mother Abiah died in Brighton where she had retreated in the vain hope of improving her health.  A few months Sheldon begins to pop up regularly in Marlow records so I think the newspaper obituary previously mentioned may have muddled which parents death precipitated Sheldon's full time return to Marlow. He would serve as assistant curate, then curate at Marlow with stints assisting in neighbouring parishes too including Hambledon and Bisham. He was unusual for being a man of the cloth who was a native of the area he was spiritually serving. 

Fun and games for young and old 

I've mentioned that there was scarcely any celebration in Marlow where you could not find Sheldon wielding his magic lantern. If your ancestor went to the national schools or Sunday schools, they would have probably seen a lot of the man. He seems to have been fond of children as he was constantly organizing entertainments for them for the slimmest of reasons. The young lads who were part of the church choir were probably the most fortunate. While it was common for them to receive an annual treat even before Sheldon arrived back in town, he certainly upped the scale of the entertainments. For example in 1873 he hosted the boys at his own home for tea and supper, interspersed with cricket matches, a show of dissolving views and ending in a pyrotechnic display at which the boys were given squibs and crackers to throw about. The day ended with "bumpers of punch" and three cheers for Rev Wilkinson. Not perhaps something that would pass the health and safety requirements these days! And no this wasn't the only time Sheldon liked to treat the young people to some alcohol - he gave them champagne at the 1875 celebration. All of these treats and many others such as  magicians performance for Sunday school children, were paid for entirely out of his own funds. 

The older residents were treated to Sheldon's images at more serious minded lectures and talks, usually in the music room (now the Masonic centre) or the boys school room (church hall, Causeway). In 1875 for example he illustrated a lecture by T S Cocks on the habits of wild animals by showing images of those captive in Regents Park zoo. This was followed by coloured photos taken by celebrated Paris photographers Messrs Ferrier of European capital cities, then an illustrated whimsical story. This was all to raise funds for the church organ fund. On another occasion he supported Marlow's famous engineer Edwin Clark* by illustrating a lecture on bridges, and on another he provided the images for a 4 part course on botany for the Mutual Improvement Society.  

One place you would not find Sheldon providing entertainment were at any of the many non Church of England Sunday schools in town. He was not a supporter of non conformity but of course many of the events he participated were open to all. He was however friendly with Marlow's Roman Catholic priest Canon Bernard Smith***, to whom he was apparently related. 

Other entertainments paid for by Sheldon include seaside trips (also for the choir) and gifts of buns and oranges for poor children at Christmas. He was also an enthusiastic participant in the "Penny Readings" at Marlow & Bovingdon Green where for a penny you got to hear readings of famous books and poems, often with a song thrown in. Sheldon usually contributed Dickens excerpts. 

Sheldon the bee keeper 

When not showing off his dissolving views, Sheldon could be found in the garden of End House tending his bees. He was passionately interested in the subject as he believed that amongst other things it was a usual appendage to a working man's income - always supposing they could afford to get started if course. In 1879 he offered for sale a hive complete with bees for £3 15s. He was obviously successfully at beekeeping as one of his hives was reported to have produced 100lbs of honey in 1895. Unsurprising he walked away with first prize for honey at the Marlow Horticulture Society show that year. His main rival in the show tent was George Sawyer**, but it was a friendly one as he actually employed George as his gardener in 1897 and eventually as assistant bee keeper. George also kept an eye on other Marlow hives for their owners and actually made them too. 

A Farewell

Rev Sheldon died of flu in Marlow in 1900, one of a number of people to do so. He never married. He left a generous gift of £1000 to Marlow Cottage Hospital which was a very large amount at the time. His obituary of course mentioned his extensive collection of "stethoscopic views" . Only a month before his death he had demonstrated a new and expensive magic lantern to the children of Oxford Road infants school, as part of their Christmas party. His "genial and happy disposition" was also mentioned which seems fitting for a man who made so many others lives more fun..

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

*More about Edwin Clark and his family is available here

** George Sawyer was well known as a member of the Victorian Volunteer Marlow fire brigade. You can read about the brigade here

***A biography of Canon Bernard Smith is available on the blog here

Related information

To search for every mention if any individual on this blog, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

For an index of other posts relating to clergy and churches and chapels of Marlow see here

SOURCES:

Census 1851-1891 from the transcripts of Jane Pullinger, from censuses held at the National Archives.

Marlow Directory and Almanack 1891

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire  etc, Kelly's Directories Limited 1854 & 1883 editions.

Buckinghamshire Express 9th December 1871, via the BNA.

South Bucks Free Press 3rd October 1873. Via the Bucks Free Press Archives.

Bucks Herald 23rd Jan 1875 , 24th Jan 1878, via the BNA.

Reading Mercury 5th April 1879, 29th October 1881. British Library collection.

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 28th May 1883. British Library collection.

South Bucks Standard - October 9th 1891, August 9th 1895, February 17th & December 8th 1899,  February 1st 1901

Globe, London 1 Feb 1901.

© Marlow Ancestors

Marlow Heroes no. 7 - John Langley

 When little John Langley was born in the poor and populous Dean Street in the 1850s, his parents probably did not imagine he would one day become such a wealthy and well respected man. John - or Jack as he was usually known - occupies a fairly unique position in Marlow history as someone who had a great deal to do with the lives of both the richest and poorest of Marlow's past residents. It's his dealings with the latter that has earned him a place in our series saluting the actions of Marlow heroes. I will refer to him from hence onwards as Jack to differentiate him from his father John although the latter was also known as Jack or Johnnie in his lifetime. What's survived in the popular memory is that Jack was a bookmaker or as it was referred to at the time a "turf commission agent". We may imagine someone in this occupation and from a more modest background may have struggled against numerous stereotypes held by our Victorian forebears. But we may be making assumptions to some extent. Association with gambling was obviously frowned upon by very many but Jack was described by the Vicar of Marlow as a "fine straightforward man" for example, bookie or no. It was certainly not regarded as barrier to election to the town council. The thing that seemed to stand out most to his contemporaries was the fact Jack continued to mix with they may have thought as the "common man" despite becoming well off. It should also be born in mind that like many of our Victorian forebears, Jack had more occupations providing his income than is recorded on census returns. (Generally the main one or two get listed but by cross referencing other sources we can find this often gives only a partial picture of how many actually earned their bread and butter. Jack was probably just as associated by many with his fruit dealing as book making as he did that longer, although some of his sons followed in their fathers bookmaking footsteps)

Above, excerpt of a fundraising musical performance programme at the Cricket Club pavillion June 1908, in aid of club funds. John Langley Jun contributes two of his whistling solos to the programme. 

Langley & Son

Jack was the son of John and Ann Sarah Langley, publicans of the Royal Exchange and then the Verney Arms, both in Dean Street or Well End as it was still then popularly known. (Not to be confused with Well End, Little Marlow.) John was also a fruiterer, timber merchant, market gardener and farmer - you can see what I mean about multiple occupations held at once! Jack's Langley grandparents Thomas and Elizabeth were agricultural labourers/ skewer makers* and in the grandma's case, a lace maker. All typical Dean Street area occupations of the time. It was recalled that young Jack was often to be seen walking about the area with his tame fox cub trotting at his heels like a dog. He had apparently found and trained the fox himself. Eccentricity no 1! Childhood didn't last long in those days, and Jack was soon helping his father in the various family business concerns. In fact they became officially partners as publicans, market gardeners, timber merchants and fruiterers trading as "Langley & Son". The area around Dean Street formerly contained many little orchards and fruit grounds, some of which the Langley's probably cropped themselves, but as fruiterers they would also have bought in stock from others locally. The fruiterer business was formerly associated with Marlow and especially Dean Street, although the link is long forgotten now. This involved the wholesale trade in fruit, usually to London. So the Langley's did not have a fruitmongers shop in Marlow itself although they no doubt supplied some of them. In 1878, the father and son decided to dissolve their business by mutual consent although both continued working in the same areas. John (born 1826) made his mark on the document by the sign of the cross, but Jack signed his own name. John farmed numerous areas of Marlow (he occupied 230 acres in 1881, with 50 men and numerous boys in his employ in the farming line. This included New Barn Farm.) 

Jack fights a fire

1878 was the year Jack started in business in his own right and also the year that he committed his first heroic act. He, and father John, saved the lives of two infants in a Dean Street house fire. The Sawyer children were the grandchildren of John Langley so Jack was their uncle. The youngsters had been left alone in the house upstairs asleep (common then and not something that stood out as neglectful behaviour to the witnesses) but a fire had started. The house was seriously alight when the smoke was noticed by a passer by. The two fought through a then "raging" fire to free the crying pair from their bedroom. The children appear to have been largely unharmed. (You can read more about John's son in law Owen Sawyer in a post here)

Jack's dad John Langley senior was one of the founding donors to the Marlow volunteer fire brigade and was on the committee that set it up. He seems to have taken a keen interest in firefighting overall and was credited with helping put out a number of blazes either before the fire brigade arrived or alongside  them. When he was the landlord of the Crown, the fire engine was housed next door to him, with the fire bell outside. If anyone knew it was rung, it would be John. He hired to the brigade the horses that pulled the engine. These usually grazed in the Crown Meadow (Riley Park) which was also put to use for fire brigade training exercises and drill competitions. Jack continued his father's interest in the brigade, sponsoring prizes in their drill competitions and donating to the cost of new equipment. Read more about the father and sons sometimes amusing roles in the fire brigade here!

Convicted Rioter

John Langley was politically active for the radical/liberal concern in his younger days. This would lead to Jack's involvement in one of the most well known of Marlow's election riots, of 1880. The liberals lost, and those who supported them regarded the election as unfair. Jack was regarded by some as one of the ringleaders of the ensuing wide scale destruction, but it was also argued he was in fact a peacemaker whose conviction was politically motivated. A fund was set up to raise money to pay for a presentation to Jack in protest at what they said was his wrongful conviction and subsequent short prison term. A nice engraved London made silver coffee set was the result. The witness statements do tend to support Jack's role in trying to quell the riot more than instigating it although he was obviously vocal in his dismay at the result when first announced! A full post about the riot is available here

King of The City 

 John senior obviously set his son an active example of looking out for the working man especially those in his employ. John was well known for contributing to charity and hosting Christmas dinners for dozens of poor and elderly residents of Dean Street and around. In 1865 it was said that there was not a man in the parish more "industrious, energetic or enterprising" than John Langley. The South Bucks Free Press reporting on the marriage of John seniors daughter Alice (Jack's sister) said that John was known as the King of The City (a slang term for the Dean Street area). They thought that probably "the enormous amount distributed by him amongst the wage earning class is the proof that he is the medium of conferring a large amount of good upon a very large number of persons."

 Jack would soon follow in his footsteps in this regard. (Jack was also the one time publican at the Verney although for a relatively short period. However as we know he was frequently in London engaged in his other business it was - as so often the case - his wife Ellen who would generally be found looking after the pub.)

 The Langley family had suffered many misfortunes amidst their success and perhaps it was this consciousness that motivated them to help those who had misfortunes of their own. For example, 13 year old Sarah, (b 1857, daughter of George) fell through the ice when trying to skate or slide on the frozen Thames in 1870. Despite a frantic search, she was not found for a month. Then John Langley senior had a severe fire at New Barn farm in 1882 which totally destroyed a large barn and overall did £1000 worth of damage, at least partially covered by insurance. His first wife Ann Sarah died later that year after months of pain and sickness caused by injuries she sustained when she fell out of a swing at the 1881 Marlow fair. She was picked up unconscious and was expected to die imminently. But she struggled on miserably for a while longer. Similarly John's second wife Susan of The Crown Hotel, committed suicide less than a year after their marriage. John would die in an accident at the hotel a few years later. You can read more about this and poor Susan, in a post here. 

In 1881 Jack suffered the death of his toddler daughter Nellie, and a break in at his then Oxford Rd home the following year. Then his sister Kate Verney Langley died aged just 19 in 1887. So yes Jack knew misfortune too.

 In 1901 he defines himself as a turf commission agent on the census for the first time, although he was still engaged in both the fruit trade and farming. He was also going well enough to buy and sell property and land. As someone now comfortably off, Jack was frequently invited to sit on various committees eg the executive committee for organising the 1902 Coronation celebrations in Marlow. No doubt they knew they could count on him to reach into his pocket when asked to support a charitable cause. (More on the celebration here)

Jack and the Hospital

There are numerous philanthropic causes that Jack especially helped with. The first was the establishment of the Marlow Cottage Hospital in Glade Rd. The former one was cramped and small and the medical staff were desperate for a new modern premises. I have covered the sometimes bad tempered debate as to whether to go ahead with a new building or not in a post here. But the main fear was that not enough funds would be raised to either build it or maintain it on a voluntary basis  so it might get put "on the rates". One of those who thought the doctors would just have to make do with their old site was previously one of the bigger donors to the hospital, Ed. Riley. When the exhausted and exasperated medical staff threatened to resign en masse unless proper facilities were provided, Riley threatened to withdraw his association and financial support to the hospital. Jack Langley was outraged and said he would personally make up any deficiency in funds resulting from Riley's threat - and he was as good as his word. He had already offered to sell some land in Glade Rd at a much discounted price for the building of the hospital. Subsequently Jack decided to offer the same land entirely free of charge, providing building was actually started within an agreed time frame. This was a spot in a prime area of development for handsome villas so it was in no way an unattractive parcel of land he would be pleased to just get rid of. This was also in addition to general financial contributions to the funds. Furthermore Jack also offered that if the hospital managers should find a different and better site, he would provide a low cost loan and extra money to allow for its purchase. In the end, the hospital was built on Jack's land where it stands today. 

Jack pays out for twins

The second cause we should especially remember Jack for was his help and support for slate clubs and any fundraising aimed at helping the unemployed and poor. As mentioned above, Jack hosted free Christmas dinners for dozens of the poor. It was hardly a once a year act for him. He made donations to boost the funds of many of the town's Slate Clubs. These were sort of friendly societies and saving clubs that provided sickness and unemployment benefit for working men in exchange for a small weekly payment. (See posts linked below to read about the clubs and poverty in Jack's Marlow.) He was therefore an honoured guest at many of their annual share outs. And he was not above throwing himself into the entertainment contributing songs and comic recitations. His sons Jack and Walter often came along too, Jack junior specialising in an "unusual" whistling performance apparently. (Walter accompanied on a piano if available**) My favourite way that Jack supported one of the Slate Clubs at the Clayton Arms, was to offer a bonus payment from his own funds if any member's wife had a set of twins or triplets. He was called upon to pay that out at least once! He actually offered to pay if any new member with twins joined even if their children were a few years old already. It was noted of  Jack in 1906 that unusually when fortune had smiled upon him "instead of becoming more selfish as most men did when they became rich, Mr Langley delighted in helping his fellow men more than ever." Jack replied that he thought it the duty of every man to enjoy life and to help your fellow man to do the same. 

Veterans Supporter

Then we have Jack's generosity to the Marlow's Rifle Volunteers and to the fundraising to care for those serving in the South African and First World Wars and their bereaved families. Several of his sons spent time as a volunteer. His son Jack in particular is remembered as a casualty of the First World War. Jack junior was a veteran of the South African wars too, as a member of what was then known as the Imperial Yeomanry. Trooper Langley returned from South Africa in 1902 and his efforts are commemorated on the plaque on the Armoury in Institute Rd. (See here ) He was one of those who won a ballot to attend the 1902 Coronation as a representative of the Yeomanry - I believe the only Marlow resident to be successful in the draw.  Trooper Langley was not so fortunate in the First World War, and he died in Egypt in 1915. The news was recieved in Marlow in August that year, when it was reported the soldier's death was due to fever. At this point Jack senior, who was a councillor for some years, had been elected chair of the Marlow Urban District Council. He was also elected head of the Marlow Tribunal which considered applications for compulsory military service to be delayed or cancelled due to certain permitted circumstances. Jack was praised for his untiring work during these years. He was unfortunately injured in a blackout while on a visit to London in 1917. He was in Paddington station at the time and actually fell from the platform onto the rails. He was forced to remain in hospital for some weeks, returning to his then home, Bridge House, Marlow in early 1918. (Jack bought Bridge House in June 1913.) The rumour was he never fully recovered from these injuries or his son's war time death, and he died in 1924.  Marlow really lost a kind benefactor then. There isn't room to list all of Jack's charitable deeds in this. I especially like Jack for his visits to the Union Workhouse at Saunderton, and the workhouse school at Bledlow, and his frequent gifts to every Marlow resident in either. Sweets and buns for the children and money for the adults was the usual order of the day.  For example he gave 5s each to every Marlow pauper boarded out in other Poor Law Unions for Christmas 1920. Out of sight was definitely not out of mind for Jack. And he provided for 40 poor children to attend the Marlow cinema in 1914, paid to have trees replaced on the Causeway, donated land in Glade Rd free of charge so that the road could be widened in the interest of safety, subsidised soup kitchens, provided prizes at sporting contests ..the list goes on. 

There isn't space here either to list all of Jack's involvement with sporting interests in the town either so I'll just mention one aspect of his life that doesn't seem to be well known. He actually kept race horses as well as being involved in the track through his bookmaking. I have found that they raced at local courses such as Windsor and Ascot, and the most successful seems to have been "Tokey" in the Edwardian era. I must also mention that Jack played for Marlow FC and Marlow Victoria FC in their early years, as well as for the Cricket Club, rowed at the regattas, headed up the 1920s bowls club, and was an all round accomplished athlete who competed in amateur athletics events regionally. Dad John was in the Marlow cricket team in the 1850s and 60s with his "masterful" left handed underarm bowling credited for many a victory. 

NB. Jack's wife Ellen died in 1905 and he remarried widow Frances, former wife of Hedley Foster who drowned in the Thames at Marlow. Read more in the post here. See the grave of Ellen Here. His stepson Roy Foster was also a First World War casualty. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Jack lived at various times in Dean Street, Oxford Rd, Glade Rd, at New Court, Caldwell Lodge (Station Rd) and Bridge House. 

To find all mentions of an individual or family, see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

*More about skewer making and the industries of Dean Street here

**A passion for entertaining seemed to run in the Langley family. Another of Jack's sons, Frank, was the manager of a travelling theatre and cinema. Frank also served in the First World War, in the air force. 

List of Verney Arms landlords/history timeline: here

Slate Clubs and poverty in Marlow here

Index of posts related to the First World War in Marlow and general Marlow history here

Everyday life for Marlow residents at the Union workhouse Saunderton here

SOURCES

Parish Assessment, 1833, from the original notebook in our possession.

Census for Great Marlow, transcribed from the originals by Jane Pullinger and Charlotte Day. 

London Gazette, June 14 1878. 

Bucks Herald 9th February 1878, British Library Archive. 

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News, 4th March, 26th August & 7th October 1882, as above

South Bucks Standard 13 July 1905,  24 April 1913, as above. 

Reading Mercury 28th August and 11 September 1915 - Reading Libraries. 

Windsor and Eton Express 13th May 1871, & 26 March 1870 - Slough Borough Libraries. 

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire 1899, 1911 & 1915 

British Nationals Armed Forces Deaths 1796-2005. GRO. (Ref ARR1, Volume C2, page 133)

Marlow Guide 1905. 

© MarlowAncestors. 

Trees in Marlow History

 While we still have some woods about us, our Marlow ancestors would have been shocked at how denuded of trees the surrounding landscape appears today in comparison to how it was when they knew it. The Gentleman's Magazine wrote in 1752 that Marlow seemed encircled by trees. Others echoed that sentiment over the years, even observing that you could rather suddenly find yourself in the town, so hidden was it by woodland on its approaches. 

The London Journal of 1859 described Marlow as "lying silently amidst the trees". In 1849 a visitor found at Marlow "red and green forests thick with trees and  underwood extending many miles... solemn as any poet could wish for". He noted gigantic juniper trees here and some ancient what he called "whitehorn" trees (probably whitebeams which are common in the town). Even the visitors of the 1800s would have seen nothing like the tree cover in the landscape as previous generations did. At the time of the Domesday book Marlow's forests could support 1000 swine foraging for beech mast or tree nuts.

A fair few historic residents of Great Marlow found themselves in serious trouble because of trees. Most wealthy local landowners and farmers grew at least some trees as a timber crop and they guarded all pieces of their timber jealously. The poor folk of the town, desperate for fire wood or something to sell took a great risk even in breaking off a single twig.

Anyone who went further and gathered themselves an armful of wood faced potentially months of jail time if caught. William Foster for instance got 6 months hard labour for taking some beech wood, the property of Isaac Walker, in 1843 and a John Carter 3 years later was given 3 months hard labour for taking boughs from the fir plantation at Sir George Nugent's house at Little Marlow. His offence was recorded in December court sessions and was probably related to the cutting down of evergreen boughs for Christmas decorations. The average person was at that time years away from having a Christmas tree in their home but boughs of fir decorated the tops of picture frames, shelves and mantel pieces and were used to create swags and garlands in homes, churches and public institutions every Christmas. Each Yuletide season the act of cutting holly from the wild would land several locals in trouble. Sentences for the theft of holly could involve jail time but the offence was more commonly dealt with by way of a fine as holly was not considered very important a crop.

The damage caused to hedgerows by the skewer making industry in Marlow is covered in my skewer making history post here.

One forgotten crop that was very valuable to Marlow farmers was walnuts. Victorians could not get enough of this tree nut - pickled green ones garnished salads or were eaten as snacks, others were made into ketchups, sauces and cakes in great quantities. Walnuts grow very well in and around the town so many local farms had at least one tree planted for the purpose of profit. These nuts were also used gilded as Christmas decorations.

In the days before workplace safety measures those gathering nuts or other tree crops took their lives into their hands. We have in our research efforts come across multiple occurrences of Marlow men who suffered serious injury or death by falling out of trees or off ladders while gathering nuts or fruit for their employers. Older men seemed especially likely to be employed to gather fruit even if obviously unfit to go up a ladder. Despite being "crippled" with rheumatism and gout 71 year old Alfred Lane from Beaconsfield was allowed to harvest cherries at Well End near Little Marlow in 1898. The combination of his infirmity and the defective ladder supplied by his employer inevitably led to tragedy and Alfred died after falling and breaking his neck.

Orchards in the immediate Marlow area were usually cherry orchards (apple orchards supplying more than the grower's own family not being common). In the 1600s there was a cherry orchard in Oxford Road, and probably also one near Munday Dean. In the early 1800s there was a small one behind buildings at the beginning of Dean Street. Nearby Flackwell Heath was well known for its cherry crops in the past too. Wild cherries grow well locally and, despite their tiny size, were used by some Marlow families to make jam or pies even into the 1960s.

It wasn't only farm labourers whose work with trees was hazardous. Domestic gardeners could utilise a frightening amount of dangerous substances in their battle against tree diseases and bug infestations. Bearing in mind this would typically be without the men wearing masks or eye protection and often without gloves on their hands either. Mr Gillett gardener at Court Garden in 1884 used just linseed oil to deal with aphids on his apple trees but other gardeners attacked the problem by the application of caustic lime, sulfur or ammoniacal liquid from gas works (!). Gardeners were nothing if not imaginative when it came to their war on pests. Materials as different as grease from railway engines, treacle, soap, snuff and chalk were all used on trees to cure various problems.

Our ancestors were much closer to nature than we are today and both individual trees or groups of them might be featured in travel guides as tourist attractions in their own right. Those who had the luxury of sufficient leisure time in the 1700s and 1800s would take a day trip to a village or country spot with the sole intention of seeing a particularly old tree or one with some local legend attached to it.

Visitors who came to Marlow were always recommended to visit the relatively near Burnham Beeches wood and Quarry Woods across the river at Bisham. Less advertised to outsiders but enjoyed by local visitors were the woods around Marlow Common. The Reading Mercury in 1840 lamented the loss in a storm of a silver fir tree at Marlow Common "which had long been the admiration of all visitors to that spot". The poet Shelley when resident at Marlow was said to adore walking amongst the trees there.

Also generally admired were the trees that once screened the church from the High Street and Causeway and a row of limes that marked the footpath through the churchyard. The latter were cut down by the then vicar to immense dismay from his parishioners in 1833. Lime flowers would be used to make tea in the past (and by me even today).

Much entertainment was derived by our ancestors from any even slightly unusual happening in the streets. Crowds could gather to see a new family move into a house, or the old one move out, to see scaffolding erected, or a tree felled. An excited crowd gathered to witness woodmen fell a hefty elm tree in Marlow in 1822. One young man, John Ball, got so interested that he insisted on "helping" the woodmen. When the wind pushed the falling tree in an unexpected direction the woodmen got themselves to safety but a flustered and inexperienced John tripped up whilst running for cover and was hit by the tree at full force. Unsurprisingly he died as a result of his injuries.

In 1907 hundreds of Marlow people went to Bisham to see a large old elm that had blown down.

Visitors who got caught in a storm would head for a humble beech tree as there was in the past a firm belief that beeches could not be struck by lightning. Not something to try though reader, beech trees can definitely be struck by lightning!

Beech wood was utilised in the chair industry and beech trees dominate local woodland. Finnemoor Wood and High Heavens Wood, both near the town, were used as commercial timber woods for instance as were woods at Marlow Bottom. At Harleyford trees of beech, walnut, oak, elm, linden, sycamore and larch were all grown for profit.

Spade Oak wharf just along the river was from at least the 1600s a major loading and unloading place for cargoes of locally grown timber, including that bought by the navy for use in ship building.

Grounds studded with trees, especially old ones, were highly desirable for those who had sufficient money to establish them. Court Garden house had a parkland style garden with a screen of sweet chestnut trees next to the Causeway in the later 1800s and an avenue of mixed limes, elms and other trees elsewhere on the estate providing a shady walk for guests to enjoy. I think virtually none of those particular trees (no sweet chestnuts for instance) exist today although there are some other old trees still there. Also long gone is resident Mr Berger's huge glass house at Court Garden which in 1864 housed 144 indoor fruit trees!

Talking of sweet chestnuts, this was used at least sometimes in local building. When James Sawyer's very old bakery building suffered a serious fire in the late 1800s the fact that other buildings were not destroyed in the conflagration was attributed to Sawyer's premises being significantly constructed from chestnut which is known to be slow to burn even when dry. Although terrible damage was done to the West Street premises, this was mostly due to the water used to put out the fire and smoke. More on the Sawyer family and their bakery here.

More general history posts about Marlow here.

All mentions of any individual on this blog can be found on the A-Z Person Index. Thousands of people are mentioned.

Further mentions on this blog of any specific house, street or place such as Harleyford or Court Garden can be found indexed here

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

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

Sources

Berkshire Chronicle 22nd April 1843 and 26th December 1846. Both British Library Archives via the BNA. South Bucks Standard 15th July 1898, as above.

Morning Advertiser. 4th November 1822. British Library Archives.

The Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener, and Country Gentleman. (1864) by George W Johnson and Robert Hogg. 

Garden Receipts. United Kingdom: Ed: Charles William Quinn. Published by C. Lockwood, 1884.

Notes and Queries. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 1868.

Cooke, William Bernard., Owen, Samuel. The Thames: Or, Graphic Illustrations of Seats, Villas, Public Buildings and Picturesque Scenery on the Banks of that Noble River. United Kingdom: Vernor, Hood & Sharpe and W.B. Cooke, 1811.

The Lives Of Owen Sawyer and Joseph Russell

Sometimes we pick a random individual from Marlow's past and decide to flesh out the bones of their life. So now is the turn of Victorian West Street and Queens Rd resident Owen Sawyer. 

Owen was born in 1847 to West Street bakers James and Charlotte Sawyer. They and their business feature in a post here which includes a photo of their premises. Charlotte had the reputation of being an accomplished businesswoman and she continued the business after her husband's early death. In this she was assisted by Owen's brothers Henry and James. Subsequently James would take over the management of the bakers from his aged mother, and indeed continued to run it after her death. 

Owen however was apprenticed to High Street cabinet maker Daniel Walker, who also ran The Hope public house later. Daniel did not just make furniture, he also engaged in more general carpentry tasks. So Owen would later recall engaging in work such as making and even erecting fencing. It was good training if hard work and Owen would later strike out on his own as a skilled carpenter. He initially moved to Dean Street after marrying wife Mary Ann and that was the setting for the event below. Subsequently he spent several decades living in Queens Road. 

Murder! 

A dramatic incident in the life of Owen occured when he was 28 and found himself in court charged with assaulting Thomas John Pattison Junior. Thomas said Owen forced himself through his front door and attacked him although it isn't clear what the motive would have been. Fortunately for Owen, the witnesses supported a quite different version of events. Owen had heard Sarah, the wife of Thomas screaming "Murder! Murder!" as he was going pass their home. He, Sarah's sister and her neighbour rushed in and found that Thomas had Sarah by the neck and was threatening her with her knife, despite the fact she was holding one of their children. He had apparently been offended by the fact Sarah expressed the wish to stay in their current home rather than move to Strong Beer Acre as Thomas had announced they would shortly be doing. Thomas was bound over for a year to keep the peace for one year, and Owen was found not guilty of the assault. 

Diving superstar

Owen was a renowned swimmer and diver, and a member of the Amateur Rowing club. In 1875 he won a regatta competition which involved diving as far as possible off Marlow Bridge. The entry point into the water was marked and whoever got furthest from the bridge was the champion. Owen's winning distance was 40 yards. It was noted that he was a hard man to beat when in form! Other events included "diving for eggs" and water polo in canoes. The Rowing club also had monthly competitions running at this time, which Owen took part in. In the 1890s he operated the telegraph system at Bourne End Regatta that transmitted the official results from the umpire. They were then announced to the crowds who couldn't all see the finish clearly. He was also a member of other sporting institutions in the town - and one of the players who made up The Royal Victoria Working Mans FC, Marlow's "other" football team which subsequently amalgamated with Marlow FC. (Read more on them here)

Another institution in the town that Owen had great involvement in was the Clayton Arms Slate Club, a friendly society.  This provided invaluable support to working men in the event of accident or illness robbing them of the opportunity to earn their living. Owen was one of the founding members, and also served on its organisational commitee. You can read more about it here. He was also a member of the Marlow Volunteer fire brigade. Even after retirement from that he sometimes lent a hand at fires, such as one at the George & Dragon during the October street fair of 1898. Civilians were often utilised in such occasions, and someone of Owen's experience was obviously all the more welcome. Owen suffered a house fire of his own that nearly cost the life of two of his children - you can read more in this post about his father in law John Langley here

Lastly we should mention Owen's role as one of the collectors of contributions for the local Transvaal Relief Fund around 1900. This dealt with cases of need in families who had a member serving in the South African wars then ongoing. Furthermore he was elected to the committee of this group. 

Owen could also be found as a member of the Bucks Rifle Volunteers. He was the oldest Volunteer when he retired after 34 years diligent service in the autumn of 1902. Owen had by then attained the rank of Corporal. He said on his retirement that the hours spent with his fellow rifle volunteers were amongst the happiest of his life. As a member of the Volunteers Social and Shooting Club, he had spent many happy days with these comrades at the rifle range and in local pubs. You can read more about the volunteers here

Two sad events - the first

In 1890, Owen was working at a house in Mill Lane. He saw a young man who he knew slightly coming along the lane. This was Joseph Lionel "Joe" Russell* age 25, who had been crippled for life in a childhood accident.  He had been born into a military family in India, but shortly after their return to England, his father had died.  His mother had worked at Bray Court, and the lady of that house and subsequently Marlow Place (Mrs Haig) had tried to support Joseph with an allowance when his mother had in turn died. She had also paid off some of his debts. It had once seemed doubtful that Joseph's physical condition would allow him to fully support himself. But he had nevertheless started work as a commercial clerk to Thomas Butler the wine and spirit merchant. And so the allowance had finally been stopped, although Mrs Haig still provided his clothing. However, Joseph was subject to fits of depression and had taken to drinking. When he passed Owen, he asked to shake his hand, and told Owen they would not see any such other again. Joseph then proceeded along Mill Lane towards the Mill and river. Owen was naturally suspicious at such ominous words, and watched the other man carefully. When he saw his destination, he ran a short distance down the lane to the Mills and called for help. Mr Wright and Owen found a muddy and wet Joseph at the bank of the Thames attempting to wade in. He could not swim and had a suicide note in his pocket. He was bought back to the Mills to receive medical attention. Suicide was a criminal offence then, and so Joseph was bought before the court and Owen had to give evidence as to what he had seen. Joseph was let off as he promised not to attempt his life again. Sadly, he did not keep this promise, and three years later he drowned after throwing himself off Marlow Bridge. 

A tragedy close to home

In 1903 Owen appeared at another inquest. This was sadly that of his brother James Sawyer the baker. For reasons that are not always easy to grasp, the Sawyer family bakers was no longer doing well in the few previous years. A severe fire in 1897 can not have helped although both the building and contents were insured. By May 1902 it had closed, and James was out of work. (The business was sold to Charles H Carter who ran the Bridge Restaurant and bakers on the Causeway, where Burgers is now. As he already had a West Street branch, the business was moved there) I believe he may have worked for another baker in town at first but this did not last. When leaving the bakery he had of course also lost his home. (He went to lodge with Jane Thornton.) He was 67, and perhaps he could not face "starting again". One evening Owen met his brother in the Carpenters Arms and noted his downcast look. He gave him some money, as the baker was significantly in arrears with his rent.  The two parted and no one saw James alive again. His person was spotted in the river near Thames Bank by labourer Thomas Munday. Thomas retrieved the body with the assistance of equipment provided by the Marlow Lock keeper, and the aid of George Budd. It was taken to the Two Brewers, where a copy of his and Owens parents' marriage certificate was found in his pocket. Deliberate entering of the river could not be proved, nor a definite  accident as there were no witnesses so the verdict of the inquest jury was the open "Found Drowned".

A happier event of that year was the marriage of daughter Ada to Edwin Meadows Madeley. Ada was a former school teacher at the national school. 

Owen's own death was less dramatic and he passed away age 78 in 1926. 

*Joseph came to Marlow from Holyport near Maidenhead shortly before his first suicide attempt. He lodged for seven years with plumber George and Louisa Davis in Cambridge Rd. George and Louisa feature with their daughter Annie in a post here - but be warned it's another sad post! Joseph was said to have been in a fearful state when Mrs Haig took him under her wing, unable to go up stairs for example. He had spent much time in Maidenhead hospital. Louisa Davis believed that his first suicide attempt had been precipitated by her threat that if he continued such heavy drinking he must leave her home. She believed the second was due to a guilty conscience, as she considered it likely that he was stealing from his employer. He had too much money to spend on drink she said, given his other expenses and level of wages. Joseph had two brothers and two sisters, whom Mrs Haig had also helped get a start in life. The boys were in the Army at the time of his death. He was buried in a paupers grave at Cookham, with no family to attend the service. His body had been found by Spade Oak ferryman Jonathan Sparks. The jump from the bridge was witnessed by carpenter Mark Creswell.

 Mrs Haig remarried and went to live at Fox Court, Maidenhead with husband Captain Masey. 

. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

To find all mentions of an individual or family here use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu.

 Use the General History tab to find out more about everyday life in Joseph's and Owen's Great Marlow. 

©Marlow Ancestors.

A History Of Spinfield House / Spinfield Lodge

 Spinfield (s) as a name long predates the existence of Spinfield Lodge / House or the modern housing development. Spinfield Farm is used to refer in 1700s to the 2-3 enclosures of land such as Spinfield Mead which had long gone by that name and to the nearby areas such as Poynetts and Oxford Lane Close which were almost always let and farmed in tandem with it, around 30-40 acres in total. This farm did have a farmhouse attached to it, but I can't not say for certain where that was. The English Place Name Society journal of 1925 suggests Spinfield as a place name originated from a 13th century Marlow landowner William de Espineville. 

1804 - first found use of "Spinfield Lodge" as place of residence.  Occupier William? Ongley of Great Marlow, who appears as witness to two legal documents, and a will. (He has not been researched further at this point). This mention therefore predates the construction of the Lodge detailed below. 

1807 - date of construction of Spinfield Lodge based on descriptions of the house for sale when it was said to be 13 and 22 years old respectively. These sale descriptions match one of a house built by William Bond, builder of Marlow at this time. Biography of William here. Was the earlier lodge the farmhouse, another building or is the (admittedly consistent) remembered date of construction a few years out? 

1808 - first advertisment showing it available to lease appeared. A term of 3 years was offered. At this point it had entrance hall, 7 bedrooms, drawing, dining and breakfast rooms plus "excellent" kitchen and domestic offices. Coach house and stabling. "Suitable for small genteel family" [Oxford Journal]

1812 - up for lease again. Resident unknown. Now 8 bedrooms. Advertisements stressed the home's modern interior with folding doors between reception rooms ,allowing the whole to be turned into one large space for balls etc. 

1813/14 - Mr Sawyer resident. Several possible candidate Mr Sawyers within Marlow of right social standing to afford this property. The one at Spinfield was definitely a strong financial supporter of the original Marlow Institution for adult education. More on this endeavour here . This was not the same as the later Literary and Science society. The Mr Sawyer of Spinfield was most likely William Sawyer previously of West Street who died 1814, a friend of Bond the builder. 

1820 : up for sale (leasehold) with 10 acres. Described in the Morning Herald as as substantially arranged so as to admit construction of another level on top if desired. 

1824 -1829 at least. Henry Shepherd Pearson Esq and his wife Caroline. Henry was a man who had spent many years in the Bombay civil service in various roles from circa 1793. Also civil servant at the settlement on Prince Edward Island, now Penang, Malaysia.  Later a merchant. Son of Admiral Richard Pearson. 

1829 - lease for sale again. This time it was spelled out that the house and the core 10 acre garden are leased from the Dean and Chapter and Bristol, for a peppercorn annual fee. The rest of the 5-6 acres was usually let with the house as paddocks/parkland was leased from the Vicar and Churchwardens of Marlow, later the General Charities of Marlow, administered by the same. (This 6 acre area is also known as Martin's Close and may be described as part of the "Poor Lands" eg land which was used to generate income to support the poor as result of a charitable bequest either of the land itself or funds to purchase it ). House had been enlarged and newly "fitted up". Had gained a bathroom and water closets above and below, plus servants hall. Stabling had doubled since 1808. "Excellent" cellarage. Outbuildings now included gardener's cottage, carthouse, piggeries, cowhouse and dairy. First mention of the "paved veranda".  

1832 : leasehold up for sale. "Very large sums recently been expended on improving every part of the house and grounds". First mention of the "ornamental lodge" which was the gardeners residence, possibly the same gardener's cottage mentioned 2 years previously. (Known as The Lodge, Spinfield) Carriage drive extended. Offered with 15 acres of pasture, and available with or without farming stock and household furniture. Now suitable for a "moderate" family. Lease purchased by James Simpson Esq, merchant of the Constant Spring and Albion Estates, Jamaica. (Sugar and coffee). Wife Mary. 

1833  - Spinfield Lodge and garden was valued at £75 in the Parish Assessment. 

1834 - James Simpson was leasing the 6 acre Martin's Close (see above) plus Spinfield Mead of 7 acres, the latter from the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. A separate 6 acre close known as Spinfield was leased by Mr Muspratt and farmed by Mr Webb. 

1840s - house continued to be leased by the Simpsons who lived there with the daughter of Mary by her first marriage -  Ann Crosbie. Ann was blind and suffers from mental instability (as defined at the time). See below. They also spent much time in London. 

1851 - James Simpson died at Spinfield. He left the property (still leasehold) to his wife during her life, and it was then to be inherited by his nephew James Carson, who had been managing the Jamaica estates for his uncle. 

1851-1858 - the widow Mrs Carson lived at Spinfield. She was an active member of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge and donated to many charitable causes in Marlow. "Her little kindnesses.. were unbounded". Both she and her husband were buried at All Saints. After her mother's death, poor Ann Crosbie was declared insane under the terms of the Lunacy Act 1853. Her affairs were managed by trustees. 

1859 - James Carson took on his inheritance, with wife Sarah nee Marriott. Their first child born at the house arrives prematurely and remains constantly ill. Little Brenda Paulina died age 13 months old while on a visit with family to Brighton. James had previously spent many years in Jamaica, serving as a JP there and as a major in the Jamaican Militia. He buys the adjacent meadow known as Crooked Close to add to Spinfield's pleasure grounds. 

1861 - James Carson is voted to chair at a meeting organised to set up a Committee to promote the abolition of slavery in America. He is said to have always "encouraged" its abolition on estates his business  connections dealt with. His family did not use use enslaved labour on their own properties. The meeting is addressed by two black preachers, one a former slave living in Canada, the other a distinguished orator from the United States. Carson says he will take down the name of any man willing to help "so good a cause as the emancipation of slaves".   More on the history of slavery and abolition in Marlow history in this post

1862 - Spinfield Lodge is undergoing extensive work to enlarge and improve it yet again. It was to be transformed from a villa to a mansion they said, and would will henceforth be one of the principal seats in the region. The work was completed within a year and Carson celebrated with a grand celebration at the house, attended by a military band and all the local gentry. Amongst the new features are a conservatory and more glasshouses. 

1863 - James Carson is reported to have "recently" succeeded in his desire to purchase Spinfield House and core grounds from the Dean & Chapter of Bristol so he now holds it freehold. He opens the gardens to the public so they can admire his recent estate improvements. 

1865 - James Carson was in Jamaica and became an unofficial correspondent for several London newspapers when he wrote to describe the "murderous" uprising by native workers on his and neighbouring estates around Kingston. He was back in England by the end of the year but the trouble did not go away. A dispute over pay on his Hopewell Estate in Jamaica turned violent and the estate manager was seriously assaulted. James claimed that his agent regularly visits the property and would deal with any "genuine" grievances. His language often smacked of the dismissive attitude to the capacity of the non white population to manage their own affairs which was commonly expressed at the time. Back home, Carson donated a large amount to the work of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, which met at High Wycombe. He seems to have concerned himself with mainly local affairs overall in the late 1860's, serving a term as the High Sheriff of Bucks and working as a magistrate. 

1872 - James Carson died at his London house. 

1873 : the 11 ft high granite and marble obelisk monument to James Carson was placed in All Saints churchyard where you will still find it today. His eldest son, lawyer Captain James Simpson Carson occupied Spinfield, now often called Spinfield House, until 1883, when he began to prefer to remain in London. But during his decade in Marlow Spinfield was used to host dozens of events from Sunday school treats, to agricultural and horticultural shows and outdoor "promenade concerts" by the Choral Society. 

1884 - Charity commissioners sold their land at Spinfield and nearby, raising a large sum. From then on Spinfield was offered as a freehold property in entirety. Some of the money was reserved to pay for the education of poor girls from Marlow parish at teacher training colleges. 

1885 - Simpson Carson family tried to sell Spinfield but it failed to find a buyer at auction. Offered again for sale by private treaty, with 35 acres of land. 18 bed and dressing rooms. The garden is now advertised as containing a fernery, fountain and tennis lawns as well as the standard glasshouses, vineries and orchard. 

1886 - 1908 lawyer Robert Hay Murray purchased the property. He was the grandson of an earl. Previously he lived in Kent and Surrey.  And of course, Hay Murray began to do renovations on the house as soon as he took possession. Robert usually let out Spinfield Lodge during the river season when he was either in London or abroad. For example he spends 4 months in Italy in 1893 and spends 6 months on the continent the following year. A regular summer tenant wass Hudson E Kearley Liberal M P,  (later Lord Devonport) founder of what became known as the International Stores/International Tea stores. He rented the home year after year. Later Kearley would rent Medmenham manor house, and own Wittington House and States farm near Medmenham. When he was there, Hay Murray continues the tradition of letting the park at Spinfield be used for many events, including agricultural shows and children's treats. He was very interested in the promotion of good practice in farming and horticulture. A role as magistrate also comes his way, a job he had also fulfilled in Surrey. In 1898 Murray opened the grounds of Spinfield to the public on Sunday afternoons during the summer. I believe he did so in other years too. Despite an earlier retracted news story to the contrary, entry was restricted to the those with an invitation card, which had to be applied for in advance. 

1908 - 1914 Mrs Elizabeth Hay Murray remained at Spinfield after her husbands death. Their son Robert Evelyn sadly pre deceased his mother in 1910. 

1914 on Mrs Scott Murray death, the house contents are sold off including her husbands huge library of antiquarian books. Spinfield itself with 34 acres was then offered at auction but we are uncertain that it found an immediate buyer.  The house had now mushroomed to include 17, yes 17,  bedrooms and dressing rooms, two staircases and 6 reception rooms! It had a garage and now not 1 but 3 cottages offered with it. A particular attraction was the provision of mains gas and water plus a telephone connection. If not sold does the widow's son retain ownership? He died in 1917. 

1916 - Spinfield was used as a HQ by officers of the Home Counties Royal Engineers, who are camped at Marlow Common. When their Captain Ticehurst, of Battle, East Sussex married Muriel Kilby at Bisham, the Engineers cook used the Spinfield kitchen to produce a wedding cake shaped like the emblem of the RE. Long term Spinfield head gardener Thomas Blackmore uses flowers from the gardens to produce a large floral bell to decorate the church. (Muriel was the daughter of Complete Angler proprietor Robert Kilby/Kilbey)

1919 - purchased by the future Lord and Lady Terrington, then known as the honourable Horace and Vera Woodhouse. Vera was a pioneering lady MP and the two lead an eventful life, which eventually saw Terrington jailed, and the couple divorced. A post on them will follow. Suffice to say they spent vast sums on Spinfield, which was said to resemble a palace when you walked in. He bought many antique and lavish fittings into the house. 

1927 - contents of the house sold by order of the mortgagee, followed by the house itself and 53 acres. Building purchased by Charles Stambois who was rumoured to be planning to turn the lavish interior into a residential country club/hotel for businessmen. Plans were said to be advancing in 1928 but then Stambois invited the gentlemen of the press to the house to tell them the official new plan.....

1928 - Stambois says he is intending to develop the house into a health club with a "sports arena", to be run in conjunction with the New Health Society.  The society was founded in 1925 to promote fresh air, exercise, a wholesome diet and sunbaths. The founder thought the population was "degenerating" and these actions would make the nation great again, at least as far as their moral and physical health went. Fibre was key and your life goal was to achieve 3 bowel movements a day. Stambois seems to have expected the club would provide some of the funding. A sale of his extensive and very valuable wine cellar was intended to help meet the cost. Stambois planned to add an extension to the east wing to accommodate a new larger dining room plus a ball room. There is some indication he may have started work on this part. The roof would also be removed to allow for a new top floor of bedrooms. Behind the house were to be hard and grass tennis courts. The "sports arena" would occupy a meadow to the east of Spinfield Lane. It was intended to comprise a swimming pool, "galloping tracks", a gymnasium and changing rooms. But regardless of this ambitious plans,  Stambois then suddenly offered it for sale again later that year. 

It was purchased by Henry Rupert Hood Barr, a managing director of a steel barrel making company, Scammels. We don't think he necessarily intended to live there originally, but seemingly purchased it as an investment opportunity. I say so because he himself offered it for sale within a year of buying it, with various parts of the grounds divided into plots and offered for building purposes. There were no takers for the actual house, but in 1930 we are told that the owner intends to develop Spinfield Lodge into a mixture of apartments and offices. He also had a plan to build a commercial laundry in the grounds. This would exploit a new German cleaning process apparently. Did any part of this actually happen? Well apparently not as in 1936 the house was sadly due for demolition, and therefore the entire contents are up for grabs, from floorboards, to the doors, staircase and wooden paneling. We have heard rumours that the house suffered a fire at this time, which was used as a reason for the demolition, but we can find no contemporary report of this as yet.  As you can see from the pre demolition sale, the sort of wooden fixtures and fittings you wouldn't expect to survive a severe blaze were intact at that point so if there was a fire, it presumably came after the decision to demolish the property had already been made. Also note that the house sale includes antique stone carved crest and fireplace both dated 1649 but it can't be said they belonged to an older version of Spinfield Lodge with any certainty. Both Hay Murray and Terrington were said to have added antique features to the house. Hay Murray was a keen antiquarian in particular, interested in archaeology and a member of the local society  for that. He even had some ancient Egyptian artefacts at Spinfield. 

1938 - Architect Edgar Ranger is commissioned by the Hood Barrs to build a smaller house to replace Spinfield Lodge of old, but on the same site. Nicholas Pevsner tells us in his book "Buildings of Buckinghamshire" that the Italianate Georgian kitchen of the original house was preserved within the design, which is a unexpected delight as it means a tiny piece of Spinfield Lodge hopefully still exists. The ice house, in an artificial mound, was visible near the entrance to Spinfield Nurseries very clearly in the early 1970s (the first nursery was offered for sale in 1978) but have become progressively overgrown. In 1973 the remains of the horse drawn extraction wheel for a deep garden well at Spinfield (literally powered by a donkey) were reported by a journal of industrial architecture. I remember seeing this some years later. 

1940s - the new Spinfield Lodge most often just called "Spinfields" (plural) was still home to the Hood Barrs. In the second world war it was partially requisitioned for billets for those working at the top secret facility at nearby Danesfield although the owners were allowed to stay put too. Some scandal came about as the brother in law of Hood Barrs was arrested at Spinfield as a spy and Nazi sympathiser and subsequently committed suicide. For more see the post here. The Hood Barr family remained at the Lodge until the mid 1950's. 

Written & researched  by Kathryn Day

Related Posts:

Use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu to find every mention of a person here - there are 4,390 individuals listed there as of April 2022. 

List of gardeners employed at Spinfield: here

Other posts relating to specific houses/locations can be found on the index here: here

SOURCES INCLUDE:

Beamon, Sylvia, Roaf, Susan - Ice Houses of Britain, Routledge 1990.

 

Wills of Arabella Gilbert, Thomas Langley, William Sawyer, and James Simpson transcribed by Charlotte from PCC copies National Archives Kew. 

Goddard, Charles. An Account of The Origin, Principles, Proceedings, And Results of A Institution..1816.    

Census 1841,1871 - transcript from microfilm by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger. 

1833 Parish Assessment, original notebooks held by our family. 

1834 - Owners and Occupiers of Land assessment, Great Marlow, original notebooks held by our family. 

Accounts and Papers, Great Britain Houses of Parliament, Vol 49, digitised by Google. 

Journal of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1859. 

Kelly's Directory of the Titled, Landed and Official Classes,1880. (Kelly & Co)

Illustrated London News Vol 49 , digitised by Google. 

Decorative Arts and Modern Interiors yearbook, 1940

Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, 1 August 1827. 

Reading Mercury 16th September  1772, 5th October 1861. Copy from the British Library and accessed via the BNA. 

Oxford Journal collected editions 1808 and 1812. 

Morning Herald 1 May 1820, 18th May 1829, 16 January 1851 

Bucks Gazette, 29th April 1832. 

Bucks Herald 12 February 1859, 4 July 1914, 8 December 1920. Via the BNA as above. 

 

"Fashionable Arrivals", scrap of news sheet! London,1825

Boyles Court and Country Guide,1884. 

Country Life, collected volume for 1919. 

The Motor Owner, 1 December 1927. 

South Bucks Free Press 14 February 1862 & 10th April 1863

Buckinghamshire Advertiser and Free Press 2 May 1936

Lahore Civilian and Military Gazette, 10 April 1930

Sporting Gazette 10 November 1885. Digitised by Google. 

Bedfordshire Times, 4  June 1872. 

Dundee Evening Telegraph, 3 June 1908. Copy from British Library Archive as above. 

Reports of Charity Commissioners of Great Marlow,  1884. 

GRO death index. 

Reading Standard, 12 May 1928

Bexhill on Sea Chronicle July 1916 

Gardeners Chronicle and Horticultural Trade Journal, Collected Edition. 1955 (Haymarket Publishing)

Kelly's Directory 1939. (Kelly's Directory Ltd)

Pevsner Nicholas, Wilkinson Elizabeth - Buildings of Buckinghamshire. 1994 Edition. 

Journal of Industrial Archaeology, 1973. 

English Place Name Society journal, Volume 2 1925. 

Walford, Edward County Families of the United Kingdom 1860  

South Bucks Standard - 22 July & 5 August 1898, old Wycombe Libraries. 

Link to founding aims of New Health Club: https://wdc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/health/id/2521/

© MarlowAncestors. 

Alfred Neighbour - Innkeeper And Duck Wrestler

 This post is a summary of the life of Alfred Edmund Neighbour, landlord of the Red Lion in Marlow, and the Dog & Badger inn at Medmenham. 

Gardening in the blood

Alfred was born in 1840 to 34 year old gardener John who was in charge of the gardens of Remnantz in the 1850s. The family lived for decades in "Potlands" or the Portland's area off West Street - for more about this time see the People Of Potland's post here Alfred's older brother William would grow up to be the celebrated head gardener at Court Garden and later Harleyford (read more here), while 3 other brothers Edward, John and Edwin also spent at least some time working as gardeners too. The kitchen gardens of Remnantz could be accessed from Portland's Alley as well as from West Street. It's possible the younger brothers may also have spent some time working at Remnantz in their junior roles. I believe Alfred's mother Hannah Maria died shortly after his birth. 

Young Alfred however took another path and came to work on the railways. By 1861 he was at Leatherhead in Surrey* working as a railway guard, a responsible position for a young man. Like many youthful railway workers who were unmarried, he lodged with another family, in this case the Walkers at the Plough Inn. By the time of his first marriage in 1864, he had been promoted to a railway inspector (that is of safety rather than tickets). 

His bride was Marlow's Hannah Elizabeth Hoare, daughter of beer sellers and lodging house keepers Charles and Charlotte. Hannah grew up in Gun Lane (now Trinity Rd) where her parents kept the small but respectable The Three Horseshoes. They always had lodgers, as beer sellers often did, so conditions were cramped. Later the Hoares moved to run the rather less salubrious by reputation Travellers Friend in Dean Street. This functioned more as a common lodging house than a beer seller by this time but it was licensed. Sometimes as many as 16 mostly young single men were slotted in with the family - no one expected their own room. Finally the Hoares would run the The Bear in Chapel Street, again a licensed premises that functioned chiefly as a lodging house, and not a very spacious one given the sometimes high number of residents. 

At The Red Lion

A couple of years after their marriage, Alfred and Hannah were back in Marlow. Hannah would find herself yet again serving beer as the couple decided to take over the Red Lion in West Street. This was just next to the Neighbours original Potland's home. The Red Lion did have the odd longer term lodger and regular overnight paying guests but it  was definitely a few steps up from the "common lodging houses". The Neighbours time there was relatively peaceful although Alfred went through that Marlow rite of passage of recieving a summons for allowing illegal gambling on the premises. (1867) This was related to the playing of card games there.  Alfred was caught by a plain clothes constable who found several games ongoing in the back room, with Alfred frequently present. Alfred argued that he was new to the publican business and he had observed other licensees allowing card games so he thought there was no harm in it. He would however promise to abide by the terms of his licence in future. The court was fairly sympathetic and issued a low fine. Perhaps they did not realise his wife had been bought up in the trade and probably knew the regulations very well! 

Sadly Hannah passed away when her youngest son Edward (b.1870) was just an infant. Soon afterwards, Alfred gave up the licence, and we loose sight of him for a couple of years. By 1877, however Alfred was in Medmenham and preparing to marry again..to another publicans daughter. 

The Dog & Badger

Emma Sawyer grew up in Medmenham with parents James and Mary, innkeepers at the historic roadside Dog and Badger inn. By age 14 she was helping her parents as a bar maid, no labour restrictions relating to the employment of minors selling alcohol were yet in place! It was the tradition role for young unmarried publicans daughters, and good training - there is a reason a very high number go on to marry into other innkeeping families. When Emma and Alfred took over the Dog & Badger in turn from Emma's widowed mother, they would describe their 14 year old son/ step son Charles as their ostler and and 13 year old Hannah as a bar maid in turn. (1881). Alfred's son Edward age 11 was still obliged to go to school but he did not escape beer selling entirely. The adult Edward would (after a stint as a carpenter) be a beer dealer and grocer at Neighbours Stores in Quoiting Square with wife Catherine nee White. 

Enter the duck

Things were not always peaceful for Alfred and Emma. In 1879 Alfred got into a tussle with a customer that landed him in court. It was the day of Marlow October Fair, and so there was a lot of traffic passing between Henley and Marlow. It was therefore a busy day for Henry too, in his position on the roadside between the two. Henley licensed victualler Joseph Ball was amongst those stopping by on both the way in and out.  Shortly after Joseph and two friends arrived, Alfred encountered them and showed them a (dead) duck in his possession. (It seems Alfred thought it a good example, and drew their attention to it) Joseph took hold of the bird and made an offer to buy it that was presumably cheekily low. Alfred contended the encounter was a jocular one and he thought they were joking so laugh over he reached to retrieve the bird. But Joseph said he had made a bargain and would insist Alfred kept to it and so refused to hand the duck back. Some arguments went on for 5-10 mins, including a tug of war involving the thankfully dead animal. Alfred then lost what was left of his temper and threatened to hit Joseph if he didn't hand back the duck. Shortly afterwards he followed through with this, making several blows and drawing blood. There were plenty of witnesses and it was admitted Joseph had had quite a bit to drink. The court found Alfred guilty but expressed regret that they felt obliged to do so as they felt he had been much provoked. They set his fine as low as possible and relieved him of the obligation to pay some of the costs. Whether the duck was left in a fit state to be of use to either is unrecorded! 

Afterwards

In the early 1880s the Neighbours decided to leave the Dog & Badger. Many people were not landlords for long and a great number of past Marlow people with diverse backgrounds can include a stint as a beer seller in their history. They lasted longer than many. They did have one last attempt to take on another premises, that of the troubled Chairmakers Arms in Dean Street in 1884 but their application was refused. The authorities were sick of trouble at the Chairmakers and a constantly changing set of landlords and would not consider someone with any kind of question mark against them. For the Neighbours it was the fact they had been operating the premises in practice for a short time without a licence while someone else was technically in charge. You can read about that here

The couple moved out of our area to London where Alfred would remain for the last 15 years or so of his life. He is described as a engineers labourer on the 1891 census. Half brother Edwin was not too far away, working as a gardener in Hanwell. There appears to a number of more distant Neighbour relatives in the general area which may have provided a different incentive to move there. He died in 1907. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day with extra research by Charlotte Day. 

RELATED POSTS:

Pub index where you will find proprietor listings for the pubs and lodging houses mentioned above: here

Other posts related to Medmenham: here

To find every mention of an individual here, use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down - 4,000 individuals are currently listed. 

The Allams - details of Hannah Hoares sister Sarah, who married into the Allam fish monger family, as well as information on the sad death of mum Charlotte  - here

Every day life in old Marlow : here

Biography of individuals index here

 * Trip points for researchers:

Some online research databases have misread the birthplace of Alfred on the 1861 census as "St Marleybone", Bucks which does not exist. It actually reads Great Marlow but that's old handwriting for you! Always best to check several sources if you can. Beware too of the similar aged ALBERT  Edmund Neighbour which again some sites (and only some) have accidentally listed as ALFRED, born Beaconsfield. There were many Neighbours there but our Alfred was born in Great Marlow. Both married Lambeth, but different years. The Hoares other daughter Sarah Tilleard also married at Lambeth. 

 The Neighbour families of Bucks /Oxfordshire/ Surrey include people who work in the kind of trades that mean frequent moves further afield such as domestic and market gardening, railway workers, publicans and soldiers.  It is therefore best to cast the net widely when looking for them. 

Posts on gardener William Neighbour, Waterman Arms landlord Henry Neighbour and wife Catherine, and tollgate keeper and convict William Neighbour are available by searching this index here

SOURCES INCLUDE:

Census 1841 -1891 transcripts from the originals microfilm by Charlotte and Jane Pullinger.  

Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gardener -  Article by George W Johnson FRHS and Robert Hogg LLD, September 1864

South Bucks Free Press 9 March 1867, from the British Library Archive via the BNA

Bucks Herald 7 November 1867. 

Reading Mercury 09 March 1867

The Horticultural Domestic Journal collected, 1870-1880. (1881)

Landlord listing research for the Dog and Badger by Charlotte. 

© MarlowAncestors

Will Mary Keen 1724

Mary Keen widow of Great Marlow. Will written 1723 and proved 1724.

Says she weak in body but of sound mind and memory, praise be to God.

To be decently buried at the discretion of her executor.

Daughter Susan Smith gets testator's best petticoat and her cloak.

To granddaughter Ann Smith the box that was testator's daughter Hannah's box.

Daughter Grace Keen gets all of the rest of testator's wearing apparel both linen and woollen.

To each grandchild living at time of her death 2 shillings sixpence.

Son Henry gets all rest of her good's and chattels and is to pay any debts. He is appointed executor.

Will witnessed by Anne Elliott, Mary Sawyer [makes her mark], Robert Tilbury solicitor.

Notes:

In her own will the daughter Susan Smith mentioned above calls herself Susanna.

P.C.C will held at the National Archives. Transcribed by me and then summarized here.

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

The Flackwell Heath Treasure

 In 1829 William Higgins a 24 year old thatcher from Well End by Little Marlow was amongst other workers repairing or pulling down depending on which report you read a tiny cottage in Flackwell Heath.

To his great surprise William found a hoard of golden guineas hidden in the thatch. Some early reports other workers found them too but later reports clarify that it was just William. The coins date from as far back as the reigns of James 2nd (deposed 1688). The exact number of them couldn't be got out of the workmen but was reckoned to be at least 700, probably in fact 2000.

William started to spend them freely. His premature death a few months later was put down to his new "dissipated" ways as he enjoyed his treasure trove. 

Further examination of the cottage revealed an old  will from a member of the Sawyer family which gave instructions as to how to find not only that treasure but others hidden in the building too. A thousand more guineas were then discovered by following those further instructions.

An "inquest" into the coins after William's death declared that William had found at least 700 coins himself. That may be the number he had left at his death. There is no detail I can find as to who was able to claim the rest or why the coins were not demanded of William immediately by the cottage's owner. Even if he did not wish to tell anyone what he had done with them couldn't he be forced to produce them sooner? And why had that will gone undiscovered in the cottage apparently for years?  Was it also concealed?

Sadly we'll probably never know. No will at the National Archives of a Sawyer is the will in question. I read them all! It may be the will was never taken to probate being so out of date.

The name Higgins or Higgens goes back a while in little Marlow but I did not see William's baptism there upon a cursory sweep of records. If I do find out more about him or the will I will upload.

Remember to check your thatch, everyone!

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

To find other posts about Flackwell, Well End and other places around Great Marlow see the post index here

And to find every mention of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

Sources:

Newspaper copies at British Library Archives accessed via the BNA March 2021=

Sussex Advertiser 25th May 1829. 

Hampshire Telegraph 25th May 1829.

Berkshire Chronicle 30th May and 7th November 1829.

Bucks Gazette 2nd January 1830.