The Hoops Inn, Horns Cross.
James EASTMAN [19304] moved from Fairy Cross about 1850 to become the inn keeper in this 13th century thatched coaching Inn. The Inn was on the route between Bideford and Bude the four horses being changed here and at the West Country Inn, Bursdon Moor and London Inn, Kilkhampton each Inn retrieving its own horses on the return journey. The journey took almost a day from Bideford to Bursdon Moor. Today the inn still trades and is set in 8 acres of landscaped gardens and ground but in the 19th century James farmed the land. It was thought to be the haunt of smugglers and a meeting place for many famous seafarers such as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh. On March 23 2009 one end of the thatched roof caught fire the firemen took a section of thatch from the roof to form a fire break thus saving the building from further damage.
James EASTMAN was listed in the 1851 census as inn keeper and farmer, Hoops Inn. At that time he was with his first wife Ann nee NACEKIVELL three of their children and her father. Ann died in 1856. In 1861 he was “Farmer of 40 Acres employing 1 man and Inn Keeper” with a son and daughter at the Hoops. He married Christian BATE [19292] in 1862 (Christian and her widowed mother were living next to the Hoops in 1861.)
James is mentioned as Victualler at the Hoops in Morris and Co’s Commercial Directory and Gazetteer for 1870 and in White’s Directory for 1878.
The New Inn, Parkham.
Edmund ANDREW [19303] was an inn keeper and maltster in the Village in 1861 and an innkeeper in 1871 when the pub was named. In 1881 he was a farmer and inn keeper at The New Inn, Parkham. He had left the pub by1891 when he was a widower retired farmer living with his married daughter Jane BATE.
He was listed in Morris and Co‘s Commercial Directory and Gazetteer 1870 ‘Andrew Edmund, “New” inn and shopkeeper’. The pub is referred to in ”The Parkham Murder” by Elizabeth Glover Howard (OPC Parkham) on Genuki. The story is told using quotes from local news papers about the murder in July 1871 and includes the following extract.
“The inquest was held on Saturday by Mr J H TOLLER, the Deputy Coroner, at the New Inn, (the North Devon Journal confirms that this is Mr ANDREWS New Inn, Parkham), where every possible space was occupied. The jury of which Mr CHING, of Goldworthy Barton was foreman, having visited the house and viewed the body ..”
Edmund ANDREW had married Thirza BATE daughter of William BATE in 1846
The New Inn was near the Church in Parkham village but is no longer trading.
An Inn, Holwell, Parkham.
William BATE [19238] was listed on the 1851 census as an inn keeper with his address Holwell, Parkham. Until that time he was a butcher (listed in White’s Directory in 1850) and his widow was listed as a butcher living next to The Hoops, Horn’s Cross in 1861. Two of his daughters were connected with local Inns, Thirza married Edmund ANDREW and was at the New Inn and later Christian married James EASTMAN of the Hoops.
The Blue Anchor, Wear Gifford.
The Anchor or Blue Anchor is thought to have been at the bottom of the present Tarka Drive. The old entrance to the premises can be traced where the wall has clearly been filled in.
In 1851 there was an anchorsmith living in the vicinity which may have been the occupation of the original landlord. This may have been Henry BRINSMEAD [14935] (we know his brother Thomas was a machine maker). Either way there were anchors around the area so it would have been an easy sign to place in front of the house to indicate that it sold ale.
From the baptisms of his children Henry BRINSMEAD we know he kept this Inn between 1814 and 1826. His occupation is given as victualler on the baptisms of his children; John 1814, George 1817 and Ann 1819 and as innkeeper for Fanny 1821 and again victualler for Mary in 1826. Their abode in the registers being Wear Quay. Victuallers Recognizances in quarter session records for 1822,1823, 1824 and 1828 records held in Devon Record Office list Henry Brinsmead as being at the Blue Anchor in Wear Gifford.
In 1841 Henry was still at Wear Quay living on independent means. His son in law John LLOYD [14938], who married Elizabeth, was keeping the Anchor. Henry died in 1844 and his widow Elizabeth nee BEER went to live with John LLOYD in the New Inn, Great Torrington.
The Inn is not mentioned in the trade directories of 1850 or 1857.
Red Lion, Honestone Lane, Bideford.
John JOHNS [19339] must have taken this pub over between 1830 when it was kept by Susanna MOON and 1841 when he is record there on the census. He was listed in the 1844 edition of Pigots directory and at the Red Lion in the 1857 edition of Billings Directory.
In 1861 it was being kept by the John’s widow Mary JOHNS [19340]. Their daughter Mary Ann and son in law John DARK [19320] took it over and are shown keeping it in 1871 and 1881. They are still at 56 Honestone Lane in 1891 but there is no mention of the pub and John was given as a retired mariner. John was the son of Thomas DARK of the Loggin Arms.
Coffin Arms, Bucks Mills.
This was a beer house where beer was sold in the front room of a cottage on the Pine Coffin estate. It traded from 1812 until 1864 after which it returned to being a simple cottage. The first people to run it were James BALE [264] and his wife Mary nee DARK. Their children were baptised in Parkham between 1813 and 1823 where James was given as carpenter and their residence was given as Buckish, the old name for Bucks Mills. After James and Mary it was kept by Mary’s sister Agnes and her husband John ELLIOTT [19317] until they emigrated about 1831. In 1851 it was kept by Samuel HARRIS. Eventually it returned to the family and was run by Thomas and Thirza WEBB [19327] between 1859 and 1864. (Thirza was the daughter of Thomas DARK, brother of Mary and Agnes.) When Thomas and Thirza left to live in Wales it was finally kept by Thirza’s brother Joseph DARK [19322] who kept it until 1969 when the licence transferred to the Coach and Horses at Horns Cross. In 2010 it was still standing but had been uninhabited for over 40 years.
We are very grateful to Janet FEW for information about the Coffin Arms.
Rolle Arms, Kingscott, St Giles in the Wood.
John HOOKWAY 15008] was a butcher and Inn keeper on the 1871 census and was also listed in Morris and Co’s Commercial Directory and Gazetteer 1870 ‘Hookway John Jnr butcher, “Rolle Arms” Kingscott’. His father was a farmer at Higher House.
The New Inn, Well Street, Great Torrington.
Another of their Great grandchildren Sarah Ann Rowtcliff QUANCE [21014] married at the age of 53 and she and her husband James BOYLE [21016] kept the New Inn, 14 Well Street, Gt Torrington between 1910 and 1914 (Kelly’s directories)
In 1881 Robert Lloyd was both a Victualler and Brewer at the New Inn he also had an assistant brewer it is not known, however, if James Boyle was also a brewer but as he came to the Inn after a career as a milk man it is unlikely. (Robert Lloyd has yet to be linked to the family)
The Old Inn, Well Street, Great Torrington.
John LLOYD [14938] was married to Elizabeth Beer BRINSMEAD in 1824 and is listed in Pigots directory for 1830 at the Old Inn. Three of their children were born in Great Torrington. However he was keeping his father in law’s pub The Anchor Inn in Wear Gifford in 1841. He moved back to The Old Inn some time between 1844 and 1851 (Henry BRINSMEAD died in 1844). In the Pigot’s directory for 1844 a Wm Wilson WALKEY is listed at the Old Inn. Did John own the pub and put a tenant inn while he and Elizabeth went to help the ailing Henry. William WALKEY was still an Inn keeper in 1851 but in New Street, Torrington.
John was a maltster as well as publican on the 1851 and 1861 censuses so probably brewed the.beer for the Old Inn (he is listed twice in Slater’s Directory 1852/3 “Torrington Inns and Public Houses Old Inn, John Lloyd, Well St and Torrington Maltsters Lloyd John Well Street”. In 1851 George WESTCOTT [10960] was lodging with them. He was a journeyman maltster, he eventually married Fanny WOOLWAY [10961], a niece of Elizabeth Beer BRINSMEAD. George and Fanny went on to keep The Globe in Beaford.
John died in 1861 and Elizabeth continued as landlady until her death in 1872.
In 1891 William Ashton ROWTCLIFF [21330] was keeping the Old Inn. He was a great grandson of Andrew ROWTCLIFF and Sarah COPP [11105].
Other Devon pubs with family connections.
The Swan, Fairy Cross.
Edward BALE [237] was an ale house keeper at Fairy Cross on the baptism record for his son Edward in 1814 and as a victualler on the baptism record of his daughter Prudence in 1818 and for that of his son Richard in 1820 but was a farmer on the baptism of his daughter Elizabeth in 1823. He appears in the Quarter Sessions indexes for Victuallers’ Recognizances kept in the Devon Record office from 1822 to 1825
In 1841 the landlord was John COPP he died in 1845 and James EASTMAN [19304] (see the Hoops Horns Cross) took over briefly before Richard KIDWELL who was there in 1851. There is an entry in White’s directory for 1850 for a John Eastman at the Swan but this is thought to be James. Sadly the pub is no longer open but may now be the private house known as Swan Cottage.