Maiden Stone -- your message about picking things up from the newspapers made me laugh - it was the words 'mostly crimes'!
It's not my fault if my ancestors visited less salubrious pubs. To be fair, one of them was a victim of crime. He was a miltary bandsman. He went to a pub wearing his uniform and carrying his instrument. According to the newspaper, he fell into conversation with 2 young women. While he was distracted (I wonder how?) one stole his instrument and left. The pair of young women, doubtless well-known to local constables, were apprehended.
A member of my innkeeping family bought a stolen horse from a customer. The horse-thief had held up the owner on the highway and galloped off on the horse.
Among "crimes" I was including illegal union strike meetings held at inns and attended by my trades- unionist 3xGGF. A young man who had refused to join a strike was attacked on the way home after leaving a meeting ( 2 crimes in one evening). The pub landlady provided an alibi for my ancestor and his 3 mates.
The police lock-up was in the same yard as one of the most notorious pubs in town mid 19thC. Constables visited the pub to arrest thieves spending money they'd stolen the same day, then escorted them a few yards to the lock-up.
