Recreated 1920s High Street Trade Directory Part Two.

Part two= Even number businesses. Part One dealt with the odd numbers.

Compiled from adverts, street directories, property records, letters, news stories etc.

Some properties in the High Street were still residential at this period and so not included here.

Property numbers in the 1920s were not the same as those for the same properties in the 1800s due to significant renumbering. They also do not always match those of modern properties in the same spot. Additionally bear in mind that in the 20th century it became increasingly common for the name of a shop to remain unchanged even after the business was sold out of the family so that a person's name remained connected to a business long after their actual involvement or even lifetime. In this post unless stated all people mentioned were actually running the premises bearing their name.

Looking for more historic occupiers of the High Street or any other Marlow street? See our Street Index for a list of posts about the historic people and businesses of each. For the High Street this includes 1700s and the year 1833 occupier listings. There is also on the blog Marlow wide trader compilations for the 1700s, and 1800-19. Many people mentioned in this post have mentions in multiple other posts on this blog too. To find every mention of anyone please consult the A-Z Person Index on the drop down menu.

*Updated September 2025*

4. National Deposit Friendly Society. 

6-10  James Morgan and Son / J Morgan and Son Ltd drapers, mens' and womens' outfitters, milliner's, mourning clothes supplier and house furnishers. An old Marlow business. My detailed post about this business and the Morgans here. They did not live on the premises however various of their staff were given accommodation there in this period.

14 International Stores. Opened 1901 in a building that had been converted from a house and at the time had also recently been used to accommodate boarders attending Borlase school. Modern Superdrug.

16 L.H Snow (Leonard Hardy Snow) chemists. He lived on the premises with his family. This was a chemist premises for decades. Leonard was there by 1907. Also like most chemists of the day a seller of photography supplies. The shop fittings and stock were damaged in a fire in 1933. Leonard died in 1946 aged 72 in Hastings Sussex. 

The infamous Snow's Bronchial Balsam advertised in 1927. 

18 Thomas Nichols outfitter, also given as Nicholls In 1920 but he moved to 46a High Street by 1921. Thomas was born 1876. In business in the High Street by 1907. Still going in the 30s at the second address. He lived in Claremont Road.

20 George Bailey tobacconist, newsagent, stationer. In business by 1911. Born c. 1867. George also had a bicycle shop and motor garage at no 5 West Street in the 20's managed by his son Robert. The High Street business was still going in 1942 and still described as a tobacconist, stationer and newsagent.

1929 ad

22 Sayer brothers 1920-21 / Barksfield Brothers both grocers and wine merchants. In 1920 and 1921 Sayer brothers are listed at no 22 but in 1923 the Barksfield Brothers shop was there. I am not certain who was personally managing this shop, probably Joseph Barksfield. In 1942 the Barksfield Brothers also operated from number 17 High Street. They were still at number 22 in the early 1950s. Prior to the 1920s this was Bidmead's stores.

24 Clark's butchers. William Robert Clark 1920, Lizzie Clark widow 1921+ . Her son Frank was the shop manager. Long standing family business.

26 Freeman Hardy and Willis. Boots / shoes. First opened in Marlow 1901 on the opposite side of the High Street. Moved to no 26 after 1907.

28 Newman and Chalk ironmongers. My post about the history of this business (unusually for an ironmongers managed by females for many years) is here. 

30 & 32 Frederick William Rowe jeweller, silversmith & watchmaker. Made many of the trophies awarded in local events including for the regatta. He also produced a range of exclusive Marlow souvenirs. The ironmongers next door were sub contracted to repair metal items for Rowe's customers. Frederick and his family did not live on the premises in this era. They bought the shop premises in 1905 having previously rented it. Rowe retired 1946 and the premises became F Hinds, jeweller

36 R Toomer and co coal, coke and peat merchants 1920. Here by 1910. They had moved offices to Station Approach by 1927, where their yard was. They also had a coal business at Bourne End Station and were "by appointment to H.M the King" no less. Toomer had bought the coal business of Thomas Bilson Butler in 1893. This property was later used as part of number 38.

38 Henry Bolton 1920 / Albert Charles Page 1921+ both hairdressers. Albert was also a perfumer and photo dealer. He was already a hairdresser in the High Street in 1910 when he came to Marlow from his previous premises in Cambridge. Initially he was at a different premises. Albert was born c.1890. Son of West Street greengrocer and florist Hiram Page. Albert emigrated to Canada. Neither of the 1920s proprietors of no.38 lived on the premises. 

40 William Henry Goodchild grocer and tobacconist 1920. He later in the decade worked for a grocer in Maidenhead so must have given up his own shop. He lived in Little Marlow Road Marlow.

42 Wallin's dairy (and their home). By 1932 called "Harleyford Dairy".  Sold dairy, eggs, ice cream. Listed as operated by a Thomas Wallin 1915, a William Wallin 1920 and 1921 (who lived in Station Road), a Thomas Wallin 1939 and "T Wallin" in 1942. 

44 later Leo Ryan electrician, but he was still on the other side of the street in the 1920s.

46 Martin's Chemists. Edward George Martin. -In business by 1907, when it was located on the opposite side of the High Street where Harrington's hairdressers is now. By 1938 Martin's had been taken over by Mr H.C Haley but still traded as Martin's. It was still there as such in 1942. Later the name was changed to Haley's Chemists. Looks to have incorporated the property that was technically number 48 too.

46a Thomas Nichols men's outfitter, who moved from number 18 (q.v).

50 Edmund Coster grocer (born 1856, son of Edward Joseph Coster AKA Joseph the Marlow Lockeeper). Raised a congregationalist. As a young man was a grocer's assistant. He had two family members whom he may have assisted in this respect, both in West Street. Grocer Noah Bartlett married Edmund's older sister Ellen, and Edmund also had a grocer relative called Richard Coster. More on Noah here, that post also contains a link to an image of Ellen's grave. By the 1920s Edmund also had hardware shop West Street. In business here by late 1880s. In 1911 both premises were grocers ran by Edmund. Wife Mary (nee Carter). In the 1930s the Coster's expanded into number 52 next door as well. Edmund died in 1930. By 1942 and until at least the 1950s his former High Street premises were occupied by R Brown and Son grocers. 

52 Percy James Rowe office of this architect and surveyor. Surveyor for the brewery but also worked independently. In the 1930s and for a long time thereafter these premises were Coster's tobacconist. Percy lived at the house Daintree, Claremont Gardens.

54 Misses Guttridge and Udy millinery in 1920. Miss Udy was probably Florence Udy who had earlier worked as a draper's assistant. If so she lived with her parents at Woodview, Station Road. This business not listed 1915. Later it operated solely as the business of Miss Guttridge who was styled as a costumier. Florence Udy later traded independently from 17 West Street Marlow before moving to Sussex. Some residential rooms above the premises seem to have been let separately.

58 bank 

60 W.H Smith and co bookseller, stationer.

62 Reginald Higgins 1920 / Theodore Harold Greville from late 1920 or early 1921 / Norman Greville who took over in 1929 all photographers.  Before this period was Scott and Smith photographers. Norman Greville was the younger brother of Theodore and had been running a photography shop in Maidenhead. This business was also continued and sold art supplies too. Theodore also at one point looks to have operated from no 7 High Street Maidenhead. Though raised in Britain, and with an English mother, the men had a German father Adolphus / Adulfus Julius Schwanke. You can imagine that having a German last name in England during the 1st world must have been very difficult for the family. Though Adolphus had been naturalized back in 1899 he was still an object of suspicion for many. In 1918 when the family lived in a farm near Warwick 16 year old Norman (already a photographer's assistant) was fined £5 for falsifying his endorsement signature in a French "alien's" identity book. Norman altered his last name to Swunke in an attempt to seem more English. He had been told that only natural born British householders could endorse with a signature the Frenchman's identity documentation. Norman lived at home with his family so wasn't a "householder" though he may not have understood that. His friend knew him to be a British citizen and foresaw no problems with him doing a signature. Young Norman however was obviously nervous of signing with a Germanic name, so he altered his. A suspicious police officer detected a "particularly foreign" note to the name "Swunke" nevertheless and Norman was first questioned and then arrested. During the proceedings against Norman it was realized by the court that his father was a householder as he had the vote. This they found "undesirable" in a German and it was decided that they should try to disenfranchise him. Norman and all of his siblings legally changed their name from Schwanke to Greville in 1920. Norman was already living at 62 High Street then, as was his brother Theodore, two more brothers Herbert Reginald and Cecil plus a sister Dorothy as well as their parents (who did not change their names). In 1937 Norman exhibited a selection of his own educational talking films to the Rover Scouts in Beaconsfield. He helped the Allies in WW2 by performing aerial reconnaissance photography. This meant that his wife Alice (nee Hickman, m 1929) was often managing the shop. During this period they also offered picture framing. Theodore and Herbert Reginald went on to manage, one after the other, a photography shop in Watford. Cecil became a photographer in Slough. Theodore was also a miniature painter while Norman was friends with the local artist Stanley Spencer so an artistic streak ran through the family in more ways than just photography.

64 Arthur Edward Davis dairy. He was born c.1871. "Marlow Creameries". He and family lived there too at this time. Still there in 1942. A fondly remembered business. 

1929 ad

66 William B Langston boot and shoes.  Full biography of William and historic pic of premises here. Currently The Ivy restaurant. 

84 George Kendall estate agent (established 1897), auctioneer, insurance agent, newspaper correspondent, deputy registrar, secretary to the Marlow Freemasons, collector of rates. He did not live on the premises in the 1920s. By 1942 the estate agent was being ran by Mr H Clanchy though still under the name of George Kendall. The estate agency business in name at least was later located in West Street. 

90 William Henry Badger confectioner. William was also the Parish Clerk and a music tutor. A long standing confectionery business. Biography of his father who was in the same premises before him here

92-94 Catherine Sanson / Samson (Mrs) draper. Lived on premises. Born c.1878. Husband Henry was a travelling salesman for a wholesale clothing company. Moved from Essex though Catherine was a Lincolnshire girl by birth.

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

Selected sources (too many to list!):

Stock Exchange Year-book. Jamaica, n.p, 1933.

Marlow Parish Magazine 1942.

Kelly's Post Office Directory of Buckingamshire etc by Kelly's and Co Limited 1911, 1915, 1920, and 1939 editions.

Programme with adverts for King George's Cinema Marlow 1927 published by S Presbury and co.

Pharmaceutical Journal: A Weekly Record of Pharmacy and Allied Sciences. United Kingdom, J. Churchill, 1930.

 Chemist and Druggist: The News Weekly for Pharmacy. United Kingdom, Benn Brothers., 1933.

The Electrical Journal. United Kingdom, D. B. Adams., 1929.

The Book of Bungalows. United Kingdom, published by Country Life, 1926.

Auto Motor Journal. United Kingdom, Pictorial Press, 1920.

Salter, John Henry, and Salter, J. A.. Salter's Guide to the Thames. United Kingdom, Alden & Company, Limited, 1921.

Holiday Haunts in England Wales and Channel Islands, 1927, Great Western Railway.

The Bankers', Insurance Managers', and Agents' Magazine. United Kingdom, Waterlow & Sons Limited., 1922.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/3100345/leo-redver-ryan/

1929 Marlow Parish Magazine.

South Bucks standard clippings from Aug 10th 1900,  Jan 20th 1910 and Jan 11th 1912.

Bucks Advertiser 13th Jan 1922. This edition from the British Library Archives via the BNA. As was The Hastings and St Leonard's Observer 1st Feb 1947 and the Leamington Star Courier 23rd August 1918.

Watford Advertiser, online edition, 7th January 2010.

"England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVH8-TCVC : 2 November 2021), Edmund Coster, 1930.

1901 and 1911 England and Wales Census. Crown Copyright.

Kelly's Directory of Chemists and Druggists ...: In England & Scotland & Wales, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. United Kingdom, n.p, 1921.

London Gazette 26th October 1920.

Fullicks Grave and Research, Great Marlow

 

 

Running around the top and sides is the message "In Loving Remembrance For Ever"

Mary Ann Fullicks beloved wife of J R Fullicks d. Mar 29 1878 age 38 years. 

AND ALSO:

James Richard Fullicks d Easter Eve 1899 Aged 75 years

Research By Charlotte:

Mary Anne was nee Bird.

James Richard was the last of the Fullicks family in Marlow. He started his working life at Morgan's the drapers in Market Square. He then worked at other drapers. Later he moved with Mary Ann to Windsor but returned to Marlow as a widower. He died after contracting flu.

The couple had no children, or at least none that survived infancy.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use these images for family and local history purposes if you credit this blog.  

The Entertaining Hammerton Family Of Glade Rd/Beaumont Rise

If you were to stroll down Glade Road in the 1880s, you would probably eventually find yourself outpaced by a particularly vigorous octogenarian on one of his shorter strolls, perhaps to Maidenhead or Cookham. If you don't think that's a particularly short ramble for a man the age of James Humphrey Hammerton, he will scoff at your ideas. Known to be a sociable and chatty fellow, he would probably love to stop and tell you how when he lived at Brixton he used to walk to Portsmouth to breakfast with friends. No doubt joining the Royal Navy at the tender age of 10 gave the young James plenty of experience of physical discomfort to harden his constitution! We will leave James to his exertions while we take a look at the entertaining Hammerton family. 

Agent and dressmaker

Browsing the census entries for Great Marlow, you would find James Humphrey Hammerton at The Kentons Glade Rd from 1881 when he's given the occupation of "retired commercial agent" while his daughter Edith is in later life a dressmaker. Both roles sound typical for the generally reasonably well off  Glade Road residents at the time and it would be easy to assume there was not much interesting about the pair. But how wrong we would be! 

I think James, his second wife Jessy and the aforementioned daughter Edith arrived in Marlow around 1876. For James it was a retirement from a busy life but for Edith it was probably the start of an even busier one. 

HMS Victory Souvenirs

James was born 1802 at Newington Butts Surrey. He joined the navy young as a "first class volunteer" and was promoted to Lieutenant. His father, James Hamilton Hammerton was also a naval man and one who was a gunner on HMS Victory under Nelson no less. A looking glass said to have been made from the timbers of the Victory was a treasured family possession and one proudly shown to visitors at Marlow. Naturally with such a family background, James had no shortage of stories of derring do and "breathtaking escapes" from his families naval years. The most famous story of all was that James had - somewhat unwittingly perhaps- saved the life of George IV when the latter slipped when boarding a vessel at Portsmouth. He reached out and grabbed James who managed to steady him and so both were prevented from taking a watery tumble. James was later part of the "Preventative Service" who were on the prowl along the south coast for smugglers. No wonder he was ready to leave the navy in his 20s and settle down to marriage and life in Brixton. 

He was seemingly always interested in science and among his roles in life before he arrived in Marlow was as director of The Electric Telegraph Company in the 1840s. He wrote to various scientific and technical journals about the subject of using gutta percha to insulate telegraphic wires, which he hoped could be laid underground in existing gas pipes. Some of the practical experiments James had conducted sounds alarmingly hands on considering they involved sending electrical currant through wires he only hoped were sufficiently insulated. His chief idea to insulate telegraph wires at their point of mounting onto posts, also using gutta percha, does not seem to have been tried in use as it was feared the material was too subject to weathering to be worthwhile. He is said to have later been the superintendent of the telegraph company charged with laying wires between Scotland and England and also to have worked with the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I wonder if he was a friends of Marlow's native born engineering family, the Clarks - specifically Edwin and Latimer. They all had special interests in many areas of science as well as telegraph systems and they also worked with Brunel. Edwin Clark and James were both enthusiastic members of the Marlow Mutual Improvement Society too, which aimed to bring educational  lectures in reach of everyone. The Victory looking glass, and the naval swords belonging to both James and his father were on display at some of the Society events. And Edwin and James also shared a passion for photography. How interesting the photo albums of James Hammerton would no doubt be for us today. 

Later in life James was a cement and slate etc agent hence his latter description as a "retired commercial agent". 

 Retirement in Marlow 

By the time James came to Marlow with wife Jessy he had retired. They would seem to have had a comfortable life, with a live in servant in their Glade Road home. Jessy died in 1891, after which James was said to have somewhat curtailed his vigorous exercise regime. Perhaps he felt he was finally "getting on" a little. But when he was not physically able to walk too far, was this the end of meeting James around town? Not a bit of it. He had a wheeled chair hired so he could still go out and get his daily dose of fresh air. And when he wasn't doing that, he loved to sit out the front of the house  all day to chat to passers by. But even the redoubtable James could not last for ever and he died at home in his 96th year. (1898) 

Edith Hammerton is a busy lady 

Now we come to Edith Hammerton, daughter of James and Jessy. After her father death she moved to "Holmeleigh" or "Homeleigh"  in Beaumont Rise, which leads off Glade Rd. Both Edith and her mother can be found listed as helpers at church events, but it's after her parents death that Edith seems to have come into her own. After this Edith becomes a whirlwind of energy when it comes to helping the community. Whether she favoured long walks herself isn't recorded but she certainly knew her way to All Saints Church. Edith was a Sunday School teacher for a great number of years. She seems to have been a favourite with the children, who remembered her fondly many years later although they also remembered she was a stickler for politeness and decorous conduct. But what else could we expect from a Sunday school teacher. Edith was a frequent donor of goods and money to the Cottage hospital and was one of its lady visitors. These were generally speaking better off ladies who did the rounds of the sick when it was considered necessary, and also visited within the hospital. A different lady from amongst the committee or subscribers would fulfill the role each week, and they often made suggestions as to how improvements could be made to better support the need of the mainly poor patients. 

Edith could be found serving at parish teas, fundraising for various events, and hosting stalls at bazaars for every cause imaginable. She was also amongst the ladies who decorated the parish church for the Harvest festival. These decorations sometimes seem bewilderingly complex constructions of corn, bread, flowers and produce completely covering the alter etc. I wonder sometimes how the poor vicar made it through!  Works of art they surely were and it's a great shame that images of these ladies amazing creations have not survived. 

Her day job was as a dressmaker until she had earned enough to retire on "private means". Dressmaking seems the inevitable occupation in Marlow of better off unmarried woman who still needed an income to some degree. Edith worked from home but she also employed others to assist her. 

Edith Hammerton died in 1949 aged 92. 

*Did you know that if you go to Marlow Museum you can see a charming miniature kitchen presented by Edith? The accompanying plaque says that it had been in her family since 1796! Please check with the museum that it will be on display before your visit. 

Find out more about this lovely object here: Marlow Museum

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors. 

Related posts: 

Early residents of Beaumont Rise - (Edith's neighbours!) here

Latimer Clark here and Edwin Clark here

The mutual improvement society and Marlow Literary and Scientific Institute - both supported by James Hammerton - here

For other posts about Glade Rd or Beaumont Rise residents - see the street index here

Everyday life in the Marlow of Janes and Edith - here

To look for a specific person use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu. 

Sources:

Marlow Directory and Almanack 1907 

Marlow Directory and Tourists Guide, 1903. 

Marlow Guide 1907. 

Mechanics Magazine, Register and Gazette, 1848 collected edition.  Knight and Lacey, 1848. 

Mechanics Magazine, Register and Gazette, 1849 collected edition.  Knight and Lacey, 1849.  

PCC will of James J Hamilton Hammerton "gunner of His Majesty's ship The Victory" proven 1828  PROB 11/1735/190, National Archives, Kew. 

Prescott, G. B. (1860). History, Theory, and Practice of the Electric Telegraph. United States: Ticknor and Fields.

Bucks Herald 28th February 1891 

Hampshire Telegraph 4th June 1898

Henley and South Oxford Standard - 27th May 1898 

South Bucks Standard 29th October 1897, 29th May 1898, 29th September 1899, 24th October 1902, 30th November 1906. 

Kelly's Directory Of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxon 1883, 1911, 1920, 1939 by Kelly's Directory Limited.

England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N242-NFM : 14 July 2023), James Hamilton Hammerton, 1799.

England and Wales Census, 1861", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MP-3P3Q : Sat Mar 09 01:12:50 UTC 2024), Entry for Edith Hammerton and Ada Hammerton, 1861.

"England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVHB-K4XV : 4 September 2014),

Census transcripts from originals by Jane Pullinger, 1881 & 1891 with thanks. 

Edith E Hammerton, 1949; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.