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To *Sandra*, AllanUK and jonwarrn

I would like to express my thanks to all of you for the speed of your responses and the plethora of information you supplied.  Even though the inn closed and there could have been difficulties in its re-establishment at a later date - the licence was kept up to date.  That suggests to me that someone quite deliberately kept Christopher's trade open so that his son could follow it when he reached the age of majority.  I wonder if he did?

JenB,

In response to your reply #8.  I have just been re-reading this and I know that both breweries in the village were closed by this date.  However, there were still a substantial number of breweries in the area so, it is possible that he was either supplying yeast to them or even being involved in the brewing industry in some other way.

But Daniel Ludkin's movements are very difficult to track.  He would have taken over the licence some time after 1870 when George Dodds died.  He was living in Whickham in 1869 and that is very close to Burnopfield so it is possible that he took over very soon after George died.

He was also removed as a licensee for far less reason than seems normal at the time.  He lost his licence as a first offence - which is also unusual.  I think that there may be more to his removal than meets the eye in that it was a conspiracy between Police, Magistrates and the owner.  Maybe he was suspected of other offences that could not be proved against him, or maybe he was just unpopular.  We will probably never know.

AlanBoyd,

Thank you for the information you have supplied.  I already had a rough idea of the circumstances surrounding the court appearance and I suspected that she wanted rid of Daniel Ludkin.  However, this really fleshes out the story and explains why she applied for a licence on the same day that Ludkin's licence renewal application came to court.

Your other post surprised me because I thought she had been widowed long before she came to the pub.  I did not realise that she had previously worked in the pub, supporting her husband, before Daniel Ludkin became the licensee.  I had not previously seen any mention of her husband and he is difficult to track without a forename and date and place of birth.

Now, I need to find her husband's details and when they arrived at the beerhouse.  The second item shows they were in the pub on 1st January 1869 and so they must have arrived there in 1868 or earlier.  It also explains her confidence in being able to take over the running of the pub herself.

I also need to find out when Daniel Ludkin became licensee.

Neville

JenB,

The property in which she lived and operated is right next to an area shown as Sparrow Hill on the 6" OS map and Sparrow Hall on the 25" OS map, so I think "Sparroe" is either a misspelling or bad handwriting.  Either way, I am delighted because the Trade Directory mentioned the beerhouse name and then your contribution effectively confirmed it.

In 33 years of researching, I had never come across a reference to a beerhouse of that name or even a beerhouse in that area.  Now, I have two references in as many days and a "new" pub to add to my list

Neville