Licensing details:
Owner in 1891: Tewkesbury Brewery
Rateable value in 1891: Not given
Owner in 1903: Arnold, Perrett & Co., Ltd. (Wickwar Brewery)
Rateable value in 1903: £23.10s.0d.
Type of licence: Alehouse
Closing time in 1903: 10pm.
Gloucester Journal, Saturday 4th September 1886 – Gallant rescue from drowning: About four o’clock on Tuesday afternoon a young man named Clifford, belonging to Cheltenham, was bathing in the Severn, near the Jolly Waterman public house, Walham., when he suddenly got out of his depth, and being unable to swim, was in imminent danger of drowning, when an elderly man named John Gingell, who was passing at the time, gallantly divested himself of his coat and plunged in to the rescue, fortunately, after a severe struggle, succeeding in saving Clifford, just as he was sinking for the third time. Gingell is an old soldier, and was seeking for employment when he arrived at the scene.
Gloucester Citizen, Friday 10th September 1886 – Sandhurst Football Club: There will be a general meeting of the members of the Sandhurst Football Club at the Jolly Waterman, Walham, on Sarurday the 11th inst., to discuss rules and other business. All members requested to attend at 8 o’clock sharp.
Gloucester Citizen, Monday 20th June 1887 – The Jubilee Bonfires: The best place to witness the beacons is at the Jolly Waterman, Walham, where an uninterrupted view of the surrounding hills may be obtained. Boating and fishing in the lake. Music and dancing on the lawn.
Gloucester Citizen, Tuesday 28th June 1887 – Dancing! Dancing! Select dancing party every Thursday evening at six o’clock on the lawn of the Jolly Waterman, Walham. Cornet, Violin and Piano. Admission Threepence. E. Watts, Proprietor.
Gloucester Citizen, Wednesday 11th January 1893: Skating! Skating! A splendid sheet of ice at the Jolly Waterman, Walham. 15 minutes walk from Cross and Railway Stations. Admission 3d.
Gloucestershire Echo, Saturday 14th December 1907 – DEATHS: On 12th December, Edwin Watts of the Jolly Waterman Inn, Walham. Aged 74 years.
Cheltenham Chronicle, Saturday 21st December 1907 – Flood funeral at Gloucester: The funeral of the late Mr Edwin Watts, for 14 years landlord of the Jolly Waterman Inn, Walham, and for 40 years employed at Tandy’s brickworks, took place on Monday afternoon, and was unique, inasmuch as the body and most of the mourners had to be conveyed from the inn, which is situate on the bank of the river Severn, and surrounded by water, by two boats across two or three flooded meadows to a dry point, where a hearse awaited them. The boat – a flat-bottomed fishing craft – containing the coffin, on which there were two or three wreaths, was carefully rowed over the water by Messrs. W. Bourne and Samuel Croxford, the course being taken being across the large meadows at the side of the Jolly Waterman and then across the Walham Lane to a spot near Kingsholm Close, where the boat was moored and the coffin placed in the hearse.
Gloucester Citizen, Friday 22nd July 1921 – The Jolly Waterman Inn: At the New Inn Hotel, Gloucester, on Friday afternoon, Mr Thomas R. Aston, of Worcester, upon instructions of the executer of the will of the late Mr. Alfred Shepherd, offered for sale at auction, with posession on 29th September, the freehold fully-licensed country riverside inn known as the Jolly Waterman, Longford, and the cottage attached, which is let at 3s.9d. weekly. Bidding commenced at £300, and eventually the property was knocked down to Mr A. Lionel Lane (for a client) for £675. Mr E.C. Harrison, of Worcester, was the solicitor for the vendor.
Gloucester Citizen, Monday 24th April 1922 -Gloucestershire Licensing Committee: Application from Eliza Pollard, King Edward VII Inn, Wotton St. Mary (Without), ‘for the removal of a publican’s license from the Jolly Waterman, Longford, to the King Edward VII Inn (already licensed as a beer house), owned by Messrs. Mitchells and Butlers, Ltd., Cape Hill Brewery, Birmingham.’
Gloucester Citizen, Saturday 19th August 1950 – Body in Severn: A police constable and a father and son in a rowing boat recovered the body of an unidentified woman from the River Severn near Black Bridge this morning. Mr Charles Joel Whitfield, retired engine driver and member of Longford Parish Council, of the Jolly Waterman, noticed the body floating in the river towards Gloucester this morning. Together with his son Allan and P.C. P.Blake they launched a boat and retrieved the body. It was then taken to the City mortuary. On Monday a pile of women’s clothing was found near the spot where the body was found.
Landlords at the Jolly Waterman include:
1883 Maria Tandy
1891-1907 Edwin Watts
1919 John Watts