Black Bull

Name: The Black Bull

Address: 40 (later 56) Market Street, Chorley, Lancashire 

Williams Deacon Bank / The Black Bull 

The original Black Bull in Chorley was at no.20 Market Street, the site of the current town hall and existed until about 1815 when it changed its name to The Gillibrand Arms.  

Gillibrand Arms

Manchester Mercury 07 April 1767

Manchester Mercury 11 June 1799

Its successor was first recorded in the directories from 1818 onwards and was initially listed at no.40 Market Street but as the town expanded and more properties were built in the town it was to be relisted as no.56.  

Manchester Mercury 22 March 1803

At some time between 1865 and 1871 the business closed and the building was taken over by the Williams Deacon Bank as pictured above.

Manchester Mercury 01 April 1806

Listed landlords at the Black Bull were James Bamber (1767), David Fairbrother (1793), Thomas Barton (1799-1803), William Rainford (1804-06), William Cotterall (1809), John Holt (1810), Margaret and Thomas Holt (1818-1843), John Gerrard (1843-1851), Edward Kellett (1851-54), Ellen Kellett (1854-59), Richard Barnes (1859-61) and J Cheatle (1865).

Manchester Mercury 24 January 1809

Manchester Mercury 06 February 1810

Preston Chronicle 13 April 1839

1841 Census

John and Ann Gerrard took over at the Black Bull around 1844 having previously been at the Fox & Goose on Water Street.

John Gerrard

 Records show that they married in 1829 in Leyland.

Ann Ainsworth Gerrard nee Cort

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser 17 October 1846

Preston Chronicle 19 February 1848

Blackburn Standard 08 August 1849

1851 Census

Preston Chronicle 10 May 1851

In March 1851 at the time of the census Edward Kellett was residing in Tockholes with his wife Elizabeth and their seven children; he was the landlord of the Rock Inn.  Very shortly after this he must have moved to Chorley and taken over from John Gerrard at the Black Bull as the press cutting below confirms he was there by the end of May.

Preston Chronicle 24 May 1851

Burial: 4 Nov 1854 St George, Chorley, Lancashire, England

Edward Kellett - 

    Age: 50 years

    Abode: Chorley

    Buried by: J. Stock

    Register: Burials 1836 - 1900, Page 195, Entry 1557

    Source: LDS Film 1526078

As the above burial record confirms landlord Edward Kellett died in 1854 and was buried at St George's in Chorley.  The following year his daughter Mary Ann married Richard Barnes and he then took over running the Black Bull.

Marriage: 16 Apr 1855 St George, Chorley, Lancashire, England

Richard Barnes - full, Brass Foundry?, Bachelor, Wigan

Mary Ann Kellett - full, Spinster, Chorley

    Groom's Father: Richard Barnes, Brass Foundry?

    Bride's Father: Edward Kellett, Inn Keeper

    Witness: William Kellett; Elijah Barnes; Jane Kellett

    Married by Licence by: John Stock

    Register: Marriages 1853 - 1865, Page 32, Entry 63

    Source: LDS Film 1526078

Blackburn Standard 21 September 1859

1861 Census

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser 05 July 1862

Bolton Chronicle 12 April 1862

Preston Herald 30 January 1864

Preston Herald 02 July 1864

Preston Chronicle 19 August 1865

Preston Chronicle 25 August 1866

By the time of the 1871 census 56 Market Street was a bank; John Gerrard's wife Margaret, now a widow was still living nearby at no.42 and working as an ironmonger.  

The original building was later demolished but in its place was built the Royal Bank of Scotland premises pictured below, which were subsequently closed on 20th November 2018 and have now been converted to the town Post Office, another retail unit and flats. 

RBS, 56 Market Street, Chorley