Trades men and women of Eton Wick in 1887 & 1897

Businesses operating in Eton Wick in 1887
Arthur Bennett		Shop keeper
Henry Elkins		Carpenter
John Langridge		Farmer
Thomas Lovell		Baker and Post Office
Charles Nottage		Dairyman
Henry Powell		Dairyman
Frederick Smith		Farmer
William Stacey		Beer Retailer
James Tarrant		Farmer
Mrs Trotman		Laundress
William Underwood		Publican Three Horseshoes
Businesses operating in Eton Wick in 1897
Charles Ayres		Shopkeeper
James Ayres		Market Gardener
William Cartwright		Builder
Edward Collins		Dairyman
John Cottrell		Florist
Mrs Isacc Crabb		Shopkeeper
Henry Elkins		Carpenter & Smith
Edward Ellwood		Plumber & Beer Retailer
William Hanns		Builder
Mrs Georgina Haverly		Laundress
Thomas Henry		Boot & Shoe Maker
George Howell		Cabinet Maker
Mrs Teresa Lanfier		Laundress
John Langridge		Farmer
William Langridge		Carman
Frederick Lovell		Draper & Boot Dealer
Thomas Lovell		Baker & Grocer, Post Office
William Middleton		Shopkeeper
Sarah Ann Miles		Laundress

THE EARLY HISTORY OF 24, VICTORIA ROAD, ETON WICK,

EARLY HISTORY, IN OUTLINE, RELATING TO 

24, VICTORIA ROAD, ETON WICK, SL4 6LY.

Photograph above of Thames View Stores
and Eton Wick Road taken in 1913

WILLIAM HEARN : Apprenticeship in saddlery; employment in harness making; more interested in the motor car, driving in 1903; returned to Eton Wick, married in 1906; bought Thames View (by 1991 was Thames View Aquarium), opened a shop and started in business; had some arrangement with 'General' Hill who had a Wheelwright business at the premises now known as 24, Victoria Road; outline plan of area used by Hill before the first World War and taken over by Hearn during the War for engineering.

This plan shows what I remember in 1920. My father purchased the land from No 18 to 36 (present numbers), down to the brook; divided into three plots and retained the centre plot, 24 to 28/30.


Early in the 1920's he phased out  engineering and engaged employees only on a casual basis. Later he discontinued repair and exchange and concentrated on car hire, driving and maintaining his own cars until the end of his life.






In 1924 Thames View was sold and a bungalow erected as shown for our family. A store was made for reserve petrol supply (2 gallon tins) etc. below ground level.

By mid 1930's the bungalow was extended and a new house was built on the adjoining property. A small tank and hand pump for petrol (not for re-sale) was added other changes made as shown.











The Second World War came and the premises not again in use until 1946. Electricity (3 phase) was laid on and the property was connected to the main drainage. Tanks and equipment was installed for petrol for resale. Full motor engineering service was started. The was questioned by the Borough Engineer (Mr Smith) and his Dept. but finally permitted as there had been light engineering industry at the premises well before 1937 so permission not required.

Victoria Road was a cul-de-sac and stopped off at Shepherds Hut Field (now Princes Close). In 1948 this leaflet was distributed to every letter box in the area to make our presence known business card at that time.













My brother soon left working for Hearn Motors to run a business of his own. A small holding keeping pigs and poultry in the field along the back of properties 24 to 36. The plan shows the promises as they were when I sold Hearn Motors in 1952 to B.A.Nuts Ltd. who had rented part of the property for about a year before for their automatic machines. A 21 year lease was granted for the whole premises; an income for my sister who lived in the bungalow.

My sister (3 years old in the photograph at the beginning of this article, outside the shop) sold out to J.T.Ireland for housing development that became Queens Road. The bungalow extension was immediately removed to make way for the entrance to Queens Road from Victoria Road;. She moved out when her new chalet in Slough was finished in 1960. Ireland paid higher rate for premises with light industrial use (leased to B.A.Nuts Ltd.). He appears to have been disregarded it and made application for more houses, but this was not granted and the lease not renewed. I visited the property with Jim Ireland on 11th June 1974. It was empty and not in a good state of repair he offered the premises back for £20,000.



This history was prepared for ASTEEL ENGINEERING SERVICES Ltd of 24, Victoria Road, Eton Wick By J.W.E.Hearn in 1991. 

Next meeting of the Eton Wick History Group July 8, 2015

  

 
The next meeting of the History Group will be on Wednesday, 8th July at the Eton wick Village Hall starting at 7.30 pm. 

The topic for the evening will be  ‘Recall 60 Years On'  (film of the 2005 event) and Eton Wick in WWII’– a tribute to the late John Denham with Frank Bond.

 

Baileys British Directory 1784 - Eton

John Atkins	Boot & Shoe maker	1784
Edward Bovington	Currier	1784
Thomas Flyn	Grocer	1784
Samuel Gill	Basket maker	1784
T. Gotobed	Watch & clock maker & Druggist	1784
William Home	Coach maker	1784
George Kendall	Inn keeper	1784
D. Ludgate	Inn keeper	1784
Constantine Macmin	Carpenter	1784
Thomas Moody	Basket maker	1784
Pitt & March	Linen drapers	1784
Joseph Pote	Book Seller	1784
Benjamin Ride	Confectioner	1784
Messrs Rogersons	Cutlers	1784
James Trigg	Carpenter	1784
Robert Wilkins	Gun Maker	1784
Joseph Williams	Carpenter	1784
Samuel Wilmott	Surgeon & apothecary	1784
William Woolhouse	Grocer	1784

St Gilberts Church

St. Gilbert's Church, Eton Wick (In the Parish of "Our Lady of Peace" Burnham): A short history

It was in 1954 that a Father Dunstan (formerly a Torpedo Boat Coxwain!!) encouraged Eton Wick's Catholics to strive to finance the construction of their own church in the village. At that time, Sunday morning mass was being celebrated in the Village Hall (for which the hire charge was 4 shillings per week and the clearing of Saturday night's debris); and, prior to that, villagers had made their way to 'Our Lady of Sorrows' at Eton. 

A committee was elected, a raffle held and the £3 raised was the first contribution to the fundraising. A few years (and a lot of jumble sales, bazaars and dances) later, construction commence, with the foundations being dug by the parishioners themselves. 

Ten years after Father Dunstan's challenge, on the day before Palm Sunday in 1964, the Roman Catholic Church of St. Gilbert was blessed by Bishop Leo Parker, assisted by the Prior and Chapter from the community of Canons Regular at Datchet. St. Gilbert's was built at a cost of £16,000 on land which was purchased for £1,500. 

by Teresa Stanton

Under the shadow of Eton

The fifteenth century brought a new force into the parish - Eton College, which was founded in 1440. It is one of the earliest brick buildings in England and well over two million bricks were used in its construction between 1442 and 1452, most of which were baked at ' ie Slowe '. Without a doubt a few villagers would have joined the labour force, if only as labourers and one of the elms needed in the construction of the bell tower came from Eton Wick and another from Boveney.

Whether the presence of the College was welcomed or not by the villagers and townsfolk it is not possible to guess, but once established with the Provost and Fellows, its almsmen, chaplains and clerks and seventy scholars, the villagers could not but be very conscious of it for several reasons.  For a short span of years soon after its foundation, the Provost was Lord of the Manor of the Royal Manor with all the associated responsibilities and privileges. In the year 1448 alone the tenants and freemen of the manor were called to the Manor Court at least ten times. The College was also granted the right to hold a weekly market, a six day fair following the Feast of Assumption and a pig fair each Ash Wednesday. No doubt villagers visited them all to buy and sell and just to enjoy the occasions.  The College was also given the right of granting indulgences (the remission of punishment for sins in repayment for penances) to all those who visited the new College Chapel.  Inevitably for a few years at least, Eton was thronged with visitors who brought as many difficulties as blessings - overcrowding, shortage of food and even leprosy.

 

Most of the land which was granted to the College was bought from freeholders of Eton or from part of the Manor of Eton owned by the Huntercombe family, or else had been glebe land, that is land which had belonged to the church. However, even added together these did not amount to a great acreage; but in the coming centuries the College did become an important landlord within the parish, though more by virtue of being a leaseholder than an owner. A survey of the Royal Manor in 1548 shows that the Provost and Fellows of the College were the principal tenants. This land was mostly sublet and much of it lay within Eton Wick.

 

In numerous other ways the College must have influenced the lives of the town and village folk as employer of labour and user of produce, and even for the education of a few of their children; for not until the nineteenth century did it become an almost exclusive school. But perhaps the most important change brought about by the foundation of the College was the demolition of the old parish church and the building of the College Chapel to replace it. The right of advowson (the presentation of a clergyman to a living) was also granted to the Provost and Fellows. Not until the second half of the eighteenth century was there to be another church in the parish; townsfolk, villagers and scholars were all entitled to worship in the Collegiate church. The Provost became the Rector and he and his chaplains, or conducts as they were known, were responsible for the spiritual welfare of the parish as well as the school. From 1769 there was a small chapel of ease in the town of Eton though this early building compared very poorly with the College Chapel which was still the parish church. In 1852 a new church was built in Eton to replace the eighteenth century building and in 1867 a chapel of ease was built in Eton Wick and dedicated to St John the Baptist. Not until 1875 did the Provost cease to be the incumbent when the Rev John Shepherd became the first Vicar of Eton since the Middle Ages.

Because the Provost was the Rector, he was also the tithe owner. He and the College had a right to a tenth of all the produce of the parish with the exception of the tithe-free land owned by the College itself. In the early centuries this was certainly paid in kind, a tenth of the harvest, the hay, lambs and all the rest, but by the nineteenth century at the discretion of the Provost as Rector and tithe owner it was usually paid in money. An old account book of John Atkins of Bell Farm shows that he paid £27 12s 0d for the year 1832. Even cottage gardens were not exempt and when tithes were commuted to money under the Commutation Act of 1836 the tithe payments were set out for all the land in the village.

This is an extract from The Story of a Village: Eton Wick 1217 to 1977 by Judith Hunter.

Eton Wick: The Mortuary.

This picture of the Eton Wick mortuary was taken around 1960 just before it was demolished. It was built in 1913 on the north side of the brook running along Common Road approximately opposite Albert Place, sharing the entrance to the Blacksmith's forge. The occurrence of drownings in the river at that time warranted such a facility; before it was provided the accepted practice was to lay the bodies out in the rear quarters or cellars of public houses, where the subsequent inquest was held. 

An extract from A Photographic History of Eton Wick & Eton