Grand Hotel ,Lincoln. bit of history needed .

[Eilleen]

Hi 

OK, so the Grand Hotel in St Mary street, Lincoln, is finally going to be bulldozed.

they have started tearing  it's inside out ,   many trips to the tip will be needed.

nothing exciting found yet 

but it got me thinking about the old place , I worked for many years at the side of it , working for S.A.Nobbs and sons 
but I know nothing about what was there before it , etc, and when it first got built 
anyone know anything about the history of that plot of land.

Eilleen.

[Geoff-E]

Just a passing thought Eilleen - when I were a lad it was two hotels until perhaps the 1960ish - the Grand and the Oxford.

In the 1933 Lincs Directory, the Grand was a "private hotel" and the Oxford a "commercial hotel".

It's possible they were on Norman Place around 1900

No2. Caledonian Hotel
No5. Alexandra Hotel

On GoogleMaps you can see the two older buildings it was built around http://tinyurl.com/6boosdu

[Geoff-E]

If you have Lincoln as it Was 4 there is a photo (page before the centre) taken of the station yard with, in the background, the photographic studio of Caleb Smith "now part of the Grand Hotel".

In the 1900 directory, Caleb Smith was at 1 Norman Place, so the hotels were perhaps Nos 1 & 2.

Looking through my books Eilleen, I came across a photo of the staff of Skelly Road junior school in 1960 - one of them is a Miss B M EXTON ... was she one of your lot?

[Eilleen]

Hi Geoff 

I have been looking through my books

I have found the picture you mentioned , but no close up's of old Grand Hotel etc.  maybe there was not enough room to stand back and take a pic between buildings 

I think that school teacher is Barbara , some sort of relly, must have another look now that you have brought it up. 

Eilleen.

[Pixie Eyres]

Hi, I am looking for more information about The Grand Hotel in Lincoln as my Grandmother was married from the Grand Hotel. I was told that my G Grandfather owned the hotel but I'm not sure if he owned it or managed it. Either way, my paternal grandparents marriage ceftificate gives my grandmothers address as The Grand Hotel.

I went to the Archives in Lincoln back in 2020 and they confirmed what I knew and gave me extra information which surprised me. 

Pixie

[Geoff-E]

Hi Pixie Welcome to Rootschat

It would probably help if we knew the names of your relatives.

Be aware that the Grand changed a great deal during its existence.

The Grand that most people will remember is a single building (as shown on the right) but some time earlier it was a whole host of smaller premises.  It was only around 1960 that it became a single building.

[tup1]

Hi Geoff-E

Just to add, Kelly's 1905 directory says the Alexandra Hotel was private, and Mrs Spriggs was the proprietress,5 Norman Place, St Marys Street, Lincoln.

[BushInn1746]

Hello Pixie

Following on from Geoff's comments.

In 1933 Frank Holmes was linked to the Grand Hotel and described as the Manager of the Grand Hotel, Lincoln, in 1936.

Mrs Abigail Holmes was at The Grand Hotel, Lincoln in 1941, when she dismissed a member of staff.

Robert Broadbent owned 'The Oxford' and he died around the time that Mrs Holmes submitted plans in 1963 to incorporate the hotel buildings into one hotel.

Two of the original roof outlines (minus chimney stacks) of the altered facade (left side), are visible.

Obviously totally destroyed the earlier street scene character.

Looking at the photos part of the Oxford House site became a road?

Mark

[BushInn1746]

Lincolnshire Echo, 10th May 1934

THE NEW GRAND HOTEL
Few people who remember the old Alexandra Hotel, in St Mary's Street would to-day recognise it as the modern well-appointed building now known as the Grand Hotel. Re-opened in 1931, under management of Mr. Frank Holmes, the son of prominent Lincolnshire business man who is the proprietor, the premises were almost entirely rebuilt and modernised.
  ...
Underneath (the above) is an advert panel for The Grand Hotel, St Mary Street, Lincoln.

Lincolnshire Echo, 9th June 1931
LINCOLN HOTEL BILL
 ... Ludlow pleaded not guilty to obtaining by false pretences from Robert Broadbent, the proprietor of the Oxford Hotel, Lincoln, the sum of £7 4s with intent to cheat and defraud on April 2.
 ...
The newspaper called the hotel, the Oxford Hotel, Norman Street, Lincoln.

Lincolnshire Echo, 13th May 1963
OXFORD HOTEL LICENCE SWITCHED
  Lincoln Magistrates granted today an application by Mrs Abigail Holmes for the temporary transfer of the licence of the Oxford Hotel, Lincoln, from the executors of the late Mr Robert Broadbent to herself.
  Appearing for Mrs Holmes, Mr W. K. Wood said the Oxford and Grand hotel were now in the same ownership and in due course Mrs Holmes would be submitting plans for approval for the new "Super-Grand Hotel".