Good evening Chris, warm welcome to the forum & website.
No need to apologise for the questions ! It's good us to have specific questions & background information like this, reduces the likelihood of us spending time finding-out what you already know. Also "well-done" for getting this far as a beginner, we were all in your situation once.

Before I try to answer the questions, a quick look at my "go-to" websites FreeBMD & GlosBMD reveal the following;

As you found, from FreeBMD;

Surname First name(s) Mother/Spouse/Age District Vol Page
Marriages Mar 1921 (>99%)
Lane Fanny J Rickards Monmouth 11a 93
Rickards Samuel R Lane Monmouth 11a 93

(This means the Marriage was registered in the Quarter of Jan/Feb/March, FreeBMD records are always dated to the Quarter, not specific months.)
https://www.freebmd.org.uk/

GlosBMD confirms;

Marriage Details
Groom Surname Groom Forename Bride Surname Bride Forename District Parish Building Year Register Entry
RICKARDS Samuel Richard MARTIN Fanny Jane Forest of Dean Monmouth Register Office 1921 27 96
RICKARDS Samuel Richard LANE Fanny Jane Forest of Dean Monmouth Register Office 1921 27 96

http://ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk/bmd/SimpleSearch.aspx

But sadly;

Surname First name(s) Mother/Spouse/Age District Vol Page
Deaths Mar 1925 (>99%)
Rickards Samuel R 62 Monmouth 11a 25

Death Details
Surname Given Names Age Year Died District Register Entry
RICKARDS Samuel Richard 62 1925 Monmouth, West Dean 3 422

However we can then find Fanny re-married;

Surname First name(s) Mother/Spouse/Age District Vol Page
Marriages Sep 1944 (>99%)
HOARE Charles W Rickards F. of Dean 6a 738
RICKARDS Fanny J Hoare F.of Dean 6a 738

GlosBMD confirms, and again tells us that Fanny's surname had previously been MARTIN.

Marriage Details
Groom Surname Groom Forename Bride Surname Bride Forename District Parish Building Year Register Entry
HOARE Charles Walter RICKARDS Fanny Jane Forest of Dean Forest of Dean Register Office 1944 7 175
HOARE Charles Walter MARTIN Fanny Jane Forest of Dean Forest of Dean Register Office 1944 7 175

Revisiting FreeBMD, searching a Fanny J MARTIN, finds this marriage which seems a good possibility given her birth c1882.

Surname First name(s) Age District Vol Page
Marriages Jun 1905 (>99%)
Lambert Frederick Vanderbert Monmouth 11a 42
Lane Alfred Ernest Monmouth 11a 42
MARTIN Fanny Jane Monmouth 11a 42
Price Annie Monmouth 11a 42

As the above FreeBMD record is pre-1911 we don't know for sure (yet) that Fanny married Alfred LANE (altho it seems likely given your startline info !).
Now we have a year we can search GlosBMD site for the same Marriage, which does confirm this important detail;

Marriage Details
Groom Surname Groom Forename Bride Surname Bride Forename District Parish Building Year Register Entry
LANE Alfred Ernest MARTIN Fanny Jane Forest of Dean Coleford St John the Evangelist 1905 1 425

This site's database has the corresponding Parish Records;

Record_ID: 39423
Entry_Number: 425
Year: 1905
Month: Jun
Day: 7
Grooms_Surname: LANE
Grooms_Forenames: Alfred Ernest
Grooms_Age: 25
Groom_Condition: Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation: Stone-cutter
Grooms_Residence: Low`s Hill Coleford
Grooms_Fathers_Surname: Lane
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames: Alfred Oliver
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation: Gentleman
Brides_Surname: MARTIN
Brides_Forenames: Fanny Jane
Brides_Age: 22
Brides_Condition: Spinster
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence: Berry Hill
Brides_Fathers_Surname: Martin
Brides_Fathers_Forenames: William
Brides_Fathers_Occupation: Collier
Licence_or_Banns: Banns
Date_of_Banns:
Signature_or_Mark: Both sign
Witness_1: William Martin
Witness_2: Daisy Alhena Lane
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister: G.Adsley Piper
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P 93 IN 1/11
Page_Number: 213
Parish_Chapel: Coleford
Soundex_Groom: L500
Soundex_Bride: M635

Record_ID: 102529
Entry_Number:
Year: 1880
Month: Apr
Day: 21
Parents_Surname: LANE
Child_Forenames: Alfred Ernest
Fathers_Forenames: Alfred Oliver
Mothers_Forenames: Emily
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Swansea
Occupation: Fancy Depositor
Officiating_Minister: H.Proctor Vicar
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: Born Feb 9 1880
Notes: [Joynes] has been crossed out and initialled H.P.
Register_Reference: P93 IN I/6
Page_Number: 132
Parish_Chapel: Coleford
Soundex: L525

Think he was born in Swansea as hinted above;

Surname First name(s) Age District Vol Page
Births Mar 1880 (>99%)
LANE Alfred Ernest Swansea 11a 666

It's frustrating that altho' I can find Alfred in the 1881 and 1901 Census', both times in Coleford area, I cannot find him or wife Fanny in the 1911 ??
https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?facetType=ON&query=%2Bgivenname%...

I'm also struggling to find Fanny's birth record with certainty on any website ?. Wonder if she was just Fanny Martin when born and adopted Jane later in life (this is a popular name set), or maybe she was registered/Baptised as Frances ???
There are quite a few Fanny and William Martins (father) in the area's BMD records at this time, yet cannot find them in the local Census' ??

---

This site's PRs do have this Baptism;

Record_ID: 104323
Entry_Number:
Year: 1908
Month: Nov
Day: 1
Parents_Surname: LANE
Child_Forenames: Herbert Sydney
Fathers_Forenames: Alfred Ernest
Mothers_Forenames: Fanny Jane
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Lord's Hill
Occupation: Quarry Foreman of Works
Officiating_Minister: E.H. Brice
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P93 IN 1/8
Page_Number: 58
Parish_Chapel: Coleford
Soundex: L500

Hopefully this agrees with your findings ?.

=====

Re your searching the Electoral Registers, does this mean you have access to one of the subscription websites ?.
If so then the next logical step would be to search the 1939 Register. I'm afraid I don't currently have that access.

Jeff

Fanny Jane Rickards is listed in the Ancestry electoral registers up to 1939.

Name: Fanny Jane Rickards
Residence Year: 1939
Street address: Breams Eaves, Bream
Parliamentary Division: Forest of Dean
Residence Place: Gloucestershire, England

(Adjacent to a Reginald Rickards)

In Autumn 1924 adjacent to Samuel Richard Rickards, 20 Council Houses, Parkend, Bream

In 1925 at Woodside, Bream, adjacent to George Rickards, Breams Eaves, Bream.

In 1926 adjacent to George Rickards, Breams Eaves, Bream

In 1928 Adjacent to George Rickards, Breams Eaves, Bream

In 1936, Lydney Road, Bream, adjacent to Reginald Rickards, Breams Eaves, Bream

I can’t yet identify her in the 1939 Register.

It seems Fanny Jane was prepared to intervene in an industrial dispute,

Gloucester Journal - Saturday 17 July 1926

Alleged Intimidation of Workers.

Tom Isaac James (50). Charles Hoare (44), and Fanny Jane Rickards, widow, all of Bream, were summoned by Inspector G. S. Williams for that they, with a view to compel John Fox and Albert J. Kear to abstain from an act which they had a legal right to do, to wit, to work as colliers, did unlawfully and without legal authority persistently follow the said John Fox and Albert J Kear about from place to place on June 22nd. They were similarly summoned in respect of two following dates. After a lengthy hearing the Chairman (Mr. W. A. Bennett) said the magistrates had had rather a difficult time. They realised that the days were critical, but at the same time they were anxious not to excite any feeling or to encourage any hostility outside the Court. They wanted to be just and at the same time generous. Defendants would be bound over in the sum of £10 to keep the peace for twelve months, and they would each have to pay two guineas costs, one of which would be reckoned solicitor's fee. Mr. Bennett added that he was a Forester himself, and he was proud of the way the miners in the district had behaved, and it was a great grief to him that the defendants should have overstepped the bounds. The police had done all in their power to preserve the peace. He hoped this case would be a warning to defendants and to all in the district. They had a good name in that district, and he hoped they would keep it.

Ancestry Probate

Samuel Richard RICKARDS of Whitecroft Road, Breams Eaves, Gloucestershire died 20 March 1925

Probate Gloucester 8 April to Alexander Frederick PHILLIPS, Coal Miner. ***

Effects: : £13 18s.

FoD records

Alexander Frederick PHILLIPS is buried at Bream 2 February 1947 aged 52

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...

----

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.

----

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

This is just a quick post to say thank you so much to everyone who has posted the incredibly helpful (and slightly disturbing) information you have found for me. You've helped me move forward massively in such a short time. I'll respond to each of your posts as soon as I can.
Best wishes
Chris