Vol 12.12 G S Marlow/W A Cooke

Non-Hampton & Richmond Borough related posts.
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Les1949
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Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:59 pm

This was in the programme for the recently postponed Braintree game.......

HAMPTON, AROUND AND ABOUT

Things you may not know, or didn’t know you knew!

No 12 G S MARLOW and W A COOKE
Shadowy Figures from 1921

Continuing my research into names from the earliest days of Hampton FC…

Mentioned in Tony’s Volume 1 of the Club’s history is a G S Marlow, who appears in the early discussions about the formation of the club. Connected with Hampton Court Palace FC he then drops out of the picture. So, who was he?

Tony mentioned that his father was the Park Superintendent of Hampton Court Palace, so that was the place to start. The 1911 census identified William James Marlow and that led to a 15 year-old son, George Stanley Marlow. Found him! At the time they were living in Tennis House, in the Palace grounds.

Vol 1 also has a little more detail relating to his goal scoring record with Hampton Court Palace FC and also that a number of siblings also played for the club.

George scored over 50 goals in the 1919/20 and 1920/21 seasons and had four brothers, Robert William, Reginal James, Leslie Cowles and Laurance Frank but, it is not possible to identify who did and didn’t play in the team with George.


If George is a mysterious figure in 1921, then he remains very much a man of mystery for the remainder of his life as nothing appears in the records until his death in Bridgnorth in 1976 at the age of 85.

Regarding William Alfred Cooke, he was the first Treasurer of the club in 1921/22 and had a connection with Hampton before WW1.

William Cooke was born in 1877 in Carmarthen, in 1901 he was a certified teacher working in St Pancras however, in 1911, aged 33, he was living, as a lodger, in Killarney, The Avenue, Hampton and was Head Teacher of the English School, an Elementary Council School. His brother, Frank was also residing there and was described as a Schoolmaster. The school was located on what is now the site of St Mary’s Church Hall. William was connected with a team related to the school, Hampton English Old Boys – in 1907/08 they won the Teddington & District League, Section B, Division 2 (the league was the forerunner of the post WW1, South West Middlesex League).

In 1916 William was called up to serve in the Army at the age of 38.

William appears in the football club records as Treasurer in the 1921/22 season, presumably due to his record as a Head Teacher, capable of looking after finances and his connection with football prior to WW1.

In 1939 William Cooke was living in Nightingale Road and was described as a Retired Headmaster, however he was also a Volunteer Air Raid Precaution Warden. The main purpose of an ARP Warden was to patrol the streets during blackout and ensure no light was showing and also to advise anyone out on the streets during an air raid to seek shelter as soon as possible (think Dads Army!),


William died in 1950.


The Old Historian
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