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Britannia Inn - Birchall Street Deritend [pic attached]
I do not know of a photograph of the Britannia Inn but the site of the pub would have been just to the left of this photograph taken from Birchall Street looking towards Chapel House Street. This scene changed dramatically during the Second World War when St. John's Church was bombed and later demolished.
The fake-timbered building on the corner of Green Street was the Hope and Anchor. Recorded in the 1823 Triennial Directory for Birmingham in 1823, the Britannia Inn was the second pub to trade in Birchall Street. The building was owned by Ralph Baker who was also the proprietor of the adjoining properties. The annual ground rent charged to Joseph Chambers was £10.0s.0d. who, according to a ratebook for Bordesley and Deritend compiled in the same year, also had to pay rates of just five shillings.
Joseph Chambers named his pub the Britannia, the Roman name for Britain. It was in the diaries of Samuel Pepys that the first mention of the symbolic female figure emerged as a reference to a medal struck in 1665. The model for the figure was a future Duchess of Richmond, Frances Stewart, who was then a mistress of Charles II. The now familiar pose of her resting on a shield had earlier been used on Roman coins which many pubs adopted. However, they also both use the 'ruling the waves' aphorism. For the latter we have to refer to James Thomson, the Kelso-born Scottish poet. He first wrote of Britannia in 1729 in which he criticised Sir Robert Walpole's foreign policy. However, it was his 1740 work Alfred, a Masque which contained the song 'Rule Britannia.' In this he wrote 'When Britain first, at heaven's command, Arose from out the Azure main, This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sung this strain: Rule Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves.' Unfortunately, Thomson could not foresee consumerism for he might have thought twice about such a notion. Pub lovers will much prefer the line by the English clergyman, Sydney Smith, who in one of his essays wrote: What two ideas are more inseparable than Beer and Britannia?
Joseph Chambers was succeeded by George Hemming who traded as both a victualler and cabinet maker. In the ratebook for 1838 his name was crossed out and replaced by that of Richard Newbold. By this time Mary Baker was recorded as the owner.
John Ward was the licensee by the time of the 1851 census in which he was recorded as a 37 year-old victualler from Sheffield. Three years older, his wife Mary was a Brummie. They employed Susannah Wilson as a general servant. The couple later moved with their children, Arthur and Rosina, to Arthur Street where John Ward worked as a brassfounder. However, there is a Slater's Directory for 1852-3 lists a John Ward at the Wagon and Horses Tavern at Summer Row so the family may have lived there for a short period - I have yet to ascertain that it is the same John Ward.
The Ward's departure from the Britannia Inn marked the start of the Richards' family long association with the pub. Edward Richards had previously lived in Bishopsgate Street where he worked as a waiter. Born in 1802 in Bewdley, Worcestershire, Edward Richards was married to a woman 23 years younger. Ann Richards hailed from Brereton near Sandbach, Cheshire. The couple had two young children - 2 year-old Alice and Edward who was just 3 months old at the time of the survey. Edward Richards employed 23 year-old Ann Bradshaw as a general servant.
Ann Richards made the local newspapers in March 1871 - it sounds like serving dodgy ale was more risky in Victorian times and that complaining was not the done thing!
"Savage Assault on a Landlady"
William Westerton [41], 343 Cheapside, whitesmith, was charged with assaulting Mrs.Ann Richards, the landlady of the Britannia licensed house in Birchall Street. Westerton entered the house and called for a pint of ale. It was supplied to him in due course. He took objection to its quality; the landlady replied it was good ale; the customer told her she was a liar; "nonsense," quoth the lady; "blood and thunder" returned the epicure, and suiting the action to the words he struck her a violent blow in the mouth, caught her by the hair of the head, and pulled her about the room, kicked, and otherwise maltreated her. Her lip was cut open. Westerton alleged that he was not the aggressor, that the landlady struck him with a poker, and that a number of women set upon and assaulted him. His statement was not consistent, and he was fined 40 shillings and costs, in default one month's imprisonment.
Birmingham Daily Mail
24th March 1871
Edward Richards died on December 20th 1875 and the licence passed to his wife. Her son Edward also worked in the pub but daughter Alice earned a living as a Teacher of Music. Ann Richards died on August 29th 1884, leaving a small estate of £431.10s.0d. Her son took over the Britannia Inn and stayed until 1891. The family had run the pub for almost forty years.
Edward Richards was succeeded by James Pears who had previously kept the Sailor's Return in Watery Lane. Jesse Payne was the last licensee of the Britannia Inn which seems to have come to a rather unusual end at the start of the Edwardian period. By the time of the 1906 ratebook for Bordesley and Deritend, it was listed as the Ansell's-owned Floodgate Street Social Club. I assume the brewery, who had invested heavily in the nearby White Swan, decided to close this pub down but retain it as a club for their employees.
Cheers
Kieron www.midlandspubs.co.uk
I do not know of a photograph of the Britannia Inn but the site of the pub would have been just to the left of this photograph taken from Birchall Street looking towards Chapel House Street. This scene changed dramatically during the Second World War when St. John's Church was bombed and later demolished.
The fake-timbered building on the corner of Green Street was the Hope and Anchor. Recorded in the 1823 Triennial Directory for Birmingham in 1823, the Britannia Inn was the second pub to trade in Birchall Street. The building was owned by Ralph Baker who was also the proprietor of the adjoining properties. The annual ground rent charged to Joseph Chambers was £10.0s.0d. who, according to a ratebook for Bordesley and Deritend compiled in the same year, also had to pay rates of just five shillings.
Joseph Chambers named his pub the Britannia, the Roman name for Britain. It was in the diaries of Samuel Pepys that the first mention of the symbolic female figure emerged as a reference to a medal struck in 1665. The model for the figure was a future Duchess of Richmond, Frances Stewart, who was then a mistress of Charles II. The now familiar pose of her resting on a shield had earlier been used on Roman coins which many pubs adopted. However, they also both use the 'ruling the waves' aphorism. For the latter we have to refer to James Thomson, the Kelso-born Scottish poet. He first wrote of Britannia in 1729 in which he criticised Sir Robert Walpole's foreign policy. However, it was his 1740 work Alfred, a Masque which contained the song 'Rule Britannia.' In this he wrote 'When Britain first, at heaven's command, Arose from out the Azure main, This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sung this strain: Rule Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves.' Unfortunately, Thomson could not foresee consumerism for he might have thought twice about such a notion. Pub lovers will much prefer the line by the English clergyman, Sydney Smith, who in one of his essays wrote: What two ideas are more inseparable than Beer and Britannia?
Joseph Chambers was succeeded by George Hemming who traded as both a victualler and cabinet maker. In the ratebook for 1838 his name was crossed out and replaced by that of Richard Newbold. By this time Mary Baker was recorded as the owner.
John Ward was the licensee by the time of the 1851 census in which he was recorded as a 37 year-old victualler from Sheffield. Three years older, his wife Mary was a Brummie. They employed Susannah Wilson as a general servant. The couple later moved with their children, Arthur and Rosina, to Arthur Street where John Ward worked as a brassfounder. However, there is a Slater's Directory for 1852-3 lists a John Ward at the Wagon and Horses Tavern at Summer Row so the family may have lived there for a short period - I have yet to ascertain that it is the same John Ward.
The Ward's departure from the Britannia Inn marked the start of the Richards' family long association with the pub. Edward Richards had previously lived in Bishopsgate Street where he worked as a waiter. Born in 1802 in Bewdley, Worcestershire, Edward Richards was married to a woman 23 years younger. Ann Richards hailed from Brereton near Sandbach, Cheshire. The couple had two young children - 2 year-old Alice and Edward who was just 3 months old at the time of the survey. Edward Richards employed 23 year-old Ann Bradshaw as a general servant.
Ann Richards made the local newspapers in March 1871 - it sounds like serving dodgy ale was more risky in Victorian times and that complaining was not the done thing!
"Savage Assault on a Landlady"
William Westerton [41], 343 Cheapside, whitesmith, was charged with assaulting Mrs.Ann Richards, the landlady of the Britannia licensed house in Birchall Street. Westerton entered the house and called for a pint of ale. It was supplied to him in due course. He took objection to its quality; the landlady replied it was good ale; the customer told her she was a liar; "nonsense," quoth the lady; "blood and thunder" returned the epicure, and suiting the action to the words he struck her a violent blow in the mouth, caught her by the hair of the head, and pulled her about the room, kicked, and otherwise maltreated her. Her lip was cut open. Westerton alleged that he was not the aggressor, that the landlady struck him with a poker, and that a number of women set upon and assaulted him. His statement was not consistent, and he was fined 40 shillings and costs, in default one month's imprisonment.
Birmingham Daily Mail
24th March 1871
Edward Richards died on December 20th 1875 and the licence passed to his wife. Her son Edward also worked in the pub but daughter Alice earned a living as a Teacher of Music. Ann Richards died on August 29th 1884, leaving a small estate of £431.10s.0d. Her son took over the Britannia Inn and stayed until 1891. The family had run the pub for almost forty years.
Edward Richards was succeeded by James Pears who had previously kept the Sailor's Return in Watery Lane. Jesse Payne was the last licensee of the Britannia Inn which seems to have come to a rather unusual end at the start of the Edwardian period. By the time of the 1906 ratebook for Bordesley and Deritend, it was listed as the Ansell's-owned Floodgate Street Social Club. I assume the brewery, who had invested heavily in the nearby White Swan, decided to close this pub down but retain it as a club for their employees.
Cheers
Kieron www.midlandspubs.co.uk
