Female beer house keeper in the 1870s/80s

[ShaunJ]

William Holme was an agricultural labourer in the 1851 census.

[AlanBoyd]

@ShaunJ, yes, I saw that. Quite odd. If he died of ‘chronic disease of the brain’ perhaps he became incapable of running a beerhouse. Maybe Ellen was already defacto running the premises as a grocer, but not necessarily a beerhouse?

[ShaunJ]

From the Liverpool Albion, 2 May 1853:

[KitHannay]

So does this newspaper notice suggest that William was trying to sell the beer house and other dwellings? Because it obviously must not have transpired if Ellen ended up with it? Or could she possibly have bought it?

[AlanBoyd]

“Peremptorily, By Order of The Mortgagee”

24 March 1862 Liverpool Albion

[AlanBoyd]

Do you have this?

8th May 1874, Liverpool Evening Express

DEATHS
…
HOLME – April 8, at Flour Creek, Kentucky, U.S., aged 57 years, James, eldest son of the late William Holme, of Field-lane, Litherland.

[Gillg]

You ask how unusual it was for a woman to run a beer house in the 1870s. I have a distant relative who did just that in the 1840s/50s.  Unfortunately she got into trouble for running a rowdy pub.  She also had 4 children, each with a different father, though she never married. 

[Annie65115]

I did a local history course which was all about the history of pubs (and other drinking establishments!) in my town.

I don't have notes and can't remember all the final details, but basically it was, at one time, very common for people to run a small beer house from their own home. People - principally the women of the family - brewed beer for the family's consumption (especially when the water supply was not safe to drink) and would sell surplus to neighbours, passers-by etc. Some of these were, or became, quite big operations; many were no more than small scale cottage industries.

It makes sense that the brewers in these circumstances were not infrequently women; making the family's food and drink was women's work, and if the woman could bring in some extra income by selling the surplus, so much the better. Opportunities for widows to earn enough to stay out of the workhouse were not always easy to find!

This situation died out with the improval of water supply and sanitation, and various Acts of Parliament referable to making and selling alcohol.

[JACK GEE]

I know of a couple of women in Gloucestershire Inn operators over a similar time frame. One i know was a widow. However not very common. It would be tough in those times .

Cheers
Jack Gee