Inn Keeper in Cupar c. 1779

ijt · Post by **ijt** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 7:59 pm

I have a relative by name of William Lawson, who at the birth of his son (John Lawson - 16 Jun 1797) was listed as an Inn Keeper in Cupar, Fife.

I thought it may be possible to track down the public house that he was running. This building may or may not be still in existence. Presumably as an innkeeper he was registered somewhere for licensing purposes etc.

The parish record for the birth of John does not list the name of the mother so I cant be sure about a marriage date for William etc.

I dont know where to start - any ideas would be welcome.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:22 pm

Hi Ian
..and a warm welcome to Talking Scot.

I dont know where to start - any ideas would be welcome.

My thoughts, if it were me, my first port of call would be to have a look through the OPR (on microfilm) to see if there were any other children born to him and his wife, in the hope that:
a. his wife might be named
b. another little bit of info regarding the location of his Inn might be given. e.g. if it says something like "Inn Keeper, Burnside" then that gives a bit more to go on. Cupar was a sizeable market town, and as such I'm pretty sure it had a good number of Inns. It still has a good number of pubs, though the weekly markets stopped in, I think, the 1980s.

Best wishes
Lesley

ijt · Post by **ijt** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:34 am

LesleyB wrote:Hi Ian
..and a warm welcome to Talking Scot.

Thanks - I'll give that a go.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:51 am

Hi Ian
Another area to explore might be the sheriff court books for the area, for his application to sell spirits, if one was made and if the records have survived. Not sure if Sheriff Court books would be held at NAS or more locallly - they may be held at St Andrews.

Best wishes
Lesley

Archiver · Post by **Archiver** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 3:54 pm

The archive for Cupar might have surviving ale certificate registers. I know that there are some surviving for Aberdeen. It was the local council who gave people licences to sell ale within the burgh, so it could have been the same in Cupar. The ones for Aberdeen are patchy, but it might be worth a look to see if anything similar survives for Cupar. Not sure where they'd be held though.

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 1:10 am

Following on from Archiver. Happy Haggis http://www.happyhaggis.co.uk/info.htm (half way down page under Useful Facts –Alcohol) says:

“Licencee records, which include ale certificate registers, burgh records and licensing court books, are held mainly at The National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, but some are in county record offices.”

Alan

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 1:30 am

hi Ian

The archive for Cupar

Just incase you set off on a wild goose chase, there is are no archives at Cupar. Much of the material for North East Fife is held at St Andrews, not at NAS where you might expect it to be found.

Best wishes
Lesley

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 8:49 pm

Ian,

I can't help you with the name of the inn you were looking for, but I found these two entries in the Fife Newspaper Index Cards which just came online this week. Thought these might be of interest to you:

Lawson, William
Letham
Report of accidental death of above, aged 12

In Fifeshire Journal
8 June 1848 p. 3

and

Lawson, Wiliam
Leuchars
Report of death at Pitlethie, Leuchars
aged in excess of 80 years on 16 May 1866. After a career in the Militia
he retired to Pitlethie Farm which he ran until his demise.

In Fifshire Journal
17 May 1866 p. 5

Carol