29 January 1904: Respectable maid wanted for house work; one just left school; indoors – Mrs Stoneham, 53 Thames Street, Windsor
Advertisement: W. G. Stoneham, 53 Thames Street:
‘The Annual Meeting of the Windsor and Eton Royal Albert Institute was held in the large hall on Monday evening [25 January 1904], when there were present: Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill (the president), in the chair, Lady Edward Spencer-Churchill and a number of other ladies, the Dean of Windsor (Dr Eliot), the Vicar of Windsor (Rev. J. H. Ellison), Rev. S. K. Tahourdin, Rev. Albert Lee, Sir Evan Nepean, Messrs T. Clarke (hon. sec.), E. H. Freaker (hon. finance secretary), E. H. Lewis (secretary), W. Fairbank, C. F. Dyson, J. W. Gooch, A. H. Cowley, G. P. Cartland, Purser, H. L. Collmann, A. Bond, E. Bampfylde, R. Wood, R. Ingalton Drake, E. Rowland, A. G. Seymour, T. J. Cartland, D. Cooper, F. Sanders, Goertz, Hayward, Akery, Kempton, R. Brodie, Hester, Holderness (3), R. G. Knight, E. Fuggle, G. Miles, Chadwell, Stilliard, Harrison, Aldridge, Clapshaw, Stilliard, Harrison, Aldridge, Clapshaw, J. E. Gale, Moses, Baker, Stoneham, Brodie, jun., W. Bressey, A. H. Dyson, E. K. Willett, Chapman, Atkins, etc.’
‘Criticism is of the greatest value to progress, for if the criticism is well founded benefit can be at once taken of it: if otherwise, it can be readily refuted by those who have later or fuller knowledge at their command. The object of government is the good of the greatest number, and not merely to clothe with a superficial dignity a select few. Now, if the question of Thames floods is considered, it can at once be seen how useful is outside pressure to an authority. We state without the slightest fear of it being disproved that no man in consideration of his opportunities has been the means of mitigating the plague of floods in the Thames Valley more than has Mr W. G. Stoneham. Any level-headed man can have noticed that much, and had he been the Member for Windsor or a peer of the realm he would have been applauded a hero. Being like the vast majority of us, only a plain Englishman, he was allowed to go to London on Monday last and face an inquiry before the Thames Conservancy by himself – absolutely alone. He generously attributes the improvement in the management of the river to the push given to the Conservancy authorities by the Thames Floods Prevention Committee, but where were these committeemen on Monday? The Committee without Mr Stoneham would have been a ghost, and the fact remains that for the vast improvement of the river, not in the Windsor reach only but from Oxford to Teddington, we have to thank Mr Stoneham. And the further fact remains that he is only man that draws out the fighting force of prejudice in each of the three wards to keep him off the Council board of our town. When the history of the Thames is written in later years it may be that his work will be recognised as the turning point in flood prevention, and then it will appear strange that his own town treated him with such scant courtesy.
‘The annual meeting of the members of the Windsor and District Liberal Club was held at the Gladstone Hall on Friday evening, when there was a large attendance. Mr Watson, the secretary, presented a very satisfactory report. … The balance sheet, which was audited by Messrs M. R. Blackford and F. W. Whittington, was together with the report, unanimously adopted. The President (Sir A. D. Hayter), Hon. Treasurer (Mr W. R. Smith), the Secretary (Mr W. Watson), and the Auditors (Messrs Blackford and Whittington) were re-elected, whilst the following vice-presidents were elected by ballot: Mr A. W. Milner-Gibson, Councillor F. T. Ryland, Councillor Sir J. T. Soundy, J.P., Sir W. C. Bruce, Bart., Mr G. Wargent, Alderman E. Bampfylde, J.P., Mr T. D. Bolton, M.P., Mr J. Taylor, Mr W. G. Stoneham, Councillor J. E. Mitchell, J.P., Mr F. J. Patton, J.P., and Mr C. Pearce. The contest for the General Committee resulted as follows:- C. Mulford 132, W. Walter 123, P. Dolan 122, E. Shrimpton 105, W. R. Smith 101, H. R. Taylor 95, G. D. Williams 95, A. New 90, W. E. Moore 85,W. J. Hearne 77, G. Stinton 73, R. Float 73, W. G. King 66, E. Quelch 65, W. Miles 65. During the evening a splendid full length engraving of the late W. E. Gladstone was presented to the club by Mr E. Hopper, of Alma Road, who was heartily thanked by the members.’
The Management of the Upper Thames. ‘A public inquiry under the Thames Conservancy Act of 1894 was held on Monday afternoon at the offices of the Thames Conservancy, Victoria Embankment, before Sir F. Dixon-Hartland, M.P., (chairman of the Board), Sir Reginald Hanson (chairman of the Upper River Committee), and Mr W. B. Monck (chairman of the River Purification Committee) into complaints made by Mr W. G. Stoneham, of Windsor, in regard to the regulation of the weirs in the upper river. There were present at the inquiry Mr R. Philipson (secretary), Mr J. Hughes (solicitor) and Mr C. J. More (engineer to the Conservancy). On the arrival of three gentlemen appointed to hear the complaints, the Chairman announced that Mr C. Burt being unwell, the Board had appointed Alderman Monck, an up-river Conservator, to assist at the inquiry.’ ‘Mr Stoneham, in opening his case, said: … “Some years since Mr Grenfell, on the suggestion of the Floods Prevention Committee, moved that a commission be appointed to inquire into the dredging in the neighbourhood of Windsor …” … Mr F. Husted, of Windsor, having given evidence that four gates were out of the river at Windsor and nine gates in on the date mentioned. … Mr T. Neighbour, of Shiplake, stated that many residents on the upper river disagreed altogether from the contentions of the complainant. There had never been a time during the last twenty-five years when the river was so well under control as now. Mr Christopher Sainty, managing engineer to the Windsor Corporation Waterworks, considered that the complaints of Mr Stoneham were preposterous. During the present month for nineteen days the water at Windsor had been below headwater mark. This ridiculous nonsense about keeping the level low costs his Corporation £200 a year.’
Proposed Extension of the Borough Boundary. ‘On Friday morning the fourth day’s proceedings in connection with an application of the Windsor Town Council for the extension of the Borough boundary to include the whole of the parish of Clewer Without was opened by Mr Percy Boulnois, one of the Local Government Board inspectors. Owing to the Town Hall being occupied by the County Court Judge, the adjourned inquiry was held at the Royal Albert Institute, and after a sitting which lasted upwards of seven hours, the Institute closed the proceedings the same evening. The same counsel and officials were present as on the former occasion, with the exception that Mr Macmorran, K.C. (who was represented by Mr Fleetwood Pritchard) and Mr Humphrey did not arrive until late in the afternoon. Several members of the various Councils interested were also present during the day. It will be remembered that when the inquiry was adjourned on the previous Saturday the case for the applicants was closed while Mr Lushington for the opposition had addressed the Inspector, and called two expert witnesses. On resuming, the first witness called was Mr A. Robinson, chairman of the Rural District Council, the School Attendance Committee, the Union Assessment Committee, and vice-chairman of the Windsor Board of Guardians, who said he had been chairman of the Rural District Council since 1899, a member of the Clewer Drainage Committee since 1895, and was therefore well acquainted with the progress of the various schemes and proposals. As far as he knew previous to the constitution of the Rural District Council in 1894 there had only been one scheme for the drainage of Clewer Without, but the Local Government Board refused to sanction this, and advised the authority to employ a competent engineer. The Council accordingly advertised, and selected Mr Fowler out of 34 applicants. He prepared a scheme, and a Local Government Board inquiry was held in September 1890 for the purpose of granting sanction to a loan, but this eventually fell through. Mr Fowler prepared another scheme on the ejector system, and a further enquiry was held in March 1890, but this came to an end owing to the opposition of the parishioners, who objected to the terms and to the position of the ejector station. Three new members out of four were returned to the District Council, and the result of their opposition was that the scheme had to be abandoned. Mr Fowler then prepared a gravitation scheme, and lengthy negotiations with the Town Council eventually resulted in the agreement of 10 June 1903. … By Mr Stoneham: The depositing of Windsor’s refuse at Dedworth had been a constant source of complaint … Mr J. E. Gale, clerk to the Rural District Council since 1897, to the Eton Urban Council, the Joint Isolation Hospital Board, the Windsor Municipal Charity Trustees, and for eight years secretary to the Technical Education Committee of the Town Council, said the first thing he had to do after his appointment was in connection with the ejector scheme … By Mr Danby: They had been advised that the Corporation could dispose of the sewage from Clewer for the sum which had to be paid without incurring additional expense which would be likely to increase the Borough rates. By Mr Morland: The District Council maintained the main roads at a sum agreed upon between the two authorities. By Mr Ford (for Mr Humphrey): He can not remember any letters being received by Captain Dyson about the matters of which he had complained. By Mr Buckland: He thought it was simply ridiculous that the rural portions of the parish should be included in the Borough, some of which was three miles from the centre of the town. … Witness said game was preserved on a large portion of the estates belonging to Sir Francis Barry and Sir Theodore Brinckman. … The evidence of Mr Gale shews conclusively that his Council had attended to every letter from the Town Council within a very reasonable time, because they were anxious to push matters forward and to carry out the drainage scheme as early as possible. … Mr W. Menzies said he had held the appointment of surveyor to the Rural District Council since 1895 and for nine years previous was surveyor to the Rural Sanitary Authority. … The letter from Mr Mason, an estate agent, already referred to was received by witness was receivced by witness 10 May 1898 … He did not at all agree with sir Albert Rollit’s remarks anent the Surley Hall Road; sir Albert said there was a ditch running practically the whole length of the footpath, but there was only one short piece, and he had never heard of any one falling into it, or of any highway robberies occurring along the road. … By Mr Glen: The roads made up at Clewer were paid for by subscription, but it was not within his knowledge that more than half of the cost was paid by the trustees of the Clewer Estate … By Mr Danby: He had considered how Colonel Gardner’s property would be affected by any extension of the Borough. By Mr Morland: The maintenance of the main roads was entirely under his supervision, and the county surveyor simply made periodical inspections of them. … Mr F. J. Patton, a member of the Clewer Drainage Committee, said the District Council and the Committee had been exceedingly desirous from the beginning to press forward the drainage business … Dr W. G. T. Woodforde, the medical officer of health, was next called … He considered the health of Clewer Without very satisfactory as compared with that of the Borough, especially in view of the fact that they had a large number of young children and old people, while the population of Windsor included 1,400 or 1,500 soldiers, men between the ages of 18 and 35, in the prime of life and well looked after. … By Mr Foster: He had no doubt that the Corporation dust-heap at Dedworth had a tendency to lower the health of the inhabitants of the adjoining cottages; there was no question that it was a serious nuisance. He had been there himself, and knew what the smells were like. … Mr Danby next pointed out the prejudicial effect the extension would have on Colonel Richardson Gardner’s property, which comprised some 108 cottages let to respectable tenants at rentals of from 5s to 6s per week. These cottages were built some 30 years ago by Colonel Gardner’s uncle, who was member for the Borough, for the benefit of the poorer people in the neighbourhood so that they might be decently housed at a moderate rent. The houses were built in a quadrangle and were provided with a water supply. The landlord also had the refuse removed from the houses, and they were properly sewered as well as being provided with a certain number of lamps. … Major Poulton, the chief constable for the county, said that the County Authority was now erecting stables at Clewer at a cost of £499 to accommodate three mounted men to do duty through the Park between Windsor and Ascot. … Mr Humphrey observed that there were four authorities opposed to the Corporation’s proposal of extension, and he was there to support the opposition of the Parish Council and Parish Meeting. … Mr Stickland carefully examined the agreement made on 10 June, and it was peculiar that this never occurred to him before he advised his Council that it was a satisfactory scheme. Therefore that suggestion looked very like a hollow pretence. … As to the danger that might accrue to Windsor from Clewer, they had had two witnesses, Dr Casey and a gentleman connected with the Fire Brigade, who gave evidence in a rather irresponsible way. … Mr J. H. Strange, clerk to the Parish Council, produced the resolutions passed at the meetings of that authority and the Parish meeting … The Reverend A. T. C. Cowie, rector of Clewer, said he did not know how the people would live if the Borough was extended; there would simply be an end to everything. …. Mr W. Paget, churchwarden of Clewer, estimated that the churchyard would last another fifteen years. … Dr Goodridge said his experience was that in the matter of infectious disease Clewer compared very favourably with Windsor. … At one of the meetings of the Town Council, Councillor Reavell, one of the leading builders in the town, said he thought the incorporation of Clewer in the Borough would be more likely to retard than increase building, on account of the great rise in rates. … Mr Lovegrove: As representing the Board of Guardians I do not think it will be necessary for me to make any observations, because I understand that the division of the parish which the Guardians object to will not take place. … Sir Theodore Brinckman’s house was three miles from Windsor. His only mode of access was by a private road near 1¼ miles from the public road. The house was surrounded by park land and grounds and stands entirely alone. Clewer Park, which belonged to sir Daniel Gooch, had an acreage of about 180 acres, in addition to about 25 houses in Clewer and 14 in Dedworth, and a large portion of the land was solely agricultural. Clewer race course was held on a long lease by Messrs Frail. It comprised an island, and it would be almost impossible to drain it. … The whole of the evidence given on behalf of the Corporation was given either by members of the Town Council or by the officials of the Borough, exclusive of one, Dr Holderness, whose evidence was not favourable to the Town Council. … Mr Foster was of opinion that some part of this area ought to be in the Borough. …’