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Crown Tavern Cherry Street

Simon68

master brummie
Hi everyone,

Not being local I don't know if my info is correct but....

I have found a billiards token for the Crown Tavern Cherry Street and am told Birmingham did/does have a Cherry Street.

The token is late Victorian/early Edwardian and refers to a Wm Read - I presume William and therefore probably a landlord at some point.

Does anybody know anything or can shed any light on it

Regards

Simon
 
hi simon yes we still have a cherry st in the city centre but ive never heard of the crown tavern so maybe mike or other members could check it out with a kellys look up....would love to see a photo of the token if possible...

lyn
 
Hi Simon and Lyn. There's a photo of the Crown on this thread at post #16 posted by BernieW https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=42169

It's captioned Little Cherry St. Cherry Street was once a much longer street than it is today, reaching as far as High Street. I think we concluded in the discussion on that thread that some of the street is now under Corporation Street. Viv.
 
morning viv..thanks for the link to that thread...excellent pic of the crown from bernie..


lyn
 
117_001.jpg


Morning everyone,
Thanks for the quick replies. Here is a photo of the token as requested, I bought it from the Delcampe auction website and it is currently in the post en route from Austria of all places!! The reverse is plain.
I was interested to read that Cherry Street housed several token issuers over the ages but it may just be coincidence. I have no evidence that this is a Birmingham token at all, just what the Seller told me.
 
Morning everyone,
Thanks for the quick replies. Here is a photo of the token as requested, I bought it from the Delcampe auction website and it is currently in the post en route from Austria of all places!! The reverse is plain.
I was interested to read that Cherry Street housed several token issuers over the ages but it may just be coincidence. I have no evidence that this is a Birmingham token at all, just what the Seller told me.


hello simon i am hoping a look up in the kelly directories will confirm that william read was landlord of the crown tavern cherry st birmingham...it has to be the right one i would think...thats a great token..i would love to own it so you are very lucky to have it...it looks to me as thought the front of the token is depicting a snooker/billards table...

lyn
 
Hi Lyn,

Yes, it's a great token, can't wait to see it in the ''flesh'' so to speak. Thanks for your help and interest in it.
 
The Crown was at 30-31 Little Cherry St, and up to 1880 was run by the Dickensian-sounding John Boodle. He seems to be the same John Boodle who was secretary of the Birmingham branch of the Provincial typographical association, and in 1869 was President of the Birmingham Trades Council. According to an appeal by Mr Boodle (which he lost) over transfer of the licence in 1881, he had occupied the Crown for 24 years, and the property was owned by the late William Dudley till 1876, when it was purchased by the Corporation for improvement purposes. In 1880 they took possession. The improvement referred to was the Corporation St development.
 
William Read is listed as a retail brewer at 30-31 Cherry St in the 1855 & 1858 directories, but not in the 1862 directory. In 1849 he is a retail brewer at 52 Vauxhall Road
 
excellent research mike...thanks very much that confirms the token is from the crown cherry st birmingham...there you go simon it looks like we can date your pub token between 1855 and 1858

lyn
 
Hi Mikejee,

That's great info, thank you, as it possibly dates my token earlier than I'd first thought.
 
thank you mike]excellent research... that confirms the token is from the crown cherry st birmingham...there you go simon we can now date your pub token between 1855 and 1858 so it does have a lot of age to it..

lyn[/QUOTE]
 
I would put the possible dates a little broader than 1855-58. He is not listed in 1849, but 1849 is the publication date of the directory, and the information is might be 1848. therefore he could have been there in 1849. Similarly he is not listed in 1862, but could have been there 1861. So I would give range as 1848-1861
 
As can bee seen from the advertisment below from the Birmingham Journal , 15.9.1860, William Read states that he has then occupied the Crown for 10 years. Therefore the period for the token would be 1850-1861

Birm_J_15_9_1860.jpg
 
the crown cherry st birmingham.jpgwonderful mike so we have proof posative re the date of the token...reading that ad it sounds the sort of pub i would like to go into now lol...

and for completion here is a photo of the crown tavern...no date im afraid but i would think from 1880s onwards..



lyn
 
Lyn
If you look at post 10, it would seem that the pub was demolished by the council either late 1880, or very early 1881. The pub and surrounding buildings look empty, so the picture would be just before demolition
 
Lyn
If you look at post 10, it would seem that the pub was demolished by the council either late 1880, or very early 1881. The pub and surrounding buildings look empty, so the picture would be just before demolition

oops i missed that post mike...so the photo dates no later than 1881 then...cheers mike

lyn
 
William Read is listed as a retail brewer at 30-31 Cherry St in the 1855 & 1858 directories, but not in the 1862 directory. In 1849 he is a retail brewer at 52 Vauxhall Road

Just for info Wm Read was still at 30 Cherry St as a retail brewer in 1861 (source: Corporation and General Trades Directory). Viv.
 
thanks for that info viv...this is a nice little thread about the william read and the crown..

lyn
 
Last edited:
He is on the 1851 census at 30 Cherry St.

William READ Head M 28 M Publican Bradley-WIL
Sarah READ Wife M 30 F --- London-London
Eliza READ Daur - 6 F --- Birmingham-WAR
Sarah M. READ Daur - 3 F --- Birmingham-WAR
Maryanne READ Daur - 1 F --- Birmingham-WAR
Sarah READ Daur - 4m F --- Birmingham-WAR
Betsy RILEY Serv U 18 F --- Birmingham-WAR
Ann REED Rela W 70 F --- Bradley-WIL
Address: 30 Cherry Street, Birmingham
 
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