The Duke of York
The History of the Duke of York Inn, Pomeroy, Derbyshire
in relation to the Needham family
This page is possible thanks to Darren Parker, the then publican of ‘Duke of York’ Pomeroy, near Buxton, who kindly
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.
At the time of the 1851 census 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 continued as innkeeper and as farmer of 63 acres. Ann’s daughter Ellen Dicken Needham, married farmer George Dicken who became publican in 1869. He was a farmer with 91 acres of land.
By the time of 1881 census, 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. However, by the time of the 1891 census 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. She died in 1899.
PAST INNKEEPERS OF THE DUKE OF YORK
1618 – 1662
Date
Publican
Date
Publican
John WHITE
1900 –
James Arthur HAMMOND
1662 – 1687
Christopher MELLOR
1900 – 1901
Samuel WARD
1688 – 1704
Thomas REDFERN
1901 – 1913
George Lander WESTALL
1705 – 1719
Samuel PLANT
1913 – 1938
James HOROBIN
1719 -1752
Richard SALT
1938 – 1955
Mary Ellen NAYLOR
1753 – 1756
Willliam SIMPSON
1955 – 1961
Mary Ellen HADFIELD
1757 – 1774
Ellen BAGSHAW
1961 – 1962
Peter Stewart HALL
1775 – 1784
Samuel ALLEN
1962 – 1965
Paul Marshall KEYWORTH
1785 – 1791
John HIBBERT
1965 – 1967
Cyril James JONES
1792 – 1812
Solomon MYCOCK
1967 –
Irene TWIGG
1813 – 1816
Richard NEEDHAM
1967 – 1970
John Arthur BROADHURST
1817 – 1823
George NEEDHAM
1970 – 1975
Minnie GREGORY
1824 – 1859
Ann NEEDHAM
1975 – 1980
John Henry FRITH
1859 – 1868
George NEEDHAM
1980 – 1981
David Arthur NUGENT
1869 – 1894
George DICKEN
1981 – 1984
Raymond Austin ATKINS
1894 – 1899
Ellen DICKEN
1984 – 1997
John LONGWOTH
1899 – 1901
George WILKINSON
1997 –
Daren David PARKER
Thanks Juliet for this information. I am a direct descendant of Richard Needham and Nancy Hulme. A couple of years ago I visited the pub and saw the list of landlords . I also visited Chelmorton where there are several members of the Needham family and ancestors buried . I have information on Richard but can’t find out much about his wife Nancy before the census came into operation.
Andrea
Hi Andrea, Nice to hear from you. If I do find out anything more about Nancy, I will let you know. Juliet
The following extract from the Parliamentary Papers in the House of Commons Library may be of interest. It is from ‘Coms. of Inquiry into Charities in England and Wales: Eighteenth Report’ dated 1828. pp.33-34.
https://parlipapers.proquest.com/parlipapers/docview/t70.d75.1828-010968 – but you need a subscription to view it.
It implies that the pub was built by/for Samuel Allen sometime before 1788. Whilst that date appears to match the date that you have him listed as landlord, it raises a question about the preceding 150+ years. Could it have been rebuilt on the site of an earlier pub maybe?
ROBERT DALE’S CHARITY
An annual sum of 40s. is received for the use of the poor of this chapelry,
one moiety thereof by the overseer of the township of Chelmorton, and the
other moiety by the overseer of Flagg, in respect of a public-house in Chelmorton,
called The Duke of York, and lands thereto adjoining.
We were unable at the time of our inquiry to obtain any satisfactory infor
mation as to the origin of this payment; but we have since met with the will
of ROBERT DALE, bearing date 23d August 1742, and proved at Lichfield in
1751, whereby he gave to the poor of Flagg and Chelmorton 40l.; to be invested
on landed security, in three trustees, of whom the parson, for the time being,
of Chelmorton, should be one, to be divided at Christmas or Candlemas; and
when any of the trustees should die, the survivors to choose another out of the
honest and substantial inhabitants. There is a tradition in the chapelry, that
a sum of 40l., belonging to the poor (which probably was derived from Robert
Dale’s legacy) was, with an addition from some other quarter, laid out more
than 40 years ago, in the names of the late Mr. John Buxton, and two other
persons, as trustees, in the purchase of a parcel of land containing between three
and four acres, called The Salt Crofts; that this land adjoined to the common,
a part of which, to the extent of ten acres, or more, was afterwards inclosed and
added to the land thus purchased; that the whole was granted, by the persons
in whose names the purchase was made, to Samuel Allen, on a building lease,
for a very long term of years, at the yearly rent of about 8l. per annum, and
that the above-mentioned public-house was erected thereon; that the rent was
received by the late Mr. Buxton, and divided between the respective overseers
of Chelmorton and Flagg, but that only 20s. of the share which each of them
received, was distributed to the poor, the residue being carried to their general
accounts with their respective townships; and that in consequence of a sum of
125l. having been advanced about 30 years ago, by Mr. Buxton, for paying the
expenses arising from a dispute on the Taddington Inclosure, in which the in-
habitants of Chelmorton and Flagg were interested, Mr. Buxton was allowed
to retain as the interest of the sum thus advanced, the residue of the rents
beyond the two annual sums of 20s. above mentioned.
We are also informed, that Samuel Allen sold his lease to a Mr. Longsden,
and that it is now vested in the daughters of the latter; that the public-house
and the adjoining land are in the occupation of Anne Needham, as tenant
to the Miss Longsdens, who pay the rent reserved by the above-mentioned
lease to the Rev. William Marsden, of Manchester, one of the nephews of
the late Mr. Buxton; and that the two annual sums of 20s. each, are paid over
by him to the overseers, the residue being retained by him as the interest of the
money advanced by the late Mr. Buxton.
The two annual sums of 20s. each are distributed, shortly after they are
received, in small portions, amongst poor persons of the respective townships
of Chelmorton and Flagg.
Hi Mark,
I have just got around to reading the pice you sent me. Thanks you very much and sorry for the delay. My website no longer sends me emails when I get consents
and so I have to remember to check every os often!
It is is really interesting and confusing at the same time and all I can say is that the list of publicans were on the wall of the pub when we visited and the history came from them. I have found a person researching their ancestor Samuel Allen. May I pass this onto them?
Thanks again
kind regards
Juliet