My great, great, great grandfather James Stephen (Cabinet Maker and Vintner) and his wife Jessie - Innkeeper (nee Buchan) were landlords of the Red Lion Inn at 8 West North Street. In the 1861 census James and Jessie were living there with 4 of their children, 6 boarders or lodgers and a servant. I understand that both Red Lion Inns were on the go around this time.
The Red Lion at 8 West North Street is where the Aberdeen Arms Inn and very latterly Murdo's bar were situated. These buildings were demolished to make way for the widening of West North Street in the 1980's. At the same time the buildings at the corner of West North Street (nos 2 - 6?) and round onto King Street were taken apart, granite block by granite block, numbered, and rebuilt as you see then today.
The Red Lion Inn had stables in the courtyard at the back of the premises to accommodate 14 horses(?) in what was Farrier Lane (which still exists today).
The Aberdeen Arms was well-known as the Hairy Bar which derived from the trade that the people, who worked in Farrier Lane, would go to the Inn to sell horsehair for use in mattresses, sofas, etc.
Of the 4 children in the 1861 census the oldest was Robert (29) who was a Lawyer's Clerk (he was the eldest of James and Jessie's 9 children). In the 1891 census he was a pauper living in the Poorhouse in Nelson Street, along with 183 men and 180 women, including babies and children (all segregated). He lived there for another 7 years till his death, at 67, in 1898. He is buried at St Peter's Cemetery, King Street, with his parents and a number of relatives.
The youngest child in the 1861 census was John Buchan Stephen (
, the youngest of James & Jessies's children. His parents died in 1863 and 1865 so John, aged almost 12, was orphaned and taken in by my great, great grandfather James and his wife Ann (nee Skene) who lived at 168 Crown Street.
John went to sea and his true adventures were documented in a book, published in Colorado in 1907 - 'Where Strongest Tide Winds Blow' by Robert McReynolds. I will not embelish on his incredible life and will let you discover it for yourself, if you are interested.
John Buchan Stephen went on to become one of the most influential political figures in the early history of Colorado. In 1910 he was elected to be the Republican candidate to run for Governor of the state of Colorado. He lost to the Democrats. In the year he died (1928), aged 75, he was one of three Republicans running to be their nominee for Governor.
I appreciate this thread is about the Red Lion Inn on the Spital but I hope you don't mind me telling the story of the other Red Lion. Thank you!
