Some history of the National Arms Inn on South Road at Sparkbrook in Birmingham in the County of Warwickshire

Birmingham | South Road | National Arms Inn

The National Arms Inn was a beer house located on the north-western side of South Road. It was licensed before the nearby Woodman Inn and traded until just before World War 2. The house closed for trading on the night of July 29th, 1939.

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I have marked the premises on the map extract dated 1889. The pub's address was Nos.55 & 57 South Road. The building was later used as a brush manufactory by Stevenson & Co.

The first licensee of the National Arms Inn was Henry Moorhouse. He was both publican and owner of the building. Well, he held the lease which ran from March 1870. The term was, however, for 500 years.

Born in 1844 at Burton-on-Trent, Henry Moorhouse spent his formative years at Rea Street where his father worked as a boot and show maker. Following the death of his father, the family moved to Ravenhurst Street from where Henry Moorhouse worked as lamp-maker. The move to the locality brought him into contact with Ellen Briscoe who was running a grocery shop in nearby Henley Street. The couple were married in January 1865, and they moved to Cheapside where they operated another grocery business.

After opening the National Arms Inn, Henry Moorhouse tried for over a decade to obtain a full licence for the beer house. Although Frederick Luckett was successful in a similar application for the nearby Woodman Inn, Henry Moorhouse was repeatedly frustrated in his bid to sell spirits at the National Arms Inn. Indeed, the pub never did get a full licence throughout its history. In September 1875 the solicitor representing Henry Moorhouse told the magistrates that "the house was close to the National Arms Company, and the workpeople thought they should have a place at a reasonable distance from the works." The solicitor added that Henry Moorhouse dined between 80 and 100 work people in the house every day, and he would dine many more if he could get a spirit licence. The Bench did not approve the application, year after year. Still, it sounds like Henry and Ellen Moorhouse were enjoying good business at the National Arms Inn.

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The inn sign, of course, celebrated the close proximity to the National Arms and Ammunition Company, an enterprise that had built a new purpose-built factory on a plot of land in Montgomery Street adjoining the Birmingham and Warwick Canal. In 1873 they operated this site, along with an Ammunition Works, known as "Holdford Mills," Perry Barr; the Ammunition Works at Belmont Row; and a smaller establishment, Peel Works in Macdonald Street. Weapon manufacturing could be a boom or bust industry and the National Arms and Ammunition Company got into difficulty in 1882 and subsequently went into liquidation. The arms factory was eventually sold to the Government in 1886 and renamed the Royal Small Arms Factory. The work of the Small Arms Repairing Factory in Bagot Street, known also as "The Tower," was transferred to Montgomery Street. In 1900 part of the site was acquired by the Lanchester Engine Company. Four years later the rest of the site was bought by BSA.

In the late Victorian years Henry and Ellen opted to retire after running the National Arms Inn for over two decades. This may have been when the house was sold to one of the breweries. The couple moved to Sutton Coldfield. Ellen, some years older than Henry, died in December 1904. Henry re-married a couple of years later and returned to the area, living in Newton Road at Sparkhill. In what sounds like naivety on his part, he was somehow duped by family members and became liable for debts racked up by William Dibble and Son, a bakery and confectioner's business on Broad Street. He told the Official Receiver that he did not know he was the legal owner of the business and responsible for the liabilities. Mr. A. C. Jacques, who represented the Birmingham Millers' Association, said "his clients looked upon the bankruptcy as an extraordinary one, and considered the debtor was entitled to sympathy, feeling that his present position was due to him helping his relatives and placing too much trust in them." As a result of this Henry Moorhouse went from a comfortable retirement to one of struggle.

William Dew was licensee throughout the Edwardian period. Born in 1854 at Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, he migrated to Birmingham for better employment opportunities. At the age of 22, whilst working as a fitter, he married Wednesbury-born Charlotte Burton at the Church of Saint Matthias in August 1876. The couple established a home at Upper Sutton Street where they started a family. They later moved to Barton's Bank from where William Dew worked as a machinist. By 1890 William and Charlotte Dew had seven children.

William and Charlotte's route into the licensed trade was probably as a management couple working for Holder's Brewery Limited. The brewery owned the National Arms Inn by the end of the 19th century. I imagine that they purchased the house from Henry Moorhouse. An Aston rate book of 1901 indicates that William and Charlotte's eldest son, also named William, was living a few doors away at No.39, opposite South Terrace. This was midway between the National Arms Inn and the timber wharf of Fairbank and Company Ltd. He worked as a barman under his father. He had married Lydia Wood in October 1899. By the end of the Edwardian era they had moved into one of the cottages to the rear of the pub where their four children grew up. William continued to work as barman but no doubt the star attraction were his sisters, Florence and Elsie, who worked as barmaids in the National Arms Inn.

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The National Arms Inn continued to be operated by Holder's Brewery Limited before the firm was acquired by Mitchell's and Butler's in 1919.

When Mitchell's and Butler's took over the National Arms Inn, the brewery also acquired Nos. 1-4, four dwellings in Court 7 as they were part of the original development plot. All five properties were valued at £4,820.

The National Arms Inn was one of two licences surrendered by Mitchell's and Butler's in order to obtain a new full licence for the Good Companions on Coventry Road at South Yardley.

The last licensee of the National Arms Inn was Arthur Harrison. When the house was closed he was transferred to the Old Windmill on Dudley Road.

In August 1940 Mitchell's and Butler's sold the de-licensed premises to C. J. Winterton for £150.

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"The long-looked-for bridge which is to link Sparkbrook with Small Heath and give better and quicker communications between these populous and rapidly-growing suburbs is on the eve of completions. Details of its construction has been described at length in these columns from time to time, and the residents of the neighbourhood are now anticipating an early opening. This is to be, if their wishes are met by the civic authorities, of a ceremonious nature, for it is felt in the district that a project of such importance and involving the expenditure of some sixty thousand pounds should be commemorated in a fitting manner. So a programme of local rejoicings is being drafted. In a word, there is a movement on hand in Bordesley to give éclat to the coming event by arranging a state opening, a procession, and an entertainment in the Victoria Park. Plans to this end were as a matter of fact discussed on Friday night at a meeting of residents enthusiastic over the notion held at the National Arms Inn, South Road. Councillor A. B. Jephcott presided at this gathering, and Councillor Chapman, though absent, intimated his readiness to assist in the project. The main idea as sketched out is to organise a procession representative of the friendly societies, cycle clubs, Salvation Army, and athletic bodies, and in which the school children of the district will be invited to join, and to march through the main streets of Small Heath and Sparkbrook, over the bridge, and to Victoria Park, where if sufficient funds can obtained the school children will be entertained to tea. The Friendly Societies will have permission to make a collection on the route in aid of the funds of the Women's Hospital at Sparkhill."
"Linking Suburbs"
Birmingham Daily Gazette : August 22nd 1904 Page 6