The names of our pubs are as much about history, and location as they are about fashion and commercial considerations.
So, the old and venerable Oxnobel pub on Liverpool Road which opened in 1785 and took its name from a potato landed at nearby Potato Wharf, became the Ox for a short while.
This was no doubt on the whim of a smart young thing in marketing, who decided the place needed rebranding.
It was a decision which came with a series of large paintings of the said animal, which I suppose was to reflect the new shortened name.
To what extent this proved a sound commercial decision is best left to the observation that the pub is now again the Oxnoble, reinforcing its history and connection to the area. That said the painting are still there.
Pubs of course do change their names, which are often to do with national events, as much as they are to a new marketing campaign.
The Ball and Nimrod in Didsbury was renamed the Nelson Inn after the naval hero, while others picked up new names on the personal choice of the landlord.
The Gladstone Arms on Deansgate had been The Two Cocks, The Grosvenor also on Deangate had traded as The Commercial, and the Moulder’s Arms on Chorlton Street became Ingham’s Hotel.
In some cases, these just originated from the name of the new owner or landlord. In Hulme “four nineteenth century licensees named their houses after themselves. They were George Kennet of Kennet’s Hotel on Bristol Street; James Platford of Platford’s Hotel on Stretford Road; Joseph Bedale of the Bedale Arms on Chester Street and George Bentley of Bentley’s Hotel, Upper Moss Lane”. *
While other landlords fell back on their place of birth, local occupations, and some went for regiments.
Now the extent of the variety of such names has been brought back to me as I digitize a list of pubs drawn from the old Licensing Records for the City and surrounding areas.
And here I have to say that the original research was not mine, but that of Bob Potts who undertook the task during the early 1980s.
The project took him four years, and during the that time he swapped the County Records Office in Preston for the Licensing Department at the City Magistrate Court in Crown Square, and trawled hundreds of pubs.
Unfortunately, there is an unexplained gap in the Licensing Records for the period 1830 through to 1872, which Bob assumes were destroyed “during the transfer of Licensing Records from Minishul Street to Crown Square sometime in the 1960s or 70s”.
But despite this, Bob has produced a unique data base of the pubs in the city centre.
And as you do during the course of transcribing them, I was drawn to the General Garibaldi and The Admiral Haddock.
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian general and nationalist, who contributed to the unification of Italy and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy.
As such he appealed to many politically progressive people across Europe and beyond during the middle decades of the nineteenth century, and particularly here in Britain.
In 1865, Nottingham Forest chose their home colours from the uniform worn by Garibaldi and his men in that year. A school in Mansfield, was also named after him, along with the Garibaldi biscuit and a style of beard. **
So, given the City’s progressive politics which it is not surprising that his name also was bestowed on a pub, which the records show opened in 1864 at 7 Gartside Street, and only closed in 1968.
That said it doesn’t show up on maps or the directories of the period and remains a disappointing mystery.
But it is there and reminds us of the interest in Garibaldi in 1864 which saw the City Council discuss how they were to honour the man on his visit to the city in that year
Less disappointing is the story of the Admiral Haddock, not to be confused with the fish or the character in Tintin.
Admiral Haddock actually existed. He was born in 1629, died 84 years later and served in the navies of the Commonwealth and the restored Stuart Kings, and pops up in two letters by Samuel Pepys.
The pub was situated at 3 Parsonage Lane, which is that narrow Lane that runs from Deansgate back to Parsonage, and today the site is a car park.
But from 1780 until 1904 this was the Admiral Haddock, variously also called the admiral Haddock and Parsonage House.
Which offers just a tad of a mystery, because Parsonage House was the former home of Thomas La Warre and was demolished in 1897, and given that this was on Parsonage Lane, it follows that this was our pub, but that didn’t close till 1904.
The name Parsonage House is linked to the pub on a variety of directories and maps throughout the 19th century and is listed in the Rate Books for the 1890s as belonging to various people and by 1897 to Cronshaw’s Alexandra Brewery who were based in Erskine Street, Hulme.
So, I suspect that there is much more digging to do.
One route of which will be those Rate Books which should take the story back to the beginning of the 19th century.
And in the meantime, I shall continue transcribing Bob’s handwritten records to excel that powerful spreadsheet and data package.
Not just because the records need updating to a new platform but also because the list offers up a fascinating insight into the development of pubs and beer shops across Manchester as the city grew.
Location; Manchester
Pictures; The Oxnoble, 1984, m50193, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass, The Fox Inn, circa 1914, courtesy of Debs Brack, Parsonage Lane, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Parsonage Lane, 1851, from Adshead’s map of Manchester, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
*Potts, Bob, The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton-on-Medlock, 1997, page 5
** Giuseppe Garibaldi, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi
 |
| The Oxnoble in 1984 |
This was no doubt on the whim of a smart young thing in marketing, who decided the place needed rebranding.
It was a decision which came with a series of large paintings of the said animal, which I suppose was to reflect the new shortened name.
To what extent this proved a sound commercial decision is best left to the observation that the pub is now again the Oxnoble, reinforcing its history and connection to the area. That said the painting are still there.
Pubs of course do change their names, which are often to do with national events, as much as they are to a new marketing campaign.
 |
| The Fox Inn 1910, Byrom Street, 1854-1933 |
The Gladstone Arms on Deansgate had been The Two Cocks, The Grosvenor also on Deangate had traded as The Commercial, and the Moulder’s Arms on Chorlton Street became Ingham’s Hotel.
In some cases, these just originated from the name of the new owner or landlord. In Hulme “four nineteenth century licensees named their houses after themselves. They were George Kennet of Kennet’s Hotel on Bristol Street; James Platford of Platford’s Hotel on Stretford Road; Joseph Bedale of the Bedale Arms on Chester Street and George Bentley of Bentley’s Hotel, Upper Moss Lane”. *
 |
| The original handwritten records, 1908-84 |
Now the extent of the variety of such names has been brought back to me as I digitize a list of pubs drawn from the old Licensing Records for the City and surrounding areas.
And here I have to say that the original research was not mine, but that of Bob Potts who undertook the task during the early 1980s.
The project took him four years, and during the that time he swapped the County Records Office in Preston for the Licensing Department at the City Magistrate Court in Crown Square, and trawled hundreds of pubs.
Unfortunately, there is an unexplained gap in the Licensing Records for the period 1830 through to 1872, which Bob assumes were destroyed “during the transfer of Licensing Records from Minishul Street to Crown Square sometime in the 1960s or 70s”.
But despite this, Bob has produced a unique data base of the pubs in the city centre.
And as you do during the course of transcribing them, I was drawn to the General Garibaldi and The Admiral Haddock.
 |
| Garibaldi's soldiers, Varese, 2014 |
As such he appealed to many politically progressive people across Europe and beyond during the middle decades of the nineteenth century, and particularly here in Britain.
In 1865, Nottingham Forest chose their home colours from the uniform worn by Garibaldi and his men in that year. A school in Mansfield, was also named after him, along with the Garibaldi biscuit and a style of beard. **
So, given the City’s progressive politics which it is not surprising that his name also was bestowed on a pub, which the records show opened in 1864 at 7 Gartside Street, and only closed in 1968.
That said it doesn’t show up on maps or the directories of the period and remains a disappointing mystery.
But it is there and reminds us of the interest in Garibaldi in 1864 which saw the City Council discuss how they were to honour the man on his visit to the city in that year
Less disappointing is the story of the Admiral Haddock, not to be confused with the fish or the character in Tintin.
Admiral Haddock actually existed. He was born in 1629, died 84 years later and served in the navies of the Commonwealth and the restored Stuart Kings, and pops up in two letters by Samuel Pepys.
 |
| Parsonage Lane, 2016 from Deansgate |
But from 1780 until 1904 this was the Admiral Haddock, variously also called the admiral Haddock and Parsonage House.
Which offers just a tad of a mystery, because Parsonage House was the former home of Thomas La Warre and was demolished in 1897, and given that this was on Parsonage Lane, it follows that this was our pub, but that didn’t close till 1904.
The name Parsonage House is linked to the pub on a variety of directories and maps throughout the 19th century and is listed in the Rate Books for the 1890s as belonging to various people and by 1897 to Cronshaw’s Alexandra Brewery who were based in Erskine Street, Hulme.
So, I suspect that there is much more digging to do.
One route of which will be those Rate Books which should take the story back to the beginning of the 19th century.
 |
| Parsonage Lane 1851 |
Not just because the records need updating to a new platform but also because the list offers up a fascinating insight into the development of pubs and beer shops across Manchester as the city grew.
Location; Manchester
Pictures; The Oxnoble, 1984, m50193, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass, The Fox Inn, circa 1914, courtesy of Debs Brack, Parsonage Lane, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Parsonage Lane, 1851, from Adshead’s map of Manchester, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
*Potts, Bob, The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton-on-Medlock, 1997, page 5
** Giuseppe Garibaldi, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi
Good to hear that probably the only pub in the country to be named after a variety of potato has had its name reinstated.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, the Derby Arms at Barnes Green Blackley started life as beer house called the Turf Tavern.
Hello Andrew. We don't know each other, but I arrived here looking for some information about the General Garibaldi. It seems a distant family member was a 'General Servant' at that place, named as a 'Beer House' in 1891. The Census entries suggest it was between Willmot St and Back Irwell Street. So, I think it would have been on Gartside Street, sandwiched between the other two streets above. Map here: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=19.4&lat=53.48078&lon=-2.25236&layers=117746211&b=6
ReplyDeleteThank you Ben I shall go and look.
DeleteHello again, Andrew. The Insurance Plan for that part of Manchester suggests the PH in that location was at the top end of the block. I think we now have a location for the General Garibaldi!
Deletehttps://www.oldmapsonline.org/compare#845767173639