THE DEVELOPMENT OF 'PUBLIC HOUSES'

IN HULL'S OLD TOWN

Kingston upon Hull, or simply Hull to the locals, was originally called Wyke upon Hull.  Before the foundation of Wyke, the land upon which it now stands formed part of the manor of Myton, although some recent archaeology may point to an iron-age settlement, this has not been confirmed.  It was located at the confluence of the River Hull and the Humber Estuary, which confluence in its early days was formed by a small delta, the township was located by one of the small waterways, and may have, from time to time have been forced to relocate occasionally.  The word 'Wyke' was originated by Vikings, it meant 'sheltered haven' and the same Norse word also provided the word 'Viking' too.  When the land was acquired by Meaux Abbey, some miles northwards, there were two Wykes; that of Holderness to the east of the River Hull, and that of Myton to the west.  Not listed in Domesday (1086), Wyke was first mentioned in monastic records in 1193 when various northern monasteries were required to contribute to the ransom of king Richard I.  The accumulated contributions, in the form of wool, were shipped from Wyke, a trading concern which had to have already been established at that date, and which continues today.  As a simple rule, where there are ships, there are sailors, and where there are sailors, there are those people and establishments ready to deprive them of any cash they might own (says the author from experience, being an old sea-dog himself!).  This by its self suggests that there were drinking houses in Wyke (Hull) from its earliest existence.   By the time of king John (1215), steps were being made to rationalise and standardise measures of ale, they were even enshrined in Magna Carta of that year.  

Towards the end of the 13^th century, by which time the monks of Meaux had dredged a safe channel, establishing once and for all time, the location of the township, the place had come to the notice of king Edward I, as having potential both as a base for his warlike intentions towards Scotland, and also as a sound business opportunity.  By 1293, several surveys had been conducted by royal officials, which established that Meaux Abbey, with up to 55 messuages (buildings or dwellings), 54 plots with 76 tenants, and a further 12 vacant plots, were the largest landowners.  The first royal payment to buy out the abbey was made on 31^st January 1293, and within weeks, royal patronage became apparent with the granting of licenses for both markets and fairs, provision was also made for the construction of the King's Staith (a means by a set of steps of loading or unloading ships).  In 1299, the town was granted its first royal charter by which the town officially became known as King's Town upon Hull, which was quickly reduced to Kingston upon Hull.   It was during this time that the town acquired its street plan, typical of the 'new towns' of king Edward, they were laid out in a grid fashion, much of which still exists.  Less than 100 years later, a charter given to the town in 5 Richard II (1382) provided the Mayor and Bailiffs with authority to 'have, make and exercise for ever the assize of bread, wine and ale, and of other victuals whatsoever, as well as the custody and assay of measures, weights and other things whatsoever pertaining to the said assize.'   This gave the town council the power to set prices for the included commodities, and the power to punish transgressors.  It proves beyond doubt that the sellers of wines and ales made a living in the town.  It should be noted at this point that 'ale' was, according to the OED, an alcoholic liquor obtained by the fermentation of malt.  Beer, on the other hand was, alcoholic liquor obtained by the fermentation of malt with hops.  This latter was a later development, which not only flavoured the beverage, but made it stronger, and lengthened its 'shelf life'.  Of those early establishments little or nothing is recorded, although noble families and religious houses were expected to provide hospitality for travellers, and early inns may have originated from such places.  The earliest recorded hostelry is mentioned in a document dated 28^th August 1391 (D 169), wherein is included 'tenement of John Tutebury near Whytehors (sic)'  The White Horse Inn on Market Place, survived in some form until about 1778, but White Horse Yard, survived well into the 19^th century.  The Yorkshire Archaeological Society's Index of Wills contains several references to beer (ale) brewers in Hull during the 15^th and 16^th centuries dates include 1459 to 1533.   

An Act of Parliament, 4/5 Edward VI Cap. XXV (1552) 'For keepers of alehouses and tippling houses to be bound by recognisance' was introduced.  It was seemingly felt necessary because according to the Act, 'forsomuch as intolerable hurts and troubles to the common wealth of this realm doth daily grow and increase through abuses and disorders as are had and used in common ale houses and other houses called tippling houses.'  This Act empowered local justices of the peace to decide how many houses they needed within their appointed jurisdiction, and to remove those that were deemed surplus.  Those that were allowed had by the new law, to provide recognisances, or, assurances that they would not permit unlawful gaming or disorderly conduct.  Any misdemeanours would lead to fines and other punishments.  It was also ordered that the location of all such 'licensed' houses should be recorded at the nearest following quarter sessions.   The following year, 1553, further legislation limited the number of taverns permitted to retail wine to four.  Some sources indicate that this was later raised to five, but records of quarter sessions would suggest that no such increase occurred.  After this there are only scant records, a situation which did not improve until the 17^th century, and then the increase was but nominal.  The first Trade Directories were published towards the end of the 18^th century which provided further insight into the licensed victualling trade, and while those works are helpful, they are far from complete, offering but clues to the titles and addresses of the large assortment of houses, of which only the most prosperous and salubrious were included.  This situation was not resolved until the Trade Directories of the last quarter of the 19^th century when almost all licensees and their houses and addresses were properly laid out, taking away any final uncertainty.  By backtracking such directories, it is possible to trace back the locations of a number of houses, thereby establishing them at a much earlier date.

The first Post Boy service carrying mails on horseback began operating between York and Hull in the same year as the Spanish Armada, 1588, possibly not a coincidence, as that damaged fleet struggled to get a northing to escape their pursuers of the English navy, two vessels of which were furnished by Hull.  The 'Haste Post Haste' is reported to have travelled the 40 or so miles between York and Hull in as little as 12 hours!  Initially, this service would have used an inn as its Hull terminus, but to date the identity of it has escaped detection.  However, it began a tradition of inn use for the reception of mails which lasted into the 19^th century.  The Post Office itself was inaugurated in 1635, and the oldest surviving postal item relevant to Hull is a letter dated 1636. It is a request from the Post Office to the mayor of Hull, asking him to provide a horse always available for the usage of the Post Boy who provided the service between London and the North.

The town was divided into six wards as early as the 1440's, each ward represented in council by two aldermen, those wards were aligned more or less east/west, one upon the other with the originally named North ward north most, and the likewise named southernmost ward called Humber Ward.  It was not until the 2^nd quarter of the 19^th century that this arrangement was changed with the addition of further wards as the town began its expansion northwards and eastwards. 

The accession of James I to the throne of England brought about in his first parliament, an Act dated 1604 to 'restrain the inordinate haunting and tippling in inns, alehouses and other victualling houses..'  This Act was deemed necessary because 'the ancient, true and principal use of inns, alehouses and victualling houses was for the receipt, relief and lodging of wayfaring people travelling from place to place, and for the supply of the wants of such people as are not by greater quantities to make their provision of victuals, and not means for entertainment and harbouring of lewd and idle people to spend and consume their money and their time in lewd and drunken manner.'  It would seem that this was a national problem of considerable consequence, to the king at least, and his councillors.  The same Act stated that residents (of what ever place) were to be allowed to use inns &tc,, but only during very restricted hours and for very specific reasons.  The Bench Books of the town contain references to these laws and the attempts to comply, but the actual results to manage houses and their patrons seem, on a national scale, to have failed.   Only two years later, further legislation was en-Acted to reinforce the former and included this - 'for suppressing the odious and loathsome sin of drunkenness.'  It seems to be aimed more at the drinker than the provider, it said that ANY person found to be drunk was liable to a fine of 5 shillings for the first offence, rising to 6 hours in the stocks for the third.  The Act also states that 'the loathsome and odious sin of drunkenness is of late grown into common use within this realm, being the root and foundation of many other enormous sins, as bloodshed, stabbing, murder, swearing, fornication, adultery, and such like .. '   This is a passage that would not seem out of place even today, some 400 years later!  It continued '.to the great dishonour of God, and our nation, the overthrow of many good arts and manual trades, the disabling of diverse workmen, and the general impoverishing of many good subjects, abusively wasting the good creatures of God.'  In 1622, John Taylor, the Water Poet, paid a visit to the town and reportedly stayed at the King's Head Inn, High street.  His short stay at the inn was included in his eccentrically entitled work 'A Merry Wherry Voyage, or, York for My Money.'  Part of the passage reads 'Thanks to my lousing host and hostesse Pease; There at mine inn, each night I tooke mine ease; And there I got a cantle of Hull Cheese; ..'  Records and deeds have confirmed that there was an innkeeper, and his wife called Pease at the King's Head Inn, at about that time.  The reference to Hull Cheese might seem strange, but at that time, Hull brewed ale had acquired a reputation for its quality and its strength, and to partake of Hull Cheese was in effect, to get very drunk.  Such was the quality of Hull ale that it had been exported from the town for over a hundred years.  A document dated March 1629 contains instructions from the mayor to taverners and alehouse keepers warning them 'not to dress or eat or suffer to be dressed, killed or eaten in their houses any flesh during the time of lent or on the days prohibited by law.'  The same document includes the lists by ward of the licensed brewers, alehouse keepers and tipplers, in total there are 43 with the majority being in Whitefriar Ward.  A further such list survives from 1632, in which four inns and one tavern are separately included.  The taverner was Anne Bulmer in Humber Ward, and the innkeepers; Robert Barnard - Humber; James Robinson - Trinity; Anthony Iveson - Trinity; and John Little - also Trinity Ward.  The remaining 29 licensed houses therefore were either alehouses or tippling houses.  Another such survey dated 14^th March 1635 lists 39 licensed premises, of which 16 licenses were granted to women. 

In 1645, in the later stages of the English Civil War, the Bench Book for the 30^th September states 'Whereas it hath pleased almighty God to lay his heavy hand of affliction upon this town by visiting the same with ye infection of the plague it is ordered as follows..'  There then follows ten constraints of which only one or two are relevant here:-

'4 - That constables shall forthwith chare all taverners, innkeepers, alehouse keepers & tipplers not to suffer anie townsmen, soldiers or others to continue tippling in their houses.

5 - That constables shall charge all the inhabitants within their several wards that they forbear to tipple or drinke in any inne tavern ailhouse or tippling contrary to common law, upon pain to be severly punished.

9 - That ne dogs nor catts shall be suffered to remain within the towne ; but either removed or killed.'

The latter, while not relevant here, is indicative of sad conditions in the town while there was a visitation of the plague and seems more human than any list of casualties. 

The licensing lists continue to appear annually in the Bench Books until 1659, when the licensed houses able to retail wine were being operated by; Phillipp (sic) Fford (sic); Richard Mann; Thomas Saltmarch; and Thomas Boyes.  Of these, two houses can now be identified, they being the George Inn, George Yard, High Street, and the King's Head Inn, also on High Street.   The others can be guessed at with some safety, but to make any assumption, in any field of research can lead to monumental errors, so I will desist.  1664 was the year of the Restoration, and the end of the Commonwealth, the new king was far more liberal than had been the Puritans under Cromwell, and it can be said that people learned how to enjoy them selves once more.  A document (M 7449 [28] HCRO) dated 19^th December 1672 relates to the foundation of an innkeepers guild in the town, it begins: 'To the Honour of Almighty God: and tending to the good of the whole public of the town or borough of Kingston upon Hull, and for the better government, order, rule and direction of the INNHOLDERS now residing and dwelling, and hereafter to reside and dwell within the said town of Kingston upon Hull and the liberties thereof: at the humble and special insistence and request of William Riley, John Winspeare, John Ranlin, Joseph Towerson, Morgan Roberts and Elizabeth Boyes widow - - Men of the said company, occupation or fellowship of INNHOLDERS together with assent, consent, and approbation of the Right worshipful Thomas Johnson now Mayor of the said town of Kinston upon Hull, and the worshipful the aldermen his brethren and as well by virtue of several charters and letters patent heretofore granted and confirmed unto the mayor and burgesses of the said town of Kingston upon Hull as also according to ancient custom and usage, time out of mind of man; these orders and constitutions here underwritten were made constituted ordained established and agreed upon the Nineteenth day of the month of December in the four and twentieth year of the reign of our sovereign Lord Charles the second by the Grace of God king of England, Scotland, France and Ireland Defender of the Faith - anno domini 1672'  I make no apology for including such a master piece of 17^th century legalese, the syntax and punctuation have to be read to appreciate the use of the language.  The six people named must represent the pinnacle of the innkeepers trade in the town.  Elizabeth Boyes can be traced to the King's Head, High Street, and Joseph Towerson had the Cross Keys, Market Place.  One inn was called by its name within the document, the White Horse, Market Place, in particular, the 'Lorde's Chamber' therein named as the Guild's Hall;  and as William Riley is named Master and Warden of the society, he was likely the proprietor, it was the same place mentioned earlier in this narrative.  The others were likely the George Inn, George Yard; the Seven Stars, Mytonate; and the Reindeer, also on Market Place, all of which it can be proved by documentary evidence were trading by that time.   

Returning to the Mails briefly, in 1682, the diarist Samuel Pepys visited the town and during his stay he collected two parcels from the Post House.  No names are mentioned, but as the London mails arrived via Lincoln and Barton on the south bank of the Humber, thence by ferry, it seems likely that there was a post house inn close to the ferry landing place.  Indeed, old plans of the town clearly show the existence of a Post House Entry, such entries and yards often survived longer than the establishments they were named after, this particular one was at the southern end of High Street, very close to the Humber ferries landing place!  Similarly, the mails from York arrived via Beverley, and entered the town by means of the Beverley Gate, at the western end of Whitefriargate, logic says that there should have been a post house inn close by for the reception of the York mails.  Significantly or not, there was an inn there known by the sign of the Post Boy, from at least as early as the mid 1700's.

Between the 14^th March 1697 and the 4^th January 1705, there exists fragments from 'An account of the Names, Crimes and Punishments of such Persons as have been Prosecuted by ye Society for Reformation of Manners in Kingston upon Hull, together with ye Names of ye Persons which gave ye Informations and to Whom.'  Amongst the majority of entries, most of which are for swearing, there are 39 prosecutions for the keeping of disorderly houses, 46 for drunkenness, and several for 'whoring' and the like.   One example was Mary Batman who was prosecuted several times for keeping a disorderly house and for being a baud; at the same time her two daughters were several times prosecuted for whoring.  It seems therefore more than likely that Mary Batman was in fact running a brothel, that 'disorderly house' was then a euphemism for such establishments, and that her own two daughters were prostitutes at the place. While some readers might feel uncomfortable with such a topic, it has to be said that such trade was rife, it was almost acceptable to 'society' apart that is from those people which considered it demeaning and against the laws of God and nature.  It is a subject worthy of further research, it is said that at one time there were more than 200 brothels in the town, but without further investigation, these matters have to be rested.  An account of licensed premises taken in 1740 found there to be 103 houses within the six wards of the Old Town, it was later published in White's Strangers Guide in 1826.

Earlier annual licensing sessions became in 1729, Brewster Sessions, which were instituted nationally, enabling justices of the peace to regulate the granting of licenses.  Trade and industry increased in Hull as the industrial revolution began to take hold, both prosperity and population increased rapidly, and the Old Town became very congested.  1774 saw the removal of the old town walls and the beginning of the construction of Hull's first enclosed dock.  This enabled the expansion of the town northwards and westwards, the more prosperous of the population rapidly removed them selves and their families to the new Georgian suburbs which were to become George Street, Saville Street and the later Albion Street.  The departure of the 'great and good' from the Old Town led to an ever more populous, poverty stricken and squalid Old Town.  Pockets of 'respectability' remained, the exclusive coaching inns were all still there, and remained so until the arrival of the railways from Selby in 1840, some even longer.  Stagecoaches, the Royal Mail especially, bean running a service from Hull to York and visa versa in 1787.  Other services such as the Hull, York, Leeds stage and the Hull, Beverley, Scarborough stage had begun some ten years earlier.  The contracts for these coach services were very jealously guarded by those inns that had acquired them, such contracts were lucrative, with a guaranteed clientele.  There are recorded incidents of inns squabbling with each other to retain, or wrest contracts.  Coaches operated from different inns would literally race each other to prove their superiority, to the extent where fatalities of passengers or horses happened.  Such occurrences were reported in the local newspapers, and warnings issued in an attempt to curtail such careless activities.  For those travellers unable to afford the dubious luxury of coaches, there were carriers' wagons.  Such wagons were the mainstay of road transport, carrying goods and people on regular routes between cities, towns and villages.  As with their more extravagant consorts, wagons too used inns as termini and also as agents.  As turnpikes and other roads became more reliable, all manner of coaches began to appear, Morning coaches, Diligences, Light coaches, Fly coaches and Safety coaches all offered their services.  Private hire vehicles between centres of population were the almost ubiquitous Post-chaises, which were also offered at inns.  Stabling for all the horses required for these machines had to be provided, and it was not unusual for an inn in Hull to have stabling for forty horses or more.  In Hull too were the huge number of agents for the many maritime passenger services, with packet boats vying between Hull and most east coast ports, together with those venturing to continental Europe.  Most of the shipping agents had their offices at inns and taverns, which tended to be hard by the Old Harbour, which was along the river frontage of High Street.  The grander inns also provided their services when the need arose for public rooms to conduct such occasions as bankruptcy courts, itinerant shows and exhibitions and other civic functions.  Coffee houses became the focus for gentlemen's private clubs and societies, and they tended to be frequented too by farmers in town on market days.

The years 1791, 1792 and 1794 provide the researcher with the first trade directories, published by Battles and the Universal British Directories, these volumes at last begin to combine the titles of houses with an address and also the licensed victualler.  Though not always accurate enough to be relied upon independently, they do provide an excellent framework upon which further research can be draped, hopefully establishing a clearer and more faithful representation of things.  All the other available sources from newspapers, deeds, wills, and other legal documents need to be combined to verify even the most fundamental feature such as the title of the house, or its numerical address, both of which were prone to change over the years.  The means by which a house is called, is always referred to in legal documents thus: 'known by the sign of', so for example, the Golden Ball High Street, should, to be most accurate be referred to as the house or messuage known by the sign of the Golden Ball.  Inns in particular were required to hang a sign showing a representation of its title, on account that many of the population were illiterate.  It is not therefore unusual for the same house to have different names e.g. the Five Lions, Grimsby Lane was also the York Arms, on account that the coat of arms of York includes five lions!  Name changes also occurred occasionally when a new licensee was installed, or when there was some major military victory, Wellington, Nelson, Ship Victory, Vittoria, to name but some examples.  Care must be taken by the researcher not to get wrong-footed by these many pitfalls.

During the Napoleonic Wars, notice of an Act of Parliament was issued from the War Office in the pages of the local press in May 1800, listing the allowances to be granted to innkeepers for billeting soldiers and their horses, these were new arrangements, which cancelled all previous arrangements.  The new regulations, enforceable by law did not appeal to the landlords of the Neptune Inn, Whitefriargate, who objected on the grounds that the quartering of officers took up the rooms of paying customers!  Concurrent with these events were the activities of the press-gangs, or the Impress Service, so unpopular were these forced recruitment drives by Royal Naval officers and their men that local opposition occasionally turned into riotous gatherings requiring military intervention from the garrison to restore order, one such gathering was able to virtually demolish the inn then being used as the Impress rendezvous.   In 1807, another campaign was announced 'for the suppression of vice and immorality in this town and neighbourhood.'  Its aim was to curtail some of the more offensive activities conducted in drinking establishments, 'and that the principal evils against which it shall direct its efforts be, the profanation of the Lord's day, disorderly houses of every description, lewdness, drunkenness, and profane swearing.'  Somewhat ironically this righteous group found it necessary to meet at the George Inn Whitefriargate, one trusts that they consumed nothing other than non-alcoholic beverages!

The Alehouse Act of 1827 was the first attempt by government to rationalise all previous legislation into a single coherent policy.  The Act confirmed the maintenance of annual Brewster Sessions, to be held every August or September, and that there should be between four and eight annual special sessions for transfer of licenses.  It also made provision to ban licensees from adulterating liquors, and to ensure a national legal standard of measures; disorderly houses, drunkenness and unlawful gaming were prohibited and inns had to remain closed to all except travellers during the time of divine service on Sundays, Christmas Day and Good Friday.  It was mainly during the 19^th century that the true nature of many of the houses in the Old Town came to light.  Prostitution in all of its most basic and sordid forms was rife, and certain parts of the town became notorious, both for this aspect of life, and of crime.  Robbery, with or without violence was far from uncommon in areas such as that around Leadenhall Square and Manor Alley.  Disease brought about by prostitution, poverty and unsanitary living conditions, all of which were exacerbated by the consumption of large quantities of alcohol.  In 1847 for example, it was reported that 'Malt-kiln Entry - Blackfriagate, is also without a drain, and the houses being without spouts, in wet weather the yard is completely flooded.  The drainage in Belt Place and Mariner Court, Blackfriargate; Walker's Entry, Blue Bell Entry, and Barker's Court, High Street; in Theatre Court, leading from Finkle Street to sewer Lane; and in Fister's Court, the drains being too small, badly constructed or not communicating with the main drains ... The privy in No. 5 (Finkle street) is in a dreadful state; the water running from it flows under the bed of the poor woman residing at No. 6, completely saturating the partition wall.  A closet in Pier Street opens into a shed; the privies from a gallery above communicate with it.  At Dicken's Entry there are only five privies for fifty persons.  Many of the families residing in Queen's Square and Robson's Court complain of the midden stead and pig-sty in the same lane.  In one house in Martin's Alley, a pig is kept in the cellar.  A midden stead in Black Swan Yard, Mytongate, part of which oozes through the wall into Baker's Court, Blanket Row.'  None of this was unusual for many of the poorer residents of the Old Town; little wonder therefore that they tried to ease their discomfort in a haze of alcohol.  For many people, housing conditions were so bad that the only heat or artificial light available to them was that provided by public houses.  Added to those basic attractions was conviviality and entertainment, however illusory, those perceived attractions acted as irresistible magnets to many people.  In most cases though, such things only served to worsen their already distressed condition.  For the first quarter of the century the number of public houses remained much the same, it was not until the major housing developments began on the Anlaby, Hessle, and Beverley roads in the 1830's and beyond that the pressure began to ease slightly in the Old Town.

October 1830 a new Act was enabled which permitted the licensing of beer houses, in an attempt to draw customers away from spirituous liquors.  It meant that almost anyone could apply for such a license, and upon the granting of such they would be allowed to retail beer and cider only.  Beer house licenses were obtainable from the Excise on payment of two guineas, those wishing to sell beer to be consumed on the premises obtained Beer On licenses, while those that were for consumption off premises were called Beer Off licenses.  Normally small businesses, they were often set up in the front room of a dwelling or shop, lodging house or eating establishment.  They proliferated rapidly, but soon, many of them had to return to their previous trade.  Some simply closed down, while others were over time able to upgrade their license to that of an alehouse, capable of retailing all manner of beverages.  It was about this time that earlier dram shops, those houses which sold little else than spirits, began to decorate them selves inside and out with considerable ostentation, they became Gin Palaces.   Another development in a few houses was the installation of a stage to provide entertainments, originally called concert rooms; they soon became music halls.  The larger hotels in the Old Town still prospered, stage coaches still ran to outlying towns and villages, those places not yet connected to the expanding railway network, which had not arrived at Hull until 1840, when the town was linked to Selby, thence Leeds and York.  Newer hostelries were built to cater for the rail travellers, but they by necessity were not in the Old Town, as the rail terminus did not, nor could not terminate there.  The surviving hotels provided small premises, with a separate license for the use of locals, such premises were always located 'round the back' well out of sight and communication with the gentile clientele at the front door.  Such places were called taprooms, they were small, dark and dingy rooms often without seating, heating or lighting.   

In 1853, a new tool for the 'pub' researcher appeared.  It was the Ordnance Survey plan of the Old Town, and included every plot of land, and indicated the location of each and every public house.  Or, so it seems.  In fact, not all public houses were included, and there are also errors concerning some of the house names.  This goes to show that every aspect has to be verified, even such an august body as the Ordnance Survey can and did make mistakes 

The press reported in January 1864, the proceedings of a council meeting which had been convened to discuss the adoption of the Public House Closing Act.   It was an Act intended mainly for use within the capital, but local councils decided it was also applicable anywhere in the country.  The Act was made to make public houses close between the hours of 0100 and 0400.  During the meeting in Hull, which got decidedly heated, it was reported, one contributor said that a certain 12 or 15 houses were the 'frightful source of crime and disease.'  Another that they were responsible for some of the sights he'd seen, and went on to relate one such about a sailor 'who seemed to mistake the lamp-post before him for Flamborough Head, and was uttering various exclamations, the last of which he heard was something about being "Hard aground!"  Other speakers claimed the Act was an assault on civil liberties, but in the end, the Act was adopted, and closing hours began to appear in 'pub' life.

Yet another Act of Parliament was made law in 1872, the Licensing Act, which further defined and restricted activities within licensed premises, providing local authorities with the power to remove licenses if the infringement of the Act was severe enough.  It also defined intoxicating liquors to include 'spirits, wine, beer, porter, cider, perry, and sweets, and any fermented, distilled, or spirituous liquor which cannot, according to any law of the time being in force, be legally sold without license from the Commissioners of Inland Revenue.'  Offences within the Act included permitting drunkenness, keeping a disorderly house, permitting the premises to be used as a brothel, harbouring a police officer, gaming, and the adulteration of liquor.  Regarding the last, the ingredients used to add various effects to liquors, and considered 'deleterious to health' were also listed; some of them are to say the least, odd.  The entire list was as follows: 'Cocculus indicus, chloride of sodium, copperas, opium, Indian hemp, strychnine, tobacco, darnel seed, extract of logwood, salts of zinc or lead, alum, and any extract or compound of any of the above ingredients.'  Any person found guilty of adulterating intoxicating liquor could be sentenced for a first offence to a fine not exceeding £20 or one month's imprisonment. 

A work called HULL CELEBRITIES was published in 1876 purporting to be transcripts of ancient papers called the Johnson Manuscripts dating back to the 1600's.  It is a work full of the most amazing histories, except for one minor problem; it is almost entirely a fake!  Respectable antiquarians who were wise enough and knowledgeable enough to see through the spurious nonsense it contained soon exposed the forgery.  However, it still traps the unwary even today.  Time after time, it's influence can be detected, even in official histories, it is the worst enemy of the serious researcher.  So plausible are it's contents that they have been, and occasionally continue to be used as primary source evidence, however, it is a siren, it will lure the innocent and treat them with utter contempt.  For any would be local historian in the Hull area, look at it by all means, but remember to treat it for what it is, a deception, a fiction.

In October 1897, the Hull Times reported that: 'licensed victuallers are prohibited from selling spirits to children for consumption on the premises under 16 years of age, and that licensed vituallers are prohibited from selling any kind of liquor to children for consumption on the premises under 13 years of age.  I (the Chief Constable continued) am not aware from personal observation (having visited the whole of the ale and beer houses in the city) that the practice of providing steps is resorted to by licensees of this city, neither do they hold out any inducements to children to visit their houses by giving away of sweets, toys &tc.'  It would appear that such practices were used in other towns and cities, but as for it happening in Hull, one has to ask, how long does it take to remove a set of small steps when the whisper is given that the police are close by?

From the time of the Restoration in the 1660's, the number of houses had steadily increased within the Old Town, but as the new restrictive Acts of Parliament began to bite, numbers began to drop.  This was speeded up dramatically by the introduction of the Balfour Closure and Compensation Act of 1905.  The Act permitted local councils to reduce the number of licenses in the Old Town by means of offering breweries, which by now most public houses were tied the choice of exchanging a license in the Old Town, for a new public house built in the ever growing Edwardian suburbs.  Any such public house closed by this mechanism could claim compensation payable either to the licensee or to the brewery to which the 'pub' was tied.   The effect on the Old Town was dramatic, the council's plans for the cleaning up of the Old Town were underway, derelict properties were being cleared, and the population of the area was moving away.  As the 20^th century continued, slum clearances began, many of the inhumane courtyards were brought down, their people moved to more sanitary dwellings further out of town.  As the population declined, so the trade for public houses declined in ratio, however, while people moved out, businesses moved in, solicitors, shops, and slaughter houses took the place of poor housing.  Eventually, the only custom for licensed premises was the workers, who had but a few hours at most to spend away their wages on drink.  Consequently, the number of 'pubs' fell yet further.  Then the Second World War happened, the German air raids of May 1941 in particular devastated the Old Town, fires spread rapidly among the many old timber framed, but Georgian fronted buildings and warehouses, by the end of the air raids, the last of which was in March 1945, there remained little left standing.  As far as the all-powerful breweries were concerned however there was a silver lining for those that had lost premises due to enemy action with the introduction of the License Planning Agreement.   Effectively, it allowed those breweries that had lost premises to acquire new ones without competition from other breweries, and the relocation of licenses from the bombsites to locations in the rapidly being built housing estates. 

Worse devastation (to the author's mind) happened in the 1960's and 1970's, when what little of the Old Town that remained, was demolished, those few public houses that had survived, some, such as the Tivoli Hotel on Mytongate, formerly the Seven Stars Inn of the 17^th century were pulled down wantonly in the name of progress, ripping the heart and heritage out of the town.  It is ironic to think that currently, the trend is to cram as many licensed premises into the Old Town as possible.  Every building large enough, from banks to post offices has been converted and granted a drinks license.  Nor do they, the council, seem to want to stop adding new licenses, what a very great shame that the various Planning Committees did not have the foresight or maybe the inclination to retain some of the very buildings they had so recently destroyed with apparent glee.  They would have been able then, to have preserved for the town and city as a whole a sense of continuity, identity and history, which today they (the Council) seem so determined to rediscover.  Too late!!