Matlock:
Dale Road, Boat House Hotel & River, about 1908. With Licensees. |
Matlock : Twentieth Century Photographs, Postcards,
Engravings & Etchings |
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The Boat House Hotel has stood on Dale Road, at the north entrance
to Matlock Dale, for over two centuries[1].
Ebenezer Rhodes, visiting in the early 1820s, wrote that "near
the Boat House, the first fine scenery of Matlock Dale is presented"[2].
Eighty years later J. B. Firth, who was writing at approximately
the same time as the pictures for these two postcards were taken,
was less complimentary about its surroundings. On entering the
the dale "the
first thing we pass is a large, unsightly quarry on the right
; then we reach the Boat House Hotel, once one of the fashionable
houses of the dale"[3].
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The former Hotel is pictured here just
over a hundred years ago, when Holt Quarry behind had not
been quite so extensively worked. There is an extremely
large and unmissable painted sign on the side of the building
in the top image, which is enlarged on the left, advertising "Hardy's
Ale & Stout, Starbright, Sold in bottle".
Unusually, the main entrance is at the side of the building,
probably because the property was built next to the road. The
front door has changed since that time and there has been a
porch for many years, whereas in this view we see that the
top of the door surround reached the first floor window. |
Matlock held an annual May Day Parade at this time and a committee
of the Society met at the Boat House, both to assess how the previous
year's event had gone and to decide on what they would do[4].
Matlock Football Club held its AGM here in 1912[5];
its season had been disastrous from the playing point of view.
Other groups would have met there too, but their meetings weren't
mentioned in the press.
The image below shows not only the Boat House but also a view
of Matlock Bank. Look carefully at the quarry entrance just past
the Boat House. A large wheelbarrow is standing end down and with
the handles pointing skywards.
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Mid twentieth Century Advertisements
for the Boat House
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1968 advertisement (above), from the Venetian Fête programme |
1950s advert (left)
The proprietor was, presumably, William Vincent Doolan, thought
to be
a former police superintendent and chief constable of
Neath |
Known licensees, listed alphabetically, 1827 - 1950s
With links to on site references
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Surname, first names(s) |
Address |
References |
[No name given] |
Boat House, Matlock Dale |
Freebody's Directory, 1852 |
Adin, William |
Boat House, Matlock |
Pigot's Directory, 1831
Sale of property and furniture, 1837.
Will, Surnames A - 1837 (does not mention property's name) |
Barker, John |
Boat House and Boat House Inn, Old Lane |
Kelly's Directory 1855
White's
Directory, 1857 (Hotels, Inns and Taverns) |
Brightmore, Joseph |
Boat House, Matlock |
Pigot's Directory, 1842 (Taverns
and Public Houses) |
Clay, Lawrence |
Boat House Hotel, Matlock |
Temporary Licence at Brewster sessions, then
licence March 1919 |
Doolan, W. V. |
The Boat House Hotel |
Exact date unknown, but 1950s ( see advert
above) |
Eato, Frank |
Boat House Hotel, Matlock |
The Eato Family
See Hayto, below |
Eato, Mrs. Florence |
Boat House Hotel, The Dale - Licensee ...........
Boat House P.H., Dale rd ........... |
1939 Register [surname crossed through and
replaced by Bunting, as she later re-married]
Kelly's Directory, 1941 |
Eaton, Anthony |
Boat House inn |
Kelly's
Directory, 1848 |
Eaton, Charles |
Boat House Inn |
Bagshaw's
Directory, 1846 (Hotels, Inns and Taverns)
1851
census
Matlock & Matlock
Bath Names in the London Gazette, 1851-55 |
Edwards, Harry |
Boat House Hotel, Dale road |
Kelly's Directory, 1925 |
Evans, William |
Boat House, him Publican |
Temporary transfer of license to him from
James Walton, 1900
1901 census |
Fletcher, James |
Boat House |
Glover's
Directory, 1827-9 |
Fletcher, Jas. |
Boat House, Matlock |
Pigot's
Directory 1827-9 (Taverns and Public Houses) |
Glover, Geo. |
Boat House Hotel, Matlock Bridge |
1902 - 04+ (personal research) |
Gratton, Chas. |
Boat House P.H., Dale rd |
Kelly's Directory,
1928
Kelly's Directory, 1932 |
Gratton, William |
Boat House Hotel, Matlock |
1931 (announcement of his death) |
Green, Mr. & Mrs. Sid |
Boat House Hotel, Matlock |
him licensee 1957, from 22 Jan |
Gyte, James |
Boat House hotel |
Kelly's Directory 1895
Kelly's
Directory 1899 |
Hancock, William |
Boat House Hotel
Boat House Hotel landlord (formerly a railway foreman) |
Kelly's Directory, 1887
1888 |
Hayto, Frank
(misprint for Eato, above) |
Boat House Hotel, Matlock |
Licence transfer Nov 1932 |
Holling, Albert |
Boat House hotel, Dale road |
1911 census
Kelly's Directory 1912
Kelly's Directory 1916 |
Marsden, Thomas |
Boat House |
Death
of, 1859 |
Rawson, Thomas |
Boat House Inn, Dale ...........
Boat Hotel, Dale ...........
Boat House, Matlock Dale ...........
Boat House, Matlock Bridge ...........
Boat House Hotel, Matlock Dale ...........
Boat House ...........
Boat House Inn ...........
Boat House ...........
Boat House Inn ...........
" |
1861 census
White's Directory, 1862 (lime
and marbl. merchant)
Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory, 1862 (Family and
Commercial Hotel)
Kelly's
Directory, 1864
Harrod's 1870 Directory (Family and Commercial Hotel)
1871 census
White's Directory, 1871-2 (Family and Commercial)
Kelly's Directory, 1876
1881 census
Kelly's Directory, 1881 (family & commercial boarding house) |
Rawson, William |
Boat House Inn |
1829 sale notice |
Robinson, John |
Boat House Hotel, Dale cres, proprietor |
Temporary transfer of license of the Boat
House Inn from Geo. Glover granted, 1905
Kelly's
Directory, 1908
Still there at the beginning of 1910 |
Rushton, Edward |
Boat House |
White's Directory,
1852 |
Schuck, Mr. & Mrs |
Boat House Hotel, Matlock |
Dec 1953 |
Teasdale, John |
Boathouse |
Derby Mercury, 22 July 1774 states
that it was "lately kept" by Mr. Teasdale |
Walton, James |
Boat House Hotel, Matlock |
1900, temporary transfer of license to William
Evans of Sheffield (see Evans above)
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Wardley, Mrs. & Mrs. Harry |
Boat House Hotel, Matlock |
Eight years as "host and hostess" up
to Dec 1953. |
Wood, William |
Boat House hotel |
1891 census
Kelly's Directory, 1891 |
Wright, Mr. J. |
Boat House, Matlock Dale |
Arthur Jewitt's "The
Matlock Companion...", 1835. |
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More images of the Boat House
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1 and 2. "On the Derwent, Matlock" published by Valentine's
Series. Printed in Great Britain. Message - a New Year Greeting.
Edward VIII stamp. Postcard in the collection of and provided by
and © Ann Andrews.
3. "Matlock Bridge". West End Series, published by A. E. Shaw,
Blackburn. Posted Whittington Moor, Cheshire on 8 Sept 1908.
Postcard
in the collection of and provided by and © Susan
Tomlinson.
Researched by and © Ann Andrews.
Intended for personal use only.
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References (coloured
links go to on site transcripts):
[1] See the 19th century "Guides" The
Gem of the Peak | Hall's
Days in Derbyshire, 1863, Chapter 5
[2] Rhodes, Ebenezer (1824) "Peak
Scenery" pub. London, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown,
and Green, Paternoster Row
[3] Firth, J. B. (1908) "Highways
and Byways in Derbyshire" MacMillan & Co., London.
[4] "Sheffield
Daily Telegraph", 28 February
1907.
[4] "Derby Daily
Telegraph", 30 August
1912.
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