Harry Manning's death certificate PDF came through earlier. Place of death given as 'Ancient Briton Beerhouse, Alma Street' which I thought rather an old-fashioned term for 1906 - 'beerhouse'. At least I know for certain which pub it was.
A beerhouse was not a pub as we know it but a normal house that some one could brew their own beer and sell it for consumption in their own house Code: http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/beerhouse.html
I think the above definition of a beerhouse was correct when they were originally introduced, they being alllowed to sell only beer (and I think cider), and no wines or spirits. However many were expanded and sometimes rebuilt completely to give what one would normally consider to be a pub, but with the same restrictions as to what they could sell
ANCIENT BRITON 68, Alma Street, Heath Town, WEDNESFIELD OWNERS LICENSEES Mary Griffiths [1881] – [1891] George Sadler [1896] Mrs. Annie Drinkwater [1904] NOTES It had a beerhouse license. 1881 Census 68, Alma Street – ANCIENT BRITON [1] Mary Griffiths (54), widow, publican, born Fordhouses; [2] Frederick Griffiths (18), son, blacksmith, born Wolverhampton; [3] Harriet E. Griffiths (16), daughter, domestic servant, born Wolverhampton; [4] Thomas Griffiths (12), son, scholar, born Wolverhampton; [5] Thomas Cooper (4), grandson, born Princes End: 1891 Census 68, Alma Street – ANCIENT BRITON [1] Mary Griffiths (66), widow, beerhouse keeper, born Wolverhampton; [2] Thomas Griffiths (23), son, railway labourer, born Wolverhampton; [3] Thomas Cooper (13), grandson, printer, born Wolverhampton: George Sadler, beer retailer, 68, Alma Street. [1896] Mrs. Annie Drinkwater, beer retailer, 68, Alma Street. [1904] From Code: http://www.longpull.co.uk/HBCPdownloads/HBCP%20Wednesfield%202.pdf
He was a brewer. In 1891 Harry was at the Coach & Horses on Snow Hill, where his occupation is simply described as 'Boots', ie, a boot puller! Poor Harry. He'd always worked in pubs, gone from Boots to Billiard Marker, to finally learning the art of brewing - got his own pub, finally achieving his dream, and then died soon afterwards. Life is meant to begin at forty, but not for poor Harry. Have read the Longpull site at length in recent weeks and have come across Mrs Drinkwater - it made me smile as my g-uncle's pub was nicknamed The Long Pull (the Masonic, in Runcorn) because the barmaids had to draw beer up four floors from the cellar to the room at the top. But, I digress.
It appears that the brewery tried to renew the beerhouse's licence straight after Harry's death but were refused, and after dropping an appeal the inn closed. Makes me think it may have been a bit of a dive.
