Image supplied by reader Howmuch? of the Walsall ‘Register of Beerhouses’ entry for the Royal Oak, Walsall Wood

Readers anticipating the next instalment of the Royal Oak story – the lost pub in Bullings Heath – could be forgiven for thinking I’d forgotten the subject, but nothing could be further from the truth. At the moment, I’m just fitting in what I can, when I can, and the next part should appear in the next (mumble) few days.

In the meantime, [Howmuch?] has been doing what he does best – rooting through the historical archives and other resources – to see what he can find. Blowing the dust from the Walsall Register of Beerhouses, he notes the above page relating to The Royal Oak.

• First entry 10th February 1919, on-premises licence granted for beer and wine.
• Owner listed then as The Lichfield Brewery Co. Ltd., of Lichfield.
• Licensee Alfred Read.
• 13th February 1923, licensee becomes John Edward Vincent.
• Last entry appears to be 18th March 1927.
• The page is ‘struck through’ to indicate premises closure.

This doesn’t mean the pub didn’t exist before 1919, by the way, just that this book doesn’t record dates before then.

The opposite page of the same book. Click for a larger version. Wonder what happened? Picture kindly supplied by Howmuch?

On the opposite page is a footnote which (I think, please correct me if I’m wrong) states:

Referred to compensation authority, 1927

Then, in another hand:

At the principal meeting of the Compensation (?) Authority on the 19th July 1927 the renewal of the licence was refused.

And again, another clerk:

Notice received from the Clerk of the Compensation Authority on 30/11/27 that this licence (provisionally renewed) would expire on 31 Dec 1927 and that compensation money would be paid on the 24th December 1927.

No clue is given for the refusal of the licence.

This is really, really interesting and I thank [Howmuch?] for his continued and wonderful contributions to this ongoing story. As I say, look out for the next instalment in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, contribute if you fancy by commenting here or BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Cheers.