Fanny Jane LANE. Researching Pubs & Beerhouse Licenses etc (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Friday, November 30, 2018, 01:10 (2194 days ago) @ chrislane

Hi again,
wrt your query asking about researching beerhouse licenses, you've already done one of my suggestions which is to ask Glos Archives.

I've tried researching pub and beerhouse owners etc in the past, and I've not been too successful, at least not online. There seems to be several trade associations and suchlike that were set-up in the past but not sure there was a controlling overall body. These old posts of mine contain some pointers & links towards websites that MAY be of interest to you, hopefully you'll find them useful.

https://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=40357

https://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=38809

The above posts mention the GlosPubs website
http://www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk/AllGlosPubsDatabase/AllGlosPubs_view.php

It's an excellent site altho can take a while to search thro it, I tried searching for "Lords Hill" and it gave two hits, both in Coleford, but don't look relevant to me. If you search "Coleford" you'll find sixty hits to browse thro'. It is possible to search landlords & ladies but my efforts using variations of Fanny/Frances Lane etc gave no hits so far... "Lane" alone gives hundreds, presumably as the word-search finds addresses as well. As far as I can see the landlords' names on the website have been complied from information such as old Census returns, trade directories, newspaper adverts and so on - as your enquiry is relatively recent that may explain my lack of success so far, but please try and search more thoroughly yourself.

Finally, I found this forum posting useful while researching the trades of Brewer and Malster.
https://www.british-genealogy.com/threads/37133-Malster

Also this excellent Herefordshire page.
https://htt.herefordshire.gov.uk/herefordshires-past/the-post-medieval-period/agricultu...

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I noticed with some interest that the current edition of "Who Do You Think You Are ?" magazine has an article on researching publicans etc. However on browsing the magazine I found nothing I'd not seen before. In terms of reference websites it only gave one source, and that was one I'd have recommended anyway, the rest of the article generally tells us what can easily be found online such as the sites I've already suggested.
http://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/issue/december-2018

The magazine suggested researching the old newspapers, which is something I wholeheartedly recommend for all FH researchers. The British Newspaper Archive (BNA) site can be searched free-of-charge, and new users can get their first few downloads completely free. The BNA (like it's partner FindMyPast) has good coverage of local papers eg Gloucester Citizen etc, but NOT the Dean Forest Mercury, for these you must visit Cinderford library. However be warned the most recent newspapers held in the BNA archive are from the 1950s, which may limit your query.
See this post for more info and links; https://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=49115

eg using the BNA free-search and looking for "Fanny Lane Coleford" I've found the following snippets of articles you may want to follow-up;

"INQUEST ON A CHILD. Dr R Macartney (Forest of Dean Coroner) conducted an inquiry Coleford Petty Sessional Court Room touching the death of William Ernest, the illegitimate child of Fanny Lane, a married woman living at Lord's Hill, Coleford ......."
Published: Thursday 28 April 1910
Newspaper: Gloucester Citizen
County: Gloucestershire, England

"Coleford Petty Sessions
... Royal Oak Inn, Fetter Hill, Coleferd, was summoned by Sergt Price for allowing children in the bar, whilst Reginald Hughes, Fanny Lane, and Lucy James were summoned for taking children into the bar on May 23rd. — Mr. F. C. Oilmour, of Lawford's Gate Licensed ...
Published: Saturday 12 June 1909
Newspaper: Gloucester Journal
County: Gloucestershire, England

"Coleford Police Court
... summoned by Fanny Lane, whose husbsnd died in France in September 1917, to show cause etc., in respect of her illegitimate child, born on the 25th August. 1917. — Mr. Lionel Lane, who appeared for defendant, contended that as the summons had not been taken ...
Published: Saturday 05 July 1919
Newspaper: Gloucester Journal
County: Gloucestershire, England

Hopefully this link will guide you to the above hits.
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1900-01-01/1949-12-31?basicsea...

I also tried searching Fanny (and Franny) Martin & then Rickards but no obvious hits, altho' be warned the BNA search engine often proves that "less is more", ie if you enter less words in the search box, and then use the filters to narrow-down the timespan (eg 1910s only) and area or newspaper, then browse thro all the hits, you may hit gold. I've often found family that way who I previously hadn't found by entering what seemed like perfectly correct longer terms in the search box.

However be warned, those old papers loved reporting on sad aspects of life, almost all of us Foresters will probably find unpleasant and sad information about our ancestors, they were truly hard times. Sorry I didn't find (yet!) anything about her beerhouse.

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I've tried searching in Heather Hurley's excellent book "Pubs of the Royal FoD", not easy as it only indexes the name of the pubs, not people. The book shows there have been at least 43 pubs & beerhouses in the centre part of Coleford town in the past, but only one on Lord's Hill, the Plough. It would have been overlooking where Bells Club is now, and unlike many of those listed it was still trading in the mid 1930s if not later. I'll read the whole chapter in case there's a mention of Fanny, but in my experience most of the landlords the book names are also quoted in the GlosPubs website I searched earlier... but then again you didn't say for sure Fanny's beerhouse was in Coleford, never mind Lord's Hill, or have I misunderstood ?

???

atb J