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The Vampire

what an unusual (and unpleasant) name for a Pub !!! I see it was a Holt Brewery pub, this Brewery was in Holt Street if I remember correct and it had a pub attached called The Holt (surprise surprise!). My Wife worked in the Brewery offices for a time many years ago and we would occasionally call in the pub, it was always full of 'hard up' students from the nearby Aston University. It has long since gone although I cannot remember the year of its closure.
 
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isnt it just eric...what i want to know is just what is a fine sheet of water as advertised...was it some sort of fountain i wonder...bet you dont fancy painting this one lol

lyn
 
another cracking one of the vampire thanks to phil for this one...i wonder if those 2 men are holding the foreign plants mentioned in the old advert i posted...what a very strange pub all round...

vampire 4.jpg
 
I have derived this mostly from newspapers, correcting dates for the fact that most of the reports refer to the day before, so this is given rather than date of report. The details from directories are likely to be up to a year out of date. "From" and "to" mean licence was transferred from someone to someone else. Early reports list both, but later ones only to whom it is transferred.


Neither The Vampire, nor any other licensed premises, is listed at 33 Gt Hampton row in directories prior to the PO directory of 1855, which lists John Stagg as landlord. Below it states when he was leaving, in 1868, that he had been the landlord for 12 years, so he may well have been the first landlord.

4.2.1858 Retail Brewers Protection Soc hold meeting at Vampire, John Stagg landlord.
24.8.1859 John Stagg lined for opening in improper hours on a Sunday.
16.5.1861 John Stagg. landlord had money stolen from Vampire
19.9.1861 John Stagg given music and dancing licence for Vampire
29.10.1868 Vampire advertised as John Stagg retiring due to bad health. Says he has held licence for 12 years
7.1.1871 Vampire advertised to Let as "proprietor has government situation to fill"
25 8.1871. John Collins applied for music & dancing licence -refused
7.3.1872 from John Collins to George Jones
16.10.1873 George Jones falls backwards into a vat of boiling ale and is severely scalded.
10.1.1874 Advertised for sale due to death of proprietor.
4.12.1873 from George Jones to Elizabeth Jones
5.3.1874 from Elizabeth Jones to Thomas Willetts.
21.8.74 Thomas Willetts applies for music licence
5.2.1875 Licence and goodwill advertised for sale, value £140
5.3.1875 Creditors meeting for Thomas Willetts . liabilities £398.2s.11d, assets £71.8s.10d
Kellys for 1876 lists William Simpson as landlord
26.6.1880 W.Simpson applies for music and dancing licence
4.11.1880 Brewing plant advertised
1.3. 1881 to Edward Thomas Trueman
4.8.1881 from H Maynard to H. Thomas
7.12.1882 to Thomas Banford
1..3.1884 to J Tonks
5.6.1884 to E. Child
4.12.1884 to Thomas Keay
5.12.1885 to J. Holland
26.10.1886 Richard Moxon, landlord of Vampire sent to jail for 6 weeks for assaulting his wife Phoebe, and she given a separation order
6.1.1887 to J. Handley
6.12.1888 to J. Beckett
Kellys 1890 lists Joseph Beckett as landlord
7.5.1891 to G. Powers
1.10. 1891 to T Hubble
Kellys 1892 lists Reuben Brown as landlord
1.6.1893 to G H. Deakin
7.12.1893 to J. Wallace
7.6.1894 to A.H.Edwards
Kellys 1895 lists Alfred Edwards as landlord.
Kellys 1896 lists John Jones as landlord.
Kellys 1897 lists Harry Smith as landlord.
Kellys 1899 lists William Adams as landlord.
Kellys 1900 lists James Goodman as landlord.
Kellys 1903-5 lists Stephen Dawes as landlord.
Kellys 1908 lists George Hope as landlord.
Kellys 1910-12 lists Frederick Dawes as landlord.
Not listed 1913 or after, so it must have closed around 1912
 
this info is brilliant mike...as you know for some time now i have been complying a folder of photos maps and info of anything interesting to do with my neck of the woods and i shall print this off...

mike can you have a look at the photo on post 23 please i was hoping to date it....the landlords name looks like goodhall but cant be sure...i see that from your list from kellys there is a james goodman there in 1900..could be a miss spelling in kellys ?? or maybe my eyes lol

photo 1 on post 19 i can clearly see the landlords name as frederick dawes so that puts that pic around 1910 to 12..dont know if i am allowing my imagination to run away with me here but what is sitting on the step as it does not look human to me and looks to have clawed feet and the head looks strange..

pic 2 on post 19 i just cant make out the landlords name...
 
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Hi lyn hope you don,t mind me jumping in here, but I thought what an interesting bunch of characters, on post 16,so I looked up james goodall on ancestry,
and found james a goodall aged 36 with his wife Elizabeth at 33 gt Hampton row on the 1901 census so you mus be right about the misspelling in kellys.
by the way I think that's a Staffordshire bull terrior on the steps in the other pic. all the best Michael.
 
hi michael oh please jump in this just fascinates me...nice bit of detective work by you with ancestry at least we now have the dates of 2 of the photos...im so pleased that its a staff on the pub steps i can see it now..just looking again at mikes info and read that in 1873 george jones fell into a vat of boiling ale scalding himself...now im wondering why they boiled ale..


lyn
 
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Lyn
Have checked Kellys , incase a made a late night error, but it does say Goodman, but , from the census, that must be wrong. I agree about the Staff and the Fred. Was going to add today, but you got in first, that you don't boil ale, it would have been wort , the mixture of malt and water they boil to extract the sugars that will ferment to give the alcohol. Mind you, it wouldn't have made much difference to him what it was, he would still probably have eventually died.
 
As a matter of interest, someone has used some of our information , (https://www.strangehistory.net/2014/05/13/homemade-beer-vampire-inn/ ) and described us (with link) as an excellent forum.
Just one other thought. Have noticed that , in the US there seem to be a number of breweries that add blood orange peel to their brew (google blood and beer). Don't know who originated the idea or whether it is a new or old idea, but could, when they brewed for themselves before they sold the brewing gear, they have used that in their brew?.
 
hi mike its just that on post 17 you put james goodman...thanks for the info about the boiling of the wort i had never heard of this being done on the premises before..obviously george jones died as a result of this accident as the pub was up for sale not long after...

thanks again mike..
 
All interesting stuff, especially the insight into the brewing of beer in those days. I had heard that they used to hang a side of meat in the vat to assist with the fermentation of cider. I don't suppose they would allow that today would they?
 
another cracking one of the vampire thanks to phil for this one...i wonder if those 2 men are holding the foreign plants mentioned in the old advert i posted...what a very strange pub all round...

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Hi lyn thanks for the reply and thanks to mike for his research, really interesting thread, do you think that the man on the right in the door way could be James goodall as he is the only one with no coat and is wearing a dickie bow and waistcoat and if you look closely he appears to be wearing an apron, so as to suggest he ,s working as the bar tender. michael
 
hi michael and yes i was thinking exactly the same thing for the same reasons...i reckon there is a good chance that its james goodall..im still finding it amazing that we have 3 photos of this pub which just goes to prove they are out there somewhere...i had ancestors living in a few of the streets round that way at the time the pic was taken and for all i know anyone of those could belong to me lol....something i will never know im afraid..

lyn
 
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All interesting stuff, especially the insight into the brewing of beer in those days. I had heard that they used to hang a side of meat in the vat to assist with the fermentation of cider. I don't suppose they would allow that today would they?


thats just put me right off cider phil...
 
Lyn
Sorry , I was getting confused. In post 21 I meant to say that I had checked and it did say Goodman, but this, from the census, is obviously wrong. Have corrected this on the post.
Phil
I have heard about adding animal protein to cider (to feed the yeast), though always understood it was a chicken, or "naturally occurring" rats. Could find no reference to the same with beer though.
 
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Great photo, #19, the sides of meat and, some baskets of, looks like greens, was this a side trade to beer selling, or did another business trade at the rear or side of the pub??
 
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