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| The Grand Theatre, Churchgate, a possible site for the Fisherman's Hut |
The Fisherman's Hut was
short-lived pub situated on Churchgate. Whereabouts on Churchgate has
not exactly been ascertained.
The pub doesn't appear
on the list of licenced premises for 1849 but it was in existence by
the beginning of 1851. On 4 January that year, the Bolton Chronicle
reported that John O'Neil was sent to prison for a month over the
theft of money from Robert Ramsden. The two men were in each other's
company at the pub one Thursday morning and Ramsden offered to buy a
round of drinks. He took out his purse and, as he was already drunk,
O'Neil helped put the purse back in to Ramsden's pocket. However, he
was seen by Richard Marriot, who was also present, to take something
out of the purse. When challenged he threw two half-crown coins on to
the floor. The case hinged on Marriot's evidence. Ramsden was not
only too drunk to remember the incident but he was still too drunk to
give evidence in court two days' later.
The Fisherman's Hut was
let to William Sanderson in 1853. Sanderson was born in Warrington in
1803. He was a cabinet-maker by trade but he already had some
experience of appearing in front of the magistrates. In 1845 he had
been fined 5 shillings and ordered to pay 14 shillings costs after he
committed an indecent assault on a woman named Mrs Seddon on Great
Moor Street and “exposing his person before her” [Bolton
Chronicle, 24 May 1845]. He was also fined 5 shillings in 1851 but
this time for selling goods on Bradshawgate at a place not appointed
for market purposes. In those days Bradshawgate was around 16 feet
more narrow than today and traders would line the street with their
wares often causing what can only be described as a nineteenth
century traffic jam. Even so, his 5 shilling fine was the same as he
received for an indecent assault. Such inconsistencies were not uncommon in Victorian times.
By 1851 Sanderson was
living in lodgings near Shipgates, but he entered the pub trade
shortly afterwards and took over the tap room of the Ship Inn
on Bradshawgate. Tap rooms were often like a pub within a pub. They
aimed at a lower class of customer than the main rooms and were only
reached by a separate entrance. The bar now known as Barristers
on Bradshawgate was the tap room of the Swan Hotel in the 19th
century and for much of the 20th century.
Sanderson was back in
front of the magistrates again after taking over at the Fisherman's
Hut. In January 1855 he was found guilty of “harbouring bad company
and prostitutes” at his pub and fined 20 shillings plus costs.
He was back in court
again in January 1856 this time accused of a much more serious
offence. In September 1855 a carter named Roger Walsh was followed
from Oxford Street into Old Hall Street by three men. He was attacked
and his cart robbed but his cries attracted the attention of a number
of passers-by and the three men were eventually arrested for the
robbery. One of the men was William Sanderson's son John. A week
before the case came to trial Daniel Seddon, a horse dealer, went to
Tottington where Walsh was living and brought him to the Fisherman's
Hut. Sanderson was accused of offering Walsh £3 if he withdrew his
evidence against John Sanderson and it was alleged he sent Walsh away
to Liverpool for the duration of the trial. William Sanderson and
Daniel Seddon were later arrested and charged with dissuading and
preventing a witness bound over from giving evidence. Walsh's failure
to appear in court meant the case against John Sanderson and the
other two men collapsed. However, a warrant was out for Walsh's
arrest and after he returned to the area he gave police information
leading them to William Sanderson and Daniel Seddon. Sanderson and
Seddon were sent for trial at the assizes in Liverpool; however, no
evidence was offered against them and they were set free. Seven years
later, John Sanderson was charged with stealing a looking glass from
his father's shop in Bank Street. The report at the time [Bolton
Chronicle, 31 January 1863] pointed out that he had three convictions
against him and had spent a total of six years in jail. Despite
William Sanderson's plea for leniency John Sanderson was jailed for
three months.
William Sanderson's
time at the Fisherman's Hut came to an end in the summer of 1856.
Jane McCann, “a young woman of immoral habits” according to the
Bolton Chronicle of 16 August that year, was accused of stealing 5
shillings from John Warbrick, whose company she had kept one
afternoon at the pub. Warbrick fell asleep but he was awoke by a
young man who asked him if he was missing anything. He put his hand
in his pocket and found that his money had gone. He told a police
officer but when Jane McCann was arrested no money was found on her.
The case was dismissed and Warbrick was advised by magistrates to
keep better company.
However, the police
used the case to take the opportunity to bring William Sanderson to
court once again and he was charged with “keeping a house of ill
fame.” John Warbrick and two police officers were called as
witnesses. Sanderson was found guilty and fined 10 shillings with 18
shillings costs. Later that month, the pub was up to let. William
Sanderson moved to 6-8 Bank Street where he worked as a beerseller
and cabinet maker. The Fisherman's Hut limped on for a couple more
years and after being advertised to let once again in January 1858 it
disappears from the records.
There is no indication
as to where the Fisherman's Hut was situated on Churchgate. However,
just as the pub closed in 1858 another pub, the Concert Tavern,
opened at 28 Churchgate. Given that most of the drinking
establishments on Churchgate were long-established public houses not
many beerhouses came and went. It could be that licensee Thomas
Worsley simply took over the Fisherman's Hut and renamed it the
Concert in a bid to disassociate it from its past. The Concert lasted
until 1908 when it closed and was incorporated into the entrance of
the revamped Grand Theatre.
"James Simpson was
brought up for taking a basket from the beerhouse of William
Sanderson, Churchgate, on Tuesday night. He had had some drink and
stated to the magistrates that he had been asleep and was “duzzy”
and that he did not intend to steal the article. The complainant had
got the basket and was satisfied. The prisoner was discharged." -
Bolton Chronicle, 4 February 1854.
