Swan Hotel

Name: The Swan Hotel

Address: 30, Main Street, Barton-under-Needwood

The Swan, or White Swan as it was also known is pictured above on a semi-aerial photo taken from the bell tower of St. James' Church.  It was located on Main Street opposite and along from the Old Parsonage, which was also more recently the village post office. 

It appears to have opened for business sometime in the 1840's although the building itself probably dates back to the 1700's and was very much the home and business of the Dugmore family.

The census record for 1841 shows the future innkeeper William Dugmore and his wife Elizabeth living at the property; his occupation at this time is recorded as "Tailor".

1841 Census - William Dugmore

The earliest reference I can find to a beer house i.e.the Swan is on the 1851 census when William Dugmore was recorded as "Tailor & Beer House Keeper".  He is recorded in subsequent directories and censuses through to 1880 at the beer house.  

Landlords listed from that time onwards were his daughter Mary Jane Dugmore (1878-80), son-in-law John Henry Smith (1881) Tailor & Beer retailer, his father John Smith (1891-96), brother Arthur Astbury Smith (1896), John Thomas Chamberlain (1900-06) and Robert Newcombe (1908-11).

1851 Census

1861 Census

1868 Post Office Directory

The directory above confirms William Dugmore was also a tailor by trade, something he shared with the future landlord, John Henry Smith. William's wife Elizabeth died in 1868 leaving him and daughter Mary Jane to run the business.

1871 Census

William Dugmore died in Barton-under-Needwood on 8th March 1878, as his probate record below confirms, leaving his daughter Mary Jane Dugmore to run the Swan. At the time of his death his eldest son William was working in Moseley as a draper (tailor).

William Dugmore Probate 1878

1880 Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire Mary Jane Dugmore

A John and Emma Smith had been living at Wales End in Barton in 1871 just along the road from the Royal Oak; John was a tailor by profession, which is probably how they knew the Dugmores well. They had eight children; John Henry, Frederick George, Sydney Herbert, Arthur Astbury, Emily M V, Kate A, Albert E and Charles E Smith.

Staffordshire marriage indexes confirm that Mary Jane Dugmore married their eldest son, John Henry Smith early in 1881 at St James , Barton-under-Needwood and both are shown living together at the Swan at the time of the census in April of that year.

1881 Census

John Henry Smith and Mary then moved from the Swan prior to 1888 and by 1891 they were running the Royal Oak on The Green while John's parents, John and Emma had moved in behind the bar at the Swan.

1891 Census

By 1901 John Henry Smith had moved again to Burton-on-Trent, working as a Hotel Manager at the Wyggeston on Calais Road in Horninglow with his brother Arthur. His wife is shown as Sarah in 1901 and records show he remarried Sarah E Stanton at St Peter's in Stapenhill earlier that year. I believe Mary died in 1897.

1900 Kelly's Directory - John Thomas Chamberlain

John Thomas Chamberlain took over at the Swan in the late 1990's but was not destined to stay long. Whilst recorded on the 1900 directory above and still there in 1901 for the census he appears on the 1904 directory as a greengrocer and he and wife Elizabeth then moved to Tutbury some time before his premature death in 1906.

1901 Census

1911 Census Robert Newcombe

Since the 1870's the Swan had been located between Mr Knight's auction house and Sarah Brown's house on the census returns...Sarah was a decorator by trade.  This leads me to believe that Robert Newcombe, a "Loco Engine Fitter" by trade at 69 years of age was now living at the Swan. When you check the history of the Royal Oak you'll see that Robert Newcombe was the long-time landlord and probable owner of that pub and possibly this one too given the movement of the Smith family between the two in the late 1800's and whilst his occupation in 1911 may not infer the bar was open for business I am certain it was and the Lost Pubs website records that it didn't close for business until 1914.

Robert Newcombe Probate 1919

It was good to see that William Dugmore Jnr had returned to the village by 1901 and was shown living on this stretch of Main Street but he was not at the Swan and was listed as a "Retired Draper". William remained in the village until is death in 1922.

William Dugmore Probate 1922

The Swan 2016