This week’s blog post is on the Warren-De-Tabley Arms, now known as the Bells of Peover. The pub was named after the local Lord of the Manor, most likely George Fleming Warren, 2nd Baron de Tabley (1811-1887). When the picture on the above postcard was taken, the pub was the home of the Bell family, who would reside at the address for over 65 years!
The pub opened in 1839, and the first occupants appear to be Peter Toft and his wife. Following Peter’s death in 1846, his wife took over the pub for a couple of years before a local sawyer named George Bell took over the occupancy in 1849 – a year after his marriage to Phoebe Whittaker.
George Bell married Phoebe Whittaker in 1848 at the church in Nether Peover
It is not clear if George Bell had any experience of running pubs. However, the venture proved so successful that by the 1860s, his brothers had joined the business, and they had a dozen pubs, each serving their own ‘Bell’ brew.
The 1871 Census reveals that George and his wife Phoebe had three children; William, Elizabeth and George, who all helped in the family business. Alongside brewing and selling beer, George was also Sexton of St Oswald’s Church, which he held for 50 years.
George remained at the pub until his death on 16th May 1898. The local newspaper reported that he died in his 80th year after a short illness.
Alderley & Wilmslow Advertiser
Only a week after his death, Phoebe sadly died. She was buried in the same plot as her husband in St Oswald’s Church.
The grave of George and Phoebe Bell in St Oswald’s Church
Following George’s death, his son William took over the pub and the brewery. William was born in 1848. In 1878, he married Alma Percival in Runcorn, and the couple went on to have ten children. William had a passion for cycling and motorcars. During his time at the Warren-De-Tabley Arms, he transformed the pub into a premier destination venue for cyclists and motor enthusiasts.
William was also part of the Tabley Troop of the Earl of Chester’s Yeomanry; he served with them for 21 years. He was also an excellent swordsman and won numerous awards in the sport – including two cups from the Duke of Westminster.
The 1901 census reveals that two of the Bell children (Arthur and William) are employed in the business. Two of their other children (Gilbert and George) are employed in a solicitors and a bank. The rest of the children are still at school.
Fanny Percival Bell & Walter Ormerod
In 1908, the couple’s oldest daughter, Fanny Percival, marries Walter Ormerod and the pair settle in Bowden, Altrincham. Only a year after the wedding, Fanny tragically committed suicide by shooting herself. She was only 20 years old. She is buried in the family church of St Oswald’s. Tragically, her husband Walter could not get over his wife’s death. On 28th December 1909, while in Southport, he used his gun license to purchase a gun. He then took a seat on the pier and shot himself, dying instantly.
London Evening Standard (29 December 1909)
By the 1911 census, William Bell had also died. The pub and brewery was now being run by William’s wife Alma and their son Victor.
Alma Bell continued to run the business for another four years when another tragic event shook the family. On 25th March 1915, Victor Bell took his own life. The day before his death, he kept asking his mother to go away with him, saying he couldn’t stay at the pub. Later that evening, Alma stayed with him while he went asleep. However, in the night, he started asking his mother to go away with him again. She stayed with him until 5.30am when he got up and washed. He left the house at just past 7.30am, telling his mother he was going for a walk. Alma saw him leave the house and head over towards the church. At about 7.45am, he called at a friends house and borrowed a bicycle. Sometime later, a porter named Samuel Hatton was riding to work, when he spotted an overcoat, cap and jacket in a field. He entered the field and saw a man standing in an upright position in a pit with water was passing over the crown of his head. Hatton went and got help, and they managed to pull the body from the pit. The body was later identified as Victor Bell. He was buried with his father and sister in St Oswald’s Church.
The death hit Alma hard. It was reported that she was too ill to attend the inquest. The day after Victor’s death, she announced she was retiring, and the pub was passed back to the owner, Captain Leicester Warren.
St Oswald’s Church, Lower Peover
Over the next few years, the Warren-De-Tabley Arms had several different proprietors, including Sydney Frank Cake, who was an acting Sergeant Major during WWI. In the late 1920s, the pub was in the hands of the Blackshaw family and from the mid-1930s, the pub had a new licensee; George Savage and his wife, Victoria. George dies not long after taking over the pub, however, his wife Victoria carries on managing the hotel during WWII. The 1939 Register reveals that Victoria is living at the address with her two daughters Joan and Phoebe. It was during this period that the Warren-De-Tabley Arms changes its name to the Bells of Peover Hotel.
Surprisingly, in 1941, Joan sued her mother and sister over a car accident. Phoebe was driving her mother’s car when she crashed into a lorry, killing a passenger named Viola Edwards and injuring her sister, who was also present in the vehicle. According to Phoebe, she was driving at 30 mph, when the lorry appeared in front of her. She braked sharply and turned the car, but they failed to miss the lorry. She stated that it had no rear light – this was disputed in court. Joan argued that she sustained a permanent scar that would seriously prejudice her opportunities in the theatrical and film profession. The judge ruled that Phoebe Savage was negligent in failing to keep a ‘proper look out’, and her mother was also negligent as she owned the car. The family of Viola Edwards was awarded £4000, and Joan was awarded £1100.
Joan Savage on the stage
Joan was not the only actor to spend a night at the Bells of Peover. By the 1960s, visitors to the pub included General Eisenhower; General Patten; Vivien Leigh and comedian Leslie Henson.
For my last week in Stockport before we move onto pastures new, I have decided to stick with the pub theme. Therefore, this week’s Our House blog is a postcard of the White Hart in Cheadle. Sadly, the postcard was never sent, so I don’t have a date for the image.
The pub is situated in Cheadle, formally called Cheadle Buckley. Cheadle is now part of Stockport, however, it used to be part of the Macclesfield Hundred. In the thirteenth century, the Lord of Cheadle was Geoffrey De Dutton who acquired it by marriage to an heiress of the ‘Cheadle’ family. The whole of the manor was eventually obtained by the Bulkeley family – think back to last week’s blog on the Warren Bulkeley. After the death of James Viscount Bulkeley, the manor was sold to Rev. Thomas Egerton in 1756. In 1806, it was sold again to John Worthington.
Some of the earliest sources that I find that mention the hotel are adverts from the mid-eighteenth century. The adverts are promoting auction lots that were coming up at the pub.
Manchester Mercury (1789)
The first proprietor that I find at the hotel is John Downes and his wife Elizabeth. They are running the White Hart in the second half of the eighteenth century. By the start of the nineteenth century a man named John Davies was the proprietor. Davies was born in 1756 and died in 1816. Following his death, his wife Mary took over the pub.
Sometime in the early 1830s, the Parkinson family moved into the White Hart. During their time at the pub, it appeared in the local press as part of a daring highways robbery trial. The events began on 20th January 1843, when an organ grinder named George Coppock visited a pub in Salford. Coppock was asked by the landlord John Brough, if he would provide the pub with an organ at a reasonable price. Coppock agreed, and told the landlord that he one in Stockport. Brough and another man in the pub called Joseph Cantrill, decided to go with Coppock to Stockport to look at the organ. When the men reached Levenshulme, it was just after nine o’clock at night. They decided to stop in Levenshulme and visited the Pack Horse pub.
As soon as they left the pub, one of the men knocked Coppock to the ground and covered his eyes. Cantrill then cut Coppocks pocket from his coat which contained five sovereigns, eight half-crowns and some silver. Once the men had left, Coppock managed to get back to the Pack Horse and raise the alarm. The following day, the houses of both men were raided and it was found that they had new clothes and a sovereign. Mr Parkinson, manager of the White Hart, testified that the night of the robbery the two men stayed at the hotel. They asked him to keep safe five sovereigns and eight half-crowns, which he did and returned the money to them the following day. At a subsequent trial, both men were found guilty and sentenced to ten years transportation.
Seven years after the trial, William Leigh takes over the hotel. He lives at the address with his wife Ellen and five children.
1851 Census of England
In 1860, the pub is featured in the Cheshire Directory. The Directory states that Cheadle Buckley, was a ‘populous and well-built village’. In 1851, there were 1,147 houses occupied by 5,489 inhabitants. The proprietor of the pub at this time was Ann Hargreaves.
By 1861, the pub had changed hands again. The census that year revealed that Edward Anderson, his wife Sarah Annie and their two children, alongside three servants and a cook, are all living at the address. This is the only census that the Anderson family appear at the White Hart. Three years after the census was taken Edward Anderson died. He was only 34 years old.
The next proprietor was James Evans. Before taking over the White Hart, he had been the borough surveyor for Salford. Evan’s was born in 1804 in Somerset. By 1851, he was a widower living in Salford.
The grave of James Evans who died in 1869
James was only the proprietor for a few years. Sadly in 1869, he passed away. On the day of his funeral, his coffin was carried from the White Hart and into the church next door. Present at the funeral was Evan’s old Newfoundland dog, who stayed inside the church for the service and then was at the graveside for the committal. A local newspaper reported that the dog regularly visited Evan’s grave.
The next proprietor was William Atkinson Thornton, who was born in Manchester in 1840. In 1865, he married Elizabeth Wagstaff at St John’s Church in Manchester. It appears that Thornton was the proprietor of the hotel twice; first in the early 1870s and then again in the 1880s.
Midway through the 1870s, William Thornton had moved back to Manchester and was running the Alton House Hotel.
Manchester Evening News (1875)
Also during the 1870s, Thornton became a Freemason. He was 29 years old. He was a member of the Devonshire Lodge from 1871 to 1887.
By 1881, William Thornton and his family had left Manchester and were back at the White Hart. They are now employing three servants; Sarah Chesters, a general servant; George Stoodley, a groom and Mary Weaver who was a barmaid.
Mary Weaver was born in Manchester in 1857. In 1881, Weaver appeared in the local press when a butcher from Gatley named Charles Mallison was charged with assaulting her. It appears that Mallison was already drunk when he arrived at the White Hart. While he was in the bar, he approached Mary and put his arm around her waist. He then ‘used expressions which Miss Weaver thought very unbecoming’. Mary told him that she would not stand for that kind of behaviour and threw him out of the pub. Mallison left, but returned again a short time later and refused to leave. He was then apprehended and charged with assault, being drunk and refusing to ‘quit the house’. Mallison was subsequently found guilty and was ordered to pay 20s plus costs for the assault, and 10s plus costs for refusing to leave the hotel.
During the 1880s, the hotel was heavily associated with Manchester’s theatre scene. This is because Thornton was also a theatrical animal trainer. It is likely that he trained the famous ‘Monsieur Paulo’s performing dog troop’ and that is why he stayed at the White Hart.
Manchester Evening News (1882)The Stage (1884)
In the autumn of 1884, Thornton was given a gift by a Captain Harrington. The gift was none other than a ‘gorilla monkey’. Thornton had trained the monkey to do tricks and become somewhat ‘domesticated’. However, in March 1885, the ‘gorilla’ escaped from its cage. One of the hotel waiters was sent to catch him, however, the monkey (apparently) didn’t recognise the waiter and attacked him. His screams, attracted the attention of Thornton who came rushing to his aid. The monkey then turned on Thornton, inflicting a deep wound on his face. Thornton put his hand up to protect himself. Seeing his hand, the monkey lunged and bit off the top of one of his fingers. The monkey was eventually caught and was put to sleep.
Thornton also exported show dogs aboard. In 1889, a fox terrier that he had purchased from the dog loving Sir Humphrey de Trafford, which was due to be sent to Brussels, was stolen from the White Hart. Thornton offered a sizeable reward of £5 for its return.
Sadly, in 1885, William Thornton’s wife Elizabeth died. Every year, on the anniversary of her death, her husband took out a memorandum in the local newspaper.
Manchester Evening News 1904
Two years after her death, an inquest was held at the White Hart. The deceased was a man named Edward Laycock, who was a department manager at A. & S, Henry & co. He lived in Cheadle with his with his sister and niece. Apparently, the day before his death, he had gone to work as normal, returning home at 2pm. He then remained at home and to bed at 10pm. When Laycock’s niece went to give him cup of tea the following morning, she found blood splattered around the room and her uncle was dead in his bed. After hearing all the evidence, the jury at the inquest ruled that Laycock had died from a burst blood vessel.
In 1898, the hotel appeared in the press when a local man named Henry Nadin stole a bicycle from one of the sheds. Two other bikes were also stolen in Cheadle at the same time. It appears that Nadin swopped some of the parts of the bicycles in a bid to make them unrecognisable. He then tried to sell the altered bikes in Didsbury.
An early image of the White Hart
By 1890, William’s son, also called William Atkinson Thornton, had moved out of the pub and was living in Manchester. In 1895, he married Olivia Armstrong. At the time of the marriage, the couple were living at same address on Long Millgate.
The 1901 Census reveals that William Atkinson Thornton (Jnr) and his family had moved to Cheadle. They had their own house on Hall Street. William (Jnr) was helping his father manage the pub and his wife Olivia was raising their children. Olivia appears to have constantly been pregnant during her child bearing years. The 1911 Census reveals that she had given birth to nine children, with one child sadly dying before adulthood. The age gap between her two youngest children, appears to have been just short of a year. She must have been knackered!! The census also reveals that the house William (Jnr) and his family were living in was a two-up two-down terrace. The family of eleven lived and slept in only four rooms.
On the same 1901 census, William Thornton (Snr) is still at the White Hart. Also at the address is his daughter, Lillian Maud, and three general servants. The 1911 Census reveals that the Hotel had approximately 14 rooms. It also shows that William (Snr) is still managing the pub at the age of 69. His daughter Lilian is now 22 years old and is unmarried. Sadly, it further shows that William actually had three children, with one sadly dying before 1911.
Eight years after the 1911 census, William Atkinson Thornton (Snr) died. He was 77 years old. In his Will he left a large estate worth £5,479 8s 11d.
In 1919, Joseph Adamson took over the pub. Adamson was from Bolton and for the previous two-and-a-half years had managed the St James Hotel in Bolton. Adamson was still at the White Hart at the start of WWII. He died in 1943 at his home on Hall Grove. He was 68 years old. He left behind his wife Sarah Ann Adamson.
This week’s postcard has the Warren Bulkeley Arms Hotel in Stockport on the front of it. The Warren Bulkeley was named in honour of Viscount Warren Bulkeley (1752-1822), who was the son-in-law of Stockport landowner Sir George Warren. Warren had built the first water-powered cotton mill in Stockport.
Viscount Warren Bulkeley (1752-1822)
The picture you see on the front of this week’s postcard is not actually the original building. The original building was situated on Warren Street and was built sometime at the end of the eighteenth century.
An 1897 map of Stockport showing the location of the pub
At the latter end of the nineteenth century, the original Warren Bulkeley Inn was demolished and a new one was built on the corner of George Street and Warren Street.
Just a small point, the Warren Bulkeley Arms is called an inn in the early/mid-nineteenth century and then by the end of the nineteenth century it is called a hotel. I will use the same terminology as per the source material, however, I just wanted to make it clear in case it gets a little confusing.
Like the White Lion, which was the subject of last week’s blog, the Warren Bulkeley was more than just a place that sold beer. It was also a place where bankruptcies were heard, it was an auction house, a meeting room and even a magistrates court.
A 1813 newspaper advertisement for a ball at the Inn
The first keeper of the Warren Bulkeley Arms that I can find in the nineteenth century is William Higginson, he takes over the Inn four years before the above ball. Previously to running the Inn, William had been the keeper of the Crown and Anchor, Stockport.
William remained the proprietor of the establishment until his death in 1823. Following his death, his wife Frances took over the running of the Inn. She remained the proprietor until her son, Joseph Morton Higginson, took over in the early 1840s. Frances died in 1842. She left a sizeable sum of £1000 to her son.
Joseph was born in 1807. He was baptised on 11 October of that year at St Mary’s Church, Stockport. In 1843, he married a Manchester girl named Sarah Young Marsh.
Joseph died in 1854 and is buried at St Mary’s Church, Stockport. The next proprietors of the Inn were Charles and Mary Leah. Charles had some experience of managing inns. Before moving to the Warren Bulkeley, he had kept the Old Admiral Inn on Hillgate, Stockport.
In 1847, Charles was brought up at the Borough Court for failing to provide a soldier on military duty with a bed and room of his own. The Bench found that he should have found the man a bed to himself but not a room. He was fined 40s., which was the lowest fine he could have received.
Charles Leah appears at the address on both the 1851 and 1861 censuses. The latter census revealed that Charles employed two waiters, a barmaid, a cook and a chambermaid. Two years after the 1861 census, Charles died. He is also buried at St Mary’s Church.
A late Victorian / early Edwardian image of St Mary’s Church, Stockport.
The next keeper of the Warren Bulkeley was Phillip Mason. Phillip, his wife Jane and their eight children were from Manchester. They appear at the address on the 1871 census. A year after the census was taken the Mason family left the pub and moved to Manchester. Sadly, Jane Mason died in 1878. Two years after her death, Phillip married Rachel Syers at St Peter’s Church in Manchester. The 1881 census reveals that the couple, alongside three of Phillip’s children, are living at Broughton Bowling Club, Salford, where Phillip was a steward. By the next census, the family have left Salford and are living in North Wales, which is where they remained until Phillip’s death in 1909.
Following Phillip Mason’s departure, the next proprietor of the Warren Bulkeley was William Frederick Mitchell, who took over in 1872 and left sometime before 1877.
Now, it does appear that 1877 was not a good year for the Bulkeley, as it features several times in both the local and national press. The first time it appears in the national press is when it’s mentioned as part of a high profile divorce. Ellen Firth (nee Holdsworth) looked to divorce her husband William Frederick Mitchell (the landlord of the pub) on the grounds of adultery. Divorce in the 1870s was usually limited to the wealthy, and therefore it’s most unusual to have someone of Mitchell’s class seeking a divorce. The couple had been married since 1862. Their wedding took place at the Old Church, Halifax. Following the marriage, the couple managed the White Bull Hotel, Blackburn, where they had one son called Henry Holdsworth Mitchell. As mentioned above, in 1872, William left his wife and son to run the Warren Bulkeley. It was alleged by his wife and servants that worked at the establishment, that William was having an affair with a woman named Annie Stott. It transpired that the servants in the pub actually thought that Annie was his wife.
A copy of William Frederick Mitchell’s and Ellen Holdsworth’s marriage certificate
Ellen was granted her separation from William and she also got custody of the couple’s son. Following the divorce, Ellen remained in Blackburn running the Old Bull Hotel – I think that this is a different pub from the White Bull that she had managed previously. What William did after the separation is not as clear. I know that he left Stockport in 1877. I could not find him on the next (1881) census, however, a person with the same name, same year of birth and same place of birth, appears on the 1891 census living in Liverpool. I therefore think that William left Stockport, moved to Liverpool and took up a new occupation as an undertaker. He also went on to remarry; his new wife was called Emily and she was 20 years his junior. He also became a father again, as the couple went on to have four children. Sadly, (maybe not so much if you were his ex-wife), William died a year after the 1891 census was taken.
One thing that all the landlords mentioned in this blog have in common is that they were all Freemasons. Charles Leah joined in 1852 and it seems that William joined in 1872. Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the pub was a regular meeting place for the secretive group. James Henry Firth, who was the next keeper of the hotel, was also a Mason. He joined in 1876. They were also all members of the Peace Lodge and it is likely that knew each other.
James, his wife Elizabeth Jane Firth (nee Goodale), and his children; Nellie, Sarah, Annie, Tom and Atkinson, had moved to Stockport from Salford, where James had his own shop on Regent Road.
On 27 July 1877, the local newspaper reported that James had helped catch a conman who was travelling around pubs in Stockport and was taking money from landlords under false pretences. By the time he arrived at the Warren Bulkeley, he had stolen money from four other landlords. When the conman got to the door of the pub, clearing knowing that it was a meeting place for Freemasons, he gave James the Freemason’s sign for ‘help’. However, something did not sit right with the landlord so he asked the conman a Freemason’s question, which he got wrong. Convinced he was an imposter, the conman was reported and then taken into custody, where it was revealed that his name is John Dunn. At his trial, it came out that he had visited 14 other pubs, where his request for money had been denied. Also at his trial, he gave his address as a place in Manchester, which turned out to be a warehouse. Dunn did eventually plead guilty to his crimes and was sentenced to six months and two days in Knutsford gaol.
Knutsford Prison
Also in 1877, the Warren Bulkeley appeared in the newspaper again because of a drunken customer. Michael Heaneghan had been drinking in the pub and had got himself into a bit of state. James asked him to leave but Heaneghan refused. The police were called and the drunken man ended up in front of a judge at Stockport Borough Court, where he was found guilty of the charges put before him and was fined 5s and costs.
James Firth continued to run the pub until his death in 1887. He was only 47 years old. He left an estate of £464 3s 4d. to his wife Elizabeth. Following his death, Elizabeth took over as proprietor of the public house. She remained there until her retirement, which was sometime in the late 1890s. By the 1901 census, Elizabeth had left the pub and she is living with two of her sons on Kennerley Road, Cale Green. Elizabeth died in 1929. She left a sizeable fortune of £3455 17s. to her widowed daughter Nellie Walker Bennett.
Someone between 1908 and 1909, the Warren Bulkeley was taken over by John William Habgood and his wife Florence Habgood (nee Roby). The Habgoods were from Farnworth, Lancashire. John was the son of George Habgood who was a draper from Essex. The draper business must have been a success because by the time John’s father was in his 50s, he had made enough money to live off his own means.
John William Habgood married Florence Roby on 23rd October 1897 in Radcliffe
John Habgood had several jobs throughout his working life. He was employed as a warehouseman, a milliner and ladies outfitter, and a commercial traveller dealing in tea. In 1901, John appears on the Irish census living in Dublin. It appears he is in Ireland for work. His wife Florence and father are living at the family home in Radcliffe.
In 1905, John Habgood joined the Freemasons in Rochdale. He was a member of St Chad’s Lodge. Shortly after 1908, the Habgoods left Rochdale and moved into the Warren Bulkeley. Before the Habgoods agreed to purchase the pub, a traveller named Thomas Merrell, was negotiating to buy the premises for £1000. However, Merrell turned out to be a conman and the deal fell through…
The Manchester Guardian, 1908
Shortly after taking up occupancy, John Habgood applied for planning permission to change the vault of the pub into a parlour room and a separate room where luncheons could be made. The magistrates granted the application on the condition that both the luncheon bar and the parlour would be closed on a Sunday.
The 1911 Census reveals that John and Florence didn’t have any children. It further reveals that the Habgoods were employing four servants to help with the daily tasks of running a 13 roomed hotel. It is not clear if the Habgoods were living at the Warren Bulkeley during WWI, however, by 1921, the Hopwoods have left the Warren Bulkeley and are living in Blackpool. They remained in Blackpool until John’s death in 1941.
John Habgood’s probate record
During the interwar years, the hotel is regularly used as an auction house, selling properties from around Stockport. The properties varied from small terraces to imposing Victorian villas. A large semi-detached house on the prestigious Bramhall Lane in Davenport, would set you back £430. Whereas two houses on Small Street, Hilgate cost £120.
At the start of WWII, Frederick and Rhoda Smith (nee Turner) were running the hotel. Also working at the hotel were head barman Bartholomew Heyes and domestic servant Susan Stopford. Midway through the war, Tom Grantham, his wife Gladys and two daughters, Margaret and Valerie, move into the address.
The postwar years are somewhat obscure, however, by the 1980s the Warren Bulkeley had become derelict and was demolished. The frontage was saved and is now part of a shop that is situated further up the road.
Apologies that this week’s blog is a bit late, my internet has been down for the best part of a week… *slides down wall*
So this week we have left Blackpool and are in my hometown of Stockport. The picture on the front of the postcard is of a pub called the White Lion, which is situated on Underbank. Now, there is a LOT of history to this pub – it was first granted a licence in the fourteenth century! Therefore, in my attempt not to write a book, I have decided to focus on its post-eighteenth-century history.
The date on the back of this week’s postcard is 1906. However, the picture of the White Lion on the front must pre-date this, as the pub no longer looked like this image in 1906. During the pub’s long history it was redesigned and rebuilt several times. The mock Tudor frontage that you can see in the picture was added in 1823. Not only did its appearance change over the decades, the White Lion evolved from a coaching inn to a hotel and then later a pub.
If you know anything about Victorian pubs, you will know that they did more than just serve beer. Alongside the selling of alcohol, the White Lion also acted as a meeting place, a coroner’s court, an auction house, a post house, a job centre (labour exchange), a place where organisations were formed and even a place where bankruptcies were heard. For example in June 1804, business partners James Roberts and Elisha Heawood were scheduled to attend the inn to disclose their estate and effects to the bankruptcy commissioners and to also face their creditors. It was common practice for people who could not afford to pay their debts to end up in a debtor’s prison. It was estimated that by the early nineteenth century, nearly half of all prisoners were debtors. Debtors continued to be imprisoned up to 1869 and only stopped being imprisoned following the passing of the Bankruptcy Act.
The first record that I came across that mentioned the White Lion, was a newspaper article from 1820. The article reported on the trial of Henry Hunt and nine others that were at present at the Peterloo Massacre. The ‘keeper’ of the White Lion at this time was a man named Henry Lomax, who was a member of the Cheshire Yeomanry and was present at the Massacre. Lomax had been called as a witness to testify against Henry Hunt. After a trial that lasted two weeks, Hunt was found guilty of ‘seditious intent’ and was sent to prison for two years. To learn more about Henry Hunt and the Peterloo Massacre, click here
The first family I can find living at the White Lion in the nineteenth century is the Birkin Family. I don’t know an awful lot about this family, in fact, I am not even convinced that ‘Birkin’ is their actual name. The only information I have on the family is from a newspaper article dated 1825 that mentions a ‘Mr Birkin’ being the landlord of the White Lion Inn, Stockport. The article tells the tragic story of an inquest that was held at the inn. The victim was Sarah Brookes, who was the sister of the landlord and was staying with the couple at the time of her death. Her death occurred when she was kneeling down lighting the morning fire in the sitting-room, and the blue apron she was wearing caught fire. She managed to get up, untie the apron, and fling it on the floor, however, it was too late. Within seconds everything else she was wearing was engulfed in flames. Upon hearing her screams, Mrs Birkin came to her aid with a blanket. She continuously rolled her sister in the blanket until all the flames were extinguished. Sarah survived the night but died the following day. Reporting her death, the newspaper stated that ‘her sufferings were happily ended by death’.
The next occupants of the White Lion were the Lomas Family. Henry Lomas and his family lived at the address from the late 1820s. On 21 February 1834, Henry Lomas sadly died. He was 56 years old. Less than a week after his death, an advert was placed in the local newspaper to sell all the household goods and alcohol from inside the inn.
Following the sale, a Mr Ford briefly managed the inn before it was taken over in 1842 by Ralph Warrington, his wife Jane and their only child, who was also called Jane. Ralph Warrington was born in Macclesfield in 1796. Before moving to the White Lion, he had spent the previous eight years running an inn in Wilmslow, Cheshire, called The Grove.
Whilst running both the Grove Inn and White Lion, Ralph showed his support to the Anti-Corn Law League. The main aim of the League was to abolish the unpopular Corn Laws, which increased the price of wheat and therefore bread, at a time when wages were being cut. Ralph held meetings in his inns and also spoke at these gatherings. The Corn Laws were eventually repealed in 1846.
The 1851 Census revealed that all the Warrington family were living at the White Lion, along with three general servants and an Ostler, who was in charge of looking after the horses. There were also two guests staying at the inn who were fine art dealers from Ireland and Germany.
An early image of the Warren Bulkeley Arms Hotel
By 1855, Ralph, along with his wife and daughter, had left the White Lion and had moved to the Warren Bulkeley Arms Hotel. The family did not stay there long before moving to the Vernon Arms in Portwood. While at the Warren Bulkeley Arms Hotel, it appears that Ralph’s daughter Jane was due to get married, however, the marriage never took place.
Four years after these announcements were placed in the newspaper, Ralph’s wife Jane passed away. Ralph survived his wife by eleven years. He died in 1870 and is buried in Henbury near Macclesfield.
According to the 1861 Census, the next occupants of the White Lion were 66-year-old Elizabeth Greaves, her daughter and grandchildren. Elizabeth was from Bollington. She did have some experience of running hotels, she had previously been the keeper of the Bridge Inn. By the following census, the White Lion had a new owner, he was James Withington from Eccles.
While James Worthington was managing the inn, another tragic inquest took place in one of the meeting rooms. The victim was ten-month-old Arthur Hawley. Since he was three months old, his parents stated that he had suffered from ‘water on the brain’, today we would call this hydrocephalus. On the night of his death, his father, James Hawley, returned home to the lodging house where they were staying to find a fellow lodger caring for his son, who appeared to be very ill. His wife, Nancy Hawley, and the owner of the lodging house, had left the house to search for a doctor. Unfortunately, they returned without medical help as they could not get a doctor to come and look at Arthur. Determined to save her son, Nancy went to the infirmary and managed to persuade a doctor to return with her to the lodging house. Sadly, it was too late. When they got to the front door James informed them that Arthur had passed away. The doctor left before entering the house and went back to the infirmary. The jury at the inquest returned a verdict of ‘died from natural causes’.
Stockport Infirmary (c) 1905
James Withington remained at White Lion until 1885. After he left, he moved to Heaton Norris and stayed there until his death in 1890. He was buried in his hometown of Eccles.
In 1885, the hotel was taken over by Mr Ducan Robertson, who had formally been in charge of the Boars Head in Altrincham. Unfortunately, he only managed the White Lion for three years before his unexpected death in 1888. He was 56 years old.
Six years after Robertson’s death, the hotel appeared in the local newspaper due to the theft of an overcoat that occurred on the premises. The paper reported that the thief, a Robert James Ferguson, had turned to drink and stolen the overcoat following some ‘misfortune in his business and family affairs’. Apparently, when he was under the influence, he didn’t know what he was doing… likely story! Taking that into account, along with the fact that he was going to inherit £40,000, the judge decided not to give him an immediate custodial sentence. Instead, he was handed over to the care of a family friend under the direction that he must go back before the bench when called upon. I can’t help but think that the judge wouldn’t have been so lenient if the man was a labourer.
By the 1901 Census, the hotel is being managed by Robert Robertson and his wife Maude. Also at the address were the couple’s three-year-old son, Vida and Robert’s brother John. The census also reveals that they were employing seven members of staff. Sometime between 1901 and 1911, the Robertson family left the hotel and the Keeling family took over.
Edwin Keeling and his wife Ellen had moved from the Chorlton district of Manchester. Edwin had been employed as a waiter in Manchester before he took over the management of the White Lion. The couple had seven children, with three children sadly dying before they reached adulthood. It is evident from the 1911 census that the hotel was a family run business with two of the children employed in it – Edwin Jnr was employed as a motor car cleaner and Louisa as a bookkeeper.
In 1913, the hotel was featured in the local press following the discovery of a male body in a pond near Heaton Mersey Railway Station. You may be thinking… ‘What has that got to do with the White Lion?’ Well, at the side of the pond where the man was found was a hat and an umbrella. In the lining of the hat was a card from the White Lion. After some investigation from the Heaton Mersey Police, it transpired that the man was a commercial traveller from Kent and he had been staying at the White Lion. The reason why he committed suicide is not known.
When WWI broke out in 1914, Edwin and his family were still living at the White Lion. Only a few months after the war had started, Edwin’s two sons, Edwin Jnr and Sidney, both enlisted. The couple’s youngest son Sidney enlisted on 12th November 1914, he was 19 years old. He had only been serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery for just over a year when he was tragically killed on Christmas Day 1915.
Following his death, all his personal effects, which included; nine photos, a pocket razor, wristwatch, belt, two medallions, a pipe, two keys, letters and a pocketbook, were returned to the family. The Keelings remained at the White Lion until Edwin’s death in 1922.
The next occupier that I can trace at the hotel is Edith Coulston. Edith was managing the hotel in 1939. She born in 1886 and the 1939 Register reveals that she was a spinster. The hotel’s history from Edwin’s death to the 1939 Register is somewhat obscure. I was unable to find out who managed the hotel during this period, however, I did find the hotel name mentioned in several newspapers in 1936 as part of a murder investigation.
The victim was 34-year-old Mary Josephine Holden. Her body was found by a dog walker on the Leigh stretch of the East Lancashire Road. There was evidence that the body had been dragged from the roadside and into a hedge. A post-mortem revealed that she had died from strangulation. The paper reported that Mary was a prostitute from Manchester who also went by the name of Ethel Jones. On the same day that she went missing, a commercial traveller named Mr Blewer had parked his car in a garage at the White Lion, Stockport. When he returned to the car the next day, he found that it had been stolen. Three days after the car went missing, it was spotted by a police offer in Peterborough. The officer stopped the car and apprehended the driver, who was a man named George Boyle. In the car, they found items belonging to Mary Holden.
In a later statement, George Boyle admitted that Mary had been in his car. He said that he was giving her a lift to Liverpool when she started ‘swearing’ and calling him ‘dirty names’. He then confessed to pulling over and getting in the back of the car and strangling Mary with her scarf. He said he did not intend to kill her, but he wanted to scare her. However, witnesses reported hearing Mary shout “Stop the car”. At a later trial at Manchester Assizes, George Boyle was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. His execution date was set for the 29th December 1936. However, due to an appeal, which was later lost, his execution date was pushed back to 4th February 1937. Less than 24 hours before the final execution date, Boyle was granted a reprieve by the Home Secretary
A year after the start of WWII, the White Lion appeared in the papers again when an Irishman named George McNulty pulled a blind up and down in one of the windows.
Although his fine may seem a little harsh, blackout regulations during WWII meant that all windows needed to be covered at night to prevent enemy aircraft from having any light that might help them identify targets.
Following the war, Stockport underwent redevelopment, and the historical buildings that were at the back of the pub were demolished. The pub managed to remain untouched and was granted Grade II listed status. It continued to be a pub into the 21st century, however, in 2008 the last pint was pulled. The building remained derelict until 2019 when permission was granted to turn the pub into luxury one and two-bed apartments.
I decided to research another Blackpool postcard for this week’s ‘Our House’ blog. I seem to have developed quite a thing for Blackpool’s boarding houses. The picture displayed on the front of the postcard is Mrs Dixon’s boarding house, which was situated at 58 Charnley Road.
The Dixons took over the house in 1900, by then Blackpool had already established itself as a seaside resort attracting mill workers from across the North West. From the 1870s onwards, several aligning factors made resorts such as Blackpool accessible for working-class holidaymakers. A rise in real wages meant that workers could spend extra resources on leisure activities such as holidays. This was helped by local savings clubs, which enabled workers to put a bit aside each week for a day trip or excursion to the seaside. As historian John Walton suggests, these cheap excursions were usually organised by Sunday schools, temperance societies, employers or commercial promotors such as Thomas Cook. Also during this period, people were permitted by their employer to take more time off work without facing the sack. Workers were not paid when they were off; therefore, many could only afford a long weekend, however, those better-off workers could take a whole week off.
Alongside tourists, the growing resort also attracted those that came to seek new employment opportunities like Thomas Dixon and his wife Jane. The family had moved to Blackpool from Burnley and first appear at the address on the 1901 census. With the house only being built a few years before, it is likely that they were first occupants of 58 Charnley Road.
Thomas was not employed in the boarding house business. He worked as a road labourer and later a lamplighter for Blackpool Corporation. It was Jane Dixon that managed the house whilst also caring for their young baby. At the time the 1901 census was recorded, 58 Charnley Road was a ‘company house’, it would later be called a boarding house. A Blackpool guidebook offers some definition of the different types of accommodation available to visitors in 1897…
Hotels, Hydros and Boarding Houses: Offer inclusive rates for meals and room
Private Apartments: Where the rate quoted was for a room, with meals cooked by a landlord or landlady using ingredients provided by the guests
Company Houses and Lodging houses: Guests rented a room or bed and could either buy their own food to be cooked and served in their rooms or in a dining room, or they could dine out.
To attract visitors to the boarding house, Jane advertised the ‘homely features’ of the accommodation in newspapers across the country, stating that “The best place for comfort in Blackpool is Mrs Dixon’s”. In the adverts she highlighted the competitive prices, charging 2s (approx £10.84 in today’s money) per night for a bed or 4s (approx £21.67 in today’s money) for a bed and board. For those staying for the week, there was a separate price for men (25 shillings) and women (21 shillings).
Jane’s hard work in making the boarding house a success seems to have paid off, with 58 Charnley Road gaining a reputation of one of the best boarding houses to stay at in Blackpool.
By 1915, 58 Charnley Road would be known as “Dixon’s Famous Boarding House”. It attracted families coming to Blackpool for a holiday, as well as those who needed a short-term place to stay while they were employed in the resort.
The Census of 1911 reveals that the boarding house had a staggering 22 rooms. It also states that four members of the Dixon family are living at the address – Thomas, Jane, and children Martha Jane and Florence. One of the Dickson children (Martha Jane) is also assisting in the business – previously she was employed as a baker’s assistant. Sadly, only a few months after the census was taken, Martha Jane passed away at the age of 26 due to acute appendicitis.
The Dixon family remained at 58 Charnley Road throughout WWI. However, not long after the war had ended, they sold the business to Jane and Charles Pyle.
Like the Dixon household, it would be the female of the Pyle family that would manage the boarding house. Although there may have been cosmetic changes inside the house, Jane Pyle decided to still trade under the name of ‘Dixon’s Famous Boarding House’. She remained at the boarding house for the next ten years, leaving in 1930 to take up a new position as the manager of a boarding house on Albert Road.
The next proprietor of 58 Charnley Road was Ellen ‘Nellie’ Challinor and her husband John Thomas Challinor, who went by his middle name of Tom. The couple had moved from Chelford Street in Manchester. One of the first significant decisions Ellen made, was to ditch the ‘Dixon’ brand and come up with a new name, which was ‘Progress House’. She also changed the tone of her newspaper adverts, gone are the ‘homely comforts’ that Jane Dixon promoted, Ellen thought the main selling point of the boarding house was its location, being only ‘two minutes from the station, promenade and Winter Gardens’. To attract custom, she kept her prices competitive, charging 7s 6d (approx £26.22 in today’s money) for men and 7s (approx £24.48 in today’s money) per night for women – the price included good food and ‘no extras’.
In 1939, Ellen’s husband, Thomas, sadly passed away. Every year on the anniversary of his death, Ellen took out a memorandum notice in the local paper, stating how much she loved and missed him.
The exact date when Ellen left 58 Charnley Road is not clear. She was still there in 1949, however, in 1960 a newspaper advert reveals the boarding house had new owners. The new owners had changed the name to the Bali-Hi Hotel. For the first time in its history, the hotel offered the guests such luxuries as a wardrobe in every room and a TV in the lounge.
From the 1960s onwards, visitor numbers began to slowly decline. This was in part due to the arrival of package holidays abroad to places such as the Mediterranean, where hot weather and sandy beaches were guaranteed. The demographic of those still visiting Blackpool also began to change. According to Brodie and Whitfield, in 1972, it was estimated that the majority of visitors to the resort were over 45 and were from lower social groups.
Today, the hotel is part of the Wilkinson Hotels group, who purchased 58-68 Charnley Road, combining them to form one hotel. Although the brickwork above the ground floor largely remains the same, the lime green paint and the alterations to the entrance makes the former boarding house almost unrecognisable.
Michala Hulme 