Some history of the Brighton Hotel on Ladypool Road in Balsall Heath in Birmingham in the County of Warwickshire
The Brighton Hotel was located on the western side of Ladypool Road, on the north corner of Brighton Road. The building was still standing in the 2020's but, as a public-house, had closed down around 2015, the premises being converted to Woodhouse Pizzeria, a business that started to trade in the summer of 2017.
![Birmingham : Map extract showing the location of the Clifton Inn on Ladypool Lane at Sparkbrook [1888]](https://www.midlandspubs.co.uk/images/birmingham/ladypool-lane-brighton-map.jpg "Birmingham : Map extract showing the location of the Clifton Inn on Ladypool Lane at Sparkbrook [1888]")
© 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 Brighton Hotel on the above map extract. Note that the opposite site of the road was undeveloped at this time. That land still featured a large clay pit.
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© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY
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Licensees of the Brighton Hotel
1883 - Frederick Charley
1895 - William Charley
1900 - Thomas Fowler
1904 - James Walter Bentley
1913 - Leonard James Bright
1921 - George Swain
1940 - Leonard Thomas McCabe
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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© Image created by author on April 24th, 2013. DO NOT COPY
"Mr. E. Docker held an inquest at the Brighton Hotel, Ladypool Road, yesterday, on the body of Catharine McKew,
fifty-six years ago, who lived in a court in Allison Street. Mrs. Roach stated that she and deceased earned their living by rag-and-bone picking.
On Wednesday afternoon last they directed their attention to a pool of water in Ladypool Road which is used as a tip by the Local Board officers for nightsoil.
Witness left her companion in order to empty her apron, and five minutes afterwards she heard screams proceeding from the pool. She turned back, and saw
deceased struggling in the water. Witness then told two boys, who were about thirteen years of age, to get the body out of the water; but they were
frightened. The Coroner : Couldn't you and the boys have rescued her? Witness : No, sir. She was two or three yards off the side, and if we had
tried there would have been three inquests instead of one. [Laughter.] Ultimately a "gentleman in big silver buttons" came, and pulled the
deceased out of the water; but she was dead. A Juryman : Was there an offensive smell there? Witness : No; it is a very healthy smell. Only
the grass and mortar smelt. [Laughter.] Police-Constable Yarmold and Dr. Emery also gave evidence, the former testifying to the fearful odour
arising from the tip. Mr. Docker said it was to be hoped that the Local Board authorities would take safe precautions to prevent the land being built upon, as
hotbed of disease would be the inevitable result. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death," and added a rider to the effect that, for the
preservation of the public health the district, it was necessary to discontinue the pool being used as a tip for nightsoil. One the jurymen added that in summer
the stench was abominable."
"Drowned In A Nightsoil Heap"
Birmingham Daily Post : May 18th 1889 Page 9
