615 White Lion Inn, Grange Hill, West Kirby
I asked in The White lion about the history of the place as couldnt find much on the internet,Derek the old barmain gave me the following info and said one of the bar staff researched it.
1827 John Croxon of West Kirby a farmer,is granted two parcels of land threw Act of Parliament.Two years later he sold the land to John Brown yeoman, of Grange,West Kirby for the sum of £20.
1831 John Brown leases one parcel of land measuring 32 parcels {968 sq yards},to Samuel Richardson ,a gentleman.The lease is for one year and the price is two shillings of "lawful English money" and one peppercorn to be paid at termination.The next day,Samuel Richardson buys the land from John Brown for £30 "of lawful English money"!
1838 Samuel Richardson sells the land to George Booth,shoemaker,who lives at 56 Hill Houses,West Kirby for £65.
Unlike previous owners,George Booth appears to regard the property as a place to establish a home for him and his family,rather than a short term investment.He quickly sets about building a house and other buildings on the land.
1880 on the 4th June,George Booth bequeths the property to his son Henry Booth and two daughters,Margaret Booth and Ann Barlow.Each recieves a dwelling house and land.
1891 Margaret Booth bequeths her property to her brother Henry.On this occasion it is referred to as the "lion Inn"-the first time a public house is mentioned in the deeds.
1892 Ann Barlow sells her property to Henry for £190.
1904 Henry bequeths all of his property including "White Lion" and two cottages to his wife for all her life,and afterwards to be devided among his six children.In June the Booth family sells the "White Lion Inn" and two dwelling houses to The Birkenhead Brewery Company for £3200.The brewery changes to Threlfalls in 1968 and becomes part of Whitbread {West Pennine}in 1971.
1974 On 28 January,Whitbread sells at auction "The White Lion Inn" and two cottages to Margaret Richardson-the present owner for £16,750.
Great info debs.
Oh, to buy a pub and two cottages for £16,750 now!
Well done Debs, I hope you bought Derek the old barman a pint, you will have made Derek the old wiki pub poster happy for contributing that info to his thread.
For a time in the 1970's and early 80's the White Lion made newspaper headlines for being possibly the only pub in Britain to ban men!
...wasn't the whole pub, just the games room.
Thank you, if Debs is correct then they have their dates wrong.
Perhaps there was an earlier White Lion Inn near by which dated back further. Daresay, the archives will have records of licensed premises for the area.
I can think of loads of old Wirral pubs which claim long histories but most of them have been rebuilt or re-located at some point (even if they only moved a short distance). For example, the Cheshire Cheese in Wallasey Village, or The Boot Inn in Liscard.
Just a thought.
Perhaps Debs needs to go and see the barman again.
Thanks,and yeah i thought that,imagine how much thier worth now.
I had seen this info but i dont know which one is correct.The barman,Derek just gave me a print out of what a barmaid had researched so couldnt tell you if its correct.
If any of you guys have never visited the White Lion you should give it a try,its a lovely old authentic pub.
If any of you guys have never visited the White Lion you should give it a try,its a lovely old authentic pub.
Haven't been in there for a few years. Always seemed rather dark inside and a wee bit claustrophobic for my liking but nice enough and a pretty decent pint. Liked the little beergarden at the back. Always a welcome stop after walking the Wirral Way.