Got caught up with looking at the process of licensing premises in the late -1800s. Something I came across was Chamberlain’s Gothenburg system, a Swedish system of limiting the number of outlets in one area, hence controlling the drinking habits of people (or not as it turns out).
In the Manchester Courier of December 1876 it was claimed that the Birmingham Guardians approved the Gothenburg licensing system. Presumably (although it’s not too clear) this simply placed licensing applications of premises under municipal control. But a report in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph of March 1877 suggests it had no effect on drunkenness and possibly encouraged more illicit drinking (see attached).
Then in 1895 Birmingham conducted an experiment at the Elan Valley water works to see the effect of controls (see attachment from the Dover Exoress). But this municipal pub didn’t have the desired effect either.
By the 1890s the remit seems to have widened (?) to include the requirement to surrender licences where it was perceived there were too many in one locality. The surrendering of licences in 1899 seems to me to be pretty substantial, for example
35 surrendered in July
44 surrendered during the quarter to September (the Shields Daily Gazette)
55 promised by the brewers to be surrendered in future.
So my question is, did these surrendered licences mean a lot of pubs disappeared off the pub map in the late 1800s? Viv.
In the Manchester Courier of December 1876 it was claimed that the Birmingham Guardians approved the Gothenburg licensing system. Presumably (although it’s not too clear) this simply placed licensing applications of premises under municipal control. But a report in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph of March 1877 suggests it had no effect on drunkenness and possibly encouraged more illicit drinking (see attached).
Then in 1895 Birmingham conducted an experiment at the Elan Valley water works to see the effect of controls (see attachment from the Dover Exoress). But this municipal pub didn’t have the desired effect either.
By the 1890s the remit seems to have widened (?) to include the requirement to surrender licences where it was perceived there were too many in one locality. The surrendering of licences in 1899 seems to me to be pretty substantial, for example
35 surrendered in July
44 surrendered during the quarter to September (the Shields Daily Gazette)
55 promised by the brewers to be surrendered in future.
So my question is, did these surrendered licences mean a lot of pubs disappeared off the pub map in the late 1800s? Viv.
