In the past, there were at least five pubs in Great Ellingham. Today, The Crown is the only pub remaining.
The Crown Public House, the venue for the Heritage Open Days’ events in 2023 & 2024
There has been an inn or public house on either the exact same spot, or very near to, the present Crown Public House for over 200 years.
A deed of 1784 refers to the inn called The Bell. However by 1787 (when the original building was destroyed by fire), it was The Crown.
At the turn of the 19th century, reference to the pub is found as the Rose & Crown. Nevertheless by around 1836, the name had reverted back to The Crown.
We left Part I of the History of The Crown Public House in the 1780s. In 1784, Jeffrey Warren entered into an Agreement with Richard Leath to sell to him the inn called The Bell, as well as other cottages and land nearby in Church Street. We continue the story here in Part II.
Article of Agreement
Extract from an 1802 Abstract of Title to an Estate called the Crown. Courtesy Shirley Caston
In July, 1784, Jeffrey Warren purchased several messuages, cottages or tenements in Church Street from William Henry Hinsby. These properties included the property referred to as The Bell, as well as several other nearby cottages.
However just two months’ later, Warren found a buyer for all the properties.
On the 14th September, 1784, Jeffrey Warren entered into a formal agreement with Richard Leath, a farmer, of Little Ellingham. The price agreed was £194 15s. Completion to take place on or before 5th April, 1785.
Death of Richard Leath, farmer
As it happens, 67 year old Richard Leath died on the 30th September, 1784, just 16 days after the agreement with Jeffrey Warren. Richard Leath is buried at Southburgh, a distance of some 6-7 miles from Little Ellingham.
He left a will. However, the will was made prior to Richard Leath’s agreement with Warren. Accordingly, the will of 12th August, 1781, did not include any reference to the properties in Church Street, in which Richard Leath had an equitable interest.
Heir at Law, nephew Richard Leath
Nevertheless Richard Leath’s ‘heir at law’ was his nephew, Richard Leath ‘the younger’.
At the time of his uncle’s death, Richard Leath ‘the younger’ was a married man with two young daughters. He was also a carpenter in Great Ellingham.
Married Man with Children
Richard Leath had married Forncett St Peter born Alice Clarke in 1781. Their three daughters were born in Great Ellingham. Hannah on the 12th June, 1782, Frances on the 25th August, 1783, and Elizabeth, on the 24th November 1784.
Death of Richard Leath ‘the Younger’
Tragically within six months of his uncle’s death and just four months after the birth of Elizabeth, Richard Leath ‘the Younger’ died on the 19th March, 1785.
His death was likely unexpected as he died without leaving a will, and before his late uncle’s affairs were completed.
Leath’s Executors complete the Purchase
Richard Leath, the uncle of Richard Leath ‘the Younger’, was a wealthy man.
His personal estate alone was more than sufficient to pay all his debts. Accordingly, his executors (Edward Leath and Daniel Lister) were able to keep to Leath’s contract to purchase the properties from Jeffrey Warren.
Extract from an 1802 Abstract of Title to an Estate called the Crown. Courtesy Shirley Caston
On the 5th April, 1785, Edward Leath and Daniel Lister completed the purchase of the properties (which included the inn called The Bell), from Jeffrey Warren. Carpenter Daniel Lister lived in the house near to these properties. Much later, Lister’s property became known as Ye Olde Thatche Shoppe.
Further House
A year before he died, Richard Leath (the uncle) purchased a house along the eastern side of Hingham Road, near to the junction with Bow Street. He bought this house from Great Ellingham thatcher, Edmund Houchen.
Trust for Hannah, Frances & Elizabeth
All the property once owned by Richard Leath (farmer of Little Ellingham) came into the ownership of the three daughters of his nephew Richard Leath, carpenter of Great Ellingham.
However, all three girls were minors. At the time of their father’s death, Hannah was two years old, Frances one year and Elizabeth barely four months. Accordingly, the properties (including the inn called The Bell) were held in trust for the three sisters.
Alice Leath remarries
The girls’ mother, widow Alice Leath, married shoemaker and leather cutter William Jessup in 1785.
It may have been around this time that William Jessup became the licensee of the public house. I am unclear as to whether the pub or inn was still called The Bell, or, whether the name had then changed to The Crown.
Fire
Nevertheless newspaper reports of May 1787, tell of a fire in Great Ellingham which not only destroyed Widow Caddy’s home but also the nearby Crown Public House. William Jessup’s tools of his trade and his stock were also lost in the fire.
William & Alice’s Daughters
Alice had two known daughters during her marriage to William Jessup. Sarah was born in 1787 and Anne in 1788.
Rebuilding of the Inn?
I have not found any reference to the rebuilding of the inn or public house following the fire in 1787. However, it must have either been rebuilt, or another of the properties on the same site became the public house. Perhaps it was also at this time that the public house became known as the Rose & Crown.
Inclosure Documentation
The Great Ellingham Inclosure documentation of around 1800 shows Alice Jessup as the owner of:
- the Rose & Crown Public House, which she also occupied
- two cottages with yards (near to the Rose & Crown) occupied by Robert Tooke and Edward Steel
- the cottage along the Hingham Road occupied by Stephen Houchen
- a pightle and an allotment on Low Common occupied by Balls, Kerrison & Dennis
However, we know that these properties were actually in the ownership of Alice’s daughters, Hannah, Frances and Elizabeth. By 1800, Hannah was 20, Frances 19 and Elizabeth 18.
Marriages of the Leath Girls
On the 8th December, 1803, Frances Leath married Benjamin Dennis. Hannah Leath married Henry Balls on the 17th June, 1806. Finally, Elizabeth Leath married Edmund Kerrison on the 26th September, 1808. All three weddings took place in St James’s Church, Great Ellingham.
Transfer of the Ownership of the Rose & Crown
Less than a week before Hannah Leath married Henry Balls, Hannah and her younger sister Elizabeth agreed to convey their respective third shares in the pub to 25 year old Benjamin Dennis. The transaction formally completed on the 12th June 1806, the 24th birthday of their sister Frances.
Of course, Frances already held a one third share in the property. Accordingly, Benjamin and Frances Dennis became the owners of the pub.
Given that a later deed of 1810 refers to Benjamin Dennis as a Victualler of Great Ellingham, I have no doubt that Benjamin and Frances Dennis took over the running of the pub which (as far as I know), was still called the Rose & Crown. Frances’s mother, Alice Jessup may well have remained at the pub but, perhaps, taking more of a ‘back seat’ role.
I have no doubt that at this time, Benjamin Dennis and his wife Frances owned the Rose & Crown as well as:
- two small tenements near the pub which at one time had been occupied by Edward Steele & Robert Tooke and later by ______ Kerrison and Hannah Steel
- a piece of ground near to the pub
- the site of a messuage or tenement with yards which was formerly occupied by Isaac Meek but destroyed by fire
- the cottage and yard which adjoined the pub on the western side
However, the three sisters still owned the cottage along the Hingham Road which their great uncle (Richard Leath of Little Ellingham), purchased from Edmund Houchen in 1783. They also owned an allotment at Low Common (land adjacent to what is now Swamp Lane).
Division of other Leath Assets
By 1809, all three Leath girls had married. It was then that the Leath sisters’ remaining assets in their joint ownership were split.
Given that in 1809, married women had little or no rights regarding property ownership, their respective husbands would have negotiated the division assets.
With their respective husbands, Henry Balls, Benjamin Dennis and Edmund Kerrison, the sisters joined in an Indenture dated 28th September, 1809, to confirm the arrangements.
- the house on Hingham Road to Henry and Hannah Balls
- a piece of the allotment at Low Common to Edmund and Elizabeth Kerrison
- a further piece of the allotment at Low Common to Henry and Hannah Balls
- the remaining piece of the allotment at Low Common to Benjamin and Frances Dennis
Payments were exchanged between the parties.
Sale of the Rose & Crown
On the 23rd November, 1810, Benjamin and Frances Dennis sold the Rose & Crown together with the other cottages nearby (except the house adjoining the pub on the western side), to carpenter John Robert Barnard. (You can read more about John Robert Barnard and his purchase here).
20th century postcard of The Crown with adjoining cottage with shops. Courtesy Carol Ewin
Benjamin Dennis retained the ownership of the house which adjoined the pub on the western side. I believe that Benjamin and Frances Dennis lived in this house. At this time, the adjoining house comprised at least one shop.
Death of Alice Jessup
Alice Jessup, nèe Clarke, and formerly the wife of Richard Leath, ‘the Younger’, and mother of Hannah, Frances and Elizabeth Leath, died in Great Ellingham in the February of 1812.
Given that the burial entry in the Great Ellingham Parish Registers describes Alice as the wife of William Jessup, it follows that William Jessup is still alive. However, I have no further information about William Jessup or his daughters Sarah and Anne.
Sources:
Private Deeds Collection. Shirley Caston
Private Deeds Collection. Sue Simpson
Abstract of Title to the Crown Public House, Great Ellingham. Original held at Wymondham Town Archive, Council Offices, Ketts Park, Harts Farm Road, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 0UT. ID. 33827, Pomeroy Collection, Box 116/99. Bundle 8. 23/11/1810
1st September 1781 Norfolk Chronicle
16th May 1787 Bury & Norwich Post
Newspapers Viewed via The British Newspaper Archive
The Times, 18 May 1787, p. 3. The Times Digital Archive, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS51119282/TTDA?u=nl_earl&sid=TTDA&xid=49ded6f3. Accessed 11 July 2020
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD 609. Also available at FamilySearch.org
Southburgh Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD 360. Viewed via www.ancestry.co.uk
Forncett St Peter Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD 421. Viewed via www.ancestry.co.uk
1802 Russell James Colman Plans. Great Ellingham. Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref. C/Ca 1/84.
1799-1842 F W Horner, Records of the Surveyors to Commissioners for Inclosure in Parishes in Norfolk and Suffolk. Great Ellingham (Act 1799). Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: NRO, BR 90/2
1800 Inclosure Commissioner’s Particulars and Valuation, Great Ellingham. Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: NRO, MC 2213/119