Skating And Snowballs - Winter In Marlow

The winters of 1891/2, 1892/3 and 1893/4 and the early spring of 1895 saw the Thames at Marlow frozen to some degree for 4 years in a row. By the end of  January 1891 there had been 9 weeks of frost. It was hoped that the Thames or one of the flooded meadows adjacent would freeze sufficiently to host a cricket match on the ice, along with torch lit skating races at Cookham but all of a sudden the thaw set in and the ice disappeared quickly. The river had frozen most completely nearer Maidenhead and so many Marlow residents were noted as having made the journey to a "splendid piece of ice" extending from Boulters Lock to "beyond Mr. Woodhouse's boathouse at Cliveden Reach." Reports suggest "fully a thousand persons" were disporting themselves on this stretch. Some Marlow people were among those who found a way to make a profit out of the excited visitors. They laid planks to help skaters access the river from the bank and charged people for help getting onto the ice and also for fixing and unfixing skates onto boots. At Cookham Lock several people were seen to ride or drive horses onto the ice and cyclists also put in an appearance. 1891 also saw several hundred people gather on the flooded and frozen meadows at Bisham and Temple. A large number of skaters also gathered at Mr George Jackson's pond at Westhorpe and one man was seen skating on the weir pool at Marlow on Christmas day 1891. The committee of the National Skating Association's negotiations to bring some races off in the neighborhood came too late to beat the thaw but some locally arranged handicap races did occur at Marlow. These male-only races were organised by Alfred Davis and John Langley, who also acted as a starter.  The main event was won by Edward Shaw, which was they say "a very popular win". The number of spectators was enormous, despite the cold. (See below for a partial list of those men and boys competing.) A correspondent for the Fishing Gazette in early January 1891 says that one afternoon he had witnessed fully 200 persons on the river ice opposite Shaw's boathouse including a great number of "skatists and hockeyists". Such a sight he said was not within memory of "the middle aged generation" with the ice 6 inches deep in some places along the upper Thames. The thaw was still ongoing into February, the hard ground causing most of the water from the riverside to run into the river itself. The water level rose by 2ft within a few days of the thaw beginning. 

Unfortunately timed as that thaw may have been, it was not as dramatic as the so called "silver thaw" of 1867 when the sudden break up of a frost lead to showers of minute ice crystals that destroyed many umbrellas wielded against them. 

Thin ice proves a peril

Heavy snow in 1893 saw drifts of 12ft depth in places reported between Cressex and Marlow. The roads from Wycombe were understandably blocked. Those skating and sliding on frozen ditches and ponds were said to be of both sexes and all ages. The stretch of frozen Thames was much more limited than in 1891, but the ice formed near the Berks and Bucks shores was regarded as "moderately safe" which was enough to get large numbers of skaters out near Bisham Church. Under Marlow Bridge the ice seemed to stretch across the whole width of the river, and so naturally some of the curious tried to edge their way across from one bank to another, despite warnings the ice was very thin in the centre of the span. A few made it across safely to cheers but then a young man tried to make the return journey and fell through the ice. The water beneath him was said to be 22ft deep. A very difficult rescue was accomplished after the youngster had spent 10 mins in the frozen water, very largely thanks to Mr J G Meakes who had laid a very long ladder across the breach and so allowed rescuers to approach. The young man was very lucky to be alive, if very cold. 

In February 1895 a little girl from the Grace family fell through the ice after trying to skate on it just beyond the end of the St Peter Street slipway. The screams of her young companions bought Mr Jones, the coachman of Thames Bank to the scene and he was able to mount a successful rescue. 

Incidentally, anyone curious to know the temperature in the 1890's could wander  - or slide along -  the High Street pavements to Messrs Smith & Co who had a very large thermometer on the outside of the building.  

Beware of snowballs! 

One way of keeping warm might be to engage in an energetic snowball fight. But as always reports of some over enthusiastic throwing resulting in broken windows come to the surface. In the heavy snowfall of 1904, Supt Summers received so many complaints of bad behaviour that they did their best to catch groups of boys lurking suspiciously with snowballs at hand. Three naughty boys who went too far in pelting a little girl walking up Institute Rd saw themselves hauled before the magistrates. William Boddy, Jack Hall and Charles Collins received a fine of 1s each for their efforts. 

Edwardian scenes

Although the Victorian era frozen river scenes are probably the most famous, January 1908 saw the Thames frozen from bank to bank beneath Marlow Bridge. And vast scattered sheets of ice stretched between Meakes Boat House and Bisham Church. However the ice was not thick enough to bear a persons weight so the crowds that came to see the sight were restricted to the towpath. But they still went skating. The reason is the Thames was in flood and so the riverside meadows were used as improvised skating rinks as they had been used for generations, private property or no. For decades the premier skating spot was however Cockmarsh, and so Marlow crowds made the journey there. They were not the only ones. It is said that even Londoners made the trip to Bourne End to enjoy the neighbourhood skating. Reporters from the Daily Graphic also made their way to Marlow and took images of an ice hockey match proceeding on the iced over floodwater. This freeze made the conditions difficult for the swans and a decision was made to remove them from the river and hold them inland for a couple of months. Catching them seems quite a task however, as most had moved inland themselves, some by "several miles". 

Not all fun and games

Snow and ice maybe gives romantic image of Marlow in the the winter. But there's another side. Cold and wet conditions made life a misery for those needing to work outside especially if they had poor quality clothes and boots and came from a poorly heated home. In 1872 the torrential December rain made the working conditions of those employed on laying the Marlow railway dangerous. So the work had to be temporarily abandoned to a sea of mud. 

Others working outside whose labour did not stop were obviously very vulnerable if poorly clothed in freezing temperatures. Rag and bone man Charles Slade of Gun Lane was believed to have died of exposure while doing a round at Hambledon in early 1895. He was found insensible in the road alongside his donkey cart near the Dog & Badger at Medmenham. He could not be revived.  In fact he was dead by the time he was returned to Marlow by Thomas Stroud of Dean Street who had been drinking at the Dog and Badger. The conclusion was the extreme cold had bought on heart failure which had in turn caused the fall from the cart. Wife Sarah tells the inquest that her husband had been suffering much from the low temperatures and that they had sometimes had a lack of food over the winter. 

Fog was sometimes bad enough to be described as a serious interference for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic and the trains did not escape disruption. Frozen pipes deprived many households of water, so water sellers were back on the streets after they had ceased to be a common feature throughout the town. (Eg several enterprising souls were seen selling water in February 1895. The Marlow Water Company endeavoured to supply those homes normally connected to their supply with water from the standpipes too.) 

 Regular collections were made to help the poor afford coals for the winter. But for those without a home, the situation was worst of all. The last word will go to the case of "tramp" James Healey. In January 1908, James came into the town and tried to find somewhere to stay. He did not succeed.  Described as "quite an old man" he was frightened at the prospect of spending the night outside during an extremely cold spell. So he picked up a stick and deliberately broke the glass of one of the council owned street lamps in Trinity Road where the Police Station was located. He then went to them and confessed to his act of desperate vandalism. He knew they would have no choice but to arrest him and keep him in the - relatively- warm cells overnight. He got a longer stay than he hoped for, as he was subsequently sentenced to 7 days gaol with hard labour. In the same week beggars were caught in West Street, Institute Rd, and Station Rd and also received 7 day sentences.  

List of competitors in 1891 Marlow ice skating handicap races:

Boys:

C P Lovell (winner 500 yards junior race), Frederick Plumridge, Frank Langley, A Smith. 

Adults:

E Shaw, A Shaw, Reggie Shaw, C Shaw,  J Payne, Taplin, Bowles, Hooker, Smith, Grove, Tom White, Rowe, Cox, H Harman, W Davis, Lees?, Collier, Bailey, Lovell, Ashtead, Nicholls. 

Veterans: 

W Lunnon, ? Langley, E Flint, W Shaw, A J East, W Toovey, 

Researched and written by Kathryn Day

Related Posts:

Victorian Christmas in Marlow part 1 here and 2 here

Edwardian Christmas in Marlow here

Bonfire night in Victorian Marlow here

A listing of other posts about every day life in old Marlow  here

Easter and May day here

Selected Sources

The Fishing Gazette: Devoted to Angling, River, Lake, and Sea Fishing, and Fish Culture, Volume 3. ( Charles William Bradley & Co 1895) & The Fishing Gazette 10 January 1891, ditto.

Reading Mercury 21 December 1872. From British Library, accessed via the BNA October 2020. 

South Bucks Standard 23 January 1891, 24 November 1893, 2 December 1904, 10 January 1908, as above. 

Notebook of Miss E Morton. 

©Marlow Ancestors

Marlow's Historic Graffiti

                                      

Photos above- Visitors to this St Peter's Street pub, the Two Brewers, certainly liked to leave their mark. The earliest dated inscription we could find was from the 1840s.

Immediately above- this carving of names on a house in West Street is included for comparison. It was said to be a rite of passage, if a frowned on one, for Wethered boys to carve their first initials and those of their friends on the wall of this West Street property. Cadets from the Royal Military College also marked this wall. Sadly much of the original and oldest carving seems to have disappeared in the last 20 years along with the Victorian pull door bell which still worked in the 1990's. 

Other carved names and initials were visible all along the 7 Cornered Alley in Marlow in the past but have disappeared as the brickwork has been replaced. Look for some of the older looking bricks and you may be able to make out some initials, dated from the 1940s+ while they are still visible! 

Photographed November 2020.

See previous post The Unhappy Marriage of Robert and Mary Bye for a story about one of the historic landlords of the Two Brewers here.

Other pub content, including for the Two Brewers, can be found by looking at the Pub Related option on the menu.

Look on the "Specific Shops, Streets....etc" option on the menu for more posts related to either West Street or St Peter's Street.

©Marlow Ancestors. Reproduce images if you wish for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

The Eventful Life of James Croxon - Prisoner & Friend To The Poor

There have been Croxons/ Crocksons/ Croxens in Marlow and Bisham for a long time. The James who is the subject of this (long!) post was born in Reading circa 1807 before moving to Marlow where he had family connections. He was not the wealthiest man in Marlow. He was a baker for most of his life. To some he would become an advocate for the poor, and a stubborn defender of the rights of the many. To others he was a fraudster and troublemaker. What he undoubtedly did was draw attention to a number of issues affecting the lives of the less well off. It was his motive and credibility that was sometimes questioned. 

In the beginning...

Back to the beginning. In the 1833 Parish Assessment, James Croxon is listed as a West Street resident occupying a cottage and bakehouse with a relatively high value. This was near Borlase School. A few years later he had the valuable contract to provide the bread and flour for the Union Houses of the Wycombe district - that is the workhouses under another name. But then he lost this contract. His critics say this inspired a campaign to malign the Wycombe board of Poor Law Guardians in every way he could. He began an extremely prolific letter writing career, keeping the pages of the local newspapers busy with his complaints. 

James lands in gaol

However just after his loss of the bread contract in 1840, he was implicated in a forgery case and sent to Aylesbury Gaol. It was a little complicated to unravel, but in a nutshell James was accused of forging his father in law James Lee's signature on bills of exchange, and thus defrauding the Stephens & Co bank of money paid to Croxon on the strength of Lee's signature. It was said Croxon had been doing so for about 5 years. Eventually the bills were dishonoured, Lee denied ever having issued them and therefore refused to pay back the money given to Croxon by the bank. He said he was illiterate and so could never have made a signature, nor had he ever authorised anyone else to do so on his behalf. So Croxon found himself committed to gaol on a serious charge.

 The 1841 census finds him in the prison, with his wife Hannah nee Lee back in Marlow, alongside several of their children. At this point the family were living in Dean Street, home to several other bakers. At the trial, the case against Croxon fell apart. Several witnesses, including 2 lawyers clerks said that they had previously presented dishonoured bills under his own name to James Lee, and he had eventually paid them, including those presented by Croxon and had never questioned the right for Croxon to hold them. They also said another of Lee's married daughters Mary Ann Wigginton, had managed his affairs and been authorised to sign bills of exchange for him. Both Lee and Mary then changed their sworn statements made on two earlier occasions, that no bills of exchange had been issued. Lee said he did get Mary to organise these, but had meant to say it was only ever in relation to settling his own financial affairs, and never Croxon's. Mary said something similar, that she had meant to say only she had not organised any for Croxon in particular. She also said she thought the signature on the bills was in Croxon's handwriting but could not be certain. The case was dismissed but James Croxon's trouble was not over.  (See note 2 below for an contested election vote involving James Lee and Mary Ann Wigginton.) 

A second charge of forgery related to another signature on one of the above mentioned bill of exchange, that of farmer George Brangwin (Branguin in London news reports, an incorrect spelling) who had endorsed one for 50 shillings. George denied having done so. At trial, George did say he had put his name to another bill for the same amount some time before and Croxon's defence was the contested bill was just a renewal of that. The court decided against him, and James Croxon found himself sentenced to 2 years imprisonment with hard labour. 

Guilty?

At his trial, James Croxon was described as a most respectable looking person (although appearances can deceive of course!) and he was able to provide a number of character witnesses. He was not questioned directly, but his defence  did not change their story. It must be said that Croxon seems to have upset a number of local people, and at least one of them was the writer for the Bucks Gazette. He called James a "whining fanatic" and "canting hypocrite".  He poured scorn on Croxon for being a man who had tried just before his own trial to secure the release of three "desperate ruffians" who had been sentenced to transportation for life for a brutal assault on a young woman. These three men (Bishop, Taylor and Harding) had apparently paid Croxon to write an appeal on their behalf which was then refused. (For the full sad story of this horrifying attack on Patience Martin and the aftermath, see the post here)

The Gazette also accused Croxon of being a "meddling busybody" who put off people from the cause of teetotalism that he was said to promote. In fact they said with Croxon off in gaol, the idea of becoming a teetotaler had suddenly become more appealing. Croxon was most likely a non conformist. We believe he worshipped as one of the Salem Chapel congregation, this we will hopefully confirm later. He clearly upset those unwelcoming to his message. So reports of his conduct have to be filtered through this prejudicial reporting locally. There is also a political element as James sympathised with the liberal & radical cause in town, rather than the Tories who held Marlow as a pocket borough. In 1835 he was listed as amongst the 34 "independent and spirited voters" who had voted against the continuance of Williams as MP. Votes were not secret then and it was said there were many who had wished to vote the same way but had expressed fear of doing so as Williams was their landlord. 

Aftermath

What can poor Hannah Croxon have made of the case with her husband pitted against her father and sister? Whatever the truth of the story, it is a definite fact that the Croxon's had long standing financial problems and they had just lost their main breadwinner for two years. Things must have been very difficult indeed for Hannah and her children. Hannah was present on the day of Mary Ann's sad death in 1865 so any estrangement between the sisters was not permanent. 

I suspect the financial implications of his imprisonment cast a long shadow. He appeared as an insolvent debtor in court in both 1850 and 1853 spending 40 days in prison for debt on the last occasion. At these hearings he gives his occupation as baker. On the 1851 census he is listed as living in the poor and populous Dean Street. Ten years later he is in Chapel Street. In both 1851 and 1861 he had two of his adult unmarried daughters living with him (both working as satin stitch workers or dressmakers) as well as his young son Laban and later a lodger too. The young women's income must have helped the family budget although satin stitch was usually low paid work. Mrs Croxon was a victim of theft in 1859 when a quantity of washing was stolen from her garden along with articles from at least a couple of other houses. Such as lost must have hit hard. 

James Croxon wields his pen

James was not a man to let those in authority off if he suspected laziness or incompetence, rightly or wrongly so. Throughout the 1860's in particular he filled the columns of the local papers with letters (those that would print them anyway) in particular disputing how the poor law guardians did their work. This group set and administered the poor rate and managed the workhouses, including that at Marlow. James thought he could do it better, but he was unable to stand for election to the board as it seems he did not occupy property of sufficient value to meet the requirements. He thought the rules should be changed to allow him a chance for election. The guardians did read out his letters at meetings but say he made a number of vague accusations and seemed confused about the law and what was in their power. James was not easily deterred and continued to hold the guardians to account. He noted they had failed to have their books open for inspection by ratepayers on the required number of days for example, and got that rectified. He also rightly questioned why those receiving poor relief were expected to queue outside in all weathers, rather than receive it indoors as formerly. The previous distribution place was the Clayton Arms but it came to be felt that using a public house was inappropriate so the spot outside the distributor's house was used instead. A letter supporting James in this matter spoke of his "humane efforts" to support the poor. Poverty was a sufficiently heavy burden for the aged and sick to carry it said without further indignities being heaped upon them. Some suspected James himself wrote these letters of support. If he did, he was an eloquent writer who spoke with awareness and compassion. He had other battles, refusing to pay the church rate after protesting on its unfairness to non conformists and the inflated costs, as he felt them, of collecting it. He also tried to get the tender for doing work for the new sanitary inspectors in 1865, but failed. We will leave James with his most successful project. In 1865 he was one of prime movers to set up the Marlow Rate Payers Association. No chance now for parish books to linger uninspected! 

I have not found the death of James, but his wife Hannah died in 1880. 

Notes: 

1. 

Bill of exchange. Lee signs the bill promising to pay Croxon (or whoever has the note) 50s at a set time in future. Instead of waiting for his money, Croxon takes this to the bank and they give him a portion of the value owed (minus a handling fee as they are inconvenienced by not being able to claim the funds back from Lee until the note is due to be paid) When the note expires, Lee has to pay the bank who bears the note the full amount stated plus any interest applied. Bills could be renewed, sold on etc. It seems Croxon had paid most of the bills off himself, Lee only being chased when he did not. The banks would not accept bills signed by just anyone. You had to be someone thought a respectable citizen likely to be able to fulfil the amount. 

Note 2. 

Previous brush with authorities for grocer come timber dealer James Lee and daughter Mary Ann Wigginton. The vote of Lee in the 1831 election was considered by some to be invalid. You could only vote if you occupied property of sufficient value in the right area. Lee's vote in the election was based on his occupation of a Dean Street house with shop, stabling and small timber yard. (Dean Street was known as Well End then, it's not the same as the hamlet by Little Marlow) This shop had been managed for some time by Mary Ann, even before her father retired from this part of his business. 

James was however discovered to have left the premises 2 or 3 years before the election, to go and live in Little Marlow. His daughter Mary Ann and her new husband William Wigginton, a barge man, had taken over the shop, and Wigginton's name was above the door. Mary was however still the one managing the business. James claimed that he still paid the rent and used the outbuildings for storage but this was not considered enough to make him resident by those contesting the vote. Their complaint was thrown out however and the vote stood. 

Mary Ann Wigginton was the subject of an coroner's  inquest, held at the Greyhound in 1865. Her husband had accused the doctor (Dr Oliver) attending her of being drunk on duty and hastening his wife's end by giving her the wrong medicine. The full story of that is available here

Written and researched by Kathryn Day 

Related posts: 

To find every mention of your ancestor here, look at the A-Z Person Index in the top drop down menu. There is over 3025 people there. For general Marlow history posts see the General History option here where there are also links to other posts related to crime. 

Chartist Edmund Stallwood here

1847 election riots here

©Marlow Ancestors

SOURCES

Archibald, Thomas Dickson, Streeton, Arthur Towers - Analytical Digest of cases published in the New Series of Law Reports. (1847)

Barron, Arthur Report of Cases of Controverted Elections in the Fourteenth Parliament. (S Sweet, 1849)

1847 Kelly's Directory. (Kelly's Directory Ltd)

Slater's Commercial Directory 1852

The Law Journal papers 1847.

The Sun(London) 22 Jan 1841, 7 Aug 1851, 6 April 1853 - copies from British Library Archive through BNA partnership. 

Bucks Gazette 23 Jan 1841, as above

Windsor & Eton Express 26 Dec 1840

Bucks Herald 31 Jul 1880, as above

South Bucks Free Press 02 May 1862, as above

List of Insolvent Debtors, 1850-1855, (R Jenkins 1974)

1841,51,61 Census transcript from microfilm by Jane Pullinger.