George Inn, Drybrook ? (General)

by Jane Jones, Saturday, March 17, 2018, 14:43 (2438 days ago) @ Jefff

Thank you for all the information.

The George Inn was lower down in the village than the Crown. We know it existed as we currently live in the property and have some information on the original owners. However, there is very little information on The George Inn anywhere but we do have the original mortgage details.

We know that the property went to Anne Frowen following the death of her husband, Amos. Anne then married Solomon Griffiths but Anne bequeathed the property to her nephew Tom Watts Haddock, although Solomon Griffiths appeared to be running the Inn according to the information given above. I am also assuming that Solomon remarried following the death of Anne (around 1898 I believe)

Any further help would be appreciated as I am in the very early stages of research!!

Well this is a real surprise to me Jane.
I say that as I can find no reference whatsoever to a pub or beerhouse called the George in Drybrook. I've looked online including in Geoff Sandles' excellent Easywell site, and also in my various local pub reference books, it seems that you have information that no-one else has picked-up on. I've looked-up several pubs over the 8 years I've been on this forum and this is the first time I've drawn a complete blank, ah well !
I wonder if this pub was a very short-lived one indeed ?

Without wishing to pry too much, but as you know it's precise location as you live in it, I wonder if you can please give an approximate location of the George in Drybrook ?
eg what road it's on, and whereabouts in relation to other landmarks. If you can I can hopefully find it marked on one of the old O.S. maps, they're not always named. I realise this doesn't help you, but it will be of great interest to me and other pub historians too.

You mention "the property went to Anne Frowen following the death of her husband, Amos." Are you saying he or she actually lived in it, or what ?.

I see Amos John Frowen died in 1868, aged just 41.

I also see that in the 1851 census Amos was a grocer living with wife Ann on Hawker Hill, Mitcheldean. I don't now why but I'm unable to find them in the 1861 Census.

By a strange coincidence, much earlier between 1620 and c1740, the George Inn in Mitcheldean was originally on the west side of Hawker Hill. In 1740 this George re-opened in it's present location a little further north on Stars Pitch, in a tall house previously called the Dunstone.

The only other Crown Inn that I know of in this general area was in Caudle Lane, Ruardean, c1750.

All very curious indeed !

Very curious indeed!!

We know that Amos Frowen purchased the land from the Forestry & have the mortgage documents from the original sale and subsequent additional monies requested. It was originally built as a pub / beer house.

Amos and Anne Frowen lived in the property. Also Anne's sister, Elizabeth and her son, Tom Watts Haddock lived together in the property, which I assume is why Anne gave the property to her nephew following her death rather than her 2nd husband, Solomon Griffiths.

The property is on Hawthorns Road near to the Methodist Church. The church was built at approximately the same time as the George Inn. It also appears that the George was operated as a pub from the date it was built (1861) through to the turn of the century, again according to our documents, but there seems to be a lack of other evidence to back this up!