Coventry Pubs

Scandalous

I'm not sure if anyone will see this from an older post, but I found some information on Thomas Grimes Roberts, who owned The Star and Raven. I had previously read his Grandfather Thomas Grimes' will on this website (I believe.) In the will, it says that Thomas Grimes Roberts had left England for America after 1837, and had joined the military and was last heard of in the pension office in 1858. He had talked of going back to Georgia, USA to get on a boat to go back to England. He was never heard from again and presumed lost at sea. Recently, I found this letter from the British Ambassador Richard Lyons to US Secretary of State William Seward where Lyons asked Seward to check on Thomas G Roberts whereabouts for purposes of the will. Lyons in his letter says he already knows the following "Thomas Grimes Roberts of the City of Coventry England, went to America, enlisted in the American Service, and got wounded in the legs, for which he received a pension, and was on the Pension List when last her of. - In 1858 he was in a hospital in Savannah. The last time he drew his Pension he told the Pension Agent at Jacksonville that he thought of going to England, and it is supposed that he was shipwrecked, not being heard of since that time which would be in 1859. He was well known by an Attorney at Jacksonsville who name was J. M. Bryan (or T. M) . He married in America but it is not known where he lived; at one time he kept a school. " Also " It is important to his relatives either to ascertain that he is alive or to prove his death, and any information concerning him will be very thankfully received. " This is a link to the National Archives where this is located, on page 141 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/188057801#.YNIIdzGly-E.link . So that is pretty wild that that this request was going through such high level people anyway, and especially during the Civil War when these two were so important. And I also found this military record, which shows a Thomas G Roberts from Coventry serving with the US in 1842 during the Seminole Wars and receiving a pension. It seems like it has to be him, with the G middle name and Coventry, and correct time frame. "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-81DZ-9W7G?cc=1880762&wc=M61R-1TP%3A176715701 : 22 May 2014), 043-044, 1840 Jan-1846 Jun > image 197 of 547; citing NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). I'm going to keep looking for evidence of his death and a response from Seward...

Hi all, I've just been told by a pub manager that the fashion or tradition of snugs in pubs stems from the 1918 flu pandemic. Can anyone confirm or add verification to this please?

Hi Philip - my internet research states that they are a 19th century Irish way of allowing women to drink in pubs in private. Irish Snugs But the 1918 flu pandemic might have made them more popular over here.

Ha, beat me to it belushi. The 1918 pandemic and in the UK, the First World War may have reduced the men who not only bought for themselves but for their wives, so it may have been expediency to widen the customer base. Snugs are not the preserve of Ireland or the UK. Not serving drinks to women in the main bar was seen in Australia I believe and probably in many places but the habit may indeed have stemmed from the Irish Catholics. Similar places may have other names eg the Swiss have snugs called St

A bit like a confessional, but with a bar, or downunder a barr barr. Maybe Dreamtime will have some input on this once she's checked from behind her billabong. She might have kept her didgeridoo in one.

In about 1964 some of my extended family holidayed in Southern Ireland, visiting relatives. Two of our visiting party, non - Irish men, kept volunteering to walk into town to do the shopping. Turns out, the butcher had a little bar in the back where they'd become regulars. Very snug indeed.

Philip, for the few years my parents ran the Broomfield Tavern, there was a small Snug room, entrance at the side, and 'Annie in the Snug' was a frequent visitor. Also I believe they used to go into or maybe it was used as the outdoor as well. I lived there until I was married in 1961 so a lot of changes have happened since then.

Having found a map of pre southern block demolition Broadgate (pre 1820), it's interesting to see that The Three Tuns was on the west side of Broadgate. It was probably the building second from the left with the sloping sign in the picture below. The buildings to the left of it were demolished first, presumably to give easier access to Broadgate.

New book on Coventry pubs

Was in the Broomfield on Saturday night (well, sat outside). Currently doing more mods.

Evening Mick, Seems to be an ongoing occurrence - revamping the Broom. I have a feeling it will lose its identity eventually.

Fred's pub section has an old image but not seen this one before - must have been a very late shot of the Canal Tavern on Leicester Row which went mid 60's I believe. Thanks to my FB mate Dean Nelson.

In talking to my mother about the Old Wheel where the landlord was Percy Cross, she says he became the landlord of the Navigation throughout and after the war. The Coventry pubs section shows him as the landlord in the 50s, and there is no landlord of the Navigation named at all between 1940 and 1955. She's sure he was the landlord in those missing years.