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7 (9)(8) Petty Cury, Falcon Inn

History of 7 Petty Cury

1959 Royal Commission on Historical Monuments Survey of Cambridge notes that this building of three and four storeys was timber framed and was part of the Falcon Inn built in the 16th cent. There was also a S wing that was destroyed in 1883. Most remarkable had been the survival of a length of some 20ft of the original south wing which had open galleries on the first and second floors.

See Enid Porter: Old Cambridge Inns

1504: The owner Richard King of Wisbech, gave it to the Prior of Barnwell on condition that a requiem was sung at the Priory on the first Friday of every Lent for the souls of his family.

1557: Sunday, 3 January 1557. The Falcon Inn, Petty Cury, Cambridge. Despite the plague, which is ravaging Cambridge yet again, crowds cannot resist a play. Last Friday, a clear but chill New Year’s Day, Trinity College provided an outdoor show in its court. Today, warmer though still overcast, a troupe of professional players has come to Cambridge – indeed possibly two troupes, for one play is to be performed at the Falcon, close to the Guildhall, another about half a mile distant, near the main bridge, at the Saracen’s Head. (A H Nelson, Early Cambridge theatres)

According to Nelson, no [drama] performances apart from two of 1557 and certainly no performances before royalty are capable of being documented for the Falcon, and no performances at all before modern times for the only surviving Cambridge galleries inn, the Eagle. The two performances at the Falcon are nevertheless twice as many as can be documented for three other Cambridge inns: the Saracen’s Head (3/1/1557), … the Elephant (27.2.1596); and the Bear (28.5.1600). We know, however that professional players visited Cambridge with some regularity into the 1590s, though their place of performance is scarcely ever recorded.

The writer, Atkinson is recorded by Nelson, as describing the Falcon Inn as it was at the end of the 19th century:

The Falcon has now ceased to be used as an inn, but is a very good example of the old arrangement. Till quite recently the court was entirely surrounded by the timber buildings of the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, and the west and south sides still stand almost unaltered. The buildings are in three floors, the two upper of which have open galleries, projecting slightly over the ground storey. The galleries probably ran all round the court originally…


1841:

John Constable, 38, hat maker

Elizabeth, 40

Elizabeth, 14

Charles, 12

Edward, 8

James, 7

Susan, 4

Amelia, 10 mos

Mary Chappel, 22, servant

Elizabeth Chappel, 16 mos

? unnumbered:

John Harris, 33, baker

Eliza, 30

Ellen, 11

Emma, 9

Eliza, 7

James, 6

John, 7

Josiah, 3

Ellen Smith, 18, servant

Henry Neal, 18, apprentice

George Tuck, 14, servant

Mary Ewen, 26, dress maker

Hannah Ewen, 24, dress maker

Harriet [?] Ewen, 20, dress maker


1851: Petty Cury

Jeremiah Garner, head, 34, grocer

John Frederick Constable, head, 48, hat manufacturer, b Cambridge

Elizabeth

Elizabeth, 24, b Cambridge

Charles, 22, hat maker, b Cambridge

John Edward, 19, hat maker apprentice, b Cambridge

James Frederick, hat maker apprentice, b Cambridge

Susan, 14, b Cambridge

Amelia, 10, b Cambridge

Mary Chappel, 25, servant, b Balsham


1861: [no. 7 was in St Mary the Great parish, no. 8 was in St Andrew’s; the properties therefore appeared on different census returns]

(7)

Jeremiah Bank Garner, 49, tea dealer, b Beds

(8) see 8-9 Petty Cury

John S Constable, 57, hatter and publican, b Cambridge

Elizabeth, 62, b Cambridge

Charles, 33, hatter, b Cambridge

Amelia, 21, b Cambridge: Amelia married William Lusher in 1863 and resided at 15 Petty Cury.  After the death of her husband in 1865 she remarried in 1870 to James Kent. In 1871 she is living with her brother Charles at 8 Petty Cury.

Ann Marley, 25, b Cambs


1871: (9)

James F Constable, inn keeper, b Cambridge

Emma

Charles E, 10, b Cambridge

John F, 9, b Cambridge

Julia E, 7, b Cambridge

Amelia M, 3, b Cambridge

Harriet Ison, servant, 19, b Cambs

Matilda Phillips, nursemaid, 17, b Cambs


1881: Falcon Inn

James F Constable, 47, brewer, b Cambridge

Emma, 47, b Cambridge

Julia, 17, apprentice, b Cambridge

Harriett Ison, 27, servant, b Cambridge


1891:


1901:


1913:

Lipton Tea Ltd


1962:

Lipton Ltd, provisions merchants


1970:

Mothercare Ltd

7 Petty Cury (MoC193/72)


1972: old Falcon Inn demolished

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