Warwick Court Leet gets a pint from Warwick's past

Ahead of Warwick Court Leet’s Beer, Cider and Music Festival this weekend Warwick-based marketing writer Andy Sylvester discovered a piece of the town's and Court Leet’s history.
Gail Warrington, past Bread Weigher and current Low Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Alan Lettis, Organiser of Warwick Beer, cider and music festival and Juror of Warwick Court Leet, Roy Glassborow, current Bread Weigher, John Atkinson, Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Katie Middleton, Landlady of the Rose &Crown, Andy Sylvester, marketing writer and volunteer researcher, Graham Sutherland, Ale Taster of Warwick Court Leet and Mo Sutherland, past Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet. Photo by Gill FletcherGail Warrington, past Bread Weigher and current Low Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Alan Lettis, Organiser of Warwick Beer, cider and music festival and Juror of Warwick Court Leet, Roy Glassborow, current Bread Weigher, John Atkinson, Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Katie Middleton, Landlady of the Rose &Crown, Andy Sylvester, marketing writer and volunteer researcher, Graham Sutherland, Ale Taster of Warwick Court Leet and Mo Sutherland, past Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet. Photo by Gill Fletcher
Gail Warrington, past Bread Weigher and current Low Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Alan Lettis, Organiser of Warwick Beer, cider and music festival and Juror of Warwick Court Leet, Roy Glassborow, current Bread Weigher, John Atkinson, Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Katie Middleton, Landlady of the Rose &Crown, Andy Sylvester, marketing writer and volunteer researcher, Graham Sutherland, Ale Taster of Warwick Court Leet and Mo Sutherland, past Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet. Photo by Gill Fletcher

Andy also volunteers as a photographer for the international ‘Find A Grave’ website, taking pictures of ancestors’ headstones on behalf of families living out-of-area.

One recent enquiry originated in North Carolina for regarding a Samuel Canning, a pub landlord in Warwick in the 1800s.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Andy said: “I found at different times Sam was the landlord of several pubs: the Flying Horse, The Green Dragon, The Rose and Crown and the New Bowling Green until his death in 1874.

Gail Warrington, past Bread Weigher and current Low Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Alan Lettis, Organiser of Warwick Beer, cider and music festival and Juror of Warwick Court Leet, Roy Glassborow, current Bread Weigher, John Atkinson, Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Katie Middleton, Landlady of the Rose &Crown, Andy Sylvester, marketing writer and volunteer researcher, Graham Sutherland, Ale Taster of Warwick Court Leet and Mo Sutherland, past Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet. Photo by Gill FletcherGail Warrington, past Bread Weigher and current Low Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Alan Lettis, Organiser of Warwick Beer, cider and music festival and Juror of Warwick Court Leet, Roy Glassborow, current Bread Weigher, John Atkinson, Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Katie Middleton, Landlady of the Rose &Crown, Andy Sylvester, marketing writer and volunteer researcher, Graham Sutherland, Ale Taster of Warwick Court Leet and Mo Sutherland, past Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet. Photo by Gill Fletcher
Gail Warrington, past Bread Weigher and current Low Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Alan Lettis, Organiser of Warwick Beer, cider and music festival and Juror of Warwick Court Leet, Roy Glassborow, current Bread Weigher, John Atkinson, Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet, Katie Middleton, Landlady of the Rose &Crown, Andy Sylvester, marketing writer and volunteer researcher, Graham Sutherland, Ale Taster of Warwick Court Leet and Mo Sutherland, past Bailiff of Warwick Court Leet. Photo by Gill Fletcher

"I discovered Sam was quite active in the community. On October 28 1833 he attended the Annual Meeting of the Court Leet, on which he served as an official Bread Weigher.”

The information was passed to Peter Bobbe, Sam’s descendent in the US who also sent money for Andy to buy a pint in the Rose and Crown.

Andy said: “It seemed a cool idea to treat Roy Glassborow the current Warwick Court Leet Bread Weigher, so together, with the Court Leet and Katie Middleton, landlady of the Rose and Crown, we raised a glass to Samuel Canning.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Speaking from North Carolina, Peter Bobbe said: “For an American, it’s a particular thrill to see our old family stories, with their fragmentary, almost mythical nature, jump into life in a place like Warwick; to see where the ancestor “who might have owned a pub” a century and a half ago actually lived and worked provides us with a rare and welcome sense of rootedness.

"One day I hope to have a pint there, at a pub where I know I’ll particularly at home.”

Warwick Court Leet's annual Beer, Cider and Music Festival will be taking place Friday afternoon from 4pm and on Saturday from 2pm in the Pageant Gardens behind the Court House in Jury Street.

Tickets must be purchased in advance and can be bought from: the visitor information centre inside the Court House, The Old Post Office pub, Torry’s Hardware Shop and The Fourpenny Shop pub.

To buy tickets online click here