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The Custard House Blake Lane

I'm sure your right. Just cant remember where I read it !

Theres some truth in there somewhere, but I didnt know there was a house as well as the pub.
 
Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

Well that’s very interesting, mah, and it somewhat fits in with fatfingers’ theory (Post #6) in which he writes there “used to be a custard (costard) apple orchard on the site”, and with the fact that I myself can definitely recall three, four or five apple trees in the pub’s garden.
However I would still tend to think that the pub took its name from the original Custard House, which was no more than 150 yards away on the corner between Yardley Green Road and Hobmoor Road. I imagine the orchard was there. I think it’s far more likely that a tavern (please see maps in Posts #8 and #25) takes its name from a well-known local house – which may have just been demolished - than the contrary. I maintain it must have been very well known because it’s on an 1821 map together with Blakesley Hall and the Swan, Yardley’s “predecessor”, the New Inn.
I rest my case.
Thanks to one and all for all these enlightening contributions.
But are we anywhere near the truth? David
 
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Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

Could be talking out my rear end - I do that a lot - but I Think Custard apples only grow in hotter climates. 'Costard apples' , or 'Martins Custard apples' now more or less extinct; grew here and were used to make Cider, not custard. I'm sure someone on here will knowif I;m right !

Wonder if theres a clue there.
 
Hi all i lived in fifth avenue bordesley green and i remember this story about the custard house. the land on the corner of hobmoor and yardley green lane was a part of the custard house farms. found all over east birmingham including nechells/saltly/ etc. see link below.


CUSTARD HOUSE FARM, GREEN LANES.
 
Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

db84124 said:
I'm very sorry, fatfingers, but I beg to differ on your theory of the orchard.
Attached is a map of the Blake Lane area of Bordesley Green of 1890. One can see that the Custard House - which is halfway down, or up, Blake Lane on the eastern side - was then called the Custard House Tavern.
If you now look at the corner of Green Lane, Blake Lane, Hobmoor Road and Yardley Green Road, on the corner between the last two named roads, you will see a building which was called Custard House. I very much imaging that the tavern - and consequently the pub - took its name from the original Custard House.
Has anyone got any information on the 1890 building?
Might it be just possible that the name is a corruption due to local pronunciation of Customs House? Only a theory. I can't for the life of me imagine why a customs house would be out in the wilds of what was then Warwickshire. db84124
Click to expand...

Shame about the quality, but I wonder if thats it in the background.
 
Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

Colin and col h, and all the members who have contributed to this enthralling thread,
We seem to be making far more progress than previous threads about the Custard House pub have ever made.
This is thanks to the extraordinary participation of all. Can we break it this time? I have a feeling that we are very, very close to the solution - perhaps a final concerted effort by everyone will see us into the light. Please, please don't give up now; keep up the excellent work courageously and defiantly ……. let’s not be cowardy, cowardy custards !!?! David
 
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fatfingers said:
I'm sure your right. Just cant remember where I read it !

Theres some truth in there somewhere, but I didnt know there was a house as well as the pub.
Click to expand...

Gave this some thought over the weekend, I think it was probably a book called Small Heath and Sparkbrook, on the cover was a picture of the choir from St Andrews Senior school.

I no longer have the book, but if it rings any bells with anybody, could you have a look, and see what it says re the custard house or blake lane ?
 
Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

The following is an enlargement of the 1890 map showing the junction of Green Lane, Blake Lane, Yardley Green Road and Hobmoor Road. The old Custard House appears to be on the corner between the last two mentioned roads thanks to the label “Custard House”. But if the building was so important as to be included both on the 1890 map and the one published in 1821, wouldn’t the “lord-of-the-manor’s” house be more imposing? Could the real Custard House be the enormous building with the words “lawn” and “house” alongside it? If one looks carefully, one can see that this “house” is surrounded by treed land. The symbols appear to be different; cartographers normally use an identical symbol when they wish to represent fruit trees. Do you think the big house is encircled by apple trees or is it deciduous parkland?
Is there any way of discovering who lived there during the period 1850 to 1900?
mikejee tells us in Post #19 that in 1883-4 a Reverend Collins was living in the first house in Hobmoor Road. In 1888, the reverend was to be found living in the first house in Yardley Road (now Yardley Green Road) called The Laurels, and as the house was in the corner between these two roads, Mike – quite rightly in my opinion – assumes the vicar lived in the same house but his address had been change. If, in 1880, The Laurels is not listed in the Birmingham directory, could it appear on another list: Warwickshire for example? Is there a directory for Yardley?
Could one of the photographic experts on the Forum clarify the photo or could a member send in a more detailed copy?
Keep right on ………….. oops !!?! David


Custard House.jpg
 
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Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

If it helps. The border between Yardley and Bordesly was Blake Lane, at least till Yardley was incorporated into Bimingham in 1911.

The pic is from'Small Heath Remembered' by Bob Marsden. I bought it as a discarded library book. Most of the photos in it are pretty poor and look like photo copies, but not as bad as it looks on here. I'll scan it again in a different format tomorrow and see if it improves.

Looks A LOT better if you open the attachment in 'todays posts' rather than clicking on the image. its the one with the file name WWW jpeg.
 
Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

Colin, your map in Post #42 is excellent. Could you possibly produce a second, equally clear rectangle which extends to the east beyond the end of Blakeland Street and corresponds with the map I posted in Post #40, i.e. which includes the whole of the "garden" of the big house, that I believe to be the real, original Custard House?
Would you please confirm that the map was published in 1890? Thank you, David

Custard_House.jpg
 
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Someone has sent me these ,still no real answer though.

Looks like its been a mystery for yonks. Sorry theyre in the wrong order, couldnt work out how to re arrange em.
 
Have put them together in the right order
Mike

custard_house_historyC.jpg
 
The answer must lay in the following pages . when aston border was as far as small heath.


ico-folder-open.gif
CUSTARD HOUSE FARM, GREEN LANES. [no ref. or date]


These documents are held at Birmingham City Archives


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Lease for forty two years from Joseph Scott of Birmingham, linen draper, to Ambrose Pearman of Birmingham, butcher, of a messuage and land called the Custard House Farm near a place called the Green Lanes in the parish of Aston. MS 3375/442479 5 March 1765

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Indenture of mortgage from Ambrose Pearman of the Green Lanes in the parish of Aston, butcher, to Rebecca Pritchett of Birmingham, widow, of a messuage and land called the Custard House Farm near the Green Lanes. MS 3375/442480 30 March 1709

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Assignment of lease from Ambrose Pearman of Green Lanes in the parish of Aston, butcher, to William Cressull of Birmingham, cordwainer, of a messuage and land called the Custard House Farm near Green Lanes. Endorsed with assignment, dated 27 October, 1779, from William Crussell [Cressull] then of [London] to David Hallen of Birmingham, frying pan maker, of the said property. MS 3375/442481 25 July, 1772

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Bond from Ambrose Pearman of Birmingham, butcher, to William Cressall of Birmingham, cordwainer, to secure performance of covenants. MS 3375/442482 25 July 1772

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Assignment of mortgage from Rebecca Pritchett of Birmingham, widow, by the direction of Ambrose Pearman of the Green Lanes in the parish of Aston, butcher, to David Allen of Birmingham, frying pan maker, of a messuage and land called the Custard House Farm near the Green Lanes. MS 3375/442483 5 December 1772

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Bond from Ambrose Pearman of the Green Lanes in the parish of Aston, butcher, to David Hallen of Birmingham, frying pan maker, to secure performance of covenants. MS 3375/442484 5 December 1772

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Indenture between Ambrose Pearman of the Green Lanes in the parish of Aston, butcher, and David Hallen of Birmingham, frying pan maker, being a further charge upon a messuage and land called the Custard House Farm near the Green Lanes. MS 3375/442485 2 November 1773

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Lease for seventeen and a half years, less three days, from Mary Haden of Erdington, spinster, to John Tonks of Erdington, farmer, of a messuage and land called the Custard House Farm near a place called the Green Lanes in the parish of Aston. MS 3375/442486 24 September 1789

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Assignment from John Boylestone Hallen of Birmingham, gent., to Mary Haden of Erdington, spinster, of a messuage and land called the Custard House Farm near a place called the Green Lanes in the parish of Aston. MS 3375/442487 7 November 1789
 
On the 1851 census this family are living there.


Name Relationship Mar Age Sex Occupation Birthplace
Allen EVERETT Head M 61 M Brasswire & Tube Maker Birmingham-War
Maria EVERETT Wife M 50 F --- Birmingham-War
William EVERETT Son U 20 M Clerk to His Father Handsworth-Stf
Eliza EVERETT Daur U 18 F --- Birmingham-War
Helen EVERETT Daur U 16 F --- Birmingham-War
Charles EVERETT Son U 22 M Solicitor London-Msx
Maria MORRELL Serv U 33 F House Servant Alvechurch-Wor
Charlotte EHESTON Serv U 20 F House Servant Exeter-Dev
Thomas GENT Serv U 34 M Groom & Gardener Appleby-Lec
Address: Green Lanes Custard House, Aston
Census Place: Aston Aston, Warwickshire
PRO Reference: HO/107/2060 Folio: 673 Page: 23 FHL Film: 0087316
 
Colin, That's absolutely perfect. Thank you very much. I'm extremely grateful for the plan, and also for the link, which I can assure you will be of tremendous use. Thank you.
I have written to the hon. secretary of the Small Heath Local History Society asking whether she - or one of their members - could add further information to our enquiries. I will of course post any relevant facts that I may receive as soon as something comes through.
I now believe that the "Apple Theory" is the most plausible. But I think the original Custard House was the large, tree-surrounded building a short distance away from the corner. Thanks to mikejee (Post #19), we know that the house on the corner was called "The Laurels". I believe the 1890 map uses the name "Custard House" more for the crossroads than a particular house. The large, imposing building marked "Lawn: House" in your post #51 is far more likely - in my opinion - to be the true, original Custard House.
brummie nick, Welcome aboard. Have you the means to go back further in time or add any other occupiers of the house? Thank you, David (db84124)
 
Question occurs to me, any way of finding out what was there before the House/Farm ?

could it be that it was named after the place ?
 
It will good db to find out about all the farms and the growth of birmingham into this area. look forward to what you find out. if anything turns up on my searches i shall put it on here.
colin
 
Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

Another very useful map, Colin, but it doesn't show the detail of the one you sent in in Post #51.
Interesting to note that this map - dated 1885 - quite definitely shows a building named "Custard House" right on the corner ; but we know from mikejee (Post #19) that in 1883/4 the corner house was called "The Laurels" and that unfortunately in 1880 the area is not included in the Birmingham directory. Even in 1885, the corner is just beyond the proposed extension to the boundary of the borough of Birmingham.
Was there a directory for Yardley, or perhaps Warwickshire, which a member has access to?
By the way, Colin, where in Italy does your daughter live?

col h, absolutely fascinating to think that we are closing in - completely independently - on a very similar conclusion. Post #47 (#48) makes very interesting reading. Thank you. David
 
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Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

Colin, having had a half-hour break from my fatherly chores, I've just been re-reading your Post #50. There is an obviously strong association between "Green Lanes" and "Green Lane" and your various excellent maps bearing the name "Custard House" in that very area. But if all the documents mentioned in Post #50 are held by Birmingham authorities because the land/properties were in the parish of Aston - I am fully aware that Aston's boundary extended to what is now Small Heath - why, on the 1885 map, was the Custard House outside the city limits? To me it seems contradictory: is it possible that the City Archives holds the official deeds/leases for an area which was outside the City's jurisdiction ???? David
 
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Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

Morning all,
These are from the 1867 Post Office directory, there is no mention of Hobmoor Road.
 
The Custard House, Blake Lane

Good morning John,
Now that is very interesting! If you look down the first, long, 1867 list, there is a house called "The Laurels" which is at least a street/road away from Blake Lane.
Yet in 1883/84 there was a house of the same name on the Yardley (Green) Road/ Hobmoor Road corner (Post #19). Is it possible that there were two houses with identical names in the same area? The name was the only means of identification before numbering came in later that century or at the beginning of the 1900s (please see mikejee's Post #4 in the thread "The Olives, Blake Lane "). Very strange ??!?
Is it just possible that, at that time, a house owner transferred a house's name to his new abode a little like keeping a certain telephone number today?
Surprising the number of surgeons, doctors and physicians appearing on various lists in that small area.
Have a good journey up to Birmingham - drive carefully. Best wishes, David

Copy_of_Post_Office_Directory_1867_28a29.jpg
 
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