The Kangaroo Public House, Little Staughton

This page was partly written by Brenda Foster and Jeanette Atkinson 

The Kangaroo c.1925 [WL800/3]

The Kangaroo Public House, Staughton Road, Little Staughton 

Although several inns were lost to the development of the airfield, three survived the Second World War: The Crown, The Carpenter's Arms and The Kangaroo. The latter stood on the Pertenhall crossroads. 

The former Kangaroo is now a private residence but the old pub sign still hangs outside. The public house was established by William Flanders who emigrated to Van Diemens Land [Tasmania] in the 1830s. He returned to his home village ten years later and established The Kangaroo using money he'd earned working abroad as a carpenter. Flanders combined his work as pub landlord with business as a carpenter, wheelwright and undertaker [Bedfordshire Times, 19 February 1954]. 

The pub remained in the hands of the Flanders family for many years but by 1876 it had been bought by T.H. Murfin of Great Staughton [CL/P19/1]. It was sold by the Robin Hood Brewery in 1898 [CRT130STA/9] and was in the hands of the Marshall Brothers Brewery of Huntingdon by 1903 [CL/P20]. 

Catalaogue for the sale of the Robin Hood Brewery 1898 [CRT130STAN/9]

In 1921 The Kangaroo was acquired by the Charles Wells Brewery from Marshalls and it was still owned by them in 1927 when the pub was assessed under the Rating and Valuations Act of 1925. The assessor noted that it retailed an average of six gallons and twelve bottles of beer each week, 'very little spirit' and 10s of tobacco. It consisted of a bar-parlour ('fair'), a living area, kitchen, cellar and two bedrooms. At the rear there was a store barn, two disused stables, a coal and wood barn and a two bay cartshed. The building attracted a rate of £10 per annum and the licensee was George Bennett. 'Very isolated', the assessor noted [DV1/C176/1]. 

The Kangaroo finally closed on 17 December 1956 and became a private house. Today it is a residential house and dog kennels [2018]. 

The Kangaroo in 2017 (Copyright Brenda Foster)

Licensees: note that this is not a complete list and that dates in italics are not necessarily beginning or end dates, merely the first/last date which can be confirmed from sources such as directories and deeds.

Before 1861: William Flanders

1861-1864: Robert Flanders

1864-1869: William Hawkins 

1876: Robert Flanders 

1877: William Hawkins

1885-1898: Samuel Compton

1903-1915: James Cooper

1915-1940: George Bennett