Agnes Slow

Subject Name :  Agnes Slow (b ca 1866 – d 1943)

Researchers :  Christine Clarke and Mike Brock

Agnes Slow was a remarkable woman.  Orphaned as a baby, she was raised, educated and trained in the Guildford Union Workhouse.  She suffered a debilitating illness as a young adult before going through a traumatic time while working in a hospital but went on to successfully raise a family with a reformed character who had previously spent some 15 years in prison.

Agnes was the illegitimate daughter of Keziah Slow, probably born in Guildford on 24th January 1866 51.  The reason for this lack of clarity is that neither an official birth certificate nor baptism record has been traced for her.  There are many possible reasons for this, but what is certain is that Agnes’ mother Keziah was in a very difficult situation.

Keziah Bowler had married Godalming-born agricultural labourer James Slow on 26th September 1847 in Puttenham, Surrey 1. Their family quickly grew and moved around different Surrey villages as James sought work on the land 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 

Unfortunately, James died at the age of 42 and was buried on 30th June 1864 at the church of St Mary the Virgin, Shalford 7.

With the death of James, the main breadwinner, it seems certain that Keziah and their five surviving children, the youngest being just over a year old, would have been plunged into poverty.  This is confirmed by the Guildford Poor Law Relief half-yearly accounts book which shows that Kezia received aid which would have kept the family out of the Workhouse 8.  

During this bleak time for the family, Keziah gave birth to Agnes, but more tragedy followed three months later when Keziah passed away age 39 from ‘typhus fever’ on 23rd April 1866 in Quarry Hill, Guildford 9.  The death certificate named her as ‘Kesiah Stoe’, saying that she was the widow of agricultural labourer ‘William Stoe’.  The witness to the death was not one of Keziah’s children which probably explains the misspelt surname.  It may, however, indicate that Agnes’ father could have been called William although there is no record to show that a marriage had taken place or confirm who he might have been.

Now orphaned and without visible means of support, Agnes, along with her youngest half-siblings Ellen, Mark and Arthur, were thrown into the Poor Relief system and sent to the Guildford Union Workhouse 10.

One benefit that workhouse children had compared to others outside the system at this time was that they received a basic education before it became compulsory in England in 1880 11.  The Guildford Union Workhouse School had been built in 1856.  Training for employment was also given so that workhouse children might prove to be self-sufficient when they left, usually around the age of 13.

This is almost certainly what happened with Ellen, the oldest of the quartet, as the 1871 Census showed her to be working as a servant in Paddington, London 12.  Agnes, age 5, and her half-brothers Mark, 11, (actually 13), and Arthur, 8, were listed as scholars in the Guildford Union Workhouse 13. 

Mark also seemed to benefit from the Guildford Union system because he became a shoemaker and was able to go on to support a wife and her family in London 14.  Arthur followed in his late father’s footsteps to work on the land, and by 1881, was employed and living on a farm at Highcombe Bottom, Elstead, near Godalming 15.

Thus, in the 1881 Census, Agnes, 14 (actually 15) and still described as a scholar, was the only one of the Slow family remaining in the Workhouse 16.  Like her half-sister Ellen, Agnes almost certainly would have been receiving training to be in service. 

This is what seemed to have happened, since the next traced official record for Agnes described her as a 23-year-old ‘general servant’ from Guildford, as a patient at St. Peter’s Memorial Home, Maybury Hill, Woking 17.  She had been admitted on 28th July 1890, and was now calling herself Agnes Kezia Slow, having adopted her mother’s name.

St Peter’s Memorial Home opened in October 1885 to provide for ‘incurables’ and to admit patients that were refused by other homes 18. It was run by the Anglican Sisterhood of St Peter, which had been established by benefactors in 1861 as a religious community devoted to nursing, seeking to help the impoverished sick, and provide convalescent care for women and children.

Agnes’s details in the hospital register were written by one Sister Ella.  Agnes was in a ‘Guildford flu bed’ and had been recommended by Miss Ada Greenaway of Staffa Lodge, Waterden Road, Guildford.  Interestingly, her guarantor was Miss Dodgson of The Chestnuts, Guildford, sister of author Charles Dodgson, better known by his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll 19.

Sister Ella described Agnes as having been ill for about a year, suffering from debility and bronchitis.  Her biographical details stated that both her parents were dead, that her father’s name was unknown and that she had been sent to the Guildford Union Workhouse at around three months old.  Agnes had been educated in the Workhouse school and sent into service at the age of 13.  She had been confirmed a year later at Christ Church, Waterden Road, Guildford.

On 10th October 1890, Agnes was transferred to The Brompton Hospital, London 20.  Then, as now, this establishment specialised in the treatment of chest infections and complaints 21.  Agnes was admitted onto Princess Ward with her place of residence given as ‘c/o Miss Dodgson, The Chestnuts, Guildford’.  Happily, she was discharged 12 days later, the hospital stating that her condition was ‘improved’ and that she had no chest disease.

Whether Agnes returned to Guildford is not clear, but the following year on 5th April 1891, the date of the Census, Agnes was boarding at 43 Southwater Road, Hastings (now St Leonards-on-Sea), Sussex 22.  She was an unmarried 24-year-old domestic servant, with the head of this establishment Louisa Baker described as a ‘Matron’.  Apart from Louisa’s seven-year-old nephew and two servants, there were seven young unmarried women including Agnes boarding there, mainly servants. Perhaps Agnes was there for recuperation in the fresh sea air, or she might potentially have been undertaking some basic nursing training as a servant at one of the many nearby hospitals.  The Buchanan Cottage Hospital had originally been at 24 Southwater Road from 1881 to 1884, before being relocated to larger premises nearby 23. As Agnes had recently spent nearly three months being treated in hospital, she may have gained an interest in nursing through that. 

Agnes did not stay long in Hastings, soon returning to Guildford to begin working at the Guildford Isolation Hospital.  She was employed as a casual nurse, meaning that she was not fully trained.  Patients at the hospital were suffering from conditions such as diphtheria and it was the death of three-year-old Ethel Heilbron in December 1892 while 26-year-old Agnes was on duty with no qualified nurse available that led to a public inquiry into the circumstances 24.  At the hearing, the Medical Officer of the hospital Thomas Schollick said that shortly before the child had died, he had requested for a trained nurse to work in the diphtheria ward, but no one was available.  Mr Schollick said that Agnes ‘had done her best’ but she was not a fully trained nurse and could not be held responsible for Ethel’s death.  No blame therefore was attached to Agnes, but further investigation within the hospital was carried out to attempt to resolve its working practices which had left Agnes in such an awful position 25.

This was clearly a distressing episode for her, and it is not known whether Agnes was able to continue to work at the hospital.

The fortunes of Agnes had changed for the better by the time of the 1901 Census which showed her apparently married to William D Marshall, 41, a gravel digger born in Normandy, Surrey 26.  They were boarding at 12 Queen’s Road, Stoke, Guildford.  No marriage record has been traced. It is possible that they had known each other for a long time as 20 years previously Agnes was in the Workhouse with two of William’s younger siblings and his widowed father 16, 27, 28.  With no admission records available, it is not known if William, six years older than Agnes, had also been there sometime during her childhood.

William, going by what was stated in that 1881 Census, had appeared to have been doing well 29.  He was described as a 22-year-old unmarried private soldier in the 66th Regiment of Foot, visiting his brother George in North Square, Stoke Next Guildford.  The full truth, however, was somewhat different, as five months later, William was sentenced to three months imprisonment for ‘false enlistment’  30.  This had followed a catalogue of convictions since 1876 which included William stealing a watch from his brother Thomas 31.  Worse was to follow, as on 4th June 1883, William was sentenced to seven years in gaol for a ‘brutal and unprovoked assault’ on a woman 32.

Eleven years later, acting under the pseudonym William Jones, he received another seven-year sentence, again for robbery and assault of a woman 33, 34. 34-year-old William was sent to Borstal Prison, Rochester, Kent which at that time housed both adult and juvenile offenders 35. 

William was released on 13th January 1900.  His intended address was 29 Brooke Street, Holborn, the location of St Giles Christian Mission which carried out relief work with discharged offenders 36.  This was just a few weeks short of his 40th birthday 50.

What brought Agnes and William together in Guildford in the following year is likely to remain unknown, but it was undoubtedly a huge turning point in both of their lives.

Agnes and William’s first child Rosie May was born on 15th August 1903 in Abinger Hammer, a small village in the Mole valley just west of Dorking 37. Sadly she died just a few months later 38.  A second child, William Richard, was born there on 14th December 1904 39, 50, with a daughter Agnes following on 25th July 1906 40, 50.

By the time of the 1911 Census, the family had moved a short distance east to Westcott, living at 2 Rose Cottage, St John’s Road 41.  Mother Agnes was 41 (actually 45), husband William a 51-year-old farm labourer and children William, 6, and Agnes, 4. They also had a lodger.

The family were still in St John’s Road in the 1921 Census, with Agnes and William having adopted Arthur Albert Marshall who was born in 1919 in Dorking 42. William, 61, and 16-year-old son William were both employed as builder’s labourers in Abinger. Like in 1911, the family was still accommodating a lodger.

Daughter Agnes married Percy Plaw in 1928, remaining in St John’s Road 43, 44.  Three children were born there – Frank in 1930, Dorothy (also known as Joyce) a year later and Margaret in 1935 45, 50.  Electoral rolls for 1936 showed that the new grandparents Agnes and William were at 4 Sandy Lane, Westcott, while the young family had moved to 4 Parsonage Lane, Westcott 46, 47. Agnes and William’s son William had married Charlotte Fuller in 1934 and they settled just a few miles away in Brockham 48, 49. 

By the time of the 1939 Register 73-year-old Agnes – mistakenly noted as 83 – and husband William, 79, a retired general labourer, had moved in with their daughter Agnes and family at 4 Parsonage Lane 50.  Agnes and William’s adopted son Arthur, 19, an electric cooker assembler, completed the household.

World War II had begun on 3rd September a few weeks before the Register was taken, so it was not long before Arthur enlisted in the Army, joining the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment on 15th November 51.  He was to survive the conflict, living into his nineties 52.

Just over five weeks after Arthur signed on, William passed away at home on 20th December age 79 53.  Agnes remained with her daughter and family until she died from “myocardial degeneration”, age 77 at home on 16th June 1943 54.

April 2023, updated November 2023

References

  1.  James Slow & Keziah Bowler 26 Sep 1847 Marriage England, Surrey Parish Registers 1536-1992; Puttenham, St John the Baptist 1837-1989, ref 7707/2 and PUT/2/2/3, page 19. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey.  org / FindMyPast.co.uk
  2. James, Kezia, Caroline, Charlotte Slow 1851 Census return for Godalming, Woking, Guildford, Surrey. Public Record Office Class HO107; Piece 1594; Folio 668; Page 27. Ancestry.co.uk
  3. George Slow 20 Feb 1853 Baptism Surrey Church of England Parish Registers 1813-1921; Peper Harow St Nicholas 1813-1910, ref Pep/1/5, page 54. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey. Ancestry.co.uk
    George Sloe 27 May 1853 Burial Surrey Church of England Parish Registers 1813-1997; Godalming St Peter & St Paul 1842-1880, ref GOD/5/2, page 115. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey.  Ancestry.co.uk
  4. James, Kezia, Caroline, Charlotte, Elen, Mark, Sidney Slow 1861 Census return for Shalford, Cranley, Hambledon, Surrey. Public Record Office Class RG 9; Piece 438; Folio 152; Page 11. Ancestry.co.uk
  5. Sidney Sloe 24 Feb 1862 Burial Surrey Church of England Parish Registers 1813-1997; Shalford St Mary the Virgin 1835-1908, ref SHD/4/2, page 73. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey. Ancestry.co.uk
  6. Arthur Slow 12 Apr 1863 Baptism Surrey Church of England Parish Registers 1813-1921; Shalford, St Mary the Virgin 1835-1880, ref SHD/3/2, page 115. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey. Ancestry.co.uk
  7. James Slow 30 Jun 1864 Burial Surrey Church of England Parish Registers 1813-1997; Shalford St Mary the Virgin 1835-1908, ref SHD/4/2, page 73. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey. Ancestry.co.uk
  8. Kezia Slow 1865 Michaelmas Half Year, pages 18, 21,34; 1866 Lady Day Half Year, page 16; 1866 Michaelmas Half Year, page 26. Guildford Poor Law Half Yearly Accounts 1864-1871, BG6/33/1. Surrey History Centre Woking
  9. Kesiah Stoe 23 Apr 1866, Apr-May-Jun quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915, Guildford Surrey, volume 2a, page 34. Ancestry.co.uk  
    Copy of original certificate from General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  10. Ellen, Mark, Arthur, Infant Slow 1866 Michaelmas Half Year, page 11. Guildford Poor Law Half Yearly Accounts 1864-1871, BG6/33/1. Surrey History Centre Woking
  11. Education Children in the Workhouse A brief history, pages 5-8, author Kay Handford, published by The Charlotteville Jubilee Trust Ltd, Guildford, issue 2 March 2010. Available at The Spike Heritage Centre, Guildford. GuildfordSpike.co.uk
  12. Ellen Slow 1871 Census return for St Mary Paddington, London. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG10; Piece 14; Folio 18; Page 30. Ancestry.co.uk
  13. Mark, Arthur, Agnes Slow 1871 Census return for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG10; Piece 813; Folio 80; Page 5. Ancestry.co.uk
  14. Mark, Ellen Slow; Emma, Harry, Matilda, Harry WR, Mathena LR Munday 1891 Census return for Eltham, Lewisham, London. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG12; Piece 516; Folio 6; Page 8. Ancestry.co.uk
  15. Arthur Slow 1881 Census return for Elstead, Hambledon, Surrey. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG11; Piece 790; Folio 92; Page 6. Ancestry.co.uk
  16. Agnes Slow 1881 Census return for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG11; Piece 778; Folio 92; Page 6. Ancestry.co.uk
  17. Agnes Keziah Slow 28 Jul 1890 Surrey Institutional Records 1788-1939, Woking, St Peter’s Memorial Home Patients 1885-1908, Register 7805/6/32, page 60. Surrey History Centre, Woking Surrey.cc.gov.uk / FindMyPast.co.uk
  18. The St Peter’s Convent and Memorial Home Author Ian Wakeford, 2015, reference 150807 Woking.History.org
  19. Lewis Carroll Death en.wikipedia.org
  20. Agnes Slow 10 Oct 1890 Admission Register for the Brompton Hospital, reference RLHBH/M/3/36; Admission Number 17739; Register Number 26535. Barts Health NHS Trust Archives
  21. Royal Brompton Hospital en.Wikipedia.org
  22. Agnes Slow 1891 Census return for 43 Southwater Road, Hastings, Sussex. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG12; Piece 764; Folio 44; Page 35. Ancestry.co.uk
  23. Buchanan Hospital Historical Hastings HistoryMap.info/Buchanan Hospital
  24. Inquest on a Child. The Management of the Isolation Hospital. Censure by the Coroner 24 Dec 1892, page 5, The Surrey Advertiser and County Times. British Newspaper Archive / FindMyPast.co.uk
  25. The Isolation Hospital. Two Chief Officials Receive Notice 4 Feb 1893, page 6, The Surrey Times. British Newspaper Archive / FindMyPast.co.uk
  26. William D, Agnes K Marshall 1901 Census return for Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG13; Piece 603; Folio 46; Page 35. Ancestry.co.uk
  27. William, James, Ruth Marshall 1881 Census return for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG11; Piece 778; Folio 93; Page 8. Ancestry.co.uk
  28. Wm, Thos, Ann, Geo, Wm, Rosina, Jas, Ruth Marshall 1871 Census return for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG10; Piece 815; Folio 72; Page 5. Ancestry.co.uk
  29. George, William D Marshall 1881 Census return for Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG11; Piece 777; Folio 4; Page 1. Ancestry.co.uk
  30. False Enlistment 26 Sep 1881, page 3, The Surrey Advertiser and County Times. British Newspaper Archive / FindMyPast.co.uk
  31. The Charge of Robbing a Brother 8 Dec 1877, page 5, The West Surrey Times and Horsham Star British Newspaper Archive / FindMyPast.co.uk
  32. The Assault on Miss Harms 9 Jun 1883, page 5, The West Surrey Times and Guildford Gazette
    Highway Robbery at Merrow 9 Jun 1883, page 8, The West Surrey Times and Guildford Gazette British Newspaper Archive / FindMyPast.co.uk
  33. Our Surrey Summary 22 Sep 1894, page 5, The Surrey Mirror British Newspaper Archive / FindMyPast.co.uk
  34. William Jones alias William Marshall 1900 UK Registers of Habitual Criminals and Police Gazettes, 1834-1934; Metropolitan Police, Criminal Record Office, Habitual Criminals Register Reference:MEPO 6/12a.  Ancestry.co.uk
  35. Borstal Prison The Institutional History Society  InstitutionalHistory.com
  36. St Giles Christian Mission (case 247) Vol 1 : Correspondence & papers May 1901-1902, reference : A/FWA/C/D/19/001. Held by the London Metropolitan Archives, City of London / The National Archives, Kew   Discovery.NationalArchives.gov.uk 
  37. Rosie May Marshall 15 Aug 1903, Jul-Aug-Sep quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915, Dorking, Surrey, volume 2a, page 187. Ancestry.co.uk  
    Copy of original certificate from General Register Office GRO.gov.uk   
  38. Rosie May Marshall 1904, Jan-Feb-Mar quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915, Dorking, Surrey, volume 2a, page 123. Ancestry.co.uk
  39. William Richard Marshall 1905, Jan-Feb-Mar quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915, Dorking, Surrey, volume 2a, page 183. Ancestry.co.uk  
  40. Agnes Marshall 1906, Jul-Aug-Sep quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915, Dorking, Surrey, volume 2a, page 183. Ancestry.co.uk
  41. William Daniel, William Richard, Agnes Keziah, Agnes 1911 Census return, Westcott, Dorking, Surrey. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG14; Piece 3189; Schedule 56. Ancestry.co.uk
  42. William Daniel, Agnes Keziah, William Richard, Agnes, Arthur Albert Marshall 1921 Census of England & Wales, St John’s Road, Westcott, Dorking. The National Archives, Kew; Class RG15; Piece 03284; Schedule 142, District Reference RD 36 RS 1 ED 10, 11. FindMyPast.co.uk
  43. Agnes Marshall & Percy A F Plaw 1928, Oct-Nov-Dec quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005, Dorking, Surrey, volume 2a, page 494. Ancestry.co.uk
  44. Agnes Kiziah sic Marshall, William Daniel Marshall, William Richard Marshall St John’s Road, parish of Milton (Westcott), Dorking, Reigate, Surrey Electoral Registers 1934, reference CC802/51/7, page 13. Surrey history Centre, Woking / Ancestry.co.uk
    Percy Arthur Frank Plaw, Agnes Plaw St John’s Road, parish of Milton (Westcott), Dorking, Reigate, Surrey Electoral Registers 1934, reference CC802/51/7, page 15.  Surrey History Centre, Woking / Ancestry.co.uk
  45. Frank R Plaw 1930, Jan-Feb-Mar quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007, Dorking, Surrey, volume 2a, page 329. Ancestry.co.uk
    Dorothy M Plaw 1931, Jan-Feb-Mar quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007, Dorking, Surrey, volume 2a, page 342. Ancestry.co.uk
    Margaret H Plaw 1935, Oct-Nov-Dec quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007, Surrey South Eastern, volume 2a, page 669. Ancestry.co.uk
  46. William Daniel Marshall, Agnes Keziah Marshall, 4 Sandy Lane, parish of Milton (Westcott), Dorking, Reigate, Surrey Electoral Registers 1936, reference CC802/53/7, page 13. Surrey History Centre, Woking / Ancestry.co.uk
  47. Percy Arthur Frank Plaw, Agnes Plaw 4 Parsonage Lane, parish of Milton (Westcott), Dorking, Reigate, Surrey Electoral Registers 1936, reference CC802/53/7, page 18. Surrey History Centre, Woking / Ancestry.co.uk
  48. William R Marshall & Charlotte Fuller 1934, Jul-Aug-Sep quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005, Surrey South Eastern, volume 2a, page 1393. Ancestry.co.uk
  49. William Richard Marshall & Charlotte Fuller 15 Oakdene Road, parish of Brockham, Dorking, Reigate, Surrey Electoral Registers 1936, reference CC802/53/7, page 15. Surrey History Centre, Woking / Ancestry.co.uk
    William R, Charlotte Marshall 1939 England and Wales Register for 13 Oakdene Road, Dorking, Surrey.  The National Archives, Kew; reference RG101/1884g. Ancestry.co.uk
  50. Percy AF, Agnes, Frank, Joyce, Margaret A Plaw; William, Agnes, Arthur Marshall 1939 England and Wales Register, 4 Parsonage Lane, Dorking, Surrey. The National Archives, Kew; reference RG101/1884a. Ancestry.co.uk
  51. Arthur Albert Marshall 15 Nov 1939 Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment, Regimental Rolls, 1939 Enlistment Register, Book 16, reference 7791/1/1/24. Surrey History Centre, Woking / Ancestry.co.uk
  52. Arthur Albert Gregory Marshall 12 May 2011 England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1989-2022, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6. Ancestry.co.uk
  53. William D Marshall 20 Dec 1939, Oct-Nov-Dec quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007, Surrey South Eastern, volume 2a, page 1181. Ancestry.co.uk
    Copy of original certificate from General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  54. Agnes K Marshall 16 Jun 1943, Apr-May-Jun quarter England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007, Surrey South Eastern, volume 2a, page 690. Ancestry.co.uk
    Copy of original certificate from General Register Office GRO.gov.uk