Hi Lynda
Thank you I know the site well, the Formans had 4 daughters and 4 sons; Bethia was there youngest daughter at the time of the 1841 census she was 3 years old. however i have feel it stayed in Forman ownership (landlord) after Bethia death but with somone else (tenant) at the helm Here's what i have so far....
In the early 1820’s with its race course and the increasing patronage of the finest golf clubs and societies of the day, Musselburgh Links was becoming a very busy place. In 1822 George Forman a young man from near by Prestonpans purchased a piece of land on the edge of the Links that neighboured Blucher Hall. On his newly acquired land, the shrewd George built a public house to provide refreshments to those enjoying the Links.
In the summer of 1826 George took a wife, marrying Marion Bowman at Duddingstone, Edinburgh; it is this Mrs Forman from which the pub is to take its name. Together they made a great success of the Links side business with the little pub becoming famous for its window, through which it served the needs of thirsty golfers. The marriage proved to be a success on all fronts; fifteen years later the 1841 census shows the Forman’s had eight children, four boys and four girls; the youngest being one year old Charles and the eldest fourteen year old George Jnr, already apprenticed to a cabinetmaker.
Just two years later in 1843 George died at the age of 41, leaving his wife Marion with eight children and a pub to look after. It’s likely at this point the pub would have become known as Mrs Forman’s; before George’s death it may have been known simply as Forman’s.
In 1888 aged 83 Marion Forman died leaving her children to take over the running of the pub where it remained in their care well into the following century. With over sixty years at the bar and with the help of her family, Marion Forman unknowingly put her pub into the history books as one of the most famous buildings in the game of golf.
Since opening its doors in 1822, Mrs Forman’s went onto serve without bias both Lord and Caddie and welcomed some of the greatest champions in the game of golf, Willie Park Snr and Jnr, Young and Old Tom Morris, Harry Vardon and Bobby Jones to name but a very few. If walls could talk!
If you can add to this or spot any mistakes could you let me know
Thank you
John
