The Talbot - Stoke

      (Researched and written by Mervyn Edwards 2002)

The Talbot stands on the comer of Church Street and Trade Street (formerly Commerce Street), across from the Spode factory. A late 18th century document - a "Plan of the Streets intended in Mr John Hassell's Field, laid out for Building in Stoke... 23 April 1794" - shows a plot of the land which Josiah Spode purchased and developed (much to his advantage) off Hartshill Road/Church Street. This land - opposite the factory - soon boasted newly-laid out streets, houses and pubs, such as the Staff of Life, the Kings Arms and the Talbot, all built and owned bv Spode. The Talbot, built as a pub/hotel would therefore date from circa 1800. Spode entertained his peers at his Penkhull House (The Mount, completed 1803) but his factory managers and friends usually convened in the Talbot, where many public functions were held.

In 1818, the Talbot (kept by William Crewe) and the Wheatsheaf were visited every Tuesday by Robert Barnes' waggons, which plied the Uttoxeter to Derby route. The hostelry would also have become a popular meeting place by this time, too: at the first annual meeting of the Stoke Association for the Prosecution of Felons, held in early October 1824, members were "regaled with an excellent and substantial dinner". This association - consisting of mainly well-to-do individuals who wished to protect their land and property against trespass or burglary etc. - met at other large Stoke pubs, and their members included Martha Hudson (landlady of the Talbot) by 1836.

The Talbot played host to two coronation dinners in the 1830s: in 1831. the Rev. B. Vale and 70 gentlemen gathered in order to pay homage to King William IV and Queen Adelaide. whilst Martha entertained 120 guests on the occasion of Queen Victona's coronation in 1838. Particulars concerning the commercial value of the Talbot during this decade are contained in the newspapers of the day:

"CAPITAL HOUSE. MALTHOUSE. &c. In the centre of the Potteries. TO BE LET. and entered upon at LADY DAY, the Talbot Inn. and Commercial Travellers' House, in the centre of the populous and increasing Town of STOKE-ON-TRENT, with commodious Stables. Coach-houses, and other Conveniences- and a large Malt-house, immediately adjacent thereto, A Term of Years, if desired, will be granted to an approved Tenant...".

The innkeeper from early 1836 onwards was the aforementioned Martha Hudson, who quickly took out advertising space in the local press to invite customers to the "Talbot family hotel and Commercial Inn", which boasted "well-aired and clean beds" and a "stable department conducted by obliging and attentive servants". The Talbot continued to provide a base for sales of local property, and also for town business. In June 1841 (by which time the pub was being kept by the Wright family) a dinner to Lewis Adams (a major Stoke manufacturer) was held and a new Chief Bailiff elected, whilst in 1843. there was a public dinner to S.T. Garrett, the late Chief Bailiff. Ward confirms the hostelry's important status at this time: "There are in Penkhull with Boothen, 10 Inns or Public Houses (of which the Wheatsheaf and Talbot in Stoke are of a superior class). Of beerhouses there are about 30". The working-classes were also catered for, too. Following the prison-bars matches at Stoke Wakes in 1850, dinner for some of the participants was provided at the Talbot.

White's Directory of 1851 lists William Wright as keeping the Talbot, and the 1851 Census (which omits to mention the pub's name) records him as living at High Street: "Innkeeper", born Essex, aged 55. He and his wife Sarah were living at the Talbot with two children, three servants and two lodgers. However, by 1854, the pub, still occupied by Wright, was back on the market. Sales particulars referred to the "excellent MALTHOUSE adjoining the above premises, in the occupation of RICHARD ASBURY".

By 1860, the Talbot was being kept by Frederick Tennant, though it may have been suffering from a brief period of decline shortly after this date. This is indicated at the 1865 Annual Licensing meeting at Trentham, which witnessed a not-untypical debate between local competitors. The landlord of the Saracen's Head in Stoke and a beerhouse keeper (Thomas Follows) who was applying for a licence himself, opposed the renewal of the Talbot's licence on the grounds that the only part of the building being used as a public house was the part used as a liquor vaults. The Bench, however, saw fit to renew the Talbot's licence. Kelly's 1872 and 1880 directories record Frederick Tennant as the innkeeper, though in the 1881 Census, we find Richard Tennant (age 63, "Innkeeper's manager") living at the "Talbot Inn. 12, High Street" with his wife and two daughters. Kelly's 1884 directory lists Henry George Tennant as the occupier, though shortly after, the Baileys came to prominence at the pub. Kelly's 1892 directory lists Bariah (not Mariah?) Bailey, and various directories from 1896 until 1924 list Mrs Elizabeth Bailey as being in charge. Miss Hester S. Bailey is recorded in Kelly's 1928 directory. In the 1920s, the Stoke-on-Trent Banjo Club, organised by a local banjo teacher, Horace Wenker. regularly met at the Talbot. They arranged club excursions, travelling as far afield as Llangollon.

An interesting court case involving the Talbot's manager and one of his customers, took place in 1949, wherein a Fenton man who had gained access to the smokeroom till attempted to explain his conduct by reasoning that he'd thought it was a piano, and had pressed a button expecting a musical note. The Stipendiary fined him £5 for his troubles.

In the late 20th century, the Talbot became a popular gig venue for local groups and others from further afield.