The three pairs of semi-detached cottages
with the former Prince of Wales Inn to the right along the Watton to Attleborough Road. March 2026
Courtesy Alison Crowter
The Prince of Wales Inn and the three pairs of semi-detached cottages (six in all) may have been built at a similar time i.e. between 1843 and 1868.
Extract from 1906 Ordnance Survey Map. Second Edition. Surveyed in 1881. Revised 1904.
The blue arrow points to the Prince of Wales Public House and the three semi-detached cottages
In 1868, Benjamin Lane likely became the first landlord.
Owners Bullard & Sons
By 1895, the Prince of Wales and the six cottages were all in the ownership of Bullard & Sons, held by trustees Samuel Gurney Buxton, a banker of Norwich, Walter Randolph Farquhar of Lombard Street, London, also a banker, and John Henry Fraser Walter of Drayton.
Each double cottage had a shed to the rear. There was a well between the two semi-detached cottages towards the Prince of Wales Inn. A pond abutted the boundary of the cottages.
Bullards sell the ‘middle’ Double Cottage
In 1920, Bullards and the trustees, sold the ‘middle’ double cottage to Walter William Adams, a greengrocer of Attleborough, for £50.
At this time, the double cottage is occupied by Mallett and Fox.
The Other Cottages are Sold
Bullards also agree to sell the double cottage on the east side to Albert Spurgeon, and sell the other double cottage (on the west side) to William Martin Fison. The usual rights are given or reserved in relation to the communal well.
Further Owners of the Middle Cottage
Walter William Adams (the owner of the middle double cottage) sold his double cottage in 1948 to Philip Henry Lincoln. He sold it expediently on to Ethel Freda Mitchell of High Street, Attleborough who then quickly sells on to Emily Knell! At this time, only one of the two middle cottages is occupied. Mrs Fox was in residence.
We look at the occupiers of the cottages in more detail in a separate article.
Landlords of the Prince of Wales
The Prince of Wales Inn may have been a purpose built inn or public house. The Queens Head and the Currier’s Arms were formerly beer houses.
Benjamin Lane
Records show that Benjamin Lane was probably the first landlord. A Justices’ licence was granted to him in September, 1868.
The 1871 census captures 48 year old Hingham born innkeeper Benjamin Lane with his wife Charlotte living in Great Ellingham.
In 1875, Benjamin Lane charged one of his regulars, Edward Houchen, of being drunk and disorderly and failing to quit his premises. The matter was heard at the Magistrates Court in East Harling.
As it happens, the charges were dismissed. However, Houchen was immediately charged and convicted of assaulting Benjamin Lane.
Harrod’s Directory of 1878 lists Benjamin Lane as a wine, spirit, ale and porter merchant (and cattle dealer) at The Prince of Wales. I have no doubt that the income from Lane’s liquor business and cattle dealings supplemented his takings from the pub.
At the time of the 1881 census, Benjamin and Charlotte Lane are still at the Prince of Wales. The couple are at the Prince of Wales for at least another ten years.
George Purdy
By 1896, George Purdy is the landlord of the Prince of Wales.
The 1901 census finds 54 year old pork butcher George Purdy at the public house along with his 60 year old wife Mary. Also with the couple is their son, 24 year old life assurance agent William and their 19 year old daughter Amy.
Before coming to Great Ellingham, the Purdy family is in Rockland St Peter.
During the tenure of landlord George Purdy, the Prince of Wales had a successful quoits team. Both George and his son William play for the pub’s team.
Illustration by Christine Fuller
On the 22nd November, 1905, a case concerning the theft of scissors at the Prince of Wales in Great Ellingham came before the Magistrates at East Harling. Mrs Amy Evans, the daughter of landlord George Purdy, brought a case against Charles Frederick Collins. It was alleged that not only had Collins failed to pay for a pint of beer, but he had stole two pairs of scissors from Amy Evan’s work basket which was on the floor in the pub. When apprehended by a Police Constable, the missing pairs of scissors were found to be in Collins’ trouser and jacket pockets. Collins was committed for trial at the assizes.
Earlier in 1905, Amy Purdy had married Frederick John Evans. In 1937, their daughter Mabel purchased a row of cottages in Church Street!
By 1911, the Purdy family had left the Prince of Wales.
William Kettle
In 1907, the Justices’ Licence for the Prince of Wales is transferred to William Kettle. He is still the landlord in 1908.
Joiner
Between the tenure of William Kettle and the later licensee, John Neale, the Prince of Wales was run by a person with the name ‘Joiner’.
John Neale
John and Letty Neale took over at the Prince of Wales from Joiner in September 1910. They had decided to have a business in the country.
John Neale was born around 1881 in Lakenheath. He had met his Sussex born wife Letty whilst living in London. Neale had been a tram driver employed by the London County Council.
Letty was a ‘woman of substance’. She had formerly kept a hotel in Canterbury which she gave up in 1906. With £760 ‘in her pocket’, Letty then went to live with her sister in London. John Neale lodged with them. John and Letty married in 1909.
It was not long after the couple arrived at the Prince of Wales that they quarrelled. By all accounts it was over money, as well as a pony and cart.
Court Case
This led to John Neale bringing charges against his wife and local man Frank Harvey. This is well reported in the Norfolk News of the 19th November, 1910. The report was published under the several headings – ‘Matrimonial Finances’, ‘Husband’s Charges Against his Wife’ and ‘Curious Case at Great Ellingham’.
Dealer Frank Harvey is charged with stealing a pony, cart and harness with a value of £30, and Lettie with aiding and abetting Harvey. In the event, the cases were dismissed.
The couple remained together. The 1911 census (undertaken some five months after the court case), captures both 29 year old John Neale and his 32 year old wife Letty at the Prince of Wales Inn in Great Ellingham. The census tells us that the Prince of Wales Inn comprises of 6 rooms.
Soon after, John and Letty Neale left the Prince of Wales and went to Hockwold.
John Neale was also a fowl dealer. Later in 1911, he again appeared at the East Harling Petty Sessions. This time he was charged with stealing fowls whilst he was at the Prince of Wales. However, the case was dismissed.
Within a year or so of leaving Great Ellingham, the couple emigrated to Canada.
Edward Goldsmith
The next landlord of the Prince of Wales is Edward Goldsmith. Edward and his wife Ruth were both born in Norwich. Their son Edward T Goldsmith was born during the latter part of 1911 – most probably at The Prince of Wales.
By 1914, the Goldsmiths had vacated the Prince of Wales. The 1921 finds the family living in Norwich.
Walter Bennington
A newspaper report of a matter brought before the Norfolk Licensing Authority at Lynn (King’s Lynn) in December 1916, mentions that the licensee of the alehouse, the Prince of Wales, in Great Ellingham is Walter Bennington.
The owners of the pub are now Messrs Morgan & Buckingham of Norwich.
Bennington may well have been the last landlord of the Prince of Wales. The pub closed in 1917.
1921
At the time of the 1921 census, the former Prince of Wales Inn is probably occupied by retired farmer, 72 year old William West. He is with his wife Ann Elizabeth and Ann’s sister, 73 year old Emma Jordan.
William West died in 1933 and is buried in the churchyard of St James.
1939
The next occupiers may have been Ernest and Florence Jermy. Ernest was born in Cranworth, Norfolk in 1873 and his wife was born in Manchester in 1879.
The couple had married in London in 1904. Their only known daughter, Nora, was born in Old Buckenham in 1906.
By 1911, Ernest, Florence and Nora were living in Besthorpe but by 1921, Ernest and Florence were in Old Buckenham.
Nevertheless, at the time of the 1939 Register, the couple were in Watton Road, Great Ellingham.
Sources:
Private Deeds Collection. Thanks to Dawn Langley
4 December 1875 Norfolk News
12 September 1868 Norwich Mercury
25th October 1907 Bury & Norwich Post
9th November, 1910. Norfolk News
29 December 1916 Lynn Advertiser
Viewed via The British Newspaper Archive
1871 census RG10/1841/82
1881 census RG11/1974/83
1891 census RG12/1549/71
1896 Kelly’s Directory
1901 census RG13/1867/73
1911 census RG14/11473/50, RG14/11484/28, RG14/11472/55
1921 census RG15/9791 ED7 Sch.129
1912 Kelly’s Directory. Norfolk Family History Society, Kirby Hall, 70 St Giles Street, Norwich NR2 1LS
Norfolk Pubs website
1939 England & Wales Register. The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/6590HAncestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.