Great Marlow in 1839
GREAT MARLOW, a market-town, parliamentary borough, and parish, in the county of Bucks and hundred of Desborough. The situation of the town, on the left bank of the Thames, is pleasant and picturesque. Its direct distance from Buckingham is 30 miles south by east, and from London about 29 miles west by north.
There are two principal streets, in the form of a T, and three smaller ones. The parish church, dedicated to All Saints, is a handsome modern structure, which was consecrated in 1835, and is surmounted by a spire. A suspension bridge was erected over the Thames in 1835 ; its span from pier to pier is 75 yards.
The living, a vicarage in the diocese of Lincoln and patronage of the dean and chapter of Gloucester, produces a net income of £172.
In the year 1628 Sir William Borlase founded a school here for the education of poor boys. The number of scholars in 1833 was twenty-four, and the subjects then taught were reading, writing, and arithmetic. The income of the charity at the latter date was £118, 12 shillings and 10 pence, out of which the schoolmaster received a salary of £50. A portion of the remaining income has been appropriated since 1822 to the payment of a schoolmistress, who teaches twelve poor girls to read, make lace, and do plain work.
Besides the above there is a national school, supported by voluntary donations, for educating children of both sexes; there are also the Oxford Lane almshouses, and several other benevolent foundations of minor importance. (See the Further Report of the Commissioners on Charities, pp. 133-145.) The borough has returned two members to parliament since the reign of Edward I. Its population in 1831- was 4,237.
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