The Granville (Blackbirds Inn) East Road, (MoC43/160/69)
19 East Road, Blackbirds Inn, The Granville, Cambridge
History of 19 East Road
1851 19 East Road
William Wallis, 35, painters press man, b Cambridge
Ann, 30, formerly laundress, b Cambridge
Frederick, 10, b Cambridge
Sarah Ann, 8, b Cambridge
Ellen, 7, b Cambridge
William, 4, b Cambridge
George, 2, b Cambridge
Edward, 10 mos, b Cambridge
Jane Peachy, 19, house servant, b Fen Ditton
In 1851 William Wallis was implicated in a prank played on the villagers of Coton reported in the Cambridge Chronicle 24th May 1851. It involved a young man called Downing who had apparently entertained customers at The Blackbirds.
1878
Licensee was William Wallis, father of Alice. He also had a workshop and store at 1 Gifford Place.
22 November 1900
The Cambridge Coroner opened an enquiry at the Blackbirds public house, East Road, Cambridge into the circumstances of the death of an East Road shopkeeper and her three children who were found lying on the bed in their front upstairs room [179 East Road] with their throats cut. She had appeared perfectly sane and was reported not to have financial problems but was very much troubled about her husband leaving her. She was very fond of her children and was a good mother. A lodger said he had come downstairs but found no breakfast ready. He had knocked on her door and got no answer. He had looked into the room, seen the bodies and sent for the police.
Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge East Road Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, reference 1900 11 22.
1913 Blackbirds Inn
Charles Combs, proprietor
1918
William Kirk died, reported in press 20.12.1918, aged 40. Possibly influenza.
Billy PItt Boxing School, Granville Hotel (MoC)
1939 From around this date Ernest Hipkin was publican. He died in 1945 and Emily Hipkin continued to run the pub until 1955.
1962 The Granville
In 2023 BV sent this note:
In 1968, before it was demolished, the building housed the first Simon Community house for the homeless – this community eventually became Cambridge Cyrenians (where I work!) and the largest provider of supported housing for the homeless in the city.
14 January 1970
Simon community derelict pub on East Road taken over as place of refuge is to close
Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge East Road Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, reference 70 01 14.
23 November 1972
Billy the Kid, fresh from his latest brush with the law, stood in a makeshift office in the derelict, boarded-up pub in East Road that is the Cyrenian’s haven for dossers in Cambridge and threw down a challenge. “I’ll bet you”, he said in the most confidential of tones, “that I can pick up in Cambridge as much in one week as ever you can earn”. Now Billy the Kid’s reputation among the “touchers” of Cambridge stands high. Billy the Kid is the city’s uncrowned king and no sane man would ever doubt his begging ability. “Well”, I queried, playing safe, “I might be interested”. “You’ve got to beat 75-quid and most of that is from the students”
Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge East Road Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, reference 72 11 23.
24 January 1976
The fire risk and crumbling condition of the building at the Cambridge Cyrenian’s community short stay hostel for down-and-outs in East Road has added new urgency to their eight-year search for new premises. The chairman said: The building itself, the bricks and wood, are falling to pieces. You could pour £5,000 into it and achieve nothing. The dozen men living in the hostel all sleep downstairs because of the difficulty of evacuating in an emergency
Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge East Road Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, reference 76 01 24.
17 March 1976
One of Cambridge’s best-known characters, Trevor Hughes, was rescued by firemen from a blazing room in a derelict house in East Road. He was found choking in a smoke-filled room at the back of the old headquarters of the Cyrene Community. Trevor, the elder statesman of the Cambridge dosser community, is well-known to shoppers in the Market Square where he sits daily by the fountain
Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge East Road Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, reference 76 03 17.
Sources
- Mike Petty Archive
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