The inns of Peterborough & environs in the 1700s?

[MHenry]

Hello all.  Here is an unusual request.  Can anyone help with identifying sources of inns and inn-keepers in the 18th century?

With the help of this forum, I have identified my great-g-g-g-grandfather as John Serjeant of St. John's parish in Peterborough (possibly living in the village of Dogsthorpe).  He was born in 1769.  The death cert of his widow says that John was an inn keeper but he had passed away before the 1841 census so I am not sure where exactly that was. 

Does anyone know if there are any records of inns of that time in the environs of Peterborough, with the names of their landlords?  Is there any way of identifying exactly which village John was an inn-keeper in?  And perhaps of identifying when he started his trade and whether or not it was a family business that his father might have been in before??

Any suggestions or ideas for leads would be very welcome.  Thanks,

Mark.

[seahall]

Hi Mark

Not sure if the same Public House.

On the Dogsthorpe link I gave you it has the Bluebell as seemingly
the only one in the area.

http://www.dogsthorpe.com/bluebell.aspx

Maybe a trip to the Peterborough Archives or N.R.O. or asking assistance
from S.K.S. here to look for you next time they are in the area may narrow
it down for you.

Sandy

[MHenry]

Hi Sandy.  I am living in Dublin, Ireland, so it isn't easy to get to the archives.  However I am planning a trip sometime in the next few months to spend a day there and I should be able to get to the NRO sometime this year. 

Any ideas where I should look for this information?  Are there any directories, for example, that would list landlords in the town for the period c1770s to c1830s?  Any other documents worth looking at?

Thanks,
Mark.

[seahall]

Hi Mark

As you are planning to go to N.R.O. if you are not aware you will need a CAN card
to view document from the Archives.

If you go to the web link below you will be able to e-mail them about it and also
ask if you wish what material they may have to assist with your query about the
Public Houses, etc.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/05ob/

As you are travelling from quite a distance seems the best thing to do
so you do not have a wasted journey or dis-appointment.

Sandy

[Rosie (TheHistorySpy)]

If you are planning a trip to Peterborough then the public library local history department may be your best bet. I know they have directories as I've looked at them myself, but I'm not sure for which years. You can email them to enquire. The website is http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/page-5682
Good luck.

[WGU]

I have a similar problem.

Benjamin Ward was an innholder in Peterborough in the 1770s, which means he owned it rather than just ran it.  He was also a juror at the Quarter Sessions in the 1770s.  I've exhausted the archives at the NRO, which have records of some inns in Peterborough, but there's no way of telling which BW owned.

He married twice in the 1770s and later moved to Wisbech, where he died in 1800.

Neither he nor either of his wives were born in Peteborough, and so far I've not been able to find out where he came from.

At the NRO there are some wills of innholders, but none of them show BW inheriting one.  One may be relevant to Mark's query.

Has anyone any info which might help tracing BW?