Will of Samuel Loftin 1779

 Samuel Loftin Esquire of Great Marlow. Will written 1777 and proved 1779.

Says he aged and infirm but of sound and perfect understanding.

To son William Loftin and his heirs and assigns all messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments whatever and wherever they are with the rights, members, and appurtenances. Also to him all testator's capital share in stocks of the Old South Sea Annuities. He will not get this straight away however -the produce and dividends of them to be paid half yearly to William until testator's youngest daughter Matilda reaches the age of 21 (which will happen on March 25th 1783) then at that point the capital will be transferred to William. [Not clear why this is linked to Matilda coming of age]

Also to William all mortgages, bonds,debts, securities for money with the several principle sums of money and interest due and owing at time of testator's death.

To daughters Hester, Charlotte and Matilda equally all his stock in the Three Per Cent Reduced Annuities transferable at the Bank of England and the interest and dividends resulting from them until this youngest daughter Matilda reaches the age of 21. Then the principal amount invested is to be shared out between the daughters equally.

Under the will of late brother Benjamin Lofting testator is bound to pay a £20 annuity to Margaret Shaw for the term of her life. Because of this Samuel has transferred £666 13 shillings and 4 pence invested in the Old South Sea Annuities to Mr William Williams in trust to pay out that annuity from. That sum after Margaret Shaw's death is to go to son William Loftin his heirs, executors and assignees.

Testator is also bound to pay annuities of £5 4 shillings each to John Lofting the elder, Mary Lofting the elder and Jane the wife of John Carter during their lives. His children are to pay out these legacies from his personal estate.

Something unreadable to daughter Charlotte. The silver tea kettle and lamp to daughter Matilda.

The rest of his household goods, furniture, chattels, plate, linens, china, ready money and other personal estate after debts and funeral expenses (which he desires to be frugal) and the previously mentioned annuities paid to be shared equally between his four children William, Hester, Charlotte and Matilda.

Good friend Joseph Townsend appointed executor along with testator's children William Lofting and Charlotte Lofting.

Witnessed by = Henry Sherwood (made his mark) servant to Mr Loftin, Henry Allnutt attorney, of Great Marlow Bucks and Robert Goldsmith his clerk.

This summary produced to the best of my ability from a will at the National Archives Kew, transcribed by me Charlotte Day.

There are over 100 other Marlow wills in this blog. Please see the Will Transcriptions Index for more.

©Marlow Ancestors. Use this summary as you will for family and local history purposes, with credit to this blog.

An Edifice of Opulence - History of Temple House

 This post is written at the request of some of the many people whose ancestors lived and worked as staff at Temple House near Marlow. They could find much information about the wealthy Williams family who built the riverside mansion but not much about the now demolished house itself. So as promised here is the tale of another of the vanished homes of the area...

An edifice of opulence..and taste?

I think Temple House (or Temple Hall as it was occasionally known in it's early days) was a building that very much divided the opinions of those that viewed it. It was placed in a undoubtedly beautiful position on the riverside at Temple but did the house add or detract to the charms of the area? It was a massive building, somewhat a mash of styles in the end and one with a very lavish interior. Some found it's main frontage with Doric portico impressive in scale, others found it OTT. It is presumed to have been built shortly after the Welsh copper baron Thomas Williams purchased the adjacent Temple Mills in 1788. William Combe in his 1796 history of the principal rivers of the kingdom described Temple Hall as newly built. A few years later a book of engravings of riverside property by William and George Cooke described Temple as ".. such an edifice as opulence assisted by taste may be expected to erect." It's front elevation was considered "very elegant and pleasing". They added that "the interior answers in taste and arrangement to the exterior portion". The most significant and undoubtedly personal feature of the house was the distinctive copper roof, a landmark sight for many. 

Image courtesy of Michael Eagleton..

So how big was Temple House? Once the west wing was built (see below) it could offer a choice of 10 reception rooms, 22 bed and dressing rooms,  23 staff bedrooms and 5 bathrooms (many of the bedrooms had fitted baths in addition) plus cellars, kitchens, servants hall etc. Oh and a large organ, musician gallery and 8 staircases. 

Uncertainty for staff

The Williams family retained a house in Wales as well as London (South Audley Street and others) and so were naturally not always to be found at home at Temple. It was said in the 1840s that the family typically spent about 3 months of the year at Temple, mainly  during the "parliamentary season" when they also stayed at South Audley Street. A few members of staff travelled with the family between homes, including at times the butler. When Temple was improved and expanded in the 1870s, the South Bucks Free Press expressed the hope this would mean it would become the principal and favourite seat for the head of the family. 

It does not seem the house was left long enough to be shut up, with the inevitable laying off of all but skeleton staff that entailed.  However when Thomas Peers Williams died in 1875*, followed by his wife two months later, the local papers declared the shock news that all of the families Marlow property was to be sold. The tenants were to be given the option of taking a long lease. As it turned out the Williams retained considerable local property but it was a start of a period of rumours that the Williams were going to leave Temple for good. 

In 1878 it was reported that the house was to be broken up and that the horses would be sold and the servants discharged. This seems to be because the family were expected to be abroad for a time. Regardless Temple House was not sold then, and in fact the Williams invested considerably in improving it. In the late 1870s a series of renovations and additions were made to the house.  The Bucks Advertiser considered that there were "few country seats more attractive or more rich in rural beauty" than Temple House after 5 years of this work. The park had also been added to, and another lodge put up.  Altogether the estate including the home farm was over 400 acres in extent. However various parts of it were let out to farmers at different times and another portion would become Temple golf course in 1909. That still left large gardens and parklands in hand. 

The Williams family were very keen on sailing and took some long voyages eg to the Canary Islands on The Enchantress for 3 months in 1880 and an even longer tour of the Mediterranean in 1883. But the staff remained, busy with keeping a large property running in their absence.

Vote for me..or else 

Successive members of the Williams family served as Marlow's M.P. Elections here were always heated and contentious affairs. All parties were accused of some shocking abuses of their power from evicting tenants that didn't vote for them to paying the rent of those that did. Bribes of all kinds were alleged to be on the table. The majority of these rumours are hard to substantiate. However most elections resulted in an investigation of some contested votes at least. In 1842 the Williams butler Michael Redmond had his vote (for Williams naturally) thrown out. He qualified to vote based on occupying a property at Bisham of sufficient value but it was decided that he didn't really live there. They pointed out that Michael was -  as virtually all butlers were - a live in servant with his own bedroom within Temple House. He also travelled with his employer and was only at Temple a few months a year so he hardly had a need to rent a residential property elsewhere. Michael said he mainly wanted the saw yard that went with the premises as he occasionally made fishing rods and snuff boxes in his leisure hours and so needed somewhere to store bundles of wood. The election inquiry did not believe our wood turning butler as the majority of tools etc in the saw yard belonged to the Williams and were used for estate work.  

Temple Ale

There's no doubt a house the size of Temple took a lot of time to run properly, even when the family were not in residence. It's good to know that the hardworking servants had some "high days" to look forward to. The most consistently celebrated was the Christmas ball and supper (usually held in fact just after the new year). At this the Williams themselves were reported to dance with their domestics although I suspect the lowest scullery maid was a little less likely to get a turn than the upper staff such as the housekeeper or butler. These were all night affairs - starting at 8pm and ending at 5-6am. They may have hired additional  temporary staff for this as was sometimes the case at other grand houses as of course the every day work of the house still had to go on the morning after. A regular feature of these grand events was the serving of "Temple Ale", the estates home brew. Local tradespeople who provided goods for the estate were usually invited too. 

A place for royalty 

One of rumoured reasons that Temple House was extended and improved in the 1870s was it was to be rendered fit for royalty. They Prince and Princess of Wales certainly made numerous visits there, and were well known to be friends of the Williams family. The visits were supposed to be personal ones but if anyone hoped to keep them low key and secret, they were not successful. It would seem a little hint or two always made it known to the community at Marlow that a regal visit was planned. For example when a band was engaged to play on Temple lawn in 1877, a crowd of locals in little boats was ready in position on the river to listen to the so called private performance. Sometimes the royals arrived by train at Marlow prior to proceeding to Temple. On those occasions the Marlow rifle volunteers greeted them with a guard of honour in the station yard, and the flags and streamers were put up in the High Street and Causeway. And the platform was of course carpeted so the royal feet could step across in comfort! Admission to the platform then was of course restricted to invited guests but the crowds lining their route from the station up to and across Marlow Bridge and in Bisham probably got a good view. 

Fire! 

Temple House maintained their own steam fire engine, to service both the mansion and the Temple mills. It was operated by the staff of both. The Temple brigade had a uniform  - a black or navy tunic with red facings, whereas Great Marlow Volunteer Fire Brigade had yellow facings to their clothing. The engine didn't just sit at Temple House if a fire was found to be in the neighborhood - it went out to those in the community beyond the estate for example at Hurley and Low Grounds Farm. It was remarked in 1880 that since it's formation it had had relatively little to do. That was soon going to change. 

In the mid 1880s Temple House gained a new west wing containing 30 rooms including new dining, drawing and ball rooms. Marlow builders Y J Lovell did much of this work. But shortly after the main work on it was finished in 1886, there was a terrible fire there. Reports as to what happened exactly differ in some details but it seems that a member of staff (either one of the maids or the housekeeper) noticed smoke coming from panelling on the grand staircase. Shortly after flames broke through. Naturally the Temple fire brigade were quicky on hand but it seems the engine did not work properly for reasons that are unclear. In any case it seems the fire had quickly taken hold and the small firefighting team were overwhelmed. The Marlow, High Wycombe, Reading, Henley, and Maidenhead fire brigades were summoned  - the Reading engine came on a specially chartered train. The fire engines kept by the Wethered's Marlow brewery and at Harleyford House also arrived. The estate workers and villagers living near Temple and Hurley flocked to the scene to help the fire fighting efforts. The fire became very dangerous, partly due to the danger of the copper roof falling in. It is incredible to record that three brave fireman of the Maidenhead brigade climbed onto this roof and drilled holes into it so water could be dumped through. This action was considered to almost certainly have saved the main house from total destruction. The firemen were lucky to escape with their lives as the copper roof subsequently partially collapsed. Another danger was averted when dynamite stored in the cellar was hastily removed! 

The house steward Mr Keneally*** supervised efforts to remove as many valuable items as possible. With a house like Temple stuffed with antiques and old master paintings they obviously could only do so much. Most of the artwork and the library contents were saved, but much furniture destroyed. The Williams themselves were on their way home from Surrey at the time of the fire - they saw a glow in the sky and in stopping someone on the road to find out which property was ablaze were obviously shocked to find it was their own. They arrived back in time to help with the removal of property from the house.  

There has long been a story that members of the public involved in fighting the fire got at the contents of the Williams wine cellar and/or cellar based home brewery and were heavily intoxicated before too long. Colonel Wethered arrived with the Marlow rifle volunteers to help guard the valuable items left on the lawn, and to assist in crowd control, and it's he that is said to have found the inebriated assistants - and put a stop to their alcoholic refreshment. I can only find reports that mention this some 50 years after the event though. Contemporary accounts highly praised the human chains of workers bringing buckets of water from the river. At the time of the fire the Temple brewery had a self contained building within the grounds so the stories of buckets of beer coming up from the cellar brewery can't be quite right although there was plenty of alcohol stored there - Temple had 6 beer and wine cellars. 

When all was over, the new west wing was nothing more than a blackened shell and the main house was substantially damaged. Many servants lost all their belongings. 

Rebuild 

It's sad to say that while no lives were lost during the destructive fire, the same can't be said of the rebuilding process. Although several Marlow builders put in a tender for the valuable reconstruction work, the contract was won by a London firm. One of the employees of that fell 38 feet to his death in late 1887. He was engaged in taking down some scaffolding when the plank he was standing on was hit by another being lowered. This caused the victim to overbalance and fall. He stood no possibility of recovery. 

The re-build took about 18 months and was reported at the time to have cost some £150,000. An opportunity was taken to extend the water mains of Marlow Water co to the house through Bisham. 

Financial Concerns 

While you may not think a family with a substantial property used to entertain royalty would be short of funds, there does seem to have been increasing difficulties in the Williams family as the 19th century wore on. The Williams youngsters were obviously not bought up to count their guineas too closely. Ifah Williams ran up debts even at Eton where he was said to have ordered 20 pairs of shoes in one year. In 1891 he was declared bankrupt and did not answer to a summons for the related examination. The court was told it was believed that he'd gone to Texas and had no intention of returning. 

20th century 

Reports that Temple House would be sold or let out continue to appear in the local newspapers in the 1890s and early 20th century and there was at least one unsuccessful attempt to offer it at auction but the Williams retained ownership. 

When Owen the son of Thomas Williams himself died, the contents of the house were put up for sale. The 1922 list of items included in the auction comprised 6,000 books from the library, suites of Sheraton furniture and valuable paintings including a Canaletto amongst many other items. An attempt was made to sell the house itself in 1929 by it's then owner Mrs Hwfa Williams but there were no takers despite an "astounding reduction in price for a quick sale."

The house was put up for  auction yet again in 1931 by order of the mortgagee. The advertising material accompanying that suggested the house could make a pleasant country club, school or hotel while the estate could be developed into a polo or horse breeding establishment. The Williams family had a long history of  involvement with horse racing** and so the estate included a "straight mile" gallop and extensive stabling. It's easy to see why the conversion of part of the grounds to equestrian usage would have seemed appealing. Most of the estate offered with the house in 1931 was also part of the estate in 1915 so attempts to sell off bits of the park before were obviously largely unsuccessful. The purchaser was Hudson Kearley now Lord Devonport of Whittington. The house may have been unoccupied for some time at this point. Perhaps it was in a poor state. Either way, Devonport had it demolished. There has been some confusion about the date this occured. The Historic England listing for Temple suggests the house was knocked down in 1922 which is incorrect as it has a well documented life after that date. As mentioned above it was purchased by Devonport in 1931. A report in the Wokingham Times in 1932 mentions that the house had already been demolished by him**** and this is repeated in other local newspapers. So we can say the house finally began its disappearance in either late 1931 or the first half of 1932. An advert offering the building materials from the demolition was placed in the Bucks Free Press in September 1932. Everything from the baths and washbasins to the chimney pieces and staircases were available plus of course old bricks, tiles and slates. Interested buyers were directed to apply to the foreman of the works at Temple House itself - or at least the site of it! (H Sabey & Co were the company responsible for the work.)

Although the exterior of the house does not particularly appeal to me, it was a landmark of the river and I am sure there were many that missed it. I would like to have seen the interior which included lavishly painted ceilings, a massive oak staircase, the organ, and rooms decorated by Adams. Let's hope some of the removable features found a new life elsewhere. 

*The Williams family vault is at Bisham Church 

**Hwfa Williams, son of Thomas Peers Williams managed Sandown racecourse 

*** Steward James Keneally sadly committed suicide in 1894 by drinking poison. He had worked for the Williams 18 years. Strangely the family butler Henry Phipps also commited suicide by drinking poison - this time prussic acid - in 1909.

****Thanks to Sue Cheetham for hunting this out for me. 

Written & researched by Kathryn Day 

Related posts:

Other posts related to Temple and nearby: here

Posts about other specific houses here

List of gardeners at Temple House here

More about Temple and Marlow fire brigade here

More about election goings on in Great Marlow:

The bribery of Jason Povey here

Election Rioters of 1880 here

SOURCES:

Burke, John, and Burke, Bernard. Encyclopaedia of Heraldry: Or General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Comprising a Registry of All Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, Including the Late Grants by the College of Arms. United Kingdom, H.G. Bohn, 1851.

Combe, William. History of the Principal Rivers of Great Britain. Great Britain, William Bulmer & Co, 1797. 

Cooke, William Bernard, and Cooke, George. Descriptions to the Plates of Thames Scenery. Engraved by W. B. Cooke & G. Cooke, from original drawings by eminent artists. United Kingdom, John Murray, Albemarle Street; and W.B. Cooke, 13, Judd Place East, New Road, 1818. 

Gibbs, Robert. Worthies of Buckinghamshire and Men Of Note Of That County. United Kingdom, printed by the author, 1888

Guide to the Turf. United Kingdom, n.p, 1881.

Perry, Sampson. The Argus ; Or, General Observer: A Political Miscellany Containing the Most Important Events of Europe, and the Principal Occurrences in England, from the Meeting of Parliament, October 29, 1795, to Its Dissolution, May 18, 1796 with a Variety of Original Letters and Reflections on the Interesting and Critical Situation of the British Empire. United Kingdom, Symonds, 1796.

Sheahan, James Joseph. History and Topography of Buckinghamshire: Comprising a General Survey of the County, Preceded by an Epitome of the Early History of Great Britain. United Kingdom, Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1862.

The Thames - United Kingdom, Vernon, Hood & Sharpe 1811 Vol 1, (no author but engravings by William Bernard Cooke from originals by Samuel Owen esq.)

Sale catalogue for Temple House, 1915 with kind thanks to the Marlow Society. 

Sale catalogue Temple House 1922

The Monthly Magazine. (Collected) United Kingdom, R. Phillips, 1802 & 1803 

Supplement to Country Life, July 13th 1931

Country Life 8th June 1929, 9th May 1936 

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 18th September 1875, 27th November 1875, 26th October 1878, 2nd July 1881, 6th June 1891

Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press 20th March 1886, 27th May 1922

Bucks Herald 23rd June 1877, 25th June 1881, 18th February & 27th July 1882

Bucks Free Press 7th & 9th September 1932

Reading Mercury 22nd July 1882, 16th October 1886, 16th June 1888

South Bucks Free Press 24th February 1865, 23rd March 1877

Slough, Windsor and Eton Observer, 9th January and 27th November 1909

Maidenhead Advertiser 7th & 21st  January 1880, 7th August 1883, 13th June 1894 

Wokingham Times 7th October 1932 - thanks to Sue Cheetham for this. 

National Monuments Record - Sale Catalogue SC 00091

Will of Thomas Williams, 1802. PROB 11/1384/305 National Archives

Kelly's Directory 1920 & 1928 

Journals of the House of Commons  February 3-December 13, 1842: Vol 97, HMSO 

© MarlowAncestors 

Poetic Postmaster William Tyler

 William Tyler (born circa 1797) was a fascinating man, poet, political influencer, post master etc- and historic West Street Marlow resident.

His initial day job was that of a property agent specialising in sales and lettings of farms and land but also handling houses. In his spare time however he was a poet. He is said to have known well the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his author wife Mary Shelley who lived elsewhere in West Street for a short period in the 1810s. They probably shared a similar radical outlook. William would often write or speak about his memories of Shelley's residence here and it's a shame more of his anecdotes were not preserved. He had been given the chance to read diaries kept by Mrs Shelley during the families time in Switzerland for example and described it to contain many curious entries and incidents. Furthermore he knew the exact spot that the Revolt of Islam had been composed, on a little island near Medmenham Abbey. He says Shelley had visited that place daily while working on the Revolt, and had sometimes stayed there overnight. It was he said in 1824, now known by few. One obituary of William says he was visited in 1863 by an (unspecified) descendent of Shelley's, much to his delight. 

William's collected book of poetry 'Woodland Echoes' published in 1824 was a love letter to the tranquil beauty of the countryside along this stretch of the Thames. (It also features brief reminisces of Shelley's time in Marlow.) But William was acutely sensitive to the fact that the beauty of the scenery masked a hard reality for many. 1800s elections in Marlow were scarcely ever less than controversial but reached a particular low in the 1820s-40s for corruption and underhand dealings. In 1827 successful anti-reform M.P Owen Williams evicted scores of his tenants for daring to vote for his liberal opponent in the previous year's election. William Tyler (who also acted as a political agent for Owen Williams rival Clayton)  lead the public outrage at this act, writing to newspapers and others to quash William's allegations that they were all in rent arrears. As a property agent he could have seen a lot of homeless residents and business owners as a money making opportunity for himself and those he represented but instead he tried unsuccessfully to get the evictions reversed. The victims held on for four months by simply refusing to leave but were then ejected. 

He and local surgeon John Goodman organised a petition to Parliament for secret ballots to be brought in for elections and for an update on the Bribery Act to crack down on dirty elections. The Whig M.P for the county town of Aylesbury Lord Nugent was an early ally for them and retained Tyler's public support for years. William himself originated from a dissenting family in the Aylesbury area.

Col William Clayton, who hoped to represent Marlow as a Liberal candidate rehoused all the voters who had been evicted. He was eventually elected as M.P for Marlow in 1832. 

William Tyler acted as a property agent for some Clayton owned homes then. His ads for those properties which he had the job of letting often spoke of the beauty of the local scenery which had inspired his poetry or the health of Marlow's riverside location.

William continued to speak out on political matters both locally and in London. He strongly supported the end to discrimination against Catholics and Dissenting Christians, who because of the Test Acts were barred from various kinds of public office (Marlow in general was not in favour of Catholic emancipation). William also argued in favour of Irish independence, saying that he was embarrassed as an Englishman every time he accepted the warm hospitality of an Irish family.

In 1842 he found himself in hot water as a result of Clayton's dubious electioneering practices at the last vote, that is Clayton claiming some of his supporters who were also his tenants occupied more property than they really did in order to qualify them for a vote. As his "man of business" in Marlow William cannot of been unaware of what was happening in general and was openly accused of abetting voter fraud in the case of Zachariah Blick. Mr Blick was a Clayton supporter who wanted to register to vote in Marlow on the grounds of occupying sufficient property. The opposition objected saying Zachariah wasn't wealthy enough. He had even received poor relief (which would have debarred him from voting). William Tyler stood accused of tearing out a page in the local Union's record book that recorded this relief. He said he had not done so himself though a relieving officer had torn it out and given it to him in case he needed it for his own records. It isn't easy to say why William would ever need a record of someone else's poor relief. There was a feeling similar antics had occurred previously as regards another Clayton supporter William Plumridge. Had William Tyler grown weary of fighting for political integrity? Did it become a case of "If you can't beat them, join them"? It is important to say that many of the local papers reporting the case were strongly Conservative and biased against any Liberals in their reporting. 

William does not seem to have faced any charges in relation to the 1842 election. Indeed he was clearly still held in high esteem and trust in Marlow as when the role of Post Master for the town fell vacant in 1849 and there was no immediate applicant to take it on, William Tyler was nominated for it and accepted. This meant moving across West Street to new premises as in those days Post Masters lived in the Post Office. Mail came by waggon from Maidenhead twice a day, the first one arriving at ten past 5 in the morning. Letters were also sent to Maidenhead for onward distribution twice a day. Though William would have been very busy with the postal service he still acted as a property agent. His wife Ann worked as a milliner in the Post Office building, as did her mother Elizabeth Rose and sister Charlotte Rose who lived with the Tylers.

William continued to assist Liberal voters to register to vote in Marlow so he wasn't put off politics.

He was an early member of the town's Literary and Scientific Institute. He gave frequent lectures for the Institute on the subjects of art and history, illustrated by his own collection of antique prints, as well as on literature until poor health curtailed his appearances. His last known lecture was in the Sunday School building of William's church the Salem Chapel in Quoiting Square, which was where he himself worshipped. The lecture was on the theme "Knowledge Is Power" in 1856. The Windsor and Eton Express reporting the lecture said a large audience had been delighted by the talk and that William had spoken without notes for 90 minutes. It also called him a much respected Marlow resident. 

The theme of William's lecture was close to his heart. He was one of the biggest supporters of the town's British School which provided non-denominational education. Unusually for the time, music and recreation were seen as key to the children's development and a regime of kind encouragement for the mostly poor children to learn and truly understand their studied subjects was preferred over learning by rote.

William and his wife Ann may not have had any children of their own. She died in 1856 age 59 - see her grave here He followed in 1863, by which time he'd been forced by general ill health and an attack of paralysis to resign as post master. William passed away in Reading but was buried close to his wife at Marlow. 

Written and Researched by Charlotte Day. Additional research by Kathryn Day. 

Additional Notes and links:

William witnessed the will of Elizabeth Heine [could be Haine] of Great Marlow 1851.

 William was the brother of Clayton supporter  Joseph Tyler a linen draper and then publican at the Clayton Arms Quoiting Square. Joseph's wife Elizabeth features in another biography post on this blog. It is available here. More on Joseph in future. Biographies of other individuals are indexed here

More about the British Schools here

More posts about historic West Street (or any other street) residents can be found indexed here.

Another Shelley friend in Marlow. - the Maddocks see here

©Marlow Ancestors.

Sources:

Bucks Chronicle 1827 4th August. British Library Archives. 

Berkshire Chronicle 29th October and 19th November 1842. As above.

Bucks Advertiser. 2nd February 1856. As above.

Oxford Gazette June 10th 1843. As Above.

Windsor and Eton Express, November 13th 1824, February 2nd 1856. As above.

History Of Parliament Online. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/constituencies/great-marlow

Slater, Isaac. Slater's, late Pigot & co., Royal National and Commercial Directory and Topography of the counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire. United Kingdom, n.p, 1852.

Post office directory of Berkshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, with Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Huntingdonshire.  United Kingdom, n.p, 1847.

Woodland Echoes - Tyler, William (Wetton of Fleet Street, 1824)

1841 and 51 census Great Marlow as transcribed from microfilm by Jane Pullinger.

South Bucks Free Press 28th August 1863

Emma Carter The Butcher

Emma Carter and her husband Thomas arrived in Marlow in the early 1870s to take over the butcher's shop in Spittal Street previously ran by James Creswell. Previously the couple and their children had lived in Fawley at Dobson's Farm. Thomas was farming 170 acres in 1871 and employing 4 men and 3 boys. He also operated as a butcher, or given how busy he would have been on his farm more likely Emma was behind the counter. Née Goss, she was the daughter of a butcher come farmer, Joseph Goss, of Waddesdon.

When Thomas died in 1876 Emma took over the shop in her own name. She was assisted when they were grown by her sons Thomas, Joseph and Frederick.

The first year few years after her husband died must have been a struggle. In 1878 the local sanitary inspector visited her shop and the slaughterhouse behind it. A rancid carcass of a diseased sheep which she had bought cheap was found dressed for sale. It was clear part of the animal had already been cut off and sold. The offense was so serious she faced three months in jail and a £20 fine but as it was a first offence Emma got a £5 fine plus costs and a heavy warning not to come before the bench again. 

Emma was in the right hand side of the above. 

She must have got on top of things sufficiently well as 1878 is the only time I find Emma in court charged with sanitary offences. Such charges I must say were not uncommon for Marlow butchers in the 1800s.

Emma raised her own sheep and fowls for her business. She lost one of her sheep, most likely to thieves, at Marlow Market in 1907 and another from a field where it was grazing at Handy Cross in 1904. She offered rewards for the return of both and described her animals as being marked with a red C to identify them. Whether Emma got her animals back is unknown. 

For the first few decades of her business Emma was renting her shop from the wealthy Williams family but in 1905 the premises came up for sale and she scooped them and the small cottage next door up for £615 in a local auction.

By 1920 it was her son Thomas who was running the shop and he remained there many years. Emma died in 1925.

Emma also appears In this post about the sad death of one of her neighbours.

Find more Spittal Street or general historic shops content on this index.

Find more Victorian women in business or other interesting historic Marlow residents on the Biographies of Individuals index here

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. 

Related posts:

For other posts about specific shops/businesses and other content related to Spittal Street see the index here

Information on daily life in Emma's Great Marlow here

Index of biographies of other individuals connected to Marlow here

For every mention of an individual or family here see the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. There's more than 4,000 people listed there. 

©Marlow Ancestors. Reproduction of research for family or local history purposes welcome if with credit to this blog and a link here.

Thanks to Jane Pullinger for seeking out the 1871 census and Waddesdon marriage records. Census information always remains Crown Copyright.

More Sources:

Kellys Directory of Buckinghamshire etc, 1883, 1899, 1907 and 1920. Kellys Directories Limited. University of Leicester Archives.

1881 census Great Marlow, my transcription from microfilm.

South Bucks Standard 8th June 1900, 14th July 1905. Via the BNA / British Library Archives.

Bucks Herald 23rd March 1878. As above.

Marlow area Local Directory 1902.

James Haynes - Boatbuilder & Thief Catcher

 

James Hayne(s) was born in Marlow in the first few years of the 1800s. Perhaps not as famous as the late Victorian boat builders of Marlow and Bisham, he deserves a post of his own because of the many roles he played here - from preserving law and order, to preserving Marlow Bridge. 

As a young man James followed in his father's footsteps and worked as a carpenter. His dwelling house and work premises were in the High Street and Causeway at this point. In 1828 the workshop is described as located 200 yards from his home and were also separate in 1833. In any event, in 1828 a thief broke through the shutters of the workshop and stole a saw and an axe from James. This kind of theft was taken very seriously at the time as depriving a workman of his tools of the trade could too easily lead to him loosing the means to provide for himself. James was lucky in that the tools were recovered and the thief caught. The young man responsible, John Green, was an apprentice to another carpenter. It was James himself that recovered the tools, after he received something of a tip off. They had been hidden under some wood shavings in a loft. The judge expressed a regret that John had begun "a career of crime at a very early period in life" which seems perhaps a little strong given it was a first offence and he had previously borne a good character. Luckily for John, his master was willing to keep him on and spoke of his general steadiness. The judge therefore decided to be merciful and sentenced him to 2 months in prison. 

James did well in his carpentry business and seems to have been well regarded by his fellow traders. By 1833 he was working from a workshop and yard "at the wharf" with a residence in the High Street, still officially a carpenter. There were many buildings at the wharf, some quite ramshackle, that this could have been, used for all kinds of purposes over the years. 

James worked on Marlow's new suspension bridge and like so many others involved had to put in a few requests to actually get paid. This would be the start of a long involvement with the bridge. He was regarded as someone who could get things done, so it is no surprise he also later fulfilled the then elected role of parish surveyor. But the biggest role for James was as one of the parish constable in the days before a regular paid police force. If a warrant was issued for someone's arrest, James and his colleagues were supposed to stop their day jobs and execute it without delay. If they failed to do so without sufficient energy, they could themselves end up in court for neglect of duty. They also had to fit in routine patrols. James fulfilled the role for at least 10 years in the 1830s and early 1840s. He was required to follow up leads as regards to suspects or locating stolen goods, such as the parasol he found hidden in a water storage tank in the yard of Bond the builders in 1843 (not stolen by a Bond!) His finest hour was probably policing Marlow Fair in the same year. His patrols with fellow constables Henry Stallwood and Steadman Camden (biographical post about Steadman here) were completed with such a sharp eye and energy that not a single robbery was reported, despite the massive influx of visitors. 

It was not all hard work for James at this time. He was a regular participants in the charming Sunny Side v Shady Side of the High Street cricket matches which ran for several annual contests in the 1840s and 50s. It was usually played at the Aldermary - that is the meadow more or less where Marlow Cricket Club is now to be found off Pound Lane. So which side was the sunny one? The West Street / Higginson Park side. The Shady, Liston Court / Station Road side had the best level of success and was the one that James played for. It attracted a good crowd, no doubt including wife Elizabeth (nee Osborn) and their several children. One of these, Caroline, would go on to marry Robert Shaw, son of "King of the River" Robert Shaw, of boatbuilding fame. 

A little after this time, James begins to be more consistently described as located at the Causeway or "Bridge House" (of which there have been more than one in Marlow) and eventually his former home was taken over by Sellmans plumbers and painters. James also begins to be described as a boat builder at this time. He chose this occupation when filling his census return in 1851. He may well have always had a side line in repairing or maintaining boats but the hiring of them for leisure purposes was exploding in popularity at this time. Marlow was becoming more and more of a fashionable destination for visiting anglers from London and elsewhere - it's easy to underestimate just what a role tourism played in Marlow's past even at this period. See below for some linked posts about this. At some point James began to use what was known as the old tithe barn by the suspension bridge* as part of his business, or at least he used part of the area. It seems he may have shared usage of the actual barn building itself, apparently with a wheelwright at some point. (In 1872 the barn was let by the new Buckinghamshire Chair Co as a temporary workshop, although they were still there several years later)  James sold second hand boats and fishing punts as well as making his own river craft to a customer's specifications. It seems he specialised in punts in fact. He would also hire you a boat, house yours out of season, or do routine maintenance such as varnishing the timbers. The Marlow Amateur Rowing Club which started in 1871, used Haynes as their boathouse too, before they had their own premises. 

Next to James at the riverside was of course the suspension bridge. The story of its construction was frankly a tale of misery, and you can read about it in the posts linked to below.  James must have been only too aware that before the bridge was very old, it needed quite a bit of maintenance. He was Clerk of the Works for the repairs done in 1860 - facing some difficulty due to the reluctance of some to stop attempting to use the bridge while it was worked on. The surveyor assessing this work asked James to provide a boat so he could take a good examination of its state from the water. Finding one suitable proved difficult it seems. When the surveyor was taken ill, James was asked to make a report on the bridges condition himself. But the work was nevertheless completed on schedule. (The deal platform was replaced at "considerable expense" but by 1869 dry rot had set in and more work was needed.) By 1863 James was Surveyor of Bridges for the district, and under his care the bridge was repainted and repaired further. He was responsible for gathering tenders for this work. 

In 1866 James was one of a number of local men that testified before a parliamentary committee on improving the condition of the Thames. He made it very clear that he regarded the existing Thames Navigation Commissioners should all be sacked for incompetence. He claimed they had neglected to do routine maintenance on the river for many years and so had made it less appealing for those who wanted to use the river for commercial transportation of goods. While the rival attractions of the railway he acknowledged, he considered that the Commissioners had done nothing to make the river stand up against the competition. Instead James said the Commissioners had bought shares in the Railway and effectively given up!  I find his information concerning the river at the time Marlow had a flash lock the most interesting. He said the flash (surge of water) was made twice a week in those days, and this required the "draining" of the river for 4 miles (not literally drained dry of course!) so in "short water time" there was "no water" for days together - that is the water level was comparatively very shallow. 

By 1865, the business was known as James Haynes and Son(s) and its location was "Marlow Bridge". The eldest son Joseph James, who initially worked as a carpenter, sadly died aged just 32. It was less than a year after his marriage to Mary Poulton of Ferry House, Cookham. James himself would not live much longer. In May 1879, he passed away at Marlow. Wife Elizabeth survived until 1883, living in her later years in the High Street with son George and unmarried daughter Ann. George defined himself as a boat builder on the 1881 census, but it seems the business under the name of Haynes was largely over. Robert Shaw, mentioned above, would take over the site.  Eventually he would build a fancier boathouse by the bridge, the "tithe barn" having been demolished "recently" in November 1877, to make way for a never built hotel that faced strong local opposition. James was to quote one contemporary guide to the Thames, "a grand character" and I'm sure he was sorely missed by the boat men of Marlow. 

*This building was where Tierney Court is now. It was known at that time as the tithe or conventual barn but this was not probably its actual purpose. It's the "curious old building" that James Joseph Sheahan described in his History and Topography of Buckinghamshire. He was correct to describe how it was generally referred to by the locals (as there are a number of sources using this title before he did) but I have a suspicion that he got his information about the Marlow building confused with the tithe barn at Bisham. He described the roof of the Marlow barn as Spanish chestnut, which it was not, but the Bisham one was according to several earlier sources.  Both were also used to house Napoleonic war prisoners. I wonder if Sheahan might not have poached his description of the Marlow barn from the 1860 John Murray Handbook for Travellers in Berks, Bucks, and Oxfordshire. (John Murray, 1860) in which the description "curious old building"  is also used. That book goes on to describe the "monastic barn of Bisham abbey in which French prisoners were kept during the war" and also mentions that the "conventual barn" at Bisham has a roof of Spanish chestnut. So possibly Sheahan confused the two if he helped himself to a little reused information!? 

 Owner of the "barn" at its demolition (autumn 1877) was Owen Williams who seemed confident his hotel plan would go forward. He had apparently got as far as inviting tenders for its erection. However, this was premature and in the end Mr Williams sold the site to "Mr Burt" for the creation of a 50 bed hotel with stabling for 20 horses, a  coffee room and 100ft long covered balcony. The authorities scuppered this plan by making it clear that they would refuse the alcohol licence on the grounds that there were too many others suppliers of liquor in the area. The real reason was probably the objection of existing traders to such competition, in particular that voiced by Charles Miller Foottit of the Compleat Angler who had recently invested in improving his own premises! At this point the barn had descended into a place that tramps and the destitute sort shelter. It was described as dilapidated but also a picturesque feature of the river side and there were clearly many who did not want it to disappear but to no avail. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

More related Posts:

To find all mention of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

James' daughter Eliza features in a post here

The amateur who built a barge in his back garden, 1860s here

Life for the parish constables of Great Marlow here

Robert Shaw - here

Marlow Fair here

The troubled building of the Suspension Bridge here

1820s recreated trade directory Great Marlow here

Bellows, bricks and brandy - reviving the drowned here

Picnics and Punts- Summer leisure in late Victorian and Edwardian Marlow here

Biography of Charles Miller Foottit of the Compleat Angler here

The Bucks Chair Co here

SOURCES INCLUDE:

1833 Parish Assessment, original copies held by us. 

Census 1841,51,61,71, 81 - transcribed from microfilm by Charlotte and Jane Pullinger. 

Harrods Directory 1847, J G Harrod & Co. 

Slater's Royal and Commercial Directory 1852

Thames Navigation Improvement Commission, (1866) Parliamentary Papers Vol 33, Great Britain Houses of Parliament. 

The Architect, April 17 1869, digitised by Google. 

Reading Mercury, 6 April 1839, 24 April 1858

Oxford Journal 26 April 1828. 

Bucks Herald 2 July 1836

Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News 8 Feb 1873

Berkshire Chronicle 4 November 1843

Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette  4 July 1863

Bicester Herald, 6 June 1879.

GRO BMD index

Q/AB/43/515,Letter, Bucks Archives. 

Dickens, Charles - Dictionary of the Thames, 1880 edition. 

Pask, Arthur Thomas - From Lock to Lock, "Judy" 1882. 

Salter, John Henry. River Thames: a guide, 1881. 

© MarlowAncestors. 

Leighton House, Glade Road, Marlow

The former Leighton House school, Great Marlow.  

In 1891 this is described as a boarding school for boys aged 10-16 years. It had 9 boarding pupils, though the school took day pupils too. On census night, mathematics teacher Mr M Jefferies was present along with a housekeeper and servant. The school was run by the Misses Curtis, sisters Martha and Alice, whose school started in a Marlow Bottom farmhouse before moving to Cambridge House, Cambridge Road and finally to Leighton House late in 1883 following the death of the elderly previous occupier Ellen Bennett. Alice Curtis died at Leighton House in 1893 but Maria  remained running the school until at least 1898. The Curtises offered a classical education but cricket and (unusually) football were available too. The older boys played in local amateur cups alongside adults and older youth teams. Their home ground was the meadow by the Railway Station, now built over, which was just a stone's throw from the school and used by many sporting teams. It was presumably the case that male teachers were also part of the team outside of junior competition as the school had a total of 15 pupils only in 1897 and some of these would have been too young to play against teens and adults.

 The school advertised in press** aimed at British subjects living overseas locations such as South Africa.  It was suggested that those who wished to provide an English education for their offspring would find that special care and attention was given to them at Marlow. 

The school was a successful one both academically and financially for the sisters. Maria Curtis often donated money from her profits to the local cottage hospital and to Holy Trinity Church in Marlow.

The goal of the boy pupils' academic studies was to prepare them for entry into the public schools and thus to university and the professions. In 1897 the South Bucks Standard reported that the local vicar had organised an essay writing competition for the boys on the subject of the "life of Queen Victoria"* The winner was Charles Smith of Rose Villa, Great Marlow. Charles was the son of Lawrence Smith and grandson of Reuben and Mary Smith all of whom there is a full post about here

In 1889 two less fortunate boys from the town, 11 year old Joseph James and 12 year old Henry Wheeler, were accused of stealing two pairs of boots from the school premises (Bucks Herald 23rd February 1889, British Library Archives). Henry Wheeler had the charges against him dismissed for want of evidence. But Joseph was given 4 lashes from a birch rod and labelled in court a "bad, artful boy". He was the son of James and Charlotte James. He appears with them on the 1881 census in Queens Road.

Sometimes during the Summer holidays the house was let to tourists. Many other Glade Road homes were put to the same use at that time.

By 1900 Leighton House was a fully residential property occupied by George Tweedie. In 1904 it was Marlow bank manager Percy Quayles in residence, though he left that year to manage a Hampshire branch.

In 1910 Ernest and Mrs Williams lived it seems not altogether happily in the house. He was arrested for being roaring drunk in Beaumont Rise after his wife refused him entry into their home. A few weeks later the contents of the house were forcibly put up for sale in distress of rent - polished brass bedsteads and fine carpets included -  which doesn't seem to bode well for the continued state of their marriage either. It took multiple sales to clear things.  

Between at least 1915 and 1938 Leighton House was home, let's hope more happily, to solicitor Leonard Nash, his wife Julia and their family who had moved there from "Westwood" in Institute Road. Leonard and Julia (nee Syrett) had married Loudwater, Bucks in 1905.

Being close to the railway station made Glade Road good for holiday rentals as said above but it also made the residents the first victims of travelling salesman who arrived in town that way. Leonard Nash sued a travelling china repairer in 1915 for doing more harm than good to a vase Leonard entrusted to him!

In 1925 Leonard bought for £1300 some 29 acres of land off Newtown Road, a canny piece of work as this was an area of Marlow where houses were being rapidly thrown up. He also is likely the L.R Nash who bought the house Effra in Beaumont Rise in the 1920s.

Related posts:

To find out more about the historic residents of other Glade Road properties in Marlow see this index.

Listing of 72 plus Marlow schools of yesteryear here

Education related posts and everyday life in old Great Marlow here

To find every mention of an individual here use the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down. 

 

Photo by Kathryn Day. Post researched and written by Charlotte Day.

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

*edition 24th December. Copy at the British Library. Accessed via the British Newspaper Archive.

**For examples of the schools advertising at expatriates see for example The African Critic 30th November 1895. 

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The Winfords of Thames Bank

Sarah and Harriet Winford are the subjects of today's post. Sarah was born into a comfortable position in life and died leaving an estate worth a fortune. She lived in one of the biggest houses in 18th century Marlow with an extensive number of servants at her command. But her life in Marlow was not free of its struggles as you will see.

 Sarah was already widowed when she arrived in Marlow, some time before 1769. Her husband was Hereford MP Thomas Geers Winford, who had changed his name from Thomas Geers on inheriting from his wife's childless uncle in 1744. The house Sarah moved to was known then as Goodyers, as Sarah herself clarifies in her will. She is likely the person responsible for re naming it Thames Bank House. (Later names include Lymbrook and Thames Lawn although Lymbrook/Limebroke was also used earlier to refer to the area around here and the Waterman's Arms). Situated on the banks of the River Thames, with then extensive views of the Quarry Woods, its location must have seemed idyllic - until Sarah began her tussles with the barge-men working on the river at least. More of that below. 

Thomas and Sarah had two daughters, Sarah junior and Harriet. Sarah married Sambrooke Freeman of Fawley Court in 1757. She was a regular at court and acted as a host to the likes of King George III on a number of occasions. The younger girl, Harriet lived a much quieter life. It seems she suffered from ill health over a considerable period and she never married, but remained with her devoted mother at Thames Bank. Harriet was fond of Quarry Woods and a particular bluff was adopted by her as a favourite seat and viewpoint. In fact it became known as "Miss Winfords seat". Sarah owned a boat and the family often took friends on river trips, attending for example a "waterparty" near Harleyford. They also took a trip to see Owen Williams newly constructed Temple House. A friend of the family accompanying them on this expedition thought Temple was grand enough on the outside but it was let down by the interior design!  This same friend also mentions a "temple" belonging to the Winfords, which was used for picnics. I have not seen this temple, a fashionable upper class accessory, represented in any illustrations of the house and it is not listed as a garden feature when the house is up for sale later. It may have been of a more temporary rustic design, or possibly was not located within the grounds of Thames Bank itself. (Having one on a eyot was also fashionable.)

A less desirable part of riverside living for Sarah was the fact the Thames was very much a working river and her home was located between Marlow Bridge and various wharves and the Lock. After Marlow received a new pound lock, she complained that the barges were now navigating the river closer to her home and worse still, they were spending longer tied up outside her garden wall.  This was a problem because the bargeman were apparently committing indecent actions outside the elderly ladies windows, causing her to keep her shutters facing the river firmly closed. You can read the full story of the bargeman and Sarah here. The other annoyances faced by Mrs Winford during her last years at the house were an attempted break in and a successfully managed theft of 15 bantams in 1789. 

Sarah seems to have been a keen reader, as she is listed as a subscriber to a number of volumes. In the past many books were only produced if enough people subscribed to cover the upfront production and printing costs. Donate enough and your name would be added in dedication within the first editions at least. Among Sarah's choices were a book of sermons from a Worcestershire vicar Charles Butt, while Harriet supported local author Thomas Langley's History of the Hundred of Desborough which included Marlow. 

Sarah died in early September 1793 aged 83. She had a considerable estate to leave, apart from the lease of Thames Bank. Shortly before her death she had inherited money along with her two sisters, from her brother Charles who died childless. Charles himself had been the beneficiary of another brothers will, William, who also left no issue. Three years later, both of these sisters died within a month of each other, one unmarried, the other a widow. So Sarah had to some degree benefitted from outliving most of her near relatives. She had over £9000 invested to leave to her two daughters. Harriet would receive the lease of Thames Bank, with Sarah receiving an additional £300 as well as her share of the investments. 

Sarah left a number of gifts to her servants. This was not altogether uncommon in itself, but she seems to have been a pleasant person to work for. Many of her staff members remained with the family for decades and what's more she paid for the gravestones of several of them - 3 of which can be seen in the churchyard of All Saints to this day. The churchyard is just along the river bank from Thames Bank.

 The will legacies were:

 To housekeeper Elizabeth Swan 10 guineas. 

To gardener Robert Stockbridge, 3 guineas. 

William Powell, coachman, 3 guineas if he was still in her service at her death. 

Former butler Robert Floyd £20. 

Above, grave of Robert Floyd. 

- D. January 26th 1801 age 74. "Useful servant and honest man" Erected at Harriet's expense. Read his will here

Cook Sarah Clarke 5 guineas. 

Housemaid Mary Whitty £15. [Harriet will pay for Mary's gravestone. On her death she had given the family 63 years service! See it  here]

 Other maids  Ann ?Tolner £4, Rose Bartholomew £4, Mary Walker £2.

Servants of Harriet if living with Harriet when Sarah dies: Ann James 5 Guineas. Harriet's groom (not named) 2 Guineas. Samuel Charles 5 Guineas. Samuel's children George and Sarah got £20 each. This was increased in a codicil to the will and Harriet was asked to act as the children's guardian.

All other servants in the house when Sarah dies: for "at least two years to receive half a year's wages" each.

Mr Harris, her steward in Worcestershire 10 Guineas for mourning. At Harriet's discretion 6 maidservants and and 4 male servants to get money for mourning too.

Poor of Astley, Worcestershire £20. (where Sarah had family connections)

Rev. Stephen Chase rector of Bisham 10 Guineas.

All the household goods, furniture and linen as well as Sarah's jewels and "trinkets" were left for Harriet's use, bar a purse of gold coins and some silver spoons for Sarah junior. 

Harriet died of a long and painful final illness in 1801. She was just 58 years old. She was buried, like her mother, at the Winford family vault at St Peters Church, Astley, Worcestershire. The following year the household contents of Thames bank was offered for sale, with "elegant household furniture" including a prized matching drawing room suite of chairs, sofa and curtains. 

Notes: Sarah was nee Lutwyche, of Lutwyche Hall, Salop. 

Written by Kathryn Day. 

© Marlow Ancestors.

Related posts:

Grave of Winford servant Samuel Clarke here

More Biographies of Marlow Families on this index

More posts about the people of specific Marlow houses (big and small) listed here

Sources include:

Will of Sarah Winford, transcribed by Charlotte from a copy held at National Archives, Kew. 

Reading Mercury 39 March 1789

Oxford Journal 1 June 1802

Sermons, George Butt 1791. 

Brown, William. Reports of Cases argued and determined in the High Court of Chancery, 1786. 

Climenson, Emily J (ed) Passages from the diaries of Mrs Phillip Lybbe Powys of Hardwick House, Oxon. 1899

Munby, Arthur Joseph. Faithful Servants,1891. Digitised by Google.  

Willis, Browne. History and  Antiquities, of the town, hundred and deanery of Buckingham 1755 

Century Magazine Vol 90 1801, digitised by Google. 

Monthly Magazine Volume 12, 1801. 

 

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Will John Piggott Of Great Marlow (proved 1695)

 Transcribed by me from a copy of the will received from the National Archives, Kew and then summarized here.

Transcription ©Marlow Ancestors. Use it if you like, with credit to this blog.

JOHN PIGGOTT, BARGEMAN OF GREAT MARLOW. WILL WRITTEN 1693.  PROVED 1695.

Weak in body but of perfect mind and memory.

Commends soul to God.

To be decently buried at executor's discretion.

Beloved wife Margaret three houses in Great Marlow: the house they now live in, the adjoining house in the occupation of Thomas ?Canplyn? and another in the occupation of William Beckford and their appurtenances to pay for her own maintenance and that of their youngest three children. This for the term of her natural life and after that the three premises go to testator's eldest son John Piggott of London, cooper, in trust that he will sell them and the money raised from that sale to be divided into five equal parts. One part to John himself. The other parts to testator's other children William, Elizabeth, Richard, and Mary. 

If any of the children die before the money is divided, and have no children of their own, their share to be divided between the children that are still living.

If John himself dies other son William to do the selling and division. If he also dies then any of the surviving children to do the same.

Rest of personal property after debts paid to wife Margaret who is the will's sole executor.

Witnessed by William Beckford, Henry Williams, John Gibbons.

A tribute to our bargemen here

To find all mentions of an individual here, use the A-Z person index on the top drop down menu. There's over 3,250 people mentioned there and new content is added daily currently. 

Link to list of other Great Marlow wills transcribed here on blog here

Recreated 1600s trade directory for Marlow: here (lists other Great Marlow and Little Marlow bargeman) and 1700s here

Marlow Place History

 Marlow Place is often said to have been built 1720 or 1721 for the future George 2nd when he was still the Prince of Wales. It was said to used by his son Frederick as a residence as well.  However Country Life Magazine in 1921 reported a date of 1727 visible on the roof and it is said that a brick contains a scratched on 1731 date. These may be dates of modifications to the property though they seem to be occuring rather soon after the initial build.  These later dates though do tie in better with architectural analysis by various historic visitors to the house who said 1720 is too early stylistically to be a probable date for the house and something in the later 1720s -1730 is instead indicated. 

A different edition of Country Life from 1913 mentions only a date of 1731 scratched in an apparently contemporary hand into the brickwork of the outer wall. 

A description of a brick built mansion "on the right before you turn into the High Street" [as Marlow Place would have been when you entered Marlow by crossing the river at the old St Peter Street bridge point] by someone recalling their time at the juvenile branch of the Royal Military Academy tells us it was once owned by the mistress of Charles II, Louise De Kerouaille Duchess of Portsmouth. However it calls the house Alfred House, a smaller property which is within the High Street rather than located before you reach it. Alfred House in the High Street was also used by the Academy. So which property did the writer really mean? The source he had for his information is not stated. 

I can find no evidence beyond local tradition that the house was definitely built for, rather than simply used by, the then Prince of Wales. All evidence seems to point to the house being built either for John Wallop Esq or most likely his mother Alicia. Certainly it was Alicia Wallop who lived in Marlow Place by 1739 to at least 1742. Her garden adjoined the back of High Street businesses including a soap boiler which from its use of animal carcasses would be a smelly (and fire hazardous) neighbour to have, plus at least two blacksmith premises which would have been noisy. A good reminder that even the most privileged in society in the 1700s struggled to escape the noise and mess inherent to everyday life.

Alicia is likely the Mrs Wallop who donated to the church bells in Marlow church in 1720.

Edwardian occupier of the house the keen amateur historian William Niven noted that some of the oak panelling of the house was certainly older than the house. It is possible that this came from an earlier house on the land which was owned by Alicia's ancestors.

Admiral John Forbes had recently left the property in 1772. He was "removing to Essex" (apparently  to Old Mill Green House Ingatestone) The Marlow Place household goods were therefore auctioned off and the "large and exceedingly good house" is to let. It was available with or without accompanying pasture and meadow land. The garden itself was well stocked with the choicest fruit trees, so they said. There were apparently no immediate takers and the house seems to have been empty of tenants for at least a year. In 1773 adverts offering the property decide to include more elaborate descriptions of the house to drum up interest. Amongst other benefits, we are told the town has 3 stagecoaches to London a week in the summer and two in the winter. And water carriage could be had "almost to the door". Marlow Place is not of course an immediately riverside property but is within a couple of minutes walk of the Thames. 

The resident in 1780 looks to have been Edward Valentine Stead Esq. He left the house circa 1789 and died aged just 35 in 1790. Owen Williams M P succeeded him in residence. 

The Royal Military College used the premises to provide extra accommodation in the early 1800s. Out the back the cadets had a rifle practice range. The construction of this apparently ruined the original landscaping of the gardens.

In 1833 the occupier had recently been "Edmund Flemming" (correctly Edmond Fleming). The property was then valued as being worth £110 per year. It was the most valuable house in town by some way. Edmond had  lived in the house since at very least early 1829 as a David Alexander Fleming, a silversmith, aged 44 and late of Whitechapel died at "his father's house" Marlow Place that year. His will shows that he was the son of Edmund and had no children so that his brothers, sisters, parents and employees benefitted from his will.  You couldn't get a more Scottish name than David Alexander Fleming so there's a possible clue to Edmond's furthest ancestral origins there! Edmond was already in his early 80s when his son died, and his definitely Scottish born wife Isabella was a similar age. It is likely that they wanted to downsize a bit! Or not spread themselves so thinly as Marlow Place was only their country home. Edmond was still working in Newgate Street in when he wrote his will.  His son David's will written in 1823 was witnessed by a Henry Hammond of Great Marlow which tells us that the Flemings were already connected to Marlow back then.

Nevertheless by 1836 Edmund and Isabella had moved to live with their son at Cookham Grove, Cookham as Edmond died there then and Isabella continued to live there until her own death a decade later. 

Edmond Fleming was a jeweller, silversmith and pawnbroker who operated from Newgate Street London. Cookham Grove was the country seat of his London pawnbroker son William. The son had owned that property by 1834 but seems to have let it out to others until 1836. Not only his parents but various other unmarried adult siblings made it their home or country retreat as they saw fit.

In Newgate Street Edmund occupied two premises next door to each other, a jewellers and silversmiths at 89 and a pawnbrokers at 90. Recent (September 2025) research into Edmund, Isabella, William and the rest of the Flemings has brought up so much material that we think they will be best served with their own separate post which is available now on the blog here.

In 1834 Marlow Place was advertised to let once again in the local press. [Berkshire Chronicle 26th July 1834, accessed by me online March 2021 via the BNA]. The house was then described as consisting of ten bedrooms, a library, entrance hall, dining room, breakfast room, drawing room with detached offices [they meant rooms for domestic management like laundry rooms and stores not somewhere to do your paperwork], a double coach house and stabling for ten horses. There were also lawns, greenhouses and gardens listed as part of the property in the 1833 assessment. Later reports mention meadows and those fruit trees again.

 

These premises made an impressive boy's boarding school between 1857 and 1877. Thomas Mathews was the first master to run the school there, alongside his wife. He found the building in a most dilapidated state at the start of his tenancy and spent considerable time and effort in restoring the house. He was very keen on cricket and the school had a cricket ground in a meadow by what later became the railway station. Boys needed to bring with them to school 3 suits of clothes, 6 shirts, 3 nightshirts, 6 pairs of stockings, 3 pairs shoes, a pair of slippers, 6 towels and a bible.

Music and book keeping lessons were included within the standard school curriculum as was, unusually, Hebrew if desired. For an extra fee French or swimming lessons could be obtained or the boys prepped for the Civil Service entrance exam.

When Reverend Thomas Gwynne used the premises as a school in the 1870s he could take 26 pupils. Their minimum age was 8. Gwynne had previously ran a private school from Candover Park in Hampshire. He was known as "Old Tom" to his young charges, although not to his face of course! He was a much liked man by the adults in Marlow - but not by the pupils whom he taught. More on him in a separate post in the future.

The Mathews had taken children from age 6, with the younger boys under Mrs Mathew's care. 

These various school proprietors all rented the property rather than owned it.

Marlow Place was owned by the Williams family from at least 1795 - Colonel Thomas Peers Williams was born at the house then. Owen Williams is listed in parliamentary papers as resident there 1809 to 1817. The Williams family eventually sold it to long term tenant and architect William Niven, who wrote a couple of articles about the house for magazines such as Country Life. His grave is on the blog here.

In 1877 the last incarnation of the school closed and the house was due to be refurbished and converted back into a family home. During this work, labourer Timothy Young was killed in the grounds when engaged in demolishing a 10 ft high garden wall made partly of brick and partly of flint. Timothy was buried alive when the wall suddenly collapsed before the workers were ready for it. Some of the others engaged in the task were also injured by falling bricks but Timothy was worst affected as he was hemmed in by nearby shrubs and could not make any escape. He was dug out by his colleagues but died from multiple severe injuries a little over an hour later.

Lady Marie Alice Rushout - tenant there -died in 1882. She was the widow of baronet Sir Charles Rushout and had moved to Marlow from Gloucestershire. The following year the house contents were up for sale by a Lady Northwick perhaps a relative as the contents included little miniatures of "the Misses Rushout" by Andrew Plimer. Known as "The Three Graces" they were the daughters of Sir Thomas Rushout. These miniatures were regarded as particularly fine and beautiful works of art. 

In 1885 the new occupant of Marlow Place was widow Jane Haig who moved there from Bray Court, Maidenhead. A few days after she moved in, Jane's upper housemaid Alice Anthony AKA Kate or Katie Anthony was caught with a large amount of stolen goods hidden in her bedroom. Sacked, Alice was supposed to be escorted to the 4.10 train out of town by the butler but for unspecified reasons she ended up sleeping the night at Marlow Place instead. At six the next morning she did a flit with her mistress's portmanteau and another stolen bag stuffed with an astonishing amount of loot.

Unfortunately her knowledge of Marlow train times was sketchy and she ended up waiting longer than she had expected for her getaway train. Jane's coachman John Gale* was on her trail. Confronted by him, she ran off without the portmanteau but John and a summoned constable cornered her near Little Marlow. She still had other stolen articles on her person. In court they struggled to find room to display everything she had carried off.

I won't list it all but to give you a flavour of the items here's some of them:

A gold ring

A pair of lady's drawers

2 corsets

Some sheets of papers

3 pairs of scissors

A music book

3 table cloths

12 handkerchiefs

Curling tongs for the hair

Buttons

2 tooth brushes

2 gold pins

5 pairs of shoes

Measuring tape

An umbrella

Envelopes

12 photographs (no mention of their frames)

Opera glasses

2 pairs spectacles

Elastic

Button hook.

Left behind in her room were articles stolen from Jane's housekeeping stores such as soap, furniture polish, candles and matches. I suppose Alice ran out of room in her two bags to take it all with her!

Unsurprisingly she was jailed. The maximum sentence possible -six months - with solitary confinement an added punishment. Alice screamed and collapsed in the dock upon hearing the sentence.

A crowd of around 100, all from the poorest parts of town, gathered at Marlow station to see Alice and accompanying officers of the law leave by train for the jail in Aylesbury after her conviction. It is hard to judge whether this was in support or disapproval of Alice or just from curiosity. Alice was said to have previously lived in Marlow and may have had family here.

Jane Haig continued to live at the house until at least 1888 when her married daughter Helen Frances Warner drowned while swimming with family at Temple.

William Powley once Vice Principal of Durham University lived at Marlow Place until his premature death aged 56 in 1895.

Next came Colonel Clarence Granville Sinclair a young widower who himself died aged just 37 in 1897.

He was followed in residence at Marlow Place by William Niven. Mr Niven was able to buy the house from the Williams family rather than just rent it in 1921. See a photo of his grave here. We will have more on him in the future.

* John Gale retired to Victoria Road Marlow.

Main post researched and written by Charlotte Day. Photos and information about Thomas Young and Admiral Forbes provided by Kathryn. 

Related Posts:

Biography of Alicia Wallop here

Biography of three Victorian Trinidadian pupils at Marlow Place School: here

Additional sources I found useful:

Reading Mercury 29th March 1773 & 12th October 1792, Windsor and Eton Express 31st January 1829, South Bucks Standard 27th November 1896 , Maidenhead Advertiser 14 April 1877, Oxford Journal 11 July 1772, held at the British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA.

Parochial assessment notebooks 1830s, owned by my family. These are being transcribed gradually onto this blog.

1871 census. Transcribed by me. Census information always remains Crown Copyright. 

GRO death index.

Armorial Families. A Directory of Coat Armour, by Arthur Charles Fox Davies published 1910 by T.C and E.C Jack.

Saturday Review of Politics, Literature Science and Art volumes 28-29 published by John W Parker 1870. Accessed via Google Books March 2021.

History of Newbury and Its Environs by Edward William Gray, published by Hall and Marsh 1839.

Country Life volume 49 page 353. And Volume 33 issue 836. 

Dutton and Allen Commercial Directory 1867.

Bentley's Miscellany, Volume 20 : "Shots from an Old Six Pounder". [Richard Bentley 1846]

English Country Houses: Baroque - James Lee-Milnes (Country Life Books, 1960)

 Andrew and Nathaniel Plimer - George Charles Williamson, (G Bells & Son 1903.)

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/029d5a54-d882-43b0-ae1d-9399f135df68

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to reuse this research for family and local history purposes with credit to this blog.

The Other Royal Celebrations In Marlow

We have posts due on events such as the Golden and Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of Queen Victoria's reign, but this entry is about how the town celebrated (or not) some of the other events in Queen Victoria's life. 

If your ancestor lived in Marlow in June 1838, then it is very likely they at least heard celebrations of the Queen's coronation because it appears to have been a very noisy event. Victoria had succeeded to the throne in June 1837 so the residents of Marlow had plenty of time to consider how to mark the occasion. The reports vary widely with rival political groups accusing the other of doing little, which is reflected in the accounts published in local newspapers. The Windsor and Eton Express said that the church bells were rung on Coronation day and that the shops were closed. Others said this was a lie, and only the Tory supporters in town would be content to do so little. The Bucks Gazette said liberal tradespeople took on the task with enthusiasm as did the Clayton family at Harleyford. The Clayton's Conservative political rivals, the Williams of Temple House, who included the Marlow M.P, were accused of not organising anything grand. So the reports have to be filtered with the understanding of the political bias of the reporter. One thing all can agree on is that many fireworks were let off, some guns, and a few cannons. The last were courtesy of Harleyford where the din of artillery was said to have been kept up all day. After 41 discharges of cannon, even the most devoted royalist in the neighbourhood must have been happy a new Queen was not crowned everyday!

 Amongst the criticism levelled at MP Thomas Peers Williams and his supporters such as the Wethered family of the Brewery, was that they had not as wealthier citizens put their hand in their pockets to subsidise any celebrations for the poorer classes. It seems they had been expected to pay the bell ringers for their services, but had not offered to do so so the money had to come out of the Church rates fund. It was also hoped a subscription would have been raised to provide some relief to the poor.  The Bucks Gazette went further and said those who put on events publicly had "resisted the will of the domineering tyrant in the town." (Williams) This may be a little unfair, as while Williams was a controversial politician who was accused of evicting those of his tenants who did not vote for him, his family did entertain members of the Royal Family at Temple House in latter years and so was not exactly anti royal. It seems the feeling was that big occasions meant those who acted in power in the town should play their part and help those with little money to celebrate. Failure to do so was regarded as "selfish". 

Those who did include the less well off were Joseph Tyler of the Clayton Arms in Oxford Lane/Quoiting Place. Joseph entertained more than 100 to dinner - an "elegant repast". And Messrs Wright of Marlow Mills gave a hot beef dinner with ale and punch to 100 or so staff and their family members. This dinner included plum pudding which might seem unseasonal to our eyes but it's a regular feature of many Victorian celebration dinners in Marlow and elsewhere whatever the time of year. 

Moving on to 1840, when Queen Victoria was married to Albert. On this occasion the liberal papers again accused the conservative interests of failure to mark the occasion properly. The celebrations were described as "very limited". But Harleyford House bought out their "artillery" again. (41 discharges of cannon). The bells were of course rang and guns fired. The reliably generous and kind Benjamin Atkinson of The Rookery entertained all his staff to a meal along as did a few unnamed tradesmen working on a smaller scale. But the "most influential  inhabitants of the town who owe all this wealth and influence to the lower ranks of society did very little."

In 1858, the Queen's eldest daughter, Victoria the Princess Royal was married in turn to Prince Frederick of Prussia. Mr Borgnis and Mr William Ward decided to treat the boys of the Blue Coat school (now Borlase) to something to mark the event. Their choice would probably not get distributed today, given that it consisted of cake - and wine! Those attending the National schools recieved some tasty buns while the pupils of the British Schools were given a full tea, presumably without alcoholic beverages. 

The Queen's birthday was usually marked in a small way. Prayers for her continued health were a standard in the local churches. The church bells were rang, and some shops and homes were decorated with bunting. This is more often recorded in the later part of the reign. The local Oddfellows lodge (friendly society) held a church parade (that is a parade to the parish church in full regalia for a  special service) on several occasions in the 1880s in honour of Her Majesty's birthday. In 1887, they were lead by the town band and they followed this with a public dinner for 100 people at The Greyhound.

Various members of the Royals visited the big houses in the area such as Temple, Gyldernscroft and Harleyford. Some of these visits were "under the radar" but others very much the opposite. When the prince and princess of Wales passed through Marlow in a steam launch, on their way to visit the Williams at Temple House, they were expected. Their arrival was somewhat inconveniently timed to occur during the Regatta. They were late, but they did indeed arrive in the end and were greeted with a royal salute. 

The last event other than the Jubilees to mark was of course the death of the Queen. The first notification of any significant news usually came courtesy of a telegram to the post office which would then be displayed either inside or out for all to see. (Less seriously the match reports of Marlow Football Club when playing away also arrived this way.) A week before the Queen's death, a telegram bought news the Queen was seriously ill. Special prayers were said in the various churches and chapels the following day, in the hope of a recovery. Public events due to take place in the next few days were cancelled as a gesture of respect - dramatic performances in the Music Room and a football match. But on 22 January 1901, the news was recieved by telegram late in the day that the Queen had died at Osbourne House, surrounded by her family. It was immediately ordered that the bells should toll in the church. This sound was said to be what made many Marlow residents realise that the rumour about the Queen's death were true. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related posts:

Coronation Celebrations 1902 here

Jubilee 1887 Here

Storm disruption during 1897 jubilee Little Marlow here

Royal furniture makers the Mealings here

Other posts about everyday life in old Marlow here

To find every mention of an individual here, use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

Sources:

Goodrich, Samuel Griswold. Peter Parley's visit to London during the Coronation (Library of Alexandria, 1838)

McCarthy, John - A History Of Our Own Times, 1871. 

Wilson, Robert. Life and Times of Queen Victoria (Cassell and Company, 1891) 

Bucks Gazette 14 July 1838, 22 February 1840 - British Library Archive, accessed via the BNA. 

Reading Mercury 30 January 1858, 31 May 1890, 26 January 1901 - As above

Bucks Herald 13 July 1878, as above. 

Windsor and Eton Express 30 June 1838. As above. 

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer May 28 1887, Slough Library. 

©Marlow Ancestors