124 Belle Grove Road

Welling

Above photo, date unknown.

Above photo, date unknown.

Changed name to the "Moon and Sixpence" date unknown and now converted into a Tesco Express.

During the mid-18th century William Palmer a Welling resident living on Old Dover Road, now Bellegrove Road, Welling, applied for a licence to sell alcohol from his own residence. After the licence was granted his house became known as the "Old Fox." In 1896 Palmer applied to the Council to build a new Hotel further up the road on the corner of Central Avenue, this was a year after the opening of the Bexleyheath Line and William Palmer saw this as a business opportunity.

There was opposition to the plans from the "Plough and Harrow," which stood opposite the proposed site. They objected to the building being a hotel when it only had six bedrooms, but it seems more likely the proprietors were concerned over the amount of business they might lose. After revising the plans and increasing the number of bedrooms, the Hotel was built and named the "Station Hotel." The design was quite striking, built in red brick, exterior balustrades and a circular turret on the corner that towered over the surrounding buildings.

The Gray family

At the turn of the century, the Hotel's proprietors were Edwin Gray and his family. The Gray family would have a connection with the Station Hotel for the next 50 years.

In 1852 Edwin Gray (1st), lived in Walthamstow and is shown on the 1881 /91 Census as a retired Licenced victualler. Next door to him lived his son Edwin Gray (2nd), who lived with his wife Jane and four children, Lucy, Anna, Alice and Edwin. It is in the 1901 census that Edwin Gray first shows up as the Manager of the "Station Hotel," along with his wife Jane and three of his four children.

In 1909 at the age of 57, Edwin Gray (2nd) dies, but the Station Hotel continues to be managed by his widow Jane. In 1906, their son Edwin Gray (3rd) married a publican's daughter Beatrice Annie Bragg in East Molesey, Surrey. Initially he did not follow his father and grandfather in to the publican trade but instead trained as a real lace buyer for a Company based in the City.

The 1911 Census tells us that at some time Jane Gray widow of Edwin Gray (2nd) moves to St. Marylebone in London; here she manages another public house alongside her daughter Alice and her husband John Allen. Around this time, her son Edwin Gray (3rd) and his wife Beatrice move into the "Station Hotel" as the Proprietors.

The couple continue to manage the "Station Hotel," until Edwin (3rd) dies in 1933 aged 52, his obituary appeared in the Kentish Times dated 27th January 1933, here he is described as a man of kindly disposition who was popular in a wide circle. A Freemason and an active member of the Welling Traders's Association his particular interest was local transport.

Edwin's widow Beatrice and their son Edwin Walford George Gray (4th) continued to live in the "Station Hotel" as the Proprietor until 1959.
 

LICENSEE LIST

WYATT William Thompson 1881+ (age 55 in 1881)

WOODER Reuben 1891+ (age 53 in 1891)

GRAY Edwin 1901+ (age 49 in 1901)

GRAY Jane Mrs 1903-13+

GRAY Edwin 1918-30+

GRAY Beatrice Mrs 1938+

https://pubwiki.co.uk/StationHotel.shtml

http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/stationhotel.html

Census

From the Kelly's Directory 1903