The Swan Inn, Yateley

page initiated by Peter Tipton, March 2010

We have just discovered that there was an ancient inn in Yateley called the Swan. It was next door to the Dog & Partridge on the site occupied now by Lloyds Pharmacy and Parker's Undertakers.

I was able to carry out desk research to enable me to submit the Yateley Society's response to the application for Conservation Area consent (ref 09/03216/CONAC) made to Hart District Council to demolish the present buildings on the site. The proof of the former existence of the Swan Inn on this site in the 17th century is given in the Appendix to the Society's second letter of objection.

My desk research was carried out using the Society's Yateley History Project database, much of which has now been uploaded onto this website.  In order to establish the ownership of the Swan Inn back from 1750 to 1644 I had to consult the Crondall Manor Court Books dating before 1729. These are written in Latin, are quite fragile, and have recently been transferred from Winchester Cathedral Library to Hampshire Record Office. Despite the fact that they are currently in process of being catalogued, HALS kindly made these available to me.

John Roberts, the Chancery Lane barrister who owned the property at his death in 1749 inherited the ownership of the Swan in 1722 from his wife Eleanor Roberts formerly Salisbury. In 1706 Eleanor Salisbury, sister and heir of Henry Jewer, deceased, inherited the Swan. So presumably John Roberts was Eleanor's second husband, his own second wife Ann Wither being apparently of the Withers of Manydown.  A Henry Jewer inherited the Swan from Ambrose Jewer in 1666. This Henry Jewer was possibly the same Henry who died in 1706, although it could have been his heir of the same name who had inherited in succession as the first Henry's customary heir. Ambrose Jewer purchased the Swan from a Robert Watts on 29 Sep 1644. The former is specifically described as Ambrose Watts junior. Robert Watts of Bramshott (ie Bramshott in Yateley, not the  place near Liphook) was a juryman at this manorial court and himself surrendered another property at this same court.  "Of Bramshott" was inserted in a different hand in this other entry.  If this was indeed the Robert Watts who owned the Swan then he was the grandson of Herman Reinhold the German potter I am researching, and the brother of William Watts who was apprenticed to the 'King's Potter'. So I must not too readily jump to conclusions before I have proved conclusively that Robert Watts was 'of Bramshott'.  To do this I shall have to search back in earlier court books which had not been made available during this visit to Winchester.

Ambrose & Martha Jewer baptised several children at St Margaret's Westminster: including Ambrose (1635), Henry (1637), William (1638), Ellen (1641) and Sarah (June 1644).  It appears therefore that the Ambrose and Martha who were buried in Yateley "from the Swan" had originally come from Westminster. Their eldest son had inherited when he came of age, but when he died his brother Henry had inherited. He does not appear to have lived in Yateley since none of his children were baptised here, and neither was he buried at St Peter's. When he died it seems that he must have had a son also named Henry, who inherited first as customary heir, and a daughter named Eleanor who married John Roberts as his first wife.

A Tristram Roberts married Helena Jewers at St Mary-le-Bone on 18 Jul 1671. She may have been the sister of the Ambrose and Henry, sons of Ambrose and Martha. Tristram & Helena Roberts may well prove to be the parents of the John Roberts who eventually  owned the Swan, and died in 1649. This John's brother a second Tristram Roberts owned the Blacksmith's Arms in Gosport. With two Eleanor Jewers marrying different generations of Roberts, and possibly 3 Ambrose Jewers, probably 2 Henry Jewers and 2 Tristram Roberts there are still complex family relationships to be sorted out.

One thing is sure: it may prove to be anachronistic to assume landlords of 17th century inns were just middleclass families -- as we found in the 19th century when we prepared the Society's 1997 Exhibition. These earlier landlords appear to be very mobile, and are often described as gentleman -- and in the case of the Jewer family, owned the, copyholding of the inn.

The other irrefutable fact is the the Swan Inn did indeed exist in the 17th century as an establishment quite separate from the Dog & Partridge, It had been owned by the Watts family, was purchased by the Jewer family and eventually inherited by John Roberts, a barrister of Chancery Lane, London

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