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THE HARP HOTEL ON ST JOHNS ROAD.
Written By: Edward James Gilbert-Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Date: October 21, 2016.
The Harp Hotel was located in a very fine looking Victorian style
building on the north-west corner of St John’s Road and Culverden Down,
at 79 St John’s Road, although records prior to 1882 record it at 70 St
John’s Road, an address the researcher disputes.
The history of this site as a public house dates back to at least 1839
when a different building occupied it, which was the premises of the
‘Harp Inn”. The old Harp Inn building was demolished in the 1870’s to
make way for the impressive building that still exists on the site
today.
Compared to other hotels in the town The Harp Hotel was small,
consisting on the main floor of a pub and dining facilities and a
washroom and on the second floor about six rooms for guests.
Since it was located just up the road from Kelsey’s Culverden Brewery,
and it is known that Kelsey’s beverages were served extensively in pubs
within a mile of the brewery, it is expected, but not confirmed that
when the hotel first opened in the 1870’s that it served beverages from
this brewery. In 1895 and for many years later it was a pub owned by
Frederick Leney & Sons Ltd of the Phoenix Brewery in Wateringbury, who’s
sign can be seen on the photo of the The Harp Hotel top postcard. In the early
to mid 20th century is was owned by the Whitbread Brewery, who’s name
appears on a sign of The Harp Hotel in 1951.
Over the years The Harp Hotel has been operated by many licensed
victuallers, details of which are presented in this article. Planning
Authority records show that in June 1981 approval was given for a change
in use from a public house to a retail showroom with ancilliary offices.
As a result the Harp was closed and the building converted to this use.
In recent times the building has been known as “Victoria House”, the
business premises of a company called “Victoria Stone” who sell
Victorian style fireplaces and stoves. In 1982 Planning Approval was
given for a new shop front and in 1994 approval was given for conversion
of part of the ground floor and 1st floor offices into two flats. In
2008 approval was given for rearrangement of the existing 5 residential
units in ground floor and in the single sty extension to the rear and in
2014 conversion of two bed sits from one flat was approved. From at
least 2008 onwards the building has been owned by Bill Burnett.
This article reports on the design and location of the building and its
history as a hotel with an emphasis on the period from the 1870’s, when
it began, up to the WW II era. A number of images of the building and
related views are presented as well as information about the occupancy
history of the building.
DESIGN AND LOCATION (insert ’68 and 70 St Johns Road’)
The 1881 census gave the location of The Harp Hotel as 70 St John’s Road
but all records after that date gave it at 79 St John’s Road. It is
believed, but not confirmed by the researcher that the address of No. 70
was in error and should have been given as No. 79. Some evidence to
support this assertion is that since 1862 a pub has been in operation at
66 St Johns Road, which began that year as the "Red Lion," later to be
known as the "Lava Bar" and later still
"Spanner in the Works" and today as
St John’s Yard. Details of this pub are given in my article ‘The Red
Lion Public House on St John’s Road’ dated September 30, 2014. Next door
to (north of) No. 66 is today an old unimpressive brick building (No. 68
and 70) and next to it at No. 72 is the Byng Hall. It is implausible
that a pub would be located at No. 66 with another pub (The Harp Hotel)
located in the building next door. Today, or at least until recently No.
68 and 70 were the premises of a business by the name of ‘Blean’. A
photo of this building and the pub St John’s Yard to the right of it is
shown opposite. It is also worth noting that No. 79 St John’s Road, the
former site of The Harp Hotel is located directly across the street from
the Byng Hall.
(insert scan of highlighted 1907 os map)
Another noteworthy building in the vicinity of The Harp Hotel, which has
been there since The Harp opened is the building recently occupied by
the Tunbridge Wells Martial Arts Centre, which began as the Mission Hall
and later used as a Methodist Chapel. Details about the history of this
building were given in my article ‘The Mission Hall on St John’s Road’
dated February 1, 2016. Its location is shown with a blue arrow on the
1907 os map given opposite, on which by way of a red arrow is also shown
the location of The Harp Hotel at No. 79 St John’s Road. On this same
map in green is marked the location of the St John’s Yard pub at No. 66.
(insert 1849 map’)
Shown opposite is the Gisborn map of 1849 which shows the existence of
the “Harp Inn” on the site of what later became that of The Harp Hotel.
The building on the site at that time was later demolished to make way
for the building on the site now. It is obvious however that the name of
The Harp Hotel has its roots in the name of its predecessor, the Harp
Inn. A map of 1839 does not show the area occupied by The Harp Inn, but
directories note its existence at that time.
(insert scan of 1868 map)
Shown opposite is a map dated 1868, and once again the location of the
“Harp Inn” is shown, its footprint being identical to that on the 1849
map. The same information is shown on a map of 1872, but a map of 1899
shows that the old Harp Inn Building had been replaced by that time by a
new building on the site, which on the 1899 map is labelled as a public
house.
(insert ‘1884 map’)
Shown opposite is a map of 1884 which shows the Harp Inn building as it
appears on earlier maps, although by 1881 the premises were named The
Harp Hotel.
Who designed the new building; who built it, and in what year it was
built was not established, but a best estimate is that it dates from the
1880’s, sometime after 1884 and before 1899.
The best description of this two sty brick building is that given by the
photo of it in the ‘Overview’ taken no sooner than 1895, for in that
year F. Leney & Sons was incorporated and it is the sign of the
incorporated company that appears on the pub.
Shown below are two other photos of the building, taken in 2009 and
2010, when it was the premises of ‘Victoria Stone’ , a company that sold
Victorian style fireplaces and stoves. Note the sign over the front door
with the name ‘Victoria House’ which appears in the same position as the
former Harp Hotel Sign. Also note that some of the original windows of
the pub have been closed in and that the brick on the building has been
repainted a number of times. By comparing the photo from 1895 to these
images one can also see remnants of the old pub sign on the wall facing
St John’s Road and the bracket that used to have the pub sign hanging
from it. Although the entire building has architectural merit, perhaps
its most striking feature is the copper roofed turret above the front
door.
As noted in the overview The Harp Hotel was small, in comparison to
other hotels in the town, consisting on the main floor of a pub and
dining facilities and a washroom ,and on the second floor about six
rooms for guests.
In terms of recent history available online records from 1981 give some
insight into changes in use. In June 1981 approval was granted by the
Planning Authority to convert the Harp Hotel into a showroom with
ancillary offices. This application resulted in the final closure of The
Harp Hotel. In 1982 approval was granted for a new shop front. This
change can be seen by comparing the old and recent photos of the
building presented in this article. In 1983 approval was given for ‘roof
over yard”. In 1994 a retrospective application was given for conversion
of the ground floor store and first floor offices into two flats at the
rear of 79 St Johns Road. The applicant was W. B. Victoria Stone Ltd. In
2008 approval was given for a retrospective application by Bill Barnett
for rearrangement of the existing five residential units on the ground
floor and single sty extension. Shown below is an architect’s plan for
this application which shows the existing floor plans and elevations of
the building.
(insert scan of 2008 plan)
In 2014 approval was granted to Bill Barnett regarding a retrospective
application to the creation of two bed sits from one flat which was in
the first floor part of the building. A report stated that “this
property had been operating as two bed sits since 2013 and that the
application pertained to that part of the building in a rear extension
to the Harp Hotel that was made many years ago”.
THE OCCUPANTS
There is not information to confirm that The Harp Hotel operated as a
Free House, and appears to have been owned by various breweries over its
long history, namely Kelsey’s Culverden Brewery, followed by the Phoenix
Brewery (Leney & Sons Ltd) and lastly by Whitbread in the mid 20th
century. During that time a number of licensed victuallers have run the
pub/hotel, details of all “known” operators, which are given below the
summary table is presented here.
All information given in this table is based on a review of local
directories, census records, and other accounts. All dates are
approximate unless otherwise stated and this list may not be complete.
The list has been compiled to include its occupancy as the Harp Inn from
1839 onwards, but references variously as The Harp Inn and The Harp
Hotel appear later. The 1824 Pigots directory gave no listing for the
Harp.
See Licensee list at bottom of page.
[1] HENRY GOODWIN
The 1840 Pigots directory gave the listing under ‘Taverns and Public
Houses’- Henry Goodwin “Harp, London Road”. As a point of clarification,
London Road and St John’s Road are one and the same roads. Early
references to the road give it as London Road and later this section of
the road, where the Harp was located, became known as St John’s Road. No
listing for Mr Goodwin was found in the 1858 Melville Directory but his
wife” Mrs Goodwin” was listed as running a lodging house at Calverley
Promenade. Henry was gone from the premises by 1847, when by then John
Pace took over.
As you will read under the heading “John Rivett Walker’ Henry Goodwin
was his brother in law and Henry suffered a bad injury in 1858 while
chasing some cows with a pitch fork.
Henry had been born in Speldhurst in 1829. He was baptised there March
29,1829 and given as the son of Henry Goodwin and Mary Goodwin, nee
Camfield.
The 1851 census, taken at the “Harp Inn, London Road” gave the innkeeper
as John Rivett Walker. With him was his wife Mary and four of his
children and also his brother in law Henry Goodwin, a bricklayer, given
as born 1830 in Speldhurst.
On September 19,1853 Henry married Mary Ann Fraser in Tunbridge Wells
and with her went on to have at least 9 children born from 1856 onwards
in Tunbridge Wells.
The 1861 census, taken at 3 Goodwin Cottages on London Road gave Henry
as a bricklayer. With him was his wife Mary Ann and four children. No 3
Goodwin Cottages, named after him, was one of three cottages (1,2,3) by
the same name located side by side.
The 1871 census, taken at Mayfield Cottage on Albion Road gave Henry as
a bricklayer. With him was his wife Mary Ann and seven of his children.
The 1881 census taken at 17 Culverden Square, Tunbridge Wells, gave
Henry as a bricklayer. With him was his wife Mary Ann and eight of their
children.
Henry continued to live in Tunbridge Wells, working as a bricklayer
until he retired. He died in Tunbridge Wells March 7,1916.
[2] JOHN PACE
The only listing for John Pace at the Harp Inn was that of 1847. By 1851
John Rivett Walker had taken over the premises. No record of him was
found in Tunbridge Wells in the 1840 Pigots directory.
John was a man with a variety of occupations as noted in the census
records below.
John Pace was baptised as John Alliss Pace March 29,1818 at Speldhurst,
the son of Joseph and Ann Pace. He was one of several children in the
family.
The 1841 census, taken at London Road gave John as a carpenter, With him
was his wife Sarah, who had been born 1823 in Tunbridge Wells and their
daughter Mary, born 1840.
The 1851 census, taken at 7 Edgers Cottage on the High Street near the
High Street Bridge, gave John Alliss Pace as a carpenter. With him was
his wife Sarah and daughter Mary and one servant.
The 1861 census, taken at Hertford Lodge in Tunbridge Wells gave John as
a photographer. With him was his wife Sarah and son John, plus a number
of servants.
The 1871 census, taken at 9 St John’s Road, Tunbridge Wells gave John as
a carpenter, With him was his wife Sarah; his son John and one
granddaughter.
The 1881 census, taken at 3 St John’s Road gave John as a builder. With
him was his wife Sarah and three of his children.
The 1891 census, taken at 53 Queens Road, Brighton, Sussex (the Feathers
Hotel) gave John as the hotel proprietor. With him was his wife Sarah,
one granddaughter and one servant.
The 1901 census, taken at 3 North Quadrant, Brighton, Sussex gave John
as an ironmongers clerk. With him was his wife Sarah and three children.
Probate records gave John Alliss Pace of 15 Surrey Street, Brighton,
Sussex when he died July 22,1901. The executor of his 1,073 pound estate
was John Pace, the son, a licensed victualler, and Mary Dyer, daughter
and wife of Clifford Dyer.
[3] JOHN RIVETT WALKER
Records show that John was the licensed victaller at the time of the
1851 census and was still there in a 1855 directory. No listing for him
was found in the 1858 Melville directory and the census record of 1861
confirms he was gone by then. The account below confirms he was there in
1858.
The website ‘Dover Kent Archives’ gave the following. “Tunbridge Wells
Intelligencer Accident (Sussex Advertiser July 27,1858) “An accident of
a rather serious character occurred to Mr Goodwin, brother in law to Mr
Walker, of the Harp Inn, on Tuesday last. It appears that he was
over-looking and assisting some men at work on the Lew (an area of St
John’s), when some horses ran out of the field into an adjoining one. Mr
Goodwin ran after them with a pitch fork, which he held by the prongs,
to drive them back. In running he unfortunately let the fork drop, and
the consequence was that the prongs entered his left side just below the
heart. On medical examination the wound was found not to be fatal as it
was first feared, and the unfortunate man is now recovering as well as
can be expected.
John Rivett Walker was born about 1808 at Woolaston, Northamptonshire
and spent his early years there. In 1833 he wed Mary, born 1828 at
Speldhurst. A review of birth records of his children show that he and
his wife and daughter Ann, born 1834 at Willington, had taken up
residence in Tunbridge Wells.
The 1851 census, taken at the “Harp Inn, London Road” gave John as an
innkeeper. With him was his wife Mary, age 23 and the following children
(1) Ann, age 17 (2) Rosina, age 4, born 1847 Tunbridge Wells (3) John,
age 3, born 1848 Tunbridge Wells (4) Mary, age 1, born 1850 Tunbridge
Wells. Also there was his brother in law Henry Goodwin, age 21, born
1830 in Speldhurst, a bricklayer. Also there were four people living in
rooms at the Hart Inn.
The 1861 census, taken at Regent Villa on London Road, Tunbridge Wells
gave John as a bricklayer and builder employing 30 men and several boys.
With him was his wife Mary, age 34; nine of his children, eight of which
were born in Tunbridge Wells between 1849 (John) and 1861 (Rivett). Also
there was one house servant. Based on the order in which the census was
taken Regent Villa was the second premises listed in the census past the
Harp Inn.
The 1871 census, taken on London Road, Tunbridge Wells gave John as a
master builder. With him was his wife Mary and eight of his children
plus one servant. The birth dates of these children range from 1849 to
1866, and based on a review of the records he and his wife had a total
of 13 children. In this census his son John, age 22, was a carpenter. His
son Henry, age 19 was a bank clerk. His son William, age 18 was a
bricklayer and the rest of the children were attending school.
Probate records gave John Rivett Walker late of Tunbridge Wells,
builder, who died December 22,1873 in Tunbridge Wells. The executors of
his under 3,000 pound estate was his widow Mary Rivett Walker and John
Alliss Pace, carpenter, both of Tunbridge Wells.
[4] WILLIAM COMBER
William was listed at the premises in the 1861 census but gone by 1862.
William had been born 1827 at Ardingley, Sussex, one of nine children
born to Richard Comber (1794-1879) and Sarah Comber, nee Box
(1792-1872). William lived at Ardingley up to at least 1838.
The 1861 census, taken at the “Harp Inn” gave William as an innkeeper.
With him was his wife Harriet, born 1836 at Chailey, Sussex, and his 11
month old daughter Caroline who had been born 1860 at Penshurst, Kent.
Also there was one house servant.
His whereabout in subsequent years is unclear but he appears in the 1891
census at Wiversfield, Sussex as a master brewer on his own with the
William Baldock family as a lodger. He was identified as a widower. He
appears to have passed away by the time of the 1901 census in Sussex.
[5] THOMAS STREET
Thomas is given at the premises in the 1862 post office directory but
was gone by 1871.
Thomas Street was born 1817 at Wargrave, Berskshire and came from an
agricultural background. He had married Hannah, born 1818 at Wargrave by
1847 and between 1848 and 1860 had six children. A review of the birth
records of the children show that their son James was born in Tonbridge
in 1848 and son Frederick born in the same place in 1851. From 1853 to
1860 he had another four children who were all born in Tunbridge Wells.
The 1861 census, taken at “Liptraps” in Tunbridge Wells gave Thomas as
an agricultural worker. With him was his wife Hannah and six of his
children. Liptraps was either Liptraps Farm located in what later became
the Liptraps residential development, south east of the SER line near
High Brooms off Sandhurst Road.
Thomas left farming to become the licensed victualler of the Harp by
1862 but appears to have remained there for only a short time.
The 1871 census, taken at the Great Lodge, in the Liptraps farm area,
gave Thomas Street as an agricultural labourer. With him was his wife
Hannah and two children.
Definitive information about his life after 1871 are lacking.
[6] THE GASTON FAMILY
Mrs Sarah Grace Gaston, the mother of Robert Gaston was listed at the
licensed victualler in a directory of 1874. Her husband James Gaston was
listed there in 1873. The 1881 census and 1882 Kelly directory gave her
son Robert as operating the business. They were gone from the premises
by 1891.
The 1851 census, taken at High Street in Epson gave James Gaston, as a
whitesmith, born 1819 in Sutton. With him was his wife Sarah Grace,
given as born 1826 at Kingston, Surrey and their two sons James (b1847)
and Robert (b1849), both born at Epsom. Also there was one servant.
Sarah Grace Gaston had been born as Sarah Grace Porter who had four
children between 1847 and 1867. Sarah Grace Porter was born December
30,1824 and was one of ten children born to Robert Porter (1796-1846)
and Ann Porter, nee Goodall (1795-1870).
Baptism records for Robert Gaston gave him born March 9,1849 at Epsom
and baptised July 25,1852 at All Saints, Kingston. His parents were
given as James and Sarah Grace Gaston.
The 1861 census, taken at the Kings Head put on the High Street in
Epsom, Surrey gave James Gawston as the publican. With him was his wife
Sarah, who was assisting in the business, and their children James and
Robert and one servant. It was in this atmosphere that Robert Gaston
became interested in the beverage trade.
On June 21,1873 Robert Gaston married Ellen Salmon at St Matthew, St
Pancras, London. Robert at that time was a clerk. Marriage records show
that James Gaston was a licensed victualler (deceased) and Ellen’s
father Herbert was a traveller (deceased). Local records of 1873 show
that James Gaston and his family were living in Tunbridge Wells and in
that year he was the licensed victualler of the Harp Inn.
When James Gaston passed away his wife Sarah Grace Gaston took over the
license and was assisted by her son Robert at the Hart Inn.
The 1881 census, taken at the “Harp Hotel, 70 St John’s Road” gave
Robert Gaston as the head of the family. With him was his wife Ellen,
born 1846 at Soho, Middlesex, and one servant.
The 1881 census, taken at 21 Queens Road, Tunbridge Wells, gave Sarah
Jane Gaston as a widow. With her were her children William, age 19, a
clerk, and her daughter Charlotte who was attending school.
Probate records gave Robert Gaston late of the Harp Hotel, Tunbridge
Wells, licensed victualler, when he died there February 26,1886. The
executor of his 391 pound estate was his widow Ellen Gaston of The Harp
Hotel.
After the death of Robert, his mother ran the Harp Hotel, although as
noted below Mrs J. T. Elliott temporarily took over her license.
The 1891 census, taken at 24 John Street, Tunbridge Wells gave Sarah
Grace Gaston as a “retired publican”. With her was her 23 year old
daughter Charlotte, a milliner.
The 1901 census, taken at 32 North Farm Road, High Brooms, Tunbridge
Wells, gave Sarah Grace Gaston living with the Charles Norton family
where she was living on own means. She was given in the census as
Charles Norton’s mother in law. His wife Charlotte was Sarah’s daughter.
Sarah Grace Gaston died in Tunbridge Wells in the first quarter of 1903.
[7] MRS J. T. ELLIOTT
Mrs Elliott is listed there in 1886, the same time as Mrs Sarah Grace
Gaston. From the Dover Kent Archives website is was recorded that
“Temporary authority was granted to Mrs J. T. Elliott, to carry on the
license of the Harp Hotel, in place of Mrs Gaston.
[8] ALFRED PLAYFOOT
Alfred is listed at the premises in a 1891 post office directory. No
record of him in the town at the time of the 1891 census was found and
nor was any other definitive information.
[9] ROBERT SIMMONS CORKE
Robert is listed at the premises in the 1901 census and 1903 post office
directory.
Robert was born March 20,1871 in Tunbridge Wells, one of seven children
born to Richard Corke (1827-1917) and Elizabeth Corke, nee Simmons
(1836-1896).
Census records of 1871 and 1881 gave Robert living with his parents and
siblings in Tunbridge Wells. At the time of the 1891 census he was
living at St Brides, London.
On April 15,1897 Robert married Sarah Parkham Reeves, the daughter of
Robert Reeves. She was born September 19,1878 at Egham, Berkshire. Robert
and Sarah went on to have eight children between 1898 and 1915. After
the marriage and up to at least 1899 the family lived in Maidstone,
Kent, but by 1901 had moved to Tunbridge Wells.
The 1901 census, taken at the Harp, 79 St John’s Road, Tunbridge
Wells, gave Robert as the licensed victualler. With him was his wife
Sarah and two of their children and two servants.
The 1911 census, taken at 1 Buston Park Road in Brentford gave Rober
Simmons Corke as a brewery inspector. With him was his wife Sarah and
four of their children.
Probate records gave Robert Simmons Corke of 6 Courtney road, Colliers
Wooed, Mitcham, Surrey, when he died January 9,1952 at Surrey County
Hospital, Carshalton, Surrey. The executors of his estate were Sidney
Montague, farmer, and Sidney Daniel Proctor, labourer.
[10] ROBERT REEVES
Robert Reeves is listed in the 1911 census as the licensed victualler of
the Harp Hotel at 79 St John’s Road.
Robert was born 1853 at Kemsing, Kent, one of eight children born to
Thomas and Mary Reeves. He was baptised March 7,1853 at Kemsing, Kent.
At the time of the 1861 census he was living with his parents (his
father was an agricultural worker) along with four siblings and some
farm workers. The 1871 census, taken on Church Lane in Seal, Kent
recorded Thomas as an agricultural worker with is two sons Robert and
Frederick.
In 1874 he married Jane Packham, who was born 1853 in Sevenoaks, Kent.
The 1881 census, taken at 66 High Street, Tunbridge Wells gave Robert as
a beerhouse keeper. With him was his wife Jane; their children Maud, age
5 and Jane, age 2, both of whom had been born at Egham, and Elizabeth, age
7 months who had been born at Ashford. Also there were one servant and two
lodgers. The 1891 census recorded the family at the same premises with
Robert as a beerhouse keeper.
(insert ‘Bridge Hotel’)
The 1901 census, taken at the Bridge Hotel, at 6 Broadway gave Robert as
a licensed victualler. With him was his wife Jane; four of their
children, two of whom were born in Tunbridge Wells in 1885 and 1887; two
visitors and six servants. No. 6 Broadway was located on the east side
of Mount Pleasant Road across the street from the SER station. A photo
of the Bridge Hotel is shown opposite. Details about the Bridge Hotel
and the people who ran it are given in my article ‘The History of the
Bridge Hotel – Mount Pleasant Road’ dated January 26, 2014. Robert was
listed at the Bridge Hotel in the 1899 and 1901 directories.
The 1911 census, taken at the Harp Hotel 79 St Johns Road, Tunbridge
Wells gave Robert as the licensed victualler. With him was his wife
Jane, a barmaid and a barman. The census recorded that the premises
consisted of five rooms and that they had been married 38 years. Of
their 10 children only 6 had survived. What became of Robert after 1911
was not determined.
[11] WILLIAM ROBERT SMITH
William is listed at the premises in the Kelly directories of 1913 and
1918. Robert Reeves was there at the time of the 1911 census.
William was born 1876 in Westminster, London, one of several children
born to William Robert Smith who at the time of his sons marriage in
1904 was a fruiterer (deceased).
The 1881 census, taken at 9 Stopford Rod, London gave William Smith
senior as born 1841 in Paddington and working as a commercial clerk,
With him was his wife Jessie, born 1848 at Marylebone, London, and their
three children Emily, age 6, William Robertg, age 4 and Annie, an infant.
The 1901 census, taken at 126 Trafalgar Road in London gave Jessie Smith
as a 53 year old widow. With her was her son William Robert Smith, age
25, a “cutter paper”; her 25 year old daughter Eliza, a cook domestic,
and her 8 year old daughter Annie. Also there was one boarder.
On June 12, 1904 William Robert Smith married Jessie Maud Harmer at St
Giles, Clerkenwell, London. Jessie had been born 1881 at Walworth, London
and was the daughter of William Harmer, a licensed victualler at the
time of her marriage.
The 1911 census, taken at the "Eight Bells Inn" in New Rents, Ashford Road
gave William Robert Smith as the licensed victualler. With him was his
wife Jessie; three of their children and one domestic servant. The
census recorded they were living in premises of 6 rooms and that they
had been married in 1904 and had just three children.
As noted above by 1913 and up to his death in 1919 William was the
licensed victualler of the Harp Hotel in Tunbridge Wells.
Probate records gave William Robert Smith of the Harp Hotel, 79 St
John’s Road, Tunbridge Wells, when he died March 11, 1919. The executor of
his £1,667 estate was his spinster daughter Elizabeth Jane Smith
and Joseph Jones, printer. William was buried in the Tunbridge Wells
Borough Cemetery on March 14, 1919. No record for the burial of his wife
in Tunbridge Wells was found.
[12] PERCY STREETER
Percy is listed at the premises in the 1922 Kelly directory. No
definitive information for him was found by the researcher.
[13] HARRY NOKES
Harry is listed at the premises in the 1930, 1934 and 1938 Kelly
directories. No definitive information for him was found by the
researcher.
PHOENIX BREWERY/ FREDERICK LENEY & SONS LTD (insert ‘High Street’
postcard showing Leney wagon on high street)
Charles Leney first acquired the lease of Wardens Hill Brewery on Bow
Road early in 1838, at which time it became known as Phoenix Brewery and
the business traded in the name Charles Leney.
In 1847, Charles' younger brother Frederick moved to the village and
joined him in the business, which then became known as Messrs Leney, or
sometimes Messrs Charles & Frederick Leney.
After 21 years, in 1859, Charles Leney left the business, later leaving
the village in 1861. His brother Frederick remained in the village and
continued to run the business which simply became known as Frederick
Leney.
(insert scan of Leney 1895 advert pg 25 yesterdays bottles)
Around the summer of 1864, Frederick was joined by his eldest son
Charles, from which time the firm traded in the name Frederick Leney &
Son, then F Leney & Son from the end of 1870. Frederick's second son
Augustus joined the firm in about June 1873 when it then became known as
Leney & Sons.
Frederick Leney died on 26th May 1881, leaving four sons and four
daughters.
It was Frederick's second son Augustus who was the strength behind the
expansion of the business, which was finally registered as Frederick
Leney & Sons Ltd. in the spring of 1895.
The firm of F. Leney & Sons was described in the following account of
1892 from ‘The Pictorial History of Tunbridge Wells and District. “
Messrs F. Leney & Sons, ‘Phoenix Brewery’, Wateringbury. Local office:
20 London Road, Mr W. H. Downs, Proprietor - The past quarter of a century
has witnessed a marked improvement in the manufacture of our popular
beverage, and this gratifying result is due to the ability and
enterprise displayed by such well known exponents of the trade as Messrs
Frederick Leney & Sons. The firm has been in existence some seventy or
eighty years, and, under able management, has increased in popularity,
until now it occupies a leading position among the best known of its
kind in the county. From the seat of operations, Wateringbury, a large
and valuable trade is being carried on. The brewery is very extensive-it
is appointed throughout with the utmost convenience, its brewery plant
being replete with every modern improvement, and is one of the largest
and most perfect of its kind in the county. The entire facilities for the
extensive carrying on of the trade are of an exceptional character. In
connection with the brewing interest has been introduced a patent tap,
which, besides being exceedingly novel in its construction, has become
very popular and useful to their numerous customers. The tap in its
operation absolutely prevents the loss of the contents of the barrel; it
is fixed before leaving the brewery, the user only needing to screw on
the end portion, insert the key, and the process is completed. The
operation takes but a few seconds to carry out, and once fixed it is
impossible to remove the key without closing the aperture, and, being
made of the best metal and neatly fitted, no leakage ensues as in other
taps. In our opinion it is a capital invention, which only requires to
be known to be adopted. Mr. W. H. Downs, of the London Road, is the local
agent.”
(insert ‘Leney truck’)
By the mid-1920s, there were no members of the Leney family actively
associated with the company, and in 1927 Frederick Leney & Sons Ltd. was
acquired by London Brewers Whitbread & Co., though the Leney name was
retained until about 1960. Their lorries, as shown opposite, could be
seen on the streets of Tunbridge Wells in the 1920’s and later.
The beverages produced by this brewery were sold in many pubs in
Tunbridge Wells. They also operated a brewery store at 26 London Road
from about 1895 to 1928. An advertisement dated 1895 is given above
noting this address. The postcard shown above dates from about 1905 and
shows a Frederick Leney & Sons delivery wagon at the south end of High
Street in Tunbridge Wells on its way to make deliveries to its pubs. The
sign on The Harp Hotel given earlier in this article bearing the name of
Leney & Sons Ltd dates the photo to 1895 or later.
THE WHITBREAD BREWERY (insert ‘Harp hotel sign’)
This brewery served Free Houses and pubs they owned with beverages
produced at their brewery(s). At one time they owned 8,500 public
houses, with the Harp Hotel on St John’s Road being one of several in
Tunbridge Wells, as noted by “The Harp” sign given opposite, dated 1951,
from a book of the same year describing the history of the brewery and
its pubs. Given below is an overview of the founding and operation of
this business and some another local pub signs bearing the name of
Whitbread.
(insert’ Whitbread photo 2,3,4’)
This brewery was founded in London in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread
(1720-1796) when he went into partnership with Godfrey and Thomas
Shewell and traded initially as Godfrey Shewell and Company.
Godfrey Shewell left the partnership upon his marriage in 1748. Thomas
Shewell and Whitbread acquired the Chiswell Street site, known as the
King's Head Brewhouse in 1750. Thomas Shewell retired in 1761 when
Whitbread bought him out for £30,000.
Additions were made to the Chiswell Street Brewery in 1758 and other
expansions of the business continued in subsequent years.
Samuel Whitbread died in 1796 by which time the Brewery was producing
200,000 barrels of beer a year and was described as the best in London
and employed around 200 men.
After the death of Samuel Whitbread I the Brewery was run by his son
Samuel Whitbread II (1758-1815) and his father's executors until 1799
when a partnership made up of Samuel Whitbread II, Richard Sangster,
clerk, Joseph Yallowley, clerk, and Timothy Brown, banker, was formed.
The terms of the partnership freed Whitbread from attending personally
to any business. They were joined by Joseph Goodman, Jacob Whitbread
(Samuel's cousin) and Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, banker in 1800. Timothy
Brown left the partnership in 1810 after an accounting dispute.
At the start of the eighteenth century the majority of the Brewery's
trade was with free houses with 392 licensed victuallers in London and
two hundred spread throughout the rest of the country. Along with these
freehouses there were also twenty-nine leaseholds. In 1812 the business
amalgamated with that of Martineau and Bland of the Lambeth Brewery,
King's Arms Stairs, Lambeth, adding a further 38 leaseholds to the list
bringing the total number to 91. The Lambeth Brewery closed down and the
stock of beer, horses and the larger part of the machinery and utensils
were transferred to the Chiswell Street Brewery. The managing partners
at this time were Robert Sangster, Michael Bland, John Martineau and
Joseph Martineau. By 1889, when the Company was formed from the
partnership, the number of licensed houses controlled and served by the
Brewery totalled many hundreds.
After Samuel Whitbread II's death in 1815 (he committed suicide by
cutting his throat with a razor), a new partnership was formed
comprising two new partners, William Wilshere and John Farquhar. John
Martineau, Joseph Martineau and Michael Bland were the managing
partners. William Henry Whitbread (1796-1879), the second son of Samuel
Whitbread II, joined the partnership in 1819, along with Samuel Charles
Whitbread (1796-1879), his younger brother. Richard Martineau joined the
partnership in 1828 as a junior partner and John Cam Hobhouse (later
Lord Broughton, son of Sir Benjamin Hobhouse) became a partner in 1831.
John Martineau died in 1834 "being seized with apoplexy {he} had fallen
in to the vat" in the Porter Tun Room. The jury returned a verdict of
"death by the visitation of God". Charles Shaw Lefevre (MP 1830-57,
later Viscount Eversley, son-in-law of Samuel Whitbread II) joined the
partnership in 1840. This partnership ran for twenty years. William
Whitbread (d 1879), the second son of Samuel Charles Whitbread, and John
Martineau became partners in 1860, followed by F Lubbock in 1875, Samuel
Whitbread III (1830-1915) in 1879, and W H Whitbread, second son of
Samuel Whitbread III, in 1885.
After Viscount Eversley died in July 1889 the business was registered as
a limited liability company, Whitbread and Company Limited, with Samuel
Whitbread III as chairman. Brewery business had been conducted by
partnerships for ninety years, the total number of partners during this
period being thirty, seven of whom were members of the Whitbread family.
Throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century the Brewery
expanded purchasing additional land and buildings on the north side of
Chiswell Street. By 1905, at the height of production when the brewery
was at its fullest extent, the freehold area of Chiswell Street was over
five acres. Production at Chiswell Street rose rapidly again with the
success of bottled beer which began in 1868 following a reduction on the
duty on glass. By the middle of 1889 the Brewery was producing 336,000
barrels up to nearly 700,000 barrels by mid-1900 with profits equalling
£205,000. To meet the demand for bottled beers depots were opened in
Lewisham, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Weston Rise, Cardiff,
Manchester, Totteham, Newcastle, Poole, Hull, Leicester, Nottingham and
Kingston and a new headquarters office was opened at 27 Britannia
Street, London, in 1900.
Circumstance and legislation brought in during the Great War saw
production limited to 18 million barrels at the start of 1917 and then
halved by March to less than a third of pre-war output. By 1918
production had fallen to 400,000 barrels and was only 100,000 barrels
higher eighteen years later. Over 1000 Whitbread employees had enlisted
in the War and 95 were killed either in action or from wounds sustained.
Following the purchase of the Forest Hill brewery in the early 1920s,
Whitbread began experimenting with brewing 'bright' beer where the beer
was matured and filtered before bottling to prevent sedimentation. The
technique was a success and rolled out to the whole Whitbread brand. In
the 1920s Whitbread also introduced the Double Brown which was designed
to rival Guinness and was almost a recreation of Whitbread's original
porter.
In the mid-1920s Whitbread was experiencing a slump in trade. Sales were
down overall by an average of 34%, twice that experienced by the trade
as a whole. In response Sydney Nevile, the managing director, decided
upon an avid advertising campaign using popular celebrities. He also
attempted to widen the range of products available with additions such
as cider and to develop exports to the colonies although the latter was
not particularly successful. However it was the popularity of Mackeson's
milk stout which buoyed sales in the late 1930s and although still a
long way off their 1913 peak they were a third higher than in 1932.
Unlike the Great War of 1914-18, general beer production across the
country rose rapidly during the Second World War with Whitbread's
production up 50% to 914,000 barrels by 1945 - almost beating the 1912
record of 989,000. Despite mass devastation of buildings in the
surrounding area due to fire raids, Whitbread's own fire brigade was
able to protect the Chiswell premises. Even after the great raid on 29th
December 1940, production at the plant restarted after only four days.
Between 1939-1945, 565 (90%) of Whitbread's licensed public houses in
London were damaged by the Blitz, with 29 completely destroyed and an
additional 49 so badly damaged that they had to close.
(insert ‘Whitbread photo 1’) hops in Paddock wood
By 1948, the Company was employing 5,000 people. In addition to Brewery
workers, by the 1950s over 5000 people were employed in the cultivation
and harvesting of the hop bines that were grown by the Company in Kent.
New breweries were built at Luton, in 1969, Samlesbury, Lancashire, in
1972 and Magor, Gwent in 1978. The Chiswell Street Brewery ceased
brewing in 1976. In 1989 the Company operated 6 breweries at Castle
Eden, Durham; Magor, Gwent; Exchange Brewery, Bridge Street, Sheffield;
Court Street, Faversham, Kent; Monson Avenue, Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire; and Cuerdale Lane, Samlesbury, Preston, Lancashire.
Some residents of the town will remember the Culverden Brewery on St
John’s Road, during the time it was run by E & H Kelsey. Details of this
brewery were given in my article ‘Early Brewing History and the
Culverden Brewery St John’s Road’ dated May 5,2012, in which I noted in
part “In 1961 the giant brewing company Whitebread took over the former
'Flowers' Culverden Brewery with Arthur Reginald Kelsey as its
chairman. This came to a sudden end however when Arthur passed away in
Tunbridge Wells December 9,1962 at the Lonsdale Nursing Home….. By the
time Whitehead had taken over the brewery the end for the aging brewery
in Tunbridge Wells was near and after the passing of Arthur Kelsey in
1962 the building and brewery were closed down for good and
demolished, ending over 100 years of family brewing. The brewery building
was replaced with the telephone exchange building.”
During the final decades of the 20th Century, Whitbread seriously
invested in the food and lodgings sectors. The Beefeater brand was
launched in 1974 and Brewers Fayre followed five years later. Whitbread
introduced Pizza Hut and TGI Friday's to Britain in the 1980s and adding
continental-style high street brands like Costa, Cafe Rouge and Bella
Pasta in the nineties. During that time Whitbread Hotel Company
developed from a small number of three and four-star coaching inns and
country houses, establishing Travel Inn in 1987 and securing the UK
rights to the Marriott brand in 1995.
The Whitbread Beer Company was sold to Belgian brewer Interbrew in May
2000. First Quench (off-licences business) was sold in September 2000 to
the Japanese investment bank Nomura (then jointly owned with Punch
Group). Whitbread continues as a company with interests in hotels,
restaurants and health and fitness clubs.
Inserts mentioned above can be found at the
following address from December 2016.
http://www.allabouttunbridgewells.com/
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