Barmoor Farm Marlow Occupiers And History Timeline

Barmoor Farm 

Description= 2 miles from Marlow. In 1895= 295 acres with  farmhouse and 6 cottages. 1937 = 328 acres with house and 8 cottages. Consisted mostly then of pasture but also had a small wood and for plantation attached. Earlier a mixed farm. Farm no longer exists (it is under Booker Airfield).

1250 - a Barmoor Manor existed in Marlow which may be the origin of Barmoor Farm. It was seemingly a minor manor. First known mention of the farm as Barmoor Farm was in 1672.

Occupiers - these are not usually the same as the owners. Gaps in dates are current gaps in our knowledge=

1758 - part of the farmland (only) occupied by Moses Medwin.

1798 - Mr Brangwin 

1833 - 51 George Brangwin who was born Hambledon circa 1791, as was his wife Mary. The owner of the farm was then Sir William Robert Clayton. George also rented Red Barn Farm next door from the same owner.

1859 - 61 Isaac Wane son in law of George and Mary Brangwin. Wife Eliza. Isaac was born circa 1821 in Fairford Gloucestershire. He had previously been running Red Barn Farm for George Brangwin. Both Isaac and Eliza were members of the Salem Chapel in Marlow, entering that church in 1845.

1863 - 68 George Brangwin back in charge though Isaac Wane seems still to have been involved. He continued to rent Red Barn Farm too. George died in 1868 aged 75.

1868-82 Following the death of George Brangwin Isaac was back as the lead farmer and had the lease in his own name. In 1872 his daughter Clara passed the Cambridge Exam. She and her siblings had had the benefit of a governess who taught them French and more. Isaac's widowed mother in law Mary Brangwin also lived within his household. In 1868 James Faulkner labourer was convicted of poaching at Barmoor Farm and was fined 30 shillings. In default 1 month in prison. [Bucks Herald 1869 Feb 13th, British Library Archives via the BNA]. Isaac gave up the lease in 1882. He stayed at Red Barn until 1892 when he retired from farming altogether. He died circa 1893. More on Isaac and Red Barn here.

1882-95 James Elliott who also rented Red Barn Farm towards the end of that period. He was elected as one of the parish overseers in 1889. James made a significant income from growing mushrooms in his fields but struggled with thefts of them. Mushrooms were extremely popular in late Victorian England for making into the condiment mushroom ketchup as well as using in soups etc. In 1895 both farms were put up for sale by auction. James made a bid for Barmoor but it wasn't high enough. Red Barn Farm did not reach its reserve price. James's wife Elizabeth had died earlier that year aged 67. 

1897- 98 W Lee. He gave up the farm in 1898 and sold off his stock. This does not seem to have been substantial. He raised sheep.

1899- 1936 Thomas Lacey Morris born circa 1871. He occupied the farm until his death age 65. His wife was Emily. Owners and occupiers in one. Both were from West Wycombe according to the census. Their baby daughter Kathleen died at the farm in 1899. Another daughter Margaret married William Pinches of Field House / Pinches Farm in Marlow. Thomas bred and sold shire horses at the farm.

1937 - the house, farm and "sporting estate" of Barmoor put up for auction by the executors of Thomas Morris at the Crown in Marlow. It is sold for £10,500. 358 acres, a fir plantation, a wood, pasture land and eight dwellings.

1938 - the farm is used to film the film I Met A Murderer (originally intended to be called Deadwater) directed by Roy Killino and starring James Mason as a murderous farmer and Pamela Kellino as the woman he meets. The farm shire horses Boxer and Ronnie feature as plough horses in the film. Filming is difficult because of muddy conditions on the farm and the sheep running away from the strangers when they are meant to be in shot. The film is a low budget film noir. The owner of the farm is unknown to me but he was an owner occupier and advised on the accuracy of scenes of thatching shot on the farm. 

1939 - W Thomas. Later that year Watton Aviation Limited have the farm and it is to become part of the future Booker Airfield.

Compiled by Charlotte Day from research by both Charlotte and Kathryn Day.

Selected Sources=

William Page (ed). 1925. A History of Buckinghamshire (Victoria County History) Volume III. Volume 3. p74.

Census of England and Wales 1841-1901 transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte Day and Jane Pullinger.

The Aeroplane. (1939). United Kingdom: Temple Press.

Canadian Moving Picture Digest. Volume 30 (1938). Canada.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0031464/ 

Shire Horse Stud Book. United Kingdom, n.p, 1932. English Cart Horse Society.

International Directory of Pedigree Stock Breeders. (1928). United Kingdom: Tillotsons Publishing Company.

Marlow Directory 1891 

Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire etc 1899 and 1939 editions published by Kelly's Directories Limited.

Duttons Directory of Buckinghamshire etc 1868.

May 28th 1937 edition of the Bucks Advertiser (sale of Barmoor).

Barmoor sale catalogue=

https://testslbuckinghamshire.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&BRN=558967

Country Life, 26th June 1937. 

Maidenhead Advertiser 27th October 1886 (mushroom theft problem).

Parish surveyors notebooks for 1833 and 1834 in my possession.

GRO death and marriage registrations online

Private letters.

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

Will Summary of Jane Thomas 1794 of Great Marlow

 I transcribed this will from a copy I ordered from the National Archives Kew. This is a summary.

JANE THOMAS SPINSTER. WRITTEN 1793. PROVED 1794.

Honored and dear mother Mary Thomas for life all stock and property invested in public funds. 

After her death this to teststor's uncle Clifford William Phillips and aunt Hannah his wife. They also get after the mother's death £100.

To Joseph Clifford of Beaconsfield, nephew of Mr Joseph Jogger there £100 after the mother's death.

All rest of personal property equally divided between testator's brothers and sisters (not individually named) at 21.

Executors mother Mary Thomas and brother John Thomas of Portsmouth Hampshire.

Witnesses: Elizabeth and John Phipps of Great Marlow (does seem to be Phipps not Phillips)

To find all mentions of a family or individual on the blog use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. There are now 4,300 + people listed there, and more added weekly. 

For a list of wills summarised here 

see the index 

here

©Marlow Ancestors

The Wretched - Poverty in Victorian & Edwardian Marlow

 When we walk around the older streets in Marlow, with their comfortable Victorian villas, pretty Edwardian terraces and spacious Georgian homes, we might feel that Marlow was a pleasant and comfortable place to live for our Marlow predecessors. And for many, that's exactly what it was. But there has always been two sides to the story, and it is sometimes hard to appreciate just how grindingly poor and badly housed some of Marlow's workers actually were. The scenes of the worst of this, from the "abominable slum" St Peters Court, off St. Peters Street, the old homes of the miserably unsanitary Hayes Place, and the densely crowded areas around Dean Street have been demolished and removed almost as thoroughly from the collective memory. In our posts we hope to make sure that the lives of the poorer members of our town also get remembered. The story of St. Peters Court, the cholera outbreaks there, and Hayes Place have been covered by us before and the posts are linked to below. This entry covers a few aspects of life for the less well off in the Victorian and Edwardian era in Great Marlow. 

Wretched homes in wretched streets

In an 1847 guide to the Thames and the town's and villages nearby, the author said that Marlow still had a "very poor reputation". The homes about the "meaner streets" had a "wretched, poverty stricken aspect" where there were more evident signs "of vice forcing themselves on the attention than is at all common in country times of the same size and class." The streets he meant were almost certainly Dean Street and those around such as Gun Lane, Providence Place and the like. These were centres of the poaching and wood stealing industries, and had a good share of beer sellers. (Spittal/Chapel Street, West Street, Church Passage/lower St Peters Street and Quoiting Square could boast more beer sellers in concentration however at this point.)  Although the beer houses were criticized for harbouring criminals and driving poverty through the purchase of alcohol, they also had a role in relieving it. Apart from often providing affordable accomodation, they also organised the slate clubs. (See below). 

So just how bad were these less than appealing homes of the poor? As an example of just how terrible conditions could be, we will look at 5 houses in Dean Street condemned as unfit for human habitation in 1875. These 5 one bedroom cottages were adjoining one another, and all belonged to James Meakes. It was discovered that 4-7 people were living in each of these tiny residences. The roof of one has partially fallen in, and that of the others was not watertight. And neither were the exterior walls which all had holes in. They shared a tumbled down privy which had an incredibly offensive odour. Further more, water came in under the doors both front and back when it rained. James Meakes eventually made the cottages in a livable condition, but only after ignoring two notices to improve them and subsequently recieving an order that they must be closed up and no longer let to anyone. 

A glimmer of hope

A poorly maintained house with questionable sanitation and iffy drinking water wells may be bad enough, but a short period of illness and unemployment could make even these unaffordable. One way of providing a buffer against these type of events was to join either one of these slate clubs, or a friendly or benefit society. These varied slightly in terms, but generally the point was to pay in a regular weekly or monthly sum in exchange for claiming a payout in the event of a accident etc. Any unclaimed money paid in was usually shared out by the slate clubs at the end of the year amongst the fully paid up members. In 1839, the Royal Standard Benefit Society was started at the Clayton Arms in Quoiting Square. The monthly subscription was 2s6d. It was a large national organisation. If a member was sick, and unable to work a weekly sum was given to them to meet expenses. If they died, the bereaved family recieved £20 or £10 if the deceased was the spouse of the member. The lying in of a members wife (that is the period around her giving birth) resulted in a £2 payment. A loss of household property from fire, imprisonment for debt, and an order to go to the workhouse were also covered. The conditions of joining this society with its superior benefits were unsurprisingly stiff. You could only join for the first time if you were under 35 years old (although you could remain a member until 45) and you needed a minimum income of 24 shillings a week. In addition, your character must bear the strictest investigation! 

The Clayton Arms still had a slate club at the end of the Victorian period but it was now run independently. (The last version was re-started in 1892) Unlike many clubs, this later club had no upper age limit for its members. It also had secured the huge benefit of offering subsidised medical attention to it's members for an additional payment of 1s a quarter. (Courtesy of Dr Culhane). By the late 1890s membership cost 6d a week, payable monthly. This entitled the member to up to six weeks sick pay at 10s a week. In 1893 it had 49 members. By 1898 it had 100. This club took an additional payment of a shilling from all members should one of their number die, to help pay for the funeral. (Or 6d from every member if one of their spouses died to the same end.) They would allow late payment of dues within reason, but you were fined for doing so. Committee members not turning up to meetings also recieved a soft fine, all profits to club funds. 

The slate clubs were most prolific in the Victorian era, with just about every pub hosting one at one point or another. But several continued into the Edwardian era and beyond for example at The Ship in West Street, Two Brewers of St. Peters Str,  The Plough in Little Marlow Rd, Prince Of Wales, Mill Rd, and the Royal Oak in Bovingdon Green. 

Death preferred to the Workhouse

Poor relief was available for some, but there were exceptions - including those with illegitimate children who were barred from recieving outdoor relief at some points (that is help recieved outside of being admitted to the workhouse directly). Relief had to be applied for, and may not be granted. Some would quite literally die rather than be admitted to the "poor house". An extreme example of this was elderly ex agricultural labourer Mr Gardner who lived near Wymers Farm. He had become "somewhat incapacitated" and as such had been able to procure little work to support himself and his wife. Labouring was physically demanding even for the relatively young and agile. They had little if anything in the way of savings. Gardner had applied for parochial aid and duly received it it seems on a couple of occasions. In 1876, he was forced to ask for help again. It was the middle of winter and a difficult time to procure work at the best of times. The order this time was made that he must be admitted to the workhouse. This he could not bear, and the poor man slit his throat with a razor. He was found by his devastated wife on her return from running an errand.

Coal and Clothing Clubs

On a more positive note, efforts were made by the better off to ease some of the burden of poverty. Sometimes this was framed as educating the poor to budget, well intentioned if sometimes patronising and/or unrealistic. A Penny Savings bank was established, usually operating from the boys schoolroom in the Causeway. Regular saving was sometimes rewarded by the addition of a little top up to funds by the supporters of the Bank. It was wound up in 1888 after a period of at least 10 years. 

In the late 1880s and 1890s the Parish Church came up with a few helpful schemes. Children attending the Sunday school could pay in a minimum of 1d at a time to join a clothing club which gave them access to reduced price items to wear. There was also a clothing club for adults. Those interested in that would ask for a "club card" from one of the supporters of the initiative. Then each Monday, the member needed to go the Vicarage and pay in a minimum of a penny to club funds. At the end of the year (November in club terms) those who had made a minimum number of payments would have their "card" topped up with a bonus for the purchase of clothing later. A coal club ran in a similar way, between May to November and also attracted an end of season bonus. I'm not sure whether the coal group purchased fuel during the summer months when it was a little cheaper, to sell at a subsidised rate as was the case in some other Coal Clubs. 

A very difficult couple of years

The terrifically cold winters of 1894/5 caused much misery. Many men were reliant on outdoor manual labour to earn their living. This was especially true of those without a steady year round job who took work when and where they could.  But prolonged frost, and flooding made much of the planned works impractical. No jobs meant no pay. A large number was described as in "real straits" by February 1895. A committee was set up to see what could be done to help them. Local people were implored to offer work. Mrs Allam rose to the challenge and found employment for 138 men over two days working at stone breaking at her gravel pitts. One of these occasions was captured by local photographers Scott & Smith of the High Street in Marlow. Others worked on projects for the local council, widening roads near Marlow Bottom and Seymour Court, under orders from the Parish surveyors. I believe subscribers to this work fund subsidised the wages of those so employed, to encourage their employment in sufficient numbers. Initial work was given as a priority to married men, on the presumption they would have at least a spouse if not children also dependent on them. Work was however also offered to single men which must have been an especial relief to those with other kinds of dependents. 

The vicar started a fund to pay for the breakfasts of the poor children who could not concentrate on their schoolwork on empty stomachs. Lady Higginson, a devoted patron of Bovingdon Green school, organised the same free breakfasts there, free and at her own expense. Altogether about 75 children were said to be reliant on these free meals in early February. 100 of the worst off of the families also received a gift of coal, some of it also paid for by Lady Higginson. 

Although the weather in 1894/5 was extreme, there were several other times that similar schemes were both needed and offered. For example in 1904 within hours of a register of unemployed men being opened, 35 men had put their names down to ask for work in any capacity that could be found. Although it could not be guaranteed that employment would be forthcoming for all, local businesses were implored to do their best, mostly "unskilled" labouring by the day. 

Begging in the streets

It is not difficult to find evidence of regular beggars appearing in Marlow throughout this period. Some were moved on, several arrested. Sometimes promising to leave town and not return would allow them to escape punishment, especially later on. That is if they did not live here permanently. Some begged house to house, others in the streets. But there were also home grown examples, especially children. Sometimes the children were performing a little trick, tumble or dance for a few coins and perhaps we would call the enterprising youngsters buskers or street performers now! But in 1903, persistent complaints to the council of child begging in the streets, resulted in a police crackdown. However 5 years later, two youngsters of the Bowles family had been seen repeatedly begging for food or coins in Glade Rd. They had became a regular at the home of kind Mrs Thomas. She succinctly shut down the questions of those who asked why she had been "encouraging"  them, by stating the children looked thin and had told her they were hungry and their father out of work. The following year, a group of Hunger Marchers passed through Marlow. They were met by police in West Street and allowed to proceed under escort up the High Street and over the Bridge. Trouble had been feared but none seems to have occured. 

Quarry Woods, incredibly popular as a tourist destination, was said to be plagued by an "enormous number of beggar children" asking for food because they were "very hungry." The Bucks Herald called the children a "squalid and miserable hoard" who put the visitors off their food. No hint of empathy for the children whose longing looks at food were apparently so disturbing. 

Common Lodging Houses

You will notice that in our listings of pubs, beer sellers etc, that many were described at times as also (or sometimes mainly) as Common Lodging Houses. These were cheap lodgings, usually used by unmarried men but not always. They tended to be crowded and with sometimes very poor reputations when it came to cleanliness, crime and over crowding. They were subject to more regulation and inspection as time went on, and as a result many closed (at least for accomodation). But we still had them in Marlow into the Edwardian era. A glimpse into what it was like to live in one can be seen from the report of the Crown and Cushion in Dean Street when it failed a Public Health Act inspection in 1904. Among the problems was a lack of screening between married couples beds, a lack of wash basins sufficient for the number of people inside, a dirty yard and an insufficiently cleaned stable. 

A Last Image

In 1883 a reporter for the Maidenhead Advertiser attended the weekly petty sessions at the Magistrates court in Trinity Road. He described a distressing scene where a number of children from poor families were bought up on charges of theft. The sobbing from the youngsters was so loud that the witnesses could scarcely be heard. He was moved to pity and thought the children stood no chance of living anything but a life of degradation unless they were removed from their "evil" situation. But both he and the magistrate did not think the evil the children faced was poverty despite acknowledging that they looked "half starved" and were dressed in scanty clothing. For them the problem was a lack of civilization and Christianity from the "wretched" looking parents. The reporter wondered if missionaries shouldn't be employed in Marlow to help with this. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day.

Related Posts:

St Peter's court "slum" - here

Life at Marlow Workhouse 1775-1843 here

Life at the Wycombe Union workhouse at Saunderton for Marlow residents - here

Hayes Place here

Marlow poverty campaigner the Rev Tavender and of the Congregational Church - here

Posts related to history of Dean Street area and around:here

General posts about everyday life in old Great Marlow: here

More about Slate Clubs here

Wymers farm here

Poverty campaigner Rev Andrew Mearns here

© MarlowAncestors. 

SOURCES INCLUDE:

Thorne, James -  Rambles by Rivers : The Thames Volumes 1-2 (C. Cox 1847) Digitised by Google from New York City Library. 

Penny Savings Banks - Penny Saving Society Journal (incomplete, 1881)

Windsor & Eton Journal - 15 January 1876

Bucks Herald March 24 1888, June 30 1883. 

Maidenhead Advertiser July 8 1889, 06 August 1883. 

South Bucks Standard 28 July 1891, 22 December 1893, 22 February 1895, 22 Jan 1904, 21 Feb 1908. 

1833 Parochial Assessment Great Marlow Part Six West Street / Potlands

 I have in my family the original working notebooks used to compile the official assessment along with some related correspondence but they are old and very fragile so I thought I would transcribe some of them on my blog.

©Marlow Ancestors. Please give credit to this blog and link here if using my transcription but you are very welcome to do so. 

Other parts of the transcription can be found listed on the "Specific Shops, Streets etc" option on the menu, under the street name concerned.

Formula of transcription is:

Name

Property

Annual value of property.

Any notes of mine coming from other research are in square brackets. Also, the notebooks were annotated with additional information by their custodians up to about 1839. If any such annotations appear for these properties they will be included and flagged as such.

West Street Continued

Robert Hammond [This is The Heathers]

Dwelling house, yard, stables, barn and large garden

£30

*****

Late William Walding [property no longer exists]

Cottage and garden

£4

*****

Charles Darvill [property no longer exists]

Cottage and garden

£4

*****

Mary Hammond [this is Western House]

Large house, farm yard, barns, stables, sheds, paddock, garden, etc

£35

Garden adjoining Mrs Flemming's

£2

*****

Widow Flemming

House and garden

£6

*****

Benjamin Marcham

Cottage and garden 

£4

*****

Robert Piggott

Cottage and garden 

£4

*****

Potts Lands [Portlands today, most commonly Potlands in the past]

John Croxen [Croxon]

Cottage

£3 10 shillings

*****

William Cross [labourer]

Cottage

£4

*****

Thomas Stockbridge

Cottage

£5

A large garden

£7

*****

Joseph May [gardener]

House, wood house, piggery, large garden

£7

*****

James Atkins  [Labourer. Still Potlands 1841 and 1849. This cottage was owned by the Wethered family]

Cottage and garden

£5

*****

John Neighbour [still in Potlands 1841 and 1849. This property was owned by the Wethered family of Remnantz. John was their head gardener. His son William was eventually head gardener of nearby Court Garden and has a biographical post on the blog here]

Cottage, yard and garden

£6

*****

William Thomas

Cottage and garden

£4

*****

Charles Carter [his house usually given as out on West Street]

Cottage and garden

£4

*****

More West Street [other side of road from Potlands, Ship Inn etc]

Late James Allum

House

£5

Garden

10 shillings

*****

William Johnson [also appears as Johnston. Basket Maker. There by 1830. Still there 1841]

House, workshop, offices and garden

£7

******

Richard White [There by 1830. Cordwainer / shoemaker].

House shop and garden

£4 10 shillings

*****

Henry John Franklin [also Franklyn. Worked as iron founder too]

Fox beer house, stable and garden

£7

*****

John Brown

House

£5

*****

William Walker [broker 1841. Died 1845 aged 75] See his grave here

House and yard

£5

*****

John Jones

House

£10

To be continued

Landlords The Upper Crown, The Crown and Broad Arrow, The Lower Crown Inns, Great Marlow.

 *Updated by Charlotte November 2025*

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Marlow has had two Crown inns. When modern residents refer to The Crown, they mean the one in the Market Square, which was historically known as The Upper Crown then the Crown Hotel, to distinguish it from the Lower Crown in the High Street. The Lower Crown's original name was the Crown and Broad Arrow but this is largely forgotten now. Both were very old. 

You may see references to the Upper Crown as the inn exclusively known as the Crown and Broad Arrow but this is seemingly incorrect. Contemporary sources spelling out the full name of the Lower Crown just as often refer to it as the "Lower Crown and Broad Arrow." (For example see Reading Mercury 19 June 1786.) The Crown and Broad Arrow can be found separately listed to the Upper Crown in lists of inns at the same time, (E.g The Reading Mercury 08 July 1771) and information about the contents sale of Alfred House/Cromwell House in 1756 describe this property as being nearly opposite the Crown and Broad Arrow which makes it opposite the Lower Crown. It's usually described as in the High Street rather than the Market place which is the location of the Upper Crown. Lastly proprietors later listed as in charge of the Lower Crown can be found earlier listed at the Crown and Broad Arrow. We have done our best to attach the right early innkeeper to the correct premises. 

The original Upper Crown building was replaced but it was trading from the 1590's at least. It was later known as the Crown Hotel and used some of the neighbouring town hall building, before taking it over entirely. It's former core location is however where Boots the chemist is now. For more on the history of the two see the post on the Crown Inns Here

Remember also Marlow has had pubs or beer houses called the Crown and Anchor, Rose and Crown (also at Little Marlow, very frequently shortened to The Crown) and the Crown and Cushion. 

This post will be updated as new information emerges. All listings are as noted in original sources, including alternative spellings. Where multiple sources list an individuals name, only the first and last mention are listed here unless there is any alteration in how they are recorded, for example an additional occupation is noted. Note that some listings may in fact refer to father's and sons sharing the same given name so be sure to double check this. See notes below for more help finding your ancestors in these listings. 

UPPER CROWN / THE CROWN

The former Town Hall with clock above, had assembly rooms on upper floor which were used by the Crown until they eventually took over the whole building. 

This building, above,  is where the Upper Crown was for much of it's life. It expanded into the Town Hall next door and eventually abandoned it's original site. 

Post about  the balls/assembly here

(Market Square)

1595 - Premises owned by Richard Mathews / Mathewe.

1596 - Roger Smith, who was also a shoemaker. He bought the premises , which he already occupied. In 1610 he put the business into the hands of trustees for the benefit of his sons John and Valiant.

1617 - Edward Wooden (Wooten) bought it and ran premises. In 1620 premises sold to John Little of Little Marlow.

1636 - Owned by Thomas Drewe, a draper. Leased by Edward Wooden's widow Elizabeth. 

1650 - Elizabeth Wooden (Wooten) occupier. Thomas Drewe the owner sells it to brewer Moore. Previous tenants listed then are Mathew Cane and Bonaventure Ward. (A Mathew Cane was at the Angel by 1643) Also in this year the occupiers of the Crown benefit from a 1,000 year grant of right of access through Thomas Drewe's gateway, between two properties, into their "backside" and malthouse. The access is specified as applying to horses and carts carrying hay, straw and wood and their accompanying leaders and drivers. The origin of Crown Lane perhaps? 

1712= Samuel Sandys

1717 - Mr Richard Hall. He went bankrupt 1724. "A large inn with close behind" [Area of enclosed land]

1754 - Sylvester Law

1757 - Sylvester Law (moved to the Cross Keys) See his will summary here

1766 - Mr Webb

1767 - John Webb [Likely the John Webb who was Law's brother in law]. Then John Parsons.

1768 - John Parsons. Possibly the same John who acts as a parish constable.  During his tenure pub often hosts auctions.

1771 - Trustees of the new Reading to Hatfield Turnpike toll road recommended this Crown and the Lower Crown and Broad Arrow as a place to get a good horses or post chaises en route. 

1775 - John Parsons. Leaves to take on The Black Bull coaching inn at Holborn this year. William Faithorn takes over at the end of the year. 

1778 - Mr Faithorn. Chaise, horses etc available at short notice. 

1780 - Mr Faithorn

1785 - Samuel Chapman

1792- Samuel Chapman, landlord has died. "Landlord of the Upper Crown for many years". See grave below.

1794- Mrs Mary Chapman. Widow of the above. See grave below.

1798 - Mrs Chapman. A new coach to Fleet Street, London via Maidenhead starts from her inn this year. Monday to Saturday service.

1803 - there is a good chance that the innholder John Gosling who died this year was the occupier of the Crown as his will was witnessed by men occupying premises immediately by there.

1811 - Mr Davis (Wavis in a second incorrect record!)

1820 - Richard Furnell, died aged 39 of a sudden fit of apoplexy. Wife Dinah. Had been innkeeper since at least 1815, though not necessarily at the Crown. Dinah married secondly Richard Westbrook who took over the Crown. She is mentioned in the 1822 will of Richard Furnell's brother William Furnell which you can read here. William's grave looks like his occupation is "omnibus..." so maybe he also worked out of the Crown. 

1823 - Richard Westbrook, as above. He was originally from Cookham. Richard and Dinah moved to the Red Lion Hotel, High Street, High Wycombe. Richard's sister Eliza was a baker in the High Street. See her biography on the blog here. Their brother William Westbrook was a butcher in Market Square near the Crown.

1826 - Mr Westbrook.

1830 - George Westbrook. George is an enthusiastic cricketer. In this year he plays a one wicket match against a gentleman of Beaconsfield. (These sort of matches were all the rage locally around this time and the natives of Beaconsfield were our frequent foe.) George won, scoring 14 runs to Mr Williamson's zero. He also represents Marlow in some early team matches. 

1831 - George Westbrook "Family and commercial hotel" (also described as excise office and posting house) 2. Geoffrey Westbrook

1832 - G. Westbrook

1833 - George Westbrook also leasing rooms at Town Hall for a "card room" and associated parlour. 

1834 - George Westbrook

1835 - George Westbrook leaves the Crown. James Franklin takes over, selling up his farm Low Grounds to do so. Post Boy : Joseph Davis, cook Sarah Brown, waiter Edward Cook. 

1836 - James Franklin. Wife Sarah.

1838 - Mr and Mrs Franklin. The latter is the granddaughter of "Mrs House" who died that year.

1839 -  J Franklin "Crown Inn." Ostler - James Lowman. Post boy (actually an adult- ) John Spratley. (James is subsequently coachman to the Atkinsons at the Rookery)

1840 -  James Franklin

1847 -  James Franklin. James describes himself as innkeeper, hotel keeper, coach proprietor, and livery stable keeper.. He suffers financial difficulty around this time and is declared bankrupt in 1852. 

1849 -  Samuel Wise

1850 - Richard Westbrook comes back. Also keeps the Lion Inn in High Wycombe still. 

1851 -  Thomas Furnell. He was the grandson of Richard and Dinah Furnell above. Marries Jane Veary of High Wycombe 1852. 

1853 -  Thomas Furnell

1854 -  Thomas Furnell "Crown  Hotel"

1859 - Mr Paine. In 1865 William Paine appears as a sort of expert witness in a court case about buying sub standard wheat. In this he says he was formerly a mealman. 

1860 - Mr Payne

1861 - William Paine (age 47)

1862 - William Paine who was threatened with being run down and assaulted by two men when he told them he would not have them ill-treating a horse as they were on his premises. The horse had been exhausted by dangerous driving in the streets outside and was whipped in the yard of the Crown. He withdrew charges against them after they expressed deep apologies and said they had been very drunk at the time. The magistrates still fined them for being drunk and disorderly.

1863 -  William Paine. "Crown Hotel"

1865 - William Paine. He was elected as one of the Guardians of the poor that year. Was in the role to at least 1871. 

1871 -  William Paine.

1872. William Paine died.

1873 - Mrs Paine (widow of above).[Emma Margaret. She died in 1890 aged 70]. She transfers license to Samuel Hill [died 1875 age 42, at Oundle, Northants]

1875 -  Mrs West [Susan] 

1875 - Fire in chimney at Crown causes substantial damage. 

1876 - Advertised facilities include the coffee room, billiards, an omnibus to meet every train, close and open carriages for hire, and private "apartments" available for family hire. 3 minutes walk from the river (fairly quick walkers only!!)

1883 - Susan West/Langley. 2. John Langley. Sadly Susan committed suicide in this year, travelling to Bridport Harbour to do so. (She was born in Somerset) She told the landlady of the boarding house she stayed in that she had suffered head pain since a blow to the head occasioned by a fall from a dog cart. She said she wished to have a few days holiday because of this period of ill health and bought with her just a small bag. She had recently remarried to John Langley  but according to local newspaper reports she gave her name as West (that of her first husband) at her lodgings. A full post on Susan is available here

1885 - John Langley died in the garden at the back of the Crown, after falling from a ladder while pruning a wall trained fruit tree. A biography of John and his son are available here

1886 -  Lease went up for sale and it includes the town hall, but no immediate takers. At this point the Crown has 18 bedrooms and 3 private sitting rooms on offer.  

1887 - Henry Calf. Former station master, bank manager and soldier! Henry owned the hotel himself.

1889 - "a comfortable old fashioned house with a first rate billiard room"

1891 - (Manageress Margaret Hughes)

1892 -  Henry Calf - he had converted  rooms in the upper story of the adjacent Town Hall into a Billiard Room (former assembly room). The lower part of the town hall still houses the fire engine and stalls on market day. These stalls are now mostly or entirely butchers. Henry dies in November aged over 70 of bronchitis, after long illness.  

1893 - On Henry Calf death, Miss Hughes continued to manage premises, now for new owner William E Cole. "Every luxury of recreation" offered with lawns and gardens. Mr Cole had come from the Crown Hotel in Devizes and was a former Quartermaster in the Royal Wilts Yeomanry. He began a reorganisation of the hotel from top to bottom until it's known as a "favourite resort for well to do visitors and commercial travellers". Amongst the projects is the creation of a small room adjoining the bar, created by "setting back the partition in the bar passage by several feet". A large conservatory was added to the rear in 1894, and in the same year the old entrance through the market house beneath the town hall portion was opened up again. In 1895 he also engaged 60 rooms in private homes to accommodate an avalanche of Whitsun visitors! It was described as "World famed as one of the oldest established commercial and  visitor's season hotels (both winter and summer), in this part of England." Cole also had a booth offering refreshments during the bigger matches of Marlow F C (from 1893). They played in the Crown Meadow ground behind his premises and rented from him at £15 a year. The team change in "dressing rooms" in the outbuildings there which they also rented from Cole, at £11 7s 6d per year. 

1897 - the extent of the tourist trade done at the Crown can be seen by the fact that within 1 week in the summer of this year, a full 1,000 persons on staff outings from big London employers had been catered for there. A similar number were catered for the following week.  This does not include other types of visitors and guests. 

1899 - William Eades Cole dies in his sleep at the hotel aged 47 leaving a wife and 4 young children. It is said he died of consumption following bronchitis. His widow vows to carry on. 

1902 - Mrs Cole ("Julia" Elizabeth nee Feltham). Mrs Cole is declared bankrupt early this year, the proceeding have started in 1901. She lays the blame partially on Marlow carriage builder Charles Drye who she says sold a carriage sent to him for repair, without her permission. Mr Drye denies this and say he had advised Mrs Cole the carriage would be expensive to repair and so had offered to buy it off her for £7, an offer she had accepted. He had then sold it on. However Mrs Cole also admitted during her insolvency hearings that she had been practically insolvent at the time of her husband's death, and that she had not kept proper books (because her husband had never done so)  and so had never tried to balance them.  2. Miss Feltham (sister of Mrs Cole)  3. Margaret Douglas Ditchburn

1903 -  Miss M.J Feltham - manager I believe earlier.  2. Charles McGlynn/ Glynn

1905 1. Charles McGlynn 2. T Hull

1906 - Mr Hull

1907 - Thomas Halse Hull. He and his wife took on an hotel in Sonning  in 1907. They were allowed the licence there on condition that they  gave up the Marlow concern. Business transferred to Mrs Ellen Dax/ Mrs Stanley Dax . She came from the Catherine Wheel in Henley. Mrs Dax advertised the luncheon and teas served in the garden, the hotel"s tennis lawn and the possibility of using Crown Meadow for a ride or other exercise, as star attractions of her premises. 

1908 - Mrs Dax

1909 - A W Shearsmith

1910 - Mr A. W Shearsmith transfers to H E Scott [Horace Edwin, his wife Bertha assisted in the business].

1911 - H E Scott [Horace Edwin]

1914 - tragedy occurs when 16 year old Crown servant Louisa Maud Allen dies after a kitchen accident. Her apron catches fire and she is soon engulfed in flames. The fire is put out promptly by the cook and landlady present but the poor girl has suffered severe burns. She dies at the Marlow Cottage hospital. 1915 -Now also offers a garage with inspection pit, tennis lawn and billiard room. Landlord Oliver P Taylor. 

1920 - Mrs Oliver P Taylor takes over officially as her husband has died. This was Louisa Taylor.

1924 - Mrs Oliver P Taylor. A room with meals for those staying 5 nights or more costs 10 sh 6d a night in 1924.

1925- the Crown bought by a Mr Sidney Vereker. He gives Louisa Taylor notice to quit and she sells up most of the furniture fixtures and fittings and moves out but then Vereker says he doesn't in fact mean to apply for a holdover of her license straight away. The details are very confusing. A dispute between the two led to at least two court cases. Meanwhile the Crown stood empty. Louisa eventually did leave.

1927 - Mr and Mrs A Henderson Rutledge. "Ye Olde Crowne Hotel". They have refurbished and fully electrified the premises. They also allow an Ancient Order of Froth Blowers group to start up on their premises in this year. This joke social club was a nationwide concern open to membership by men, women and children. Members at their get -togethers have to pay fines for reported infractions of various comic rules which each club branch makes up themselves. The money collected goes towards children's hospitals. Otherwise the main activity for the male members is sitting drinking and smoking in a pub.

1931 - Mrs & Mrs S Lindsay Galloway. "Ye Olde Crown Hotel"  Has been redecorated and refurnished yet again and provides every modern convenience. Star attractions include the Palm Saloon", "separate tables" for meals , their noted stock of wines and a large car park. 

1932 George Godsall.

1932 - 33 at least Captain Edward James Keeling M.C (resident owner). Previously at  George_&_Dragon

Above, two pages from an advertising brochure for the Crown Hotel under E J Keeling. 

1934 - Keelings leave and are replaced by Mr and Mrs W L Hill who were previously at The Chequers, Fingest. Pub was refurbished internally.

1939 John O Mason 

1957 Mr and Mrs R.H Snow.  Large ballroom available.

1958 R.H Snow.

LOWER CROWN / CROWN AND BROAD ARROW (High Street)

Site of Lower Crown. 

In existence from at least 1619. 

1679- Thomas Lloyd? 

1691 - "The Broad Arrow" late in the tenure of William Hopkins. A William Hopkins had been prosecuted the year before for keeping an unlicensed ale house in Marlow, location uncertain. Now premises owned or leased by Samuel Lynn. Samuel owns several properties in Marlow. He takes out licence this year for the Arrow to be used as a common meeting house, possibly meaning one of several outbuildings to rear although this type of accomodation is usually specified in the meeting house licence. 

1751 - John Phillips (and carpenter) Died this year. Wife Mary did the brewing (on the premises, usual practice back then) and selling of the liquor. She then married the below.

1751+ William Dark (e) Will summary here William hosts "cock matches" during the Marlow Races. 

1764 - Mary Dark (widow of John Phillips and William Dark both above)

1765 - Widow Dark "Crown and Broad Arrow"

1771 -  Crown & Broad Arrow - recommended along with the Upper Crown as a place to get a post chaise and a good horse on the new Reading to Hatfield Turnpike toll road. 

1776/7 - Mr Thomas

1788 - starts new post coach service to London, run by Saunders, Smith and Co. 

1781 - Nicholas Thomas

1782 - Nicholas Thomas (died this year)

1786 - Robert Dixon "Lower Crown and Broad Arrow" Also runs coaching business - see more about that here

1789 - Robert Dixon

1794 - Robert Dixon sells up. He is apparently "going into business". "Lower Crown" . His stock of wines and spirits, 2 post chaises, 4 post beds for guests and a herd of cows were part of the contents of the pub which was put up to auction when he left. We are told the premises has "numerous bed chambers and fitting rooms for the accommodation of company" as well as a "good" kitchen, bar, larder, pantry, and cellars. Outside there is a large yard, stabling for 30 horses, standing for carriages and various other outbuildings. The Lower Crown also has a "good garden" and a close of land adjoining.  

1799 - Mr Patrick. 

1808 - William Williams stops his coaching service from here and moves it to the Corporation Arms in High Wycombe. 

1831- possibly Thomas Oxlade. He was landlord of  "the Crown Great Marlow Parish"when he had to summon the tithingmen men to deal with the unruly behavior of two of his customers who had blown out his candles and then refused to leave when asked to. The  term "Great Marlow Parish" of course also encompassed at that time Lane End, Bovingdon Green and other outlying places for certain matters including criminal cases such as this. He was definitely not at the Upper Crown in Market Square. 

The Lower Crown inn closed in the 1830s (by 1833).

NOTES FOR FINDING ANCESTORS ON THIS BLOG

Use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu to find every mention of your ancestor here.  Many Marlow landlords changed premises and there can be other family members running other establishments. Some places changed how they described themselves - or how they were viewed- and so licensed premises listings here take in not just beer houses, pubs and inns but common lodging houses and hotels too. We mainly focus on pre WW1 listings but sometimes list later names if it ties in with research we are helping with. 

For other pub/hotel related content see the Pub related option on the top drop down menu. 

SOURCES - 

Multiple property deeds, wills and similar documents cross referenced. (The two Crown's location research is by Charlotte Day)

Dickens Dictionary of the Thames, (Dickens, 1889 edition)

Reading Mercury 8 July 1771*, 17 September 1787, 17 April 1788, 23 October 1833, 17 September 1873, held in British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA 

Oxford Journal, 14th August 1756*, 17th December 1765*, 7th March 1767, 9 August 1794, 25th November 1820, 4 August 1849 as above. 

South Bucks Standard, 21 Jan 1860, 12 May, 29 December 1893, 13 January & Jul 21 1899, as above. 

Berkshire Chronicle 4 February 1826, as above. 

Bucks Herald, 21 February 1835, 6 July 1839 and 3 April 1886 as above

Maidenhead Advertiser 21 June 1876. As above. 

Nottingham Journal 15 Oct 1883. As above. 

Bridport, Beaminister, and Lyme Regis Telegram 19 October 1883, as above

1833 Parish Assessment owned by my family and transcribed by Charlotte.

Census 1851,1861,1871,1881,1891

1853 Mussons and Cravens Commercial Directory

Kellys Post Office Directory, 1869,1877,1883,1899,1903, 1907,1911,1915, 1920

Pigots Directory 1823, 1831,1844

Robson's Directory 1839

Will of John Phillips, proved 1751, transcribed by Charlotte Day from National Archives. 

1650 Grant of Right of Way, Drewe to Moore. National Archives index. 

AGM report, Marlow F C 1893. 

Marlow Guide, 1904 & 1907 

The Hotels of Europe - (Henry Herbert & Co, 1876)

Marlow Almanack and Directory 1907 &  1915. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Crown Inns of Marlow

Great Marlow had two Crowns. One was the Crown and Broad Arrow which became The Lower Crown and Broad Arrow and then finally just the Lower Crown. This was located in the High Street. The other establishment was apparently the oldest of the two (in operation by 1596) and was known as the Upper Crown / Crown Inn and then the Crown Hotel. Neither still exist as inns. 

You may see references to the Upper Crown exclusively being referred to as the Crown and Broad Arrow but this is incorrect. Contemporary sources spelling out the full name of the Lower Crown refer to it as the "Lower Crown and Broad Arrow." The Crown and Broad Arrow can be found separately listed to the Upper Crown in contemporary lists of inns existing at the same time, and information about the contents sale of Alfred House/Cromwell house describe this property as being nearly opposite the Crown and Broad Arrow which makes it nearly opposite the Lower Crown. It's usually described as in the High Street too rather than the Market place which is the location of the Upper Crown. Lastly proprietors later listed as in charge of the Lower Crown can be found earlier listed at the Crown and Broad Arrow. So while the Upper Crown may also have been referred to as the Crown and Broad Arrow, it was not exclusively so. 

The (Lower) Crown and Broad Arrow was in business under that names from at least 1691. The first landlord I found evidence of was Mary Phillips. Her husband John owned the building and died in 1751. He was a carpenter. The liquors sold in the Inn were made in buildings put of the back by Mary. She, according to his will was  the one selling them too. He presumed she would continue in business after his death. A few weeks after his decease Mary married William Dark who became the landlord. I expect Mary was still doing the brewing. William Dark's will has been transcribed by me. It is scheduled to be published on the blog August 15th 2020.  Mary ran the inn again following Dark's death.

Highwayman Dick Turpin is reputed to have drank there but really there is no evidence for that. 

The Upper Crown had a bigger but little pressed claim to fame, as the poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Byron met in person for the first time there in 1816 just before they both went abroad. Shelley had been living in the town at Albion House. At the time French prisoners from the battle of Waterloo were being held at the inn, contemporary books say, and they elicited Shelley's attention and sympathy. I thought perhaps the sources meant prisoners were in the town hall lock up next door to the inn (although that had a tiny capacity) but no, it seems various inns were used for this purpose. The poets had intended to meet once abroad at Geneva and some history books still claim that Geneva was their first meeting but friends present at the time stated that the plans changed and the pair met for the second time, not the first, in Geneva. The debate will no doubt continue to rage about this point! 

What of the more ordinary people associated with either premises, though?

Well the owner and occupier of the (probably Lower) Crown and Broad Arrow in 1782 was Nicholas Thomas. In his will of that year he left the premises described as in the High Street to his brother John Thomas Esquire whom he calls "of Portsmouth". It came with "a close or meadow or pasture" perhaps for the cattle his will also mentions, stable, coach house and backside by which was meant backyard.

Next to the inn he said he had a malthouse which a Mr James rather than he occupied.

In 1786 the proprietor was a Robert Dixon, who refurbished it that year. He hired out "genteel post chaises". He left 1796 selling up the entire contents.

From at least 1788 to the early 1800s a coach ran from the inn, then called the Lower Crown, to London via Maidenhead Little Marlow and Wooburn. The Upper Crown was better known as a coaching inn though as I will describe below. Both Crowns hosted late 1700s and earlier 1800s balls.

The Lower Crown site, above.

The Upper Crown in Market Square was sold by Richard Mathews to Roger Smith in 1596. Roger settled it in 1610 on two friends in trust for his sons Valiantus and John. These sons sold it to brewer Edward Wooden in 1617. His widow Elizabeth and son John passed it on to Thomas Drewe in 1636 but Elizabeth stayed in possession having immediately leased it back on a 60 year term for a rent of £11 a year. Thomas had sold it to brewer Mr Moore by 1650 but Elizabeth was still in occupation then too.

A Mr Hall leased the inn in 1717.

In 1735 it was bought by the Clayton family. They owned a great deal of local property and other pubs.

Sylvester Law was proprietor 1757 [I have transcribed his will. It will be posted on this blog later in August 2020], Mr Webb in 1766 and John Parsons from at least 1768 until he transferred to the Black Bull Holborn in 1775. Mrs Chapman ran the premises from at least 1796 to at least 1798. George Westbrook was there at least 1831 to at least 1834. His employee, postillion Richard Hockley was killed in an evening coaching accident while at work in 1831. The horse shied and the vehicle overturned on Hedsor Hill, but it was sadly some hours before assistance could be bought to him. Richard died of his injuries a couple of days later, leaving a pregnant wife. 

My 1833 parochial survey book describes the inn as having a skittle ground and pleasure ground and garden plus a card room and parlour in the Town Hall next door. Later the card room was converted into a billiards room.

James Franklin farmer of Lower Grounds Farm sold off his entire stock in order to change careers and take over the Upper Crown in 1835 after a George Westbrook gave it up. James however went bankrupt in 1852 so perhaps not the wisest career move ever.

From circa 1798 a "new" coach ran at either 6 or 7 in the Morning to the Bolt and Tonne Fleet Street London [which by coincidence my personal ancestors had owned over 200 years earlier!] from the Upper Crown via Bisham and Maidenhead and returned in the afternoon.

After the railway came to nearby Bourne End a coach took passengers from the Upper Crown to the station there. Even after the opening of Marlow Station itself the coach ran to it and back from the Crown for the benefit of luggage -laden or lazy customers! The driver of this very rickety coach was a fascinating man who will be the subject of his own post in the future.

Visitors to the Upper Crown / Crown Hotel as it became would have found it a buzzing place even without the coaches. It was the organiser of the town balls from at least the mid 1780s through to at least the the 1850s in the next door Town Hall assembly rooms. (Before the Town hall with it's assembly room was built Assemblies were also held in The Lower Crown, which would have been the more spacious of the two premises at the time. The Upper crown did host balls before it gained use of the Town Hall though.)

The inn was also a frequent site for the hosting of property auctions, debt settlements following the death of a local person, coroner's inquests and of meetings by everyone from the bridgewardens and overseers of the poor to political groups and the local gas company.  More unusually it was the town's early court house. The justices had to pay a nominal 1 guinea a year rent for the privilege.

The building also doubled as the town's posting house and excise offices in the early 1800s, being the stop for the mail coach.

The bloodthirsty meanwhile had an opportunity of watching a "backswords" fighting competition out the back of the inn in 1787. Despite the name cudgels and not swords were used. Fighters planted their feet on the ground and could not move. With one hand they held a cudgel, the other hand had to remain gripped to a scarf tied around their thigh and not used to either inflict or deflect blows. Those hobbled fighters tried to be the first one to draw blood from the head of their opponent. Whoever did so won the fight, and on this occasion in Marlow whoever "broke the most heads" at the end of the event won a 3 shilling prize! Smaller prizes were available for those who split someone else's head provided they got up again themselves if their own head was split! The sport was common but this is only the second time I have found reference to it formally organised in Marlow. The other time was in Market Square out front of the Town Hall. A few later boxing matches occurred out back of the Crown.

A different sort of brush with violence for the inn occurred in 1880. It had been used for the campaign headquarters of a conservative candidate in the election. His successful election caused great bitterness amongst many frustrated working class men and the Crown was amongst buildings targeted in a riot by a mob from Marlow, Wycombe, and Bisham. Windows were smashed using stones and ladders left against the building by workers putting up illuminations. The army was necessary to quell the riot. A detailed post about this riot can be found here.

Behind the Upper Crown was a large meadow which was part of the premises. This was occasionally used for displaying animals for sale during Marlow fair, for steam powered visiting merry go rounds, for early travelling silent film shows and circuses, the odd cricket match, many football matches, and grazing of the horses that pulled the town fire engine.

Note: Since this post was written additional landlords have been found. An updated landlord list with biographical details can be found here

#For the will of William Dark see this blog post here

And for Sylvester Laws will see this post

A post about the tragedy of Susan West of the Crown hotel can be found Here

AND for a full list of Marlow pubs, beer houses, inns etc see here and here.

Please use the Person Index option from the drop down menu to search for people of interest.

Post Written and researched by Charlotte Day with additional research by Kathryn Day and Jane Pullinger.

Some Research sources:

Original wills, my own transcriptions

History Of The County Of Buckingham Volume 3, Victoria County Histories 1825. 

Oxford Journal 28th October 1775 and 29th September 1787 at the BNA, London [John Parson was moving premises and the backswords competition]

Reading Mercury 19th June 1786 . Copy held at the British Library, accessed online via the BNA, June 2020 [Mr Dixon refurbished his inn] and 14th May 1798 [Coach].

Reading Mercury 1st March 1777, 8th July 1777, 19 June 1786, 17 September 1787, held at the British Library. 

Oxford Journal 14 August 1756, 14 December 1765, as above. 

Bucks Gazette 15 October 1831, as above. 

Privately held personal papers, not in public domain. [Public meetings at the Upper Crown].

Buckinghamshire Archives Clayton family papers. [Property records]

Britishmuseumonline[Robert Dixon information]

1833 parochial assessment, original notebook held by my family and transcribed by me.

Quarter sessions records, held at the centre for Buckinghamshire Studies.

Insurance record, Nicholas Thomas Innholder, London Metropolitan Archives CLC/B/192/F/001/MS11936/299/456164

©Marlow Ancestors.