Blunham Village Web Site.

Blunham Pubs: The Queen's Head

5 High Street (Charles Wells)

By Bill Exley

This building is situated in Blunham village square now a private dwelling with the name "The Ragged Staff" above its door, so preserving history of a bygone era [formerly 5 High Street]. Any history of licensed premises in Blunham is complicated by the fact that there have been two separate Pubs/Beerhouses which both started life as the Ragged Staff and later became the Salutation and then Queen’s Head respectively. The Salutation of today being named the Ragged Staff from 1646 to 1768 when it was renamed The Salutation, the Queen’s Head beer house was first called the Ragged Staff as records show, from 1846 until 1887 when the name was altered to the Queen’s Head. This original Ragged Staff [Q.H.] as a Beerhouse was serving pints well ‘before’ 1846, but these records are unavailable. It must be noted from ‘all’ my records of Blunham Pubs / Beerhouses that the tenancies changed hands many times after short periods. The owners even took the previous name with them on a move, as regards The Salutation being renamed The Old Salutation trying to attract their regulars to follow. There were many, many Land workers as farming was so labour intensive and so reliant on man power, before the advent of machinery. All were regular drinkers due to the very nature of their work using most of the 8 village ’drinking holes’

Henry Usher sells the Ragged Staff beer house for £345 to J. Lovell	1846
Joseph Lovell (1st Licensee)	1847-1869
Lovell sells the inn to Herbert Albury Dunnage	1865
Dunnage sells to James Steed (brewers of Baldock )	1885
James Boness (Bonus ?)	1869 - 1889
Change of name to Queen's Head	1887
Robert Beadle	1889-1891
Eliz. White	1891-1893
William John White	1893-1894
Records show a James John Kither and Jane Arthur [Arthur Jane?] were domicile in 1894
William James Phipper (Kither?)	1894-1897
Sold to Charles Wells (brewers)	1895
William Giggle	1897-1904
Mrs Hannah Giggle	1904-1908
Mr Brown's grandad and grandmum & Gamekeeper at Tempsford Hall
John Burton	1908-1914
Herbert Currant	1914 - 1924
(Herbert Currant then goes to The Horseshoes pub for 30 years stay)
The Queen’s Head is sold by Chas. Wells to a father & son ‘both’ called Harry Thom. Dennis and closes between	1925-1926
PC Harry Ashton and family	1927 - 1934
PC Jack Frith and Family during the	1940s
Following the Frith family no records available to date	1940 - 1957
Peter and Rosalie Davis	Oct 1957 to 1983

THE RAGGED STAFF

My researches into the origin of the local Pub name "The Ragged Staff" used by two Pubs, led me all the way back to 1268 and the coat of arms of the Earls of Warwickshire. It is here we find within the Quarterings of the shield, a Bear and Ragged Staff [A ragged staff is from the branch of a ‘young’ tree stripped of its leaves]. There is no obvious local historical connection, as I first thought, but a nationwide usage of the Pub names "The Bear" or "Ragged Staff" in general. The usage by a Public House/Beerhouse in olden days, was to show allegiance to the King [sic.] , or the local Landowner [why ? Respect/Employer? ]. Bill Exley 2011.

Page last updated 15th October 2011 by Bill Exley and Colin Hinson.