Wheatsheaf license renewal (1917)

Post date: May 13, 2014 2:34:19 PM

Extract from Kent messenger of 10th March 1917 reporting on Malling licensing sessions

WHEATSHEAF BEERHOUSE,

WATER­INGBURY.

Sergt. Everett said that this house, situated in Pysenwell, Wateringbury, was a very small, old fashioned structure. The only public accom­modation it possessed was a taproom and bar parlour. The Duke, a fully licensed house, which was 484 yards away, belonged to the same owners¹. There were nine licenses in the parish, or one for every 137 persons². In witness’s opinion the Wheatsheaf was not required.

P.O. White agreed with the previous witness.

Rd.[?] W. Huggett⁴, the tenant, asked for the renewal, as he said he was doing “a nice trade.”

The Clerk: What is your trade?

Witness; I am doing a barrel and half per week, but things are down, now, sir, I want

the renewal because I think better times are coming presently.

The license was referred.³

Notes:

1. Both were owned by Jude Hanbury.

The Good Intent, very close to the Wheatsheaf, had been closed in 1911.

2. In 1901 (Paul Jennings The Local p. 167) the national average was 1 for every 316 people, 'down' from 1 for every 192 people in 1869.

3. Referral was to a further bench of magistrates and, under the Licensing Act of 1904, was mandatory in the case of all refusals to renew a license on grounds that it was not required by public. The bench, if ot determined that the decision should stand was to determine how much compensation should be paid. The compensation came out of a fund financed by the trade through a levy on licensed premises. ((Paul Jennings The Local p. 173).

4. Richard Huggett had replaced Henry Gunner as the tenant according to the licensing register (attached to Alcohol Licenses (1913-17): beerhouses.)

Although during WWI the government tried to curb excess drinking this was mainly done through reduced opening hours, weaker beer and higher duty than closure of premises.

The Wheatsheaf was previously known as the Barley Mow and was the meeting point for discontented agricultural labourers in the previous century.