The London, Essex, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey, Suffolk & Herts Directory - including Historical Pubs, in the South East of England

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Bear, Buttsbury

Also known as the White Bear

The Bear, Stock - circa 1919

The Bear, Stock - circa 1919

Kindly provided by Colleen

Bear, Buttsbury

July 2002

Taken by Stephen Parker

One of the regulars at the Bear was Old Spider, an Ostler, who had the habit of climbing up the chimney in one bar and descending down the chimney in the other. Sometimes he would disappear for the night and reappear the following day. The regulars soon came to take no real notice of Old Spider's antics and assumed he'd discovered a disused loft in which to sleep off his excess drinking. One day he failed to reappear and the locals assumed he's left town. He was soon forgotten, but 20 years later, during renovation work, his charred body was found wedged between the two chimneys. His ghost is said to haunt The Bear today

Known Residents

The following entries are in this format:

Year/Publican or other Resident/Relationship to Head and or Occupation/Age/Where Born/Source.

1828/William Mumford/Licensee/../../Alehouse Recognizances**

1828-9/William Mumford/../../../Pigot's

1832-3/William Mumford/../../../Pigot's

1839/William Ratcliff/../../../Pigot's

1840/William Ratcliff/../../../Pigot's*

1845/Thomas Steward/../../../Post Office

1848/Thomas Steward/Victualler/../../White's

1851/Thomas Steward/../../../Post Office

1851/Thomas Steward/innkeeper/54/Maldon, Essex/Census ***
1851/Elizabeth Steward/wife/51/Hatfield [Peverel], Essex/Census ***
1851/Caroline Bradley/visitor/18/London/Census ***
1851/William Norman/visitor, scholar/10/Colchester, Essex/Census ***
1851/William Shepherd/ostler/53/Great Baddow, Essex/Census ***
1851/John Fluze/lodger, soldier 20th Foot/34/Wickford, Essex/Census ***
1851/George Howard/lodger, journeyman blacksmith/18/Great Leighs, Essex/Census ***

1855/H. Coker/../../../Kelly's*

1862/Joseph Barratt/../../../Kelly's

1867/Joseph Barrett/../../../Post Office

1870/Joseph Barrett/../../../Kelly's

1871/Joseph Barrett/../../../Post Office

1874/Joseph Barrett/../../../Kelly's

1878/Joseph Barrett/../../../Kelly's

1881/Joseph Barrett/Licensed Victualler/60/Hockley, Essex/Census
1881/Fanny L. Barrett/Wife/56/Wickford, Essex/Census
1881/Katie Barrett/Niece/16/Coggeshall, Essex/Census
1881/Ann Smee/Domestic Servant/27/West Hanningfield, Essex/Census
1881/George Read/Assistant Groom/15/Little Baddow, Essex/Census

1882/Joseph Barrett/../../../Kelly's

1886/Joseph Barrett/../../../Kelly's

1894/George Barrett/../../../Kelly's

1895/George Barrett/../../../Kelly's

1898/William H. Newman/../../../Kelly's

1899/William H. Newman/../../../Kelly's

1902/William James Horne/../../../Kelly's

1908/Harry Brown/Blacksmith/../../Kelly's

1912/Harry Brown/Blacksmith/../../Kelly's

1917/Harry Brown/Blacksmith/../../Kelly's

1925/Harry Brown/../../../Kelly's

1933/Harry Brown/../../../Kelly's

* Provided by the Pubs, Inns and Taverns Index for England, 1801-1900

** Provided by Mike Smith

*** Provided by John Mead

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I get hundreds of emails every day, fortunately most 'spam mails' are deleted by my mail scan settings. The final emails are delivered to various email addresses, and replying to these are not always successful. If you do not hear from me in a timely fashion, please feel free to email again, I do not mind! This is a pure PUBS history site, I doubt if I know where the PUBS are NOW, but try the site for where they were a hundred years ago, again enjoy!
Once you have discovered enough history of Essex; why not study to undergraduate or postgraduate level in Computer Science or Electronics Engineering at the Department of Computing and Electronic Systems, Essex University in Colchester, Essex? It is not only a great place to study, but also a foreleader in technology at an UK leading University with courses and doctoral research in Robotics, Natural Engineering, Intelligent Systems, Embedded Systems, Networking and Photonics, Laser Technology etc.
Updated in April 2008 by Kevan.
And Last updated on: Saturday, 26-Apr-2008 04:10:59 PDT