The Bliss Family of Harrow-on-the Hill
The Bliss family are fascinating. They were an old and established Harrow family that our Dixons married into which started a long and fruitful partnership between the family. And the common thread amongst these families was alcohol. That is, they sold it - by the shipload. Most of the selling was through the management of scores of pubs, but one branch of the family explored the development of the off-license trade and did very well, thus raising the family’s standing and enabling them to live very well thank you.The coming together of ways started, of course, in Harrow-on-the-Hill. This is where old Isaac moved after the collapse of his business empire in Bexley (he managed the lease of the Guy,, Earl of Warwick pub – see Isaac Dixon. The Dixons moved to Harrow about 1817. The Bliss family had been there since before records were started.Bliss Name MeaningEnglish: nickname for a cheerful person, from Middle English blisse ‘joy’. Compare Blythe 1. English (of Norman origin): habitational name from the village of Blay in Calvados, France, recorded in 1077 in the form Bleis and of unknown origin. The village of Stoke Bliss in Worcestershire was named after a Norman family de Blez, recorded several times in the county from the 13th century. German: nickname for a cheerful person, from Middle High German blide ‘happy’, ‘friendly’. Compare 1. Americanized spelling of French Blois.Generation
1 Richard Bliss 1636-1688
2 Richard Bliss 1675-Generation
3 Stephen Bliss 1702-1756 & MaryGeneration
4 James Bliss 1738- & Elizabeth Field
Gen 5 John Munk Bliss 1764-1833 & Elizabeth Dyson 1772-1834
Gen 6.1 James Bliss 1796-1864 & Ann Foster 1802-
Gen 6.2 John Monk Bliss 1794-1862 & Esther Hodsdon 1806-1856
Gen 7.1 John William Bliss 1831=1886 & Matilda Dixon 1842-1899;
Gen 7.2 George Bliss 1837- & Esther Standen 1853
Gen 8 has not been researchedSo our earliest ancestor is Richard Bliss
Gen 1: Richard Bliss 1636-1668
Richard Bliss 1636 – 1668. Rich died 9 Apr 1668 in Harrow. No marriage details but he was the father of:
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John Bliss
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Thomas Bliss
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James Bliss 1667
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Frances Bliss 1673 -
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Richard Blisse b 1675-he continues the line
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John Blisse bap 9 Dec 1638 and died young
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John Blise bap 23 Jun 1641.
England at this time was undergoing a huge change because as these generations were growing up, Puritanism was sweeping the country. The English Civil War occurred between 1642-1651. It’s possible that Richard fought in that war and probably on the side of Parliament as the chief landowner in Harrow was Sir Gerard Gilbert who was a staunch supporter of Oliver Cromwell. During the fighting, Sir Gerard reportedly raised a regiment on parliament’s behalf, largely comprised of Harrow men.
Gen 2 Richard Bliss 1675 - 1723
B 1675 in Harrow.
Children:
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Gen 2 Richard Bliss 1675-
Richard Blisse b 1675 was born in Harrow, Middlesex. He married (wife’s name not recorded). His occupation was a bricklayer. He was an important man because in the Middlesex: - Calendar Sessions Books, 1689-1709 page 44 we learn that there was an "Order for the discharge of John Pryor from the office of constable of the hamlet of Sudbury, in the parish of Harrow. Richard Bliss to serve in his stead."
There is an entry in a parish record for Painswick, Gloucestershire that tells us Richard Bliss was baptised 10 Aug 1675
He married a girl called Mary Higgs in Gloucestershire. That's a very long way from Harrow. I wonder what took him there?
Children:
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Richard Bliss b 1700
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Mary Bliss bap 3 Jan 1702 Saint Mary, Harrow: Church Hill, Harrow, Harrow,
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Stephen Bliss 1702 – 1756.Stephen continues the line of descent
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John Bliss 1726
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Eliz Bliss 1727
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Mary Bliss 1730-1
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Richard Bliss b 1731-1
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William Bliss 1732-3
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Thomas Bliss
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Mary Bliss 1734
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James Bliss 1738
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Frances Bliss 1738
Gen 3 Stephen Bliss 1702-1756
Stephen was born in December 1794 and baptized at St Mary’s church, Harrow on the Hill. Like his father he became a bricklayer. He did quite well for himself so perhaps he not only was a bricklayer but a builder as well.
He married Mary Higgs. They were married in Gloucestershire, and that's a long way from Middlesex.
Stephen died in June 1756 and was buried in St Mary’s churchyard 19 June. The will was proved 3 Sep 1756. He left a shilling to his son John (value in 2022 = £11.50). To his wife (while she remained a widow), he gave all his wearing apparel, plate, household, two messuages (houses) in Sudbury (John is living in one of them) and we have details of their children:
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John Bliss bap 19 Jul 1726; married Sarah Slaughter 3 Sep 1750 in a clandestine marriage ceremony. Clandestine marriages were also called Fleet Marriages and usually took place in the Fleet prison. During the 1740s, up to 6,000 marriages a year were taking place in the Fleet area, compared with 47,000 in England as a whole. One estimate suggests that there were between 70 and 100 clergymen working in the Fleet area between 1700 and 1753. It was not merely a marriage centre for criminals and the poor because both rich and poor availed themselves of the opportunity to marry quickly or in secret. Interesting that the records also show a Sarah Slaughter and a John Bliss married 3 Feb 1750 at St George, Mayfair, Westminster. Then again there could be an error of judgement by this author
I have no information of the future line of this branch but these were the children of John and Sarah
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John Bliss bap 1752;
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James Bliss bap 25 Jan 1755 St Mary Harrow
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Stephen Bliss bap 26 Jan 1757 St Mary Harrow
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Richard Bliss bap 1757 St Mary Harrow
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Mary Bliss bap 15 Dec 1758 St Mary Harrow
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Sarah Bliss bap 3 Oct 1760 St Mary Harrow
Sarah died and John remarried Anne Reddaway.
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Eliza Bliss 1727
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Richard Bliss 1729-30
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Mary Bliss 1730-31
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Richard Bliss 1731-31
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William Bliss 1732-33
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Mary Bliss 1734- married Clark\
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Susan Bliss 1783-52
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James Bliss 1738 = Elizabeth Field - James continues the tree
Gen 4: John Munk Bliss 1764-1833
John Munk Bliss was baptised 19 Oct 1764 in St Marys church, Harrow-on-the-Hill and married Elizabeth Dyson by license 31 Dec 1793 at St Mary’s. Witnesses W Walker and George Brownrigg. (the Walkers and the Brownriggs are also long term Harrovian families and publicans). Elizabeth was baptised at St Mary’s and was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Dyson of Sudbury.
John was a man of property more so than his forebears because we find that he was a land tax assessor in 1795 and 1798 together with other Harrow worthies William Winkley, William Withers, Charles Marcham, Robert Garters, John Foster, John Smith, John Winter and John Ward.
In 1807 - 1808 he was a tenant of Samuel Hoare paying £7. Sadly no place name.
1825 & 1827: Land Tax assessment shows John is a tax collector and is renting a house from Thomas Clutterbuck and paying 15 shillings and ten pence. We see John’s name on a number of tax assessment documents at this time.
The 1831 Land Tax assessment shows that he rented property from Dr Butler, headmaster of Harrow School. It states that he is renting land and is seven shillings and eight pence in arrears. This must have the public house – the Crown and Anchor pub. Before John Munk we have no record of the Bliss family being publicans.
John died in 1833 and Elizabeth in1834. They had quite a small family for this time. I have tracked down:
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John Monk Bliss b 1794 md Esther Hodson. See Gen 5.1
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James Bliss b 1796 See below Gen 5.2
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William Bliss 1798 – 1870. baptised 25 May 1798 St Mary' church, Harrow. Could be the William Bliss working with Joseph Gray, grocer in Shoe Lane, St Bride Precinct, London in 1841. He died at 11 Cathcart (?) Street, Kentish Town 11 Nov 1870 and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery.
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Joseph Bliss b 1799
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Charles Monk Bliss b 1808
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Frederick M Bliss b 1815 md Jane Clayton, almost 20 years younger than him. In 1861 he is listed as a retired licensed victualler. The 1871 is intriguing. His occupation is "shares in Lon??? Westminster". There is also a niece staying with them - Esther M Handon aged 18. By 1881 he was a warehouseman in Finsbury. I have found one son - William Bliss b 1878.
Gen 6.1 John Monk Bliss 1794-1862 (Bliss the Elder)
John, the son of John Munk Bliss, was born in 1794 and baptized 7 Nov at St Marys’ church in Harrow. He married Esther Hodson 20 Aug 1838 at St James in Paddington. Esther was born about 1806 in Hertfordshire, the daughter of John Hodsdon, a farmer.
John and his father ran the Crown and Anchor pub, situated where the Vaughan library in Harrow is now located. It was called the "abode of Bliss".
We see the lively household in 1841 with a full house. John aged 40 and Esther aged 35 have John aged 2 and a young 6 month old Henry and they have six servants!!!! They are Ann Woodbridge, Mary Keen, William Warner, Charles and Sophia Hoare and William Crocker
John died 14 February 1862 in Harrow and was buried in St Mary’s churchyard on 29 Feb 1862. His will was proved by son Henry – effects £450. The probate calls him John Bliss the Elder.
Esther died 3 Dec 1856 aged 51 and was buried on the 6 Dec at St Mary’s churchyard.
John Monk and Esther only had three children and that was very unusual. Their kids were:
John Dyson Bliss 1841 – 11 Oct 1863. John was an innkeeper with his dad at the Crown and Anchor till it closed down. He was delighted that Harrow School took over the very dilapidated pub the Crown and Anchor. The pub had been owned by the Clutterbuck family. JD died in 1863 and was buried 16 Oct 1863. His estate was proved by James Bliss of 55 Upper Seymour Street (his uncle) wine merchant. He was only 23 years old. There were no children.
Henry Bliss 22 Apr 1840. Henry was an innkeeper with his dad at the Crown and Anchor till it closed down. He died 2 Sep 1863 and his will was proved. He never married. The probate record is interesting: “Letters of Administration of the personal estate and effects of Henry Bliss late of Harrow-on-the Hill in the county of Middlesex Innkeeper a bachelor deceased who died 2 September 1863 at Harrow-on-the-Hill aforesaid were granted at Principal Registry to George Bliss of 55A Upper Seymour Street, Portman Square, merchant – one of the executors of the will of James Bliss, the sole executor of the will of John Dyson Bliss the brother and only next of kin of the said deceased he the said George Bliss having first sworn.”
George Bliss. I think there was a George Bliss.
And so this is the end of the line for this branch. For the story of the Crown and Anchor see here
Gen 6.2 James Bliss 1796 - 1875
James Bliss son of John Munk Bliss and Elizabeth Dyson was baptised 19 Feb 1796 at St Mary’s Harrow. He married Ann Foster b 1802 Harrow. We see in the 1851 census that he is living at 18 Grove Place, Marylebone and he is a retired victualler. Grove Place no longer exists but the road is now called Sisson Street in North London, close to Lord’s cricket ground.
Ten years on in 1861 and he is at 55 Seymour Street Upper St Marys Marylebone in business as a wine and ale merchant, but is a widower. His shop was situated on this corner of Seymour Street. And he has a house full of servants: Ann Tomkins (house servant); Esther Pelham (nurse); James Bache (butler); Phobe Edwards (servant); Emma Mortley (servant); Amelia Barton (servant); Kezia Moore (servant) and Samuel Huons (coachman).
James was dead by 1875. However his children built upon his entrepreneurial skills and continued to build the wine and beer business.
Children of James Bliss and Ann Foster:
Gen 6.1 John William Bliss was baptized 27 Jun 1830 St Mary’s Harrow.
Elizabeth Bliss b Harrow c 1833. In 1881 at 21 Seymour St, Marylebone
James Bartlett Bliss baptised 14 Dec 1834 at St Mary's church, Harrow. In 1881 he was the head of the household and ran a wine and beer business in the West End (21 Seymour St, Marylebone) with all his brothers and sisters. He built the business up and by 1871 was employing 6 men. He lived at 21 Seymour Street until his retirement and never married. We find him aged 76 living as a lodger at 15 Westbourne Park Road, South Paddington. This was a 12 roomed house. He died in 1917.
Gen 6.2 George Bliss 1837 - 1885.
Frederick Bliss b Paddington. In 1881, with his brother, he ran the and beer business in the West End at 21 Seymour St, Marylebone. He lived at 21 Seymour Street all his life and never married.
Mary Ann Bliss b 1841 Harrow. In 1881 at 21 Seymour St, Marylebone, looking after the family. She never married
George Bliss b 1837 had a job as a Harrow print seller in 1861. He and Esther had interesting lives.
Gen 6.1. John William Bliss 1831 - 1866
John William was the son of James Bliss and Ann Foster was baptized 27 Jun 1830 St Mary’s Harrow. John is the link into the DIXON family. John grew up in his parent's home at 18 Grove Place.
He had a good education as he attended Harrow school. In 1851 he is a pupil aged 15 and living in the home of Benjamin H Drury 1817 – 1902), a clergyman and schoolmaster, at Harrow school. In the house was Emily Drury (aged 37 b Harrow), his sister and another sister Louisa aged 34. There were 17 pupils including our John W. After leaving school he moved down to Marylebone but his occupation is listed as out of business. Unemployed then.
He appears in an amusing story in the Brighton Gazette in 1858. He had too much drink, passed out and all his clothes were stolen and he appeared naked in public. Luckily some locals took pity on him and lent him some clothes. The court had a rollicking good laugh at his expense!!!.
Matilda Mary Dixon was born 18 December 1840 in Harrow on the Hill the daughter of Alfred John Dixon and Elizabeth Sturgeon. With her dad being a local farmer and retired publican, and living just down the road from the Crown public house, it seems only natural that the family would marry into a publican’s family, and so it turned out. Matilda and John were married at St Pancras church 15 Oct 1864. I wonder why there were married here and not in their family parish of Harrow? Their address was Warren Street. Witnesses were her father and sister Elizabeth Broad (nee Dixon). We don't know what happened to John and Matilda in theor first 6 years, other than John worked as a licenced victualler somewhere and Matilda produced three children.
However John does get work, and in one of the roughest, toughest areas of the east end of London. He takes up the position as publican of a pub called the White Horse at 297 Rotherhithe Street North Side (built 1788). He, together with Matilda and their children, operated the pub for about 10 years from 1875 to 1885.
A fine looking East End pub c 1929
Rebuilt in 1939
The White Horse pub has long gone. It closed in April 1958. Wikimedia Commons has this description of the site: “White Horse pub (site of) Rotherhithe Street, London, SE16 This was on the riverside of the street practically opposite Cow Lane and at the north end of Durands Wharf. Commenced trading in 1743 and demolished in 1962 although I do not know when it ceased trading. Cow Lane was on the land-side and about 120 yards south of today's 'Clipper' pub. Site shown is a riverside walk named Durands Wharf'. I do not know what the concrete structure is but from the noise coming from it, it could be some type of ventilation shaft."
Rotherhithe Street ran around the edge of the River Thames and had links to two major docks. The street was filled with mean houses and would have teemed with life, albeit of a very squalid and slum like existence for the people eking out a living,
Right: This drawing by F. L. Blanchard about 1860, Repro no H1894 in the National Maritime Museum. Rotherhithe Street with the ship 'Argo' visible in the distance. By the mid-18th century Rotherhithe was a district of east London with a strong maritime and shipbuilding tradition. The development of the Surrey Docks during the 19th century further added to the maritime flavour of the area. By 1900, inland Rotherhithe had been transformed into 136 acres of interlinked waterways.
The Surrey Commercial Docks were the only cut wet docks south of the river. They have their origin in the Greenland Dock (originally the Howland Great Wet Dock) of the 17th century. Most expansion took place in the mid and late 19th century. At their greatest extent the docks had 176 acres of water and 193 acres of quayside. Their greatest volume of imports were in the interwar years, at about the time of this photograph.
Their principal goods were Canadian grain and Scandanavian softwood. The latter can be seen floating in the Lavender Dock.The Surrey Commercial Docks employed thousands, but mainly on a casual basis; the dockers' call- on shelter still stands on Redriff Road. Rotherhithe Street ran in a great arc in the strip of land between the docks and the River Thames. Much of the land between the river and the street was used for ship repair, building and breaking. The Nelson (dry) Dock can be seen in the foreground.
Left: These houses, which date from the early 18th century, stood on the site of Rotherhithe Street, on the site of the modern Acorn Estate.They were demolished in the early 1930s.
In 1898 Matilda moved back to her home town of Harrow-on-the -Hill and took over the management of the Kings Head Tap, Harrow. Matilda and her husband John Bliss had been publicans at the White Horse Inn in Rotherhithe Road 10 years earlier. John’s family had been publicans in harrow for 100 years before this. And distant members of the family made a fortune selling wines and spirits before off licenses became the norm.
However John died, and so Matilda moved back to Harrow and with her daughters Matilda and Edith, were at the pub in 1891. **
John and Matilda had the following children:
Matilda Elizabeth Biss born in the first quarter of 1866 in Harrow. At the age of 25 she was helping her mum run the Kings Head Tap public house in Harrow.
In 1901 she was visiting the family of her aunt Elizabeth Wilkinson (nee Dixon) at 12 Totnes Terrace, Wembley. Lizzy was a widow, having lost her husband who was an engineer and she needed help looking after the house. So in the house, we find her children Samuel (22) plasterer; Walter (20) bricklayer; Albert (10) and Dora (10). Matilda Bliss also has her sisters staying there - Adeline (32) a barmaid and Edith (27) also a barmaid.
In 1911 at the age of 45 she is listed as a "colonist suffering from an infirmity for the last 2 years" and living in an epileptics colony in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire. At the end of the 19th century, epilepsy was largely misunderstood and stigmatised. Employment prospects for people with the condition were virtually non-existent. Many ended up in the workhouses or asylums of Victorian England.
The colony is still operational... "our site in Chalfont St Peter has been home to Epilepsy Society since the charity was founded in 1892. The site is home to our 92 residents who live in the residential care and supported living services across the site. Our medical and world-leading research centres are also onsite, as well as our coffee shop and pharmacy." [1] In the nineteenth century, the "Centre only took in people considered to be of 'reasonable behaviour and mental ability.' They worked six days a week on the land or did domestic work in the home. Later on the men undertook other work such as carpentry, plumbing, painting and bricklaying. It was believed that the fresh air and hard work was beneficial to the patients' health and well-being - perhaps more so than drugs and doctors. However the men were visited regularly by medical staff from the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic in London, some of whom had been responsible for the founding of the NSEE. At this time, the headquarters of the Society were in London and the colony was planned and run from there." [2] An excellent article can be found here. "By the early 20th century the Colony consisted of eight red brick villas, resembling a little village. The villas were separated from each other by a considerable distance and were surrounded by fields. There were 135 colonists, mainly men. The cost of the buildings had, for the greater part, been borne by Mr Passmore Edwards, who had donated £83,000 of the £84,800 required. In recognition of his generosity, he was made a Vice-President of the Society." [3]
Matilda didn't get married and died in Harrow inn April 1934. She is buried in Hendon cemetery.
James Alfred Bliss born 21 Jan 1868 in Harrow-on-the-Hill. James was an adventurer. Not for him the smoky pubs and bottle shops of the family businesses. I imagine that growing up in the docks area of West Lindon, the clientele if the pub that his parents ran would have had many sailors.He joined the Royal Navy on 21 Jan 1886 at the age of 18. The best thing about family members in the defence forces are the wonderful records that are kept. So we discover that James was five feet one and half inches tall, with light brown hair, brown hazel eyes, and a fresh complexion. Distinguishing marks were a "sailor and bracelet on the right arm and true love on the left arm with an anchor and triangle on the left hand. He served in
For the 1901 census he was a labourer at the Woolwich Arsenal
He married Martha A ? bc 1868 and had children:
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daughter bc 1800
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John died and Matilda moved back home to a more sophisticated area - her home town of Harrow where she ran the Kings Head Tap in the High Street with Matilda E and Helen M.
In 1898 she was the publican at the Britannia public house in Waltham Cross near Cheshunt, Essex
Gen 8 George Bliss 1837 - 1885
b1837 Harrow - d 26 Sep1885 Sussex. He had a job as a print seller while living at home with his family in Marylebone. Later he joined his brother James in running the ale and wine shop, which, by 1871, had moved down the street to number 21.. He Married Esther Maria Standen and by 1881 he had retired and he and Maria were living at Tower house, Priory Road, Hastings. George died aged 49 in Dec 1885. They had two children:
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Estine Jenny Bliss bc 1861 Paddington died 1950 Worthing.
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George Harold Bliss b 1876 Hastings. In 1901 he as an architect's assistant and surveyor. He joined the army 20 Nov 1915 (service no 388381) starting as a sapper. Posted 7 Apr 1916 Appointed Acting Lance Corporal 20 Sep 2016 and Corporal in 4 Dec 1917. Promoted to sergeant 28 Mar 1918. He served in France. Discharged 18 Mar 1919. He returned to civilian life and worked as an architect but he never married. The 1911 census shows his mum Esther Maria as well as Estine. There is a George married to Finnetta Mabel Coles in 1905 in Edmonton and another who died in Devon in 1968.
Miscellaneous Notes on Bliss
Publican, Brewery and Licensed Victuallers Records (Occupations)
Records of those who applied for an annual victualler’s licence, issued to an individual who intended to serve food and alcoholic beverages in a public house. From 1522, a person wanting to sell alcoholic drinks had to apply for a licence from the Quarter or Petty Sessions and it is from the records of these courts that the majority of publican records originate. Most records and documents held at County Record Offices are arranged by the name of the pub and not the name of the publican. Trade and street directories as well as electoral registers can help track down the name and location of a pub and the name of the landlord, but note that some publicans pursued other professions or trades at the same time. It is also worth noting that a public house or the publican may have featured in a newspaper story or in auctioneer records and census returns.
From 1617 licences were required for those running inns and in 1828 a new Alehouses Act followed by the Beerhouse Act of 1830 overhauled the system creating looser regulations for those applying for a licence which resulted in a significant rise in the numbers of licensed premises selling alcohol. As a result, drinking in pubs became increasingly popular in the 19th century.
Landlords had to declare that they would not operate a disorderly pub and enter into certain obligations before the court could issue a license. This form of legal pledge or obligation is known as a Recognizance or Bond. The relevant information may appear under the heading of 'Register of recognizances of licensed victuallers'. Landlords that failed to adhere to these requirements would appear before the Quarter or Petty Sessions on charges of 'keeping a disorderly house'.
Originally beerhouses and alehouses only sold ale or beer whilst taverns sold additional beverages such as wine and spirits. Inns and especially coaching inns were bigger establishments offering larger more comfortable rooms and accommodation.
If the pub had land attached to the premises, even a small piece of land, a description of this land should appear in tithe and enclosure maps. The records generated by the Valuation Office could assist the research into a publican ancestor as could ordnance survey maps, rate books and fire insurance maps.
From the 17th century breweries often bought pubs and tied them into only selling their beer. Eventually around 90 per cent of pubs were tied to one brewery. The brewery might hold records relating to the pub and its publicans or owners. If the brewery owner is not known, look for photos which might show the name. Also look for the archived minutes and lists of members of the Licensed Victuallers League.
The Crown & Anchor public house in Harrow-on-the-Hill
There were at least three inns in Harrow in 1759. The 'Crown and Anchor' in High Street was mentioned, as 'le Anker', in 1683. We know that John Munk Bliss was the innkeeper of the Crown and Anchor that was located in the grounds of Harrow school. It was known by the locals as the "abode of Bliss". John would have known many influential young people like Lord Byron (pictured below) and other young men who would do great and glorious things.
He (Bliss) unexpectedly had to entertain King George III on one of his impromptu visits
to the Hill in 1804. Not sure where I got the following quote from:
“During the summer of 1804 the second royal visit to the town of Harrow and the first to its school was paid, namely, by George III, under happier auspices than when his predecessor. King Charles I, stood on the Hill and gazed over rebellious London. George III. was driving out from Windsor and alighted at the old Crown and Anchor quite unexpectedly. Charles Drury, the youngest son of the then head-master, being senior monitor, showed His Majesty over the school, after which the Sovereign visited Lord Northwick at the Park and admired the prospect stretching towards Kingsbury and Hendon, expressing his satisfaction by a handsome compliment.
There is a story current that Mr. Bliss, the landlord of the Crown and Anchor, thought to exalt Harrow in the good King’s eyes by producing a local sprig of nobility, and therefore accosted His Majesty thus, ‘‘ The Duke of Dorset, Your Majesty.” The King, who expected to see an adult representative of the title, appeared surprised at seeing the youthful patrician whom Byron speaks of as Dorset, whose early steps with mine have strayed, Exploring every path of Ida’ shade." (Ed: This is a quote from Byron's poem To the Duke of Dorset").
There was no love lost between the townsfolk and the school. Tyerman in his book a History of Harrow School, 1324 – 1991 states that:
“relations between Town and Gown were not always harmonious. The school generated considerable wealth for the local community: the cobbler, barber, draper, baker, tailor, confectioners, butcher and blacksmith. Leading beneficiaries included Mr Bliss, publican at the Crown and Anchor (locally known as the abode of Bliss). Harrovians caused resentment by their snobbery and bad manners, thefts, assaults and widespread poaching. One particularly sore point was the enclosure of Roxeth Common, part of which was to be used as the school’s cricket ground. The enclosure of the field provoked a pitched battle between boys and locals over which the masters had no control (or perhaps interest).” Source: ”A History of Harrow School, 1324-1991”
Things came to a head after Dr Butler was appointed principal. After this, school fees were increased to the extent that the the locals could no longer afford to attend the school that their forebears had attended. What had begun as local charities were now the preserves of the sons of nobility and gentry. “By 1806 the parishioners had had enough. They held a meeting to discuss the operation of Lyons statutes. They believed they were being cheated of their rights of free education for their children and that the Funder’s intentions and his Statutes were being flagrantly abused by governors, staff and pupils. Their grievances were legal, educational, social and venal.” The full report is fascinating but it mentions specifically (from about page 180) “John Bliss who ran the Crown and Anchor pub” as being one of the strongest complainants. The author had little sympathy because he added that “financially, Harrow traders did well out of the school they disapproved of so greatly”. Source: ”A History of Harrow School, 1324-1991”
Little known fact, the Crown and Anchor public house was the first official site of Harrow’s postal service (Don Walter A-Z of Harrow). Graham, in his book about the life of Butler states that he, Butler, had "had raised (Harrow School) from a broken-down, ill disciplined, school of some sixty boys to a thronged, a carefully organised, and, (according to the requirements of the day,) a most efficient place of education."
So we know that the days of the pub were numbered. The school was expanding rapidly under the headmastership of Dr Vaughan. When a new library was proposed (to honour him after he left) about 1859, it was decided to build it where the Crown and Anchor was. So the new principal Dr Butler paid Bliss £100 from his own pocket and the pub moved to another building. Quote “just opposite ' Uncle Billy's ' house. His objections were squared by a cheaper outlay, an epigram on oXjSo? avo\fio<t. (Ed: this was in the text – I have no idea what it means!)" Source: The Harrow life of Henry Montagu Butler online by Edward Graham.
These are the houses opposite Uncle Billy's. Uncle Billy was the slang term for one of the headmasters.
Lord Byron
“Bliss is to turn out of the ' Crown and Anchor ' Sept. 2nd.
"This I have in black and white, signed and attested. Poor old man, he was left in tears when he signed himself out of the house he had so long inhabited. His son, on the other hand, aged 19, is beyond measure delighted at removing, at the beginning of his professional career, into so incomparably superior a house. I have asked Lord Palmerston to lay the first stone, but he has not yet replied. If he fails, doubtless we can get Abp. Longley to handle the trowel, as he has promised to be here. . . .” Source: The Harrow Life of Henry Montagu Butler.
Photo believed to be about 1860. The pub is on the right.
“The demolition of the old ‘‘ Crown and Anchor,” together with Gustos’ house, may, as Harrow Notes suggests, have improved the appearance of the town. But, as we are not of the number who desire to see Harrow Haussmannised,” we hear with regret rather than satisfaction that such old landmarks have been removed. Possibly some of our readers who pass by the familiar ground on which the former hostelry stood, will recall the above-mentioned incident in Harrow history when occasion takes them back to the enchanted ground of early memory." source: Harrow School and its surroundings
There is a good eyewitness story in Harrow School written by Edmund W Howson, Assistant Master at Harrow School and George Townsend 1898. Source Harrow School
“The Crown and Anchor, a public-house next to the schoolyard, was then in full swing, kept by one Bliss. This inn was pulled down many years ago, and the site is now the property of the school. The Crown and Anchor, though so near, perhaps because so near, the school, was never in my time a nuisance in the way of drink. It was the custom, whenever a fight was on in the milling-ground, for two pots of water and a lemon to be procured from this public-house."
"Perhaps the greatest change has taken place in the space opposite the school, between the headmaster's house and the site of the chapel. What is now a lawn, in front of the Vaughan Library, was occupied by two shops, kept by Rowe, a saddler, and Foster, a baker, which were bounded by a narrow road or lane leading down to Angelo's fencing-room — formerly Webb's dancing-room — in which the speeches were delivered previous to the erection, in 1819, of the old Speech- room. Half-way down that road was the entrance to Bliss's stables; while on the other side of the same road was an old cottage occupied by old Gustos, the father of Sam Hoare, and reaching to the site of the present chapel. The head- master's stable was beyond the pond, now filled up, where Mr. Bushell's house now stands.”
"The principal tuck-shops frequented by the boys were those kept by Mrs. Parsons, on the right (before coming to Woodbridge's) of the street leading down to the cricket-ground; Jim Winkley's, next the Crown and Anchor; and Mrs. Winkley's, just beyond the King's Head. But Mrs. Parsons' was the shop at which we sat down for breakfast or dinner during the long period of Dr. H. Montagu Butler's headmastership, from January 1860 to August 1885, benefactions of all kinds — in land, in buildings, in scholarships, in prizes — flowed in freely and almost without interruption. In 1861 came the " Vaughan Library," in memory of the distinguished and beloved headmaster. It was erected on a site which belonged in part to the Governors, in part, on the side next to the chapel, to Mr. Clutterbuck, the owner of the Crown and Anchor public-house. In order to secure this northern part of the site, it was necessary to buy out Mr. Clutterbuck, by giving him another public-house at the top of the hill going down to the cricket-ground. Not till then was it possible to pull down the Crown and Anchor stables which adjoined the chapel. This preliminary operation involved an expenditure of nearly £3500. Other small houses, which fronted the street near the headmaster's house, were also cleared away. On Speech-day, 4th July 1861, the first stone of the Vaughan Library was laid by Viscount Palmerston, K.G., then Prime Minister."
So Clutterbuck owned the building and John Bliss had the business there.