The Ruddles Of The Hare And Hounds.

Richard Ruddle was the landlord of the Hare and Hounds, Red Pits, by 1833. He had married Martha Deane at Marlow in 1819.

In 1833 the pub came with a yard and garden and was with them assessed as being worth £12 a year. Richard also rented an additional piece of garden recently converted out of waste ground which was assessed as worth £1 a year.

He may have had farming interests as in 1841 he was selling a Guernsey bull lately owned by Sir John Sebright [Windsor and Eton Express 17th April 1841]. He had to have kept the bull somewhere before sale, presumably not in the garden!

A story was told that during Richard's tenure, two rather well dressed guests arrived at his door, with requests to be provided with a finer meal than Richard was used to offering. He was happy to cater for all and so sent into Marlow for supplies. This done he prepared a feast and his satisfied customers devoured all. Then the time came to pay up and our two gentlemen began to argue over who should pay what. One suggested the matter should be settled by a running race, the loser to foot the entire bill. Richard would act as starter and referree. The two men lined up and on orders tore off down the road towards Marlow. You can probably guess the ending. No sight of the cunning pair was seen again and Richard was left considerably out of pocket! 

Richard died in 1841 and Martha Ruddle became the official landlady of the Hare and Hounds.

Martha was around 45 years old at the death of her husband and the mother of 4 surviving daughters living at home- from 12 year old Martha junior down to 4 year old Eliza. In between there was Elizabeth and Emma.

Like most Victorian parents Martha and Richard had suffered the loss of multiple children. Sons Richard, Thomas and John all died before the age of 5.

Martha herself died in 1851 though she is still listed in Musson and Craven's Directory 1852/3. It is common for these directories to contain information 1-3 years out of date as they took a long time to compile.

Her daughter Elizabeth took over the Hare and Hounds following her death. She was only young - 19 - something which the licensing authorities would not favour so this was likely allowed only so she could sort things out in the aftermath of her mother's death. Two of her sisters, Eliza and Emma, still lived with her. She had also a lodger 35 year old Benjamin Soames who was a gardener.

Elizabeth married wheelwright George Cox in 1852 and within a couple of years a new landlord was in place at the Hare and Hounds. Elizabeth and George moved away from the area.

 

By 1851 Martha junior, daughter of Richard and Martha, was a servant for Joseph and Martha Rolls a Marlow couple who had moved to London because of Joseph's job in the Customs service. Martha Ruddle junior later lived with her aunt Mary Blakey in Hertford.

The daughter Eliza remained unmarried and worked as a servant but following the premature death of her sister Elizabeth she lived as housekeeper to Elizabeth's family for some years.

Emma Ruddle married James Neighbour in 1854.

Related Posts:

For a listing of other Hare and Hounds historic landlords and a history timeline see here

For similar posts on pub landlords of Great Marlow, Little Marlow, Medmenham, Lane End and Hurley see here

All mentions of any individual on this blog can be found on the Person Index.

Marlow's 100+ pubs, ale houses etc here

Sources used for this post included:

Pigot's Directory 1844.

Great Marlow Parish Registers.

Censuses my transcription from microfilm. Census information always remains Crown Copyright.

Numerous licence hearings etc. 

© Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here.