The Duke of York
The History of the Duke of York Inn, Pomeroy, Derbyshire
in relation to the Needham family
The Duke of York
This page is possible thanks to Darren Parker, the then publican of ‘Duke of York’ Pomeroy, near Buxton, who
provided help with history of the Inn and previous Innkeepers, back in 1998.
The Duke of York as in 1994
© 1994 Allison & Alderson
The Duke of York Inn is situated in the ancient parish of Chelmorton. Chelmorton is not mentioned in the Doomsday Book. It is a parcel of the Royal Manor of the High Peak and the mineral rights are leased to the Duke of Devonshire, who was once a principal landowner and Lord of the Manor.
The alehouse was first opened in 1618 as part of the farmstead owned by John and Maria White. The Needham family first came to the Inn in 1813 with Richard Needham, and as can be seen from the table below, they ran it for a total of 86 years . Richard and his wife Nancy Hulme were publicans until 1816. They had two children there; Elizabeth in 1813 and George in 1815.
George Needham, Richard’s brother took over in 1817 when he married Ann Nall. They had four children there; George in 1818, Matthew in 1819, Mark in 1820 and Ellen Dicken in 1822. Tragically, George died at the young age of 34 in 1824 (he is buried at Taddington) and Ann took over as publican, helped by her sons.
In 1851 Ann’s son George and a brother worked as farm labourers on a farm not part of the inn – possibly that of George Dicken. Ann died in 1859 and her son George took over as innkeeper and as farmer of 63 acres. Ann’s daughter Ellen Dicken Needham, married farmer George Dicken (perhaps he was a couisn?) who became publican in 1869. He was a farmer with 91 acres of land.
By 1881 George Dicken was described as innkeeper and farmer of 125 acres, with his wife Ellen and daughter Alice, 23 who was a servant at the inn and their son Matthew, 22 who worked on the farm. In 1891 George Dicken, now aged 70 was a farmer. When he died in 1894, Ellen Dicken took over as publican in the pub that she had been born in until her death in 1899.
PAST INNKEEPERS OF THE DUKE OF YORK
1618 – 1662 1662 – 1687 1688 – 1704 1705 – 1719 1719 -1752 1753 – 1756 1757 – 1774 1775 – 1784 1785 – 1791 1792 – 1812 1813 – 1816 1817 – 1823 1824 – 1859 1859 – 1868 1869 – 1894 1894 – 1899 1899 – 1901
Date
Publican
Date
Publican
John WHITE
1900 –
James Arthur HAMMOND
Christopher MELLOR
1900 – 1901
Samuel WARD
Thomas REDFERN
1901 – 1913
George Lander WESTALL
Samuel PLANT
1913 – 1938
James HOROBIN
Richard SALT
1938 – 1955
Mary Ellen NAYLOR
Willliam SIMPSON
1955 – 1961
Mary Ellen HADFIELD
Ellen BAGSHAW
1961 – 1962
Peter Stewart HALL
Samuel ALLEN
1962 – 1965
Paul Marshall KEYWORTH
John HIBBERT
1965 – 1967
Cyril James JONES
Solomon MYCOCK
1967 –
Irene TWIGG
Richard NEEDHAM
1967 – 1970
John Arthur BROADHURST
George NEEDHAM
1970 – 1975
Minnie GREGORY
Ann NEEDHAM
1975 – 1980
John Henry FRITH
George NEEDHAM
1980 – 1981
David Arthur NUGENT
George DICKEN
1981 – 1984
Raymond Austin ATKINS
Ellen DICKEN
1984 – 1997
John LONGWOTH
George WILKINSON
1997 –
Daren David PARKER
