The Wrestlers Beerhouse Luton

The only known references to the Wrestlers beerhouse are found in deposition statements given in relation to two cases heard at the Bedford Quarter Sessions in the 1850s. In 1853 three men stopped at the Wrestlers on their way to collect some stolen lead from a small shop opposite the Two Brewers in Upper George Street. The second reference occurs in 1857, when Albert Brooks appeared at the Bedford Quarter Sessions charged with stealing a watch from William Sargood, a Luton baker, on 20th September; three other men were also charged with aiding and abetting the theft. Police Sergeant George Smith told the Court that he had found the four men at the Wrestlers beer shop and had taken Brooks into custody. Brooks later claimed that he had nothing to do with the other three men and was travelling alone. However Eliza Evans, who lived at the Wrestlers, gave evidence that the four men had come to lodge there on 18th September and both slept in the same room and took their meals together. Brooks and one of the other men were found guilty and sentenced to fourteen weeks and three months imprisonment respectively; the other two men were found not guilty.

The location of the Wrestlers is unknown.

References:

• QSR1853/4/5/14: depositions in case of stolen lead: 1853;
• QSR1857/4/5/11-14: depositions in case of stolen watch: 1857