Just to sort out any confusion - Robert has placed some arrows on the map I sent him but these do not correlate with the info [sorry Robert]. The corner building belonged to Birchall Street which was developed just before this section of Bradford Street [most of the arterial roads leading off the ribbon development of Digbeth and Deritend High Street pre-date the cross section routes]. So, where I wrote Royal George on the map IS where the Royal George was located and NOT the building next door as suggested by the arrow. The tobacconist's shop was next door but NOT on the corner. Hope that finally sorts out the location folks.
Notice too that the original Swan fronted Birchall Street - it is historically a Birchall Street pub. It was when they rebuilt it that the pub faced Bradford Street though the living accommodation is accessed via Birchall Street. Incidentally, it was quite common for a pub to have two addresses should it be on the corner of a street.
As for the Royal George itself.....
The
Royal George was a beer house that first opened in the 1830's. It is a popular name for a pub and, in this case, probably commemorated King George IV who died in 1830. Some pubs named after this monarch are also called the Prince Regent.
In the mid-1840's John Phillips was the licensee. He was also a maltster, suggesting that he was producing the beers sold on the premises. Indeed, in the late 1860's Edward Lea was recorded as a retail brewer so it would seem this was for some time a homebrew house.
Born in Birmingham in 1830, Edward Lea kept the Royal George with his Gloucestershire-born wife Ann. George and Mary Holmes were running the pub in the early-mid 1880's. Born in the Shropshire town of Madeley, George Holmes had moved to Birmingham with his parents. Whilst living in Balsall Heath, he was working as a blacksmith. However, whist he was running the Royal George he was also working as a brass bedstead maker. His mother Mary probably looked after the pub when he was at work. Together, they employed Ellen Green as a domestic servant.
In an 1886 ratebook for Aston the Royal George was recorded as a retail beerhouse with brewhouse, cellar and premises. The owner of the property was John Whitehouse. In fact, he owned the block containing Nos.270-5. The annual rent George Holmes paid to John Whitehouse was £25.0s.0d. The rates on the property were 16s.6d. James and Emma Sheldon were running the Royal George in 1888 [see Robert's posting].
John Partridge held the licence briefly but the 1891 census shows that his wife Elizabeth was head of the household and a widow. She lived with her daughter Edith who worked as a boot machinist.
By the end of the 19th century the Royal George had been acquired by Flowers and Sons Ltd. The Stratford brewery attempted to develop a small estate of tied houses in Birmingham; another example being the
White Horse Cellars on Constitution Hill. Brummie George Audley was manager of the Royal George at the turn of the 20th century. He kept the beer house with his Stourbridge-born wife Lydia. The Royal George was still documented as a licensed beerhouse in an Aston ratebook compiled in 1911.
Cheers folks
Kieron
www.midlandspubs.co.uk
