Neither Ephraim or wife Elizabeth were born in Marlow itself. He was born in Sussex in 1844, although the family soon moved to Surrey. Elizabeth nee Thompson was the daughter of a hairdresser and perfumer of Broad Street Reading. The couple met when Ephraim was a butler and Elizabeth a lady's maid in the same very grand household of the Viscount Enfield of Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge, London. It was a large establishment and no doubt provided excellent training for running a busy hotel. The route from butler to hotel manager or similar is a well trodden one in this era. They married in 1882 at Reading just weeks before arriving at Marlow to take over the Greyhound from Thomas Haydon Willis.
Immediately Ephraim slipped into his soon to be familiar role as ebullient and welcoming host. Although the nearby Crown Hotel often held the biggest events and town meetings and the like, the Greyhound was a popular choice for club meetings and fundraising dinners. It had a "commodious club room" for this purpose. The front part was quite small but it had been extended at the back thanks to a meadow belonging to it there. Since their start in Marlow, the Greyhound had hosted the local branch of the Oddfellows Friendly Society (from 1844, the Loyal Orphans Hope Lodge) and the Royal Briton Benefit Society (from 1851).
What the Greyhound was probably most famous for was it's fundraising "smokers" or smoking concerts. These were male only musical events, so called because of the custom of men in polite society to linger for a smoke and conversation after dinner while the ladies retired elsewhere to talk. (A lady did sometimes preside at the piano.) Ephraim must have enjoyed hosting them as there seems hardly a cause or event in Marlow he didn't organise one for. The Marlow Cricket Club was a particular passion of his and so the smoker was a welcome annual boost of funds for them. He played for the club himself too on occasion and was their official luncheon caterer after 1889.
Amongst more serious causes the Sheppard's hosted smokers for was that for the relief of the unemployed in the town in 1887. This was used to pay for packages of tea and sugar and loaves of bread for 74 families. Perhaps the most personal cause Ephraim fundraised for was that for the benefit of the family of his ostler of 10 years, Richard William Reeves.* Richard had died suddenly in 1898 at a young age leaving a wife and three little children completely unprovided for.
The Marlow voluntary fire brigade was another frequent beneficiary of his concerts.
The Greyhound had a billiard room from at least 1891. It had some competition in this regard as the Literary Institute, and Complete Angler, Chequers and Crown hotels all had rival tables. Billiards were a big draw and the attendance at matches was surprisingly large with reports entering the local papers of relatively minor matches. Ephraim ran competitions and handicaps throughout his time at the Greyhound. The same names frequently crop up as winners- especially John Langley, Robert Lunnon and Herbert White. Sometimes the prize was money, at other times decorative items such a marble clock.
In 1901 the Greyhound hosted a contest in the "new and popular" game of ping pong. A team of crack London players, apparently already famous, came down to challenge a Marlow team, and to the surprise of most, Marlow beat them!
Despite catering for the then relatively modern crazes of billiards, ping pong and smokers, Ephraim still catered for the traditional inn visitor. A visitor in 1890 wrote a comedic poem dedicated to the female cook at the Greyhound praising the hearty food on offer such as the inevitable chops as well as scallops and soups. The food on offer at their annual dinners hosted for groups such as the volunteer fire brigade tend to feature a bewildering number of roast and boiled meats and a generous selection of fruit tarts, creams and pies. As the South Bucks Standard put it in 1893, the courses were "abundant, substantial and various." Those enjoying that particular feast were 90 men employed in the building of the substantial house known as Stoneyware on the Bisham side of the river. You probably left the inn decidedly heavier than you went in!
Ephraim actively advertised that he would cater for pic-nic and boating parties. He promised good stabling and a lock up carriage house too, not to mention fine cigars and a good selection of cigarettes and wine. Those guests who needed to hire a steam launch or carriage could also do so at the Greyhound.
The Sheppard family come across as ones that liked to celebrate the Christmas season in full. They started the annual festive ball shortly after arriving in Marlow and they kept hosting it up without interruption for some 20 years. (It was actually usually held on New Years Eve. Previous tenants had sometimes held similar events but Ephraim made it a bigger and regular event.) Guests were admitted via ticket of course, with the average attendance of 50-70 dancers from both Marlow and further afield. The premises were bedecked with resplendent greenery on these occasions. They were usually called "Cinderellas" that is they finished in time for the guests to get home by midnight. Perfect for those who wished to see in the new year at home. Later they took place in early January although they still called them a festive ball. Furthermore, Ephraim, who was fond of singing, started fundraising carol singing rounds in the 1890s. These were organised with his dear friend Edward Flint of Shelley House. The purpose then was to fundraise for the Church Lads Brigade. At other times the Inn provided space for dancing classes in the club room - the students also had an invitation ball there to show off their newly perfected turn of foot. These events certainly didn't end at midnight - 5am was more like it!
In 1894, Ephraim spent time and money on improving and enlarging the hotel. I believe this is the time the "coffee room" was added or fitted out. The "Commercial Room" also starts to be mentioned around this time. Both were on the ground floor.
In 1903 the Sheppards decide to leave Marlow. They placed adverts in the local papers to say they would be taking over the Cleveland House Boarding Establishment in Regency Square, Brighton. They suggested that their Marlow area customers might like to visit them there on their holidays as they were in one of the very best positions in Brighton they said. However a couple of years later they had taken over the White Horse in Holt, Norfolk and so they pass out of our Marlow story. Before they left the couple hosted one last dinner. It was organised this time by their good friend Samuel Flint. A subscription had been raised to pay for a parting gift - an engraved silver rose bowl. As one guest put it there were some people who always "shed a certain amount of sunshine" wherever you meet them and the cheerful Ephraim was one of those.
The Greyhound really struggled after Ephraim left. The next occupier experienced financial difficulties and lasted only a couple of years. His own successor went bankrupt and angrily claimed that despite being told by the brewery that an £100 weekly income was achievable, he had not managed to earn more than £14 a week.
Written and researched by Kathryn Day with additional research by Charlotte Day.
*In 1825 another ostler at the inn, Joseph Fox, died suddenly in the midst of a conversation with a customer about their journey. He was about 40 and his death was out down to that old favourite - "Visitation of God"
More information:
There are posts on this blog about individual families associated with certain pubs, as well as on individual pubs themselves so have a look at the Pub Related index here & don't forget the A-Z Person Index for all mentions of someone on this blog. Find it on the top drop down menu. Thousands of people get a mention on this blog.
List of proprietors of the Greyhound here
Greyhound as a coaching Inn, and other stagecoach services here
Posts about historic residents and businesses in Spittal Street and neighbouring streets here
More beer sellers than bakers -Temperance in Marlow here
Lists of posts about everyday life in old Great Marlow here
Sources:
Chief Register of Friendly Societies - Great Britain House of Commons, HMSO 1878
Census 1881, 91 and 1901 - transcripts from the microfilms by Jane Pullinger.
Kelly's Post Office Directory - 1877,1889, 1899,1907.
The Angler, November 1883, digitised by Google.
Oxford Journal 19th August 1882 (BNA)
Buckinghamshire Examiner 30 July 1890, as above
South Bucks Standard 9th June 1893 , 4th May 1894, 28th January 1898, Feb 7th 1902 & 17th April 1903, as above
Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 19 February 1887, as above.
Windsor and Eton Expression, 18 November 1825. All as above.
Maidenhead Advertiser 27th January 1892 - Slough Borough Libraries.
Marlow Guide 1903.
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