Eton Wick in the 19th Century: The Village Grows

One of the most important features of the nineteenth century was the tremendous rise in the population and the growth of the towns and villages; Eton Wick was no exception.  It was by no means a constant or steady increase, nor was this to be expected but, crowding apart, it was the decades when the village saw an increase in the number of houses that also saw a rise in the village population. However, there was very little building land available; the jealously guarded Lammas rights saw to that. The alternatives were to divide the land already used for housing by either squeezing houses in between the older ones, or by shortening the gardens and building on them, or to dig up the orchard and meadow still within the village area. Of course, the reasons why any one of these things happened depended on the wishes, interests and, perhaps, the business sense of the individual owners of the land as well as the pressing need for houses.

The years after the Napoleonic wars were lean years, slump years when over the country as a whole there was a dearth in the building of cottages. Many were allowed to fall into ruin and people who had to make the best of such homes suffered.  Yet in Eton Wick at least seventeen houses had been built before the end of the 1820s. By 1841 when the first house-to-house census was taken, there were sixty-two houses, three times the number at the beginning of the century. Several were built by the owner-farmer of Bell Farm, John Atkins, such as Bell Farm Cottages, Prospect Place which used to stand between the Three Horseshoes and the Grapes, and the oldest of the Clifton Cottages opposite the Greyhound.  Others were built by Eton townsfolk who owned land in the village - Hardings Cottages which were demolished to make way for Clifton Lodge old people's flats and the Parsonage.

Most of these were rented working class cottages - the earliest were built of red bricks with peg-tile roofs, but as the century progressed yellow bricks and purple slates became ubiquitous. They were very plain houses with either one room up and one down, or more usually two; each house had a garden, though it was smaller than those of earlier centuries.  This is the housing that has mostly been demolished since the war - perhaps rightly so, for by today's standards it had many defects. Yet in its time it was very good accommodation, comparing princely with the back-to-back houses and cellar homes of so many industrial towns, or the one-room hovels of many country villages.  Several of the houses had wells and others pumps, though no doubt the brook was still used for water. Cottages were expected to share facilities as is clearly shown in a deed of 1833 which specifies the rights of the occupiers of the ten cottages making up Prospect Place to use the one well, one pump and one privy.'  

Two houses did not fit into this general pattern. One was the large six bedroomed house, built 1826 as a gentleman's residence, 'convenient to Windsor and Eton and with a very pleasant view of the Castle'. Today this is the Parsonage; but if it was built as a speculative venture, which seems possible from the advertisement in the contemporary 'Windsor and Eton Express', it does not seem to have been successful, for within a decade the house had been divided to form three dwellings. The other was Thatch Cottage, built in 1833 by Isaac Deverell for his own use. It had quite a large garden and a shed probably used as a cow stall for he was a cowkeeper.


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

The Eton Wick census record for 1841 can be found in this article 

Eton Wick Census 1841

The United Kingdom Census of 1841 was taken on the of 7th June 1841 and was the first of the UK censuses to include details of household members. The total population of England, Wales and Scotland was recorded as 18,844,434 persons.

Details collected include: 

Place: street name, house number or house name.

Houses: inhabited, uninhabited or a building.

Names of each person who were resident in the house on the night preceding the census. For individuals where the given names was unknown N.K. was recorded.

Age and sex of each person: Ages up to 15 are listed exactly as reported/recorded but ages over 15 were rounded to the nearest 5 years (i.e. a person aged 53 would be listed on the census as age 50 years).

Occupation: Profession, trade or employment.

Birthplace, but only if the person was born in the county where the census was taken usually recorded as a yes or no. If they were not born in the county there would be an entry such as S for Scotland or even an F for "born in foreign parts".


The end of each building is shown with two slashes // and the end of each household in a building is shown with one slash /.

The Superintend Registrar's District was Eton Union, Bucks and the Registrar's district was Eton. Enumeration District No. 6.

It should be noted that Eton Wick in 1841 only included the houses on the northern side of the Eton Wick Road as far west as Bell Farm. The 1841 record of houses and households is mainly limited to the roads they were on with only the three farms: Bell Farm, Manor Farm and Saddocks Farm named.

The 1841 Census reveals that there were 63 households and 322 people resident in the village on the 7th June. The oldest person, Thomas Davis with a recorded age of 85, for the 1841 census he is likely to have been born between 1751 and 1756. There was one other resident in their 80’s. The youngest at one day old was a daughter of George and Sarah Deverill who had not been named at the time of the census. There were 7 babies born in the first six months of 1841.

We will be looking deeper into what the census reveals about Eton Wick and publish our findings in future articles. This is the third part of our Census Project.

Click on this link to view the 1841 census transcription for Eton Wick.

Jade Garden - A Brief History

GOODBYE AND THANK YOU CONNIE

It came as a surprise in October, to all the village, to suddenly learn that Connie and family were to leave their ‘Fish and Chips’ shop and the village the following week.  With no opportunity for proper farewells, we asked Chung, their son, to give us their memorable story:-

Image from Google Street View

Jade Garden - A Brief History

In 1988 a Chinese family moved into the village to take over what was then a fish and chip shop named Gray's.  It would start as a partnership with a third party and the business was named Eton Wick Fish Bar.

They were one of the first, if not the first fully non-British family to be welcomed to the village; they were here to work hard and try to make a living in what appeared to be a suitable area.  There were local amenities nearby: schools for their children and, more importantly, plenty of people who were interested in eating Chinese food.  Business was good, with people becoming more accepting, helped by the fact the children spoke English (and the food was good).  In 1994, the business partner was bought out and the shop was renamed Jade Garden.

For the next 22 years, Connie, Kevin and Chung (and a few different chefs) would serve the village and surrounding area with a warm welcome and smiles on their faces.  Families would move out, new families move in, older folk pass on, but Jade Garden, commonly known as Connie's, would remain part of the village.  Different generations of the same family would buy from Jade Garden: couples would start families; their children would grow and themselves buy from the shop and they later might have families of their own and thus the cycle repeated.  

After working 60-70 hours a week for most of their working life, the time became right to sell the business and welcome a new era for Jade Garden.  The discreet announcement may have seemed quite sudden but plans had been quietly progressing for some months and it would not have been appropriate to publicise them until all was finalised.  Connie and Kevin may well have regretted not saying something sooner, as there was so little opportunity to say goodbye.  Rest assured, all customers/villagers/friends will be fondly remembered, especially by Connie with her exceptional memory for faces and names.

Connie and Kevin will be spending their years of retirement in their country of birth, Hong Kong; and their large family will certainly keep them occupied.  Nevertheless, they have promised to visit the UK when they can, so maybe some of you will get to see them again some day.  

From the bottom of their hearts, the family thanks everyone who has ever supported their business over the years and made it such a success.  

Chung (Connie's son)

We heartily thank Connie, Kevin and Chung for all they meant to our community during their twenty-eight years here; and we do sincerely wish them all good health and happiness in their ‘going home’.  We also wish Jenny and her team every success in Eton Wick and may they be here at least as long as dear Connie.

Eton Wick History Group

This article first appeared in the December 2016 issue of Our Village, the Eton Wick newsletter. Our Village is published three times a year by the Eton Wick Village hall Committee

Eton Wick Census 1881

The United Kingdom Census of 1881 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of 3rd April 1881, and was the fifth of the UK censuses to include details of household members. The total population of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland (all the 32 counties of Northern Ireland and what is now the Irish Republic) was recorded as 34,884,848 persons.

Details collected include: address, name, relationship to the head of the family, marital status, age at last birthday, gender, occupation, and place of birth.

The registration District was Eton, Bucks and the sub district Eton. Enumeration District No. 6 and the enumerator was John W. Harding.

It should be noted that Eton Wick in 1881 only included the houses on the northern side of the Eton Wick Road as far west as Bell Farm. 

The 1881 Census reveals that there were 104 households and 519 people resident in the village on the 3rd April. The oldest person, Elizabeth Tarrant was 82 and was born in 1799. There were two residents in their 80’s. The youngest at two months was Emily Murkett. There were 2 babies born in the first three months of 1881.

We will be looking deeper into what the census reveals about Eton Wick and publish our findings in future articles. This is the second part of our Census Project.

Click on this link to view the 1881 census transcription for Eton Wick. Or copy and paste this URL into your internet browser search bar.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UoQH4O_VQjqsknwWAWQUNDY_yrIzz8i4uKnCpkw0s6Q/pubhtml 

The map of Eton Wick was first published in The Story of a Village: Eton Wick 1217 to 1977 by Judith Hunter. 

C.W. HAMMERTON QUEEN VICTORIA RIFLES

Charles William Hammerton (Rifleman) - 1/9th London Regiment (Queen Victoria Rifles) - 169th Brigade - 56th Division - 1st London Territorial Army

Charlie's youth was spent as an Eton Wick boy in a family of three brothers and two sisters. He was born on June 14th, 1894 as the oldest son, but second child of Mr & Mrs Edward Hammerton.

He attended the village infants school until at the age of seven he went to Eton Porny School. At that time the family was living in The Cottage, Boveney Newtown. There was at least one other move to Rosedale, Eton Wick Road, before they finally settled in No. 2 Clyde Place in the same road. He was a regular school attending youngster and was held in high regard. Charlie passed the exam to become a "Porny Scholar" and left the school on July 28th 1908 at the age of 14 years to work at No. 17, Eton High Street for the printing and bookshop of Spottiswood & Ballantyne Ltd. By 1914 he was a trained librarian.

His younger brother Fred is listed in the Parish Magazine of October 1914 as being a soldier, but Charlie is not listed until the following year. This, of course, is not evidence of when he enlisted.

The 1/9th Battalion landed in Havre on November 5th 1914 as part of the 13th Brigade in the 5th Division, and on February 10th 1916 the Battalion became part of the 169th Brigade in the 56th Division serving in the Hallencourt area.

St. George's Day 1915 saw the Brigade in action in the battle of Second Ypres after only a few days' respite following a devastating ordeal on Hill 60. A report of this action states:

The troops although weary from the march went straight into action. It was a wonderful effort, but one without any hope of success. In the face of heavy enemy fire the Brigade gained to within a varying distance of 30 to 200 yards front its positions with courage and discipline of the grandest order but could not get farther.

When the battle of the Somme opened on July 1st 1916, the Queen Victoria Rifles, as part of the 56th Division, was one of the two Territorial Divisions on the extreme left of the line with the diversionary task of attacking Gommecourt. Although reasonably successful the day was not a good for all the British army units. Casualties along the 20 mile front were very heavy and barely any advance into enemy held positions had been achieved. Throughout the summer of 1916 the Somme battle raged, until on October 8th the Battalion was loaned to 168th Brigade to help them dislodge the enemy from his strongly entrenched positions on the Transloy Ridge, preventing the British advance toward Bapaume.

Gunpits on both flanks of the enemy trenches had taken a steady toll of the 168th troops on the 7th October, and in particular of the London Scottish. On the 8th the London Rifles and the Queen Victoria Rifles were sent up in support. An assault was made at 3.30 p.m. but again with no appreciable success. At 10.30 p.m. all the troops were withdrawn. On October 9th they were on the brink of success but artillery support was inadequate, due to absence of aerial pinpointing of opposing guns and the destruction of useful landmarks. As the weather deteriorated with the onset of winter the much hoped for breakthrough never materialised.

It was on October 9th that Charlie was killed, either just before, or during the attempt to drive the German defenders off the Transloy Ridge. That night the 56th Division was relieved.

He has no known grave and his name is engraved on the magnificent Thiepval Memorial, five miles north east of the Somme town of Albert. The memorial records 73,412 names of the missing who fell in this sector of France during 1916 and 1917.

A Parish Magazine report stated:

We wish to offer our sincere sympathy to Mr & Mrs Hammerton in their bereavement. Charles Hammerton bore the highest character from boyhood, and by his devotion to his church and her services, even when on short leave, showed that he continued in the army as he was in the home. We have no details of his death at present but we are sure he proved himself a true comrade and a gallant soldier.

Two years later Mrs Hammerton had more welcome news when she was told her younger son Fred had been awarded the Military Medal for carrying messages under heavy machine gun fire. He survived the war.

Charlie was single and 22 years old at the time of his death. He is commemorated on the Eton Wick Memorial, on the Eton Church tablets and on the family grave in Eton Wick Churchyard.

This is an extract from Their Names Shall Be Carved in Stone 

and published here with grateful thanks to the author Frank Bond.

Charles Hammerton's Commonwealth War Graves Commission page 

Charles Hammerton's For King & Country page 

Charles Hammerton is recorded on the Buckinghamshire Remembers website

Eton Wick Census 1891

The Census of the population of the United Kingdom was undertaken on 5^th April.  The population of the UK that included England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (all the 32 counties of Northern Ireland and what is now the Irish Republic) was 37,732,922.

Eton Wick is described as the part of the civil parish of Eton comprising all the houses and cottages west of the Great Western Railway including Eton Wick, Lillywhites Farm, Saddocks Farm and Eton Sewerage Farm. The whole in the parliamentary division of South Bucks.

The registration District was Eton, Bucks and the sub district Eton. Enumeration District No. 6 and the enumerator was John Langridge.

It should be noted that Eton Wick in 1891 only included the houses on the northern side of the Eton Wick Road as far west as Bell Farm.  The map of around 1875 gives an indication of the extent of the village.

The 1891 Census reveals that there were 102 households and 456 people resident in the village on the 5^th April. The oldest person, William Woolhouse was 86 and was born in 1805. There were three residents in their 80’s. The youngest at less than one month was George Greenfield. There were 4 babies born in the first three months of 1891.

We will be looking deeper into what the census reveals about Eton Wick and publish our findings in future articles. This is the first step on our Census Project that will over time cover all the records from 1841 onwards.

Click on this link to view the 1891 census transcription for Eton Wick. Or copy and paste this URL into your internet browser search bar.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AruAvd8YoLiRxoY352GWKcZaSZK7wmBH9IMqbCv7nI/pubhtml 

The map of Eton Wick was first published in The Story of a Village: Eton Wick 1217 to 1977 by Judith Hunter. 

A.T. IREMONGER ROYAL BERKS

Alfred Thomas Iremonger (Sergeant No. 7937) - A Company 1st Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment - 6th Brigade - 2nd Division

Alfred was born in Eton Wick around 1890, although no early trace has been found of him in the records checked. His parents were Arthur and Catherine Annie Iremonger, and when they moved to the village they lived at No. 1, Tilston Villa, Tilston Lane, Boveney. This is now known as the Eton Wick Road, Eton Wick.

He had at least one sister, who later married and became Mrs Sharpe of Somerville Road. Arthur enlisted in Maidenhead and served with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Berkshires, which was one of the regiment's two regular Battalions. At the outbreak of war the Battalion was stationed at Mandora Barracks, Aldershot. On August 13th 1914 they arrived at Rouen, and 10 days later saw their first action against the Germans, during the long, weary retreat from Mons. At this early stage their casualties were relatively light. Presumably Arthur saw none of this as he is reported as enlisting on September 9th 1914 as a lance corporal. This suggests he may have been a regular soldier a few years earlier and was rejoining his regiment. The facts of this have not been positively established however.

The 1st Berkshires next saw action in the First Battle of Ypres, fought between mid-October and mid-November 1914. On this occasion their casualties were heavier, and so many officers were wounded or killed it became necessary to commission N.C.O.'s in the field. First Ypres has often been referred to as the graveyard of Britain's, small, but very professional army. We do not know when Arthur joined up with the Battalion. He was not in uniform early enough to have been in the Mons retreat, but if he had been a peacetime soldier, reserve or territorial, as the rank suggests, he could have been at Ypres. Certainly he quickly gained promotion, as 12 months after entering the army he was a sergeant in the Battle of Loos.

The battle started in the north of France on September 25th 1915 with the objective of dislodging the enemy from defensive positions in the mining region between La Bassee and Loos. North of the canal, on the extreme left flank, were Indian troops and south of the canal was the 2nd Division. Despite early gains along the front, they were not sustainable and casualties were very heavy. Arthur was reported missing on day three, September 28th.

From The Windsor and Eton Express, we first read:

Iremonger - A.T. Sergeant of 1, Tilston Villa, Eton Wick, enlisted as a lance corporal 9.9.14, is reported as wounded in France, September 28th 1915.

Again on December 25th 1915 the same paper reported:

Sergeant Iremonger  of Eton Wick as "missing".

Nine months later the Windsor & Eton Express, dated 2.9.16., printed an appeal for information with “regard to the notice of missing'". Four weeks later, on October 7th 1916 the same local paper stated that Alfred was now confirmed as killed on or about the date of December 25th 1915. This was the date he was originally reported as missing.

In the confusion of battle, with about 60,000 casualties, ground being gained and then lost, and many men being taken prisoner of war, the uncertainty is not surprising. Not quite so understandable though is the information given by the C.W.G.C. whose report states that he was killed on September 28th 1917 (approximately 21 months later) and that he has no known grave, but is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Pier 11, Face D. The local paper had first reported him as wounded on September 28th 1915, and I can only conclude that there is an error of the year recorded by the C.W.G.C.

The Thiepval Memorial records the names of 73,412 missing men with no known graves. It is situated in a commanding position five miles north east of the town of Albert. Presuming the newspaper report to be correct, Arthur was 25 years old. If the C.W.G.C. is correct, he was 27. There is no apparent evidence of married status. Arthur Iremonger's name is on the Eton Wick Memorial, and also on the Eton Church Memorial Gates. 

This is an extract from Their Names Shall Be Carved in Stone 

and published here with grateful thanks to the author Frank Bond.