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16

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16, High Street. (The ‘George & Dragon’)

The ‘George & Dragon’ stood on the corner of High Street and Union Lane and was part of the chain of public houses owned by the Lynn brewers W & T Bagge.

William Rowe, the licensee in 1822, was here for some 15 years, but this term was greatly exceeded by William Blanchflower who was licensee for about 30 years.

Alfred Jermyn bought the premises from Mr. Bagge in 1884 and, with No.15, it became the furniture department of his big store. Nos. 15 and 16 were demolished in 1887 and a new furniture department was built.

c1822-c1839 (William Rowe) (Mary Rowe)

The ‘George & Dragon’ is listed here in White’s Directory for 1836, when William Rowe was in his final year as licensee, having been here since at least 1822 when listed in Pigot’s Directory. Apparently he died some time between 1836 and 1837 and it would seem that his widow Mary Rowe took over the running of the pub for a year or two.

c1839-c1846 (Timothy Wright)

By 1839, the licensee was Timothy Wright and he was here up until about 1846, when he was listed in Kelly’s Post Office Nine Counties Directory. In 1841, he was living on the premises with his wife, Mary, 50, and their children James, 20, and Eliza, 15. He may have died in 1849, aged 60.

c1850-c1881 (William Blanchflower)

William Blanchflower, born in East Dereham in about 1810 was the next licensee, taking over in about 1850, when he was listed here in Slater’s Directory. He stayed for some 30 years. In 1851, he was living here with his wife, Charlotte and their children, aged between 13 and 9 months. They had eight children:-

1) William (b. c1838). 2) Charlotte (b. c1839 – m. Robert Orviss in 1866 – d. 1921, aged 82). 3) Eliza Elizabeth (b. c1840/1). 4) Thomas (b. c1842). 5) Dennis – a steam engine fitter (b. 1843/4 – m. Harriet E. Leggett in 1866). 6) Edward – an army QMS (b. c1846). 7) Frederic (b.1847 – died in infancy). 8) Frederick – an engine fitter (b. 1850 – m. Elizabeth Frost in 1873).

William’s wife Charlotte died in September 1863, aged 51, and he married again the following year. His bride was Elizabeth Ehret and they married in London. They had a son, Leonard, born in 1866, who became a railway accounting clerk.

William was listed as a publican and tobacconist in 1871. He was still at the George & Dragon in 1881, aged 65 but was listed in the 1883 directory as a tobacconist at 7, St. James Street. In 1891, William, now aged 75 and still at St. James Street, was recorded as a retired farmer.

Elizabeth was a tobacconist in 1891 but she died in 1896, aged 67. William died in 1908 at the age of 95.

William’s eldest daughter Charlotte married Robert W. Orviss, a dentist in 1866 and they were living in Purfleet Street in 1871. By 1881 they had moved to All Saints Street. They had five children, all born in Lynn.

Eliza Elizabeth Blanchflower married William George (born West Winch c1837) and moved to St. Pancras in London, where their first son William Henry was born in 1859/60. William was working as a wood carver at that date but in the following ten years the family moved to Liverpool and then to Lambeth, where William worked as a messenger. He then took a job as a blind maker’s assistant and had his own business in Fulham by 1891.

Eliza George died in 1913, aged 72, and William died in 1921, aged 85.

Thomas Blanchflower married Elizabeth Newman from Sunderland in 1863/4, where he worked as a shipwright. Thomas and Elizabeth were still in Sunderland in 1881, when he was working as a joiner. Thomas died in 1892 aged 50, and Elizabeth died in 1906 aged 72.

Dennis Blanchflower married Harriet Elizabeth Leggett (b. 1842 in Lynn) in 1866. For most of his working life he was a steam engine fitter for the Great Northern Railway Company in Doncaster.

Edward Blanchflower joined the army and served in the Royal Engineers. His first wife, Sarah, was born in Ireland and they had five children born in Kent and Bermuda: Emily Elizabeth (1876 Kent), Florence (c1879 Bermuda), Edward Charles (1880/1 Kent), Percy Clement (c1886 Kent) and Eva May (1887 Kent). Sarah died in 1890, aged 37, and Edward married Laura Elizabeth Lewis (born 1869 in Kent) the following year. They had four children: Cecil (1893 Kent), Gladys (1894 Kent), Ernest (c1896 Jamaica) and Jack (1903/4 Brixton). Edward retired as a quartermaster with the R.E. in November 1902 with the rank of Honorary Captain.

Frederick, a train driver in 1871, married Elizabeth Frost from Watton in 1873 and they had one daughter, Elizabeth Harriet, born in 1874 in Lynn. Frederick was still in Lynn in 1881, employed as a steam engine driver at a saw mill, but had moved to Stratford, West Ham by 1891 and was working as a locomotive fitter for the Great Eastern Railway Company in 1911.

Leonard Blanchflower became a railway accounts clerk and was boarding at 16 Valingers Road in 1911, aged 44 and single.

c1882-1884 (Frederick Scott)

The last licensee of the ‘George & Dragon’ was Frederick Scott who took over in about 1882 and is listed here in Kelly’s Directory for 1883. He advertised in the local newspaper ‘Select musical entertainment every evening’.

Frederick was born c1852 in London and married Robina Emily Hammond in Lynn in 1874. Robina, born 1852/3 in Burnham Westgate, was the daughter of bricklayer Alfred Hammond and his wife Emily Booer, whom he had married in 1847.

In 1881, Frederick, working as a publican, and Robina were living at 114, Marshland Road, Walsoken in Norfolk. He must have taken over at the ‘George & Dragon’ in about 1882 but had to leave soon after the High Street fire of 1884 when the premises were bought by Alfred Jermyn from Mr. Bagge. Frederick became licensee of the ‘Duke of Fife’ in St. James Street. He and Robina had three children, all born in Lynn:-

1) Alice Robina (b. 1875/6). 2) George Frederick (b. 1885). 3) Frederica Violet (b.1888).

Frederick died in 1892, aged 41, and Robina remarried two years later.

It would appear that the premises survived the fire of 1884 (see Appendix 1), although the next door shop of Tom Andrews the butcher, at No.15, was badly damaged. In 1887, Alfred Jermyn demolished Nos. 15 & 16 and built a new furniture department. The architect was William Adams, who had designed the new drapery store at Nos. 12 to 14 (see Nos. 12 to 16, High Street).