Handy Cross Farm History And Occupiers

Handy Cross Farm. Historically a mixed farm.

Existed 1741.

1781= for sale freehold (except a few copyhold acres). 366 acres, all but 11 acres within a ring fence. Meadow and arable land (Oxford Journal 03 February 1781).  Includes dwelling house, two tenements (cottages for farm workers etc)  and outbuildings. Let to Thomas Allen for £150 per annum. Also 67 acres woodland available with it. "Handicross". May be the same Thomas Allen at Pigeon House Farm 1784. 

1817= Bought by William James Atkinson (of whom lots more here).  Later owned by Lord Carrington.

1818 - tenant Richard Badcock is leaving the farm so there is a livestock etc sale on the premises. It includes 24 cows and heifers, 6 cart horses, 8 sheep and 20 pigs plus the usual selection of ploughs, dung carts etc. 

1843?= outgoing tenant Mr Stacey Rayment. 

1843-50= Daniel Carr. Had chickens and geese stolen from him in 1843. Subject to a serious rick fire one afternoon in 1844. Believed to be arson. (The Sun, 22 Jan 1844). Thankfully Lord Carrington the landowner had his own fire engine to help put it out. The wheat rick in which it started, containing 10 loads, could not be saved, but several standing nearby were undamaged. 

1851= 20 year old Ambrose Reddall Turney living with his sister Sarah and others in High Wycombe, then called Chepping Wycombe, described himself as a farmer of 320 acres employing 8 workers. There is a good chance that he, probably with his brothers, was working Handy Cross farm. See below.

1864= Mr Turney. Had no buildings on it then but by 1870 did at least have a barn and apparently also had a worker's cottage by 1875.

1866 - the Messrs Turney. 

1868= Ambrose Reddall Turney, John Turney and George Turney in partnership which was dissolved that year. These were brothers, the sons of John Turney. Ambrose was properly Alexander Ambrose Reddall Turney and also operated as the Parish Surveyor and Rate Collector for High Wycombe. He emigrated to the USA the next year. He and his brothers were mentioned in the will of their step grandmother Elizabeth Turney of Winslow which is transcribed on the Winslow history website. This also gives more background to the family. Link to this website here. The will of her husband can be downloaded from the National Archives.

1870= John Turney. Prosecuted his shepherd Mathew Clarke for refusing to work for him while injured. Mathew had hurt his arm trying to catch a sheep. John argued that the injury did not mean that Mathew was incapable of all work and that there were light duties he could perform on the farm. The court allowed Mathew to be released from his contract with John and ordered his employer to pay him £1 owed Michaelmas money out of which the court costs would be deducted.

1869= J and G Turney, presumably brothers John and George.

1871= John Turney. Poachers set traps for rabbits in his field that year.

1873= J Turney.

1877= J Turney. Seven of his heifers died in agony after workers from landlord Lord Carrington left open cans of lead paint where the animals could get at them and lick the poisonous paint. 

1878= J Turney sold off his stock of clover and hay etc as he was leaving the farm.

1881= whoever was at the farm sold off all stock and left.

1887-1894= William Morris, who also occupied nearby Hill Farm as well as farms in West Wycombe. The farmhouse was in 1894 put up to let and was then a 5 bedroom house with 2 sitting rooms and 2 kitchens (South Bucks Standard 22nd June 1894). It seems Edward Nuttall also occupied some of the land 1894-96 but the Morris family continued to farm most of the land even if they did not live in the farm house for a while.

1895= rooms and apartments in the farm house up to let. Bracing air is promised. By which was meant biting winds presumably as Handy Cross was renowned for suffering heavy snow, deep frosts, and harsh winds being in a slightly elevated position.

1901= W and T Morris.

1913= Morris family still farming there.

1920 - George Parker.

Ongoing research. This post will always be updated if new information arises. Gaps in the dates above represent gaps in my knowledge.

Related Content:

History and landlords of the Blue Flag pub Handy Cross here

And of the Blacksmith's Arms there in this post

More Handy Cross content indexed here

Other sources:

1833 parochial assessment Great Marlow, working notebooks of the assessors in my possession and transcribed by me.

"England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGBT-VMM : 11 September 2019), Ambrose Turney in household of Hannah Howlett, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England; citing High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, p. 1, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

1871 census, my transcription. Crown Copyright.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors

Bank Of England, Dean Street History and Landlord Listing *Updated*

 THE BANK OF ENGLAND /THE BANK/ YE OLDE BANK

1833- building of the pub built but it not yet a pub.

1840 - Described as "recently built" (of brick with slate roof) and "now licenced for the sale of beer"  It is let to a "most respectable tenant". Leasehold with 3 years left on it is offered for sale. "Near the turnpike on the Oxford Road". Has bowling alley, coach house, 2 stables, detached wash house, and other outbuildings plus the large yard. Inside there is 4 bedrooms, a cellar, parlour, tap room and pantry. 

1841 - George Clarke, son of Richard Clark(e) who had had the Jolly Maltsters Dean Street. See here for more. That post contains details of some trouble George got into as a young man. George's sister Emma was in turn landlady of the Jolly Maltsters, Mint and Cherry Tree all in Dean Street.

1844 - George Clark

1853 - George Clark

1861 - George Clark ("Ye Old Bank"), also carpenter. Twice fined in the 1860s for opening his beerhouse at illegal hours. In 1867 a suspicious constable secretes himself into a pile of faggots opposite in order to watch the comings and goings, and sees several men enter. These thirsty souls flee on the constable revealing his presence. Pots of beer with some taken out can be seen around  the tap room and parlour.  Fine that time? £5. 

1865 - George Clark. Also sells asses' milk (!) This was considered good for delicate youngsters you could not tolerate cows milk, among other things. 

1871 - George Clark - also carpenter, and has lodgers

1873 - George Clarke "The Bank Beerhouse". Transfer to John Finch who came from The Alma. Wellers brewery only got the licence for the premises renewed on the condition a new tenant was found, as they believed George harboured the criminally inclined. Wellers say that George had already been given notice to quit but he proved difficult to dislodged. Some of the Hussars recently billeted in Marlow when they spent a few days here in 1873 had stayed at the Bank..in the stable with their horses!

1875 - John Finch 

1881 - John Finch (b.1843) "The Bank" Wife Sophia. (Also lodging house) 

1882- John Finch summoned for refusing to let a Constable see inside his premises. Something to hide did you John!? The next year John received a heavy fine and an endorsement on his licence for opening his beerhouse before the legally permitted time on a Sunday. In the space of 15 minutes 10 people were observed going through the open gates into the yard, and through the back door, emerging shortly afterwards with a suspicious looking jug. The constables followed a trail of beer spillages down the passage that lead to the cellar steps, down which they found John with a selection of beer containers with the dregs still in them. John claimed the wet spots in the yard were where he'd urinated! He also said no one had visited him there, and in the cellar he was merely changing the taps on a barrel. The police must have seen people passing up a public footpath nearby he thought. Unfortunately for John, a policeman Constable Birch lived only 500 yards away and had an uninterrupted view of the Bank Of England. The excuses offered by the drinkers are amusing to read. They happened to call on John (at 6.30am in the morning) for all kinds of reason other than buying alcohol apparently. Dropping off some potatoes, showing him a piece of flannel, and talking to him about a pig were amongst the reasons to drop by. One man was not so good at thinking on his feet and said he only stepped into the yard, but couldn't quite remember why. (Four of the drinkers were summoned and fined.)

1883 - H Finch. 2. Charles Grace

1886 - Charles Grace. Wife Mahala leaves Charles this year taking some money and belongings which Charles says belonged to him. So he has her summoned for theft but subsequently asks for the charge to be dropped. He says Mahala had returned the items and had apologised for removing them. It does not seem she had returned to live with her husband though. 

1886 - William Cox? 2. Frederick Cox. 

1889 - Frederick Cox 

1891  - George E Lyons (from London)

1896 - George E Lyons transfers the  premises to William Howard.

1899 - James or William Cottrell /Cotterill. 2.  William Chaplin or Chapman 

1903 - W Dawes

1908 - William Dawes. 2. Edwin Dewey 

1911 - Edward (qv) J Dewey

1915-20 - James Turney and his wife. Their son Private A E Turney was badly gassed in France in 1917.

1926 - Harry Perry. Changes his name by deed poll to Harry Price this year. 

1928 - Harry Price. Sells 5&1/2 barrels of beer a week. Considered for forced closure under the scheme to limit the number of licenced premises in an area, but does not make the shortlist. 

1937 - H Price. It's proposed to demolish the premises this year as part of a slum clearance plan affecting Dean Street, and because the site is wanted as part of the new development of homes for the dispossessed at Seymour Court Road. Brewers Benskins of Watford will be offered the opportunity to purchase a new site in Wethered Road for the re erection of the pub. Due to the disruption of the forthcoming war, the demolition never happens. 

1939 Ye Olde Bank of England - Harry Price and his wife. They continue on the pub to at very least 1960.

Above, the former site of the Bank. 

1959- old building is demolished and a new premises built at the rear of it, back from the road. A matchstick model of the old premises is presented to Mr and Mrs Price by one of the customers in honour of their kindness to his unwell son. The Prices enter into their new premises just before Christmas 1959.

Find more posts like this about pubs in Marlow, Little Marlow, Well End, Medmenham and Lane End listed on the Pub Related option on the menu.

All mentions of a person on this blog can be found on the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. 

Post researched by Charlotte Day and Kathryn Day.

Building now demolished.

This post is updated as new information emerges. All listings are as noted in original sources, including alternative spellings. 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. Many Marlow landlords changed premises and there can be other family members running other establishments. We mainly focus on pre WW1 or 1920's listings but sometimes list later names if it ties in with research we are helping with. 

See the Pub Related post listing here on the drop down menu to find out about other pubs, beer houses etc. A land lord listing for most will be published here gradually. 

©Marlow Ancestors