Some history of the Old Crown on Great Charles Street in Birmingham in the County of Warwickshire
The Old Crown was located on the south-western side of Great Charles Street, midway between Church Street and the junction of Livery Street and Edmund Street.
![Birmingham : Map extract showing the location of the Old Crown on Great Charles Street [1887]](https://www.midlandspubs.co.uk/images/birmingham/great-charles-street-old-crown-map.jpg "Birmingham : Map extract showing the location of the Old Crown on Great Charles Street [1887]")
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.
I have marked the location of the Old Crown on the above map extract surveyed in 1887 and published two years later. The address of the premises was No.64 Great Charles Street.
The tavern was formerly known as the Crown but the 'Old' prefix was added by William Hassall sometime before 1828.¹
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The tavern was formerly known as the Crown but the 'Old' prefix was added by William Hassall sometime before 1828.¹
At the annual licensing meeting held at the Victoria Courts on February 14th, 1913, a solicitor named Joy, on behalf of Mitchell's and Butler's, applied for an order sanctioning the provisional removal of the publican's licence of the Old Crown to the Pelham Arms, a house that the brewery proposed to erect at the junction of Alum Rock Road and Pelham Road. This was the third time that the matter had been presented to the magistrates and, after some deliberation, the plans for the new house were approved. Consequently, it was spelled the end of the road for the Old Crown.²
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Licensees of the Old Crown
1804 - John Rock
1822 - 1823 Mary Rock
1823 - 1824 John & Harriet Carless
1824 - William Hassall
1845 - William Taylor
1849 - Thomas Dugmore
1854 - E. Harrison
1861 - William Blood
1864 - 1875 Samuel Blood
1883 - William Henry Cook
1886 - Henry Webb
1895 - George W. Tunnicliffe
1905 - Francis William Robbins
1912 - William Henry Sutton
Note : this is not a complete list of licensees for this pub. The dates of early licensees are sourced from trade directories, census
data, electoral rolls, rate books and newspaper articles. Names taken from trade directories may be slightly inaccurate as there is some slippage from publication dates
and the actual movement of people.
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"Samuel Blood, licensed victualler, the Old Crown Inn, Great Charles Street, was summoned for permitting gambling with
cards for money in his house on the 15th of November. Several days ago the defendant was summoned for assaulting a man named Griffiths, who, in his evidence, stated
that he and the defendant were playing at "cut and put" with cards, for money, when the defendant began to "chaff" him, and afterwards committed the
assault. That summons was dismissed, but as it was clear that the defendant had permitted gambling in his house, contrary to the tenor of his licence, the Magistrates
directed that he should be prosecuted, and summoned Griffiths as a witness. The case was heard yesterday, and, after hearing the evidence of Griffiths, the Magistrates
fined the defendant £24. and costs."
"Permitting Gambling In A Public-House"
Birmingham Daily Post : November 29th 1866 Page 6
References
1. "Pigot and Co.'s National Commercial Directory" : J Pigot & Co.; 1828-29. p.68.
2. "Licensing Sessions" : Birmingham Mail; February 14th, 1913. p.5.
