The Hit and Miss Beerhouse Thurleigh

The Hit and Miss about 1925 [WL800/3]

The countywide licensing register of 1876 states that an unnamed beerhouse, which we know from other sources later became the Hit and Miss, was owned by Robert Parrott of Shefford. It also states that the property was first licensed in 1869. This statement, however, may be suspect as directories tell us that Edward Green, a shopkeeper, was a beer retailer as early as 1847 and it seems at least possible that the George Green listed in the 1876 directory was his son.

The property was later bought by Bedford brewer Thomas Jarvis, whose business was bought by Charles Wells in 1917. The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. This shows us that the Hit and Miss was at today's 1 High Street [DV1/C73/19] though it had closed in 1925 [PSS3/3].

The owner was then J. Downs and the occupier J. Matthews who paid rent of £1/6/8 per quarter for two parlours, two kitchens, a scullery, four bedrooms, a cellar, a washhouse, a stable, a cart shed, a wood barn and a bicycle shed. The valuer commented: "Big place was pub, lot of wasted room".

1 High Street January 2015

Sources:

• PSS3/1: Register of Alehouse Licences - Sharnbrook Petty Sessional Division: c.1901;
• PSS3/2: Register of Alehouse Licences - Sharnbrook Petty Sessional Division: c.1903;
• PSS3/3: Register of Alehouse Licences - Sharnbrook Petty Sessional Division: 1904-1930;
• WL800/3: photograph: c. 1925

List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list. Italics indicate licensees whose beginning and/or end dates are not known:

1847-1854: Edward Green (and shopkeeper);
1864-1877: George Green (and bricklayer);
1891: John Walker;
1898: Alfred Flute;
1901-1919: Robert Barnes;
1919-1925: Martha Elizabeth Barnes
Closed 1925