Address: 10, Water Street, Chorley
The Swan Hotel was reputed to be the oldest Inn in Chorley town centre dating back well into the 1700's. Freemasonry has existed in Chorley since the establishment of Atholl Lodge No. 238 and records show that they met at the Swan in 1788. It was situated at the top of Water Street in the shadow of St. Lawrence's parish church; Water Street used to be the main route into the town from the north.
There is some confusion locally about whether the Swan with Two Necks (see later page) was the original Swan Hotel, although one of the pictures below proves without doubt that they were separate buildings. However, that said, the Swan Hotel was also referred to as the Swan with Two Necks on some directories and clearly its name lived on when the new pub opened in the 1980's.
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| 1835 Directory of Chorley |
Listed landlords were Thomas Hindle (1793-1801), Robert Worsley (1818), J Bentley (1822), Henry Bennett (1824), Thomas Withnell (1835-39), John Booth (1841), John Lancaster (1851), Daniel Stansfield (1861), John Lancaster (1865), Richard Brinson (1871), John Lancaster (1872-76), Mary & Alice Lancaster (1879), James Wearden or Worden (1881), James Wearden or Worden (1882-85), William Walmsley (1885-), James Mould (1889-91), Peter O'Malia (1901), Mary Alice Lesford (-1908), William Harling (1908-11), John Yates (-1915), Annie Louise Yates (1915-21), Edmund Parry (1924) and John Wilson (1936-40).
John Lancaster was a brewer and ran the John Lancaster & Co. Brewery (aka The Swan Brewery) listed between 1861 and 1882, which was situated at No.2 Hollinshead Street opposite the Swan Hotel.
He also ran the Swan for a number of years in the mid-1800's as records below show.
John Lancaster was a brewer and ran the John Lancaster & Co. Brewery (aka The Swan Brewery) listed between 1861 and 1882, which was situated at No.2 Hollinshead Street opposite the Swan Hotel.
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| 1874 Mannex Directory |
He also ran the Swan for a number of years in the mid-1800's as records below show.
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| Looking up towards Hollinshead Street from the site of the Swan Hotel c.2015 (now a car park) |
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| 1841 Census |
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| 1851 Census |
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| The Swan Hotel (right) looking up Water Street |
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| 1861 Census |
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| Preston Chronicle 21 August 1861 |
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| 1871 Census |
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| The Swan Hotel (right) next door to an Edwardian residence that became the new Swan (with Two Necks) in the 1980's |
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| 1881 Census |
Wm. Hodson was fined 2s and costs for being drank on the premises of Swan Inn, Chorley. Permitting Drunkenness — At Police Court, Tuesday, James Warden, landlord of tbe Swan Inn, Water-street, was summoned.
03 July 1885 - Wigan Observer and District Advertiser
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| Preston Chronicle 26 September 1885 |
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| The Swan Hotel from Facebook "Chorley Then & Now" Paul Topping |
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| Preston Chronicle 04 July 1885 |
Baptism: 10 Jan 1890 St George, Chorley, Lancashire, England
George Brown Mould - [Child] of James Mould & Mary
Born: 17 Sep 1889
Abode: Swan Hotel water St. Chorley
Occupation: Mineral Water Manufacturer
Baptised by: H. Ctian Young
Register: Baptisms 1887 - 1897, Page 76, Entry 604
Source: LDS Film 1526078
Born: 17 Sep 1889
Abode: Swan Hotel water St. Chorley
Occupation: Mineral Water Manufacturer
Baptised by: H. Ctian Young
Register: Baptisms 1887 - 1897, Page 76, Entry 604
Source: LDS Film 1526078
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| 1891 Census |
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| Water Street c.1900 |
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| 1901 Census |
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| Lancashire Evening Post 22 May 1901 |
I suspect that the Swan was taken over in 1901 by Mary Alice Lesford who was originally from Crook near Shevington and together with her husband James had been running the Station Inn, Heapey in the precending years and on her own following James' death in 1896.
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| 1896 Burial Record for James Lesford |
St Lawrence's Parish Church
Marriage on 03-Aug-1908
William Harling (29) Bachelor Platelayer of 15 Harper's Lane Chorley
(Father John Harling (deceased) Labourer)
Mary Alice Lesford (41) Widow Hotel Keeper Swan Hotel Chorley
(Father William Holland Contractor)
Witnesses: Henry Birchall, Eliza Ellen Bassnett
Banns D.S. Rennard
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| 1911 Census |
On 6th August 1914 the ‘Chorley Terriers’ (D Company of the 1st / 4th Battalion [Territorial Force], Loyal North Lancashire Regiment) marched off to War: the landlord of the Swan in 1911, William Harling was among them having enlisted in the Terriers to fight for his country on the battlefields of Europe.
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| Chorley Terriers 1914 |
It appears that after William Harling left to fight in WW1 the Swan Hotel was taken over by John and Annie Louise Yates but tragically their tenure was cut short following John's untimely death in 1915.
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| 1915 Probate Record |
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| 1921 Census Annie Louise Yates |
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| 1924 Directory |
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Lancashire Evening Post 15 April 1940 |
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| Water Street 1975 Culverting the River Chor, Chorley |
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| The Swan Hotel (right) looking up Water Street |
Mary Alice Lesford is described as Hotel Keeper at the Swan Hotel when she married William Harling at St. Laurence's on 3 August 1908. He was only a platelayer, so probably a good move for him!
ReplyDeleteWe are researching my mother's family and have records of her grandparents John and Annie Louise Yates living and seemingly owning the Swan hotel in Chorley. We would be grateful for any information you can give especially regarding dates of tenure. We know they were there in 1915 when John Yates died and in 1916 when Annie received news of the death of her son Samuel on the Somme. Thank you. Ann Arnold
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I can't really add much detail to what you already have Ann. The Swan was owned bhy Whittle Springs Brewery at the time your great grandparents were there, so I assume they were tenants. The previous landlord William Harling signed up to fight in WW1 in 1914 so I imagine John and Annie moved in then and were only there a year or so. What a tragic couple of years for Annie losing her husband and son.
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