In my various history researches I always come across interesting information, some such as noted below, I dig a little deeper on, but are not my direct focus at the time and usually don’t get beyond a note in my research. Going back through my research, some of it, I thought I might share some of these starting with the New Street Tavern.
I came across the New Street Tavern in a newspaper article while researching back in c.2010. Not having heard of this I asked a fellow local (Newbury) historian who also had not heard of it. Of course I had to find out. From the newspaper(s) I knew it referred to a tavern in Cheap Street, Newbury, Berkshire. Initially my thoughts were this was what was to become the Newmarket Inn but digging deeper it isn’t. Digging through censuses and old newspapers I have got the following, please note this is not an exhaustive list of dates/information:
| Year | Name | Landlord | Comments / Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1873 | ? / Robert Brownsill | Transferred Jan 1873 Reading Mercury 1 Feb 1873 | |
| 1874 | New Street Tavern | Robert Brownsill | Reading Mercury, 15 Aug 1874 Reading Mercury, 22 Aug 1874 |
| 1876 | New Street Tavern | Robert Brownsill / John Goodchild | Transferred in Nov 1876. Reading Mercury, 14 Oct 1876 Reading Mercury, 18 Nov 1876 Berkshire Chronicle, 18 Nov 1876 |
| 1879 | King Charles Tavern | Newbury Weekly News, 28 Aug 1879 | |
| 1881 | John Goodchild | 1881 Census 54 Cheap Wtreet | |
| 1883 | King Charles Tavern | Newbury Weekly News, 19 Jul 1883 | |
| 1885 | King Charles Public House | Reading Mercury, 17 Jan 1885 | |
| 1889 | King Charles Inn | William Goodchild | Reading Mercury, 14 Dec 1889 |
| 1891 | William Goodchild | 1891 Census 54 Cheap Wtreet | |
| 1896 | King Charles | William Goodchild | Transferred from William Goodchild to ? Newbury Weekly News, 9 Jul 1896 |
I have in 1874 the New Street Tavern. Presumably this is named after the then recently constructed Market Street (c.1873). Was this then a new pub, and a new building, or was it renamed from a previous incarnation? In 1876 it changed hands from Robert Brownsill to John Goodchild. Then in 1879 the King Charles Tavern appears, which I assume is the same pub just renamed. Newspapers chop and change between Tavern, Inn and public house. The 1881 census has John Goodchild listed as a beerhouse keeper and the property marked as a public house at 54 Cheap Street, which assuming numbers have not changed is what is today The King Charles Tavern!
I do not know when this pub came about. It is a grade II listed building and apparently dates to the mid 1800s. I have a transfer in 1873 of a pub in Cheap Street to Robert Brownsill, but at present unable to locate this pub in any earlier documents including the 1871 census. If it was transferred to Robert Brownsill in 1873 then there must have been a previous landlord, but who and when? And how far back does it go?
Whilst doing this I also discovered the New Cattle Market Inn which was simply called the New Market in for most of the time and by the end of the 1890s this had become the Newmarket Inn.
