Innkeepers Through the Ages
History of Known Innkeepers & Owners of The Three Cups in Harwich
Three Cups Hotel – This was built early in the 16th Century on an L shaped plan and a further wing was added in 17th Century. It was extensively restored in 1949 when the top story was lopped off and the front rebuilt. A little of the Elizabethan character remains however. The building is referred to in Elizabethan times as a mansion house belonging to Michael Twitt (related to Christopher Jones). Before the Guildhall was built, many Sessions of the Peace (Petty Sessions) were held here as this was also the residence of several of the mayors. Nelson also stayed here with Lady Hamilton. The building is now a private residence but a plaque has been erected on it to show its historical significance. (http://www.harwich-society.co.uk/old/info_church_st.htm)
Thomas Twitt (d.17 April 1596) "His [Christopher Jones] first child, Thomas, only lived for a few months. He was named after Sara's [Sara Twitt's] father, a wealthy merchant and shipowner who lived in a mansion opposite Christopher Jones in the High Street, adjacent to the quay, and whose properties included the Three Cups, the famous inn in Church Street." (Harwich Papers, by Leonard T. Weaver, Harwich, 1994, p.63)
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1550-1560 - The Three Cuppes (spelt this way before 1600) is one of only two taverns (not alehouses) allowed to operate in Harwich under an act of Edward VI (Woods, Brian Harwich, A Town of Many Pubs, Dovecourt, 2002, p.2)
1592 - Richard Goodwyn ( Sir Robert Cecil, The Cecil papers, 11 December 1592)
Before 1599-1601 - Thomas Twitt the elder, merchant, written 19 August 1599, probate 20 January 1601 (Will of Thomas Twitt, National Archives ref: PROB 11/99/24)
1601 - ? Mrs Johan Twitt, wife of Thomas the elder (Will of Thomas Twitt, National Archives ref: PROB 11/99/24)
160? - ? Thomas Twitt, son of Thomas the Elder. Brother-in-law to Christopher Jones (Will of Thomas Twitt, National Archives ref: PROB 11/99/24)
1601 a “cow-gooing” on the marsh was “leased to Master Twitt for the 3 Cupps’ cow.”
Before 1599-1607 In the tenure and occupation of Anthony Syward in 1599 (Will of Thomas Twitt, National Archives ref: PROB 11/99/24). 1607 'In the archives at the town hall is the following entry: They keep a Session of the Peace at Anthony Seward’s Mansion-House, commonly called the 3 Cupps, troubled with witchcraft. They condemn one Mary Hart for it to be hanged, whom the jury found guilty Oct. 2 1607'. (Chaplin, Patrick, A History of the Three Cups, Harwich, Essex, Part 1, The 'Saviour of Harwich', Samuel Pepys and Poor Mary Hart, The Pub History Society Magazine, 2017). Capital punishment for witchcraft was meted out from a mansion house called the Three Cups (the site was at 64 Church Street, and is now in residential use), which was owned by Anthony Seward, and sed to hold sessions of the peace (in the early 17th century).
1652-1654? Walter Standly
Held a wine licence since 1652, sold a 3 year wine licence to Mathew Dodsly (Bodsly?) of the Three Cupps (Harwich Corporation Archives, bundle 2, no.2, dated 15 May 1655)
1654-1657 Mathew Dodsly (Bodsly?)
Dwelling at the Three Cupps, acquired a 3 year Wine Licencee (Harwich Corporation Archives, bundle 2, no.2, dated 15 May 1655)
1662-1680 Samuel Newton
“... Capt. Thomas Langley and Samuel Newton at the Three Cupps in the town can and will give the same account: if they are required.” (Mary Carlton’s in The Counderfeit Lady by Francis Kirkman, 1673, in: The Self-fashioning of an Early Modern Englishwoman: Mary Carleton’s Lives, by Mary Jo Kietzman, Ashgate, 2004, p.174.) 1672 19th March: Samuel Newton pays 5/- of rent per annum (lease to expire 1694) for a piece of waste ground adjoining to a garden plot belonging to his house called The Three Cups at the East side of the town… (Harwich Corporation Archives, 99/5 List of leases 1610-1760). 1672 19th March: A 21 year lease to Samuel Newton at 5/- rent per annum until Ladyday 1694 of piece of waste ground adjoining to a garden plot belonging to his house called The Three Cups in the East side of the town. 5/- paid down, and 5/- rent per annum. Expires Midsummer 1707. (Harwich Corporation Archives, 99/6 List of leases 1610-1760). Session Dinner in 1680: Pd to Mr. Samuel Newton for wine £2.0.0 (Weaver Leonard T. Harwich Papers, 1994, p.78)
(Will of Ann Twitt, 20 June 1655, (National Archives, ef PROB 11/319/170)
1683 - Mr Brown
'Chamberlain's Accounts: [Guildhall] Dec 1st. Pd. To Mr Brown for wine had att the Three Cups when Mr Whitmore was chose a Freeman £1.15.0' (The Three Cups, Harwich, by Winifred Cooper, Highlight, Journal of the Harwich Society, 109, Autumn 1997, p.7.)
1694 14th September: Mentioned in abutments of a deed:
… all that piece or parcel of waste ground on the East side of the town… between the Angel back yard and The Three Cups backgate… (Harwich Corporation Archives, 27/3)
1686-1711 William Kempster
(will dated 12 June 1711, National Archives ref: PROB 11/522/212) 1686 William Hempstey [20th March 1686: Lease commenced Midsummer next William Hempstey, late Samuel Newton, at 5/- rent per annum, expires Midsummer 1707…
… the piece of ground let to Samuel Newton on 19th March 1672 is assigned over by him in his life time to the borough… and is again let to William Hempster, who keeps The Three Cups, at 5/- per annum… and another piece of ground lying near the yard of William Peck, Boatwright (added above in another more recent hand: now leased by bthe Corporation to Mrs Davies… now Mrs Urquhart). (Harwich Corporation Archives, 99/5 List of leases 1610-1760). 1686 20th May: Midsummer… 21 year lease to William Kempser (sic) late Samuel Newton (as above), at a rent of 5/- per annum. Expires Midsummer 1707. The piece of ground let to Samuel Newton on the 19th March 1672 is assigned over by him in his lifetime to the borough, and it is again let to William Kempser, who keeps The Three Cups, at 5/- per annum…. And another piece of land lying near the yard of William Peck, Boatwright, at 5/- per annum… (Harwich Corporation Archives, 99/6 List of leases 1610-1760)
1711 - ? Thomas Kempster
Son of William (Will of William Kempster, probate 3 August 1711, National Archives Ref PROB 11/522/212)
1711 - ? Mr & Mrs William Adye
Tenants: will of William Kempster. (Will of William Kempster dated 12 June 1711, National Archives ref: PROB 11/522/212). [Mr. & Mrs Edy: 'Mrs Adye (or Adey) was the owner at this time' (Fremantle, Katharine Sir James Thornhill's Sketch-Book Travel Journal of 1711, vols.II, Utrecht, 1975, p.12, note 6) and Thornhill's own writing on page 12)].
In 1715 the Three Cups was described as part of the estate of the late William Kempster
1751-1763 the owner of the Three Cups was Thomas Hallstead who built salt water baths nearby and advertised in the Ipswich Journal inviting people to stay at his inn and take the seawater cure at his new baths.
By 1760, however, Thomas Cobbold, who owned the brewery on the waterfront and a good many inns had gone into competition with Hallstead and not only taken over his baths but also the Three Cups.
1763 Thomas Halstead (Inn Keeper and Capital Burgess)
Brother to William Halstead another Capital Burgess and Inn Keeper of the Three Cups. (The Council regularly held dinners at this hostelry). (From Seft to Citizen - A thousand years of Local Government in Harwich, p.19.)
1773 Benjamin DIDIER of the parish of Saint Nicholas in the Borough of Harwich in the County of Essex Gentleman Clerk of the Peace of the said Borough maketh Oath and saith that this deponent at the request of Joseph ORLEBAR Esquire Mayor of the borough attended a meeting of him the said Mayor Griffith DAVIES Esquire late Mayor of the said Borough and Humphrey RANT Esquire Recorder for the [?] being of the same Borough three justices of the said Borough next unto the port of Harwich held at the House of Roger Hinde known by the sign of Three Cups in the parish of Saint Nicholas in the Borough of Harwich aforesaid on Tuesday the 4th day of February in order to examine witnesses and adjust the [?] of [?] for [?] schooner called Unity of Philadelphia William WILLIAMS Master with her cargo and crew..."
Mr. John Nunn, master of the Three Cups Inn in this town, was married to Miss Everett of Hadleigh in Suffolk. (The Ipswich Journal, 12th October 1776) [Is this Colchester?]
1773-1822 - Mr Abraham Hinde (Innkeeper) - Universal British
1823-1831 - Mr William Bull - Pigot's Directory
1832-1869 - Mrs Ann Bull (1841 census: aged 55, not born in Essex) - Pigot's Directory
The retirement of Thomas Cobbold, in December 1840 the old workhouse was purchased by John Bull and converted into a brewery and beer shop. The workhouse had been built in 1669 on waste ground behind the Three Cups Hotel, but with the formation of a union of north-east Essex parishes with a common workhouse at Tendring the old building became surplus to requirements. This interesting development came three years after the sale of the quayside brewery and it suggests that the failure of Thomas Cobbold to sell the quayside brewery as a going concern did leave a gap in the market that was exploited by John Bull, the well-known landlord of the Three Cups Hotel.
1836-1881 Joseph Leech Bull
1841 - Mr Joseph Bull (Son, aged 30, born in Essex)- Census Records
1841 - Ms Fanny Bull (Daughter, aged 20, born in Essex) - Census Records
1841 - Ms Sarah Bull (Daughter, aged 20, born in Essex) - Census Records
1841 - Mr Richard Marshall (Visitor, aged 13, not born in Essex) - Census Records
1845 - Mrs Ann Bull - The Post Office
1848 - Mrs Ann Bull (Spirit Merchant) - White's Directory
1851 - Mrs Ann Bull - The Post Office
1851 - Mrs Ann Bull (Widow, innkeeper, aged 66, born in Shoreditch, Middlesex) - Census Records
1851 - Joseph Leech Bull (Son, innkeeper, farmer, aged 41, born in Harwich, Essex) - Census Records
1851 - Fanny Bull (Daughter, aged 32, born in Harwich, Essex) - Census Records
1851 - Sarah Bull (Daughter, aged 30, born in Harwich, Essex) - Census Records
1851 - George Bull (Grandson, scholar, aged 14, born in Harwich, Essex) - Census Records
1851 - William Bull (Grandson, scholar, aged 13, born Dovercourt, Essex) - Census Records
1856 - Mrs Ann Bull & Co. - The Post Office
1862 - Mrs Ann Bull (Wine & Spirit Merchant) - Kelly's Directory
1862 - William Haxell, Three Cups Brewery Tap, this would have been The Harwich Brewery, situated behind the "Cups" in Cow Lane (LAST ORDERS, The Pubs, Inns and Taverns of Harwich, Dovercourt and the Villages of Parkeston, Ramsey and Little Oakley, by Peter R. Goodwin,
1867 - Mrs Ann Bull (Wine & Spirit Merchant) - Post Office
1870-1875 - Joseph Leech Bull (Wine & Spirit Merchant) - Kelly's Directory
1871 - Joseph Leech Bull (Wine & Spirit Merchant) - The Post Office
1874 - Joseph Leech Bull (Hotel, Livery Stables) - The Post Office
1875 - Joseph Bull, died 27th February
1875-1889 - Mr John Bull
1878 - John Bull (Livery Stables) - The Post Office
1881 - John Bull (Hotel Proprietor & Farmer, aged 66, born in Harwich, Essex) - Census Records
1881 - Ms Agnes Bull (Daughter, aged 37, born in London, Middlesex) - Census Records
1882 - Mr John Bull - Kelly's Directory
1886 - Mr John Bull - Kelly's Directory
1885 - Mr. Walter J. Watts, purchased the Three Cups at auction for £2,800 27 May 1885 (Harwich & Manningtree Free Press, 29 May 1885, p.4)
1881 - Mr. J. Tye of the Three Cups - Thirteenth Aniversary of the planting of the Clematis (Harwich & Manningtree Free Press, 1 October 1881, p.4)
1885 - 10 September 1885, Mr. J. Tye of the Three Cups gave his annual display of fireworks on the Harwich Green (Harwich & Dovercourt Free Press, Saturday 12 September 1885, p.4)
1890-1897 - Mr John Tye - Kelly's Directory
1891 - Mr John Tye (Hotel Proprietor, aged 61, born Banbridge, Suffolk) - Census Records
1891 - Mrs Maud Tye (Wife, aged 62, born Banbridge, Suffolk) – Census Records
1891 - Ms Jane Clinton (Sister, Barmaid, aged 40, born Lansguard(?), Suffolk) - Census Records
1891 - Miss Amy Clinton (Niece, aged 13, born Lansguard(?), Suffolk) - Census Records
1891 - Mr Ernest R. Clinton (Nephew, aged 12, born Lansguard(?), Suffolk) - Census Records
1891 - Ms Aura White (Niece, aged 20, born in Harwich, Essex) - Census Records
1891 - Ms Alice White (Niece, aged 17, born in Harwich, Essex) - Census Records
1894(?)-1897 - Charles Chambers - See Bankruptcy Court proceedings (Harwich and Dovercourt Free Press, Saturday 25 September 1897, p.4)
1896 - Mr John Osborne
'...in July 1896 it was bought from Mr. John Osborne by Bullard & Sons Ltd, the Norwich brewers.' (The Three Cups, Harwich, by Winifred Cooper, Highlight, Journal of the Harwich Society, 109, Autumn 1997, p.9.)
1898 - Mr John Broadbent - Kelly's Directory and Harwich & Dovercourt Free Press, 25 June 1898, p.4.
1899 - Mr John Broadbent - Kelly's Directory (commercial & family)
1901 - Mr John Broadbent (Licensed Victualler, aged 47, born in Manchester) - Census Records
1901 - Mrs Helen Broadbent (Wife, aged 35, born in Ramsey, Isle of Man) - Census Records
1901 - Mr John S Broadbent (Son, aged 6, born in Glasgow, Scotland) - Census Records
1898-1904 - Mr John Broadbent (from Manchester) - Kelly's Directory, sold at auction 9th June 1904 (Harwich & Dovercourt Free Press, 4 June 1904, p.4)
1904 - Mr T. W. Carnie & C. Cartmale - 'Harwich Hotel Transfer. At the Harwich Pettysessional Court on Tuesday [14 June 1904], an application was made for the temporary transfer of the licence of the Three Cups Hotel, Harwich, from Mr. J. Broadbent to Mr. Charles Cartmale, late of the Grand Hotel, Leeds. The same was granted, Mr. Cartmale producing excellent testimonials.' (Harwich & Dovercourt Free Press, Saturday 18 June 1904, p.4)
1905 - Mr Thomas West Carnie & Cartmale - Nelson Dinner, East Anglia Daily Times ...October 1905(?)
1907 - 1909 At Harwich annual licensing meeting … The Three Cups Hotel license was transferred from Mr. F. C. Cartivale to Mr. Fredk. Arthur Bray, who had been assistant manager at the Central Hotel at Hastings. (The Evening Star, Tuesday 5 February 1907) 1901 - Mr Frederick Arthur Bray charged with permitting his house to be used as a resort for persons of ill repute (Harwich and Dovercourt Pubs, by Peter R. Goodwin, Stroud, 2004, p.33: This should probably be 1909, see 'Licensing Prosecution at Harwich', The East Anglian Daily Times, 1 December 1909)
1906-1907 - Mr Thomas West Carnie & Cartmale - Kelly's Directory
1908 - Mr Thomas West Carnie - Kelly's Directory
1910-1954, Alehouse owned by, Bullard & Sons, brewers, Norwich
1910 - Mr Thomas West Carnie - Kelly's Directory
1912 - Mr Thomas West Carnie - Kelly's Directory
1917 - Bertie Edward Bussey
1914-1921 - Mr Bertie Edward Bussey - Kelly's Directory
1922-1928 - Mrs Alice Maud Dorton - Kelly's Directory
Dorton married Alice Maude Mary Bird in 1899 who, as Alice Maude Dorton later ran the Three Cups Hotel in Harwich from 1922 until 1928. Advertisment: Three Cups Hotel, HARWICH, ESSEX. . . . . [First-class Family and Commercial.] SUPERIOR LOUNGE. COFFEE ROOM. . . OLDEST HOUSE IN ESSEX. Proprietress: (Mrs.) A. DORTON. (Burrows Guides - Harwich & Dovercourt)
192? - F.A. Bray, Manager - advertisment: Carnie, T. West Happy-Go-Lucky Harwich, 1920?, George Pulman & Sons Ltd, p.iii
Percy Hales, late of the Three Cups Hotel, Harwich, in the county of Essex, deceased, who died on 11th day of April, 1936. (The London Gazette, 22nd May 1936)
1929-1937 - Mr William G. Kitson (Manager) - Kelly's Directory
1937 - Mr Edmond Charles Jules Guignard (Proprietor, Born in Switzerland on 19th January 1899, and died Braintree, Essex in 1965, married to Mildred who was born 8th October 1908) - Kelly's Directory etc.
[E. C. J. Guignard and M. Griffiths, both noted as proprietors in The Three Cups Hotel Harwich, (Essex), advertising booklet, Derby, 1937]
Swiss born Mr Edmond Charles Jules Guignard learned his profession in the school of J. Lyons and co. He came up from London with savings and invested them in the Three Cups [Herbert]. In the 1939 register Edmond was the proprietor of the White Lion PH at 20, Coggeshall Road, Braintree.
1938-1981 - George Albert & Kathleen [Kit/Kitty] Keeble (licencees)
1981-1990 - Mr Ricky & Kim Good (Landlords) - See photograph
1988 - Mr R. J. Good - Watney Truman List 1998-2016
1990-1992 - Lance & Trevor ?
1992-1994 - Karen ?
1992 - Confirmed included in the grant of the 99 year lease to Brent Walker (Letter from Grand Metropolitan Estates Limited 6 April 1992)
1994-1995 - George Hodgson
1996 - Let to Brigadier F Lucus, occupied by Mr E Thomas (Pubmaster letter 6 March 1996)
1998-2016 - Mrs Lillian Nunn (Widow, owner, d.2016)
1998-2016 - Mr John & Beatrice (Bea) Bolton (Residents)
2017 - Mr Brett Martin Hammond (Resident, born in Ilford, Essex, 1962)
2017 - Mrs Tanja Anneli Hammond (Wife, resident, born near Salo, Finland 1982)
2017 - Mr Aaron Brett Hammond (Son, resident, born in Essex)
2017 - Mr Ethan Farrel Hammond (Son, resident, born Romford in Essex, 2009)