Henley Archaeological and Historical Group

MICHAEL Redley, chairman of the Henley Archaeological and Historical Group, gave members an enlightening talk on “The builders of modern Henley” on April 2.

He very kindly stepped in at the last minute as Wendy Morrison, who was due to give the planned talk on the archaeology of the Chilterns, was indisposed.

We hope she will be able to give us her talk next year.

Michael focused on the period 1870 to 1939, when Henley acquired much of its present character.

It was a time when planning laws were lighter and builders of houses for ordinary people rarely employed architects. The schemes of builders shaped the appearance of towns and their thinking had a great practical effect.

One of the first individuals participating in this was Robert Owthwaite.

He was initially a bricklayer and plasterer, ran a cabinet making and upholstery business in Market Place and finally became an auctioneer. From the 1860s, he accumulated land on the St Mark’s estate and after his death in 1887 some of this was acquired by brothers William and Thomas Hamilton and their brother-in-law Richard Wilson.

The Wilson and Hamilton families built around 650 houses.

As town councillors, they took a close interest in the infrastructure — roads, water, sewerage and drainage.

Another of these men, Charles Clements, also with family connections with the Hamiltons, had humble origins.

Born in a beerhouse, he accumulated wealth through acquiring scraps of land.

He was a councillor from a young age and was six- times mayor of Henley.

He was a serious political thinker and activist, teetotaller and Christian Socialist and stood as the Liberal Party parliamentary candidate for Peckham. The men accused each other of acting out of self-interest, but it was a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

On the whole, their many schemes worked out well for the town.

The group’s next talk will be given by Stephen Wass on the subject of “The archaeology of fishponds and fishing in Oxfordshire”.

We will meet, as usual, in the Chantry House in Henley on Tuesday, May 7 at 7.30pm.

Tony Lynch