The Dolphin Public House Leighton Buzzard

The Dolphin about 1900

The Dolphin Public House: corner of Hockliffe Road and Beaudesert, Leighton Buzzard

The Bedfordshire Magazine Volume III, page 229 mentions a Dolphin Inn as early as 1714. This must be an unrelated hostelry as at that date the site of the later Dolphin was a common field.

The first mention of the Dolphin public house at the junction of Hockliffe Road, Beaudesert and South Street is in 1861, when William Eames was listed as the licensee in a register of licences kept by Leighton Buzzard Petty Sessional Division [PSLB4/1]. The countywide Return of Licensed Premises of 1876 noted that by then Eames was the owner, the licensee being George Franklin in Leighton Buzzard and the tenant John Birdsey Samuel. It also states that the Dolphin was first licensed in 1856. This date for first licensing in the register is not always accurate but this date seems plausible. By 1891 the owner was T. Parsons of Princes Risborough and the licensee was the Welch Ale Company of Kings Road, Chelsea until 1902 when Northampton Brewery Company Limited became the licensee. Because of this Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service does not have any records for the public house other than licensing registers and directories - deeds and other records are presumably at Northamptonshire Record Office. The Dolphin closed in the latter part of the 20th century and is now private accommodation.

 
The former Dolphin June 2008

References:

• PSLB4/1: Register of Alehouse Licences - Leighton Buzzard Petty Sessional Division: c.1860s-1949;
• PSLB4/3: Register of Alehouse Licences - Leighton Buzzard Petty Sessional Division: c.1860s-1956;
• HN1/20-1-3: position shown on annotated Ordnance Survey maps compiled for licensing purposes: early 20th century;
• PSLB4/2: Register of Alehouse Licences - Leighton Buzzard Petty Sessional Division: 1922-1948

List of Licensees: note that this is not a complete list; entries in italics refer to licensees where either beginning or end, or both, dates are not known:

1861: William Eames;
1871: John Birdsey Samuel;
1877: William Bragg;
1878: Richard William Allam;
1894: Mara Allam;
1902: Arthur Symonds;
1902: George Frederick F. Griffiths;
1903: George Edwin Fanoel;
1904: Arthur Horace Harrison;
1905: George Lewis;
1906: William George Court;
1906: William Albert Shurey;
1913: Arthur Robert Cresswell [convicted on 18 Jan 1916 of contravening a Military Order; fined 16/6];
1923: Albert Edward Jarrett;
1924: Albert Edward Jarrett senior;
1938: Douglas House;
1938: George Baker;
1940: Irene Josephine Baker;
1945: Douglas Eden Headland;
1946: Francis Thomas George Clarke;
1947: Alfred Charles Wells;
1954: Bernard Chambers;
1961: Anthony Joseph Sheridan;
1977: Steven John Knight;
1979: John Derek Lee;
1980: Colin James Edwards;
1982: Jack Thompson;
1982: Graham Charles Summers;
1982: Alistair Davidson;
1982: Brian Hartwell;
1988: Annette Margaret Parry and Trevor James Fisk;
1992: Denise Curston, Matthew Curran Ferry and Thomas Birkinshaw Rainey;
1993: Michael Vaughan and Yvonne Dawson.

The former Dolphin seen from Hockliffe Road June 2008