ARCHIVES: Public Houses
The Red Lion
The first known licensee of the Red Lion was George Drakely in 1825. By 1846 William Hobill, born in Markfield, was landlord, butcher and horse breaker, still living here with his wife and children in 1851.
In 1854 George Jordan, born in Ratby, took over. He was a butcher and was the son of Thomas Jordan, who had been at The Roebuck from 1846–51 before moving to the Queens Head at Nailstone. In 1861 George was living here with his wife, 3 children and a brother. By 1871 his family had increased to 11 children. One of his sons, Frederick Thompson Jordan, took over when George died in 1874. He was also recorded as a farmer and butcher and in 1881 his brother, Benjamin, was his apprentice. By 1891 he was widowed and was living with 4 children and one of his sisters. The last mention of him is in 1901, by which time he had remarried. William Black, born in Melton Mowbray, was also running a butcher’s shop here in 1901.
After extensive rebuilding in 1911, John Thomas Gregory became landlord, followed by Joseph Weston and after the war, Charles Alfred Baker from 1922–28, then Frank Kenney from 1932–41.
During the war, the air raid siren was on the roof of the pub and it stayed there until the pub closed and was converted to a private residence.
James Whitehead was landlord in 1904 then from 1908 Joseph Cope (as pictured). It was during Joseph’s time that the thatch caught fire and the pub virtually burnt down.
There is then a gap in directories until 1965 -9 when William Newball was landlord. After that, we are hoping that residents will be able to give us the names of the licensees up until closure.
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The building was restored as a private residence and a small group of houses were built on the car park.
Landlord Joseph Cope
