Arborfield
Local History Society

 Families: Pub Landlords, 1815

The 'Mole Inn', Carter's Hill

The 'Swan Inn', Arborfield

The 'Bull Inn', Arborfield

The 'Bramshill Hunt', Arborfield

An intriguing list of local Pub landlords is held at the Berkshire Record Office. It is from the Quarter sessions of September 1815 for the Forest Division of Berkshire. It's tantalising because it doesn't name the pubs; only the parishes in which they are located.

The forms are pre-printed, and they have space to list up to three pub landlords standing surety for each other. Here's the wording on one of them, with the hand-written sections shown in bold italics:

Berks. Forest Division } TO WIT

Samuel Milam of Hurst, Victualler - acknowledge to our Sovereign Lord the King the sum of Ten Pounds
William Ludlow of Arborfield, Victualler - acknowledge to our Sovereign Lord the King the sum of five pounds
Thomas Eed of Swallowfield, Victualler - acknowledge to our Sovereign Lord the King the sum of five pounds

To be levied on their several Goods and Chattels, Lands or Tenements, by way of Recognizance to his Majesty's Use Upon CONDITION, that whereas the said Samuel Milam is this Day licenced [sic] to keep common Ale House or Victualling-House in the Parish of Hurst  for the term of One Year only, from the Twenty-ninth Day of September instant.

If therefore the said Samuel Milam shall keep good Order and Government, and suffer no Disorder to be committed, or unlawful Games used in the said House, Yard, Garden or Back-side thereunto belonging during the Continuance of the said Licence, THEN this Recognizance to be void, or else to remain in full Force.

Taken and acknowledged this 5 Day of September, 1815, before us,

N Dukinfield
Elizabeth Colleton
.

 

It looks as if each Landlord stood surety for his near-neighbour in an informal arrangement to keep order in the local area, and the same names re-appear several times on 5th September 1815.

Here are several other examples from the same day (all are described as 'Victuallers'):

William Watkins of Wokingham 10 pounds  for William Watkins of Wokingham
Thomas Thrift of Sandhurst 5 pounds  
John Hall of Arborfield 5 pounds  

 

John Collier of Barkham 10 pounds  for John Collier of Barkham
John Hall of Hurst (not Arborfield) 5 pounds  
Joseph Giles of Finchampstead 5 pounds  

 

Thomas Thrift of Sandhurst 10 pounds  for Thomas Thrift of Sandhurst
William Watkins of Wokingham 5 pounds  
John Hall of Arborfield 5 pounds  

 

Thomas Piggott of Warfield 10 pounds  for Thomas Piggott of Warfield
Thomas Finch of Warfield 5 pounds  
John Hall of Arborfield 5 pounds  

 

Walter Mitchell of Sonning 10 pounds  for Walter Mitchell of Sonning
John Radburn of Sonning 5 pounds  
Samuel Milam of Hurst 5 pounds  

 

Elizabeth Launchbury of Warfield 10 pounds for Elizabeth Launchbury of Warfield
William Ludlow of Arborfield 5 pounds  
Thomas Eed of Swallowfield 5 pounds  

 

John Radburn of Sonning 10 pounds  for John Radburn of Sonning
Walter Mitchell of Sonning 5 pounds  
Samuel Milam of Hurst 5 pounds  

 

Thomas Eed of Swallowfield 10 pounds  for Thomas Eed of Swallowfield
Samuel Milam of Hurst 5 pounds  
William Ludlow of Arborfield 5 pounds  

 

William Ludlow of Arborfield 10 pounds  for William Ludlow of Arborfield
Samuel Milam of Hurst 5 pounds  
Thomas Eed of Swallowfield 5 pounds  

 

John Hall of Hurst (see above) 10 pounds  for John Hall of Hurst
John Collier of Barkham 5 pounds  
Joseph Giles of Finchampstead 5 pounds  

 

Joseph Giles of Finchampstead 10 pounds  for Joseph Giles of Finchampstead
John Collier of Barkham 5 pounds  
John Hall of Hurst 5 pounds  

One of the forms had only two names of those pledging sureties, as shown below. Note that they were standing surety for a third party, Thomas Hall - was he John Hall's relative?

John Hall of Arborfield 10 pounds  for Thomas Hall of Wokingham
John Collier of Barkham 10 pounds  
(blank) (blank)  

We can't say with certainty which pubs were tenanted by whom, but in this case, it is likely that Samuel Milam was at the 'Mole' in Carter's Hill, William Ludlow was at the 'Bull' in Arborfield and John Hall was at the 'Swan' in what was then called 'Arborfield Street', which in the Liberty of Newland, not in Arborfield. Did this confuse the officials filling in the forms?

Although we don't yet know when the 'Bramshill Hunt' first became a pub, it is only shown as a cottage on a map of the area around Whitehall Farm from 1817 (on the www.berkshirenclosure.org.uk site - see the 'Windsor Forest' maps, reference MPA1/60, image 11).

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