History of The Old Red Lion

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The original inn

The Red Lion is an historic property that served as a central village pub for over a century before transitioning in the 1960s into a private residence known as The Old Red Lion. The building we see today was originally constructed in the late 19^th / very early 20^th century

However it has a long history, appearing in records from the 1800s and offering beds and stabling, although it is believed to have been in existence since at least the 1700s. A 1750 license records an Edward Munday succeeding a John Thomas as publican of the Red Lion!  After many changes and a range of interesting inhabitants, the pub became quite dilapidated and finally closed in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

As an inn, it was a cornerstone of village life in Welton. It is featured prominently on historic maps of the area dating from 1842-1952, although as mentioned there are many references to it in the early 1800s and earlier. As the photograph above shows, for much of its life it was housed in a small, thatched cottage that would also have been the home of the resident innkeepers.

The next record we have for a publican or innkeeper of The Red Lion is in 1808 when a newspaper advertisement (below) for the auction of trees in Fowswell Spiney, adjoining the tunnel road and Grand Junction canal, which was due to be held on Thursday 28^th January 1808 at the house of Thomas Houghton, The Red Lion in Welton.

On 22^nd December 1825 the Red Lion was also used for the sale of timber (37 ash and sycamore trees) that may well have been owned by a George Bradshaw who was available to allow prospective purchasers to view the trees which stood in a close near Welton. This must have been something of an occasion as the advert below promoting it states that “Dinner on the Table precisely at 1o’clock and sale to commence at Two o’clock”. 

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Tom Pearcey’s memories

We now know that Welton at one point had 3 pubs – the White Horse, The Red Lion and The Wheatsheaf.

 Read more about The Wheatsheaf here

Further to this an 1841 text referenced below by one Tom Pearcey, purporting to be a shepherd, references The Wheatsheaf Inn as being run by John Boys, who was married to Elizabeth who “sewed our clothes” saying “Where is the Wheatsheaf John – his name was Boys”. 

He also wonders in later years what had happened to “Jo Benjamin of Red Lion Inn – he used to build a bit”. Pearcey also refers to a Henry Harris who had a pub “up the hill…White Horse we called it…”

However much of Pearcey’s reminiscing references one Jane – who brewed beer – and John – who baked bread. He questioned “where is that cave with abundance of such water clear which Jane Fair did make her beer?” confirming that during the mid 1800s, in addition to three pubs there is also at least one woman who brewed her own beer which she sold from her home.

See the full document here.

This strange testimony seems to be born out in the records. The 1851 Welton census lists one Jane Farr – who is recorded on the census as a widow and a beer housekeeper, who had been born in Braunston. 

She is also recorded on the 1841 census as the wife of Isaac Farr, a baker. Also living there in 1841 is her son, John (35) who is listed as a baker and Mary (35) – possibly his wife, and William, aged 4 – probably their son. 

By 1851 Jane is in her 70s, and she lives with a servant (Hannah Houghton) and her nephew (Thomas Brouth). She is still listed in the 1851 census as a Beer House Keeper! However, she is also living next door to her son, John Farr, aged 45 who is listed as a tea dealer and a baker – although his wife now appears to be called Elizabeth …and she is now older than him – so it may be a second marriage.

These may well be the characters referred to in the 1841 account referenced above by Tom Pearcey in the article attached which describes how: he was a passer-by and fancied a drink. The baker, John, was resting before baking a batch of bread not just for Tom but also for John Clarke who owned the Stone Pot (Pit) Field (which can be seen identified on the map here) and Richard “Trevo” Clarke of Welton Place. 

Tom tells us “whilst John did bake Jane passed upon my lips pleasure more than his just morning bread”. He tells us that “Jane did do me well” – evidently a fond memory of the beer provided by this 79-year-old widow! 

The 1851 census for Welton also records the following for the cottage we believe to be the Red Lion and confirms the Pearcey account that “Jo Benjamin” was both innkeeper and builder:

Catherine and George will go on to be listed in the 1871 census, with Catherine as the innkeeper of The Red Lion, along with her now grown up son George. The 1851 census also records that next door but one lived Charlotte Benjamin, aged 76 and a widow. She is listed as a retired servant. She may have been Joseph’s mother, as families often lived close by each other, especially where an aged relative was involved.

In 1851 the publicans within Welton were listed as John Atkins at The White Horse and Joseph Benjamin. In 1881 one J. Benjamin advertised his services as a butler describing himself as 44, 5ft 8in and “of good character”. There were many Benjamins living in the village during this period so this may not be the same Benjamin, but it is possible that he felt his role as a landlord would serve him well in this capacity.

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Murder trial at the Red Lion

The pub was used to hold Manor Courts during the early 19th century. This was common practice before purpose built courts became more common later that century. 

In 1852 a village scandal occurred when a servant of Mr T.S. Perkins of Welton was tried and found guilty of the “wilful murder” of her newborn son. The inquest was held at The Red Lion by a P.E. Hicks Esq (the “coroner”). The matter related to Mary Potter aged 40, and with an illegitimate10 year old child, employed by Mr Perkins.

Perkins’ wife had received a letter one Sunday advising her that the servant was pregnant. Clearly a matter of some disgrace and risk for the servant who, if discovered, may well have lost her position.

 Mrs Perkins showed Mary Potter the letter, however she vigorously denied the accusation. A doctor was sent for, to examine the girl, who concluded she had recently given birth. She continued to deny the charge, but the search of an outhouse revealed the body of a fully grown male newborn that, a postmortem confirmed, had been born alive.  See the press report below.

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Subsequent publicans

In 1871 Catherine Benjamin and George, her adult son – also a bricklayer – were running the Red Lion. The Police made a complaint about her holding the license due to her having been “twice convicted”. It seems that in 1870 she was fined for having “unjust quart jugs” and in 1871 was convicted of selling beer during prohibited hours – she blamed in inaccuracy of the church clock.

In 1884 Wright’s Directory for Northamptonshire records one George Benjamin as “cottager and publican of the Red Lion”. A Mrs Eliza Benjamin was also listed as a dress maker and a Caleb Benjamin as a shopkeeper.

In 1891 Elizabeth Brown was the keeper at the Red Lion, living with her much older siblings Sarah and William. The image at the top of this article would have been taken around this time – so it is possible that the woman in the foreground is Elizabeth Brown – possibly with the drayman making the delivery! In fact we can just make out her name above the door.

In 1897 the then landlord, Thomas Corbett was fined £1 and costs for watering down the whisky!

By 1900 the landlord was Frederick Fletcher.  And by 1906 John Henry Dench had the pub and was there until at least 1910. It would have been sometime around then that the old cottage, that had been the home of the Red Lion for probably over a century, was demolished and the current building erected. 

The Old Red Lion as it is called now, was built to a set plan by a group – possibly a brewery, who also built The Red Lion at Kilsby at the same time and using the same footprint and design. It is believed to have been rebuilt in 1908, with a full license, serving as a local hub with a strong Quoits team! This photo was taken very early 20th century and shows the new building in the top left corner.

In 1911 Frederick Green and his wife, Amy Rose, were in charge, living there with their children Frederick, Arthur and Clara. They had a long tenure and were listed in 1939, with their now grown-up son Frederick working as a railway clerk. Indeed, Frederick ran the pub for 45 years, dying in 1951. The license was then passed to Amy.

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Strange memorabilia

 The current owners of The Old Red Lion discovered a strange collection of memorabilia from a recent owner at the back of the loft. Whilst there are no definite names associated with these as yet in relation to property ownership, they do point to occupation at some time post 1948 of a family who had travelled in or from India and may have had a French or Belgian connection as some art work by a child, included in the list below, clearly has a surname suggestive of these countries.

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A possible explanation

A Find My Past record lists a Marguerite Augier born on 28^th October 1905 in Northamptonshire. She died in Daventry in 1996. This is the name written on one of the documents listed above and found in the Red Lion attic. 

We also have a marriage record for a Stella Marie de Delanougere in 1928 lodged with the British India Offices (Marriage) in Calcutta. She married Claude Stanislaus Augier – Marguerite’s father. Stella was the sister of Maud Adeliade Augier, who was Marguerite’s mother! For full details – see below. 

Further to the items linked to Felix, we found a May 1949 newspaper clipping found describes a quite horrid end to one Felix Augier on Saturday February 26^th, 1949. The newspaper report begins with a report that hidden stores of bomb making equipment were found in British run engineering works in Calcutta, which was at that time being intimidated by anonymous figures. 

Letters were being sent to executives, technicians and foremen at the company. This was building on ongoing attacks on British subjects working in India, believed to be the work of the outlawed Revolutionary Communism Party which was at that time approximately 30 000 strong. However, it goes on to link this discovery with an earlier horrendous attack at another factory, Jessops, at Dum Dum the previous February.

Three months previously three Britons were reportedly battered to death and their bodies thrown into furnaces at Jessops Ironworks at Dum Dum near Calcutta. Two further massacres had been foiled by police action. “Remember Jessops” had been scrawled onto  factory walls as part of this programme of intimidation.

The Dum Dum massacre as it became known received much publicity and was raised in Parliament. In summary the factory was attacked at around 11m on Saturday 26^th February 1949.  Indian and Anglo-Indian workers were quietly warned by whisper to “make [themselves] scarce” and shortly afterwards men were seen picking up crowbars, shovels and spanners. The British foreman saw a labourer toss a bomb through the office door before he was “levelled with a crowbar.”  

Further home-made bombs were thrown and whilst the British employees made a dash for safety, the Indian workers, with ladders, were setting up machine guns on the roof of the office. The report details further ferocity and goes on to describe how outside the works three foremen scrambled for their lives, one of whom, Felix Augier, was repeatedly battered as he fought his way to the relative safety of an office. He sustained severe head injuries and gashes to his arms. The newspaper reports that “he fell, gasping his last words ‘They have finished me’ before he died. 

Could this have been the Felix who drew and wrote the documents found in The Red Lion?

There is a record for the birth of a Felix Reginald Augier in India, on November 27^th 1906 at Cossipore, Bengal in India to parents Clarence Stanislaus Augier and Maud Adelaide Augier.  

Clarence and Maud married in 1905 in Calcutta. Maud Adeliade (nee DeLaNougerede) died in 1927. They had 8 children: Marguerite Muriel, Felix Reginald, Claire Maud, Charlotte Ann, Isabelle Marie, Estelle, Joan Bernadette and Andre Leo. The last, Andre, was born in 1927, the year his mother died. Her death certificate tells us that she died from post-partum haemorrhage. 

The Augier and DeLaNougerede families had a long history in India as well as an established pattern of intermarriage between cousins. Their family tree shows that Clarence and Maud, as well as Stella, shared common grandparents. 

Why did members of the family find their way to England?

As yet, we cannot be sure why England was chosen as a place to make a home, however history gives us a very clear reason as to why. In 1947 India secured its independence from Britain, however times were turbulent due to the partition which divided India into a Hindu majority land (India) and Muslim majority (Pakistan), which led to horrific racial conflict, mass migrations and the brutal deaths of up to 2 million people. The tensions remain a factor in the sub-continent to this day. This and strong anti-British feeling also led to many ex-pat families or long resident British and European families in India, to return to Europe. 

On 16^th August 1948, the passenger manifest for the Ormonde (see above) confirms the arrival in Tilbury of: Mrs A Augier (aged 65), Mr E E Augier (aged 31), Mrs M Augier (42) – this is Marguerite, and Miss M Augier (aged 3) –their daughter. (Mary Ann Geneivieve Augier).  The document tells us that England will be their permanent residence. Mrs A Augier’s address is given as 4 Sunnyside House, Cricklewood Lane, NW2 and the others 27 Meadow Road, Southall. All are listed as British passengers.

On 10^th June 1952, the passenger manifest records the arrival of Clarence S Augier (aged 71), Stella M Augier (aged 64) and Charlotte A Augier (aged 39). All have the given address as 44 Somerset Waye, Heston, Hounslow. Later electoral roll registers confirm that the family continued to live in the West London area right through to the 1970s and beyond.

We have found a record that confirms that on 5^th August 1949 after Felix’s death, his widow – Ernestine Renee Augier – sailed to England on the MV Caledonia. She travelled with Miss Noreen Augier (a teacher), Brian Felix Augier, Clarence B Augier, Adrian and Gordon Reginald (all school boys and her sons) as well as Rosemary Blossom Augier – a school girl, possibly her daughter. The family settled at 44 Somerset Waye, Heston… with Clarence and Stella! Ernestine died in May 1988 living in St Albans. She too shared the same surname as her husband before they were married, suggesting that Felix and Ernestine were related, as cousins, possibly through their grandparents: Francis Augier (1836-1894) and his wife Mary Emma Grant (1976-1917). 

On November 1^st 1934 Marguerite Muriel Augier married Reginald Cecil Ignatius DeLaNougerede in Calcutta. He was 27, she was 28 and they were cousins. However, it seems that she later married another cousin, Emile Eugene Augier.   Marguerite Augier died in Daventry in November 1996. Emile also died in Daventry, in 1996. It looks like for both it was a second marriage. We believe Emile was previously married to Marguerite’s younger sister, Isabelle Marie Augier .

It is likely therefore that at some point probably after 1950 and before the 1960s, Marguerite Augier and possibly her husband and daughter lived in or visited The Red Lion in Welton, leaving their memories behind in a box in the attic. 

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Delicensing and becoming a residential home

 Meanwhile, back in Welton, the Greens were the last family to hold a license for the Red Lion as in 1960 the pub finally called last orders for the last time and the property was delicensed and became the private residence now known as The Old Red Lion when it was sold – the asking price being £1,200,  and included 3 reception rooms, 4 bedrooms, kitchen as well as “out offices”.

It was in the 1960s that Frank Emery senior converted the building into two separate dwellings. Sheila and Tony Conopo lived in the front part and Jean and Alan Gautrey in the back part, set at a right angle to the road and now known as 35 Churchill Road.

The Gautreys bought their part of the property from Tony Hupfield in 1962, whilst the Conopos were already resident at that point. 

In 2000 the property was purchased by the current owners although it remains divided into two separate properties.