Marlborough Arms, Princes Street, Cheltenham

The Marlborough Arms stood on the corner of Princes Street and Duke Street. It is now a private house with little to indicate that it was once a pub. The old corner door has been bricked up and re-rendered.

Charles Grimes was the owner of the Marlborough Arms in 1891. He leased the pub to the Cheltenham Original Brewery. The premise licence was for a beer house and the property had an annual rateable value of £15.5s.0d. In the 1903 licensing returns G. Williams is listed as the owner with the lease still taken by the town brewery. The annual rateable value had increased by one pound and fifteen shillings to £17.0s.0d.

Gloucestershire Echo, Tuesday 27th June 1939 – Marlborough Arms Outing: The annual outing of the Marlborough Arms. Prince’s Street, St. Johns, Cheltenham, took the form of a trip to Southsea and the Isle of Wight. Breakfast was taken at Marlborough and supper at Winchester. Home was reached in the early hours of the morning after a most enjoyable day.

Landlords at the Marlborough Arms include:

1870 Elijah Sallis

1872 Elijah Sallis Royal Directory – under “Commercial and General” listed for “Queen’s Head Inn, Duke Street and 1 & 2 Princes Street”

1876 John Haines Royal Directory – also 1904 and 1908 Built-Leonard (in the 1880-1 Post Office Directory it is listed as Marlboro Arms)

1878, 1903 John Haines

1909 Mrs Haines (Annuaire)

1911 J.W. Clifford (Built-Leonard)

1913 – 1916 Mr. C. Boyce Looker-On listed as Marlborough Arms Inn – also 1922 (Built-Leonard)

1923 Mr B. Bradshaw

1924 & 1925 Mr. B. Bradshaw (Built-Leonard)

1923-1945 Edward William Kearsey (Kellys)

Cheltenham Chronicle, Saturday 29th December 1945 – Well-known Cheltenham Licensee Dead: A well-known and popular member of the Cheltenham Licensed Victuallers’ Association, Mr Edward William Kearsey, of the Marlborough Arms, Prince’s Street, Cheltenham, has died at his home after a long illness. He was 57.

Mr Kearsey, known to all his friends as “Old Ted” had been licensee of the Marlborough Arms for 22 years having taken the house over from Mr. B. Bradshaw. He served in the Royal Engineers in the War of 1914-18 and came to Cheltenham from London. He leaves a widow, Mrs Elizabeth Kearsey.

1948, 1950 & 1952 Mrs. Kearsey in Kelly’s

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

E: Marlborough Arms, Princes Street, Cheltenham

I found that following Edward Kearsey’s death, his widow continued with the Marlborough Arms – it is listed in the 1848, 1950 and 1952 Kelly’s directories with her at the helm. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to directories after that, so I don’t know when it actually closed.
 
You have Elijah Sallis listed as landlord in 1870 – no problem with that! But in the 1872-3 Royal directory under ‘Princes Street’ it just reads against  no.s 1 & 2 bracketed together “Elijah Salis, innkeeper” so I looked in part 2 of the directory under Sallis in the “Commercial and General” listings, and I found this:
 
“Sallis, Elijah Queen’s Head Inn, Duke street and 1 and 2 Princes Street” a) I guess that corner door was being used and b) either for a short space of time, or initially, the pub must have been known as the Queen’s Head Inn!
 
By the time of the 1876 Royal Directory it is listed under “Marlborough Place (top of Duke street)” (which doesn’t feature in the 1872-3 Royal Directory at all) and appears as the first listing (so no. 1) “Marlborough Arms, John Haines”
 
I think the pub changed its name when they extended the terrace to create Marlborough Place – either that or the terrace took that name because the pub changed its name. It was looking under listings for Marlborough Place (which appeared as a sublisting under Princes Street) that enabled me to find the later entries when Mrs Kearsey was running the pub.
 
Alan Jones
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