Recreated 1920s High Street Trade Directory Part Two.

Part two= Even number businesses. Part One dealt with the odd numbers.

Compiled from adverts, street directories, property records, letters, news stories etc.

Some properties in the High Street were still residential at this period and so not included here.

Property numbers in the 1920s were not the same as those for the same properties in the 1800s due to significant renumbering. They also do not always match those of modern properties in the same spot. Additionally bear in mind that in the 20th century it became increasingly common for the name of a shop to remain unchanged even after the business was sold out of the family so that a person's name remained connected to a business long after their actual involvement or even lifetime. In this post unless stated all people mentioned were actually running the premises bearing their name.

Looking for more historic occupiers of the High Street or any other Marlow street? See our Street Index for a list of posts about the historic people and businesses of each. For the High Street this includes 1700s and the year 1833 occupier listings. There is also on the blog Marlow wide trader compilations for the 1700s, and 1800-19. Many people mentioned in this post have mentions in multiple other posts on this blog too. To find every mention of anyone please consult the A-Z Person Index on the drop down menu.

*Updated September 2025*

4. National Deposit Friendly Society. 

6-10  James Morgan and Son / J Morgan and Son Ltd drapers, mens' and womens' outfitters, milliner's, mourning clothes supplier and house furnishers. An old Marlow business. My detailed post about this business and the Morgans here. They did not live on the premises however various of their staff were given accommodation there in this period.

14 International Stores. Opened 1901 in a building that had been converted from a house and at the time had also recently been used to accommodate boarders attending Borlase school. Modern Superdrug.

16 L.H Snow (Leonard Hardy Snow) chemists. He lived on the premises with his family. This was a chemist premises for decades. Leonard was there by 1907. Also like most chemists of the day a seller of photography supplies. The shop fittings and stock were damaged in a fire in 1933. Leonard died in 1946 aged 72 in Hastings Sussex. 

The infamous Snow's Bronchial Balsam advertised in 1927. 

18 Thomas Nichols outfitter, also given as Nicholls In 1920 but he moved to 46a High Street by 1921. Thomas was born 1876. In business in the High Street by 1907. Still going in the 30s at the second address. He lived in Claremont Road.

20 George Bailey tobacconist, newsagent, stationer. In business by 1911. Born c. 1867. George also had a bicycle shop and motor garage at no 5 West Street in the 20's managed by his son Robert. The High Street business was still going in 1942 and still described as a tobacconist, stationer and newsagent.

1929 ad

22 Sayer brothers 1920-21 / Barksfield Brothers both grocers and wine merchants. In 1920 and 1921 Sayer brothers are listed at no 22 but in 1923 the Barksfield Brothers shop was there. I am not certain who was personally managing this shop, probably Joseph Barksfield. In 1942 the Barksfield Brothers also operated from number 17 High Street. They were still at number 22 in the early 1950s. Prior to the 1920s this was Bidmead's stores.

24 Clark's butchers. William Robert Clark 1920, Lizzie Clark widow 1921+ . Her son Frank was the shop manager. Long standing family business.

26 Freeman Hardy and Willis. Boots / shoes. First opened in Marlow 1901 on the opposite side of the High Street. Moved to no 26 after 1907.

28 Newman and Chalk ironmongers. My post about the history of this business (unusually for an ironmongers managed by females for many years) is here. 

30 & 32 Frederick William Rowe jeweller, silversmith & watchmaker. Made many of the trophies awarded in local events including for the regatta. He also produced a range of exclusive Marlow souvenirs. The ironmongers next door were sub contracted to repair metal items for Rowe's customers. Frederick and his family did not live on the premises in this era. They bought the shop premises in 1905 having previously rented it. Rowe retired 1946 and the premises became F Hinds, jeweller

36 R Toomer and co coal, coke and peat merchants 1920. Here by 1910. They had moved offices to Station Approach by 1927, where their yard was. They also had a coal business at Bourne End Station and were "by appointment to H.M the King" no less. Toomer had bought the coal business of Thomas Bilson Butler in 1893. This property was later used as part of number 38.

38 Henry Bolton 1920 / Albert Charles Page 1921+ both hairdressers. Albert was also a perfumer and photo dealer. He was already a hairdresser in the High Street in 1910 when he came to Marlow from his previous premises in Cambridge. Initially he was at a different premises. Albert was born c.1890. Son of West Street greengrocer and florist Hiram Page. Albert emigrated to Canada. Neither of the 1920s proprietors of no.38 lived on the premises. 

40 William Henry Goodchild grocer and tobacconist 1920. He later in the decade worked for a grocer in Maidenhead so must have given up his own shop. He lived in Little Marlow Road Marlow.

42 Wallin's dairy (and their home). By 1932 called "Harleyford Dairy".  Sold dairy, eggs, ice cream. Listed as operated by a Thomas Wallin 1915, a William Wallin 1920 and 1921 (who lived in Station Road), a Thomas Wallin 1939 and "T Wallin" in 1942. 

44 later Leo Ryan electrician, but he was still on the other side of the street in the 1920s.

46 Martin's Chemists. Edward George Martin. -In business by 1907, when it was located on the opposite side of the High Street where Harrington's hairdressers is now. By 1938 Martin's had been taken over by Mr H.C Haley but still traded as Martin's. It was still there as such in 1942. Later the name was changed to Haley's Chemists. Looks to have incorporated the property that was technically number 48 too.

46a Thomas Nichols men's outfitter, who moved from number 18 (q.v).

50 Edmund Coster grocer (born 1856, son of Edward Joseph Coster AKA Joseph the Marlow Lockeeper). Raised a congregationalist. As a young man was a grocer's assistant. He had two family members whom he may have assisted in this respect, both in West Street. Grocer Noah Bartlett married Edmund's older sister Ellen, and Edmund also had a grocer relative called Richard Coster. More on Noah here, that post also contains a link to an image of Ellen's grave. By the 1920s Edmund also had hardware shop West Street. In business here by late 1880s. In 1911 both premises were grocers ran by Edmund. Wife Mary (nee Carter). In the 1930s the Coster's expanded into number 52 next door as well. Edmund died in 1930. By 1942 and until at least the 1950s his former High Street premises were occupied by R Brown and Son grocers. 

52 Percy James Rowe office of this architect and surveyor. Surveyor for the brewery but also worked independently. In the 1930s and for a long time thereafter these premises were Coster's tobacconist. Percy lived at the house Daintree, Claremont Gardens.

54 Misses Guttridge and Udy millinery in 1920. Miss Udy was probably Florence Udy who had earlier worked as a draper's assistant. If so she lived with her parents at Woodview, Station Road. This business not listed 1915. Later it operated solely as the business of Miss Guttridge who was styled as a costumier. Florence Udy later traded independently from 17 West Street Marlow before moving to Sussex. Some residential rooms above the premises seem to have been let separately.

58 bank 

60 W.H Smith and co bookseller, stationer.

62 Reginald Higgins 1920 / Theodore Harold Greville from late 1920 or early 1921 / Norman Greville who took over in 1929 all photographers.  Before this period was Scott and Smith photographers. Norman Greville was the younger brother of Theodore and had been running a photography shop in Maidenhead. This business was also continued and sold art supplies too. Theodore also at one point looks to have operated from no 7 High Street Maidenhead. Though raised in Britain, and with an English mother, the men had a German father Adolphus / Adulfus Julius Schwanke. You can imagine that having a German last name in England during the 1st world must have been very difficult for the family. Though Adolphus had been naturalized back in 1899 he was still an object of suspicion for many. In 1918 when the family lived in a farm near Warwick 16 year old Norman (already a photographer's assistant) was fined £5 for falsifying his endorsement signature in a French "alien's" identity book. Norman altered his last name to Swunke in an attempt to seem more English. He had been told that only natural born British householders could endorse with a signature the Frenchman's identity documentation. Norman lived at home with his family so wasn't a "householder" though he may not have understood that. His friend knew him to be a British citizen and foresaw no problems with him doing a signature. Young Norman however was obviously nervous of signing with a Germanic name, so he altered his. A suspicious police officer detected a "particularly foreign" note to the name "Swunke" nevertheless and Norman was first questioned and then arrested. During the proceedings against Norman it was realized by the court that his father was a householder as he had the vote. This they found "undesirable" in a German and it was decided that they should try to disenfranchise him. Norman and all of his siblings legally changed their name from Schwanke to Greville in 1920. Norman was already living at 62 High Street then, as was his brother Theodore, two more brothers Herbert Reginald and Cecil plus a sister Dorothy as well as their parents (who did not change their names). In 1937 Norman exhibited a selection of his own educational talking films to the Rover Scouts in Beaconsfield. He helped the Allies in WW2 by performing aerial reconnaissance photography. This meant that his wife Alice (nee Hickman, m 1929) was often managing the shop. During this period they also offered picture framing. Theodore and Herbert Reginald went on to manage, one after the other, a photography shop in Watford. Cecil became a photographer in Slough. Theodore was also a miniature painter while Norman was friends with the local artist Stanley Spencer so an artistic streak ran through the family in more ways than just photography.

64 Arthur Edward Davis dairy. He was born c.1871. "Marlow Creameries". He and family lived there too at this time. Still there in 1942. A fondly remembered business. 

1929 ad

66 William B Langston boot and shoes.  Full biography of William and historic pic of premises here. Currently The Ivy restaurant. 

84 George Kendall estate agent (established 1897), auctioneer, insurance agent, newspaper correspondent, deputy registrar, secretary to the Marlow Freemasons, collector of rates. He did not live on the premises in the 1920s. By 1942 the estate agent was being ran by Mr H Clanchy though still under the name of George Kendall. The estate agency business in name at least was later located in West Street. 

90 William Henry Badger confectioner. William was also the Parish Clerk and a music tutor. A long standing confectionery business. Biography of his father who was in the same premises before him here

92-94 Catherine Sanson / Samson (Mrs) draper. Lived on premises. Born c.1878. Husband Henry was a travelling salesman for a wholesale clothing company. Moved from Essex though Catherine was a Lincolnshire girl by birth.

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

Selected sources (too many to list!):

Stock Exchange Year-book. Jamaica, n.p, 1933.

Marlow Parish Magazine 1942.

Kelly's Post Office Directory of Buckingamshire etc by Kelly's and Co Limited 1911, 1915, 1920, and 1939 editions.

Programme with adverts for King George's Cinema Marlow 1927 published by S Presbury and co.

Pharmaceutical Journal: A Weekly Record of Pharmacy and Allied Sciences. United Kingdom, J. Churchill, 1930.

 Chemist and Druggist: The News Weekly for Pharmacy. United Kingdom, Benn Brothers., 1933.

The Electrical Journal. United Kingdom, D. B. Adams., 1929.

The Book of Bungalows. United Kingdom, published by Country Life, 1926.

Auto Motor Journal. United Kingdom, Pictorial Press, 1920.

Salter, John Henry, and Salter, J. A.. Salter's Guide to the Thames. United Kingdom, Alden & Company, Limited, 1921.

Holiday Haunts in England Wales and Channel Islands, 1927, Great Western Railway.

The Bankers', Insurance Managers', and Agents' Magazine. United Kingdom, Waterlow & Sons Limited., 1922.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/3100345/leo-redver-ryan/

1929 Marlow Parish Magazine.

South Bucks standard clippings from Aug 10th 1900,  Jan 20th 1910 and Jan 11th 1912.

Bucks Advertiser 13th Jan 1922. This edition from the British Library Archives via the BNA. As was The Hastings and St Leonard's Observer 1st Feb 1947 and the Leamington Star Courier 23rd August 1918.

Watford Advertiser, online edition, 7th January 2010.

"England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVH8-TCVC : 2 November 2021), Edmund Coster, 1930.

1901 and 1911 England and Wales Census. Crown Copyright.

Kelly's Directory of Chemists and Druggists ...: In England & Scotland & Wales, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. United Kingdom, n.p, 1921.

London Gazette 26th October 1920.

A Tribute To Our Bargemen *Updated*

This post is a tribute to some of the many Marlow people who worked on the river, and also to those of other towns that lost their lives on the Thames while passing through. 

The boatman and "bargees" had a contemporary reputation that was somewhat fearsome at times. They were often considered to be hard drinking, dishonest, dismissive of other river users and quarrelsome. The story of the "who ate puppy pies under Marlow Bridge?" jest at the bargemen is well known and is explored further in Charlotte's post here. The work the bargees did was skilled, physically demanding, as well as frequently dangerous. Some of the people who ran barges did well out out of the trade, and were later described as "gentleman" - William Creswell who ran The Swan barge with his brother in the 1830's and 40's is one example. William was also a substantial farmer, but he continued to be described as a wharfinger and bargeman or barge master for many years. He may no longer work the barges himself, but having done so was not a bar to respectability. Many Marlow people had wealth that was supported or created by industries that was entirely reliant on the work of the bargeman bringing in their raw materials and taking away what they wanted to sell. I have also noticed that the pubs most frequently associated with being the drinking holes of those working on the river, such as the Swan (ran by George Creswell of the The Swan barge for many years, brother to William) and the Black Boy and Bargepole, generate far fewer traffic for the petty sessions than many of the other inns. So the story is not a simple one of bad, rough boatmen causing nothing but havoc. Industry would have ground to a halt if that was the case! It's also worth noting that picking a fight with the working boatman was also a Marlow tradition with some who should have known better. Apart from those who thought it funny to mockingly chant the "puppy pie" slogan at the men, (usually high tailing it in the opposite direction pretty quick afterwards), the young gentleman cadets of the Royal Military Academy had a running feud with the bargemen. A young recruit said the origin of the quarrelling was long forgotten but the boys liked to lay ambush and set upon the men when they could in order to give them "a thrashing" to remember. The odds were rather in the boys favour as they were 30 boys to one bargee, "and several of us 18 years old and up". In turn the  cadets could expect a beating if they unexpectedly came across a barge hand when alone. The boys wore a uniform at all times so could not escape attention easily.  Former cadet John Le Couteur, who joined the Academy at age 13 in early 1808, recalled the running battles with the bargeman vividly. The boys threw dirt and stones from the bridge wholesale into passing barges. At one point the bargeman had enough and prevented some boys on a rare half holiday from crossing the bridge, handling them roughly. When word of this got around, it was said 150 boys went to the bridge to exact revenge. We only hear the cadets version of events, which saw them victorious against an untold number of gathered bargeman three or four lines deep apparently. The latter were said to be armed with everything from oars to bludgeons. The boys came with cudgels, and a hidden armoury of stones and catapults which were allegedly responsible for the boys victory. A ten minute battle on the bridge saw many boys hurt rather badly, and the opposition likewise. Someone had alerted the adult officers at the college who promptly arrived to restore order but not before those on both sides were to be found lying senseless. The cadets were confined to college for the rest of the day and were ordered not to engage in any further acts of the kind. No charges appear to have been made against the bargeman. The event may have got embellished in the retelling by cocky youths but it's interesting how battles of this kind were remembered by more than one cadet. 

The language the bargemen used may not have been what the polite society was used to. George Monk Berkeley writing in 1797 and recalling a memory of his mothers, said that once the service at All Saints came to a halt because the voice of a bargeman using loud colourful language on the river outside could be heard within the church. The Rev Cleobury was the incumbent then. 

And Sarah Winford, of Thames Bank, complained that the crews of barges were commiting "great indecencies" while moored outside her garden wall. Her servant Samuel Clarke said sometimes Mrs Winford had been obliged to close the shutters of all windows facing the river. They said the situation had worsened since the new lock had been built, with boats now passing closer to her home and mooring near there for 2-3 days together. She petitioned parliament on the issue in  1774 and a committee looking into her complaint recommended that a clause be added to the Thames improvement and navigation bill which would forbid the creation of any towing path or wharf between her garden wall and the river and forbid the anchoring, mooring or resting of boats anywhere near her garden, other than at the proper wharves and only when loading or unloading cargo. To facilitate this, it was announced in July 1773 that a "pile would be drove against Marlow winch and another pile 30ft from the bottom of Mrs Winford's wall" and once they were in place if a barge master was to "suffer his barge or boat to lie, continue or stop under the said wall, in the passage between the said pound and winch" will be prosecuted by the Thames Navigation commissioners. [Sarah Winford erected a gravestone to the memory of Samuel on his death, you can see it here]

Flash locks were long regarded as dangerous, and Marlow one of the worst. There are surviving reports of Elizabethan fatalities of boatman who were attempting to navigate the lock. Some thought this was because the lock was poorly maintained. Others that the fall of water was too "sudden and immense" even for a flash lock. John Willis, a bargeman drowned navigating the lock in 1772 after falling overboard, a few years before the new pound type lock was finished. 

Henry Allnutt, writing in the Anglers Journal in 1886, described the dangers of the old flash locks. The boats were hauled through the lock with the aid of a capstan and rope on the bank. If the rope should break, "the poor fellows [operating the capstan] were cast off flying into the air by the tremendous increasing velocity of the capstan unwinding itself". It was tedious and "most perilous" work that required a lot of strength. Henry, and both his father and grandfather had fulfilled roles within the Thames Navigation Commission.

Some lives claimed by the river

When we think of boatmen we don't perhaps think of people like barge boy "Master White" age 14. An orphan, he had been found a position on the Hope Barge, owned by Thomas Jordan of Bath. In the autumn of 1826, the Hope was moored at Marlow. The crew went to get supplies and refreshment in the town, sending the boy back to the boat with some things. When they arrived back at the riverside, the boy could not be found. The water was searched but the lad's body was not recovered until the next morning, 4ft from the stern and in 14ft of water. It was believed he had slipped and fallen from the moored vessel in the dark. In the reports of his death and inquest, his first name is not given. It does not seem the crew actually knew it. 

Another hazard is illustrated by the death in 1829 of James Spokes. He was working horses towing a barge travelling from a wharf at Spade Oak to Marlow. The rapidity of the "stream" was believed to have pulled the horses towards the river and to have caused them to slip and fall into the water. James was dragged in and while he managed to grab a branch extending from the bank, it slipped from his hand and he was drowned, along with the horses. He left a wife and two young children.

The fact that habitual drunkenness was not compatible with the skill and co ordination required to operate a barge is shown by what happened to some who tried to work them while a little inebriated. In 1826, William Winter was working on the Helen Barge travelling between Bristol and London via Marlow. He went to haul a line in, despite the warning from his brother not to attempt it as he had been drinking. He over balanced, and although a strong swimmer, sank and died despite his brothers efforts to rescue him. His body was not recovered for 3 days**, found just 40 yards from where he sank. 

Those working on the the River in other ways could also loose their lives. William Sayer of Dean Street, working as an ostler at the time, drowned while swimming horses at the back of Marlow Lock near Marlow Point. He was exercising an injured horse by swimming it across the river to aid it's recovery. It appears the horse got into difficulties with William astride it's swimming back and he fell off. He could not swim and a strong current had been noted there. 

And then there was George Cox, an engineer managing a steam launch for the summer season who fell off the launch in 1884, and did not surface. There are many more names we could mention. 

One Robert Goldswain, bargeman of Great Marlow, experienced another boat mans hazard in 1778 when he was press ganged into the navy while taking a load of timber to the Kings ship yard in London. He had a protection order from the Naval Board that was supposed to have exempted him from this indignity, as he was on naval business after all. Unfortunately for Robert, the press gang had been ordered by the Admiralty to ignore Naval Board exemptions as they were especially keen to recruit men who knew what they were doing around boats. He was put on board the "Conquestadore" and after a bit of passing to and fro and a court case, was returned home after a little more than 3 months in naval service. The court was aghast that the authorities admitted issuing protection orders to boatmen with the express intention of lulling them into a false sense of security so they would venture out onto the river ready to be pressed into service! 

 *For more on the woman's riots of 1800 which was also said to have involved some bargeman see this post here.  That post also contains reference to rioting bargemen in Marlow in 1766.

** Or much later the same day according to one report.  

For a biography of the barge owning family the Sparks see here and the Cresswells here

Will of bargeman John Piggot 1695 here

List of Great Marlow and Little Marlow bargemen 1700s (ongoing upload) here and 1600s here and here

And more on the cadets of the Royal Military College junior branch see here

Child drowning victims of Victorian and Edwardian Marlow here

To search for any individual on this blog use the A-Z Person Index option on the top drop down menu.

More river related posts can be found in the General History index here

SOURCES

Anglers Journal, Vol 6 . Article by Henry Allnutt, 16 June 1886.

Bentleys Miscellany, Vol 20. (Richard Bentley, 1846)

Berkeley, George Monk - Poems (J N Nicholls, 1797)

Salter, John Henry - A Guide To The River Thames (John Salter, 1881)

Wright, William - Fishes and Fishing (Thomas Caultley Newby 1858)

St Paul's Magazine Vol 5, edited by Anthony Trollope. 1870. 

Parliamentary Papers, vol 33, Great Britain House of Parliament (Houses of Parliament 1866)

Journals of House of Commons Vol 34 (HMSO 1804)

Reading Mercury 13 April 1772, copy at the British Library and accessed via the BNA, August 2020. 

Windsor and Eton Express 15 April, 4 November 1826, as above. 

Berkshire Chronicle 26 September 1829, as above. 

South Bucks Standard 18 October 1907, as above.

Bucks Herald 30 August 1884, as above. 

Oxford Journal 17 June 1773. 

Kelly's Post Office Directory 1847 (Kelly's Directories Ltd, 1847)

©Marlow Ancestors. 

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