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« on: Monday 24 February 14 14:45 GMT (UK) »
The result of the Beerhouse Act was the opening of hundreds of new pubs throughout England, and the reduction of the influence of the large breweries. The startling discovery that 1 Shirley Street was the address of an inn called The Prince Alfred was only surpassed by the further discovery that the first licensee of this public house was George Pearson, first licence granted at the Petty Sessions on 13th September 1872. It also shows that George was not the licensee in 1873 as it had passed to Frederick King on 6th December (could this be a misprint and is it his step son Frederick Wing?) confirming the theory that he moved to other premises (possibly New Road near the West India Docks). It looks as though George was selling beer from his home called The Prince Alfred at West Ham but this couldn’t provide enough money to support his family and certainly holding a beer house license was not regarded by the Victorians as a profession but more a secondary source of income. What is clear is that our Great Aunty Mary’s original thought that George took an inn near the Docks seems to be confirmed more and more through the discovery of historical documents. Sadly Catherine was never to see the public house flourish, her children grow up or young Emily, her grandchild, grow past 10 years of age.
In 1872 Catherine fell ill and succumbed to a bout of fever and congestion of the lungs. Catherine’s mother, Elizabeth Aries travelled from the Britannia in the small village of Thrupp to be with her daughter but even her care and support could not save Catherine from the inevitable. On 26th October 1872, at 1 Shirley Street, just a month after starting up the public house, Catherine’s life slipped away, her mother with her at the end. Catherine was just 50 years of age had been married to George Pearson for 17 years. They had moved from Oxford to Northampton to London.
George’s fortunes had been mixed as a railway porter, station master, beerhouse keeper and now, as Catherine’s death certificate showed, a labourer in the shipyard and it was the Docks that would claim George’s life nearly 4 years to the day after Catherine’s death, leaving the children destitute and alone. The next possible mention of George Pearson can be found in Kelly’s Post Office Directory of 1874. An entry for Canning Town shows George Pearson (a beer retailer) living in New Road. Does it seem likely that George moved house from the newly established inn after his wife’s death and continued to sell beer? Certainly this seems more likely now that it is clear that George had given up the licence in Shirley Street to Frederick King in December 1873.On Monday 9th October 1876, George Pearson was found dead next or near India Dock & Tavern. He was 41 years old and his occupation described as an Innkeeper. The cause of death was determined by John Humprhreys the famous coroner for Middlesex who registered the death after the inquest on 11th October. The conclusion was that George had died violently having been suffocated by drowning with the added haunting phrase, “How not proven!” George was buried in West Ham cemetery 17th October 1876. Charlotte Pearson the eldest daughter of the family found a position as a servant in an exclusive house in Wood Green to a widow, Mr Cooper and his two sons and two daughters. Gt A Mary said,
“Charlotte, being older than my Mother was found an situation in London, where she remained until she died during the 1914 war.”
“Aunt Charlotte was a very treasured Aunt to us, gave us such wonderful presents, marvellous toys.
Aunt Charlotte worked for a French lady all her life, hence the lovely gifts we received.”
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