The Blogging from A to Z Challenge is to post everyday (except Sunday) in the month of April 2020 starting with the letter A and going all the way to Z. My theme is...
Ancestor Occupations
VICTUALLER
My great great grandfather, George Singleton, was a Victualler in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, having moved there from Preesall with Hackensall.
In 1862 George had the Victualler's License for the Pub on Queen Ann Street, Liverpool transferred from Thomas Bunson, deceased.
Transfer of Victualler Licenses, Liverpool Daily Post
28 Nov 1862, pg.7 @ FMP
In 1888 George was granted permission to transfer his Queen Ann Pub license to James Gregory.
George then bought a license for the Richmond Arms Pub for which he was victualler until 1894. Then George moved into a lodging house on Springfield.
I don't have the particulars of what happened, but I do know George was not a happy man, especially since the death of his wife in 1882. At one time he entered and bet on courses with his dogs, and apparently he drank a lot, which seemed to be a hazard of owning or working in a pub. So on a very windy and rainy 13th day of December in 1894 George took himself off to the workhouse.
FMP - Liverpool Mercury 13 Dec 1894, pg.6
George admitted himself to the medical ward of the Liverpool Board of Guardians Workhouse, given number 1589, and in remarks on the admittance register was written "no friends".
He was discharged from the workhouse about four months later on 4 April 1895. George then went back to living in the lodging house at 22 Springfields.
On 2 December 1896 at the age of 60 George committed suicide by poison.
Poor man.
ReplyDeleteI had relatives in America who opened up a pub. Unluckily, it was at the start of the 1920s...
The Multicolored Diary
Aha! No bootleggers in the family? My cousins grandfather was bootlegging during prohibition.
DeleteVery sad. My Synder line had a tavern in a town called, (drumroll please) Two Taverns PA
ReplyDeleteHaha I love it!
DeleteIn Quebec in the old days you could not have more taverns or bars in a town than churches! Still when I was young taverns weren’t allowed to open on Sunday until the afternoon (after church) and were closed on voting days.
DeletePoor George! I was not expecting him to end up like that.
ReplyDeleteFinding Eliza
Me either... I just found this recently.
DeleteWhat a sad story and as ever I am impressed by your research into the wide range of occupations of your ancestors. Three of my Danson daughters married publicans in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, as identified in a local 19th century directory, but I have never thought of investigating their life.
ReplyDeleteIt’s quite interesting. Sometimes you find a newspaper article of something that happened in the pub, or just outside the pub.
DeleteWow, I wasn't expecting the suicide. So sad. Many folks don't realize that alcohol is a depressant, so if George was already unhappy the drinking likely deepened his malaise. I have a ggg grandfather who owned an Inn in St. Eustache, Quebec. Based on this post, I wonder if I can find his pub/innkeeper license.
ReplyDeleteYou probably won’t find a license, but business opening, closing, bankrupt, etc were in the Canada Gazette or the Gazette Oficielle du Quebec. Email me if you need web addresses of where to look.
DeleteI lived in St Eustache 1977-78! We had moved down from living two years in Rouyn Noranda and got an apartment there. Then there was a gas leak and we had to move, so moved to Laval.
Drinking too much seems to be a hazard of owning or operating a pub...happened with relatives of mine too.
ReplyDeleteYes and often those who were in a war.
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