Genealogy Forum for Pubs, Inns, Taverns and Breweries of Birmingham - Help and Information for Family Researchers, Local Historians and Genealogists

Genealogy Forum for Birmingham

Homepage > Genealogy Forum > Birmingham

	Albion Inn	Trevor Street
	I have traced part of my family tree back to the Aston and Nechells areas of Birmingham. My great-great-grandfather was Henry Worsey of Nechells Park Road. He is described, on his death certificate of 1878, as a retired licensed victualler. Does that definitely mean that he ran a pub? Three years later in the 1881 census his widow, Elizabeth, is described as an "outdoor beer retailer". What does that mean? And finally, Thomas Worsey [Henry's father] was described as a "retail brewer" - is that likely to mean that he just sold a bit of homebrew from his house? If anyone out there has any information about any Worsey's from the Aston area, I would be glad to know. Jon Norden Leeds 28th October 2004

Thomas Worsey kept The Vine-on-Nechells Park Road from around 1845-1860. The pub was located on the north corner of Trevor Street though in the pub's early years this thoroughfare was called George Street. The Vine may have been originally located further down the road at No.25 but moved to this corner position when it was developed. I am not absolutely certain of this but the facts I have dug up seem to point to this. In the 1861 census The Vine is certainly listed at No.25 and kept by Edwin Burns, a 30 year-old Brummie-born Die Sinker and Retail Brewer. Having learned how to brew beer from his father, Henry Worsey later kept the Albion Inn on George Street. His Geordie wife Elizabeth clearly picked up the brewing skills for, as you say, she later kept an outdoor on Park Road. In response to your question - this was a retail outlet for her ales but they could only be consumed off the premises. In other words, it was an off licence. Kieron

Click here to find out how to buy this image

Hyde-Arms

Clark Street

My great great grandfather Titus Griffin owned and ran the Herefordshire House which was eventually renamed as the Hyde Arms from about 1862 until his death in 1885. I assume it was sold after his death. His widow Eliza and son Charles Frederick briefly managed the Victoria Inn in Guest Street [from the 1891 Census] but were not there in 1901.
Peter Faulkner Aldermaston 14th October 2009

The Herefordshire House and the Hyde Arms were separate buildings so there is no renaming of public houses in this case. With Clark Street being laid out in the 1850's, the Herefordshire House was probably one of the first buildings to be erected in the thoroughfare...

As you have mentioned, Titus Griffin was an early publican of this beer house where homebrewed ales were produced by his wife Eliza. You are right that it was about 1862 but I have several references to Titus Griffin being at the house in the previous year. The family kept the Herefordshire House until the late 1860's when Titus Griffin raised the finances to acquire the newly-built Hyde Arms on the corner of Hyde Road. This pub can be seen here in a photograph dating from 1961. Operated by Mitchell's and Butler's, the Hyde Arms closed seven years later. Click here to read more about these pubs and Clark Street in general. Kieron

Rising-Sun

Bordesley

I have had a quick look on your site and, although you mention the Rising Sun public house in High Street, Bordesley, I cannot find any details. Can you please help me? I am hoping to find previous landlords please.
Jan Warren Birmingham 27th August 2009

The Rising Sun was located at No.86 High Street which, in the early 19th century, was on the corner of Mount Street which later became Clyde Street. This boozer was a beer house so it only came into existence after 1830. An 1891 ratebook details a beerhouse, stables, brewhouse and piggeries. The building is marked on a map dated 1888 but not in 1902; it would appear that the adjacent factory was enlarged and occupied the site...

The factory was once owned by Ebenezer Hoskins who resided in greener pastures in Yardley but made his fortune in Bordesley. Manufacturing bedsteads, the firm traded as Hoskins and Sewell Limited. The properties on the eastern corner of Clyde Street were demolished in order to erect the Imperial Theatre, a building that later became the Bordesley Palace. The Rising Sun did enjoy a period next to the theatre as the latter opened in October 1899. Here are a few licensees of the Rising Sun with known dates in brackets: John Whitehouse [1845], John Kilby [1869], Solomon Cook [1880] and George Averill [1891]. Kieron
Fantastic. Many thanks for your help with my query. Thanks to you I found exactly what I was looking for. Confirmation that George Averill was indeed a licensee of the Rising Sun Public House in Bordesley, Birmingham and it was so good to get a year too. A great site and where would we be without historians like you.
Jan Warren Birmingham 27th August 2009
Now that I know that it is George Averill you are researching, I can confirm that George Averill is listed in trade directories at the Rising Sun Inn during 1888-1897. I do not have a trade directory for 1887 but I can confirm he was not listed in 1886. In 1898 he is listed at another beer house at No.103 Coventry Road. This was the Old-Lodge on the corner of Bordesley Park Road. George Averill was born in Birmingham around 1851. He kept the Rising Sun Inn with his wife Sarah. Five years younger, she was also a Brummie. When the couple moved to the Old Lodge George also worked as a house painter, a trade which was also followed by son Charles. The couple had the luxury of employing a domestic servant named Isabel Bryan. They kept the Old Lodge for Mitchell's and Butler's who had acquired the pub in 1895. The family were still there in 1905 but disappear from my radar after this date. Maybe they'll turn up in future research. Incidentally, in Kelly's 1899 trade directory there is a Joseph James Averill listed as a beer retailer at No.22 Vittoria Street in Smethwick. Perhaps another member of the clan? Kieron

Samuel Sadler

I am keen to trace a brewery owned by my grandfather, Samuel Sadler, in Birmingham. I think it was functioning between the two world wars; he certainly seemed to be retired by the end of the 1940s. I am not sure where the brewery was but my grandparents lived in Poplar Avenue, Bearwood and I think he owned a couple of pubs which he supplied with his own beer.
Anne Houston Birmingham 29th August 2009

“I don't know who my grandfather was,
I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.”
Abraham Lincoln
Pub Quotations