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| The site of the Quiet Woman/Bradford Hotel in 2014 |
The Quiet Woman existed
as a beerhouse from 1836 to 1871. It was the predecessor to the
Bradford Hotel.
Little is known of the
pub's early days although Richard Fogg (1783-1858) appears to have
been a pivotal figure. Fogg was a bleacher living at Top O'Th Haulgh
according to the 1841 census. However, the Bolton directory for 1843
has him down as a beerseller at The Haulgh and it seems likely that
it was at the Quiet Woman.
By 1851, Fogg was still
a beerseller but his address was given as Fogg's Houses in The
Haulgh. The appendix of 'Houses' to a name suggested the whole of a
row was owned by the same person. That was perhaps stretching the
point a little as there appears to have been just the pub and an
adjoining cottage that made up Fogg's Buildings.
Fogg died in 1851. The
Bolton Chronicle of 3 July 1858 reported that on the day of his death
the 75-year-old Fogg had brewed as usual at the brewery attached to
the pub. At around eight o'clock that night he began to complain of a
pain in his bowels. He went to bed at ten o'clock and died at
midnight.
Fogg's wife Betty
remained at the pub until 1868 when she decided to sell up. The
premises were sold along with an adjoining cottage for £270 to a
farmer at The Haulgh named John Marsh. The transaction was the
subject of a court case in 1869 when Marsh was successfully sued by
an estate agent named George Ferguson for outstanding legal fees
worth £12 2 shillings. [1]
It seems that Marsh
didn't run the pub himself. Rather he installed Robert Bowcock as
licensee. In April 1870, Boocock was accused of permitting
drunkenness at his house. PC Mosely claims to have seen six men in
the front room of the Quiet Woman. All were drunk, some more than
others. Three women were in the kitchen and a man named Brennan had
blood flowing from his mouth. Brennan claimed that the men had come
in to the house already drunk but that the three women were powerless
to throw them out. However, evidence was also given that there was
not enough drink in the house for the men to be drunk and that
Brennan had entered the house with the intention of fighting its
occupants. Even so, the court, presided over by Mayor Joseph Musgrave
found that the case was proven and he fined Bowcock 20 shillings (£1)
plus costs. [2]
Bowcock left soon
afterwards and George Holden took over. But in January 1871 the pub
was up for sale once again. It closed down shortly after it was was
sold and was soon demolished. The Bradford Hotel was erected in its
place and opened later that year.
[1] Bolton Evening
News, 8 May 1869.
[2] Bolton Evening
News, 21 April 1870.
