More Beer Sellers Than Bakers - Temperance In Marlow

  

If you have read our list of Marlow beer sellers and pubs, you will see that Marlow was quite well served when it came to places to buy an alcoholic drink! For some people this was a pleasant thing, but for others it was the root of a lot of Marlow's problems. This post is about Marlow's temperance campaigners and teetotalers and the somewhat up hill battle they faced. 

It was never going to be easy to sell total abstinence from alcohol in a town where many people were employed by a brewery. Temperance, moderating alcohol consumption short of giving it up altogether, seems to be the cause that progressed most consistently through time in Marlow, although some of the groups campaigning under this banner were actually asking people to take a pledge of teetotalism after all. This point irritated Thomas Owen Wethered of the brewery, and he exchanged many words, printed and in person, with the likes of the Church Of England Temperance Society about this. 

Although Dean Street is well remembered as a place well served by beer shops, ale houses and the like, it was West Street and Church Passage that had the highest concentration of alcohol sellers per square foot prior to about 1830. Marlow had a reputation for having a lot of licensed premises per population size even then. In 1830 the Reading Mercury noted that 10 new beer houses had recently opened in Marlow, taking advantage of a relaxation of certain conditions required for a licence. Three were refused a licence in 1839, but most carried on..

 

Is that a victualler at the back?

Back in the 1840's, the temperance cause in Marlow was said to be progressing "very rapidly". This may have been a little optimistic as the number of beer sellers actually increases after this time! In 1841 the existing mission room in Dean Street was set up for use as a coffee house and reading room. The idea was that working men would stride past the lure of the streets many beer sellers and instead take advantage of a subsidised cup of coffee. The reading room would be a pleasant place to browse a newspaper or religious book, and so gave the men somewhere to relax out of home that wasn't a pub.  

In this year, a temperance meeting was held in the mission room on both Christmas Day and a few days later. It was chaired by George Brangwin. The organisers said that a licensed victualer attended and was so awed by their arguments that he signed up as a financial subscriber to their society. Whether he also signed a pledge to give up alcohol himself they did not say, but perhaps it was taken as a given. Research has not yet turned up anyone giving up their licence at this time, who seems a candidate for this character. You would imagine the teetotallers would trumpet the news about such a significant convert later on, but perhaps the story got muddled in the re telling by the London United Temperance Association. 

Chin up, it's Chinnum! 

One person who definitely was not likely to sign a pledge then was Dean Street character "Chinnum". Local George Stevens, remembering his own life in 1840's Marlow, recalled  Chinnum's antics, although not his real name. I have subsequently found him to be Thomas Anderson of Dean Street.  Chinnum was frequently before the bench on charges related to being drunk and disorderly as well as poaching and brawling. The exasperated authorities decided to try a different sort of punishment on him. They told the Parish Constable to dust off the town stocks and give Chinnum a six hour stint in them. George thought our drunken friend was the last miscreant to be clapped up in this way (March 1845), although other reports suggest there was one more, Thomas Ellis in 1858.*** Regardless, the stocks had not been in regular use for some time and the novelty value of seeing a man put in them drew a crowd. Chinnum was sat on a stool in the Market Square with his ankles and wrists in the holes made for them. The constable secured Chinnum and then went off, perhaps aware the crowd was largely supportive of his captive. When he returned to release the man, a crowd was still present and Mr Chinnum was blind drunk. How could this have occured? Well Chinnum had many friends present and when he said he was a little dry, a group of Dean Street ladies popped to the Coach & Horses and bought out a quart of beer and a pipe for him to enjoy. They had to help him drink it as his arms were out of use, but there was no shortage of volunteers and more drinks followed with predictable results. Chinnum might sound a jolly character, but he had a distinctly violent side when in drink and even savagely attacked his own mother. You can read more about that here. He was incidentally charged with being drunk and disorderly again less than a year later. 

Rags to riches ?

A different kind of example was before those attending a public lecture in the Lecture Hall, St. Peter's Street in 1862. The smartly dressed and respectable looking John Plato of Chesham held before the audience a set of ragged clothes. These were the the very outfit he had worn when signing his abstinence pledge 22 years before. He said the turn around of his fortune began at this moment, his alcohol dependency being the reason for his earlier poverty. 

A few years later, a speaker from London came to Marlow to address a meeting advertised as addressing the issue of Suppression of Liquor Traffic. The meeting was chaired by the Congregational church minister James Mountain. The "exhaustive" speech was accompanied by a dizzying number of facts and figures supporting the benefits sobriety could bring. This lead to the group passing a resolution calling on the government to do more to restrict alcohol sales. 

Supply and demand

 The reports of the teetotalism campaigners success, or lack of it in Marlow ebbs and flows as the 19thc goes on. The Marlow Correspondent for the Maidenhead advertiser, commenting in 1884, thought temperance was a subject that dared not be mentioned in the City - a slang term for Dean Street inspired by the pub names The Bank Of England, The Mint and the Royal Exchange. He argued that Marlow was a thirsty community and the number of pubs could probably be successfully doubled in some parts of town! He does make a good point that all seemed to be doing a good enough trade to keep going despite plenty of competition but of course the aim of the "other side" was to reduce this demand to nil. 

To this end, more open air temperance meetings were held in places such as Spittal Square (Common Slough) and Quoiting Place (Quoiting Square). 

Questionable advice for domestic bliss

In the 1890's the Temperance cause seems to gather pace again in Marlow. In 1891 it was noted that the town contained around 50 places to buy alcohol which was more than twice as many as the total number of butchers, grocers and grocers premises combined. This was one alcohol seller per 30 adults. But there was also said to more abstainers than ever before. 

A meeting was organised by the non conformist places of worship as teetotalism was a cause long dear to their hearts. It was decided that none of their chapels would be big enough for the hoped for audience so the Lecture Room was hired. Many speakers came and some offered helpful hints as to how to convert others to the cause. Rev Messer, a visiting temperance advocate, suggested that woman should determine to die an old maid rather than marry a drinker. Others told the woman how important it was to "bridle their tongues", act meekly and make the home comfortable so as not to drive their husbands to drink. Advice for woman who had to try and waylay their husband on his way home on payday before he spent some of his earnings in a beershop was not forthcoming. At the end of the meeting it was decided to have a series of lectures in the town to promote signing the pledge with the overall aim of closing down every beer seller in town* 

A society is formed...again

Marlow had had a temperance society in 1862, if not before but presumably it faded away as a Marlow Temperance Society was formed again in 1892 with long standing campaigner Rev Tavender** of the Congregational church elected president. This was active mainly with the "non-conformist" places of worship, but there was also Marlow branches of the Church Of England's Abstinence Society and a Total Abstinence Society which usually met in the Wesleyan Sunday School room. In late Victorian times Marlow also had a Lodge of The Independent Order of Good Templars. This was a friendly society with temperance as a requisite for membership and failure in this regard forfeited all benefits. Weekly meetings were held in the  Congregational school room with entertainments on offer not just speeches. We should also mention the popular Band Of Hope, where young people signed a pledge to be life long abstainers, and also engaged in many other activities. 

In 1893 Tavender invited a temperance "van" that had been travelled around the company to make a stop in Marlow. It arrived in Quoiting Square and those travelling with it made speeches and gave out leaflets. Unfortunately it's arrival had been well advertised and a group of men were ready to make a disturbance that made it difficult to hear the speakers. 

Still, the advocates must have been happy when a Temperance Hotel opened up in the very centre of Marlow in 1895. It was on the corner of Institute Road and the High Street, in the premises just vacated by W B Langston's boot and shoe stores who would now just use their newer premises directly opposite. The hotel was fitted up with every modern apparatus for the preparation of tea, coffee and cocoa, and also had a grill room for those wanting something substantial whether guest or sober visitor. It closed a little over 2 years later, it's promoters and supporters "finding the venture a very unprofitable one". The same fate had befell the previous High Street Temperance hotel which closed in 1885. It was then under its second business owner in former West Wycombe chair maker Alex Hughes -  he went bankrupt after 14 months of slow trade. However the corner  premises seems to have had a later  resurrection in the Temperance line, also offering accomodation. I've not researched this further as it is out of our time focus. But I can say it's use in this incarnation does not seem to be continuous as it is absent from fairly exhaustive hotel and temperance related listings for a number of years around the First World War. 

The site of the Temperance Hotel, formerly original site of Langston's Boot and Shoe Warehouse. Later uses included a tea room and jewellers. Currently no 55, building bears date of 1878 on side. Image ©Colin Groves and used with permission. 

Last hurrah for the beer drinkers?

In 1907 John Debenham landlord of the Carrier's Arms in Wycombe Road, asked for his licence to be removed in favour of the magistrates granting him a new one for a yet to be built premises in New Town Road to serve the newly developed New Town area. He said he sold only 2 barrels of beer a week at the tiny Carrier's Arms. The proposed new pub was to have a frontage of 33ft onto the road and a depth of over 90ft. There were 53 inhabited buildings in New Town plus 2 laundries and 2 brick kilns. George's request was ultimately refused after petitions for and against were read. George Swadling, working at Mr Wellicome's brick kiln, said he was strongly in favour of a public house there as "brick making is thirsty work." Full marks for trying Mr Swadling!  

Changes in licencing laws did eventually reduce the number of pubs in Marlow. Some landlords found that even when they were happy with their income, the authorities could decide they were surplus to requirements and close them for good. Compensation was offered to both the brewery owner and the licencee in that case, but some of the amounts paid seem paltry when making up for a families loss of both home and livelihood.

 A plan in 1908 to place more restrictions on pubs (no women would be allowed to work in them, Sunday opening times reduced) and to reduce this closure compensation further drew a furious response in town. Petitions had been placed in the pubs and hotels against almost all previous licencing changes and the formation of a Marlow Licenced Victuallers Defence Association was muted in 1881. This time a well attended protest meeting was held. The upshot was a group of 300 Marlow people travelled on a special train to Paddington. There they unfurled a banner bearing the word Marlow and marched to Hyde Park to take place in a large scale procession and protest. In the end the proposed legislation failed but Marlow still lost many of her pubs to forced closures over the next few decades. 

*Between September 1873 and September 1874 36 people in the Great Marlow licencing district were convicted of drunkenness or crimes relating to that. 2 were women. All but two of the men were first time offenders. In addition 1 person was convicted of selling alcohol without a licence and 2 licensees were convicted of breaching their licence conditions in some way. This compares to 78 convictions related to drunkenness in Slough over the same period, 45 in High Wycombe, 35 in Chesham and 23 in Buckingham. Most people escaped an arrest if they did not insult the constable and followed his advice to go directly and quietly home. 

**Mrs Tavender was also a temperance campaigner. She belonged to, and often chaired meetings of, the Women's Temperance Society which usually met in non conformist places of worship. 

*** Thomas Ellis spent 6 hours in the stocks. Originally convicted of drunkenness and fined, he could not pay. A order was made to seize goods to the value of the fine plus costs, but he had nothing worth taking, hence the stocks. This was controversial in the town. 

The blog list of Marlow pubs of the past can be found here (over 100 of them!)

Biographical posts on Revd Tavender and Revd Mountain can be found here and  here.

More about the Langston's boot stores here

See the "Pub" tab on the drop down menu above for more information on specific premises or landlords. 

For other posts about everyday life in old Marlow see the index here

Researched and written by Kathryn Day. 

SOURCES

The Teetotaller, 1841. London United Temperance Association. (George Henderson, London)

Couling, Samuel, 1860. History of the Temperance Movement in Great Britain. (William Tweedie Publications)

Turner, Peter W. 1893. The Temperance Movement and it's Work - Vol 1-2. (Blackie and Sons Ltd, London)

Band of Hope Society, 3rd Edition 1895. What are Band of Hope Societies and how to form them (Band of Hope Library)

Band of Hope Records Vol 2-4, 1858, digitised by Google. 

Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons Vol 49, 1876. 

South Bucks Standard, 3 June 1885, 19 September & 19 December 1890, 29 March & 2 Nov 1895, copies from the British Library Archive accessed through the BNA. 

Reading Mercury -  22 Nov 1830 & Sept 21 1839, 11 September 1858 as above

Bucks Herald  11 September 1858, as above. 

South Bucks Free Press, 22 March & 3 August 1862 as above. 

Wethered, T O, 1885, Teetotalism and the Beer Trade. 

Bucks Herald 11 April 1885, as above. 

©MarlowAncestors. 

Revd Frederick Tavender - tax rebel and education campaigner

 

Revd Frederick Tavender became minister of the Congregational Church in Quoiting Square in 1892. He was from Devon, his wife Annie from Wiveliscombe in Somerset.

Frederick was raised C of E but decided to follow Congregationalism and went to study at Western College, Plymouth with that in mind. He was ordained at Wiveliscombe on the 2nd September 1886 and became minister there.

At Wiveliscombe Frederick increased the number of Sunday school pupils from 186 to 420. He also lead the charge in establishing Congregational places of worship and Sunday schools for the first time in numerous surrounding villages. He was considered one of the best ministers around for gaining new worshippers. Marlow was lucky to be able to obtain his services.

Frederick wasted no time when he arrived in town joining the Marlow branch of The British And Foreign Bible Society, becoming a prominent member of the Marlow Institute and founding the Marlow Total Abstinence Society of which he was President before the year 1892 was out. He also played cricket for Marlow in various competitions such as the traditional Married v Single Gentleman match that started the cricketing season. 

The Marlow Institute was a place for lecture, entertainments, classes and debates. Frederick was a success there and in other nearby towns with his talk and "oxy hydrogen" lantern projecting images from his Continental holiday in 1891 encompassing "a trip to Lucerne and the Italian lakes, the Apennines, Florence etc". During this trip he took part in some mountaineering.  Six years later Frederick was off again, this time to the USA to attend the Congregational Council in Boston. Marlow was treated to a lecture on what he had seen there upon his return. Unsurprisingly given the rarity of travel abroad in those days the lecture room was packed with those eager to hear about his trip. It was a lengthy trip for him and Mrs Tavender. The sea voyage took 9 days each way. Then after attending the Council he explored both the USA and Canada seeing Niagara Falls, New York, Chicago, Washington, Omaha, Toronto and Montreal.

On a more serious note Frederick took part in debates at the Institute such as one on whether parks and museums should be allowed to open on Sundays (he thought not). He also helped set up technical education classes there and in other locations in the area. 

Education was a passion of his. He tried long and hard and ultimately unsuccessfully to get a school board established in Marlow. These were non denominational boards which organised schools in an area and had power to impose a local rate tax to fund them. He argued that the existing school buildings were sub standard and the education given to the children unacceptably poor due to a lack of money. Existing schools survived largely by fund raising. The prospect of paying more tax wasn't popular and Revd Tavender found himself much in the minority in desiring a school board in the town. He pulled no punches when it came to describing how bad the schools were in his eyes, which offended some. Inspectors' reports generally considered them adequate educationally but did agree that building conditions and overcrowding were major problems.  Revd Tavender would argue that the inspector's standards weren't very high so if they said education was adequate that wasn't necessarily a great compliment. Supporters of the existing system admitted poor educational achievement in some pupils but said that this was down to: a bout of teacher illness causing long absences, whole school closures due to efforts to stem disease outbreaks in the children, and the natural incurable stupidity of some of the pupils!!

His trip to the USA and Canada in 1899 had been used also as a fact finding trip into how they organised their schools. He sought out many senior education officials on his travels and visited as many schools as possible. He thought their teaching methods far superior to what was being used in England.

In 1904 Frederick was one of a host of Marlow nonconformists who refused to pay their rates as a form of passive resistance to the Education Act of 1902. This saw nonconformists have to pay taxes to support Church of England schools even though they disagreed with what was being taught religiously to the children in those schools. That these publicly funded schools were to have no public scrutiny into how they were run or how they allowed C of E aligned teachers to present nonconformist viewpoints was especially upsetting. A nationwide passive resistance campaign grew up.

As a result of his refusal to pay the portion of the rates for education, goods to the value of the amount owed were seized from him and other protesters and auctioned off from a table outside the police court in Trinity Road by auctioneer Walter Lovegrove (of whom more in future).

The ever kind Doctor Dickson of Marlow made the only bid for all the seized items of Marlow men and women. He bid the exact amount needed plus the exact costs to the court. He returned all items to the homes of their owners.

The Conservative government lost the next election but still dominated the Lords and thus attempts to overturn their Act failed. Resistance faded in the face of the seeming impossibility of overcoming the Lords hurdle.

Frederick's had other social concerns too- he chaired the Marlow Institute's committee set up to think of ways to help the local unemployed during the hard years of the early 1900s and promoted and fund-raised for the Cottage Hospital.

He also set up "Pleasant Sunday Afternoons" in Marlow to attract those men who shied away from traditional church services. This was part of a nationwide movement. Lighter hymns were sung, music perfumed and Bible study offered as well as prayers. Frederick allowed secular music and songs to be performed at his Marlow events, which was quite unusual, but he said all music came from God and the afternoons had an overall strong Christian flavour. He drew the line however at allowing clapping. That he said was too much like behaviour at a leisure concert. He offered prizes for those Sunday afternooners who did well at their Bible study. There was in addition Pleasant Tuesday Afternoons. 

Like many of the Marlow Congregational worshippers Frederick was a supporter of Liberal political candidates in local elections.

As if he did not have enough to do, Frederick offered tuition to those young men seeking to do well in university entrance exams, as well as lessons in French, mathematics, Latin and English to pupils of all ages. Adult learners who lived some distance away could receive lessons from Frederick via correspondence. 

Mrs Tavender helped man the stalls at church fundraising bazaars. She was also an active member of the Wycombe Branch of the Women's Total Abstinence Society, eventual President of the Marlow branch of the same and a member of the South Bucks and East Berks Band Of Hope Union.

The Tavender family left Marlow so Frederick could take up a position as minister in Exmouth, Devon in 1908. At his farewell celebrations tribute was paid to his work for the benefit of Marlow's people especially the aged, sick and unemployed. It was noted that he had broken down many sectarian barriers, and encouraged co - operation with other Marlow churches and chapels. The couple went away laden with parting gifts, including a study chair (from the Marlow Free Church council), purse of gold (that is £20 from the congregation), an eiderdown quilt (Pleasant Tuesday Afternoon group), several illuminated addresses, a book, fountain pen and an inscribed gold brooch for Mrs Tavender from the Woman's Total Abstinence Society Marlow branch. 

Related posts:

For more church related content see the Church Related option on the menu. To find every mention of an individual on the blog use the Person Index Option on the top drop down menu. Fellow campaigning Minister Andrew Mearns (poverty campaigner) features in a post here while tax rebel Revd James Mountain can be found here

A post about the entertaining attempts to bring temperance to Marlow is available here

Poverty in Victorian Marlow here

 

Christchurch URC have scans of  interesting booklets about their history available on their website (under the Magazines and Resources tab) link

**DO YOU HAVE AN ANCESTRAL CONNECTION TO THIS CHURCH? IF SO, YOU MAY LIKE TO COMMEMORATE YOUR ANCESTOR BY SUPPORTING CHRIST CHURCH PATH OF LIGHT FUNDRAISING EFFORTS - SEE   Here FOR MORE INFORMATION**

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

For more see:

1901 census Great Marlow.

South Bucks Standard 29th April 1904 and 24th January 1908.

Books, Billiards And ..Beer? Marlow Institute

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is there yawning at the back? 

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

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

The Institute gains a home

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Books, billiards and ..beer? 

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

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

South Kensington comes to Marlow

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

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

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

Taxation of bachelors and other debates...

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

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

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

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

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

Problems a plenty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

SOURCES

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Maidenhead Advertiser December 17 1879. 

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

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

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

©Marlow Ancestors.