July 2004 - Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society

‘Pem’ (Emily) Green’s Shop, The Square, Attleborough c1900. 

(See page 12 for more photos from the Green Family Album) 

NUNEATON AND NORTH WARWICKSHIRE 

FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 

Member of the Federation of Family History Societies 

http://www.nnwfhs.org.uk 

JOURNAL JULY 2004 

Price £1.50 (first copy free to members)

Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society - Journal Page 1 

CONTENTS PAGE 

NNWFHS Committee 1 

NNWFHS Diary - A Report From The Chairman, Peter Lee. 2 

Shocking Suicide - By Tom Beebe 3 

20th Century Family Myths & Legends - By Jacqui Simkins 4 

Nuneaton’s Inns, Pubs and Taverns - By Peter Lee 5 

One Of The Most Neglected Genealogical Techniques - By Alan F Cook 11 

Family Album - The Green, Brown & Townsend Families’ Holiday Photos - By Anne Paling-Lawson 12 

HART - Atherstone Civic Society’s Local Heritage Initiative - By Judy Vero 13 

New Books, CDs Etc 14 

Get Netted 15 

Noticeboard 16 

New Members/ New Members’ Interests 16 

Publications 17 

NNWFHS COMMITTEE 

CHAIRMAN PETER LEE, P O Box 2282, Nuneaton, Warwicks CV116ZT 

Tel: (024) 7638 1090 email Nuneatonian2000@aol.com 

INDEXING PROJECTS CO-ORDINATOR CAROLYN BOSS, Nuneaton Library, Church Street, Nuneaton, 

& VICE CHAIR Warwickshire CV11 4DR Tel: (024) 7638 4027 

SECRETARY & ALVA KING, 26 Thirlmere Avenue, Nuneaton, Warwicks. CV11 6HS 

BURIALS INDEXING PROJECT Tel: (024) 7638 3499 email: alva.king@ntlworld.com 

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY JOHN PARTON, 6 Windmill Rd, Atherstone, Warwickshire CV9 1HP 

Tel: (01827) 713938 email JAParton@aol.com 

TREASURER & CELIA PARTON, 6 Windmill Rd, Atherstone, Warwickshire CV91HP 

NORTH WARWICKSHIRE CO-ORDINATOR Tel: (01827) 713938 email CEParton@aol.com 

JOURNAL & PUBLICATIONS EDITOR PAT BOUCHER, 33 Buttermere Ave, Nuneaton,Warwicks CV11 6ET 

& MICROFICHE LENDING LIBRARIAN Tel: (024) 7638 3488 email editor@nnwfhs.org.uk 

COMMITTEE MEMBER & RAY HALL, 4 Thornhill Drive, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV11 6TD 

BURIALS INDEXING PROJECT Tel: (024) 76 744647 email ray-hall@ntlworld.com 

PUBLICATIONS MANAGER ROBERT BUTLER, 16 Dovecote Close, Solihull, West Midlands 

B91 2EP Tel 0121 743 8526 

email bobbutler@16dovecote.freeserve.co.uk 

WEBSITE MANAGER BILL BOSWELL, 21 Randle Road, Stockingford, Nuneaton,Warwicks 

CV10 8HR Tel: (024) 7634 3596 email bill.boswell@btinternet.com 

COMMITTEE ALAN F COOK 

COMMITTEE VAL PICKARD, 108 Lister Road, Atherstone, Warwicks CV9 3DF 

Tel: (01827) 711863 email: vpickard1@aol.com 

NORTH AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE HARLOW G FARMER, 7101 Bay Front Dr. #124 Annapolis, MD 

21403 USA. E-mail HGFarmer23@CS.com 

If you have a photograph or an article which you would like to be published in the next journal please contact Pat 

Boucher either at the monthly meetings, telephone 024 7638 3488, email editor@nnwfhs.org.uk or by post at 33 

Buttermere Ave, Nuneaton, Warwicks, CV11 6ET. I am happy to accept word processed articles or scanned 

photographs etc on computer disk. Also, don’t forget items for help wanted, new websites, software reviews etc 

Thanks, Pat Boucher - Editor. 

Deadline for all copy to be included in the October issue of the Journal is September 7th

Page 2 

Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society - Journal 

NnwFHs Diary 

A Report From The Chairman, Peter Lee 

As we enter the summer season family history takes a bit of a back seat. Holidays, gardening, rambling, 

fishing, etc. and other outdoor pursuits fill up our leisure time. Despite this some of you enjoy visiting 

some of those places associated with your ancestors. Visiting your roots is a summer favourite, as well as 

more serious studies, records offices, libraries, museums and battlefields. Light nights and better weather 

help this. Our family history society never shuts so if you need any help this summer season we are here 

for you. 

The Nuneaton local and family history weekend is at the Chilvers Coton Heritage Centre on Saturday, 

September 11 th . If you can make it we are pleased to see you there especially if you are displaying your 

family records. This is something we welcome very much and we will be pleased to meet you. Not only 

that you might come face to face with some long lost cousin, or obtain additional local information, which 

provide new clues where to look next. Tables and display areas are available, but you need to book early 

to reserve them. To reserve your place at the event please call me on my mobile (07710 233539) which is 

switched on 24 hours a day and accompanies me everywhere, (even to the pub!). Try and combine it with 

a weekend in the area. If you are coming a long distance we can help with hotel, guest house and travel 

information. Also we might be able to put you in touch with a cousin or two who live locally. 

Our popular second Tuesday of the month sessions at Nuneaton Library (7.30pm-9.30pm) continue 

despite the hot weather, so please try and make one of those. Bring your family with you as well. Let us 

show them what records are here and take advantage of the local collections with all the census records 

1841-1891, as well as parish records. 

Thinking of new ways we can maximize the benefits of family history, I was talking to an Indian friend of 

mine one day who told me all about his family back in the sub-continent. It occurred to me that an “Asian 

Family History Event” might be a useful addition to our range of services at the Library. So please let me 

know if you have any expertise in this area. In our multi-cultural society “family” is the same in any 

language, so there must be a local need here. This is planned for later in the year. 

Something I have learned about organizing these local events is the total coverage you need to give them. 

Every available publicity outlet as well as constant reminders to people so that what appeared to be a 

good idea three months ago is still fresh in people’s thoughts right up until the day of delivery. Forgive 

me, therefore, if you get the odd e.mail reminding you of what is on. You can always delete it after you 

have read it. 

CRIME WATCH 1820 STYLE 

By Val Pickard 

The Sheepy Magna Association for the Proscecution of Felons 

instructed Henry Radford, Solicitor of Atherstone to seek out 

one William Corbett, Cattle Dealer of Austrey in Warwickshire. 

This he did by placing an advertisement in The Times newspaper 

in early 1820. 15 Guineas reward was offered. 

William Corbett was charged with having “feloniously stolen, 

taken and driven away on or about the 16th of December 1819, 

one beast of the cow kind, the property of Ralph Oldacres of 

Austrey” it was also said that “he hath fled from justice”. 

William Corbett, about 48 years of age, 5ft, 3 or 4 inches, fresh 

complexion, full and round visage, sharp look with his eyes, 

dark brown hair, straight in person, very stout made and active. 

When last seen in Northampton, on Saturday 19th February he 

had on a round hat, light coloured great coat and kneecaps. 

Don't you wish you had a description of one of your ancestors 

as good as that? I wonder if they ever caught him? 

Details taken from the archives of The Times newspaper. 

NNWFHS 

HELPLINE 

Peter Lee 

(024) 7638 1090 

6.30 - 8.00pm 

Mon to Sat 

Or email: 

Nuneatonian2000@aol.com


Thomas Beebe was my great 

grandfather, he was the son of John 

Beeby and was born in Dadlington on 

25th February 1860. He married Clara 

Meller at Dadlington on 17th June 

1880 (although it is interesting to note 

that on the 1881 census he is at his 

parents’ house and listed as unmarried, 

whilst Clara Beeby is listed as a 

married kitchen girl living at the home 

of Mr Charles Jee at Nuneaton fields). 

The spelling of Beeby had changed to 

Beebe when my grandfather was born 

and they were living at Cold Comfort 

in Hinckley, which was the area were 

the Sunnyside Hospital stands on the 

A447 Ashby road. When or why they 

moved to Attleborough I do not know. 

I did not know about what had 

happened to Thomas but then, at the 

January meeting, I was talking to 

someone about Higham on the Hill 

when a visitor to our meeting, Mrs 

Celia Hornbuckle, asked me had I read 

the history of the Mellers of Higham. 

She told me that she may be able to get 

me a copy but it turned out that she 

could not. While doing some 

researching in Leicester she saw the 

article in the Daily Post, noticed the 

name Beebe, thought he could be on 

my tree, and so contacted me with the 

details. The rest, as they say, is now 

History! I now have various accounts 

of the incident taken from local 

newspapers, one of which is printed 

below. Thomas was buried at 

Dadlington. His widow, Clara, died 

c1940 at Market Bosworth and is 

buried at Higham on the Hill. 

The following account is taken from 

the Nuneaton Chronicle of Friday 

January 16th 1891 

SHOCKING SUICIDE ON THE 

RAILWAY NEAR NUNEATON 

A horrible discovery was made on 

Monday morning on the London and 

North-Western Railway Company's 

line between Hinckley and Nuneaton, a 

few yards on the Warwickshire side of 

the Watling Street, the body of a man, 

terribly mutilated, being found upon 

the metals. The head was completely 

severed, and one arm and one foot had 

also been cut off. Information on the 

Shocking Suicide 

By Tom Beebe 

discovery was first telephoned to 

Hinckley railway station, and the 

station master, accompanied by a 

policeman, immediately went to the 

scene, the body being at once removed, 

and placed on a platelayer's trolley. It 

being found that the accident 

happened in Warwickshire, the 

remains were brought to Nuneaton 

station. The exact district in which the 

occurrence took place was Hydes 

Pastures, which is situated in the 

Longford police division. The 

circumstances surrounding the case 

clearly point to it being one of suicide. 

A letter, written in pencil, was found 

upon the body, which, after being 

deciphered with difficulty, was found 

to read as follows:- "My dear Clara,- I 

felt so bad I could not help it. You have 

been a good wife to me. Don't you fret. 

I have always been afraid we should 

come to want. Do not fret my dear; I 

could not help it. Tell my Father not to 

fret. I could not help it. Take care of 

my children. God bless them. I wish I 

could be cheerful, but I could not. 

Good bye my dear." There was no 

signature to the letter, and for some 

time the man, whose body was brought 

to the Crown Inn, in Bond Street, 

remained unidentified. A description of 

the appearance, clothing, etc, was 

issued, and late the same evening the 

body was identified by his wife as that 

of Thomas Beebe, labourer, of 

Attleborough. It should be mentioned 

that a pair of reins were found lying 

near the scene of the accident, and the 

theory is that the man at first 

contemplated ending his life by 

hanging but that it occurred to him to 

find a more speedy method of ending 

his existence. 

An inquest on the body of Beebe was 

held at the Crown on Wednesday at 

noon by Dr. C. W. Iliffe, the district 

coroner, and a jury of whom Mr. C. 

Rowton was chosen foreman. 

Inspector Cliffe attended on behalf of 

the London and North-Western 

Railway Company, and produced a 

plan of the scene of the accident, 

which he explained to the Coroner. 

Dr. R. B. Nason, surgeon to the 

London & North Western Railway 

Company, said his son Dr. W. S. 

Nason was at the station when the 

remains of the deceased were brought 

in on a trolley. Witness attended 

subsequently and made an 

examination. The body was 

decapitated, one arm and one leg had 

been amputated, and the body was 

otherwise greatly mutilated. Witness 

did not previously know the deceased. 

Death was the result of mutilation and 

decapitation of the body. 

Clara Beebe, wife of the deceased, 

said her husband was 31 years of age. 

He was by trade a collier, working on 

the pit bank. He was ill five weeks ago 

but had not previously been ill, nor yet 

since. She could not say anything as to 

the condition of his mind. He lost his 

mother some weeks ago, and had been 

troubled by this event. During 

Saturday night he seemed rather 

queer, but appeared to get all right. 

Since the frost had been about, he had 

been troubled about the fear of coming 

to want, and this seemed to prey on his 

mind. On Sunday morning he went 

from home to the colliery, to unload a 

truck of clod. He kissed her as usual 

before leaving the house, and bade her 

"Good-bye," telling her he should 

return in two and a half hours. He did 

not return, however, until half-past 

five o'clock. She asked him where he 

had been, and he said he did not know. 

He seemed rather quiet, and she asked 

him what was the matter. He replied, 

"Nothing particular". He had a good 

tea, and also some of the dinner, 

which witness had kept hot. After tea 

he stayed for some time, going out 

shortly before eight o'clock. She did 

not see him alive again. He had never 

told her he was tired of life. When he 

came in on the Sunday evening she 

thought he had had some beer, as he 

looked rather down, and she said, 

"Aren't you well, Tom?" He said, "I'm 

all right." He had always thought, 

ever since they had been married that 

poverty would come upon him, and 

that they would come to want. His 

wages averaged about 16s or 18s per 

week. She had no idea that he 

contemplated suicide. He said when he 

went out that he felt funny. As they sat 

by the fire she asked him if he would 

read a chapter from the Bible, as he 

usually did, and he said he would. He 

(Continued on page 4)

Page 4 

did not do so, however, but got up 

shortly afterwards and taking his hat, 

went out, saying he should be back in 

a few minutes. 

Charles Currin, miner, of 

Attleborough, said he knew the 

deceased. He last saw him alive at a 

quarter to six on Sunday night, when 

he was having his supper. Witness had 

seen him from time to time during the 

past year or so. His wife was joking 

him about having been away so long, 

and witness left the house, as he did 

not think it was any business of his to 

stay when the husband and wife were 

talking about their own affairs. He did 

not think that any domestic quarrel 

had occurred which would be likely to 

influence the deceased to act as he had 

done, 

In reply to the Coroner, P. C. Smith 

said he had made every enquiry as to 

the reins found near the body, but 

could not discover the owner. 

Mrs Beebe, recalled, said her husband 

did not possess any reins. The 

deceased had no reins when he left the 

house, and she had never seen him 

Great grandmother Jane had married 

three times. I had not found her death 

(or that of her third husband) in 

Cheshire where they lived and farmed, 

and half gave up thinking she had 

married a fourth time so I was looking 

for the wrong name (I still haven’t 

positively found her birth!). I had 

searched and re-searched the GRO for 

her death in Cheshire and had spent 

many an hour reading gravestones in 

the villages around Delamere all to no 

avail. 

Jane Dulson was reputedly born 1852 

at Whixall, Shropshire “daughter of 

Thomas” – the only near match I have 

is daughter of Mary Dulson. In 

Cheshire in 1877 she married my 

widowed great-grandfather Joseph 

Challoner (b. 1836) as Jane Eardley a 

widow aged 26. Joseph and two of his 

children by Jane were to die in an 

epidemic in 1885 when near neighbour 

John Rigby also lost his wife. My 

grandfather and his brother survived 

along with their mother Jane and John 

Rigby who then got hitched in the 

local Methodist Chapel, and more 

children were born. By 1901 Jane’s 


with any. 

By a juror: The note produced was in 

the deceased's handwriting. She did 

not see him write it. 

Thomas Allen, engine driver in the 

employ of the London and North- 

Western Railway Company, said he 

was driving the 8.25 train from 

Leicester to Nuneaton on Monday 

morning. When between Hinckley and 

Nuneaton, he saw something on the 

line, but could not tell what it was. It 

was near the bridge which crosses the 

Watling Street Road, on the down line, 

and on the bank side of the railway. He 

called the stoker's attention to the 

matter, and went on to the Midland 

junction, where he told the signal-man 

that there was something like a bag, 

lying on the side of the railway. Some 

platelayer's were sent back, who found 

the body of the deceased. They were 

travelling forty miles an hour at the 

time, and it was a foggy morning. 

Witness knew that it was not his engine 

that had caused the accident. 

P. C. Smith produced the reins found 

near the body, the letter referred to 

20th Century Family Myths & Legends 

By Jacqui Simkins 

offspring bearing three surnames were 

living together on the farm at Onston: 

Eardley, Challoner and Rigby – a 

genealogist’s dream (or nightmare!). 

Within the family it was said that 

grandfather, Fred Challoner, had 

come south to Warwickshire where 

farms were cheaper and readily 

available, accompanied by his halfbrother 

Tom Rigby: they looked 

remarkably similar. My mother had 

never known who her grandmother 

Challoner was and this fuelled the 

assumption that Fred and Tom were 

the only family who moved south. 

It therefore almost passed unnoticed 

when someone mentioned that a John 

Rigby had once farmed at Little 

Packington (between Meriden and 

Coleshill). Unsure if this was John 

senior, John half-brother of Fred, or 

some unrelated Rigby, I took a visit to 

trawl the churchyard. I walked along 

the short drive of what is now 

signposted “private residence” to the 

church (now a house) and hoped 

nobody was home to challenge me. I 

found the gravestone with ease – I had 

at long last located the final resting 

above, and also a chain, the sum of 1 s 

9d, and a red pocket handkerchief, 

which were found upon the deceased. 

The Coroner asked the police to hand 

the money found on the body over to 

the widow. In summing up, he pointed 

out that the case was an easy one for 

the jury to determine as to what was 

the condition of the man's mind. The 

deceased had evidently contemplated 

self destruction by taking about with 

him a pair of reins and a chain, either 

of which he might have used with 

which to hang himself, and it was 

probable that it afterwards occurred 

to him that the safest and quickest 

method of destruction would be by 

means of walking down the line and 

placing himself upon the rails in front 

of a passing train. There could be no 

question as to the condition of mind, 

because any man who acted like this 

must without any doubt be out of his 

mind. 

The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide 

whilst in a state of temporary 

insanity." 

Sergeant Lines had charge of the case. 

place of great-grandmother Jane along 

with her third husband John Rigby. 

Jane had died in 1924 at the age of 71 

years – nearly a hundred miles from 

where I had been searching for her. 

Whilst uneasy that her grave appears 

to now be in private hands, it was a 

relief to know where she was (I have 

taken the matter of access up with the 

local vicar and diocesan office – watch 

this space!). 

Further research is needed to discover 

why so many Cheshire families came 

to Warwickshire during the late 

nineteenth and early twentieth 

centuries. Were agents sent to 

Cheshire to seek tenants for the farms? 

I have been told that rents were very 

low to attract dairy farmers, as there 

was a need to produce milk for the 

burgeoning town populations 

(Cheshire farmers were noted for their 

milk production): or is that another 

myth? However, I do know now that 

Fred Challoner, Tom Rigby, William 

Challoner and John Rigby Jnr (halfbrothers) 

all came to Warwickshire - 

though what happened to the latter two 

is to be discovered.


“There is no private house in which 

people can enjoy themselves so well as 

at a capital tavern. You are sure you 

are welcome, and the more good things 

you call for, the welcomer you are. 

There is nothing which has yet been 

contrived by man by which so much 

happiness is produced as by a good 

tavern or inn.” 

Dr Johnson 1776 (from “Boswell’s 

Life”) 

The following is based on a list 

originally published in the Midlands 

Evening Tribune October 21 st .1899 

with many additional notes on pubs 

which have come and gone since then, 

and those still with us today. 

Nuneaton had a wide selection of old 

licensed premises. Pubs are important 

in social history because they were, and 

still are, the working man’s front 

parlour. Here they can meet with their 

friends with an endless supply of liquid 

refreshment. A whole chapter of 

people’s lives were acted out in the bar. 

A resort of comfort in times of 

relaxation, in distress and marital 

infidelity. Political headquarters, 

sporting clubs, friendly societies, pub 

entertainments from darts and 

dominoes to skittles met there. Chasing 

the opposite sex, posing in your best 

attire, getting rid of the stresses and 

strains of your working lives, a place of 

retreat from a nagging wife or a 

plethora of kids. Where you could 

indulge in lotteries, betting, and other 

gaming pursuits. Not to mention the 

warmth and cleaner facilities than 

sometimes one would have at home. 

But like actors once their part at the bar 

was played out, the soap opera of their 

lives was forgotten. 

Public houses also played a key part in 

the commercial life of our town. The 

Inns and Hotels provided bed, board 

and dinner for visitors and commercial 

travellers. Fed and watered their horses. 

Provided a stopping place for stage 

coaches. Business was contracted in the 

bar in the days before offices were 

used. Even today some of the best 

business deals are done over a “pie and 

a pint”. 

Taverns and public houses provided 

entertainment for the general 

population and often were used as a 

place of business and a stopping place 

for carters and traders. 

Beer houses were found throughout the 

district, and were informally set up in 

people’s front rooms where a chance of 

Nuneaton’s Inns, Pubs and Taverns 

By Peter Lee 

a bit of additional income could be 

obtained. In a town of courts and yards 

like Nuneaton the owner of the plot of 

land with his good front house fronting 

the main street, who had filled up his 

back yard with court tenements could 

turn his parlour into a beer house thus 

scraping a few more coppers out of his 

hapless tenants. In October 1830 a new 

act of parliament removed 2s. 8d. beer 

duty from a barrel of beer and removed 

the need to be licensed as long as you 

only sold beer. New beer houses 

sprung up all over the district. Many 

only lasted as long as the proprietor 

could be bothered to carry on the 

business. Some old beer houses 

established back in 1830 are still going 

today as fully fledged pubs. Now 

having obtained licenses to sell wines, 

spirits and tobacco. 

The former Wellington (now re-named 

The Pig & Whistle) traces its ancestral 

history back to the Old Ram, Market 

Place, where A.Jephcoat’s shop stood. 

A very very old pub believed to date 

back to the time of Nuneaton Abbey. It 

is recorded in a survey of Nuneaton 

dated 1543/4 when at “Le Ramme” was 

Richard Jely, tenant of John Broke, of 

London. Daniel Green and Thomas 

Bills were publicans there in the first 

half of the 19 th century. In Dan Green’s 

time it was a resort for cock-fighting. 

When the pub closed in the 1860’s its 

place was taken by the New Ram in 

Abbey Street (later re-named the 

Wellington) William Clarke was the 

publican at the New Ram in 1863. 

The Wharf Inn. In Coventry Road was 

built as a canal pub with warehouses 

for boat traffic. It was originally owned 

by the Arbury Estate and then was 

taken over by Salt’s Brewery of Burton 

on Trent which was absorbed into the 

Bass empire. Demolished 

The Virgins Inn stood here on the 

corner of College Street at Hill Top. It 

is said there was a shrine to the Virgin 

Mary on the corner of Coventry Road 

and College Street. (Although it was 

not called College Street when the 

shrine was there up until about the 

middle of the 19 th century.) That is how 

the pub got its name. It was located at 

this ancient road junction which was 

known as “Virgin’s End” 

Tuttle Hill 

The White Horse, Tuttle Hill, a former 

canal inn is today a Chinese restaurant 

(2003). F. Wale was the landlord in 

1938/9 

The Punch Bowl, At the bottom of 

Tuttle Hill next to the Coventry Canal 

bridge. Closed in 1950 to remove an 

awkward bottleneck when the canal 

bridge was widened. A Bass House. 

The license was transferred to a new 

pub by that name further up Tuttle Hill. 

Licensees included Francis Harrison 

(1806) John Cotton (1828) Samuel 

Warren (1841). In 1877 Alfred 

Scrivener the former and founding 

editor of the Nuneaton Observer wrote: 

“While the Market place was excited 

by the dashing glories of the mail 

coach, curious groups woul;d gather at 

times on the Punch Bowl bridge to 

watch the passage of the packet or the 

flyboats. A.Harris was the landlord 

1938/9 

The White Gate Inn, a cottage near 

the Windmill on Tuttle Hill, kept by 

Thomas Lees. It bore the inscription: 

“This Gate hangs well upon the trees, 

call and drink at Thomas Lees”. 

The Windmill Inn, Tuttle Hill (house 

occupied in 1899 by Thomas J Chinn.) 

formerly kept by William Croshaw 

(1815 - ), cordwainer, who was the 

grandfather of one of Nuneaton’s 

mayors Walter Croshaw (1879- ). 

Mayor from 1937-1939 

Abbey Street/ Abbey Green 

The Plough and Ball, Abbey Green. 

Derived is name from the Old Plough 

in the Market Place which closed and 

was demolished in 1845 and the site 

later became Iliffe’s the Chemist on the 

corner of the Market Place and Bye 

Corner (Newdigate Square). The 

license was then combined with the 

equally ancient Golden Ball an old pub 

on Abbey Green. The original Golden 

Ball was said to date back to the 18 th 

century but looked from contemporary 

photos a lot older. Also that is was 

favourite retreat in the olden days for 

cock fighters and bull baiters when 

there was a bull ring on Abbey Green. 

Kept by William Cox in 1850 and Tom 

Willoughby c. 1900. The pub was 

being altered in 1904 when it suddenly 

collapsed. Ceilings were being lifted 

because they were only 5’10” or 6’0” 

high. However the building was so 

fragile that the act of raising the ceiling 

brought the whole lot crashing down. 

Two workmen were injured but got 

away with a miraculous escape 

including one Nuneaton rugby 

footballer Mr.A.Lee who was due to 

play for the club against Handsworth 

the next day. Needless to say he could 

not play. The pub was then entirely 

rebuilt and is now the Town Talk. Fred 

Carris was the landlord in 1938/9. The 

Old Plough incidentally was the site of 


Page 6 

(Continued from page 5) 

a row of butchers shambles. Wooden 

stalls were arranged around its walls 

and live animals were killed on the spot 

and their still warm meat supplied to 

local shoppers on market days. 

The Wheatsheaf Inn, Abbey Street 

dated back before November 1825 

when it belonged to a Mr. Lingard and 

was occupied by a landlord called 

Marler and other tenants. It was sold 

for £600. Later landlords were John 

Randle 1828 and 1841, William Craner 

(1850) The Wheatsheaf was rebuilt 

about 1900 and was demolished during 

July and August 1963. A new modern 

pub has taken its place. 

The Bush. Licensed victuallers returns 

for 1806 give the name of this pub in 

Nuneaton and the victualler. William 

Taylor was the proprietor, but its 

location, thought to be in Abbey Street, 

is not known for certain. 

The Black Horse, Midland Road, (not 

to be confused with other Black Horse 

pub, next to Mrs. Brownsons in 1899; 

John Simons was the owner.) 

The Constitution. Abbey Street. An 

1830 beer house. 

The Black Horse, Abbey Green next to 

Lusty’s factory in 1899(house standing 

then but since demolished) the noted 

badger baiters house. An 1830 beer 

shop. 

The Coach and Horses. Abbey Street. 

In the 1806 – 1850 kept by the 

Hastelow family. 

The Abbey, Abbey Green. James Adie. 

Stood on the site of Frederick 

Bostock’s butchers shop 7 Abbey 

Green. Building still stands in 2003 but 

much altered externally. 

The Horse Shoes, Abbey Green, near 

the Entrance to the Burgage Walk. 

(This Horse shoes not to be confused 

with the Horse Shoes at Chilvers Coton 

with which it was contemporary). J. 

Wilson 

The Three Tuns, Abbey Green. 

Licensees Richard Hawkins (1806) In 

January 1827 the Nuneaton Diary 

records “The Three Tuns, public house 

in Abbey Street with three tenements 

adjoining put up by auction and bo’t in 

about £1250. John Vernon was listed 

there in 1828 and 1841. In 1850 Joshua 

Siddall was tenant but it was owned by 

William Vernon. It was put on the 

market again in August 1851 in four 

lots. 

Gauze Hall, now Baptist Chapel, 

Abbey Street. Landlords were James 

Thorne in 1851 and John Haynes. Built 

in the heady days of the gauze ribbon 

trade at the beginning of the 19 th 

century as ware rooms for wholesale 

ribbon dealers and traders. The gauze 

ribbon fashion died out and the large 

premises were put to other uses 

including a pub. By 1900 it had become 

the factory premises of Pool Lorimer 

and Tabberer. A subsidiary of their 


Leicester factory. It burnt down in 

1928. 

The Bell, Meadow Street. Joseph 

Bacon. Opened 1830 as a beer house. 

Still extant in 1841 when the address 

was given as The Bell Inn, Abbey 

Meadow. 

The Bowling Green, later the Midland 

Railway Inn, on the corner of Midland 

Road and Manor Court Road. A very 

old pub which was there in the 1840’s. 

It was bombed by the Luftwaffe in 

1941 and its license transferred to a 

former private house in Princes Street – 

The Harcourt. The landlord in 

1938/39 was H.J.Knight. 

Rose and Crown, Abbey Street, house 

now occupied by Mr. W.Green, builder. 

Benjamin Rayner was landlord at least 

between 1806-1841. In November 1877 

Alfred Scrivener, Editor of the 

Nuneaton Observer wrote: “The Rose 

and Crown in Abbey Street, though 

probably old at least as the times of 

Good Queen Bess, is changed into a 

plain and comfortable private house. It 

is a remarkable well preserved example 

of the old half timbered English 

dwelling…The Rose and Crown in 

more modern days is chiefly 

remarkable because its landlord, Mr. 

Banjamin Raynor, who cracked his last 

old fashioned joke more than twenty 

years ago, for thirty years united his 

general duties as mine host the office of 

English Master at the Grammar 

School.” 

The Exhibition, Abbey Street where 

Mr. T.Tullett’s shop stood in 1899. 

George Wood was the proprietor. 

Opened in 1851 to celebrate the Great 

Exhibition. 

The Royal Oak. Abbey Street. Alfred 

Scrivener wrote in 1877 ”Higher 

upAbbey Street on the same side (as the 

Rose & Crown) was the sign of an inn 

probably more ancient than its name. It 

is a low mean dark building, but the 

quaint corridors and intricate passages 

at its rear might be contemporous with 

that memorable tavern the Tabbard at 

Southwark, whence Chaucers merry 

company started on their immortal 

pilgrimage.I please my wayward and 

credulous fancy by supposing that this 

tavern close to the Abbey Gates, was 

frequented of old by pilgrims and jolly 

friars, by chapmen and devotees, whom 

business or devotion brought to the 

venerable pile.” Unfortunately this 

word picture is all we have of the Royal 

Oak because in the 19 th century it was 

entirely rebuilt and its replacement was 

itself demolished in September 1960. 

C.B.Scattergood was the landlord in 

1938/9. 

Shepherd & Shepherdess, Abbey 

Street, where Dr. Vaughan lived in 

1899. James Biddle was the proprietor. 

Paul Pry, An 1830 beer house.Abbey 

Street, named after a popular American 

song which came out in 1820 and must 

have become popular in Nuneaton ten 

years later. Paul Pry was an inquisitive 

character. Located just above the 

former chemist shop of Ranby’s which 

stood on the corner of High Street and 

Abbey Street. David Smith was the 

proprietor. 

Seven Stars, Abbey Street, on the site 

of the Tribune Buildings. (next to the 

Bull’s Head – now the Courtyard). An 

1830 beer house. T.Johnson kept it at 

one time but precise dates are not 

available. 

New Seven Stars, Abbey Street. 

(possibly on a different site to the 

previous beer house. Elizabeth Staine. 

Whether this replaced the Seven Stars 

on the same site is not known. 

Cross Keys, Abbey Street next to the 

Half Moon. Mr. John Smith purchased 

a newly erected premises at the back of 

the Half Moon for £350 in August 1817 

which may have been later opened as 

the Cross Keys beer house.Occupied by 

a Mr. J.Smith in 1899. 

The Fox, Abbey Street. John Bell. Mr. 

Bell was driver of the mail coach to 

Birmingham. He also rented a field in 

the Abbey Meadow off Meadow Street. 

The Shipwrecked Sailor, Abbey 

Street. An 1830 beer shop. 

The Britannia, Abbey Street, where 

Messrs Wilkinson’s premises were. 

Former publicans were John Dance 

(1828), Thomas Winter (1841), Joseph 

Haddon. 

The Odd-Fellows Arms. Or the 

“oddies” as it is popularly known is the 

last traditional pub in Abbey Street. 

Still with its original name. J.H.Lucas 

was the landlord in 1938/9. 

The Bulls Head, Abbey Street. In the 

1806-41 period was kept by the 

Robottom family (Samuel, James and 

Samuel) In 1863 by Sarah Ball. As it 

backed onto the Nuneaton gas works it 

may have been owned by them. When 

it was sold by the Gas. Co. in 

September 1893 former occupiers were 

listed as George Randall, Thomas 

Buckler and William Ratcliffe. On 5 th 

February 1986 it was sold to Bass 

Holdings Ltd. A former landlord 

reportedly has seen a ghost of an old 

lady in Victorian dress who was seen 

late in the bar one night as he was 

locking up. She walked out through a 

solid wall! 

The King’s Arms Upper Abbey Street. 

Most of the Kings Arms customers 

were colliers or workers at the Hall and 

Phillips factory at the rear to which 

there was a direct connecting footpath. 

This path was closed one day a year to 

establish Hall & Phillips private right 

of way. Former landlords include 

William Congreave (1806) John Grave 

(1850) Kept by Pat Molloy, a 

policeman in the 1920’s. There was a 

swimming pool at the rear of the pub. 

The origins of this is obscure some 




saying it originally belonged to Hall & 

Phillips others that it was something to 

do with the pub. Boxers used to train 

there in the 1920’s and 30’s. E.Hutt 

was the landlord in 1938/39. 

The Weavers Arms. No mention of 

Abbey Street pubs would be complete 

without reference to the Weavers Arms. 

It took its name from the principal trade 

of the town – silk weaving. Tenants 

were Thomas Griffin (1828); William 

Green (1841); James Wheway (1850). 

C.Mann was the landlord in 1938/9. 

The Pheasant Inn. 5 Abbey Street. 

Sarah Varden was the licensee in 1841 

and 1850. Later occupiers were Roland 

Till, Horace Warmington brother of 

Louis Warmington the fruiterer in 

Queens Road. The last licensee was H. 

J.Fallows when the pub closed on 6 th 

September 1934. The license was 

transferred to the Weddington Grove 

former private house. 

Abbey Gate Refreshment Rooms, 

Abbey Gate, (licensed to sell beer) 

where the American Meat Shop is. Mr. 

Argyle. Mr. John Argyle was one of 

Nuneaton’s pioneering photographers. 

Newdigate Square 

(formerly Bye Corner) 

The Black Bull, later became the 

Newdigate Arms Inn in 1816. A 

commercial and Posting House. Later 

the Midland Railway’s commercial 

premises. Pulled down in 1914 to build 

the new Newdigate Arms Hotel which 

was demolished in 1963. The 

redevelopment of the old Newdigate 

Arms site for road widening cost 

£8250. Former tenants were Thomas 

Winfield (1828, 1845) Thomas Bills 

(1863). Joseph Bostock was the 

landlord in 1901. In the middle of the 

19 th century a magistrates meeting was 

held every Saturday at the Newdigate 

Arms Inn. The magistrates who 

originally sat were The Rev. Samuel 

Bracebridge Heming, chairman. Sir 

John Newdigate Ludford Chetwode, 

Bart., and the Rev. James Corrall 

Roberts. Mr. Henry Power was the 

clerk of the court and the Chief 

Constables of the parish were Joseph 

Haddon and Abel Brown. Not a very 

satisfactory arrangement as you could 

often find the magistrates, the 

constables and the defendant, as well as 

the local labouring classes all drinking 

at the same bar! After 1914 it became 

the town’s smartest hotel owned by 

Trust House’s. 

The Fox, Newdigate Square. John Bell 

Newdigate Street 

(New Bridge Street) 

In Newdigate Street there was a beer 

house at one time: 

Dog and Partridge, Newdigate Street, 

now Mr.Swann’s clothiers. Elizabeth 

Wray was the proprietor. 

Bond Gate, Bond Street 

(formerly Bond End) 

The Crown Inn, Bond Gate. In 1955 

the former editor of the Midlands 

Counties Tribune wrote: “I was born in 

The old Newdegate Arms, demolished 1914 

the Crown Yard, Bond Street, now 

happily demolished and I still marvel, 

when crossing the river bridge at this 

point, however, 10 houses, a workshop 

and a bowling alley could have been on 

the site but it was so. I have referred to 

the bowling alley, the last open air alley 

in Nuneaton, I believe. Here there used 

to be trundled great bowls at great 

skittles, the only break being copious 

swigs of ale from the gallon jugs in use 

in those days. The ale was 3d. per pint, 

and it was ale!! I remember the 

custodian of the Crown. Mr. 

Rowbottom and his two goliath sons – 

Titus and Fred. Good kindly chaps. I 

often wonder what has become of 

them?” Former landlords include 

Joseph Kirby (1806) John Baraclough 

(1828) John Lowe (1841).Now the 

Crown is called Lloyds in the new 

premises built in the early part of the 

19 th century. At one time mine host was 

20stone giant – Ted Hutt. (probably the 

same Ted Hutt who kept the Kings 

Arms 1938/9 – the boxers pub). S.W. 

Badger was the landlord in 1938/9. The 

Crown (now Lloyds) is reputed to be 

haunted but the ghost detected in recent 

years has not yet been identified. 

The Mount Pleasant. Bond End. An 


The Horse & Groom. Bond End. An 

1830 beer house 

Prince’s Feathers, Bond Street, 

premises occupied by Mr. J.Clay in 

1899. 

The Lamp Tavern, Bond Street. On 

the site of Mr. W.Grubb’s shop in 

1899. William King 

L & N W R Refreshment Rooms. 

Last house on left before entering the 

gates to the Station yard. Kept by 

Arthur and Eliza Chinn at 23 Bond 

Street. 

The Bell and Fleur de Lys, Bond 

Street. In 1806 owned by Daniel 

Wagstaff, and by 1863 Thomas 

Wagstaff. 

The Hollybush, in Bond Gate next to 

the Leicester Road Bridge. This old 

established pub was rebuilt in the early 

1930’s. The new pub was built at the 

back of the old one which was closed in 

October 1934. It ceased to be a pub in 

April 1986. It has now become an 

office building known as Hollybush 

House. John Archer kept it in 1808. 

Thomas Large (1850), Joseph Mills 

(1874) Thomas Fortescue (1876). Then 

Mr. T.J. “Tuddy” Lilley before he went 

to the Newdigate Arms. The pub was 

always associated with the Angling 

fraternity in the town. For many years it 

had a function room which became a 

source of tittle tattle for all sorts of 

lurid goings on which cannot be 

repeated in these pages, but in later 

years this was later a venue for 

discotheques and dances. 

Bricklayers Arms. Blind Lane. Blind 

Lane was an alley way which ran from 

Back Street to Bond Street. It was 

demolished by the 1920’s. Dick 

Sidwell 

The Railway Tavern. Certainly 

opened at the time the Trent Valley 

Railway was completed in 1847. The 

premises had been formerly occupied 

by a wheelwright Dennis Marklew who 

had been there since 1837. His daughter 

Sarah (1841- ) was the landlady in 

1871. The tenancy later passed to 

Joseph Henry Pipe. The Ancient Order 

of Buffaloes friendly society used to 

meet there. Mr. Pipe’s oldest 

daughter – Annie Pipe married John 

Bostock from the old established 

Nuneaton butchery family. 


Page 8 


Regent Street 

Dun Cow, Regent Street. Richard Beet. 

Nuneaton’s most haunted pub. It is 

shown on the 1841 census and Regent 

Street did not exist before 1840 There 

is an interesting story related to the 

haunting which centred on the pub up 

until it was demolished, but that is 

another story! 

Queens Road (formerly Queen 

Street, Gas Street and Wash Lane) 

The George & Dragon. Wash Lane. 

Purchased by Joseph Scrivener. Mr. 

Scrivener was a ropemaker and he laid 

out an extensive ropewalk. At the rear 

of his premises he built ten tenement 

cottages and afterwards this was known 

as Scrivener’s Yard. In the late 1930’s 

these cottages were left disused and 

were taken over by the council after the 

night of the large blitz on Nuneaton in 

May 1941 as a temporary mortuary. 

Over one hundred bodies and body 

parts had to be brought here to be 

identified and prepared for burial. A 

council employee who served in the 

First World War and had witnessed the 

carnage on the battle fields of France 

had this harrowing job to do. W.B. 

Whitmore was the landlord in 1938/9. 

When the George & Dragon was 

demolished in August 1965 beneath the 

roof tiles was a complete thatched roof 

which made the demolition very 

dangerous. 

The Cock & Bear. Wash Lane now 

Queens Road. John Mallabone kept it 

in 1841. Later tenanted by George 

Moreton a well known local horse and 

cattle doctor. C.H.Marston was 

landlord in 1938/9 

The Dukes Head, was licensed to John 

Mallabone in 1806. Its location is not 

recorded. 

The Volunteer. Wash Lane. An 1830 

beer house 

Cross Keys, Arbury Road. Z. Drakeley 

Stag and Pheasant, Wash Lane. W. 

Congreve 

White House, just over Wash Lane 

(the Cock & Bear) bridge. Croft Road. 

Arthur Payne 

The Red Lion, Wash Lane.Kept by 

William Buckler in 1801. Henry Green 

in 1806, Hepzibah Hastelow in 1828, 

John Boswell in 1841. Later rebuilt 

with a new pub on the same site. 

Princes Street 

The Harcourt. Named after an old 

resident in the new licensed premises. 

Harcourt Taylor. One of the victualling 

Taylors. Had formerly been a private 

house known as “Harcourt House” Last 

lived in by Henry Barrett MRCVS. 

Thought to have had the license 

transferred from the Midland Railway 

Inn which was bombed and destroyed 

in a German air raid in 1941. 


Church Street 

The Marquis of Granby later the 

Granby’s Head, on the corner of 

Church Street and Bridge Street. The 

Marquis of Granby was in real life: 

John Manners, Marquis of Granby, the 

third son of the Duke of Rutland (1721- 

1770). He was a popular soldier in his 

time, having made a heroic name for 

himself at the Battle of Minden at the 

head of his regiment the Leicester 

Blues and some of his regiment on 

retirement opened pubs in his name. He 

was a hero of the Seven Years War 

(1756-1763). The first pub named after 

him was at Hounslow. We can only 

assume that the Nuneaton pub got its 

name in the same way. The pub was 

associated with the Trickle family for 

30 years 1792-1828 but by 1841 was 

called the “Old Granby’s Head” and 

kept by Joseph Orton. 

Kings Head, Church Street. When 

demolition started in June 1960 it was 

stated to have been 400 years old. A 

30’0” deep well was discovered lined 

with blocks of sandstone without the 

aid of mortar. The well was tested and 

the water found perfect for drinking 

purposes although the leaden pipe used 

to pump the water through was hardly 

conducive to healthy drinking by 

todays standards. 

Queens Head, Church Street, later the 

Pen & Wig. Certainly there in 1792 

when it was kept by Elizabeth Watts. 

William Johnson in 1806, Charles 

Randle in 1828, William Thurman in 

1841, William Bond in 1863. 

Double Plough, Church Street. On the 

site of the Close. (Alderman Melly’s 

house) Former landlords included Mary 

Mitchell in 1806 Richard Stirley (1828- 

1841). Arthur Jebbett wrote in 1955: 

“Just one other reference to inns. One 

of the name of “The Double Plough” an 

old chartist house existed opposite the 

parish church. An informant states that 

he has good cause to remember this 

particular licensed house, for on his 

wedding day nearly 60 years ago the 

parson was not quite ready to perform 

the ceremony, so the wedding party 

adjoined to “the Double Plough” for a 

livener.” Dr. E.N.Nason who took a 

keen interest in local history wrote in 

1936: “Just beyond’ the Close’ [Ald. E. 

F.Melly’s house latterly] the last house 

on the right there was an inn called the 

“Plough” [in fact” the Double 

Plough” ]. This was an old thatched 

roof, whitewashed walled building, 

above the door of which was a small 

scale model of a plough as its sign. It 

was here that the bell ringers from the 

parish church, when they had finished 

their “chime” and let the bells down on 

Sunday morning and while the “five 

minute” bell was still ringing and 

members of the congregation were 

hastening to avoid being late for the 

10.45 service, repaired to quench their 

thirst in home- brewed ale.” 

Rising Sun, Church Street. Charles 

Sands 

The Old Bull, later the Bull Inn, the 

Bull Hotel, and now the George Eliot 

Hotel, although it has ceased to be a 

residential hotel. Two principal railway 

companies served the Nuneaton. Each 

company gave a dispensation to a local 

hotel to provide accommodation for 

travellers using their station and 

“stopping over” en-route. The Bull 

served the London & North Western 

Railway station on the Trent Valley 

route. As well as providing an omnibus 

service from the station the railway 

company collected parcels from there 

to be distributed by the railway 

company. Local people would take 

their parcels to the hotel for onward 

transmission. {the Newdigate Arms did 

the same thing for the rival Midland 

Railway} The Bull was the original 

for the Red Lion in George Eliot’s 

“Scenes of Clerical Life”. It was 

originally a coaching inn and the 

town’s post office. 

Weddington Lane 

The Graziers Arms, Weddington Lane 

Midland Tavern, opposite the Graziers 

Arms in Weddington Lane. Benjamin 

Kelsey. 

Gardeners Arms, Weddington Lane. 

John Biggs. (later at the Graziers). 

Horse & Jockey, Weddington Lane. 

W.Wallis 

The Market Place 

The Castle Hotel in the Market Place 

was a commercial inn and hotel. Its 

advertising in the 1870’s stated 

“Superior accommodation with 

moderate charges………..The new tea 

and coffee rooms added to the above 

hotel are conducted on a low tariff 

adapted in modern coffee houses” In 

1845 hept by James Wagstaff (listed as 

a commercial and excise office. by 

1863 was kept by Thomas William 

Benfield (and brewer). 

The Market House Inn. When the 

Market House property (forerunner of 

Nuneaton town hall) was built in 1820 

the former pub on this site, the 

Britannia was demolished and its 

license taken over by the Market House 

Inn. “The Market House Inn is let to 

Wm. Ratliff, of the Brewery, Coventry 

at £70 per year in June 1862.”) The 

brewer, William Ratliff wrote 

subsequently, “Dear Sir, it is not a 

customary thing with me to request any 

alteration in a bargain once made, but 

these fearfully bad times render it 

absolutely necessary that I should 

obtain some reduction of rent off the 

Market House Inn after Xmas. The 

custome of the house has naturally 

lessened by the present extraordinary 




depression of trade, and the loss 

maintained by the non-letting of stalls 

is also very great, from the same cause. 

I must ask as a favour that the 

proprietor of the property will reduce 

the present rent to £60 per annum from 

December 21 st until the revival of trade 

enables my tenant once again to return 

to the rent. I think this request is most 

reasonable and I trust will be acceded 

to. Yours faithfully, William Ratliff” 

The trustees wrote back stating that 

they could not reduce the rent, but 

owing to the depression in trade would 

make some allowance. They eventually 

had the “tea room” repaired and rep 

[ainted at their own cost in lieu of an 

allowance of rent In 1863 the tenant 

was Joseph Batchelor. The pub and the 

Market House was demolished in 1900 

and the site sold. 

The Hare and Squirrel, The Market 

Place; formerly the “Old Crown Inn” 

was later refronted and modernised 

then renamed the “Crystal Palace”. In 

1543/4 there is reference to the Crowne 

Inn, leaseholder Richard Ratclyff. This 

may be the same premises. The name 

was changed from the Hare & Squirrel 

to the Crystal Palace by Ebenezer 

Brown (1828-1905) when he purchased 

it for £290 before 1863. Eb. Brown 

turned it into Nuneaton’s main place of 

entertainment in the last quarter of the 

19 th century. The Crystal Palace at 

Attleborough is its lineal descendent. 

Former tenants in the 18 th century had 

been Thomas Williams and a Mr. Smart 

followed by John Burton. John 

Beamish kept it in 1801-6. Later 

tenants were Mary Beamish (1828), 

James Ball (1841) (who had married a 

Sarah Beamish in 1837) Ebenezer 

Brown (by1863). Ebenezer Brown was 

a local entrepreneur who provided a 

large concert hall and made the 

“Crystal” into Nuneaton’s principal 

place of entertainment. He was later a 

member of the syndicate that built the 

Prince of Wales Theatre (later the 

Hippodrome) at a cost of £20,000. 

Later landlords included George 

Taylor ,Annie Wrighton (1898) In 

November 1899 the Crystal Palace was 

under the new management of Mr. H. 

B.Jennings (late of the “Prince of 

Wales” Moseley and the “Waggon & 

Horses” Edgbaston Street, 

Birmingham. At that time it was said to 

have had the “Finest Smoke Room in 

town”. With resident pianists – Mr. R. 

A.Hughes and Mr. George Wynne. On 

7 th June 1900 the pub was seriously 

damaged by fire with £1000 worth of 

damage. George Luckman was the last 

landlord when it closed on October 5 th 

1909 for road widening and the license 

transferred to the new “Crystal Palace” 

in Gadsby Street, Attleborough which 

cost £2000 to build. The Crystal Palace 

gave its name to a new public hall and 

leisure gardens on the corner of the 

newly laid Victoria Street and Queens 

Road – the Palace Gardens which was 

later used as a site for the Palace 

Cinema in 1926. This had formerly 

been a large house in its own grounds 

and old fashioned gardens. 

The White Swan. Market Place. Kept 

by John Buswell 1806. An Ansells 

house latterly. Closed Sunday 30 th 

December 1962. The premises were 

purchased by Lesters the Chemist. The 

last landlords George & Winnie 

Handley had been there since 1953. A 

colourful landlady was Harriett Platt, 

the widow of Peter Platt who died in a 

flu epidemic in January 1922. Born in 

1883 Peter Platt had been a very good 

footballer playing for Blackburn 

Rovers and Luton Town and latterly 

Nuneaton Town. He married Harriett 

Bradbury a widow whose husband had 

kept the White Swan previously. 

The Peacock. public house put on sale 

by auction March 1828. The highest 

bidder was £870. Former tenants 

include Thomas Thurman (1806) and 

Edward Thurman (1828). Edward 

Beamish (1841-1863) (formerly at the 

Hare & Squirrel). 

The Old Cock, Market Place. Was 

pulled down in 1818 to build the 

Market House and conveyed to the 

trustees of that establishment for a sum 

of £800 raised by public subscription. 

The Plough, Market Place. Joseph 

Walton (1806) Sarah Robinson (1828) 

Samuel Warren (1841). See notes on 

the Plough and Ball for more 

information on this pub which was 

demolished in 1845. 

The Bear, Market Place. Recorded in a 

survey of 1543/4 (Constable Survey) 

William Smyth (the Beire) tenant of 

Richard Herynge of Coventry. 

The Clock, Market Place. Replaced the 

Market House Inn. W.Limm was the 

landlord in 1938/9. 

White Hart, Market Place. The name 

was very popular in this part of the 

Forest of Arden with its deer hunting 

traditions.Where the Star Tea Cos. 

Shop was. In 1806 landlord was 

Thomas Cox, William Wagstaff 1828, 

1841 Taylor & Estlin, 1863 David 

Bosworth. 

The Grapes, Market Place. Mr. 

Barlow’s Liquor shop was formerly 

two licensed houses, the Grapes and the 

Board Inn back to back with a 

whispering gallery..The former was 

abandoned. The old sign of the Board 

collapsed in 1899. The Board was kept 

in 1806 by Thomas Thompson and 

Mary Taylor by 1841. 

Market Place in the early 1900’s with the Board Inn on the left. 

Vicarage Street and Wheat Lane 

The Black Horse, an Ind Coope and 

Allsops house, on the corner of 

Vicarage Street and Wheat Street 

demolished in 1959.Mrs. A.Grant was 

the landlord in 1938/39. Its license was 

transferred to the Pheasant Inn on the 

Camp Hill estate which opened on 

December 4 th . 1958. 

The Heart in Hand. Built in 1850. On 

the opposite corner to the Black Horse 

in Wheat Street. Demolished at the 

same time. 1958. Frequented by 

railway footplate crews both before 

going onto duty and off duty. H.Mellor 

was the landlord in 1938/9. When it 

closed and its license was transferred to 

the newly built Donnithorne Arms in 

Donnithorne Avenue the last landlord 

Mr. M.Blewett said – “Noted for its 

friendly atmosphere and old fashioned 

interior. It is more like a village pub 

and I for one shall regret leaving.” 

Jolly Fishermen, Wheat Street. John 

Payne. 


Page 10 


Bridge Street 

Robin Hood, Bridge Street. Nuneaton 

had its own brewery from 1878 to 1886 

which could produce 23,000 gallons of 

ale a week. Nom mean undertaking. 

Later was the site of the London 

Millinery Cos. J.C.Smiths and later 

Debenhams premises, Bridge Street, 

Nuneaton. The pub had as its sign a 

painting of Robin Hood in his red and 

green Sherwood foresters dress and 

under it the legend “Robin Hood is 

dead and gone, call and drink with 

Little John”. Little John was John 

Knowles who originally owned the 

brewery but the license was later taken 

by Joseph Merry. 

.The Woolpack, Newdigate Square. 

Now Mr. H.Lester’s house. 

The Nags Head. The original pub was 

in Coventry Street. Previous tenants 

were John Williamson (1806) Thomas 

Taylor (1827-1841) Mr. Taylor bought 

it for £800 in 1827. It was associated 

for many years with carters taking silk 

ribbons made in Nuneaton to sale on 

the London market via Coventry 

middle-men. It was also noted for its 

association with cock-fighting in the 

first half of the nineteenth century. The 

current pub in Queens Road was built 

in 1929 by George Hodges & Sons, 

builders of Burton on Trent. It was a 

Bass Ratcliffe & Gretton house. It was 

re-opened on the new site on 8 th March 

1929. The former premises in 

Coventry Street were pulled down for 

road widening. The brewery that owned 

it then was Salt & Co. of Burton on 

Trent. They had been built about 1897 

to replace a much older and antiquated 

“cottage like” premises that had been 

there since time immemorial. 

Attleborough 

The Bull, Attleborough. Believed to 

have been the Rainbow in George 

Eliot’s Silas Marner. The building we 

see today dates back to the 18 th century. 

It has been said that the stone, which is 

that anonymous lump of rock set in the 

grass verge along the Lutterworth Road 

called the Whitestone was originally 

part of a preaching cross which stood 

outside the Bull Inn. 

The Fox, The Square, Attleborough. 

Believed to pre-date 1819 as a beer 

house. W.J.Hardy (1938/9) When Alan 

and Josie Frisby took the pub over in 

1991 they spent £200,000 refurbishing 

it. The new fit out was very tastefully 

done as it retained the atmosphere of a 

village pub. In 1997 they sold the pub 

to the Mansfield Brewery and are now 

owners of the Attleborough Arms 

which they have also refurbished at 

enormous cost. 

The Royal Oak, Garrett Street, 

Attleborough. An 1830 beer house. 

The Crystal Palace, Gadsby Street. 


Opened in 1909 to replace the Crystal 

Palace in the Market Place. 

The Blue Bell Inn, a beer house which 

stood where Park Street enters 

Attleborough Road. (also known as the 

Seven Stars). 

The Prince of Wales, next door to the 

Royal Oak. A beer house. 

The Steam Mill Inn, on the site of the 

elastic web works on Attleborough 

Green. This was quite an extensive beer 

house, with parlour, tap room, club 

room and skittle alley. It was offered 

for sale in 1871 and may have ceased to 

function as a pub then. The site being 

taken over by the elastic web weaving 

company. 

The Hit and Miss, Church Street. A 

beer house. 

The Waggoners, in Albion Street, the 

stretch of Attleborough Road where the 

Albion buildings are situated. 

The Miners Arms, site not known, 

possibly Lutterworth Road. 

The Three Crowns, was said to be an 

old fashioned thatched tavern, very old 

when William Gadsby (1773-1844) (an 

independent preacher born in 

Attleborough) drank there in the 19 th 

century. In Attleborough road 

somewhere opposite the Albion 

Buildings. It was owned in the early 

part of the 19 th century by George 

Greenway. 

The New Inn, Church Street, 

Attleborough moved to new premises 

on Attleborough Road opposite to the 

Albion Buildings. Then the name 

changed to the “Rugger Tavern” as 

the field at the back became the 

Nuneaton Rugby Football Ground 

The William IV, Attleborough. An 


The Plough, Attleborough. An 1830 

beer house. 

The Attleborough Arms. A modern 

pub in Highfield Road, Attleborough. 

Recently modernised with a very high 

quality fit out. 

The Woodman, Hall End, 

Attleborough. An 1830 beer house kept 

by Joshua Hackett (1789-1872). When 

Joshua’s grandson ‘Jack’ or John 

Moreton Hackett died in 1930 the 

furniture from this house was given to 

various members of the family and a 

venerable long case clock from the 

Woodman, Hall End is now installed in 

a house in Arles in Provence in France. 

Chilvers Coton 

The Horse Shoes, 2 Heath End Road. 

Now the Lancet. S.Cooper was the 

landlord 1938/9. 

The Fleur de Lys. Coventry Road. A 

very old fashioned pub stood on this 

site until rebuilt eartly in the 20 th 

century. The publican in 1806 was 

Daniel Wadcock. 

The Rose, Coton Road. Believed to 

have started in the 19 th c. Still in use 

today. Said to be haunted by a little girl 

in the ladies loo! J.Bates (1938/9) 

The Sheepsfoot Inn. About one half of 

mile out of Nuneaton along the Coton 

Road where the road in olden times had 

a kink in it. Long since straightened out 

at a junction known as Sheeps Foot 

End. 

The King William IV. Coton Road. A 

beer house opened in 1830.Rebuilt in 

1903 to the premises we see today. 

Still in use as a pub (2003). 

Dugdale Arms, Dugdale Street. Later 

rebuilt as the Merevale. Probably 

originally a beer house. In July 1894 

the “Dugdale Arms” beer house was 

sold by Mr. Sands 

The Sportsman. Chilvers Coton an 


The Miners. Chilvers Coton. An 1830 

beer house 

The Bull & Butcher. Chilvers Coton. 

An 1830 beer house. 

The Bull & Bitch. Chilvers Coton. An 


The Hare & Hounds. Bowed Lane, 

Chilvers Coton now off Heath End 

Road. An 1830 beer house. JohnBaker 

1841,1850. (also listed as a farmer and 

grocer.) Mary Baker 1863. 

The Newdigate Arms. Griff Hollows. 

Not to be confused with the Newdigate 

Arms in Newdigate Square. It seems to 

have ceased to be a pub by 1850 

although it is shown on Eagle’s Canal 

map of 1807. Its popular name was 

“The Bloody Hand” 

The Boot Inn. Bridge Street. Henry 

Randle 1828. A canalside pub one of 

the earliest pubs in Chilvers Coton. 

Rebuilt as a modern pub about 1930 

when the canal bridge was widened. 

The Jolly Colliers. College Street. 

Stockingford 

The Lamb and Flag. Church Road, 

Stockingford an 1830 beer house. 

The Engine, Church Lane, 

Stockingford. An 1830 beer house. 

The Cripples Inn,Bucks Hill or Snow 

Hill, sometimes known as Cripples Inn. 

Replaced by the New Inn on the same 

site. E.H.Sephton 1938/9 

The Black Swan. Swan Lane, 

Stockingford. An 1830 beer house. 

George F.Pegg 1938/9 

The Heart Goodfellows. Swan Lane. 

An 1830 beer house. Still extant. A 

Marstons Brewery house. J.H. 

Boulstridge 1938/9. 

The Cherry Tree. Swan Lane. An 

1830 beer house. Moved site in the late 

1930’s to Haunchwood Road. A. 

Rowlands 1938/9 

The White Lion, Swan Lane, now 

Croft Road early landlords were Mary 

Jeffcote (1806), Thomas Johnson 

(1828). 

The Plough Inn, Plough Hill Road, 

Chapel End. W.Hewitt 1938/9.


One of the most neglected genealogical techniques 

By Alan F Cook 

Are you left-handed? (sinistral, 

sinistrad, sinistrorsal, laevogyrous, 

gauche, caggy-handed, cawk-handed, 

cack-handed, south-paw etc. etc.) 

You may wonder where that came 

from in your family tree. We “southpaws” 

have a lot to thank Dr Marian 

Annett for – she is probably the world’s 

leading authority on the subject and is 

based at Leicester University. 

She has virtually proven that “lefthandedness” 

is inherited from the 

mother’s side – the actual chromosome 

culprit is called the Right-Hand-Shift 

Gene. 

Left-handedness has all sorts of 

associations and connections: e.g. 

trades, careers, professions, illnesses, 

allergies, educational achievement. 

The basic facts appear to be this: 

biological development of higher 

mammals would tend to produce totally 

ambidextrous animals. Along comes 

the Right-Hand-Shift Gene that 

produces very Right-Handed people. 

The rest of us become labelled as “lefthanders” 

– when in fact we are 

probably ambidextrous – and therefore 

higher up the evolutionary ladder!!?? 

(if you believe in that). 

It is hard to date the earliest persecution 

or prohibition of the left-hander. 

Physical and Social Anthropologists 

suggest that most prehistoric people 

“groomed their posteriors”, after 

ablutions, with that hand - because the 

human anatomy made it easier to do it 

that way. It did not take ethical or 

religious protocols to focus on that. 

Hence the perennial and enduring 

ideology of right-handedness becoming 

associated with purity, truth, skill and 

rectitude. 

The world, and its technology evolved 

to create the right-handed world! 

Yet, in many enclaves, Left-Handers, 

proved to be exceptionally gifted and 

different. The list of the “World’s 

Greatest” has many left-handers! It is 

probably down to the way the brain 

integrates all its processing power. 

Modern humankind is so used to 

writing, reading, and thinking 

abstractly, it forgets the visuo-spatial 

abilities that made us different. The 

ability to detect thousands of subtle 

smells is now lost; the ability to detect 

weather by our senses is also 

redundant. The eye-hand-ball coordination 

that produces a “John 

McEnroe” is truly prodigious (he is 

left –handed!) 

What is the bottom-line for the Family- 

Historian who is tracing the pedigree? 

Do not ignore handedness! The realm 

of DNA testing is a thing for the future. 

The possibility of other exotic clues 

like blood groups, hair and eye colour, 

finger and toe prints, genetic illnesses 

are beyond most of us. The Handedness 

is not!! People were very notable for 

their handedness. Family folklore 

usually records people who wrote in an 

”odd fashion”! (I can write with either 

hand, mirror, upside-down and 

backwards, etc.!) At one point in school 

I was writing backwards, starting at the 

right-hand side and moving to the lefthand 

side of the page. 

It may not be easy, however. I am lefthanded 

– or should I say mixed up (or 

ambidextrous) I play most musical 

instruments with the left-hand! Sport is 

a mess – tennis, badminton, bowling 

and kicking with left! golf and cricket 

bat with the right! 

In my family tree, however, there were 

cohorts – may be they were “LEFTIES 

in disguise”. My Mum had a good 

visual memory and found arithmetic 

difficult, yet her dad could not write, 

but was good at mental arithmetic. Her 

granddad was an alderman, mayor and 

a solicitor at Coventry. 

I have been unable to trace any 

recorded “left-handers” anywhere in 

my family tree. 

Jo-Anne, my wife, (very right-handed) 

has several “lefties” in her whole 

family tree (mum, brother, sister, 

uncles, aunts) – yet none of our sons 

show any “leaning to the left”. (None 

of them seem to obey Mendelian 

inheritance rules anyway!) No one in 

our families, for generations, has blue 

eyes, yet Richard and Matthew have 

blue eyes!!!!! 

The right-hand world does not seem to 

realise that we have to do visuo-spatial 

conversions in our mind. Whenever a 

“right-hander” demonstrates anything, I 

have to transform it (by some weird 

cerebral mirror!) Yet I am not alone – 

in the Universe there are many 

wonderful molecules and viruses that 

are left-handed! 

There are statistical predictions that by 

2050 the “Western-world” will have 

about 50% “left-handers” in it. 

References 

1. Marian Annett: Left, Right Hand 

Brain: The Right Shift Theory. 

Lawrence Erlbaum. 1985 - (very 

scholarly). 

2. Michael Barsley: The Left-Handed 

Book. Souvenir Press. 1966 - 

(popular). 

3. Diane Paul: Living Left-handed. 

Bloomsbury. 1990 - (real life 

experiences). 

NNWFHS New PUBLICATION 

Surname Index Of Burials 1813-1837 

For The Parish Churches Of: 

St Nicholas, Curdworth; 

St John the Baptist, Lea Marston; 

St John the Baptist, Middleton; 

St Giles, Nether Whitacre; 

St Leonard, Over Whitacre; 

St Cuthbert, Shustoke; St Chad, Wishaw 

Price £3 (Plus P&P) 

See full list of publications on page 17 for more details

Page 12 

B (right) My grandmother, Maggie 

Green, said that this photo was taken at 

Elwy Hall, Rhyl, which, apparently, her 

grandma, Sarah Townsend, took for the 

summer c1890. The family in the 

carriage are the BROWN family from 

Nuneaton; I think one daughter was 

called Amy but am not sure. 

C (below) This photo was taken on the 

Isle of Man. The gentleman leaning 

over the side of the carriage, second 

from right, is my gt. grandfather, Alfred 

GREEN (1848-1920), of The Square, 

Attleborough. Alfred was a grocer, 

draper, law clerk and asst. overseer of 

the poor. I don't know who anyone else 

in the carriage is and am not at all sure 

of the date. 


Family Album 

Anne Paling-Lawson has sent in these wonderful old holiday photos. 

A (left) Taken at Rhyl c 1900. From 

front left - Molly MAYO, Margaret 

GREEN 1876-1967, Annie (?) 

BROWN, Thomas Percy PALING 

1878-1949, Rosa BROWN and in 

centre Emily (Pem) GREEN 1874- 

1950. 

Molly, Maggie and Pem were cousins, 

grandchildren of Sarah TOWNSEND. 

Thomas Percy Paling married Maggie 

Green in 1903; he was a son of 

Thomas Paling, Station Master at 

Abbey Street. I think the Brown girls 

may have been neighbours of the 

Greens and Mayos in Attleborough. 

Not sure which Mayo sister Molly 

was - all 6 had nicknames and I can't 

find my 1960s newspaper cutting which 

tells me which is which!! 

WANTED 

DEAD (OR ALIVE) 

FOR THE NEXT 

NNWFHS JOURNAL 

Articles about your ancestors, 

family photos, items for our 

notice board and help wanted/ 

offered section etc. 

Start writing 

NOW!!!


HART – Atherstone Civic Society’s Local Heritage Initiative 

By Judy Vero, Honorary Secretary of Atherstone Civic Society 

Within the next two years the History 

of Atherstone Research Team hopes to 

be able to offer family historians a new 

resource. 

Over the last year HART has been transcribing 

the Manor Court Rolls for 

Atherstone, held at the Warwick Record 

Office. These extend from 1589 to 

1608 and from 1640 until the 1893. 

They record all transactions involving 

copyhold property. Until this property 

was enfranchised, in the 1920s, each 

time an owner died, or sold, mortgaged, 

or leased his building, he or she 

had to attend the manor court, where 

the property was surrendered ‘by the 

rod’ into the hands of the lord’s steward. 

The new owner was then admitted 

on payment of a fine which ranged 

from 2 shillings and 6 pence for a quarter 

burgage to 10 shillings for a whole 

burgage. 

Roughly two-thirds of Atherstone’s 

property was copyhold, as opposed to 

freehold, and the town is fortunate in 

having probably the best run of manor 

court rolls in Warwickshire. Until now, 

they have hardly seen the light of day. 

A grant of £25,000 from the Heritage 

Lottery Fund and £5000 from Nationwide, 

through the Countryside Agency, 

has enabled HART volunteers to undertake 

the massive task of transcribing 

the whole archive. With the help of Dr 

Nat Alcock, the house historian, they 

have already completed the majority of 

the work and hope to put it on CD so 

that it will be available in libraries, record 

offices and possibly also for sale. 

At the same time volunteers are preparing 

a massive database of all the names 

and properties mentioned in Atherstone’s 

rich archive, mostly held at the 

Warwick and Lichfield Record Offices. 

Many stories have emerged about Atherstone 

in times gone by, and all stir 

the imagination. In 1659 Charles 

Wells, a young longbow-string maker, 

living in London, borrowed £30 from 

John Simons his neighbour in Butcher 

Row, Atherstone, on the security of 

three ‘messuages or tenements’ he had 

inherited from his grandmother, Hester 

Wells. Charles went to the manor court 

and surrendered the property to the lord 

of the manor’s steward. Then John 

Simons came into the court and was 

admitted tenant, paying the necessary 

fine and swearing his fealty to the lord. 

Simons was to hold the property until 

the loan was repaid, at the ‘Sign of the 

Black Bull in Cheapside.’ Did Charles 

ever repay the loan? We do not know, 

for by the next entry in 1722 the house 

has passed to William Eyre. 

All transactions give the abuttals of the 

property concerned, and this has enabled 

HART volunteers to piece together 

the ownership of every property 

in Atherstone. It is now possible to see 

who lived in each building and what 

trade was carried on there over a period 

of almost 300 years. 

Another strand of the project is the 

buildings survey, which is being carried 

out under the supervision of historic 

buildings surveyor, Bob Meeson. The 

information gleaned from the manor 

court rolls helps the survey team to understand 

each building and how it has 

been adapted for new owners and new 

functions. Some of the town’s buildings 

have been discovered to date back to 

the 1400s. 

Many of the wills and inventories were 

transcribed by Marion Alexander and 

the Local History Research Group 

some 20 years ago. The most exciting 

part of the project is going to be fitting 

these into the house histories with other 

records, such as the Hearth Tax. We 

can now say definitively that the 

‘Chamber next the Lane’ recorded in 

Henry Rowditch’s inventory of 1676, 

refers to a building which stands today 

on the site of Dillon’s newsagents in 

Long Street. 

Over the 18 months that it has been 

running, HART has attracted some 60 

volunteers and will continue until October 

2005, when a book will be published. 

This is undoubtedly one of the 

most important research projects ever 

to have been undertaken on Atherstone. 

It is particularly liberating 

not to have to worry 

about money. The generous 

funding has allowed 

HART to have the very 

best expert advice, all the 

photocopies and plans 

they need, help with 

translation of Latin and 

palaeography, travelling 

expenses, and computer 

courses to help those 

working on the database. 

Any community group 

that wants to follow Atherstone’s 

example and 

set up their own Local 

Heritage Initiative 

should contact their regional 

branch of the 

Countryside Agency. 

Fidler’s Laws 

These may be new to you. The editor 

of the FHS of Cheshire Journal, 

Graham Fidler, regularly writes up a 

new law based on a “painfully learned” 

experience in computing. His latest 

bears repetition on a day when my virus 

software has picked up a number of 

unwanted, virus-laden emails. I do 

hope Graham will not mind it being 

shared with members in NNWFHS. 

Law 11: Never open a file you were not 

expecting – it’s bound to contain a 

virus! 

Let’s look at this in more detail. There 

are 5 sub-rules: 

1. NEVER open an attachment! 

2. NEVER NEVER open an attachment! 

3. If you have not updated your virus 

checker’s database on virus 

signatures within the last week, then 

it will probably be useless. New 

viruses come out daily. 

4. If you must open an attachment, 

make sure that you know who it 

came from and even more 

importantly, do not open it unless 

you were expecting that sender to 

enclose an attachment 

5. To be safe, don’t open the 

attachment. Email the sender to ask 

if they did send an attachment, and if 

so, what it contains. 

Graham went on to explain about file 

association and how, to be doubly safe, 

you should not use Word but change 

your folder options to open attachments 

that are *.doc with Wordpad. 

However, the basic advice is NEVER 

open any attachment - even if from 

somebody you think you know - until 

you are sure they really have sent you a 

file that you want and that will not give 

you something you definitely do NOT 

want! 

CENSUS TIP 

Is anyone researching Mercer in Atherstone? During 

research for a family in the States on a Bindley family 

(one of the ones who put the 'Chapel' into Chapel 

End) I found that a Bindley daughter had married a 

Mercer and lived in Atherstone. 

The earlier censuses stated that she was 'born in the 

county' but on the 1881 census she was a widow living 

on her own and her place of birth was listed Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania, USA. Obviously, previously 

her husband had answered the enumerator’s questions 

but this time she had answered the questions 

herself. 

So, remember, if a birthplace looks dodgy, or doesn't 

fit family myth, ask yourself the question - did this 

person answer the enumerator’s questions or did 

someone else answer for them? 

Val Pickard.

Page 14 


New Books, CDs Etc 

Sutton Publishing have 

published the second 

edition of probably the 

best book for family 

historians, Ancestral 

Trails. One of the major 

strengths of the book is 

the very detailed yet 

clear and readable way 

in which the author 

illustrates the 

multifarious types of 

information that exist, 

and how they can be 

found, interpreted and 

related to other 

information. He does 

this, in the main, using 

records relating to his 

own ancestors. As a result there are a large number of 

examples relating to London, Devon and Bedfordshire - a 

nice bonus for readers who have interests in these areas - 

though other areas of England and Wales are by no means 

neglected. (There is also one very good chapter on other 

parts of the British Isles). Available from all good bookstore, 

and genealogical suppliers. 

************************************************ 

New From Archive CD Books 

The Huguenots - Their Settlements, Churches and Industries 

In England and Ireland - Samuel Smiles. 1876 

This excellent book gives an account of the causes which led 

to these great migrations into England, and describes the 

effects upon English and Irish industry as well as history. 

Archive CD Books- http://www.archivecdbooks.com 

************************************************ 

A Press release from TWR Computing: 

The 1891 Census Index CDs for England and Wales 

We have in stock the first releases of a major new series of 

Census CDs for England and Wales from the world's largest, 

most progressive, family history company MyFamily.com/ 

Ancestry.com. 

The standard product provides complete coverage, 

searchable, name indexed, browsable transcriptions! In 

addition the deluxe product includes unlimited access to 

very high quality online images of the original census linked 

from the transcriptions on the CDs (no subscription 

required)! 

The transcriptions may be searched on any or all of the 

following criteria:- First name; Last name (with option for 

exact/soundex); Age (exact/within 2 years/within 5 years/ 

within 10 years); Father; Mother; Spouse; Birthplace; 

Ecclesiastical parish; Civil parish; Gender (either/male/ 

female); Wildcards including * ? or and 

Search results display the whole household including names, 

relationships to the head of the household, ages, gender, 

place of birth, and the full Public Record Office/National 

Archives reference (e.g. RG12/240 Folio 19 Page 8) making 

the standard product an ideal companion to using Census 

microfilm or microfiche or the Census image CDs that 

customers may already have in their collection! 

The first releases, in stock, are:- 

CD3906 deluxe Channel Islands and Isle of Man £29.95 

CD3907 standard Channel Islands and Isle of Man £16.95 

CD3914 deluxe Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk £29.95 

CD3915 standard Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk 

£16.95 

CD3916 deluxe Cheshire and Derbyshire £29.95 

CD3915 standard Cheshire and Derbyshire £16.95 

CD3928 deluxe 3CDs Lancashire £49.95 

CD3929 standard 3CDs Lancashire £29.95 

CD3934 deluxe 3CDs London £49.95 

CD3935 standard 3CDs London £29.95 

Due for release on 20th May 2004 are 

CD3920 deluxe Durham and Northumberland £29.95 

CD3921 standard Durham and Northumberland £16.95 

CD3924 deluxe Kent and Sussex £29.95 

CD3925 standard Kent and Sussex £16.95 

CD3940 deluxe Staffordshire and Shropshire £29.95 

CD3941 standard Staffordshire and Shropshire £16.95 

The remainder of England and Wales will be released later 

this year, probably sooner rather than later. 

The inclusion of large areas/more than one county in each 

pack makes these products extremely cost effective compare 

with normal unindexed census image CDs. 

We, TWR Computing, are the sole UK and Irish 

wholesalers/distributors/retailers of this series of Census 

CDs for the publishers MyFamily.com/Ancestry.com. 

As ever, you will find full details on our website/online shop 

www.twrcomputing.co.uk 

All prices include delivery to anywhere in the world. 

************************************************ 

Scotland Death Index: 1855-1875 

McKirdy Index Limited have published another index in 

their Scotland Death series, County of Lanark: 1857. The 

index, available on microfiche, microfiche is available 

from:- 

New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc 

P O Box 8795, Symonds Street, Auckland 1035, New 

Zealand 

www.genealogy.org.nz/sales/fiche-new.html 

Aberdeen & NE Scotland FHS 

164 King St. , Aberdeen, , Scotland, AB24 5BD 

www.anesfhs.org.uk


www.hometown.aol.co.uk/pitexplosion 

Celia Parton’s website about the Baddesley Pit explosion is 

now up and running. Even if you do not have ancestors that 

were involved, the site is very interesting, please make time 

to take a look. 

http://www.picturesofcoventry.co.uk/index.php 

Coventry Libraries have produced a new website with 

archive photos of Coventry but there are 47 pictures of 

Nuneaton too. 

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/WAR/images/ 

More images of Warwickshire, mainly churches, in 

Birmingham, Coventry and south Warwickshire 

The following website reviews were printed in Genuki 

News and are included herein with the kind permission of 

Rob Thompson. 

www.nationalarchivist.com 

The National Archivist is an independent company, set up 

in 2003 to provide digitised images of original records 

reproduced under license from The National Archives 

(formerly The Public Record Office), and other 

organisations. It was founded 3 years ago by Vanessa 

Williams who was in the course of researching her own 

family tree. Addressing the needs of the estimated 180 

million people worldwide involved in genealogy and family 

history, National Archivist provides people with digitised 

images of original source information, as opposed to 

transcriptions. Users may access, search and purchase 

electronic versions of documents previously only accessible 

by visiting a public or local record office. Registration to the 

site is free. 

To view the original documents, users must set up an 

account and pre-pay to obtain a certain number of credits. 

Accounts may be set up for as little as £6 using most credit 

cards and can be topped up at any time. Discounts are 

available when credits are bulk purchased. Once located, 

records are viewed using Lizardtech's document sharing 

software 'DjVu'. Users' accounts are debited the appropriate 

number of credits, and the new balance displayed. 

New records now available on The National Archivist, 

including previously inaccessible military records:- 

1) Estate Duty Office Indexes to Death Duty Records - an 

additional ten years of wills has been uploaded. Visitors can 

now view indexes of English and Welsh Wills and 

Administration from 1796 to 1857. 

2) Military Records - of particular note are the Harts/ Army 

Lists as this is the first time these records have been put 

online. Results can be searched and sorted. There are free-toview 

archives for most titles but also some archives that are 

completely free such as The Grenadier Guards. 

Harts Army List 1840 and 1888; Official Army List 1798; 

Peninsular Medal Roll 1793-1814; Waterloo Roll Call 1815; 

Grenadier Guards 1656-1874 

3) Directories and Professionals/ Member Lists - The 

National Archivist's archive of Member Lists contains 

digitised images of specialist lists and registers of members 

of the legal, medical and clerical professions, commercial 

and trade directories and handbooks to the titled, landed and 

official classes and other professions in the United 

Kingdom. Member lists are an invaluable aid to research 

especially when looking for members of a particular 

profession. The introduction of regulated practise for many 

professions in the 19th Century brought about the necessity 

for official registration and recognition. The Medical 

Directory was first published in 1845 noting the names and 

addresses of medical practitioners and the Medical Register 

GET NETTED 

published practitioners' qualifications from 1859. A 

registration system for dentists was established in 1878 and 

subsequently a register recording the names, addresses and 

qualifications of those registered was published. Anglican 

clergy are listed in the Clerical Guide from 1817 and in the 

Clergy List from 1841. Cockford's Clerical Directory from 

1858 records the clergy of the Church of England, Ireland , 

Wales and the Episcopal Church of Scotland, entries include 

details of education and training. In addition to those 

mentioned, there are 19th century directories and registers 

for many professions. Currently available are: Dental 

Surgeons Directory , The Clergy List 1896 

4) Phillimore's How to Write the History of a Family (book) 

This book is free to view and comes in two books (a main 

book plus a supplement book in its entirety) W. P. W. 

Phillimore was the great authority on family history, and 

author and publisher of the Phillimore's Parish Registers 

series. Although it goes back a while it still contains a lot of 

relevant information. For example, there is a guide on how 

to interpret old handwriting. It provides an account of how 

to undertake your family history research, types of records 

and where they can be found. It covers many of the more 

unusual sources, which can still be found at county record 

offices and The National Archives. 

5) British Colonies - The National Archivist's archive of 

Colonial India records contains digitised images of original 

publications and documents that relate to the 

pre-independence period of present day India , Pakistan , 

Bangladesh and Burma . In this section you can view any 

material we hold about The East India Company servants, 

civil servants, Indian Army personnel and European 

residents prior to 1947. Currently available: Bengal Civil 

Service Graduation List 

http://www.search.digitalhandsworth.org.uk/engine/ 

custom/gallery.asp?lstExhibitionType=3 

Part of the Digital Handsworth project this is a gallery of 

images from the 1870’s and 1880’s baptisms in St Mary’s 

Church. The site is a little complicated, and takes a bit of 

time to get used to, but once you do you are presented with 

scanned images from the baptism register itself. The images 

are not the easiest to read, and you will need exceptionally 

good eyesight to study them. However they are there, and it 

will no doubt prove useful to some people. Have a good 

look around the rest of the website for a collection of images 

from Handsworth past and present. But as with many 

collections of images, be prepared for a slow load. 

http://freecen.rootsweb.com 

This project aims to provide a "free-to-view" online 

searchable database of the 19th century UK census returns. 

It is part of FreeUKGEN, an initiative aimed at helping 

make high quality primary (or near-primary) records of 

relevance to UK genealogy conveniently and freely 

available online, in a coherent, easy to access and search, 

information retrieval system. To find what is already on line 

click on 'Database Coverage' in the left hand column where 

you will be presented with a list of Counties,.click on 

'Details' against the County of interest and there will be a 

listing of Parishes with those that are already on line 

indicated. 

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/emigrants/ 

More on migration and migrants, this is an excellent site 

about migration from Liverpool. It is based around an 

exhibition in Liverpool and takes the format of a fictitious 

diary about leaving Liverpool for Australia in 1858. A 

fascinating and well researched website this one will give 

you a great insight into the nineteenth century world, 

emigration, and why people left for the new world. 

Fascinating and easy to follow with some great pictures

July 2004 - Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society

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