A bit of marlow history

This town, a largely undisturbed agricultural community on the northern border of Cheshire County, is the prototype of a Yankee rural village. It was granted in 1753 under the name Addison, in honor of Joseph Addison, British essayist and poet, and Secretary of State for England, who signed the appointment papers making John Wentworth Lieutenant Governor of New Hampshire under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts in 1717.

Although there are persistent rumors that Marlow was named for the English poet, Christopher Marlowe, it seems more likely that, like many New England towns, Marlow is named after a place - and the name "Marlow" recalls Marlow, England. Perhaps some of our early settlers came from that region.

A New Hampshire source supports this view: New Hampshire: A History, Resources, Attractions, and Its People volume 1 by Hobart Pillsbury. He wrote, "It was re-granted in 1761 to William Noyes and others and named Marlow after an English town" (Pillsbury, pg. 234). Genealogical research on the origins of Marlow's settlers might shed light on the issue.

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