The Black Horse Inn was located on the eastern side
of Belgrave Gate between Gower Street and Grosvenor Street. It was a
homebrew house run by the maltster and brewer William Brown for much
of the first half of the 19th century. John and Sarah Swift kept the
beer houseduring the
1860's. Born in 1821, John Swift hailed from Scraptoft. His wife Sarah
was born two years earlier in Willoughby, Nottinghamshire. By 1887 the
Black Horse was operated by T.Leary & Sons who installed Andrew Tolley
as manager. However, he was soon succeeded by John and Honoria
Broderick, an Irish couple who had previously lived in Great Holme
Street. A former Chelsea pensioner, John Broderick was in his seventies
when running the pub.
This
former
beer housewas located
next to the Malt Shovel. It was a licensed house with
a short life, quite the norm in the early years of Victorian
legislation. In 1861 the pub was kept by widower Millicent
Preston. She was born in
Enderby in 1789. She later moved to her
son Ephraim's property in Brook Street from where he traded in fish.
This was a departure from his previous life as a wood turner, a trade in
which his brothers Thomas and Nathaniel were engaged. They grew up
together at another pub in Leicester as Millicent and Thomas Preston
once kept a boozer in Sanvey Gate in the 1840's before the family moved
to Blackfriar's Street. Millicent Preston died in 1871.
The Crown and Anchor was located on the north corner
of Navigation Street, roughly on or under today's Burleys Flyover. The
fully licensed pub was a
homebrew house run by the maltster and brewer Robert Briggs for much
of the first half of the 19th century. He kept the pub with his wife
Mary. The couple hailed from Northamptonshire. Joseph and Mary Brown
were running the Crown and Anchor in the early 1860's. A decade earlier
they were at the
Pelican
on Gallowtree Gate. In 1871 Joseph Brown was recorded as a licensed
victualler, wine and spirit merchant and cattle dealer. He later moved
with his wife Mary and extended family to Stanley Villas, an affluent
property on Humberstone Road. Employing four men and two boys, he
continued to farm some 174 acres of land. Surviving his wife, he died in
1894. The Crown and Anchor passed to son John Stanley Brown who kept the
pub with his Shropshire-born wife Mary Ann. It was during their tenure
that a Primitive Methodist Chapel was erected on the opposite corner on
a site formerly occupied by a slate and timber yard operated by J. and
W. Jackson. A small dancing room was also located here in the mid-19th
century.
By the 1890's John and Mary Ann Brown had moved to the
Pelican
on Gallowtree Gate so I presume this had remained in the family in the
interim years. Henry and Sarah Bray succeeded the Brown family at the
Crown and Anchor. They had previously worked in the the textile trade
when living close to the
George and Dragonin
Kent Street.
This pub was located on the eastern side
of Belgrave Gate next door to theWhite Swan Inn.
55 year-old John Boot was the publican at the time of the 1861 census.
He kept the pub with his Mary - and did so for at least a decade.
Rothwell-born former silk weaver Benjamin Walker was in charge of the
Crown and Cushion in the early 1880's. He and his wife Emma had lived in
the parish for a number of years. Benjamin Walker worked as an elastic
web weaver in a local factory. The Walker's were succeeded by George and
Elizabeth Hill. George was a Yorkshireman but his wife hailed from
Nottinghamshire. It looks as though the Crown and Cushion may have
offered entertainment as the 1901 census records a comedy duo, Bob and
Alma Baxter, lodging at the pub. At this time the Crown and Cushion was
managed by James and Elizabeth Jones. Their daughter was born in
Massachusetts,
suggesting the couple had tried their luck on the other side of the
Atlantic ocean.
This pub stood next to the Sultan
Vaults.
As England entered the late 18th
century, a fashion for breeding farm animals swept the country.
Royalty, nobility and commoners alike competed side by side for
livestock prizes at agricultural shows. The goal? Breed the largest
animal on the least amount of food, in the shortest period of time. It
wasn't just a contest, though. The population was increasing rapidly,
and people were moving off the land into towns and cities. That caused
an increase in the demand for meats, and farm animal owners rose to the
challenge. The competition to breed the largest cattle, pigs and poultry
was fierce during this hugely popular period of experimentation. Pigs
were bred so fat they could not stand on their own, and cows weighing
some 2,800lbs toured the country on exhibition. Today the demand for
lean meat results in livestock looking much different, so it is hard for
us to believe these grotesquely large animals ever existed. But they
did. We find these animals, many now extinct, endangered or evolved
beyond recognition, fondly remembered in livestock portraits of the day,
virtually the only record of an all-but-vanished agricultural heritage.
The superstar of the day - that is, the most famous animal in all the
land because of its size, was The Durham Ox. A print of this giant
beast, produced in 1802 by John Boultbee, sold 2,000 copies within a
year and was displayed in homes, inns and coaching houses. The animal's
image even made its way onto an entire blue and white Staffordshire
dinner service. The ox's owner sent the celebrated animal from one
agricultural fair to another pocketing a portion of the admission fees.
The Durham Ox toured the country in a specially constructed carriage
which was drawn by four horses; if the going was tough, six horses had
to be used to pull the carriage. There are conflicting accounts as to
the weight of the Durham Ox because the "stone," the measuring unit of
the time, was not standardised. The ox probably tipped the scales around
2,400 pounds and stood five feet, five inches at the shoulders. Records
of its size exist because they were measured by artist George Garrard
for his 1802 'A Fat Holderness Ox called the Wonderful Ox (The Durham
Ox).' Despite its size, the Durham Ox appears to have been in good
health and would have lived a long life. He was, after all, a show
animal and not meant for the dinner table. However, following an
untimely accident in 1807, the ox dislocated a hip bone and had to be
slaughtered. The story of the Durham Ox illustrates the fascination
English people had with these large farm animals, why owners would
commission artists to paint them, and the effects the new breeding and
feeding techniques would have on animal husbandry forever.
Naturally, the animal was the inspiration behind many an inn sign.
John Weston was the publican of the
Durham Ox in the early 1860's. Born in Thurmaston
in 1811, he kept the pub with his wife Harriet who hailed from Kilby
Bridge. Following his death, Harriet went to run the
Rutland Arms on the other side of the road.
Former sawyer Henry Sketchley and his wife Elizabeth were mine
hosts of the Durham Ox in the early 1870's.
Formerly called the Waterworks Tavern, the Earl Cardigan
[or sometimes the Earl of Cardigan] was technically in Foundry Square
but this did form part of Belgrave Gate so is included here. It was as
the Waterworks Tavern that the pub was run by
Mrs F. Carter
in the mid-1850's. The name had changed by the time William Kirby was
running the pub with his wife Mary. He was born locally but she hailed
from the village of
Barlestone.
The pub changed its name in honour of James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl
of Cardigan, who died in 1868. He was the officer in command of the
Light Cavalry Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava and led the Charge of
the Light Brigade on October 25th 1854. He was probably considered a
hero during the Victorian period. However, in subsequent years he is
viewed as nothing short of an incompetent idiot who bought his rank and
abused his power. Indeed, after he was dismissed from the army, Lord
Hill stated that Brudenell was "constitutionally unfit to command a
regiment."
Not
content with simply upsetting the military establishment, the Earl of
Cardigan caused a society scandal by leaving his first wife and marrying
Adeline de Horsey whom Queen Victoria refused to receive. Thomas and
Abigail Duddle kept the Earl Cardigan for much of the 1880's. Born in
Hinckley, Thomas Duddle had previously lived in Bedford Street where,
like many of his neighbours, worked as a framework knitter.
The Earl
Stamford's Arms was located
on the eastern side of Belgrave Gate between Gower Street and Grosvenor
Street. George and Helen Hodges were the hosts in the early 1860's.
George Hodges was born in Ireland in 1811; wife Helen was a local woman.
The couple had two daughters, Ann and Ellen. Their son Frederick worked
in a local factory as an elastic weaver. The Hodges family hired Wanlip-born
Thomas Gilbert as a general servant. The pub evolved into the
Black Swan
but the name changed back to the original name before the it was rebuilt.
The Fleur-de-Lis was located on the eastern side
of Belgrave Gate north of Bread Street and a few doors away from the
Black
Horse Inn.
It was a large establishment with its own yard that accommodated two
carriage builders. Former stocking maker and flour dealer Samuel Ginns
was mine host in the 1860's. Born in Hinckley in 1821, he kept the busy
inn with his wife Ann. He died in 1869 and was succeeded by Henry
Turner who also traded as a glass and china dealer. An Irish flavour was
introduced to the inn when Thomas Stanton was publican. Born in Country
Clare, he was a widower but was helped by his mother Mary and his
younger sister Mary, the latter being born in Walsall where their father
had worked as a shoemaker. By 1887 the Fleur-de-Lis, like the nearby Black
Horse Inn,
was operated by T.Leary & Sons who installed Luke Worthington as
manager.
Foundry Arms was not, as you would perhaps expect, in
Foundry Square but a little further south along the west side of
Belgrave Gate. The
beer house was roughly halfway between the Crown and Anchor and the
Rutland Arms. The Cox family kept the pub throughout much of the
mid-Victorian period. Joseph and Anne Cox had previously run theWoodboyat Fleet Street.
Following the death of her husband, Anne Cox remained as the licensee.
She was assisted by her eldest son Edward until he joined the Royal
Marines. Her other son, Alfred, worked as a butcher. Anne Cox
supplemented her income from the sales of beer by taking in lodgers. The
1871 census records no less than eight lodgers living on the premises.
This
beer house stood on the west side of Belgrave Gate just to the south
of Green Street, a thoroughfare that has since disappeared from the map
following the re-alignment of Abbey Street. Widow Mary Ann Barnes was
the publican in the early 1850's. She had four mouths to feed but was
helped out by youngest son George who worked as a carpenter. The beer
house was wedged between a fishmonger's shop run by Samuel Riley and a
grocery shop operated by Sarah Barnes - a relative perhaps? It was an
all female affair in the early 1860's as the Fox and Grapes was run by
Elizabeth Read who lived on the premises with her three daughters
Charlotte, Ellen and Elizabeth. Their father Samuel, a former wool
sorter, had died when the family were living in Sycamore Road. The
daughters all grew up to work in the boot trade. Former framework
knitter, William Kirk took over the pub with his wife Sarah in the early
1880's. The couple hailed from
Bulwell in Nottinghamshire. They later moved further up Belgrave
Gate to run theRed Cow.
Located on the south corner of St.Mark's
Street [formerly called
Crab Street]
this furniture store stands on the site of the Gardener's Arms.
The closest rivals for custom were the Sultan and Durham Ox. A fully
licensed house, the Gardeners' Arms was run by George Bishop in the
early 1860's. Born in 1801 in the Nottinghamshire village of Sutton
Bonington, George Bishop kept the Gardeners' Arms with his wife Sarah
who was Leicester born-and-bred. The couple had previously kept a
short-lived
beer house in Archdeacon Lane. Lutterworth-born John Hurley combined
his trade of carpentry with that of his skills as a publican to run the
Gardeners' Arms in the 1870's. Six years older than her husband, Ann
Hurley was born in the Nottinghamshire village of Hickling in 1838. In
something of a radical career change John Hurley later worked as a
hairdresser further along Belgrave Gate. He later became an ale
merchant and, living on Fosse Road, he combined this role with running
the
Fleur-de-Lis,
installing his son Thomas as manager.
Pigot's directory for 1835 records Thomas Smith as
the publican of the Grey Horse on Belgrave Gate. So far, it is the only
reference I have found for this public house.
Replacing an older Griffin
Inn, this building
was erected in 1929. At the time of this photograph the pub was trading
as Jacey's Bar. The old Griffin Inn was run by James
and Susannah Smart throughout the 1860's. James Smart was already a
resident of Belgrave Gate having spent his teenage years living above
his parent's tailoring business. Samuel Bevans was the publican by 1891.
He and his wife Mary had previously lived at Junction Road where Samuel
operated a small needle manufactory. He had moved his factory from
Albion Street where he was located next to a malthouse operated by
William Peel. He had followed in his father's footsteps as a needle
maker. His dad, also named Samuel, was based on Welford Road. Samuel and
Mary Bevans later moved to their son's property in Whitwick where they
went into business as carters. As for the pub's name - the
offspring of the lion and the eagle, the Griffin is an awesome creature
which, becau
