Butchers Arms, 56 Farringdon Road, Clerkenwell, London

The following entries are in this format:

Year/Publican or other Resident/Relationship to Head and or Occupation/Age/Where Born/Source.

1876/George Alexandra Denman/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1876/George Saunders/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1877/George Saunders/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1878/Sophia Saunders/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1878/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1879/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1880/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1881/William Guest/Publican/37/Shoreditch, Middlesex/Census ****
1881/Amy Guest/Wife/32/Clerkenwell, Middlesex/Census
1881/Frances Bloomfield/Barmaid/29/Fulham, Middlesex/Census
1881/Susan Jones/Domestic Servant/32/Birmingham/Census
1881/Charles Cave/Barman/22/Northampton/Census
1881/Valentine Trulley/Potman/42/Islington, Middlesex/Census

1881/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1882/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1883/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1884/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1885/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1886/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1887/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1888/Thomas William Guest/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1889/William Anderson/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1890/William Anderson/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

The Henry Robert Banks (1848-1900), publican from 1891, was my great-grandfather. He was a builder who formed a relationship with my great-grandmother Annie Constable after seeing her on stage. The couple set up home together in Guildford Street by 1881 and had several children. Henry also had a wife and legitimate family, and split his time between the two households. Henry and Annie seem to have taken on the Butchers Arms as a joint business venture, but continued to live off the premises in Guildford Street. Henry died in 1900 and is buried in the City of London Cemetery. The funeral cortege is said to have started at the pub before calling at the homes of both wife and mistress to pick up mourners en route to the cemetery. Annie took over the license on his death, and appears as landlady in the 1901 Census. She calls herself Banks in the census although she had no legal right to the name as she was never married to Henry. The Amy Banks listed as a barmaid was my grandmother (1885-1979), the daughter of Henry and Annie. The Thomas Yorwarth listed was the son of Richard Yorwarth, a local widower and (presumably) pub customer. Thomas later went to sea as a steward and was killed when his ship was torpedoed off the coast of Italy in August 1918. In 1902, Annie married Richard Yorwarth. She died in 1904 of TB (presumably an occupational hazard for publicans in “spit and sawdust” days). There is a family story that after Annie’s death the brewery did not want to offer the license to Richard Yorwarth, but instead offered it to my grandmother Amy Banks (at age 18). She turned it down, supposedly because she was too ashamed about having to admit her illegitimacy to the licensing magistrates. ***

1891/Henry R Banks/Bricklayer/43/Mile End, London/Census ***
1891/Annie Banks/Wife/33/Kingsland, London/Census
1891/Henry R Banks/Son/11/Holborn, London/Census
1891/Amy Banks/Daughter/5/Holborn, London/Census

1891/Henry Robert Banks/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1892/Henry Robert Banks/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1893/Henry Robert Banks/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1894/Henry Robert Banks/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1895/Henry Robert Banks/../../../Finsbury Petty Sessions****

1899/Henry Robert Banks/../../../Post Office Directory ****

1901/Amy Constable/Licensed Victualler, Widow/42/Kingsland, London/Census ****
1901/Amy Banks/Daughter, Barmaid/15/Holborn, London/Census
1901/Eleanor F Green/Barmaid/25/Brixton, London/Census
1901/Thomas D Yorwarth/Visitor/14/Clerkenwell, London/Census

The Yorwarth/Banks family next moved south of the river, and Richard Yorwarth became publican of the Roebuck. Again, there is some suggestion that at least at first he had trouble over the licence, and the pub had to be licensed to his daughter Kitty (Katherine). I have a photo of him outside the pub in about 1910 which shows his name all along the frontage, so I guess that any issues were resolved. The pub in the photo has the street number 47 (= 47 Trafalgar Street, Walworth?). ***

1910/John William Holman/../../../Post Office Directory ****

1921/James R Eaton/../../../Hughes Directory ****

1934/Mrs Caroline Drury/../../../Kellys Directory ****

1938/Jas Morgan/../../../Post Office Directory ****

1944/Leonard Meyer/../../../Post Office Directory ****